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 intelligent, conversational interfaces — think ChatGPT-style applications — where members interact directly with technology to book courts, schedule lessons, manage guest play, and personalize their club experience.

AI is already easing the workload for Directors of Racquets, Golf, and Operations. Tasks that once required hours of manual setup — like creating round robins, allocating courts, or balancing player levels — can now be handled in seconds. Names go in, constraints go in, and AI produces fair, efficient scheduling by level, gender, or randomization.

And that, Fahys says, is just the beginning.

The real shift will come through dynamic pricing. Much like airlines adjust pricing based on demand, clubs will increasingly use AI to price court time, tee times, lessons, clinics, amenities, and guest fees in real time. One-hour bookings will replace fragmented half-hour gaps. Utilization improves. Revenue becomes more predictable. Member experience improves.

AI will also validate long-held assumptions in club operations. Fahys notes that most club professionals already understand that the average lifetime value of a pickleball participant differs from that of a tennis member — and that tennis often differs again from padel or squash.

AI won’t just confirm those differences; it will quantify them. That data will influence everything from facility development to membership structures, programming decisions, and long-term capital planning for both private clubs and commercial operators.

One of the most challenging areas for clubs, particularly member-owned facilities, is change. Software transitions are often resisted — not because the technology isn’t effective, but because long-standing habits and informal traditions are deeply ingrained.

Unspoken court ownership. Preferred time slots. Long-tenured directors controlling access “the way it’s always been done.”

AI introduces transparency. And transparency challenges tradition.

As clubs move toward data-driven scheduling and access, those informal systems may begin to fade. For some, that will feel uncomfortable. For others, it will represent progress — fairer access, clearer policies, and a better overall member experience.

Fahys believes the clubs that embrace AI thoughtfully — using it as a tool to enhance service rather than replace hospitality — will be the ones that thrive. The technology is not about removing people from the equation; it’s about freeing professionals to focus on what matters most: relationships, programming, and experience.

The future of club management is arriving faster than many expect. And for those willing to engage with it, the opportunities are significant.

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.

There is no better way to kick off the first Beyond The Baselines podcast of the year than with a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation with Jeff Isbell. Jeff brings a grounded, operator-first perspective that resonates strongly with where clubs find themselves today — balancing governance, culture, staffing realities, and evolving member expectations, all while staying true to their mission and identity.

In this episode, we explore themes that will define much of the year ahead: leadership presence, communication across departments and boards, and how racquets, hospitality, and project management increasingly intersect within a modern club environment. These are the same issues that surface week after week in our work with clubs, boards, and executive teams — and the same topics that sparked such strong engagement during The Monday Morning Club Quarterback. That series will return next fall, but the conversations never really stop.

What continues to energize this podcast is the community around it — from professionals navigating career moves and immigration questions, to general managers and board members trying to make thoughtful, sustainable decisions for their clubs. We hear from you regularly, and those real-world challenges shape every episode we produce.

As always, we welcome the dialogue. If you have thoughts sparked by this episode, questions about the industry, or simply want to connect, feel free to reach out at beyondthebaselines@gmail.com or call 508-538-1288. We are always willing to listen — and when appropriate, to help.

Thank you to our listeners, partners, colleagues, and the many clubs and professionals we are fortunate to work with. We are proud to be private members club consultants, and even more grateful to be part of such a thoughtful, evolving industry.

Here’s to a strong year of conversation ahead — and to starting it with Jeff Isbell.

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 Florida’s Gulf Coast. Innisbrook is not your typical resort. While it welcomes a steady flow of guests who stay for a week or two and move on, it also maintains a robust year-round membership. The result? A racquets environment that blends the pulse of a resort with the continuity of a private club.

Dave walks us through how he manages this hybrid model—running programming simultaneously for resort guests and full-time members across pickleball, racquetball, table tennis, tennis, and soon, padel. From themed live-ball sessions built around holidays to the planning of club championships, he shares how he keeps both groups engaged without compromising the identity of either.

We also dive into the strategic side of racquets management. Dave discusses the growth of league play at Innisbrook—seventeen teams strong—and how his “Awesome August” initiative boosted participation with four weeks of tactics-and-strategy sessions and creative prize incentives, capturing 60 percent of all league players.

Finally, Dave offers insights into reporting into a corporate ownership structure under Salamander Investments, and what profit-and-loss scrutiny means for departments that straddle hospitality and sport. We even explore the broader industry landscape, including the acquisitions of Peter Burwash International and Cliff Drysdale Management by Troon, and how such consolidations may shape the future of racquets operations nationwide.

It’s a thoughtful, engaging look at what it means to operate at the crossroads of resort hospitality and private club culture.