The purest form of the American dream. (Cover Story).

The best club managers know that when problems start piling up, you put on your hip boots, roll up your sleeves, pick up your pitchfork, and dig in. Richard H. (Rick) Bayliss, Jr., this year's Club Management Club Manager of the Year learned that work ethic beginning at the age of 10, working on his uncle's farm, and has never looked back. It's brought him to the pinnacle of his industry at the age of 39.

Today, Bayliss is chief operating officer/general manager of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield, MI, a nationally-renowned facility. But Rick Bayliss's entry into the club industry began in a much simpler setting. Young Rick Bayliss grew up in the Northern Michigan resort town of Harbor Springs on Lake Michigan. His uncle owned a dairy farm in nearby Charlevoix, and put a very young Rick to work during the summers performing backbreaking work, cleaning up after the cattle and bailing hay. After a couple of years of that he was offered a job caddying at Wequestonsing Golf Club, where a former Masters Tournament chairman headed the golf committee. He jumped at the opportunity.

Soon, David Renker, a buddy from Little League, told Bayliss that Renker's dad, Fred Renker, was going to be the general manager of a new facility called Birchwood Farms Golf and Country Club. Bayliss and his buddy went to work at the new club. They were both 13.

"We were slinging bags during the day and bussing tables at night. We did whatever needed to be done around the club. I never really left there until I graduated from Michigan State," Bayliss said. Bayliss's flexible schedule at Michigan State enabled him to serve as assistant manager at Birchwood not only during the summer, but also during the peak ski season and holiday event period.

But, as good as club management had been to him so far, Bayliss still hadn't decided on making it a career. In fact, his major at Michigan State was advertising and marketing. An advertising agency from Chicago spoke with Bayliss on career day and promised him a job after school. Then they named the salary.

"The yearly salary at the agency was what I was making half time at the club. I started thinking about what challenges and rewards me as far as a career. It didn't take me long to realize that I was already in it."

Bayliss continues to carry that vision of club management as a world of infinite possibility: "When I have an opportunity to speak to college students in an adjunct capacity," he stated, "I tell them that the private club industry is the purest form of the `American Dream.' By employing yourself, by enjoying people, by applying the Golden Rule, and by never stopping the learning curve, you can do very, very well.

"There is also an accountability factor -- you answer to your constituency daily -- and you're only as good as your last at bat."

Rick Bayliss is the 17th recipient of the Club Management magazine Club Manager of the Year award. He joins a distinguished company. Past recipients of the award are: John R. Sullivan, Jr., CCM (2000), Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, Grosse Point, MI; William A. Schulz, MCM (1999), Houston Country Club; Jay DiPietro (1998), Boca West Country Club, Boca Raton, FL; Stanley Orr (1997), Union League of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Robert C. James, CCM (1996), Westchester Country Club, Rye, NY; Richard Kolasa, CCM (1995), The Skyline Country Club, Tucson, AZ; Melvin D. Rex, CCM (1994), The Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh, PA; John D. Hudson, CCM (1993), Big Canyon Country Club, Newport Beach, CA; Christopher A. Borders, CCM (1992), Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA; Sally Burns Rambo, CCM (1991), Lakewood Country Club, Dallas, TX; James H. Brewer, MCM (1990), Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles, CA; Joseph Brem, CCM (1989), Paradise Valley Country Club, Paradise Valley, AZ; E.M. "Mike" Fraser, CCM (1988), St. Petersburg Yacht Club, St. Petersburg, FL; Edward J. Drew, CCM (1987), Quinnipiack Club, New Haven, CT; Donald T. Hayes, CCM (1986), Scioto Country Club, Columbus, OH; and Laurice T. (Bud) Hall, MCM (1985), Pinehurst Country Club, Denver, CO.

Their peers in the private club industry nominate individuals for the Manager of the Year award. From dozens of submissions, six finalists are selected and submitted in blind biographical format (gender neutral, exact locations, and dates omitted) to a distinguished panel of judges that includes club managers, consultants, and educators in the industry. The judges, who are anonymous even to one another, rank their selections in point order based on service to the club, to the community, and to the private club industry. The highest-ranked candidate based on the votes of all the judges is named Club Manager of the Year.

Club industry vendors sponsor the Club Manager of the Year program. This year's sponsors are Artex International; Bollinger, Inc; Judd Brown Designs; H. Chambers; Club Car; clubessentials, inc; DCI/CSL; Edward Don & Co.; Eureka Tents; E-Z-GO/Textron; Gasser Chair Co., Inc.; Harbor Linen; Homer Laughlin China; Lee Tennis Products; Lifecast.com; Nemex, Inc.; RSM McGladrey; Shelby Williams; John Sibbald Associates; Steelite International; Triar Seafood Co.; Victor Cornelius Menus; Villeroy & Boch; Yamaha Golf Car Division; and Zurich U.S.

Early Bloomer 

After graduating from Michigan State, Bayliss joined the staff of The Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, NC as an assistant manager under General Manager James H. Horne, Jr. "Rick is a great individual and was and is a dear friend," Horne recalled. "Of all the assistants I've ever had he was the best. You tell him something once and he just takes the ball and runs. He's always had that character about him that he was going to succeed. He's a very genuine person, and he has a great wife and children."

After three years at Pinehurst, Bayliss was selected, at the ripe old age of 25, for his first GM assignment at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor, MI. "It was a huge learning experience for me," Bayliss recalled. Travis Pointe had just been purchased from its developer by the membership. It was a large, complex facility, with 18 holes of golf and indoor tennis and racquetball courts. It was also cash-poor. Travis Pointe was sorely in need of some refurbishing and improvements, but because the club was young, the members were reluctant to incur a dues increase.

"Getting the club into shape to pay off substantial debt incurred by the purchase of the club was extremely challenging," Bayliss said. By surveying the members several times over and involving a club-planning firm, Bayliss was able to get the membership on board with what needed to be done. "We told them, here's where we are and here's the process we're going to go through, so they weren't just saying, `Oh my gosh, there's a big assessment on the horizon.' " The membership reached a comfort level because they were informed and had a direct impact on the club's direction.

Ultimately, the membership at Travis Pointe did accept a minor assessment. For only $2,500 per member, weighted by membership category, the club was able to put into place more than $3 million in facility improvements.

That achievement didn't go without notice. John Jackoboice was on the search committee at Kent Country Club in Grand Rapids, MI. Kent is the sixth oldest country club in the nation, with a Donald Ross-designed golf course. The club had made the decision to go from a three-headed management scheme -- with a GM/golf pro/ superintendent each reporting to committees -- to a chief operating officer concept. Kent's search committee had rejected all the candidates put forward by a search consultant. They decided to go through responses to a bulletin ad that they ran. Bayliss's qualifications immediately struck them positively.

The search committee brought Bayliss to Kent for an interview. "He was very well met, organized, and creative," said Jackoboice. "We wanted to hire him within 45 minutes, without even finishing the interview process." Then the committee took Bayliss into the dining room for lunch. Bayliss, then in his late twenties really shined there, freely interacting with a membership who ranged in age from thirties on up, with 25 percent more than 75 years old.

Jackoboice recalled that the committee contacted one of Bayliss' references from The Country Club of North Carolina, Harvey Firestone (of the tire family), who was reached at his home there. Firestone told the committee, "The only thing I'd rather see is for Rick Bayliss to come back to CCNC." Then Firestone insisted that the committee talk with his wife, who waxed eloquent about Bayliss's relationship with the members at the club.

There was some resistance at first to the change in management structure at Kent, but Jackoboice said that Bayliss's "firm but fair" management style prevailed. Bayliss said that the club and its staff simply needed consistency in decision making.

The other thing that the historic old club needed was cash. "I was there about six weeks when I realized that we were going to run out of money. We needed to increase the line of credit, or do something else to raise cash." Because the club was so established, it had never occurred to the membership that they might be running on the thin side. Bayliss was reluctant to increase the club's line without knowing how it would be paid back.

Instead, he worked with the board to establish an ongoing capital assessment plan, which is in effect at Kent to this day. Jackoboice explained Bayliss's ability to implement change at Kent: "He never really led the board. He'd listen and make it work. Rather than saying, `This is what I think we should do,' Rick would listen quietly to the board discussion, then say `You know, I think I'm hearing this.' Then he'd say that he could do it; or he could do it, but it would be a problem."

Jackoboice, who served as house chair, vice president, and president of Kent, worked with Bayliss for six of the seven years he was at the club. Jackoboice credits Bayliss with an outstanding 100th anniversary celebration, as well as a $4 million clubhouse renovation.

Almost the Last Straw 

None of his challenges or successes at Kent or Travis Pointe prepared Bayliss for what he was about to encounter on arrival at his next club, Oakland Hills. Oakland Hills is an historic club which has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the golf community, has hosted numerous tournaments and championships, and is currently scheduled to host the 2004 Ryder Cup and the 2008 PGA Championship. On the face of it, Bayliss was stepping into a dream situation. He was hired in 1997 when the club was still coming down from a euphoric high following a very successful hosting of the U.S. Open.

But the positive publicity and feel-good atmosphere masked a situation that was simmering under the surface. "There was dissatisfaction among members with services, food, quality, and follow-through, as well as a perceived inconsistency in decision-making" Bayliss recalled. Some capital-spending decisions had been either misunderstood or miscommunicated to the members. "There was nobody consistently shepherding the communication process to where it gave the majority of the members confidence that there was a strategic vision," he said.

The problems were soon to get worse. "A couple of weeks after I arrived, the superintendent resigned," Bayliss said. Soon, other department heads -- either enamored of offers that came to them after the Open, disgruntled with the way things had been going, or both -- departed. One manager died suddenly at the age of 39. "In the next three months we went through all the department managers except one.... and only one departure was involuntary."

When a "wonderful controller" left after five months into Bayliss's tenure, he thought he had reached "the last straw," even though the man recommended his brother, who ended up filling the position. "I thought, I've got three young children and I'm working 120 hours a week. But I decided not to let a temporary situation affect my long-term decisions. I've got a wonderful president and a wonderful board who kept encouraging me. [The president] also gave me the opportunity to hire my own team that could fulfill our direction and objectives. Now I am in the `dream situation,' but without the support of my wife and family I wouldn't have survived."

Debra and Rick Bayliss met when they were children back in Harbor Springs. Rick was Debra's busboy when she worked at Birchwood Farms. "I still can't get him to clear the table at home. I thought I had it made when I married him," Debra Bayliss joked.

The pair has worked very hard at maintaining balance between Rick's schedule and their family. They have three children, Trey, 12, Morganne, 9, and Brielle, 6. Bayliss learned of his selection as Manager of the Year when he checked his voice-mail at Oakland Hills while returning from trick-or-treating with the girls on Halloween evening.

Recently, Trey's class was asked to write an essay on their biggest hero. Trey wrote: "I nominate my dad, Richard Henry Bayliss, Jr., to be my hero because he works hard to accomplish things ...

"Even though he spends long hours at work, he still finds time for his family. One way he spends time with me is he was my assistant soccer coach and is going to be my head basketball coach. He is a good father because he is there when I need him ...

"My dad is also very honest and helps people when they need it. He helps my mom run the house. He helps me and my sisters out with homework. He also helps Lighthouse out at Christmas because he got people at his work to adopt a family (my mom helps with that one)..

"He was, and is, also a good friend because he is always there for his friends. He stands up for his friends at their weddings. He listens when they go through difficult problems and he prays for them ...

"Altogether I think my dad is the best dad in the world. My parents try to teach us to do the right thing and I think they do it well. (My dad is also my hero because he married mom!)"

Turning a Big Ship Around

With the support of his family and board, Bayliss began to tackle the challenges at Oakland Hills. He recognized that many of his club leaders were icons in other industries. Bayliss realized that the by using this think tank, the club could set a direction that worked for both members and staff. Together, he and the club set about working on a situational analysis, strategies for changes, and a set of goals and objectives that meshed with the strategies.

The two primary objectives were an improved relationship with employees and establishing a management team who were seen as member emissaries. "It wasn't management versus members and board," Bayliss stated. We need to be sure that the positive reputation of the club emanates from members and employees. We truly feel that any national reputation the club enjoys from the events the club hosts is secondary to the moments of truth we have between our members and employees on a daily basis."

Marc Ray, who came to his position as clubhouse manager after having served as general manager of one of St. Louis's top restaurants, marvels at Bayliss' smanagement style. "It's fantasic working for him. He's forgotten more information than I'll ever know. What drew me to him was his ability to lead.... to give staff the tools to do their job and then let them do it.

"He interacts with the staff. He has a great sense of humor and is very accessible, despite the fact that because it's such a large facility with a $4 million payroll and revenue over $13 million, sometimes folks don't get to see him everyday. He has an ability to balance politics of the membership with keeping the operation running.... he's really a magician."

John Morad, Oakland Hills' board president expressed similar sentiments. "Over the past five years Rick has taken hold of this job and has been extremely articulate in his counsel. He's prompt in carrying out the board's wishes.

"He was the point man on our renovation and kept all the loose ends tied together. He really engenders good feelings among his staff -- the wait staff and the department heads interact really well with him. That translates to a good management team.

"The people who know him best at the club appreciate his work. He's a good family man and has all the attributes you'd like to have in a young manager."

Gone With the Wind

After getting strategies in place and management and staff shored up, the number one priority was undertaking a renovation of the clubhouse. Members had previously responded negatively to a $7 million renovation plan. Part of the controversy hinged around whether or not to tear down the existing circa-1918 structure originally modelled after Mt. Vernon, George Washington's estate in West Virginia.

Ultimately, Bayliss and his board were able to shepherd through a $16.2 million program. That budget later grew by about $1.5 million to accommodate those that wanted to retain the original facade of the building. The circa-1918 clubhouse was the second-largest wooden structure in the state and resembled one of the turn-of-the-century vacation mansions that are referred to in Michigan as "cottages." Propping up the front entrance and gutting out everything behind it accomplished this. "It looked like the movie set for Tara in `Gone with the Wind,'" Bayliss said. The clubhouse was expanded from 79,000 to 100,000 square feet.

Today's Oakland Hills has 987 members. The initiation fee has been raised during the last four years from $46,000 to $100,000. "There were two factors (to enable the increase): the facilities and golf courses are second to none, plus the reputation of the club continues to grow from the inside out," Bayliss stated.

The club has 36 holes of golf, five clay tennis courts, platform tennis, swimming pool, and locker rooms. There are four member dining rooms, served from four kitchens on three floors, as well as eight private dining/meeting rooms. During Bayliss' tenure f&b income has increased by $500,000. "We upgraded the food product and the management," Bayliss said. "We make sure that all areas of the club have the same information for parties."

Somehow Bayliss manages to balance running this leviathan of a club with family, industry, and community activity. He's a board member and past president of the Michigan Club Managers Association, and is currently working on his MCM designation. Bayliss is on the adjunct faculty at Grand Valley State University and Michigan State, and frequently hosts interns at Oakland Hills. He's on the local YMCA trustee committee and the board of the Michigan Golf Foundation, a youth-focused organization that is currently building a Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and a learning and teaching center. Bayliss also worked with his staff to "adopt a family" over the holidays, donating food, clothing, and gifts over the holidays.

"He's well-deserving of Manager of the Year," John R. (Jack) Sullivan Jr., CCM, general manager of Grosse Pointe Yacht Club and 2000 Manager of the Year, said of Bayliss. "He's a real, concerned, genuine person, and a very strong family man. Rick tries to practice balance of club and family. He was really the leader of the Michigan Chapter of CMAA.

"When I have been over at his club, you can tell the admiration that the staff has for Rick. He's truly a top notch professional. Recently when there were some PR issues regarding moving the date of the Ryder Cup (following Sept. 11), the person who was quoted in the media was Rick. I think that was indicative of the club's respect that he was given that responsibility. It will really be a pleasure to pass on the award to Rick."