Designing transformative solutions that shape a bright future and foster a sense of pride and community for the membership.
BY MARK PAZDUR, PUBLISHER
NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: ClubWorks is a prominent corporate network of eight elite professional service firms catering to the private club, luxury hospitality, and real estate development industries. Officially formed in January 2022, it acts as a “one-stop shop” providing end-to-end consulting, development, and design solutions. The “crown jewel” in the group is Peacock + Lewis, with a vision to turn renderings into reality. While it may not be a company you know by name, you are likely familiar with many of its clients. They have completed over 2,000 new and remodeled hospitality and club projects worldwide and crafted over 250 site-specific master plans for private clubs across the country.
“It’s something akin to an arms race, especially in Florida where property values can be linked to the club experience,” said Tony D’Errico, executive vice president at Peacock + Lewis. “Research suggests that prospective members buy their club first and their home second. This typifies the importance of maintaining a suite of club amenities that are in high demand. Interestingly, clubs in the Northeast and Midwest that lack housing surrounding the fairways have been slower to adopt significant upgrades in member amenities. If the real estate environment slows, we feel it. Overall, the Florida real estate market has returned to historical [pre-COVID] norms, but demand at top tier continues to be robust.”
Peacock + Lewis follows where the business is, with 85 percent of their work concentrated in the Sunshine State. “The end of COVID put a bonfire ‘under the feet’ of Boards at America’s premier private clubs with billions of dollars of accelerated renovations and expansions up for grabs,” explained D’Errico.
“Our firm is proud to operate at the high end of the industry. We will never win a job by being the lowest bidder; Peacock + Lewis is the best in the space, and I believe we are worth it. It’s no different than considering a Mercedes over a Chevy; expectations increase when selecting superior brands. We provide boards a source of comfort with unmatched technical expertise and a wealth of operational understanding.”
Best-In-Class
One of Tony’s objectives is to debunk the myth that Peacock + Lewis only solicits big jobs. “Now with ClubWorks, we can offer a team of companies to meet our clients’ specific needs,” said D’Errico. “Interestingly, most of our clients also engage at least one or more of our partner firms.”
The first step in determining whether your club is due for renovation is to evaluate its life cycle. “Member support is obviously critical to a project’s success and engagement is a must. Our planners help clubs navigate this important process and ClubWorks firms such as GGA Partners and VSS [Visionary Spectacle Studios] play a critical role in providing member surveys and renderings respectively,” continued D’Errico. “Compelling visual aids that support club-focused storytelling and bring the recommended plan to life are essential in creating member buy-in.”
“One of the first questions we ask during a site visit is what projects have been shelved due to deferred maintenance, and what your current replacement reserves are. Inflation continues to be a major factor,” stated D’Errico. “Considering some projects can take three years from conception to ribbon-cutting, it’s important to evaluate the total cost of a phased-in plan or if ‘ripping the Band-Aid off’ and completing the entire project at once makes the most fiscal sense. Value engineering is typically performed with some aspects of a project, but we always endeavor to help our clients understand the tradeoffs.”
Where the Magic Begins
Kevin Carroll, director of club consulting at Peacock + Lewis, has 40+ years of experience managing golf facilities ranging from 300 members to 1,900 members. “First, clubs are not in the ROI [return on investment] business; they are in the ROE [return on experience] business. That’s not to say budgets aren’t critical. They are. The magic is creating an environment where your best customers spend more. I was brought on board by Brian Idle [our CEO] as an outsider with fresh eyes to facilitate meetings and look at ways to create greater added value in our presentations. Many Boards don’t realize they face similar hurdles to those of their peers.
“First impressions count. The next time you are at a gatehouse showing your ID for entry, look around. Are there cobwebs on the eaves? Are the flower beds full of weeds? Is the greeter’s uniform pressed and clean? Often, members with transponders whiz by without even critiquing their entranceway…but your guests do! I follow the motto of Walt Disney, who had a ‘no chipped paint’ policy at his theme parks, a policy that is still in place today.
“Our team assists you in avoiding mistakes. It’s not about competing on price for your business but about overall value. For example, consider your wait staff traffic patterns. Is the hallway wide enough for two-way traffic so they aren’t bumping into each other with full-service trays, or is there a water line close by for them to refill water glasses without walking to the other side of the kitchen? One of my other commercial kitchen pet peeves is poor lighting. Often, the lighting is so dated that the bulbs are yellow, and the overall lighting is darker than in the hallway. How is the chef supposed to make sure meals are plated properly and elegantly?
“Golf communities are in a much better place to withstand an economic downturn,” concluded Carroll. “Our job is to make sure it’s increasingly indispensable in your daily life.”
For more about the design philosophies at Peacock + Lewis,, please visit PeacockandLewis.com.