Beyond the Green

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

In an era saturated with email marketing campaigns that often drown in overflowing inboxes, one of our marketing goals for 2023 was to develop a series of compelling communications that would captivate our members' attention and ignite their curiosity about the lesser-known programs and initiatives in place around the Club. With the impetus of becoming exceptional “storytellers”, we birthed Beyond the Green. This quarterly newsletter features the behind-the-scenes narratives surrounding Club grounds, beyond the game of golf. Our inaugural edition unveiled our on-site bee colony and honey extraction program. Working in tandem with a local Bee Keeper, our Agronomy team has established four hives of honey bees to pollinate our native landscape plants on the golf course. Not only are our HCC bees playing a vital role in the health and vitality of our ecosystem, but they have also produced an astonishing five gallons of honey in their first few months on the property. To “sweeten the deal”, our members can even purchase this delicious raw honey through our Gourmet Shop!

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

This idea was the birthchild of our Director of Agronomy and Communications Manager, who were looking for a way to share meaningful stories about our Club property with our members. The first edition of this quarterly newsletter (released in November of 2023) received one of our highest EMM open rates of 77% and the members had nothing but positive feedback to share. They thoroughly enjoyed reading about our environmental and sustainability initiatives and look forward to hearing about the progression of these in future issues.