General Manager, Sweetens Cove Golf Club

Job Description

Job Description

Position Title: General Manager, Sweetens Cove Golf Club

Company: Reef/ Sweetens Cove Golf Club

Location: South Pittsburg, Tennessee

About Reef:

Reef is a Utah-based vertically integrated investment and development firm founded in 2005. Reef's team is currently involved in some of the most prominent development transactions in Utah and other targeted geographies across the United States.

Built on two decades of success, our investment approach combines proven expertise with purposeful innovation. Reef's team has completed more than 500 transactions across all lines of business. In addition to our real estate investment strategy, Reef and/or affiliates own and operate various businesses that add significant long-term value to its projects. We have grown rapidly, growing from about 25 employees to well over 400, with managed assets on behalf of over 750 institutional and individual partners worldwide.

With the motto "Expect the Best," Reef's most prominent developments include Black Desert Resort, a $2 billion luxury resort in Ivins, Utah; Marcella, a luxury private golf community in Park City, Utah; Tributer Resort, Virginia's newest premier private lakeside golf destination; Cornerstone Club, a 5,000-acre residential community, private club, and resort in Telluride, Colorado; Sweetens Cove, a renowned and evolving golf destination nestled in the Tennessee Valley; and the restoration of the historic Coco Palms Resort in Wailua, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

Our culture is defined by a shared set of principles that guide how we think, collaborate, make decisions, and pursue success together. This mindset serves as the foundation for the five principles that define how we work together: first, we are One Reef, always prioritizing the success of the whole over individual agendas; we speak candidly and respond collaboratively; we move in solidarity once a decision is made; we take full accountability for outcomes in our domain; and we refuse to settle for anything less than extraordinary. These aren't aspirational values posted on a wall. They are the behaviors we hire for, develop, reward, and exhibit each day. Candidates who thrive at Reef bring energy, ownership, and a genuine commitment to raising the bar on everything they touch.

Position Summary:

Sweetens Cove is entering a major redevelopment that will expand the property from a nationally recognized daily-fee course into a broader golf and hospitality destination. The General Manager is the top operational leader on-site, fully accountable for running the business day to day and delivering financial performance, guest experience, and team. The Managing Partner sets the vision and long-term strategy and provides governance and oversight; the GM executes it and owns operational results. The GM runs the business today and leads the operational execution of the expansion, standing up the people, systems, and standards required to open and operate a larger destination without losing what makes Sweetens distinctive. This is a builder's seat for a proven operator who can run lean now and scale it into a bigger, more complex operation.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and Operational Strategy

• Serve as the single accountable leader for day-to-day operations; turn the Managing Partner's vision and strategy into an annual operating plan and deliver it.
• Own commercial execution across golf, F&B, retail, and events: positioning, pricing, and growth within the agreed strategy.
• Steward the Sweetens Cove brand day to day and protect the identity that drives its national reputation.

Financial Ownership

• Own the full property P deliver revenue, cost, and margin targets by department.
• Build and manage the annual operating and capital budgets in conjunction with Reef; own the results and explain variances.
• Drive daily-pass revenue, daypart spend, and cost discipline across every revenue center.

Property Operations

• Own daily operations across golf, guest services, F&B, and facilities to a consistent, high standard.
• Set and enforce service standards and operating procedures across every guest touchpoint.
• Coordinate course conditioning and agronomy priorities with the superintendent to protect the core product.

Redevelopment and Pre-Opening

• Lead operational execution of the redevelopment: translate the development plan into staffing, systems, and service readiness.
• Own the pre-opening plan: hiring ramp, training, vendor and technology selection, and opening-sequence logistics.
• Represent the operating perspective in design and construction decisions so the finished product runs efficiently and profitably.

People and Culture

• Recruit, develop, and lead department heads and the seasonal team; build bench strength and succession for a growing operation.
• Build a service culture reflecting Reef's "expect the best" standard and Sweetens' identity.

Stakeholder Management

• Report performance and plans to the Managing Partner and Reef Asset Management on a set cadence.
• Represent Sweetens externally with guests, media, sponsors, community, and partners.
• Manage key vendor and partner relationships to Reef standards.
• Serve as the primary on-site liaison to Reef's remote accounting team, providing the local financial inputs, approvals, and documentation they need to keep the books accurate and current.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years in progressively senior hospitality, resort, club, or golf operations, including prior GM-level or equivalent full P&L ownership.
• Demonstrated pre-opening, renovation, or expansion leadership (strongly preferred given the redevelopment).
• Golf and/or destination-resort background with command of agronomy, retail, and F&B economics.
• Proven record building teams, service culture, and brand in a growth environment.
• Strong financial acumen: full P&L, budgeting, revenue management, and capital planning.
• Comfort being on-property and visible in a rural destination market.

Company Benefits:

• 401(k) Plan with Company Match
• Generous Health Plan with HSA Match
• Flexible Paid Time-off
• Daily Company Lunches
• Cell Phone Service Allowance
• Discounts at Company-owned Resorts and Golf Courses