Struggling through the good times

Image: Chris Ryan/KOTO/Adobe Stock

The business of golf is truly on fire, and even more than that, it is moving in new and ever more interesting directions. From personal in-home simulators to amazing practice centers built as much for entertainment as for golf to the sheer explosion of play and players, the game is moving at breakneck speed.

By looking at the number of rounds since the summer of 2020, one can see that golf has turned into more than just a pastime. It now seems more like an obsession for many—an obsession folks keep coming back to over and over again.

In the many years while this industry worked to create growth, we never would have expected that a virus would be the catalyst, unleashing a new, feverish passion for the game we love.

All of this sounds simply amazing until we look at the other side of the coin and see the toll this growth has taken at the property level. From staffing issues, to inexperience, to supply shortages, to the absolute need to clean and sanitize on an almost minute-to-minute basis, putting together a successful day became an extraordinary challenge — one very different from the simpler challenges of times gone by.

Now the struggle for golf club leaders is how to take away the band-aids and temporary fixes and install a game plan that will work in this new era. What are your challenges today? What changes are you attempting to make in this new phase of golf operations? How are you managing through the Great Resignation?

Here are three views that might offer you and your team some focus and direction:

1. It’s a people thing: Building a team with a solid bench is a major way to improve service, enthusiasm, and consistency. Build a specific template for the skills you need. Building a good team takes time. It is about finding one talent at a time. Creating a loyal team is based on solid pay, flexible schedules, earned bonuses with continued opportunity.
2. It’s about the golf course: The golf course isyour product. Work with the superintendent and staff to provide the budget, the equipment and the supplies required to make golf course conditions the talk on the first tee and the 18th green. There may be several areas to trim the budget but the golf course should not be one of them.
3. It’s a communications thing: Making the time for you and your managers to talk to team members and golfers every day is a way for leadership to understand what is happening as well as showing team members and customers how important they are. Finding the time to speak with your people is not a thing to do after the work is done. It isthe important work of the day.

This is a grand time to be part of the golf industry. There is opportunity, passion and good will everywhere. The supply chain is improving and even with out of sight gas prices, people are finding their way to the first tee. It is now time to nurture, to stoke the passion. As this economy moves to becoming less friendly everywhere, it is more important than ever to do all you can to keep the success of the past two years alive and energized. The virus is waning. It is now up to you: value, service, and people helping people.

Jack Dillon writes the In My Opinion post. Jack is an industry expert, an author, speaker and consultant. If you need support with your shop, your team, your operations or your brand contact Jack today. It costs you nothing to learn more. Contact Jack at: 407-973-6136 or at: jackd@careerdividends.com. Jack lives in Orlando and on Zoom.