on a day-to-day basis members participate
in golf association events, sports leagues and
tournaments—both competitive and purely for
fun—enjoy an active tennis calendar and attend
concerts, classes and lecture series hosted by the
club. Some of the many special interest "clubs
within the club" include photography, wine, investment, bridge and book reviews.
during the holidays, kids and grandkids are
entertained by movies, quiz nights, arts and
crafts activities, wildlife shows and sports camps.
members also strive to make a difference in their
community with fundraisers, food drives, and local
volunteer projects. this "new" BallenIsles features
far more than the typical golf or country club. It’s
a diversified upscale gated community with the
look and feel of a large-scale five-star resort, while
retaining a neighborhood sensibility.
“you need a combination of good facilities,
really good management and good employees.
and what you’re trying to accomplish has to
suit your members. if you have that, and you
have active happy members, you have paradise.
and, we’ve got paradise.”
and exhibitions by world-renowned tennis players
including the Williams sisters, virginia Wade,
Stan Smith, fred Stolle, mats Wilander, mikael
Pernfors and Brenda Schultz-mccarthy.
as BallenIsles general manager derrick Barnett
puts it, “We are in a new era.” after investing
more than $40 million in new club amenities or
renovations over the last couple years, including a
$9-million renovation of the east course by Keith
foster, BallenIsles’ future has never looked better.
“It’s actually an unbelievable club,” adds Barnett, who has more than 40 years of resort and
golf club experience. “It’s so active and so used by
the members. they love it.” for example, Barnett
says BallenIsles’ food and beverage revenue has
risen more than 50 percent over the last couple
of years, increasing to approximately 200,000
annual meals or 900 to 1,200 meals every day
during the season.
one of the club's newest additions is the $26-million, state-of-the-art Sports complex. opened in december 2009,
the 62,000-square-foot facility is a far cry from
the smaller courtside Building that previously
served the members. now, tennis stars venus
and Serena Williams and Senior Pga tour player
Bruce fleisher, and other BallenIsles members,
are able to stay in shape in the world-class,
5,500-square-foot fitness facility that occupies
most of the second floor, pamper themselves in
the ground-floor, 8,000-square-foot spa/salon
or casually enjoy elegant meals at the highly
popular Bistro 105 restaurant.
meanwhile, members also have a newly refurbished 72,000-square-foot clubhouse with two
additional dining venues, three championship golf
courses, an inviting resort-style pool in a lushly
landscaped setting and 22 tennis courts, including
a stadium venue court that features regular clinics
with its new, state-of-the-art
sports complex, renovated
clubhouse, multiple dining
options and many programs
geared to families and member
interests, ballenisles' future
has never looked better.
the turning point for BallenIsles was 2005. that’s when, rather than risk resting on its past laurels, BallenIsles’ members took out
a short-term bank loan to purchase the club from
the developer and embarked on a comprehensive
survey to pinpoint the club’s future needs. then, a
facilities planning committee developed a long-range master plan based on the survey results,
which called for a new modern Sports complex
with an additional dining venue plus spa and salon,
significant enhancements to the main clubhouse
and major renovations to the famous east course
that hosted that first Senior Pga back in ’64.
the timing of this bold decision couldn’t have
been any better for BallenIsles, as they were
able to negotiate attractive financing before the
collapse of the real estate market and global
financial crisis. today, of course, it would be much
more challenging to structure such an undertak-
