Demand for Fort Worth country club memberships is soaring. The reason may surprise you
On a recent Saturday morning, golf carts zipped around the rolling green hills at Ridglea Country Club, a 300-acre course where old trees stretch their arms overhead.
One worker folded blue pinstripe towels near two crystal clear pools as families made their way onto the deck. Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” pumped through a speaker.
At this Fort Worth country club and many others across the U.S., times are good. Despite all the worrisome economic news, demand for memberships is high, and the wait lists are long.
One of the reasons: the COVID pandemic.
More people today have flexible hybrid or work-from-wherever schedules. Many country clubs were able to pivot faster than traditional restaurants or social clubs with takeout food and outdoor activities during the height of COVID. And the rise in popularity of outdoor sports like golf and tennis continues to drive up demand.
Here at Ridglea, they try to emulate what they call the “Cheers!” effect, said general manager Adrian Morris, a towering Irish man with bright blue eyes and a whisper of an accent. Everyone knows one another.
To the club’s 1,600 members, Ridglea provides a buffet of opportunity. Members can swim, they can golf, they can do remote work in a second-floor card room, and they can work out in the newly re-opened fitness center.
And many Fort Worthians want in.
Ridglea’s wait list sits at 150, which the club managers estimate could take two years to work through.
To the west of Fort Worth, Shady Oaks Country Club has stopped adding names to a wait list that’s existed since 2007 and currently has 20 people. And up north in Westlake, Vaquero Club’s wait list is the longest it’s been in years with around 35 people — and calls come in every day from others hoping to join.
What’s happening in Tarrant County tracks with the rest of the country. One study from Club Benchmarking estimated 25% of the nation’s country clubs had full memberships before the pandemic, a number that has since climbed to 50% and continues to grow, according to Golf Digest.
From ‘Caddyshack’ to family focus
Jeff Morgan, CEO of Club Management Association of America in Arlington, Virginia, said that before the pandemic, 10% of the nation’s private country clubs had wait lists.
Now, the number of clubs with wait lists hovers between 40% to 50%, with average membership prices approaching $8,000 nationally.
“What we believe is with people with hybrid work schedules now, they can take more advantage of their club, which is why we’re seeing that trends hold fast in the sense that the positivity around clubs is continued,” Morgan said.
In Texas, 79% of clubs reporting to Club Benchmarking said they saw increases in membership between 2020 and 2021, and 48% reported an increase this year, said Chris Davis, a director with the firm that provides business intelligence services to clubs.
The pandemic did a number on the restaurants and tourism industry: 90% of Texas restaurant owners surveyed by the University of Houston said their sales dropped in the early days of the pandemic in 2020, and 41% had to permanently or temporarily close locations.
In parts of the country, tourism isn’t expected to fully rebound to 2019 levels until 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund.
But clubs transitioned to takeout and outdoor dining so members could still have the resort experience with their meals. As travel restrictions wreaked havoc on typical vacation plans, some people found themselves staying home and joining their country clubs instead to get the same amenities a vacation would provide, Morgan said.
On the fairways, clubs transitioned to single-rider golf carts or carts with dividers. They also upped hygiene standards.
“I think all of us, whether it’s right or wrong, have a mindset that if we’re around people, we know we feel safer, whether it’s family members or you know, whatever,” Morgan said. “And so that carried into clubs, and people felt safer in clubs, and we really tried to do everything we could to present to be safe.”
There was also the allure of tradition at a time when the country was dealing with chaos. Clubs locally and nationally have transitioned to a more family-focused approach.
“There was a day when it was like ‘Caddyshack’ where, you know, it was more the male focus,” Morgan said. “That is not the case. So we really are focused on being a resort in your hometown.”
A second home
Part of the reason Morris believes Ridglea and other North Texas clubs are doing so well is because of the influx of people moving into the area. Allison Vaughn, the Vaquero Club’s membership director, agrees.
Morris has worked in clubs across the country for as long as he can remember. He started off in the locker rooms at a country club in Ireland at 12 years old. He moved to Fort Worth in May 2020 to take the job at Ridglea, right as the club was getting ready to shut down for a couple of weeks.
“It was a difficult time, because, you know, nobody knew what was going on, what was coming next,” Morris said.
The club transitioned to single-cart use on the course, gave people more space in the restaurants, shied away from buffet-style dining and re-examined how they cleaned their facilities. And Ridglea made it out on the other side.
“I think the clubs in the area, particularly the Fort Worth area, really did a great job during the pandemic of protecting their members, making sure that they put all the proper precautions in place,” Morris said.
The wait list at Ridglea started in 2021. The club has since capped its membership.
The newest demographic seeking club memberships over the last 10 years is young families. They’ll come to Ridglea to swim in the pool and join the junior swim, golf and tennis teams.
Ridglea even has a state-accredited childcare facility where parents can drop off their kids and head out to shop or have time to themselves at the club.
Over the past four or five years, Morris said, the club has invested $12 million to $14 million into upgrades, the most recent being the fitness center renovation. The club has no plans to stop.
Next year, Morris plans to add three pickleball courts, citing the sport’s growing popularity.
What keeps people coming back, Morris thinks, is the culture – Ridglea is a place that sticks with some families for generations and has become a second home to many.
“It’s a great place to grow up,” Morris said.
