How Forsyth Country Club grew group fitness 100% and gained the edge over rivals

Hi Renate, tell us about your club?

Renate Van Staden (RVS): We’re a renowned country club in central Winston-Salem with a rich history that dates back to our founding in 1913. It’s a premium private members club that offers tennis, golf, swimming, pickleball, functions and dining to our 2,000 members (including families). I oversee the 20,000 sq ft fitness facility, which pulls in 7,000 check-ins per month – second only to golf in terms of footfall. We’ve been on a strong growth trajectory since emerging from the pandemic, with membership growing 25 to 30% since 2021.

What makes your fitness facility such a strong performer?

RVS: We’ve got great facilities and a broad variety of offerings, underpinned by an excellent team. Personal training is a strong area for us and we average around 900 sessions per month. There’s a lot to love here, but we’ve become very well-known in the community for our group fitness offering in recent years and it’s helped us steal a march on nearby clubs. For any premium country club experience, great service and a strong sense of community are key ingredients and so our timetable really comes to the fore. We’ve grown class participation by more than 100% in recent years and we now offer 190 classes per month across our three studios, with group fitness accounting for roughly 25% of total gym check-ins.

What’s been the key to your success?

RVS: When I joined the facility in late 2017, our group training offering was a real mess, with all sorts of freestyle offerings and very little cohesion. I had a strong background in group fitness dating back to my youth growing up in South Africa, and I was brought in by our late General Manager Lee Smith to turn things around. As soon as I took over I brought Les Mills into the club and it’s really helped to turbocharge our group fitness offering. Our members absolutely love the classes because they can see that the quality of a Les Mills Instructor is vastly superior to any other because of the training they receive. And from an operational perspective, the support and insight that Les Mills brings to the table is invaluable in keeping our club moving forward.

Having industry experts on the end of the phone is a real asset for any busy club operator. This was especially true during the pandemic, when we were able to work with Les Mills to quickly level-up our digital offering and keep members engaged when they couldn’t make it to the club. Enhancing our digital offering was something that’s continued to pay dividends – especially as our members tend to travel a lot and still want to be able to tap into our club’s resources to stay active while they’re away.

What programs perform best on your timetable?

RVS: BODYPUMP and RPM are two standout programs for us, while LES MILLS GRIT is another strong performer. We combine LES MILLS programs with some freestyle offerings and this ensures there’s something for everyone. As a result, we see a broad range of members coming to our classes, with teens getting in on the action and increasing number of men attending our yoga classes. We’re also seeing strong appetite for pool-based activity; in addition to swimming, we have popular pool-based classes and a growing number of members doing extended sessions of water-treading.

How do you find great Instructors to deliver your programs?

RVS: Everyone has strong opinions on Instructors and this is especially true in a country club like ours where the members have high standards and are very vocal about what they do and don’t like. When I took the reins here I put the most promising Instructors through LES MILLS Instructor training to enhance their skillsets and give them really solid foundations to build from. I was able to attract highly-trained Les Mills Instructors through LES MILLS CONNECT and have placed advertisements on our website for Group Exercise Instructors. A few of my instructors also teach in other facilities and reached out for subbing opportunities. You always have to be on the lookout as you can never have too many great Instructors.

What’s in store for the future?

RVS: We’ve performed really well coming out of the pandemic and seen a strong uptick in membership, but changes to the public school term times proved to be a challenge this Summer, so we’re working through how we overcome these challenges in 2025. There’s a strong trend towards stretch-based programming and offerings in the US right now, so we’ve ridden off the back of that and started offering stretch sessions that can help our members with other activities as well, such as their golf and tennis games. Half of our membership live within two minutes of the club, so we aim to make ourselves a one-stop shop that can cater to all their wellness and leisure needs. We’re always on the lookout for the next innovation so we can continue to raise the bar.