Not long after Alex Johnston joined Salem Glen Golf & Country Club as its head of events, food and beverage in March 2010, he started hearing rumors that the country club in Clemmons might be closing.
"Probably my second or third day, we had about 50 membership resignations," said Johnston.
The club on Glen Day Drive in the Salem Glen housing development off Dock Davis and Idols roads was then owned by National Capital Golf LLC in Alexandria, Va. It had previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2009.
Salem Glen Golf & Country Club remained in bankruptcy until June 2010 when Spe Go Holdings Inc., a company based in Alpharetta, Ga., bought it.
At the time, the club had 91 members, but it now has 230, said Johnston, who was recently promoted to general manager.
This includes previous and new members from both inside the Salem Glen development and throughout Forsyth County.
The club has achieved this turnaround in a tough economy in which some luxury-service companies have felt the pinch.
Nationally in the golfing industry, rounds played were down 2.3 percent for the year through July compared with the same period in 2010, according to PGA PerformanceTrak. Median gross golf-fee revenues were down 0.8 percent year-to-date compared with the same period last year.
In July, golf rounds played nationwide were down 0.3 percent from July 2010.
However, in July at Salem Glen Golf & Country Club, rounds played were up 14.6 percent in July over July 2010.
That trend grew even more pronounced last month with rounds played at Salem Glen up 42.6 percent compared with August 2010.
The golf course, built in 1997, is the only Nicklaus Design Championship Golf Course in the Triad. The club house was finished in 2001.
Johnston said that before Spe Go took over, the golf course and country club had been in decline for quite some time.
The new owner immediately went to work and has invested about $400,000 in major upgrades since last year. This includes renovations to a pool and restaurant and maintenance of the golf course.
"We started marketing and advertising," Johnston said. "We just wanted to get people back out on the course and back to the club to see the changes."
To help bring people back and attract new business, the company made staff changes. Last fall, Daniel Byrd was hired as the club's new golf professional and David Swing became the executive chef. More recently Syvella Coomer was hired to replace Johnston in events, food and beverage, and Matt Robinson became the new golf course superintendent.
For a while, the club had stopped hosting events, but that has also changed. It recently hosted the U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier and the Winston-Salem Associated Swim Club League Championship.
"It was great to see these things start to come back," Johnston said. "We weren't ashamed to bring them out here because we knew we were giving (them a) good product."
Sandy Hodges, the club's office manager, has enjoyed watching people return to the country club.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," said Hodges, who has worked there three years.
Several club members said the past six months of improvements have made a difference.
Mark Hobson and Bob Rowland live near each other in Salem Glen and golf every chance they can get.
In 1997, Hobson built the first house in the development near the eighth hole.
He said that for several years after the club opened, the golf course was always pristine.
Conditions then began falling off.
Until now.
"It's getting back to the Salem Glen of old," he said.
Rowland, who lives near the ninth hole, agreed.
"It's on the edge of being as good as it can possibly be," Rowland said. "They're refining it every day."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement