Case Study: Record-Breaking Sales at a North Florida Golf Club

In the years following the pandemic, many private clubs experienced an initial surge in membership interest, only to face a steep decline as market conditions normalized. One North Florida golf club defied that trend. Through its partnership with Capstone Hospitality, the club not only maintained its strong performance but is now on track to close 2025 with its most successful year to date. By year-end, the club is projected to achieve over 90 new membership sales and generate more than $1.4 million in initiation fee revenue.

Before the pandemic, the club was already experiencing steady growth with Capstone Hospitality fully embedded on-site. In 2018 and 2019, Capstone’s efforts helped generate just under $600,000 in initiation fees each year, laying the groundwork for sustained success. When the pandemic drove heightened interest in private club experiences, the club was well-positioned to capture that demand. In 2020, membership sales spiked to 126, generating $766,045 in revenue. The following year, performance climbed even higher, reaching $1,118,500 from 103 sales.

Rather than treating this spike as a temporary windfall, Capstone focused on building a long-term strategy to sustain and grow membership in a changing market. With a full-time membership sales director on-site since 2013, Capstone continued executing a tailored sales and marketing plan supported by its proprietary DRIVE CRM platform. This system allowed the team to track leads, manage conversion rates, and execute targeted outreach with precision, ensuring that success during the pandemic would evolve into long-term stability and growth.

Capstone’s strategy focused on increasing both the quality and volume of leads while improving sales efficiency. A realtor referral program was introduced to tap into the area’s robust relocation activity, ultimately accounting for more than 15 percent of all 2025 sales. Digital marketing tactics were refined to move away from underperforming platforms and toward channels that consistently delivered higher-converting leads. In addition, Capstone launched targeted campaigns focused on member upgrades and reinstatements, which helped drive higher revenue per member. The club’s presence in the surrounding area was further strengthened through community events and strategic partnerships with local businesses, which created meaningful brand visibility and opened new lead channels among residents and professionals alike.

The results in the first half of 2025 reflected the strength of this approach. The club generated 381 new leads from January through June, representing a 16 percent increase from the previous year. Of those leads, 108 prospective members toured the club, and 50 completed the sales process. This produced a tour-to-close conversion rate of 46.3 percent. Organic sales made up 53.4 percent of total conversions, and realtor referrals were more than double the industry average.

By October 2025, the club had already closed 80 new sales and generated $1,189,750 in revenue. With strong year-end performance expected, the team projected more than 90 total sales and over $1.4 million in revenue. These numbers would set a new record for the club, surpassing even the pandemic-era high points of 2020 and 2021.

Capstone’s ability to balance volume and price point was a key driver of this success. While the average initiation fee saw a modest decline due to an increase in social category memberships and upgrades, total revenue still increased by more than $70,000 year over year in the first half alone. This shift reflected a broader strategy to expand market reach without compromising the club’s premium brand position.

This North Florida club’s story is a powerful example of what can be achieved when a structured sales system is combined with a tailored, market-specific strategy. It also demonstrates that long-term growth in membership sales requires more than momentum or price promotions. It requires consistent execution, strong community engagement, and the ability to convert interest into action.

By leveraging Capstone Hospitality’s expertise, technology, and hands-on support, the club successfully transformed short-term opportunity into lasting performance. Clubs looking to achieve similar results can take inspiration from this case and recognize the value of having a dedicated partner focused on sustainable membership growth.

This North Florida club is not an exception. It is clear evidence that with the right strategy, the right team, and the right systems in place, record-breaking membership growth is not only possible but repeatable.