When its leadership, helmed by owner and developer Davis Robson, committed The Club at Forest Ridge to a full transition from semi-private to fully private, they were making a calculated business move that a lot of owners around the country have considered and quietly walked away from. The market doesn’t always cooperate. Member bases don’t always buy in. And the gap between what a club says it will become and what it actually delivers has sunk more than one ambitious private-club conversion.
Eighteen months later, the numbers reveal, resoundingly, that this was the right move at the right time. Since the start of 2025, Forest Ridge has added 185 net new members and grown membership revenue by more than 40% year over year. The club brought in 105 new members in 2025 alone, for a net gain of 80, and through just the first four months of 2026 it added another 110 new members — already a net gain of 105 for the year. Total membership is now closing in on 500, including nearly 300 golf members.
For Robson, the headline number isn’t really the headline.
“Anytime you go through a transition like this, there’s a level of uncertainty, no matter how much research you do and how prepared you think you are,” he says. “It’s always uncertain until the public buys into your vision. This is one of those times where it really worked out, and our members and the community backed us. We’re just really excited to be able to deliver this level of product for our members and residents— in Forest Ridge as a whole, the future is really looking up.”
A Plan Built Before the Pitch
Robson is quick to point out that the transition wasn’t a leap of faith so much as a calculated, well-funded sequence — one where the club proved its vision before going fully private.
“Anytime you’re transitioning a public entity into something exclusive and private, there has to be some level of investment, to build the amenities to match the differing perception you’re trying to attain,” he explains. “We feel very strongly that this continued investment is a key component of the success. Not just what we’ve done to get to this point, but a cadence of continued improvements in a planned-out manner as we go forward.”
That cadence is currently being formalized into a comprehensive plan of resort-tier programming and capital improvements, with Bobby Jones Links playing a central role in ensuring the operations are consistent with the vision and member expectation.
“Long term, our plan is to continue elevating the member experience at Forest Ridge in every category. This includes everything from major capital improvements to hospitality focused staff. We are committed to creating memorable moments for our members at every opportunity,” Robson says.
Transparency as a Growth Strategy
If there’s a throughline in Robson’s vision and success strategy, it’s transparency — serving as the operating principle that turned a conspicuous pivot into a community-focused rallying point. The data backs him up: the club’s public commitment to going fully private, announced in November 2025, created urgency in the market while reinforcing exclusivity and long-term value, a combination that helped drive initiation fees and gave members a clearly defined sense of the value they could partake in.
“Even though it’s privately owned, it’s important that the members feel it’s their club.” Robson says. “So even though we have a master plan of improvement areas, the sequencing and final design will be based on member surveys at the end of the year — what the members want to see. It lets us tweak the plan and really create a living roadmap that can adjust based on member priorities.”
That willingness to show the work — rather than simply announce the outcome — became the club’s quiet differentiator in a region where private conversions don’t always land smoothly.
Building a Resort-Caliber Escape
Ask Robson what success looks like on the ground, and he doesn’t point to a balance sheet — he points to how the property gets used.
“You go to some country clubs, and they build these big, palatial clubhouses, and there are all these dead zones that aren’t getting used,” he says of the broader industry. At Forest Ridge, the goal was the opposite: a true resort-style club where every part of the property is vibrant, utilized, and integrated into the daily life of the members. “We had an incredible opportunity to do this at Forest Ridge, because of the affiliation with the development and being connected to more than 1,600 homes — We love that a large portion of our membership can drive their golf cart to the club for a round of golf then stop by the pool on the way home to cool off or meet up with family. If they aren’t golfers, then maybe they stop by the new Racquets Pavilion to play some tennis or pickleball or just stop by one of the bars on the way home from work for a quick drink with friends and fellow members.”
The overarching vision is to create a community at the club where members experience exceptional service, top tier amenities, and can create long-term connections and friends. This is accomplished through the ongoing improvement plans and implementing intentional programming to integrate new members into the community based on their interests.
A meaningful recent improvement was the completion of The Racquets Pavilion in September of last year. It’s an indoor dome that made a true year-round racquet sports program possible in Oklahoma’s climate. “The dome was a key component, because it launched a membership category and program that we couldn’t offer without it,” Robson says. “In Oklahoma, in order to build a racquets program, you need an indoor facility. The pavilion let us jump in with both feet, and it’s been key to making this transition in the way we envisioned.”
The Bobby Jones Links Effect
Robson is candid that vision and capital only get a private-club conversion so far. The rest comes down to whether the experience matches the promise once members actually walk through the door — and that’s where he credits Bobby Jones Links directly.
“This is where I really need to give Bobby Jones some credit,” he says. “Going from a public facility to a private facility, a lot of the perception issues are around member experience, and you must have a knowledgeable and present management team that reinforces the commitment to hospitality and an upscale, private member experience. Bobby Jones Links has done that extremely well over the past year and a half.”
For Robson, that level of service isn’t incidental — it’s the actual product. “The core of a private club is service and experience,” he says. “You can go down the road to any municipal course, play a round of golf, and grab a burger. Being a member of a private club means exclusivity and service are paramount. We want our members to know that whenever they step foot in the club, every concern they have, any request they have, is our top priority. It’s all about hitting the little moments — you want little successes in every experience they have at the club.”
Behind the scenes, that partnership extended well beyond service training. The broader growth strategy combined consistent messaging across digital, print, PR, member, and community channels — including targeted paid social campaigns aimed at golfers, families, racquet-sports players, and lifestyle audiences. The club also leaned into strategic partnerships, including professional Pickleball programming that introduced new audiences to the property and added fresh energy to the racquet sports experience.
Robson is careful to note that a focused membership director, strong club leadership, and a team genuinely building toward the future private model, rather than just maintaining the old semi-private status quo, turned that interest into actual membership growth.
Remembering Joe Robson
“I would like to take a moment to honor the man who founded this club, my father, Joe Robson. He passed away in December, shortly before the official announcement of this transition. The move to a private country club represents a vision that he and I worked toward together for nearly a decade. None of what we are celebrating today would have been possible without his foresight, dedication, and investment.
It is a tremendous honor to carry his legacy forward as the club begins this exciting new chapter. I only wish he could be here to see the vision we shared become a reality,” Davis Robson added.
What Comes Next
With more than 500 members now calling Forest Ridge home, Robson isn’t treating the private conversion as a finish line — it’s the foundation for the next phase.
“One thing that really sets us apart from a lot of other clubs around the country is that we’re not landlocked,” he says. That open land is exactly what the master plan, developed in partnership with Bobby Jones Links and a soon-to-be-selected architect, is designed to capitalize on. “Bobby Jones will play a pivotal role in continuing to keep our service standards high and shepherding us through future expansion plans. They’ve managed clubs all over the country, they’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. A lot of it comes down to vetting the different amenities we put in and the timeframes for putting them in place. It’s really a dynamic partnership between ownership and Bobby Jones, and it’s allowed this level of success — everybody jumping in, playing to everybody’s strengths, and coming away with a plan that’s intentional and guided by the members interests.”
The journey from one of Oklahoma’s prototypical semi-private clubs to one of the region’s fastest growing private clubs has been an entertaining ride. And, from the looks of things, the club’s next chapter will be just as entertaining and driven by service and incomparable member experiences.
