Episodes

Conflicting leadership advice can make even great private club managers second-guess themselves. One person says the general manager should always be visible and on the floor. Another says the GM should build a strong team, empower people, and get out of the way. The truth is, both can be right. In this episode, Denny explores a better question for private club leaders. Not, “What is the right way to lead?” but, “What is the best way to lead here?” At this club. With these members. This board...

Japan is not just a destination. It is a lesson in how much care can be placed into even the smallest details. After separate trips to Japan, Denny brings together Joe Smith, General Manager of Countryside Golf and Country Club in Naples, and Matthew Gilbert, Executive Chef at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. They did not travel together, and they went for very different reasons, but they both came home with a similar appreciation for the culture, the people, the food, the craftsmansh...

A club can look perfect and still feel off. That’s the problem we tackle with one simple idea: the layers of ambiance. We’re not talking about a pretty lobby or an Instagram moment. We’re talking about how deep the experience really goes, from the driveway and parking lot to the bathrooms, locker rooms, signage, music, lighting, and the energy your team brings into every interaction. We unpack why “premium” is a promise that starts the second a member arrives. That promise creates expectations ...

Club leadership can feel like constant problem-solving, but what if the real work is learning how your mind and body react under pressure? Eddie Corby sits down with Crystal Thomas, a Master Club Manager and educator with a master’s degree in spiritual psychology, to unpack a grounded approach to staying calm, clear, and effective when members, boards, and staff hit your nervous system at full speed. Crystal explains spirituality as separate from religion and frames inner peace as our natural ba...

500 episodes doesn’t happen by accident, and it definitely doesn’t happen by playing it safe. For this milestone, we flip the format and let marketing powerhouse Jay Schwedelson (host of Do This Not That and author of Stupider People Have Done It) interview Denny Corby about the path from Scranton to performing at hundreds of private golf and country clubs, and why Private Club Radio became a home for club stories that usually stay behind the curtain. We get into the unsexy truth behind a “fun”...

Your club can spend $10M, $15M, even $20M on a renovation and still leave members with a first impression that feels stuck in the early 2000s. That disconnect is exactly what we tackle with Sean Bleyl from MembersFirst. Sean’s a former club pro who now helps private golf and country clubs improve marketing, communications, and digital presence, and he brings a rare perspective that blends real operations experience with modern website and content strategy. We talk about the timing trap clubs fa...

A cockroach in a hotel shower is not the opening scene I planned, but it turned into one of the clearest lessons I’ve ever learned about private club leadership. After flying in day-of to emcee the CMAA Golden State Chapter Spring Conference, I’m stressed, underprepared, and trying to keep my head on straight. Then the bathroom turns into enemy territory, and the story becomes the perfect reminder that real hospitality isn’t about looking polished. It’s about how the room feels when real life sh...

Renovations can upgrade a golf course, but they can also wreck trust if you miss the human side. I sit down with my friend Brian Tulk, a former club caddie who worked his way up to General Manager, to talk about what it really takes to deliver major private club improvements while members still expect everything to feel effortless. We get into the nuts and bolts of golf course renovation planning at a member-owned club: phased projects, a successful assessment vote, bunker work, irrigation unce...

Your club can feel lively before a member even pulls into the parking lot, but only if your communication actually sounds like your culture. We’re joined by Hannah White, Membership Experience and Communications Director at Sugar Creek Country Club, to talk about what it takes to create country club marketing and member communications that feel human, fun, and worth paying attention to. Hannah shares her unexpected career pivot from pre-dental biology to event planning, member relations, and so...

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The fastest way to make a member loyal isn’t a new simulator or a renovated clubhouse. It’s a moment where we prove we were paying attention. I learned that on stage as a magician through a tool called the “callback” a reference to something earlier that lands because it feels real, shared, and unscripted. We translate that idea into private club hospitality and country club member experience, where callbacks look like remembering a drink order, a kid’s tournament, a recent retirement, or even ...

A chef can nail a service and still lose the month on payroll, ordering, and waste. That’s the gap we get into with Chef Eduardo Castillo, whose career took him from a marketing role at Texaco in Venezuela to building high-performing culinary teams inside private golf and country clubs in the United States. We walk through Eduardo’s path into the club world, the mentors who challenged him with tough budget questions, and the real mechanics behind kitchen leadership: payroll control, sales mix, ...

Member vetting is not just a background check. It is governance. It is culture protection. It is risk management. In this episode of The Private Club Radio Show, Dan Klimek of Kennis Member Vetting returns to talk about what private clubs should be thinking about in 2026 when it comes to their membership vetting procedures, systems, and overall approval process. Because clubs can’t afford to rely on vibes, handshakes, referral letters, and the classic “he seems like a good guy” strategy anymo...

What would an entertainer who's performed at 400+ private clubs actually do if he became a GM? In this episode, Denny Corby breaks down the five things he'd tackle in his first 30 days as new club leadership — no management degree, no BMI, just a raw outside perspective built from years on stage inside these clubs. From a full top-to-bottom cleanliness overhaul to getting a real pulse on disengaged members, Denny covers what he'd prioritize, why, and how his unique background shapes every cal...

Your first year as a country club GM can feel like you’re flying the plane while rebuilding the runway. I’m joined by Jordan Mezzerole, General Manager of Doylestown Country Club, for a candid year-in-review that starts with an unconventional career path and ends with the kind of real-world leadership moments you never forget. Jordan didn’t come up through a traditional hospitality track. He moves from journalism and TV into marketing communications, then lands in private club management as a m...

You can love private club work and still be running on fumes. I’m sharing a straightforward reminder for golf and country club professionals: reward the effort, protect your energy, and make time to be fully present somewhere outside the club. We talk about what real recovery looks like for hospitality leaders and club managers, especially after holiday stretches and nonstop seasons. Sometimes that means friends and family. Sometimes it means doing something solo. The goal is the same: pick act...

If you've worked in private clubs long enough, you know this moment. The RSVPs slow down, the numbers look lighter than you hoped, and suddenly the question on the table is: do we pull it or push through? In this episode of Private Club Radio, Denny Corby shares a real situation — a club, a soft turnout, and a decision that reveals something most club leaders never talk about out loud. Because when a club keeps canceling events due to low attendance, they think they're protecting the budget. ...

Mini golf is not just windmills, clown heads, and beach town nostalgia. In this episode, Denny talks with Katie and Sal Conaboy of Harris Golf about how modern mini golf can become a real amenity for clubs, resorts, and golf properties. They get into how premium custom courses can create more family engagement, give clubs fresh programming ideas, and turn underused space into something fun, beautiful, and genuinely useful. They also talk about why clubs need to get more creative, how mini gol...

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In this episode of Private Club Radio, Denny Corby breaks down why anticipation, excitement, and staff energy play such a huge role in the private club member experience. After performing back to back shows at clubs across the country, Denny shares what he sees again and again, the clubs with the best events do not just put something on the calendar. They create emotional momentum around it. From the front desk to the bar staff to department heads and club leadership, when the team is genuinely...

In this episode of Private Club Radio, we shares a man on the street montage from conference, where we asked club pros and club leaders one question, what is the hardest part about your job that nobody sees. You will hear real answers about the invisible load behind private golf and country clubs, emotional labor, constant feedback from members, time management, staffing challenges, curveballs that test leadership, and the pressure to keep the club experience smooth on the surface. This episod...

We recap the 2026 CMAA World Conference in Anaheim through the lens of this year’s theme, Plant Seeds for Success. After tons of conversations and quick expo hall interviews, one idea kept repeating, connection, but the real difference maker is connecting people, not just meeting them. This quick episode is a practical follow up kick in the pants for club leaders and vendors, with a simple challenge to turn conference energy into real momentum back at your club in the next 24, 48, 72 hours. F...

CMAA World Conference is the Olympics of human behavior, the lobby is a safari, the bar is a documentary, and the expo hall is a very polite casino. In this quick Private Club Radio episode, Denny Corby shares simple, real world body language tips to help club professionals read people and read the room fast, so you can join the right conversations, help your friends join the right conversations, and escape the long ones without faking a phone call. You will learn how to gauge the vibe and energ...

CMAA World Conference is like the Super Bowl for club professionals, positions get earned and lost, deals get made and quietly die, and reputations get built in hallways and at dinner, not just in ballrooms. In this quick episode, We share four simple goal buckets to help you stop gliding through conference and start coming home with real, tangible wins you can use right away. You will learn how to set friend goals, professional friend goals, club goals, and vendor and expo goals, plus smart que...