SANKATY HEAD GOLF CLUB

Nantucket, Massachusetts

GENERAL MANAGER (GM)

The Club

Sankaty Head Golf Club,designed by Emerson Armstrong,opened in 1923. It is perched on the eastern bluff of Nantucket Island in Siasconset, Massachusetts. It is one of the few true world-class links style golf courses. The famous Sankaty Head Lighthouse looms over the front nine and still shines brightly over the Atlantic Ocean.

Sankaty is a private golf club with tennis, bathing and other facilities that provides its members and their families with first-rate recreational and social activities in an understated and informal environment. The Club prides itself on the diversity of its membership, drawing on a wide range of Nantucket’s population, from summer and part-year residents to year-round Nantucketers. The Club and its camaraderie play an important part in the Nantucket experience of its members, and the Club sees itself as an Island resource and seeks to be a responsible member of the Nantucket community by sharing its facilities with year-round residents and Island visitors in the off season, and by offering the use of its facilities to Island charities and organizations.

The Club’s primary orientation is golf. The course is renowned as an outstanding example of links style golf architecture and is surrounded by open land and wildlife. The membership values its natural beauty and serenity as much as the golf challenge it presents. Golf at Sankaty is enhanced by the Camp Sankaty, a Caddy Camp that is voluntarily supported by members of the Club through the Sankaty Head Foundation. This camp, which benefits young people from all over the country with its recreational activities and scholarship program, is one of the last of its kind and is a fundamental part of the Sankaty golfing tradition.

Sankaty also seeks to provide activities in which the entire family can participate. While golf is primarily oriented to members and their spouses with limited play by below-college-age children, the Club also features tennis and swimming facilities at its nearby Beach Club. There, the offering features a variety of activities for younger children and teenagers, as well as adult members. In recognition of the Island’s many varied alternative activities, the Club’s social activity schedule is limited to specific events spaced throughout the summer season.

Of importance to the membership is the fact that Sankaty has an open and relatively informal environment unfettered by excessive rules and regulations. The Club provides a relaxed atmosphere, seeking to preserve the best of its past traditions while looking to move with the demands of modern times. The Clubhouse and Beach Cub facilities are functional and comfortable and their maintenance and modernization are provided for in regular budgeted steps that preserve their historical character.

Although limited by its facilities to an overall membership of 550, the Club has, historically, maintained open admission to qualified, sponsored new member applicants. Sankaty is an affordable club, not because of the economic limitations of its membership, but by preference. An effort has been made to keep the Club from being financially exclusionary. To preserve this characteristic in today’s more expensive and demanding environment and to maintain the high quality of its facilities and services, the Club has spread the costs of its operations and capital improvements relatively evenly over its membership.

In summary, Sankaty seeks to be an outstanding family golf club with a unique layout and active social program in a summer recreational setting. The goal is to strike the right balance between innovation and tradition, and in so doing, to increase the enjoyment of the membership year after year.

The GM will inherit a well-regarded staff, many of who are long tenured, who are part of a highly seasonal employment and recruitment effort. The Club provides on-site housing for a majority of the seasonal staff, providing full room and board as part of their employment agreements. The current GM has been in that role with the Club for over 25 years and has announced his retirement at the end of next summer (2014). It is anticipated that the new General Manager will have some overlap with the retiring manager during the upcoming summer season.

Club Facts

The Club is officially open approximately 7 months per year, but this role is a year round position as considerable facilities maintenance and renovations occur during the off season months, as does recruitment of seasonal staff and planning for the upcoming summer season. The Club is governed by a 12 person Board and the General Manager works closely with an active array of member committees, including: Executive, Finance, Green, Golf, Women’s Golf, Tennis, House, Membership, Community Affairs and Legal and Insurance.

Direct reports to the General Manager include: Assistant Manager, Chef, Beach Club Manager, and Administration Staff, while highly cooperative and dotted line reporting relationships occur with the Green Superintendent and Head Golf Professional.

Overall Club operational and capital assessment revenues total approximately $5.5M with approximately $1.2M in F & B and $700K in Golf Operations. The long tenured Head Professional owns his retail shop operation.

Organized and operated as a 501C7, not-for-profit, the current initiation fee is $50,000 and annual dues are $5,200 for a Full Family Golf Membership. Approximately 16,000 rounds of golf are played each year. At present, the Club enjoys a lengthy waiting list and is strictly a ‘by invitation’ membership.

The Candidate

The Board’s desire is for a confident, visionary leader with a naturally sincere and visibly engaged style who is able to lead the Club while maintaining and enhancing its significant reputation, both in the Northeast, and as one of the great golf clubs of the U.S. The Club is seeking a consummate professional with proven superior team leadership/development, consensus-building and execution skills, but who also possesses the intuitive sensitivity to not simply ‘changing things for the sake of change’, but rather listening, learning and thoughtfully implementing after careful reasoning and consensus-building. Maintaining and preserving the best of the Sankaty Head Golf Club “culture”, while sensibly improving technology, processes, procedures, efficiencies and the overall member and staff experience is desired; having had a verifiable history and record of doing so is preferred.

Candidates with 5-7 years of verifiable clubor similar hospitality management experience in a progressively upward career track in similar ‘golf-centric’ environments with consistent, unblemished tenures will be considered.

Proven ability to effectively communicate, both in written and verbal forms, with all constituencies is critical, as is a desire for someone with a ‘service heart’ and strong ‘discretionary and respectful’ roots and style. Financial acumen and strong organizational/delegatory skills are hugely important, as is an exceptionally respectful manner and natural style. Sankaty Head is a highly seasonal operation where strong staff recruitment and training skills are necessary, as is the ability to provide annual innovations and creative member activities. Strong food and beverage skills and a ‘get it done’ attitude are critical to continuing the traditions of this position. Strong personal initiative and verifiable skills and past success in working with volunteer member groups is critical.

Further, it is important to be a proven businessperson with exceptional financial and budgeting skills that have yielded verifiable results. A demonstrated record of success in this area is critical. The successful candidate must enjoy and embrace the challenge of strong fiscal management and the on-going communication of such to club leadership, and must clearly understand humility in dealing with volunteer leaders, most of whom are in the area on a very limited seasonal basis, but who possesses the intuitive style to build consensus and drives results. The ideal candidate will have an understanding and appreciation and love for the traditions of the game of golf.

Embracing of the seasonal, ocean side, island living lifestyle, and living in a small town environment is critically important to the long term success and satisfaction of the chosen candidate. For much of the year, the island and greater Nantucket community is a close-knit population, and a strong affection for this type of existence is critical to one’s success and gratification in his/her personal and professional life. Having lived and worked in such environments at present or in the past is helpful to have a sense of the highly variable personal requirements requisite to success and enjoyment of each season.

Initial Priorities

Again, it is anticipated that there will be some crossover with the retiring GM and the successful candidate for this role. Some of the overall priorities of the new GM include:

  • Listen. Observe. Understand. The history and unique culture of Sankaty before initiating any changes or improvements.
  • Get to know members and staff, as well as local community constituents who contribute greatly to the overall success of the Sankaty Head operation. Being highly approachable and interactive with these groups is a critical success factor!
  • Review the overall organization, it’s ‘chart’, its processes and procedures, etc., and provide the Board with thoughtful, reasoned suggestions, at the end of the season, relative to potential operational enhancements and restructuring of duties and responsibilities, systems and services that may allow the Club to become more updated and modern in certain procedures, while retaining its historical charm and culture.

A college degree and CCM designation are preferred.

Salary and Benefits: Open and commensurate with qualifications and experience, but will include, if necessary, a quaint home near the Club. The Club, along with the typical CMAA benefits, offers an excellent bonus and benefit package.

For more information regarding the Sankaty Head Golf Club, please review their website at:

INTEREST AND INQUIRIES

If interested, please send your resume and a thoughtful cover letter detailing your alignment with the above outlined qualifications, including most specifically why living on Nantucket is of interest, and email to us in Word or PDF format (IMPORTANT: save and send your resume and letter in the following manner --- Last Name, First Name Resume; Last Name, First Name Cover Letter and Last Name, First Name References)

Click here to upload your resume and cover letter in PDF or Word format

Or

Email to:

Nan Fisher

Scottsdale Office

480-443-9102

Kurt D. Kuebler is the lead partner on this search

Firm Website: