The price of customer service

Bryce Alderton

Tucked away in one of the few remaining secluded spots in Orange

County lies a golfing jewel that has begun alluring new members from

surrounding cities, including Newport Beach.

Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine is nearing its second birthday in

January, but in its short time, the course designed by Tom Fazio --

architect of Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast -- that sits on

300 of the gated community’s 1,070 acres, has established a

reputation of customer service and top-notch golf that rivals some of

the most exclusive clubs in the world.

People are noticing.

Retired baseball slugger Mark McGwire won the men’s club

championship and is building a custom home on a bluff overlooking the

course. Former major league pitcher Mark Langston is also a member.

About 40% of Shady Canyon’s membership hails from Newport Beach,

Corona del Mar or Newport Coast, according to Robert Leenhouts, the

club’s general manager.

Newport Beach -- with 20% -- has the highest percentage of any

city making up Shady Canyon’s membership. Irvine is second at 19%,

with Newport Coast at 13% and CdM at 7%.

An event introducing the club at the Four Seasons Resort in

Newport Beach in the spring of 2001 kicked off the marketing

department’s push to advertise Shady Canyon, developed by the Irvine

Co., but Leenhouts said word of mouth has been the best marketing

tool.

“Word spreads quickly in the social circle as to the quality of

the club,” he said. “[The club’s opening] wasn’t broadcast. We didn’t

take out full-page advertisements in newspapers.”

Initiation fees for golf memberships start at $185,000 for those

who have purchased property and jump to $220,000 for non-property

owners. Monthly membership dues are $795. Social memberships are also

available.

News of the club reverberated throughout Orange County, especially

among folks at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

Of Shady Canyon’s 200-plus members, 12% came from Big Canyon, the

highest percentage among clubs. Newport Beach Country Club came in

second at 11%.

Leenhouts credits proximity, as well as a certain level of

service, as to why golfers have migrated from the Newport-Mesa clubs

to Shady Canyon.

“Big Canyon is a higher-end country club, much like we are,”

Leenhouts said. “Big Canyon is the closest private club to us in

terms of service and initiation fees. People are attracted to us.”

Big Canyon General Manager David Voorhees said there is no

competition between clubs for members because Orange County offers so

many golfing choices.

“So many people like Orange County and they have the wherewithal

to join private clubs,” Voorhees said. “There are more options for

golf in Orange County than there were five years ago. We are not

competing with other clubs for members.”

Membership at Big Canyon, also owned by the Irvine Co., has even

increased in recent months, Voorhees added.

Both Leenhouts and Voorhees characterized relations between Shady

Canyon and Big Canyon as warm. The clubs held the first Canyon Cup

golf tournament last month where club champions from each venue were

paired against one another for a round.

“It falls back to being the new kid on the block,” Leenhouts said.

“A Tom Fazio-designed course is a draw and then the quality of the

facilities and services, that would be the main draw.”

Jerry Anderson, general manager at Newport Beach Country Club,

said Shady Canyon’s prices could also be a deterrent, making other

area clubs more attractive to those who might not be able to afford

the higher rates.

“It hasn’t hurt us. The members would have left anyway,” Anderson

said. “It is like moving from a Ford to a Mercedes.”

An element of stability and friendships are two reasons why

members might stay at their current clubs -- even if they can afford

Shady -- instead of jumping ship, Anderson added.

“People like the golf course and the camaraderie with other

members,” he said. “At well-established clubs, people know everybody

and they know the pattern of the club and how it operates.”

It is hard to argue though, that Shady Canyon’s draw radiates to a

large extent from its ability to cater to members and guests from the

moment they enter the parking lot.

Shady Canyon’s staff greets golfers when they park their cars,

politely asking if they can put the clubs on a cart.

On the driving range, an attendant has a towel ready to wipe off

the grass and mud draped on the clubs. Range balls are Titleists and

they are arranged in a pyramid-shaped pile as seen at professional

events.

You can order lunch at the ninth tee to be ready when you make the

turn and it doesn’t even require picking up a phone receiver.

Club management discourages tipping. An employee could be fired if

they are found to have taken any money.

Newport Coast resident Brian Hirth and wife Lori became members at

Shady Canyon in April 2002, moving from Marbella Country Club in San

Juan Capistrano.

Shady Canyon staff members gave the Hirths a tour of the course

and Brian Hirth said the decision to join the club came soon after

that tour.

“It was and is just a beautiful golf course,” Brian Hirth said.

“Meeting some of the staff and seeing the professionalism, the type

of clubhouse and a lot of the amenities the club provides all became

the deciding factors. Besides the course itself, without a doubt, the

staff is the finest anywhere.”

The 43,000-square-foot, Spanish-styled clubhouse features a golf

shop, men’s and ladies locker rooms with private lounges and card

rooms, a casual grill, a fine dining room, a dining terrace and a

boardroom.

Fazio designed the par-71 course, which measures about 7,000 yards

from the back tees, behind outcroppings of boulders, along Shady

Creek and through scenic elevation changes. The fairways meander

through giant sycamores and oaks while climbing and descending among

the native chaparral. One can see clear across the valley to

surrounding Newport Coast and further west to the Pacific Ocean.

“I looked for a course I knew I would enjoy playing day-in and

day-out,” said Hirth, who plays about three times a week. “There is

nothing worse than getting bored with a course. It’s difficult to get

bored because every time is like the first time you played it.”

Several different tee options provide golfers of any skill level a

challenge.

Director of Golf Brian Gunson held the same position at Turnberry

Golf Club in Ayshire, Scotland, for four years before coming to Shady

Canyon in 2002. Golf Digest ranked Turnberry, which has hosted the

British Open and European Open, as one of the world’s top 20 golf

destinations.

The 300-acre course at Shady Canyon includes large areas of

permanently protected open space, including 63 acres of protected and

maintained coastal sage scrub. The course takes up just 80 of the 300

acres.

Shady Canyon has also been certified as an Audubon Cooperative

Sanctuary for its wildlife and habitat management, chemical-use

reduction and safety, water quality and conservation efforts.

But Hirth, a textile contractor who produces clothing and T-shirts

for large manufacturers, came back to service and how valuable the

staff makes him feel as the main reason he has enjoyed his membership

at Shady Canyon thus far.

“I look for service and personnel, how I am treated and how much

the staff respects working for the club,” Hirth said. “They go way

above the call of duty and that goes for guests you bring.”

As for the price of a certain level of customer service and golf?

“It’s all about what you choose and what you can bite off,”

Anderson said. “Choices are good, healthy. There is nothing wrong

with them.”