Episodes

At Fort Wayne Country Club, Brock Orlowski is betting on padel, a new generation of members, and a different approach to racquets leadership. When pickleball swept across the American private club landscape, many clubs found themselves playing catch-up. Members were asking for courts, neighboring clubs were adding facilities, and racquets directors were scrambling to respond. But not in Indiana. At Fort Wayne Country Club in Indiana, Director of Racquets Brock Orlowski remembers that experienc...

One of the leading NCAA Division I female coaches and one of the nation’s leading teaching professionals, Shir Azran joins the podcast. Azran is just off a summer at Sippican Tennis Club in Marion, Massachusetts where she served as Assistant Director of Tennis. Now at well-known Boston area club Weymouth, Azran is coaching the number one junior prospect in the USA, Chloe Anthony, who is currently ranked number 4 in the world in the 12 and under age group. Azran was the leading Israeli junior w...

Magnus traces his unlikely journey from growing up as an aspiring ice hockey goalie in Uppsala, Sweden, to playing collegiate tennis at Ferris State University and beginning his professional career under legendary tennis director Mike Rahaley in Vero Beach. He also recalls accepting his first director’s position at just 26 years old—despite having never played platform tennis and knowing little about squash—and learning quickly that succeeding at a private club requires far more than technical e...

Ben Nichols, President of Padel22.com, joins host Ed Shanaphy to investigate the American market for padel. The global sport is coming to America, but is America to insular with its own sports such as baseball and the NFL? Does competitive tennis have a stranglehold on the young racquet player? Join us and find out.

In this episode of the BeyondTheBaselines.com podcast, host Ed Shanaphy welcomes listeners back for another insightful conversation exploring the latest developments in the private club and hospitality industries. This installment turns the spotlight on a fundamental—but often overlooked—component of racquet sports facilities: court fencing and surrounds. For decades, chain link fencing and windscreens have been the standard. But as the sport evolves, the question arises—are these traditional s...

Louise Fahys, co-founder of Plan2Play Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in club management — it is already reshaping how private and commercial clubs operate. But according to Louise Fahys, we are only scratching the surface. Fahys is the co-founder and CTO of Plan2Play, a court and sport booking platform built by people who understand both software engineering and the realities of club life. Her view is clear: the next generation of club operations will be driven by intelli...

As we enter our seventh year behind the microphone, it’s still remarkable to say those words out loud: seven years of conversations, insights, and shared experiences across the private members club and hospitality landscape. What began as a passion project has grown into a trusted forum for club leaders, operators, and professionals who care deeply about the future of our industry. Jeff Isbell, Renaissance General Manager There is no better way to kick off the first Beyond The Baselines podcast...

The private club world and the boutique resort world often feel like parallel industries—adjacent, similar, yet fundamentally different in culture, expectations, and operations. Every so often, we meet a leader who straddles both worlds daily, offering a rare perspective on how racquets programming evolves when a facility must serve two distinct audiences at once. In this week’s BeyondTheBaselines.com podcast, we sit down with Dave Neuhart, Director of Racquets at Innisbrook Golf Resort on Flor...

In the next episode Beyond The Baselines Podcast, we sit down with Maxwell Shteyman, Director of Culinary and Clubhouse Operations at Montammy Golf Club, to discuss how innovation in food and beverage can sometimes go too far. “Too much fusion leads to confusion—and to a messy plate,” Max says with a smile. In a world where every dish seems to chase the next trend, Shteyman believes that simplicity and clarity still reign supreme. Food, after all, mirrors life: the more ingredients and variable...

by Ed Shanaphy, CMAA We often say “mentoring,” but what we really mean—especially within private clubs—is advancing. Mentorship is not simply guiding or teaching; it’s creating an environment where your staff can grow, achieve, and in turn, enhance the member experience. Every interaction between staff and member is an opportunity to refine skill, build confidence, and elevate service. A club manager’s greatest legacy is not the number of events executed or budgets balanced—it’s the people they...

This week on the Beyond The Baselines podcast, we welcome Dave Henion, a man who has spent his life immersed in the culture of private members clubs. Dave’s journey began as a young caddy at Rolling Hills Country Club in Connecticut, where he learned early on how golf and business often meet on the fairway. From there, he worked his way up — serving as assistant golf professional, head professional, and eventually Director of Golf at some of the country’s most respected clubs, including Woodway...

Rafael Coutinho, Director of Racquets at Rumson Country Club on the Jersey Shore, joins the BeyondTheBaselines.com podcast. With just two tennis courts and four pickleball courts, it had been the platform tennis courts that were the pride and joy of Rumson. With over 20 social events during the paddle season, platform tennis was at the heart of Rumson’s winter activities. But with grand designs and planning, and the club having the great idea to incentivize Rafael to build participation across ...

Capturing the essence of an athlete—let alone defining a career within the grand tapestry of a sport’s history—is no easy feat. As the era of the “Big Three” nears its close, Rafael Nadal’s reign over clay courts and his unprecedented dominance at Roland Garros stand unmatched—and perhaps forever unrepeatable. On the latest episode of the Beyond The Baselines podcast, renowned journalist Christopher Clarey—former international sports correspondent for The New York Times and International Herald...

The podcaster sits in the hot seat. Private Club Radio’s Denny Corby joins the Beyond The Baselines podcast and talks everything private member clubs. If a listener gets one thing out of just one of his podcasts, it means the world to Corby, the host of the biggest podcast in club management. “Your vibe attracts your tribe,” says Corby who took over Private Club Radio several years ago. Denny Corby As personal friends, Ed Shanaphy, our host, and Denny talk movies and fashion through to club ma...

You’ve heard of the points guy, but this is the gift card guy, or as Larry Rubin calls himself, the gift card guru. This recording is aimed at marketing for both of our client subsets, private members clubs and boutique hotels. Usage, Revenue Streams, Departments Inspected And Enhanced Through gift cards, clubs and hotels can track usage of new and returning members and guests when given free money or points. Marketers can introduce a club or a hotel property at really no cost if the gift card...

How did an international trade and finance student from Mexico come to head up Red Bank New Jersey’s Navesink Country Club’s Racquet Program? It’s a long and winding road, but one that is full of insights into the private members club industry. Victor Vidal knew he was not suited to work behind a desk. As Navesink’s Director of Racquets, Vidal runs a year-round program boasting tennis, platform tennis and pickleball. With a team of 5 certified professionals and four collegiate players along wit...

We might be booking our juniors for summer sleep away camp this March, but have we ever thought that a summer camp is really a private members club for kids? From the red clay tennis courts, and all the maintenance they entail, through to the enormous food and beverage operation and the hiring of chefs and servers, a summer camp is similar to an elite private club. Ramsey Hoehn, who returned in 2020 to his family’s business, brought his many years as a Head Tennis Professional and Director of ...

Danielle Chavez, Founder, Club Design Studio The daily questions we ask ourselves over club communications – how often should we email our members? Is it possible or should we make the weekly newsletter shorter? How do we integrate the club’s website into our marketing strategy? – all these questions and more take center stage in this podcast with Club Design Studio’s fearless leader Danielle Chavez. Communication is at the heart of a club – whether it’s members conversing with each other, staf...

by Ed Shanaphy There’s always that guy. The guy that is on the sidelines of every tournament, from a WTA qualifier to an ATP Masters to a Grand Slam. The guy who amazes onlookers through his building of a network. The guy who continues to work, even after retirement and sleeps in the back of a Suburban on the way to the next event. The guy who finally creates such volumes of great work, it brings him to the top of his profession from roots deep in the industry. The guy that becomes a legend and...

An Historic Club’s Metamorphosis Through Consultancy to Interim Management To Long-Term Strategy Completion Pretty Brook Tennis Club first called BeyondTheBaselines.com in late 2019. The club was dropping members as if members were falling leaves on a cold November, football Saturday at the famed university in the club’s hometown of Princeton, NJ. The president mentioned the club’s membership was at just 155 member households, significantly down from its glory days when it boasted over 200. Al...

Taylor Newman left college for two careers. Her love of writing led her to her daily, first shift – a beat journalist covering the DC Metro sports teams for the sports desk at the Washington Post. Ben Bradlee would have been proud of her commitment up there with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in terms of hours. For when Taylor had filed her sports reports, she would move to her second, eight-hour shift at Chevy Chase Club, where she was serving as an Assistant Professional. Finally, weighing u...

Hospitality runs in the family. Alexandria LaRocca, Director of Member Engagement at The Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and Matt Assumma, who served at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, join the podcast. And, they’ve known each other for years, and we mean for years, since they were kids. Alexandria and Matt are both offspring of well-known and highly regarded club managers, having grown up in the industry. Their respective backgrounds highlight how important both human resources and hos...

Two major seasonal jobs have just one director: Brett Gaede. From his first ever, post-college professional position at the renowned Nantucket Yacht Club, Gaede has made New England and Florida his seasonal homes, and follows his members, and the sun, up and down the East Coast. With his two director roles, he lives with water views year-round, and has views over the Atlantic almost two thousand five hundred miles apart, depending on the calendar. Gaede is the director in the summer in Maine on...

It’s not easy to engage members twelve months a year in the cold, frigid air of Canada when your only amenity is golf. Ash Chadha, general manager at Glencoe Golf And Country Club, is bringing members to the club in bigger and bigger numbers through various methods, even in the dark winter months. Offering a warm welcome through a cold winter is just how he does it. Glencoe, established in 1984, was an outlier of its sister club, the downtown city club, Glencoe, in Alberta, Calgary. The idea of...