By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

The term "country club" has long been synonymous with golf, conjuring thoughts of manicured greens, select membership lists and sometimes pricey fees. But for the past 15 years, Corporex CEO Bill Butler has worked to change that.

In 1988, Butler established the first of his no-golf country clubs in Crestview Hills.

On his travels throughout the country, he had seen facilities that had successfully foregone golf for racquet sports, swimming and fitness.

"It gave him the idea to expand the tennis club he owned here," said Mark Arstingstall, chief operating officer of Five Seasons Country Clubs Inc., the Covington-based venture that resulted from Butler's brainstorm.

In the years since, the Five Seasons system has grown to include six more facilities in the Midwest.

Two are in the Chicago suburbs, one in the Cleveland area, one in Indianapolis, one in Dayton, Ohio, and the newest - built two years ago - in Symmes Township.

In an era when many golf clubs find themselves losing membership, Five Seasons clubs are growing. One attraction is these facilities' year-round offerings.

"The traditional golf country club is pretty much a four- to six-month deal; it's not a year-round thing," Arstingstall said.

ADDING VALUE

• While Five Seasons officials call their facilities family-oriented sports clubs, they know their members also want a place where they can relax, socialize - even entertain. A system of soliciting member feedback helps each club schedule events that keep folks coming back. • At the Symmes Township club, one suggestion resulted in summertime "Dive-In Movies": poolside flicks for the young set. Another member comment helped the club offer movies for younger children at the indoor pool, where lights could be dimmed and the start time made earlier. • Still other members requested acoustic music on the patio during summer happy hours and cooking classes given by the chef. • Five Seasons Country Clubs are at 11790 Snider Road in Symmes Township and at 345 Thomas More Parkway in Crestview Hills. • Information: 469-1400 or (859) 341-3687.

With indoor and outdoor swimming pools and tennis courts, plus fitness rooms and racquetball/squash courts, Five Seasons markets itself to those who want ongoing physical activity. By offering classes, camps and events for all ages, it lures fitness-minded retirees and singles, as well as families.

A center is available to care for small children while their parents can take part in a class, swim a few laps, work on the cardio machines or run errands.

The club schedule is crammed with exercise programs, athletic events and social gatherings.

"We are constantly looking for new programs. We want to be on the leading edge," Doug Fremder, manager of the Symmes Township Five Seasons, said.

"We're constantly tweaking, to ensure that we're meeting our members' expectations."

Essential to meeting members' expectations is maintaining top-notch facilities, company officials say. Last year, the company invested $2.3 million in a complete renovation of the flagship Northern Kentucky facility to keep it competitive.

It's not just the absence of a golf course that distinguishes a Five Seasons club from its country club cousins.

Each component of a Five Seasons operation is a separate profit center and is expected to meet aggressive sales targets. That means that the salon and spa and the pro shop must market themselves to club members, constantly assessing the appeal and quality of their products and services. The food service department, which offers casual and more formal dining to members and guests, also hosts banquets and other events for nonmembers and organizations.

"Our banquet business is vitally important to our success. It's a source of predictable revenue," Fremder said.

"Our fine dining separates us from the pack," added Web Wilson, manager of the Crestview Hills club. "It's unique unto us."

The dining area, which can seat more than 300 people, is available to the general public for wedding receptions and other parties as well as corporate meetings. Catering to outside groups is more than a source of profit; it's an important part of Five Seasons' membership marketing, Fremder explained.

In fact, the clubs encourage members to bring nonmembers to many events because of the high rate of guest-to-member conversion. Fremder estimates that roughly 70 percent of new members start as referrals from existing members.

"It's a snowball effect," he said. "Our members want their friends to become members, too."

Five Seasons' pricing structure is deliberately flexible, avoiding the yearly dining minimums required by many country clubs and allowing members to choose a complete membership package or simply elect to pay for functions that meet their needs. There's a racquet-only plan, an aquatics-only plan and a fitness-only plan. Memberships can include playing privileges at golf courses across the country, discounted prices at ski resorts and special travel packages. A member of one Five Seasons club has automatic privileges at the others.

"It's very cost-effective," Wilson explained.

"People like our business model. We offer membership levels depending on what their interests are," Fremder said.

The company plans to expand its network to other parts of the country and currently has a club in the works near Boston. But the fast pace of development that saw construction of five new clubs within 20 months in the late 1990s won't be repeated soon.

"The Symmes Township club opened during the economic downturn," Arstingstall said. "We still have plans to grow, but our future growth is contingent on how the economy comes back. Our biggest challenge continues to be to get the word out to as many people as possible.

"Meanwhile, we continue to add membership as we stabilize our clubs, restructure some club organizations and get good people on board."

E-mail jcallison@zoomtown.com.