The private club world and the boutique resort world often feel like parallel industries—adjacent, similar, yet fundamentally different in culture, expectations, and operations. Every so often, we meet a leader who straddles both worlds daily, offering a rare perspective on how racquets programming evolves when a facility must serve two distinct audiences at once.

In this week’s BeyondTheBaselines.com podcast, we sit down with Dave Neuhart, Director of Racquets at Innisbrook Golf Resort on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Innisbrook is not your typical resort. While it welcomes a steady flow of guests who stay for a week or two and move on, it also maintains a robust year-round membership. The result? A racquets environment that blends the pulse of a resort with the continuity of a private club.

Dave walks us through how he manages this hybrid model—running programming simultaneously for resort guests and full-time members across pickleball, racquetball, table tennis, tennis, and soon, padel. From themed live-ball sessions built around holidays to the planning of club championships, he shares how he keeps both groups engaged without compromising the identity of either.

We also dive into the strategic side of racquets management. Dave discusses the growth of league play at Innisbrook—seventeen teams strong—and how his “Awesome August” initiative boosted participation with four weeks of tactics-and-strategy sessions and creative prize incentives, capturing 60 percent of all league players.

Finally, Dave offers insights into reporting into a corporate ownership structure under Salamander Investments, and what profit-and-loss scrutiny means for departments that straddle hospitality and sport. We even explore the broader industry landscape, including the acquisitions of Peter Burwash International and Cliff Drysdale Management by Troon, and how such consolidations may shape the future of racquets operations nationwide.

It’s a thoughtful, engaging look at what it means to operate at the crossroads of resort hospitality and private club culture.

In the next episode Beyond The Baselines Podcast, we sit down with Maxwell Shteyman, Director of Culinary and Clubhouse Operations at Montammy Golf Club, to discuss how innovation in food and beverage can sometimes go too far.

“Too much fusion leads to confusion—and to a messy plate,” Max says with a smile. In a world where every dish seems to chase the next trend, Shteyman believes that simplicity and clarity still reign supreme. Food, after all, mirrors life: the more ingredients and variables you add, the more complex—and often problematic—the outcome becomes.

But this episode goes beyond the kitchen. Max believes that food and beverage in private clubs is in deep transition. He suggests that the traditional role of Executive Chef may be nearing its expiration date. Instead, he envisions a model where each dining outlet has its own director, all reporting to a single Culinary Director—a structure that reflects today’s diversified member expectations and multi-outlet club environments.

Mentorship, too, plays a central role in Max’s philosophy. Leading younger staff in hospitality requires patience, vision, and courage. As he notes, “There will always be those who can’t or won’t work as a team—and sometimes, dismissals are simply part of maintaining excellence.”

It’s a candid, insightful discussion about the future of private club dining, the art of leadership, and the delicate balance between creativity and clarity.

by Ed Shanaphy, CMAA

We often say “mentoring,” but what we really mean—especially within private clubs—is advancing. Mentorship is not simply guiding or teaching; it’s creating an environment where your staff can grow, achieve, and in turn, enhance the member experience. Every interaction between staff and member is an opportunity to refine skill, build confidence, and elevate service.

A club manager’s greatest legacy is not the number of events executed or budgets balanced—it’s the people they’ve advanced. Let’s explore the three pillars that define true mentorship and the art of advancing your team.

It’s never easy to step back. Club managers often feel compelled to solve problems immediately or answer every member’s question directly. But effective delegation is a deliberate act of trust. By creating space between yourself, your employee, and the member, you give staff the autonomy to think, act, and grow.

This “space” is the classroom of real-world learning. When staff handle member concerns—without you stepping in—they develop confidence, accountability, and ownership. It may be uncomfortable at first, especially when mistakes occur, but that discomfort is often where growth begins.

True mentoring means allowing your team to make—and learn from—those mistakes while providing them a framework to succeed the next time around.

Mentorship isn’t only an internal process. In the private club world, education extends to the membership itself. Members often view every staff action as a direct reflection of the manager. Therefore, when staff are learning and developing, transparency is essential.

Mentorship isn’t only an internal process. In the private club world, education extends to the membership itself.

Educating the board, committees, and membership about your mentoring approach helps manage expectations. It allows members to see the broader purpose behind delegating responsibility or giving a new team member more visibility.

This communication builds understanding—and trust. When members recognize that your club is cultivating leaders, they become partners in that mission rather than critics of the process. The result? A more collaborative, supportive environment where both staff and members are invested in each other’s success.

Here’s the unspoken truth about being a great mentor: it means you’ll be hiring more often.

When you invest deeply in staff development, you inevitably create talent that’s ready to move on—sometimes to new roles within the club, often to new opportunities in the wider industry, and occasionally to entirely new careers.

That’s not a loss; it’s a sign of success. Each advancement reflects your ability to identify potential, nurture it, and prepare it for the next challenge. Your club gains a reputation as a place where professionals grow—and that attracts even stronger candidates in the future.

Yes, mentoring creates more work: more coaching, more recruiting, more onboarding. But it also creates a culture of excellence and a network of alumni who carry your leadership principles into every role they take on.

To mentor is to advance—not just your staff, but your club’s culture and future. Delegation allows learning to occur. Education aligns staff growth with member understanding. Advancement ensures your leadership extends far beyond your own tenure.

A great manager measures success not by how indispensable they are, but by how capable their team becomes in their absence. Mentorship, then, is the art of making yourself unnecessary—because you’ve built a staff strong enough to lead without you.