Day 8

On day eight, we talked with Mr. Carter about his parent company ClubCorp. ClubCorp is a massive company that owns about three hundred golf courses in the United States and multiple international courses. The company itself has been bought and sold several times, but retains the same mission it did when it was originally created. Firestone prides itself on being the most prestigious course ClubCorp owns. In result, ClubCorp provides them with funds to complete projects to continue expanding Firestone. For example, the new Championship Pavilion was a project designed by Mr. Carter in attempt to keep members at Firestone after completing their rounds. Every project must be approved by ClubCorp in order to receive funding. Mr. Carter has visions of expanding Firestone exponentially; however, if ClubCorp will not approve of his plans, he cannot progress. Every year, Firestone sends ClubCorp a document underlining their plans for the year, and ClubCorp responds by ranking the expansions. Each expansion can receive of the following rankings: either Mandatory, Necessary or Opportunity. Mandatory is usually issues concerning the safety of the members and must be completed. Necessary is something that should be completed but not necessarily at that time. Opportunity is a chance to increase revenue and increase the stability of the course. As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Carter’s visions are usually ranked as "opportunity" and for that reason are not always approved. However, these visions are the reason people will come to Firestone over other incredible courses in the region.