Traditions Club, Home of Texas A&M Golf Teams, Opens $7 Million Clubhouse; Aggie Owners Intend to 'Revolutionize Country Club Experience'

BRYAN, TX, March 01, 2011 (Press-News.org) Traditions Club, home to Texas A&M University men's and women's golf teams, operates with a vision to "revolutionize the country club experience." In a recovering economy, that intention translates to making golf accessible and affordable, to making the club's facilities a value-added asset for member families and to making hometown Bryan the beneficiary of the club's status as a high-profile venue.

With the recent opening of the $7 million, four-building complex, the club's 2011 calendar illustrates the goals set by the club's Aggie owners.

Traditions Club will host the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championships May 18-21. More than 120 individual golfers and 24 teams from around the country will be at the club for the ultimate women's college golf match. The four-day, 72-hole stroke-play competition will include the 2010 Champion team and individual: Purdue (+1) and Caroline Hedwall of Oklahoma State (-12). Traditions Golf Course, co-designed by Jack and Jack Nicklaus II in 2004, has hosted other elite tournaments, including last year's NCAA Men's West Regional Championship.

VIP Venue
In January, the club's Casitas and Cottages provided a home-away-from-home for VIPs commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Gulf War. Staffers, led by general manager William F. "Bill" Horton, rolled out the red carpet, although club members had to keep mum about the prestigious visitors. Attending the meeting with Former President George H.W. Bush at the Bush School at Texas A&M in Bryan were Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1991; James A. Baker III, the secretary of state; Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor of the senior Bush; former Vice President Dan Quayle; Gen. Walter E. Boomer, retired, the top Marine commander in the 1991 military effort. At the same meeting and staying at Traditions Club with some of the other leaders was Dick Cheney, who was defense secretary during the Persian Gulf War.

Wine Spectator Top 100 Dinner
Also in January, Traditions Club hosted a [I]Wine Spectator[/I] Top 100 Wine Dinner featuring selections from the 2010 Top 100 wines including the #1 wine: 2007 Saxum James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles, and the 1997 #1, a 1994 Taylor Fladgate Port. Traditions Chef Michael Brentana, recently of the Harvard Faculty Club, orchestrated a seven-course meal with wine pairings for appetizers, dessert and entrees, which included Roast Texas Quail wrapped in prosciutto with dried fruit compote, White Miso-glazed Sea-Bass, Tournedos of Beef and Rosemary Marinated Rack of Lamb.

Thirty-two select members of Traditions Club shared the feast, which opened with a hors d'oeuvres reception -- and pours from 2008 Kanonkp Pinotage Simonsberg-Stellenbosch and NV Mumm Napa Brute Prestige -- and concluded with a Molten Amaretto Chocolate Cake paired with the award-winning 1994 vintage port.

Affordable, Accessible Golf
"Despite all these activities, Traditions Club is very affordable," said Operating Partner Spencer Clements, one of four Aggies including Peter H. Currie, Michael D. Rupe and David R. Segers, who assumed ownership and management of Traditions in 2009.

Full golf and social membership is $10,000 and the social membership only begins at $550 initiation fee plus $75 a month, with no food and beverage minimum. Limiting resident and non-resident golf membership to 250 for each category, far fewer than other clubs, will keep members happy, Clements said.

"We want enough members (dues) to permit us to make important improvements as needed and yet to keep dues down without extra assessments," said Horton, who also plans to maintain the Aggie reputation for friendliness. "I saw a member give a hug to one of our student staffers ...that's the kind of family atmosphere we want to perpetuate."

In this golf community, the home sites range from one-quarter acre garden sites to estate lots in prices that range from $90,000 to $200,000 and custom homes start at $300,000. It is just minutes from Texas A&M campuses with academic opportunities, entertainment experiences and sporting events.

Welcome to Aggieland
Clements said you don't have to be an Aggie to join Traditions Club, but when you walk in the door, you will know you are in Aggieland. Working with Texas A& M retired archivist David Chapman, Clement selected and had some of A&M's most famous photographs and clippings reproduced. Prominently displayed are photos of Honorary Founding members including President Bush ("41"), Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow, and winner of two Golfer of the Century awards Jack Nicklaus. Among other prominent members are former football coach R. C. Slocum, current A.D. Bill Byrne, Women's Basketball Coach Gary Blair, retired NFL Referee "Red" Cashion and Dr. Nancy Dickey, president of the TAMU Health Science Center located adjacent to Traditions.

In The Sully Dining Room and adjacent Banquet Room large framed replicas include a 1928 photo of Military Walk, the corps parading for General Dwight D. Eisenhower at Texas A&M's Memorial Student Center, and a 1922 portrait of E. King Gill, the original "12th man, Dixie Classic." It is about 2 x 6 feet and hung above a handsome field stone fireplace as you enter Traditions Club dining facilities.

The maroon and white golf carts are all number "12" in honor of the 12th Man organization, the student body of Texas A&M University and the celebrated 12th man on the playing field. During football season Traditions members have yell practice the Friday evenings before home football games and a shuttle bus to and from Kyle Field on game day. For overnight stays, luxurious on-site Casitas and Cottages can be rented giving guests access to the golf course.

The new complex is 21,000-square-feet with conference space. Outdoor walkways and patios bring the total to 25,000. The exterior palette is field stone, plaster, clear cedar and metal roofing. Covered walkways connect buildings and transition from indoor to outdoor space in a layered effect that reinforces connections to the golf course. Interior finishes are of the finest natural materials. Houston-based architect Kirksey Architects worked with environmental specialists Redding Linden Burr on geothermal exchange to create a "green" clubhouse.

Traditions Club will host wedding receptions, anniversary parties, reunions, charity fundraisers of members and non-members alike with members receiving favorable pricing and the advantage of booking in advance. The Banquet Room seats 160 but combined with the middle dining room can accommodate 200. There are 72 outdoor seats under the porch and on the patio. Members Grill (two rooms) seats 90 and the Wine Room seats 14 for private parties or business meetings. A big-screen TV in the Wine Room also doubles as a video monitor for computer presentations.

Price Waterhouse and others companies have brought groups of 20 or so to stay overnight, take a golf lesson, play a round, order customized club fittings, have dinner and take in an Aggie sporting event.

"In one of the most beautiful settings in Brazos County, the new Traditions Clubhouse is a place where Aggies, right at home surrounded by memorabilia, can gather, socialize, conduct business and share in the spirit of Aggieland," Clements added.

Website: http://www.traditionsclub.com

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