MANAGEMENT BRIEFS LEGAL CORNER Lawyer warns bad manners insufficient to bounce member By NANCY SMITH Even the vulgar and filthy are entitled to respect, according to a California court. CLUBCORP OPENS EASTERN OFFICE The court recently held that a male country VIENNA, Va. — Club Corporation club member, who allegedly used the "F" of America has opened its newly es- word to describe women golfers, still de- tablished Eastern regional office here served a fair hearing before being expelled. in Tycon Tower I/Tysons Corner to In Aluisi v. Fort Washington Golf and Coun- oversee operations for the more than try Club, the California Court of Appeal ruled 90 CCA clubs in the Northeastern and Crosswater at Sunriver is the newest addition to the growing Destination Hotels family. that member Terry M. Aluisi had been im- Southeastern United States. CCA has properly kicked out of his club because the owned the Tower Club since 1994. board did not give him proper notice and an The end of the line is profits for opportunity to confront witnesses against him. PALM-AIRE NAMES COLLINS GM Although the identity of the women who POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — Palm- complained about Aluisi's conduct was kept Aire Resort Management Corp., has Destination Hotels and Resorts confidential because they were afraid of him, named W. Gary Collins president and the court held Aluisi had a right to confront general manager of Palm-Aire Coun- By PETER B LAIS his accusers before losing his membership. The suit stemmed from a 1990 incident i^N i imikw, iiji i ¡i try club- Collins NGLEWOOD, Colo. — The recent opening of Bob Cupp-designed involving allegations of cheating at golf by HHHB has been in the Crosswater, an 18-hole golf course at Oregon's Sunriver Resort, is club and resort just a taste of things to come for Destination Hotels and Resorts. Aluisi's wife. In response, Aluisi allegedly E told his wife, in a loud voice heard by a group management The Denver-based subsidiary of Lowe Enterprises, a national real-estate business for 20 services company, plans to open a major golf resort/community complex of nearby women members, that she should years including every 12 to 18 months into the foreseeable future, according to Vice President not play with "those f—ing old women." He stints with Club of Marketing Tom Goodwin. also reportedly said his wife should advise the women as to certain sexual conduct they Resort & Manage- "We have development deals that are close to being completed in Florida ment, Dye Club and Arizona," Goodwin said. "We should be able to make an announcement by should perform on themselves. Gary Collins Management and the end of the year." The incident prompted a complaint let- ClubCorp of America. The 1,600-acre Destination Hotels and Resorts manages commercial hotels and resorts ter by the women's board to the club's Palm-Aire community includes five from the East Coast to Hawaii. Golf courses are an integral part of several governing board. The identity of the com- golf courses, 37 tennis courts and two properties: plaining women was not revealed, how- full-service clubhouses. • Sunriver near Bend has three courses — Crosswater, North Woodlands ever, because they claimed to be afraid of and Cascades. Aluisi. After determining that the corn- CMAA HEAD RECERTIFIED • The Inverness Hotel and Golf Club (GC) in Denver includes Press Continued on page 37 ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Club Manag- Maxwell-designed Inverness GC. ers Association of America Executive • Wild Dunes outside Charleston, S.C., features two Tom Fazio layouts, the Nancy Smith, J.D., is an attorney prac- Vice President James Singerling has world-ranked Links Course and challenging Harbor Course. ticing in Pasadena, Calif. Her "Legal Cor- been recertified as a Certified Club "Golf will be a major focus in our future resort-side development," Goodwin ner" feature will appear in these pages on Manager (CCM). A 22-year veteran of Continued on page 37 a regular basis. You may call her with story the private club industry, Singerling suggestions/queries at 818-585-9907. has served as CMAA executive vice president since 1990. Prior to that MARKETING IDEA OF THE MONTH he was chief ex- ecutive officer of Robert Trent The art of bartering creates a masterpiece in N.J. Jones Sr. Interna- tional Corp. and By PETER B LAI S served as general CRANBURY, N.J. — The art of barter- manager of Coral ing can reduce costs and boost sales for James Singerling R[dge Country many golf courses. Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is on "Trade-outs are a very underutilized the National Golf Foundation board of way of doing business," said Rich Katz, directors and served on the scholar- vice president of marketing for Billy ship and research committee for the Casper Golf Management (BCGM). Golf Course Superintendents Associa- Katz's most recent horse-swapping ex- tion of America. perience came at Cranbury Park Golf Club (GC) in Cranbury, N.J. As of July 15, Caspér was able to increase rounds by 33 SULLIVAN TAKES CALIF. POST percent over the same 6 1/2-month pe- ELDORADO HILLS, Calif. — West- riod a year earlier. ern Golf Properties has named Tom Course owner Sky Court Ltd. of Japan Sullivan general manager of Serrano hired BCGM to manage the facility last Country Club, part of the master- year. Casper went to work immediately. planned Serrano El Dorado commu- An $800,000 capital improvements and Trading rounds for television ads got Cranbury GC the exposure it needed to become a success. nity being developed here. Serrano renovation plan brought a new irrigation do such a great job marketing the thing. spots during ESPN's coverage of PGA includes a Robert Trent Jones Jr.-de- system, continuous cart paths and remod- Same with Cranbury and BCGM, despite and Senior Tour events as well as time on signed golf course. Sullivan previously eled clubhouse. Casper imported a new all the changes. "Improve it and they will the early-evening editions of served as clubhouse consultant to the superintendent to oversee the various come" doesn't necessarily work in an area, SportsCenter. Paiute Indian Tribe in Las Vegas and projects and the company provided daily like central New Jersey, already endowed "Television advertising on tournament club manager for PGA West in LaQuinta, oversight from its Vienna, Va., headquar- with a healthy supply of golf courses. events maximizes the captiveness of the Calif. He has also worked for Walt Disney ters. Katz contacted the local cable televi- audience we're after," Katz said. Productions, Hyatt Hotel Corp., and La But no one would come see the Eiffel sion company about advertising. He was For its part, the cable company was Quinta Hotel Golf & Tennis Resort. Tower if the French tourist board didn't particularly interested in obtaining local Continued on page 36 MANAGEMENT damental fairness because he did not have mony violated his right to fair procedure," Aluisi had no opportunity to respond clearly Obnoxious golfer full notice and an opportunity to be heard. the court wrote. Also, the board acted im- deprived him of a procedurally fair hear- Continued from page 35 The Court of Appeal analyzed several properly when it raised and considered mul- ing," the justices wrote. plaint had some merit, the board sus- statutes which apply to golf clubs as pri- tiple issues in its private meetings that were The argument by the club's attorneys pended Aluisi's membership. The board vate, non-profit organizations. The court never disclosed to Aluisi. He had no chance to that Aluisi would have been expelled even gave him notice of a hearing in which his found that the California Corporations address the undisclosed allegations. without consideration of the extraneous expulsion would be considered. Code requires expulsion hearings to be "Aluisi was not given an opportunity to matters was rejected. The court's review of The notice of hearing only mentioned the conducted "in fair and reasonable man- defend himself against serious accusa- the board's records indicated that its deci- 1990 incident. No mention was made of the ner." Such hearings are considered "fair tions that he was disqualified from a golf sion was made on the overall review of even three prior complaints about Aluisi's con- and reasonable" if the member is given tournament, had been banned from an- the improperly considered matters. duct, including threats to "bust" a board 15 days notice, if the club articles or other course, violated parking regula- The "business judgment rule" did not member's face, "mash" another's face or throw bylaws describe the hearing procedure tions, intentionally drove into people with protect the board because a denial of a fair another through a window. When the hear- and if the member is given an opportunity his golf cart, got in a public fist fight with hearing prejudiced Aluisi. When procedural ing was conducted, Aluisi presented a de- to be heard. Fairness also requires the his brother and that his father was a rules are not followed, the court ruled, a fense. He denied using the offending lan- opportunity to confront and cross-exam- lecherous felon," according to the court. board cannot claim it was making a discre- guage in the 1990 incident. He denied ever ine witnesses, the court held. The court was offended by the manner in tionary decision to overcome the error. threatening anyone. He complained about The court found the names of the wit- which the board members had talked be- The court ruled that the club reinstate not being given the names of his accusers.