Club Manager Job Description

A Club Manager is the hired executive of a private club, the person who turns a board's decisions into a dining room that runs on time, a golf course in tournament condition and a membership that renews. The Private Club Industry Economic Impact Report from CMAA and the National Club Association, which covers 2023 club operations, counts approximately 5,659 private clubs in the country, spanning golf clubs, country clubs, city and athletic clubs (including dining-only clubs), yacht clubs and tennis or racquet clubs. The title on the door varies: club manager, general manager, chief operating officer or chief executive.

Members are owners, not guests

At a hotel a guest checks out and the relationship ends. At a club the same families come back every week, and many of them have a vote. Members pay initiation fees and dues, elect the board, sit on the house, greens and finance committees, and expect the staff to know their names, their usual table and their children's swim times. A complaint handled well builds loyalty; a complaint ignored can surface at the next board meeting. The Club Manager spends real time on the floor, at the bag drop and in the dining room so that members see the person accountable for their club.

The board relationship

The manager reports to a volunteer board whose officers rotate on a schedule set by the bylaws. Good managers prepare board packets that explain the numbers in plain language, recommend a course of action, and then carry out what the board decides even when they argued for something else. They also hold the line between policy, which belongs to the board, and operations, which belong to staff. When a director starts giving instructions to the chef, it is the manager's job to steer that request back through the proper channel without starting a feud.

Running a small resort

A full-service country club is several businesses under one roof: an a la carte restaurant, a banquet operation, a golf shop and course, tennis or pickleball courts, a pool, a fitness center and sometimes overnight rooms. The manager builds the budget, reads the monthly statements, watches labor and food cost, and plans capital projects with the long-range planning committee. Dues have to cover operating costs, which CMAA's April 2026 Board Brief calls a primary concern in club financial management. The same issue reported regression analysis showing that 73 percent of the variation in operating dues revenue between clubs can be attributed to differences in the value of gross assets, including buildings and equipment. That links a manager's dues recommendations to the facilities the club chooses to own and maintain.

Programming and culture

Member events, from the member-guest tournament to a holiday brunch, are how a club earns its dues in the minds of members. The manager either designs that calendar or supervises the staff who do, and decides which traditions to keep and which to retire. The tone a manager sets with staff, from the line cooks to the caddie master, shows up in every interaction a member has.

Club management is learned on the job and through professional education. As a rough guide, a first general manager job at a full-service club tends to follow several years as an assistant general manager, clubhouse manager or food and beverage director at a private club. A four-year degree in hospitality, business administration or recreation is a common starting point.

Where club managers come from

The CMAA and National Club Association economic impact report notes that many club professionals, including general managers and executive chefs, entered their profession as high school or college students employed by a club. A summer job on the pool deck or in the bag room can lead to a supervisor role, then a department head position, and eventually the general manager's office. Food and beverage experience is useful preparation, since dining and banquets are central to a full-service club, but managers also come up through golf operations, racquets and membership.

The CMAA credential ladder

The Club Management Association of America (CMAA) runs an education and certification track built for club managers. Its Business Management Institute (BMI) courses cover club management, leadership principles, the general manager/chief operating officer model, and electives in golf, food and beverage, or sports and recreation management. To sit for the Certified Club Manager (CCM) exam, CMAA requires 300 credits, professional membership in CMAA for a minimum of six years, attendance at one CMAA World Conference, two pre-approved workshops and the required BMI courses. Candidates must pass the exam with an overall score of 70% or higher.

The senior credential is the Certified Chief Executive (CCE). CMAA requires CCE candidates to hold the CCM, have obtained Honor Society status, complete BMI Tactical Leadership and BMI Strategic Leadership, and have served as the top executive in a club for a minimum of five years, among other requirements.

Other useful credentials

• ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification (National Restaurant Association), for anyone overseeing kitchens and banquets
• ServSafe Alcohol (National Restaurant Association), for managers responsible for bar and banquet service

Skills boards look for

• Reading a balance sheet and an operating ledger well enough to explain variances to a treasurer
• Writing and presenting a board report that a busy volunteer can absorb in ten minutes
• Hiring and keeping strong department heads, then letting them run their areas
• Calm, discreet handling of member complaints and staff conflicts
• Working knowledge of club software for tee times, point of sale, billing and scheduling
• Knowledge of the club's bylaws, house rules and the governance of member-owned organizations

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of entertainment and recreation managers, the occupation O*NET files club managers under, to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 5,100 openings a year on average. Those figures cover the whole occupation, including camp directors, park managers and aquatic program managers, so they describe the field rather than private clubs alone.

The size of the club business

The Economic Impact Report focused on the 3,887 identifiable private clubs with revenues exceeding $1 million. Those clubs generated an estimated $32.6 billion of revenue in 2023 and employed 573,000 people. Each of those clubs is run by a top executive, and the staff below that role, from assistant general manager to department director, is where future general managers come from.

Demand for membership

Golf is the anchor amenity at golf and country clubs. The National Golf Foundation reported in October 2025 that less than 8% of the golfer population are members at private clubs, and that private play in 2025 was running 3% ahead of the prior year, versus 1% at public courses. The same NGF piece noted that golf participation had grown 16% in recent years. CMAA's April 2026 Board Brief found that between 2020 and 2025, initiation fees at the median club increased at nearly twice the pace of general inflation, tracking more closely with home price appreciation than CPI.

Rising complexity

CMAA's October 2026 Board Brief describes clubs operating in a more complex environment. Amenities have expanded well beyond golf and dining, with many clubs now operating multiple food and beverage outlets, racquet sports, fitness, wellness, youth programming and aquatics. Clubs compete for many of the same culinary, service and hospitality workers as restaurants and hotels, and the Board Brief says labor costs have gotten higher and retaining trained employees has become central to protecting the member experience. The same issue notes that clubs are using data more effectively across member usage, dining performance, labor scheduling, tee sheets and capital planning. The Board Brief adds that many clubs still struggle with basic questions of what data to collect and how to use it to influence board decisions. Turning club data into board decisions is part of the manager's job.

Where the career goes

One ladder runs from department head to assistant general manager, then general manager or chief operating officer, and at larger clubs to a general manager/chief executive role with authority over capital planning and long-range strategy. Some managers move to clubs with more amenities and larger budgets; others join management companies that operate several clubs, or move into consulting, search and association work. Moving up can mean relocating, since the next general manager opening may be in another state.

What to watch

Two open questions for anyone in this career are how long post-pandemic membership demand lasts and how clubs fund capital projects. Both land on the manager's desk as dues proposals, capital plans and staffing decisions that have to win board approval.

Dear Search Committee,

I am applying for the general manager position at Willow Bend Country Club. For the past six years I have served as assistant general manager at Cedar Hollow Golf and Country Club, a full-service club with 18 holes, six tennis and pickleball courts, a pool complex and a busy banquet calendar. I report to our general manager and work closely with the house and finance committees.

When I arrived, our banquet department was losing money on member events and our dining room was half empty on weeknights. I rebuilt the banquet menus with our executive chef, retrained the service team, and introduced a Thursday family night that the house committee now treats as a fixture. I also took over the monthly variance report to the treasurer and rewrote it so directors could see labor and food cost by outlet on a single page.

Last year I led the clubhouse kitchen renovation from bid review through reopening. I kept the membership informed with weekly updates, set up a temporary grill on the terrace, and finished within the approved budget. That project taught me how much of this job is communication: telling members what is happening, why, and when it will be done.

I earned my CCM last spring and am working toward the BMI courses that lead to the CCE. I hold ServSafe Manager certification and have trained our supervisors in responsible alcohol service.

Willow Bend's reputation for warm service and its plans for a racquet center are what drew me to this search. I would welcome the chance to talk with the committee about how I would support the board, lead your department heads and keep members proud of their club.

Sincerely, Jordan Ellis