Pay It Forward Golf (PIFG)

"Attaining a Head Professional Position" featuring Andrew Fisher of The Kansas City Country Club

2012-02-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

In the winter of 2010/2011, Andrew Fisher obtained his first Head Professional position at The Kansas City Country Club in Mission Hills, KS. Immediately prior to KCCC, Andrew spent valuable time at The Country Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With that being said, he has some great perspective to offer us on how he finally crossed the threshold.

Often times, the process of attaining a Head Professional position is grueling. On top of that, most interview processes are different, and we never really know what to expect until they let us know what the itinerary is. Andrew provides us with some great perspective into how his interview process went at The Kansas City Country Club:

The interview process at The Kansas City Country Club was comprised of two rounds. The first round was conducted at the club. It consisted of meeting most of the department heads of the club, a complete tour of the club’s facilities (led by two members of the club) and a two-hour interview with the committee and the General Manager. The second round followed quickly (10 days later) and was a very in-depth process. It involved my wife for most of the day. My wife and I had breakfast with the GM, committee members and two additional members. We then returned to the club where I provided some golf instruction and met for a second conversation with the committee. My wife was given a tour of the city by some of the members. Later we reconvened for lunch with the President of the club, Search Committee Chairman, three additional committee members and the General Manager. We had a break and then joined the entire committee for dinner at the club. I was notified a couple of days later that the job was being offered to me.

We have all heard it before - networking, networking, networking. To get your foot in the door for the interview process, there really isn't anything more valuable than your network and utilizing it effectively. Andrew fills us in on how used his network:

Having the opportunity to work for Brendan Walsh and The Country Club was the greatest break in my career. That opportunity obviously created unique relationships that I would not have otherwise been exposed to. However, with the opportunity at The Kansas City Country Club, I was able to call on resources from all points in my career. The first General Manager I ever worked for, several former members at various clubs along with current references all played a very significant role in this process. It goes without saying that maintain and developing great relationships and networking in so important. You never know who could help you and who you could help in return.

Something that can be easily overlooked when try to get an interview for a HP position is making sure our resumes are tailored specifically for the position we are pursuing. Andrew sheds some light on how he tailored his resume to match the job responsibilities/qualifications for his position:

Typically, the job posting will list bullet points the club’s committee/ownership feels are crucial to the hiring of that position. This is the key criteria in matching your strengths to their needs. It is imperative to address these topics in your resume and supporting materials. The order and priority of my resume and interview preparation was geared to answer these specific points clearly and easily.

Once Andrew got his foot in the door, it then became a matter of preparation, particularly for the materials he would use during the interview process. How we assemble our portfolio and conduct the activities required of us during the interview process is crucial. Andrew explains:

I have been fortunate to experience the interview process at different facilities and each process has had its own unique identity. For the interview at KCCC, a personalized portfolio was prepared for each committee member. The order of the topics covered in my portfolio was based on the order of bullet points covered in the job posting. I was also asked to conduct a lesson. For this process, I created clinic materials as well as information for an individual lesson. The materials were created personally for each of the committee members and gave them the experience even if they were not receiving the lesson themselves. For the second interview, I brought an “action plan” for the first 90 days on property. The plan presentations were created using power point and prepared for each member of the committee. The committee had not asked for it, but we felt it was better to be over prepared than under prepared.

Many assistant professionals are vying for very few HP positions in today's current environment. With that said, Andrew gives us some great advice when we go through the process:

I would give three points of advice that have really helped me throughout this process. First, work hard every day. This sounds obvious, however I see so many young assistants worrying about where their next job is going to be instead of truly embracing the current opportunity they occupy. If you do a good job, take great pride in your efforts and have patience, good things will come. Second, take a moment and really get to know people. Establishing your contacts will come more easily if you truly enjoy creating them. You never know who you will meet and what that relationship could lead to down the road. Finally, when it comes to the interview process...PRACTICE! This is so important. Develop a plan and rehearse the interview over and over with someone watching. Create a little pressure on yourself to perform. Brendan instilled this idea into us at The Country Club. Being totally prepared will help you enjoy the actual interview process, help you to stay relaxed and allow you share your genuine personality with the committee.

There is a rumor that selection committees put an emphasis on where we are immediately coming from. When asked how much of a role did the name of his past club play in the process, Andrew tells it straight:

It definitely played a huge roll. We are so fortunate to be a part of The Country Club family. Working for Brendan was such a rewarding and learning experience. The benefit was not just for this interview process, but for the rest of my career.

Hopefully you have taken a few things from Andrew. It has become very difficult to attain a HP position these days, let alone get our foot in the door. Simple yet poignant pieces of information like these from Andrew can help us out tremendously in gaining perspective and knowing what to expect and how to approach the interview process.

"Valuable Lessons - As You Strive for Success" by Bob Mulcahy

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

For this installment, PIFG welcomes Bob Mulcahy, President & CEO of Golf Business Network (GBN, formerly known as AMF Golf Management). GBN was established by veteran golf professionals to meet the needs of a rapidly changing industry. It's founding principles are simple: Even the most accomplished need ongoing guidance and support to deliver greater value to their clubs. Today GBN has more than 1,000 golf professionals among it's members. The company has expanded it's mission to include career development services for Assistant Professionals who aspire to become Head Professionals. With a new year comes a new perspective. We hope you can learn from the perspective of Mr. Mulcahy as you begin 2012!

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I was honored when Brian Dobak asked me to contribute to his website, Pay It Forward Golf. I admire Brian’s enthusiasm and dedication to our profession, so I was glad to participate. First and foremost, I have great empathy for Assistant Golf Professionals as you deal with the current industry landscape. Climbing the career ladder is far more difficult than it was just 10 years ago. The reasons are numerous:

Golf courses are contracting, compared to a decade ago new facilities were opening daily.
Rounds of golf are declining and people are leaving the game.
The job market is far more competitive and there are fewer jobs available.

But things are not all doom and gloom for the private club industry. Many leading clubs have re-tooled and re-worked their models to survive and succeed. Our leading Golf Professionals have learned to adapt and have become more valuable leaders for their clubs in this transition. They have thought outside the traditional box and will continue to be successful.

Success in our field may come down to one basic reality—You learn, so you can lead.

Your desire is to be the person who sets the vision, creates an atmosphere, inspires a staff to work hard and work together. To consistently do that you need to be constantly learning the nuances of golf operations and business in general. When your knowledge is continually increasing, you’re able to adapt. You have answers to the next problem on the horizon. You offer your point of view, you give direction, and people are glad to follow.

I had the great fortune to spend eight years with Bob Ross at Baltusrol Golf Club. He was the consummate Golf Professional and a person I admired every day. What he taught me is as relevant now as it was back then. Bob’s requirements of himself were as follows:

Always treat every member with a positive attitude and made them feel special in a genuine way.
Establish yourself as a great teacher of the game of golf to your students and a teacher of the game of life to your staff.
Personally fit people for golf equipment—Bob did this in an era when clubfitting barely existed on a formal basis.
Provide a golf program that is better every year than it was the previous year.
Never stay in the office when a member came into the golf shop—take every opportunity to have a personal interaction.

There is no question that Bob Ross was a huge influence in my professional development and I am forever grateful to him. I was fortunate to have other mentors through my career that instilled different values and attributes that I incorporated into my management philosophy. These include:

David Branon, whom I had the pleasure to work for over an eight-year period at Slazenger Golf. He had a tremendous passion for the Golf Professional that was second to none and a work ethic that made you envious. He made me realize that it is possible to follow your dreams as long you are passionate about those dreams. David was an idealist who believed anything was possible and usually had a way of making it happen. He was a true motivator of the people around him.
Geoff Gorman who was David’s partner, shared his passion, but had a different style and wanted to prove why things work and then build the best product possible. His work ethic matched David’s and my lesson from Geoff was that you can build your own style.
Bob and Andy Jones, both of whom I had the pleasure of working with at Slazenger. Bob Jones was the ultimate gentlemen. He showed me, a young sales rep, how to dress for success, how to treat a customer with respect, and how to handle yourself in difficult situations. I had the pleasure to work with Bob’s son Andy at Slazenger in some custom programs for my high-profile accounts. Andy is tireless worker who taught me the value of organization.
Jerry Pittman, under whom I worked for a season at Seminole Golf Club. We had so many memorable discussions about this industry and life’s trials and tribulations—talks I still reflect on. Jerry taught me how to be an organized businessman and how important financial decisions can be and how to think through those decisions.

All of my mentors were great leaders who exposed me to a range of leadership skills that I have tried to put into my own life. They also all possessed a strong work ethic that is imperative for success. For future success you need to learn how to be a leader. This comes through observing, asking questions of your mentors, and never losing that desire to be the best.

Recently, a young man came to the office for advice on whether or not he should pursue a career as a Golf Professional. I told him that if he was willing to work hard, had a passion for the game of golf, and understood that it takes time for advancement then he should wholeheartedly pursue a career as a Golf Professional. If you look at all the successful people in the world they share two common traits; one, a strong work ethic, and two, have an inner passion for what they do in life. They want to lead, and they do what’s necessary to be strong leaders. You can start that process by:

Learning and understanding how the Golf Professional brings value to the club on a daily basis. As you’re helping this leader to run a great program, understand why it is a great program so you can build your own vision.
Taking pride in your appearance and attitude on a daily basis. Today’s club members are keenly sensitive to any negativity, as they are coming to the club to escape their own problem-filled world. The stress of the current marketplace makes this more difficult but it is critically important for you “fake to make it” if necessary.
Striving to be the best player you can be and make it enjoyable for others to play with you. While it is not necessary be able to win events, it is imperative that you can make the game enjoyable for others.
Establishing yourself as a proficient instructor for all levels of players. Making the game enjoyable is the only way to keep people in the game, which is critical to member recruitment and member retention.
Developing a plan to track people you have met through your golf activities (member-guests, Pro-Ams, etc.). These may become valuable references in job searches in other parts of the country.

My advice to those of you who strive to be the best is to continue to work on these skills every day and you will realize your full potential. Golf Business Network is committed to providing the information and services that will assist in making you standout. You stand out by being supportive of your Golf Professional and striving each day to make the golf experience at your club the very best that it can be. Take advantage of this information and these services to build the case for why you are the best choice to run a club’s golf program.

"Club Politics" - Managing Workplace Politics

2012-01-02T14:55:00.007-05:00

Not only is club politics something we have to be aware of, but even workplace politics is something we have to juggle as well. Over the past year, I read a number of articles about workplace politics and in this final installment of the "Club Politics" series, I have tried my best to convey what I learned and a little bit about what I have learned in my own humble experiences. Something tells me that many golf professionals in general can relate to the subject of workplace politics in their own unique way.

A golf operation begins and ends with the Head Professional, but many operations are cultivated in a way where going to work in the morning can sometimes feel like walking on to the set of an episode of "All My Children". I once had a job that was very similar to this. Between all of the intrigues and rivalries, it can be a nightmare to navigate through it all and actually help run a golf operation. Working at a club like this isn’t pretty. Hopefully this article will grow your perspective and help you make the golf shop environment a much more pleasant place to work in.

Avoid Gossip from Members and Employees and Always Remain Objective

Participation in gossip is usually the fastest entry point into workplace politics. Usually the person who is letting you in on the latest news is consciously or subconsciously trying to align you with their point of view, or negatively dispose you towards others. Gossip is very often a double-edged sword: Whoever gossips to you will someday gossip about you if they haven’t already. Gossip can also unfairly poison your views of your colleagues and influence your judgment if you have to make decisions that affect them.

Not participating in gossip sounds easy. Chances are many of us realize the destructiveness of gossip and yet still indulge in it at the same time. Making the decision to avoid gossip often requires overcoming your fear about standing out from the crowd. However, it might be possible to take that stand tactfully. Do your best to stay objective. Involve your opinion as little as possible in non-business matters and be fact-centered.

Long-Term Harmony above Short-Term Gain

If you happen to disagree with a colleague over the best approach to an issue, try and take your own ego out of it and stand in their shoes for a moment. Golf shop politics tends to focus on the person rather than the idea, so try and detach the two. In many cases, there may be little or no difference in the effectiveness of the two rival approaches, and it may be best to just go along with the other idea to keep harmony. A 90% perfect solution done in unison can often be better then the 100% perfect solution which was only achieved at the cost of conflict.

Respect Others’ Territory

Sometimes people regard their golf operations competencies as their ‘territory’ and will guard them against all-comers. Early on in my career, I worked with an experienced assistant professional who wouldn’t train the other assistants in how to use the merchandising and inventory software because he admittedly thought that being the only one who knew how to operate it was his job security. Employees like this might feel they have absolute expertise in the area, and are seriously put out if someone is interested in learning about that expertise. Often the best approach in this case is just to let them have it, but make it clear that if they ever would like help, you're willing to learn and are not very far away. There are plenty of other opportunities in a golf operation to take on and learn.

Seek to Understand, Before Being Understood

It is said that that the reason people feel unjustified is because they felt misunderstood. Instinctively, we are more interested in getting people to understand us, than to understand them first. Surprisingly, seeking to understand is a very disarming technique. Once the other party feels that you understand where he/she is coming from, they will feel less defensive and be open to understand you in return. This sets the stage for open communications to arrive at a solution that both parties can accept. Trying to arrive at a solution without first having this understanding is very difficult - there is little trust and too much second-guessing, an environment ripe for negative workplace politics.

Keep the Faith

Of course, one of the main causes of golf shop politics is because we are hoping to advance within the operation and onward, leading to the temptation to keep an eye on potential rival golf professionals for promotion. Let’s face it, the golf business is extremely competitive and pays little. The golf professionals you work with now can one day be your competition for an HP job later. What we don’t realize is that all this worrying about others is essentially a lack of faith in ourselves, and that all the problems mentioned in the first three points – gossiping, territory, etc. – are just ’shortcuts’ we take because we are afraid we won’t go places on our own merit alone. But conversely, not indulging in these behaviors demonstrates strength, courage, tact and a feeling for managing people – qualities which many clubs would pay well for! Don't be afraid about standing out from the crowd for the right reasons. Be confident in yourself and do your job and see where it will take you!

"Club Politics" with Bruce Patterson from Butler National Golf Club

2011-12-19T11:51:00.001-05:00

Club politics can be an area of "thin ice", but as assistant professionals working to become head professionals, it would seem important to have some involvement with club politics so that when we do make that step, we are ready for the challenges. Bruce Patterson from Butler National Golf Club shares his views on the subject of club politics for assistant professionals and how we can gain some experience in such a dicey realm.

A big part of club politics is just being out there in the action, on the frontline and being a part of the daily conversations and situations that arise. The more you are out there, the more you will encounter issues that, although you may not handle them directly, you will be able to measure the situation and form your own opinion on how you would act. Bruce Patterson states this very aspect:

I allow my assistants to be on the front line in several areas such as rules in tournaments, making pairings for events, and attending golf committee meetings. My assistants are responsible for all of the buying of goods for the golf shop, so they are exposed to dealing with salespeople and communicating with the membership about why they choose certain companies. Also, I allow them to negotiate with large groups, setting up outing fees, and prices.

Some of these aspects Bruce talks about are aspects that are usually left to the Head Professional or somebody higher up. But by allowing his assistant professionals the autonomy and ability to be an integral part of these areas, the assistant professionals are being entrenched in the politics of the club.

Every golf operation is different, and the Head Professional sets the tone. There may not be a better avenue to experience club politics than attending golf committee meetings. Not every HP allows their assistant professionals to attend committee meetings, however some do. The ones that do are doing a huge favor for their assistant professionals. Bruce further discusses this important component of an assistant professionals learning experience:

They sit in on Golf Committee meetings where they share their opinions about tournament ideas and schedules, as well as member-related groups and time restriction policies in regards to guest play. They share their opinions and are held accountable for them as well.

It’s one thing to sit in on golf committee meetings, but it’s another thing to actually speak up and provide input at the meetings. Many assistant professionals are allowed to “observe” committee meetings, however they aren’t allowed to speak up in them. Bruce definitely steps it up a notch by allowing them to provide input. As assistant professionals, we don’t always know what to say in a given situation, and because of this there is the risk of getting cornered or coming off saying the wrong thing. It’s similar to teaching. We can “observe” an instructor teach the game all we want, but we don’t truly start learning how to teach until we actually start doing the teaching. If a HP is truly trying to set up conditions for his/her assistants to learn, he’ll not only allow them to observe meetings, but put their input and opinions into practice!!

When assistant professionals finally do attain their first Head Professional job, it can be difficult waters to navigate as they move forward in their position from year to year. Over his tenure at Butler National, Bruce has cultivated a club politics “philosophy” that has worked well for him and his staff:

I have always attempted to be fair and balanced. I bend first to understand the member’s perspective and allow it to pass, but if needed, I will stand up to any member if I know what is being challenged is wrong and not in the best interest of the club as a whole.

I think one thing we can all relate to as golf professionals, is that we can’t please everybody. Another aspect we can all relate to is balancing members trying to pull you into issues while keeping your distance enough to stay out of it, however still making them happy. Bruce has a nice way of thinking about this situation that helps him draw the line:

I try to apply this principle to all situations; if I have 100 players on a given day and 4 are not making it enjoyable for the remaining 100, then I would happily upset 4 vs. the other 96! Also, I was an assistant for a year and a half at my own club and I observed how each member would demand their own pricing for a guest, so when my time came I explained to the members my policy was for ALL members. Although I may have lost some business at first, I gained and established the respect of guidelines from the membership in the long run.

Because of how many situations arise on a daily basis, as assistant professionals, we are a lot more engulfed in club politics than we may realize. Bruce ends with some simple yet great tactics to follow when trying to handle politics but also get our feet wet in them so we are ready for our Head Professional positions:

Listen, observe and take notes about what seems to work and what does not work. You will learn from experience and proper record keeping.

Bruce is right. We have to keep our eyes and ears open. It’s easy to let our guard down and take a break from listening throughout the day. Sometimes we aren’t paying close attention to situations we are in or others around you are in. The more we can do this, the more we’ll recognize club politics in action and we can start forming a basis of knowledge to carry on with us in the future.

"Club Politics" with C.W. Canfield from The Ford Plantation

2011-12-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

C.W. Canfield is the Director of Golf at The Ford Plantation in Savannah, Georgia and he is in his 10th year at the exclusive, private club. Before his current position at Ford, he was the lead assistant professional under Gordon Johnson at Houston Country Club, so C.W. came from a great training ground going into The Ford Plantation. With that said, Ford is C.W.'s first Head Professional position, so he is able to provide us with some great perspective about what he has learned since he arrived there a decade ago. To start off, C.W. makes it very clear the importance of evaluating the governance structure:

Navigating Through the Governance Structure

Club politics typically differ in established clubs vs. newly formed clubs. Established clubs typically have the Club President or General Manger acting as “CEO.” Club committees and the club Board provide input to the CEO, but do not get involved with running the club operations. Many “young” clubs with newly established Boards and committees tend to be more involved in the daily operations. There are exceptions to this theory, but we’ll use this model as a guide. As a young professional, you have to indentify and understand the governance at your club. If you are working at an established private club, chances are you’ll rarely see club politics at work. If you work at a newer club, you will see club politics in action. However it’s important to know that club politics aren’t always negative.

Chain of Command

One of the most important aspects for assistant professionals to understand is making sure the appropriate lines of communication are being utilized. Overstepping our boundaries or skipping over someone in the chain of command can get us in trouble. C.W. expands upon this:

As a rule of thumb, always use your Chain of Command when asked a question by a member that may put you in an awkward position. All members will understand if you simply say…’let me speak with my Head Professional and I’ll get back with you.’ Lean on your HP or Director of Golf to help navigate through murky waters with established policies and procedures.

Brushing Up On Your Ability to Manage Club Politics

When asked how assistant professionals can brush up on their familiarity with club politics so their first few years as an HP can be smoother, C.W. had this to say:

Make your self a leader and manager. A leader provides vision and influences people in a positive way—staff and members. A manager manages activities—schedules, tournaments, counseling subordinates et cetera. Effective Professionals are capable of both. Ask to go to meetings with your HP or DOG. Ask for more responsibility within the golf operation. Lead by example—appearance, dedication to the profession of golf, be visible and available within the operation.

Getting “Cornered”

What about when situations arise and we are more or less cornered by a member. Some times it’s hard to find the correct things to say on the spot in these situations. C.W. continues with his advice:

When confronted by a member about a club issue, if you’re going to indulge in the conversation, keep your thoughts as objective as possible and use fact-based answers to questions. If you follow some of these guidelines that I have outlined, you’ll experience club politics and you will be less likely to experience any negative effects from them.

Nobody is perfect in this profession and nobody is mistake-free. We all make mistakes and club politics is an area where assistant golf professionals can be very vulnerable if it is not approached correctly. Hopefully this contribution from C.W. Canfield has grown your perspective on club politics and gives you a chance to make the right moves and avoid some mistakes that might occur otherwise.

"Club Politics" with Bruce Williams of Bruce Williams Golf Consulting

2011-11-21T10:02:00.005-05:00

Isn’t it funny that many of the most important things we can learn are the things we don’t learn in a classroom, rather from practical, real world experience? Such is the case with club politics. When it comes to club politics, you won’t find a course or seminar in the PGA's Professional Golf Management Program. Trial by fire is usually how we’re going to learn to manage an area as sensitive as club politics.

Bruce Williams of Bruce Williams Golf Consulting brings with him over 30 years of experience in turfgrass management and golf industry consulting. Bruce was a Michigan State University turgrass grad and has served in various leadership positions in the PGA of America and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ameria. With successful tenures at Bob O'Link Golf Club and Los Angeles Country Club, Bruce has experienced his fair share of club politics. His insights resonate with golf professionals, so hopefully you can learn a thing or two from them.

Keys to Long Term Success

Understanding club politics is essential to long term success and employment at a club. Bob Ford has been the Head Professional at Oakmont Country Club for more than 30 years. Don’t think for a second that it hasn’t been his ability to smoothly maneuver around the clubs politics that has played a part in allowing him to maintain his position.

When speaking of the keys to long term success, club politics is right in the thick of things. Bruce aptly states:

When I think of those that have been employed by their clubs for a quarter century of more, I find that the common denominator is their ability to understand their membership, communicate clearly to them, and provide operations that are acceptable to a majority of the membership.

Keep Perspective

As golf professionals, it’s important to recognize that club members spend a lot of their hard earned money to belong to the club and because of that they want to be a part of the decision making process if it effects their pocket. Bruce continues on this subject:

Politics is an art and a science. People are passionate about their clubs and that is why they belong to them. In most scenarios, members of a private club are equity owners. It’s important to think of each and every one of them as an owner of the club. While they have no official authority over operations, they surely have influence as a shareholder in the business.

Movers & Shakers

Every club has a handful of members that, regardless of whether they are on a committee or not, they make themselves heard and they ultimately make things happen, which isn't so much a bad thing. I can already think of two or three at my club that fit this bill. It's important that we know who these members are from the onset so we know how to approach them. Bruce explains this dynamic a little bit more:

Some members have more influence than others and it is important to understand who these “movers and shakers” are. Every club seems to have a handful of members who can and do exert influence over the elected board and appointed committees.

Communication

One of the biggest components of club politics is communication. Bruce expands upon this:

In your position, you will spend a fair amount of time developing plans, schedules, and alternatives in a changing golf business environment. You will be most most effective when you spend the time to communicate with as many members as possible and educate them on the business side of golf operations. Today this can be accomplished through blogs, email updates, newsletters, town hall meetings, and overall interaction with the membership. Each and every year, new members join the club and new faces appear on the committee and on the Board. No two people are alike and intuitive golf professionals find out quickly the best way to deal with each member, particularly those within the governance structure.

Take an Active Role Today and Ensure Your Future at the Club

Taking an active role in even the most non-descript of circumstances can make a difference down the road. For example, never underestimate the influence of any one member at your club. It is important to treat all members as though they could be your boss in the future. Bruce hits a home run with a great example:

I had a summer job at a very nice private club while I was in college. The golf course was surrounded by homes and many of them were residences of club members. Just outside of one property line, there was a tee that each weekend would be littered by empty beverage cans and such. I suggested to the golf course superintendent that we speak to the father (a club member) of the kids who were having parties and littering each weekend. The superintendent told me to take 5 minutes and clean it up. He followed that comment with “If you plan on staying at a club for 20 years or more, that kid could eventually become your green chairman and he won’t forget.” I surely never forgot that lesson in club politics and I have always tried to treat every member as though they might eventually be the person I report to.

Managing club politics is something that is difficult to learn as an assistant professional. We’re just not as heavily involved with the behind-the-scenes issues as our Head Professionals and Directors of Golf are. However that doesn’t mean we can’t take steps to familiarize ourselves with the ins and outs of club politics so we are at least somewhat prepared when we become Head Professionals. Hopefully this installment gave you some perspective on the subject of club politics as you move towards becoming a Head Professional, and you can now go into your current clubs issues with better care and a sounder game plan.

"Club Politics" with Bob Ford from Oakmont CC & Seminole GC

2011-11-07T07:58:00.003-05:00

The land of club politics is a place where if it's not harvested properly, you'll soon find yourself walking on egg shells. Club politics can be an area of thin ice, but as assistant professionals working to become head professionals, it would seem important to have some involvement with club politics so that when we do make that step, we are ready for the challenges. The problem is that assistant professionals can only be so involved, so it makes it tough to become well-versed in politics-aversion/management.

Bob Ford, Head Professional at Oakmont Country Club and Seminole Golf Club, has continued his generosity by providing PIFG with some great perspective on how he involves his assistant professionals in club politics and how he has managed club politics for 30+ years at Oakmont.
Mr. Ford begins by filling us in on the roles of his assistant professionals:

Only my top two guys are involved in club politics, one at Oakmont and one at Seminole. They go to committee meetings, they contribute their ideas, provide input, and they are asked of their opinion. For my other assistant professionals, I pretty much just tell them to keep their head down and dodge the bullets. If they continue to work hard, they'll have an opportunity to move up the chain and be in a position where they can be more involved with club politics.

Club politics can get pretty nasty sometimes if we are not careful. It would seem that, in the case of Oakmont's golf operation, it is more efficient to have just one assistant involved instead of two, three, four, or more. That way communication is streamlined, and their really doesn't have to be any worry about misconstrued messages coming from several different individuals.

Additionally, it's one thing to be able to observe committee meetings and take the minutes, which is a situation that many “high ranking” assistant professionals are in. There is a lot to be learned from that. But it's great to hear that Bob's top assistants are encouraged to actually provide input and offer opinions at the meetings. That is something that may not be as common as it should be. Actually contributing in the committee meetings steps up the learning process because we get to learn what works and what doesn't work, as well as how to communicate properly in the situations that committee meetings present.

In speaking with Bob, we can also learn that involvement in club politics can even come in the most basic of ways:

As an assistant professional, just your daily work will involve you in club politics to a certain degree. As you put your time in, be aware of the players but don't be the one fighting the battles. Listen and pay attention and you'll observe situations and maybe even encounter situations where you can privately evaluate what happened and think about what you would do if you were in a similar situation. In the midst of keeping your eyes and ears open and paying attention, it's extremely important to communicate with your HP and keep him/her apprised of everything.

It can be easy to take our daily grind for granted and think we are not really learning much when it comes to club politics. But that couldn't be further from the truth. If we pay close attention to the situations that surround us, you'll probably come to find that there are many learning opportunities throughout the course of a day. Watch your HP in action, pay close attention to how he/she operates. Would you do it that way or would you do it this way? Would you change this or would you change that? Ask your HP why he/she made the decision they did? Pay close attention to how he/she interacts with members in good times and in times of tension. There is a lot to learn simply by paying attention during the daily grind as an assistant professional.

These days, being fortunate to stay at a club for more than a decade is an accomplishment with all that is going on inside and outside of the club. When I asked Bob about how he has managed club politics at Oakmont CC for over 30 years, he gave some great perspective on how his involvement has evolved over time:

I got dragged into politics early on in my tenure at Oakmont. Members used to always want to know my opinion and they still do. I made plenty of mistakes that I learned from, and luckily they weren't too serious. You really have to pick your battles and keep from offering your opinion too often. You have to be careful in committee meetings and you have to be sure to pick your words carefully.

Certain members like to get close to the golf professional. They dig and pry, and sadly use it to their advantage. Such instances have gotten me into some uncomfortable situations. Since coming to Seminole, I've really tried to lay low at both facilities and keep my opinion to myself as often as possible. I've really tried to divorce myself from the deeper depths of club politics.

With that said, I have always just tried to HELP the club leaders make their decisions. And it's important to make sure that there is a level of trust between myself and the leaders that issues remain between us.

Bobs response reminds me of the fact that we have to remember that we are merely employees at our clubs. We aren’t members and we don't have a stake in the club like the members do, so our opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. When we give it, we must realize that the member’s interpretation of it can be different than how we meant it (similar to the media), so it is very important to choose our words carefully and back out of situations when necessary.

Bob and I then talked about a subject that I am sure we all encounter more frequently than we should. It is always a challenge to balance members trying to pull us into an issue, and keeping our distance enough to stay out of it, however still making the member happy. How do we strike a balance with this?

It is a very delicate balance. I think it's a personality thing. I think it's important to know your members and know what makes them tick. Gathering this information can take a long time. It's also important to utilize and really stand by the clubs rules, regulations, and procedures. They are there so many issues that can potentially arise will be addressed simply by reviewing them. One thing you want to stay out of at all times is partaking in conversation about other people. Members talk about other members, and it's very important to stay neutral and not have a position on other members when speaking with a member.

Bob hits home with how important it is to know your members. Every member seems to have an agenda. They all have different personalities and it is important for us to get to know them. That's another reason why it is so important to play with the members as much as possible, especially when we are rookie head professionals:

In my opinion, the number one thing you can do as a rookie Head Professional is to play with as many members as possible. There is no better way to get to know them than to spend four hours with them. You don't have lunch with someone and leave saying, I know that guy, but spend four hours with them, and you really do leave feeling like you know them.

If you want to know what makes members tick and figure out how to approach them and handle situations better as they arise is to play golf with them. The more you can do that, the more you can get to know your members and the more they can get to know you. The more developed the professional relationship is between you and the members, the better you can handle situations involving them.

Hopefully you have taken a few things from this opening entry to our club politics series. We feel that being aware of and having a good working knowledge of club politics as an assistant professional is extremely important now, and critical when we transition into our first HP position.

2011-10-31T17:09:00.001-04:00

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Since it's inception, PIFG has been fortunate to receive contributions from some of the most talented veteran Head Professionals in the business, as well as many other industry professionals. They have lended their extremely valuable perspective on issues that assistant professionals face, as well as how we can develop ourselves and be better golf professionals.

But we really want to hear from the assistant professionals!

We encourage you to write an article(s) to be posted on PIFG in our up-and-coming page - "Assistants Corner". What are you seeing on the front-lines? How can assistant professionals become better at what they do? What are some issues that you are seeing or facing, that need to be addressed? Now is the time to share your voice! Use PIFG as a way to market yourself and your knowledge as a golf professional by getting published. At the end of the day, everybody wins at PIFG. Give us a heads up and at your convenience, send your contributions to the following email address: payitforwardgolf@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Why It Pays To Get Mobile As An Assistant Professional

2011-10-18T10:58:00.001-04:00

As assistant golf professionals, we work in a very transient corner of the business. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. As assistant golf professionals, it pays to get mobile. Getting out of your comfort zone can be very beneficial to you both personally and professionally. Although it certainly is not wrong to stay put in a place for many years, it can be a disadvantage. Not having any considerable amount of experience out of your comfort zone can limit your perspective on the business and your career. The following are some reasons that getting mobile as an assistant golf professional can be beneficial to you.

Networking

The biggest advantage to you as a golf professional can be the plethora of opportunities for networking. In some ways, it certainly pays to stay put in a certain place and become a part of the club and the town and grow grass-roots relationships. You can certainly network in this situation. However it is arguably more advantageous to mobilize yourself and cultivate networks in different parts of the country. Your sphere of influence will grow, and with that comes many doors.

Perspective

Going from local to mobile will open up your mind. If you’re from the northeast and you spend a few years in the south, you will experience new ways of doing things. You will encounter different personalities and a different culture. Being a well-traveled golf professional will lend you great perspective on the inner workings of customer service, hospitality, and general golf operations within different regions.

Adaptation

Getting mobile will increase your ability to adapt to new and different situations. Going to new and different regions forces you to focus and adapt to the regions and the clubs culture. Not only will you be better able to adapt to people and places, but you’ll sharpen your ability to adapt to situations, and have a sounder ability to make decisions.

"The Bubble"

Making yourself mobile will make you less judgmental. If all you know is the town you grew up in, then you’re missing out on experiencing how other places and people are, and living in the bubble can potentially cocoon your way of thinking. By exposing yourself to different places, you introduce yourself to different social values and different methods of running a golf operation. Sometimes you take on values and instill them into your own life and career.

Risk Taking

Many HP’s like seeing assistant professionals "dig" - Taking risks for the sake of their success as a golf professional. Having multiple experiences in different parts of the country on your resume tells the HP that this kid is grinding and is willing to take risks and do what he/she has to do to be successful as a golf professional.

Learning Curve

Mobilizing yourself increases your learning curve as a golf professional. Some assistants go south for the winter, some use the off-season to do some personal traveling, some use the off-season to do nothing at all. There is nothing wrong with any of these three approaches; however it’s obvious which one will increase your learning curve and push your career as a golf professional forward faster.

There is nothing wrong with staying in your home town, but there is A LOT to be said about getting mobile and moving out of your comfort zone. Whether going south for the winters or permanently moving to another region of the country, getting out of your comfort zone will pay big dividends for you personally and professionally.

Get mobile.

Playing & Traveling with Your Members

2011-10-10T20:23:00.001-04:00

There may not be a better way to warm up to your members or guests than to play golf with them. This concept is nothing new, but as assistant professionals, we often struggle to find the time to get out there with our members and guests. One way or another, we need to. It's one of our best networking tools as golf professionals. Spend four hours on the golf course with a member and you catch a glimpse into them as a person, and vice versa. When you leave the 18th green, you leave feeling like you know them.

And you can take it one step further, by traveling with them! Thousands of golf professionals every year take advantage of travel opportunities, whether it’s for a golf school, or for a Pro-Am event. It doesn’t matter if you’re an assistant professional or a Head Professional; there are very few Pro-Am opportunities that are exclusive to any one kind. If you’re invited to a Pro-Member, do everything you can to participate. Pro-Members are another great opportunity to socialize with your member or with members from another club. The following are some things to remember regarding playing with your members and traveling with them.

Networking

How many people do you play golf with in a year? Each time is an opportunity to represent your self well. Hold yourself to a high standard and make them think that this kid is the real deal and they’ll remember you. You never know, down the road you could get a phone call to interview for a HP job because the member was so impressed with you.

Give Them Something to Remember

Ask yourself one question: How do you want others to remember you? Figure it out for yourself and act accordingly. Too often, golf can get the best of us and it’s easy to get into a tirade over an out-of-bounds ball. Handle your emotions well and your members won’t remember the out of bounds ball for very long, rather they’ll remember the way you handled yourself in the midst of adversity.

Make Yourself Known to the Membership

Playing with the members and traveling with them makes your known to the them. When you first arrive at a club, nobody knows who you are and you know very few people. You can introduce yourself to the members in the golf shop and it amounts to some small talk, but it doesn’t give you an opportunity to really show who you are. Getting out and playing with the members is where the difference is made.

Club Ambassador

Playing with the members gives you an opportunity to represent the club as an ambassador. For 4+ hours, you’re the only golf professional in front of them, take advantage of it. Your Head Professional probably brought you in for several reasons, and one of those underlying reasons is that he probably thought you would make a good ambassador of the club.

To solidify these concepts, Tom Byrne and Eric McNamee, founders of MB Golf Events and both PGA Professionals, build upon the importance of playing and traveling with the members.

Travelling with your members gives PGA Professionals the opportunity to build important relationships that will last for years. PGA Professionals are different than other professions, we are fixtures in our members lives. Taking them on trips is an intimate experience that builds bonds that members treasure because they are golf lovers and we are the experts in the game.

As assistant professionals, we have a lot of responsibilities and we can often get caught in the whirlwind of it all. Before you know, you may have gone a month without playing with your members or guests. When we asked Tom and Eric how assistant professionals might be able to better manage their time and find opportunities to get out on the golf course, they had this to say:

The best advice we can give is to stress how important this is to you to your Head Professional. Assistant Golf Professional’s job descriptions should include playing with the membership. We are the experts in the game and giving that experience to our members builds positive good will.

It’s no secret that nothing reveals our personality and professionalism like a round of golf. Through its challenges, the game strips us bare and shows us who we are both personally and professionally. A 4+ hour round of golf or a 4-day trip gives us plenty of time for a lot of conversation. Playing with the members and traveling with them gives us an opportunity to get to know the members on a deeper level and create lasting memories. Think about taking a group of members on a trip this off-season, it will pay dividends for you in both tangible and intangible ways. Check out this link to see how MB Golf Events can help you in this process: MB GOLF EVENTS & PIFG

What's in the Jim McLean Golf School?

2011-09-27T21:11:00.008-04:00

In my experience of working with instructors and speaking with them, one thing I’ve noticed is the residual impact that the Jim Mclean Golf School has had on the development of our games instructors. There are a slew of top instructors out there that have ties to the JMGS. What it is that makes the JMGS such an invaluable training ground for aspiring teaching professionals?

For many reasons to be discussed, JMGS is unarguably the most successful teaching program in the world. If you are an amateur and your desire is to step up your game, JMGS is your place to go. If you are a tour professional and your desire is to raise your game to the next level, then JMGS is your place to go. Just ask guys like Vaughn Taylor, Fred Funk, J.J. Henry, Ben Crane, Webb Simpson, Rory Sabatini, Erik Compton, and Andres Romero. What the amateurs and even professionals may tend to overlook is how all of this gets done and how JMGS is so successful. What goes on behind the scenes is what this article sheds light on.

To truly understand the JMGS, we should probably get to know Jim Mclean first. Jim is a 1973 graduate of University of Houston, B.A. Economics and he played on the schools golf team all four years with the likes of Fuzzy Zoeller, Bobby Wadkins, and Bruce Lietzke. Jim got his first gig in the business as a Teaching Professional in 1975 at Westchester CC in Rye, New York. In 1979, he attained his first Head Professional position at Sunningdale CC in Scarsdale, New York. In the winter of 1982, Jim took a shot at playing on the PGA Tour. In 1983, he attained a Head Professional position at Quaker Ridge GC in Scarsdale. While there he was the 1986 Metropolitan PGA Teacher of the Year and the Metropolitan PGA Horton Smith Award winner. In 1987, he earned his first Director of Golf position at Tamarisk CC in Rancho Mirage, California. In 1988, he took an opportunity to come back to the New York area for a Director of Golf position at Sleepy Hollow CC in Scarborough, NY. During his time at Sleepy Hollow, Jim attained PGA Master Professional certification in 1990. Shortly after his departure of Sleepy Hollow in 1993, Jim was awarded with the 1994 PGA National Teacher of the Year Award.

Jim has worked extensively with many top teachers including Jimmy Ballard, Art Bell, Jackie Burke, Harry Cooper, Jack Grout, Claude Harmon, Johnny Revolta, Bob Toski, Ken Venturi, Butch Harmon, Manuel De La Torre, among many others. Jim has taught more than 100 PGA Tour, LPGA and Senior PGA Tour players including: Dana Quigley, Hal Sutton, Brad Faxon, Tom Kite, Sergio Garcia, Lenny Mattiace, Curtis Strange, Bernhard Langer, Cristie Kerr, Blaine McCallister, Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate, Gary Player, Liselotte Neuman, Peter Jacobsen & Steve Elkington.

There are eight Master Instructors who have worked under Jim that have been named to America's "Top 100 Instructors" list and nineteen on The Golf Digest top teacher list.
If that’s not enough to convey to you the impact that the JMGS has had, we can take it deeper.

What It Takes To Become Jim McLean Certified

The golf instructors at the JMGS are the most qualified and best trained teaching professionals in the world. No other school requires their teachers to undergo the extensive training that Jim McLean demands of his professionals. The process is intensive and lasts between one and two years depending on the individual.

The first step is to simply make it through the interview process and be hired as an assistant professional. This may be the most difficult step of all. They only hire candidates who have a passion for teaching and who have demonstrated the professional skills necessary to be a world class teaching professional. Many of their new hires are young professionals who come from the top private clubs in America. Some of their professionals in training have come from Merion GC, Baltusrol GC, Pine Valley GC, Augusta National GC, The Country Club, Caves Valley GC, The Inverness Club, Scioto CC, Maidestone GC, and Atlantic GC to name a few.

The second step is to spend at least one year and sometimes two years, working as an assistant at one of their schools. It's an extremely demanding year with less than half of the candidates moving on to teaching professional status. It is this time where it seems like you receive your gritty education and in some ways it is golf instructions own "School of Hard Knocks". During this period the assistant will:

Attend two 1.5 hour training sessions every week which are led by either Jim McLean or the school's Director of Instruction.
Complete the rigorous Jim McLean Certification Test. This comprehensive test on The Jim McLean Teaching System takes five months to complete and also requires the assistant to film themselves giving 18 different presentations on Jim's teaching system.
Compete in staff tournaments throughout the year to improve their own game and competitive skills.
Conduct their own golf swing research projects from the school's unparalleled data base of touring professional swings. Jim McLean is an ardent believer in "He who does no research has nothing to teach." ALL Jim McLean teaching professionals are required to conduct research on the golf swing.
Become an expert at videotaping golf swings. This may sound like an arbitrary skill to master, but it usually takes four months of diligent practice to reach Jim McLean's standards.
Video tape professional tour swings at PGA and LPGA Tour Events.
Give impromptu and prepared presentations on the golf swing and Jim McLean's teaching system in front of veteran Jim McLean teaching professionals during staff meetings and training sessions.
Conduct complimentary weekly golf clinics for Resort guests. These one hour clinics provide a stage for the assistants to hone their speaking, demonstrating and teaching skills.
Assist JMGS teaching professionals with private lessons, golf schools and clinics.
Seek out other top teaching professionals and take lessons to broaden their teaching knowledge and effectiveness.
Read books and texts of various golf subjects and teaching styles and give written and oral reports to the JMGS staff.

After successfully completing these two phases, a few assistants will be extended the opportunity to become a Jim McLean Instructor (the first level teaching professional) for the Jim McLean Golf Schools. Moving up to a JM Master Instructor and finally to the JM Lead Master Instructor level requires years of teaching, continual training and the approval of Jim McLean. The Jim McLean Golf School's greatest asset is their teachers.

Testimonials from the Teachers Themselves

When I asked Kevin Sprecher about what he has learned during his experiences with Jim McLean and now at Sleepy Hollow CC, he had the following to say:

I've learned more than I can express in writing. I've been working with Jim for over 18 years and this is my 11th season at Sleepy Hollow. A few of the more important things I learned are:

Get things done. What ever your project is, get it done thoroughly and timely. And then let people know you did it. No one is going to take notice unless you make them.
Learn how to play and hit all the shots. No one respects a teacher who can't demonstrate what they are teaching.
Be a leader. Initiate projects, when something is offered be the first to volunteer. Like Lee Iaccoa said "You can lead, follow, or get out of the way!"
Jim has always taught me to continue to seek knowledge. Even if you don't agree with the philosophy, understand it in case someone has a question.
The client is always correct.

When I asked Trillium Sellers about her experiences with the JMGS at Doral in the winter and how it all translates, she had some great insight:

At the Jim McLean School there are a lot of instructors and assistants and the intensity level for self-improvement is higher than any other golf instructional environment I’ve ever been in. Sometimes it’s stressful (like the Monday meetings at 7:30 AM) because Jim likes to test that everyone is learning and getting better. But I don’t teach as many hours as I do up north at Chevy Chase CC. So I find that the months I spend at JMGS, I’m gaining a different type of experience than when I’m teaching out on the Chevy lesson tee all by myself.

In speaking with Joe Plecker, Director of Instruction at Baltimore CC and a Golf Digest Top-40 Under 40 instructor, Joe describes what he took away from his experience and what it is about the JMGS that grooms such great teachers?

I think two distinct elements make Jim McLean instructors successful. The first is true apprenticeship. You start at the bottom and work your way up, observing lead instructors and learning the basics of the business. This proves invaluable as you progress as a teacher and business person. The second is using a systematic, well researched approach to teaching. Truly knowing what matters makes an instructor not only valid, but above reproach.

After reading this, hopefully you have gained some perspective on the Jim McLean Golf School. If instruction is the path you desire, JMGS may be a route to consider, however you'll have to evaluate if you qualify for admission. The experience is demanding, however sometimes we need to be pushed to realize our true potential. It seems to me that that is what the JMGS does.

From the Words of Davis Love Jr.

2011-09-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

In 1997, Davis Love III and his friend Michael Bamberger penned "Every Shot I Take", a literary homage to his father Davis Love Jr, who died tragically in a plane accident in November of 1988. Davis Love Jr., an instructor at Sea Island Golf Club, was one of the best teachers of his time and his teaching style and knowledge are the stuff of legend. In "Every Shot I Take", DLIII devotes the bulk of the memoir to his fathers renowned collection of hand written notes on the golf swing. Most of the book is applicable to teaching professionals in some form or another, however a few particular sections stand out as being penned specifically for teaching professionals.

In the section “Advice for Teaching Pro’s", Davis Love III writes:

“Dad was a meticulous man, determined to always improve himself. That’s why he was always writing himself notes, and I’m just so glad that he and my mother saved them, or most of them, over the years. Going through his notes, I found one he had typed for his own use during his early days in the business, when he was Head Professional at Charlotte Country Club. I’d like to share it with you because I think it gives an insight into how he analyzed situations, and I also think it offers some sound advice for teachers and students alike:

Talk to your member on the way to the practice tee. Find out what he shoots, what his problems are, and what he wants to get out of golf. Not every player wants to be the best golfer in the world. Many members do not have the time or inclination to completely revamp their swing. They do not want to go through the drudgery of mastering major changes in their swing, so don’t be too anxious to condemn or criticize any and every moment in their swing that deviates from the “normal” or the “correct.”

Any move in your members swing that repeats can be used to his advantage. No matter how wrong it looks, think long and hard before tampering with any part of the swing that consistently repeats. You can build around this motion and produce an effective swing because repetition is the key to success in this game, whether or not it conforms to the “standard” swing.

Stay away from major changes, unless it is in your junior program

Teaching with criticism is the easy way out, but not the most successful. Be a creative teacher! Put all your energy and enthusiasm into every lesson you give and you will find that you will reap benefits not only in satisfied customers and increase lesson business, but also increased shop sales as well.

In the section titled “Spray Paint”, Davis Love III writes,

“Dad never went anywhere without a can of spray paint, and it’s not because he was a graffiti artist. He was forever drawing lines on the grass of whatever practice tee he was standing on. The line would show the shape of the backswing and follow-through. On the backswing, the line would go straight back from the ball for a few feet, and then curve gently in. On the follow-through it would go straight to the target. He’d have his pupils swing along these painted lines in practice. With enough practice, the lines would “appear” in their minds eye on the golf course. That’s the best way to get to know the proper swing path.

Once I asked him, “Dad, what would’ve happened if you hadn’t discovered spray paint?” He said, “I would’ve had to pay a lot of money in college tuitions.” In other words, Dad felt that Mark and I became the players we did-good enough as seniors in high school to win golf scholarships for college-because we had down the principle of a good path and a good plane. Everything flows from that. But you don’t really need a can of paint to perfect your plane and path; you can lay down clubs, grip end to clubhead, or you can use tape or string. Regardless, when you’re learning about plane and path, get something tangible to help show you the way.”
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This is a small sampling of the awesome content in "Every Shot I Take". The book is filled with anecdotes from both Davis Love III and his father Davis Love Jr. Regardless of the kind of path you are taking as a golf professional, PIFG highly recommends this book for your enjoyment and knowledge.

Treat Your Last Day Like It's Your First Day

2011-08-29T19:07:00.008-04:00

So you're getting ready to leave a job that you have been in for a few years. Your last day is fast approaching, and you're following through on some initiatives. One of your colleagues asks you why you are doing the things you are doing and that you shouldn't care anymore since you'll be gone in just a few days. Your response should be: “I am responsible until the moment arrives when I am no longer an employee here”.

There is a lot of emphasis on how to start a job, and how to get off on the right foot with your new colleagues. We have even posted a few articles on how to effectively start a job. But what about ending a job? How important is it to end your job smoothly? It should be regarded just as highly as starting a job. Just because you have two weeks left, it doesn’t give you an excuse to gear down and shut your systems off. Coasting is not an option and you still have a job to do. Keep your service levels up and your effort strong and consistent. Treat your last day like it is your first day. You probably began your job strong. FINISH STRONG.

Begin the process by telling members of your departure so your absence is not a surprise. Ask your Head Professional if he/she will help in that process. The following shouldn’t happen:

A few weeks go by and Mr. Davis all of a sudden notices that he has hasn’t seen one of his favorite assistants John in a while, Mr. Davis inquires of this and a staff member informs him of Johns departure a few weeks ago.

This makes John look bad, but it also makes the staff look bad as well. Communication is critical, even in a situation having to do with a staff member leaving.

If you're leaving in a few weeks, take the necessary steps to ensure that your responsibilities are not only passed along, but the successor of the responsibilities is properly and thoroughly trained. Just like you will move on without the facility, the facility will move on without you. It is your responsibility to see to it that your successor is briefed on your responsibilities and trained.

Continue to work hard. Don’t have the attitude of, “I am leaving in three days, don’t ask me” or “My last day is Monday, I don’t care”. You are still an employee and still a golf professional, act like it and hold yourself accountable to the very end.

If a member knows you will be leaving in two weeks, he/she may be less apt to approach you for help with something. Be proactive and don’t let this happen. Make members aware that you are still there and would be HAPPY to help in any way possible.

Getting relaxed at the end could be detrimental to you. You could have done a stellar job for three years at the club, but don’t get lazy at the end or the reputation and position you built with colleagues and members could be torn down. What can take a few years to build can be torn down in just a few weeks.

Are You A Member of An Elite Team?

2011-08-15T10:28:00.002-04:00

It's amazing what you sometimes come across on the journey through the golf business. Such was the case a few weeks ago during a visit to Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. As you walk into one of the conference rooms in the Merion maintenance facility, you'll see this sign. But I got to thinking, it would be easy for us to see that and think, "They can have a sign like that because it's Merion". Lets face it, Merion is a Top-5 club in the country, it's championship pedigree is rivaled by very few clubs, it's history is more woven into the fabric of golf than most any other club in the country. Merion can have a sign like that because....it's Merion. But do you really have to bestow those characteristics to be able to have a sign like that?

I don't think so. You don't have to be at a place like Merion to hold yourselves accountable. You don't have to be at a place like Merion to hold yourselves to a very high standard. At the end of the day, Merion is a golf club like any other. They have a junior program, a men's league, a ladies league, tournament operations, merchandising, instruction, etc. Peel away the history and the pedigree and you have something no different than any other club. Is it really a stretch to have a sign like that in one of your golf operations back offices?

Everyone can be "elite". It's a mindset. The facade of a club (It's history, status, and pedigree) doesn't have to dictate it's operational culture. You can create any culture you want, regardless of where your club doesn't stand on the Top-100 list or how few championships it's hosted. Hire the right people, have a system, and allow everyone to be leaders, and you can live up to that sign.

Whoever is reading this, would it be brash for your golf shop to have a sign like that in your back-office? It could certainly be perceived that way, however if you're trying to create an operational culture, more power to you. Isn't that what we strive for anyway? To create a culture that sets the staff up for excellence and provides members and guests with exemplary service?

What kind of culture exists at your club? How much are employees valued? What kind of a premium is put on finding quality professionals? What sort of training program is there to ensure that your staff members do a job that is consistent with the golf operations mission and culture?

That sign is bold and it would seem that only places like Merion could boast one. But it doesn't have to be that way. "Mindset" is critical when running a golf operation. Do you have a sign like that in your golf operation? Maybe we all should.

A Look Inside the 1st Annual PGM University Intern Conference at Merion Golf Club

2011-08-06T09:11:00.004-04:00

When I first conceptualized the 1st Annual PGM Intern Conference, I kept in mind the fact that PGM Interns don't have a lot of opportunities to network with other interns from other schools. Secondly, when an intern leaves for his/her internship, their experience is generally isolated, meaning they're in their own world and their opportunity for knowledge is mainly isolated to their own experience. Meanwhile, there are dozens and dozens of other interns around them with their own isolated experiences. Thirdly, PGM University students are the future of our business. Each year, more and more are pumped into the system. So if we can catch these kids when they are young and have a positive and lasting impression on them, our business will be that much better down the road. With all of that said, I thought that if we can get these kids together in the same room and share what they are learning, their "big picture" will be come bigger and they will leave more networked, inspired, refreshed, and re-energized. And who knows, maybe a conference like this will push a button and change the way they think for the better.

On Thursday, July 28th, with the collective effort of myself, Brian Soulé and host professional Scott Nye, we staged the 1st Annual Professional Golf Management Intern Conference at Merion Golf Club. The idea behind it was to bring together area PGM interns for the purposes of networking, sharing their internship experiences, and best practices learned. On relatively short notice, the following attended the event:

-15 students from three PGM schools (Penn State, Clemson, Maryland Eastern Shore)
-The students represented clubs from Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Boston.
-Two PGM alumni students from Penn State and Clemson respectively
-Merion Golf Club Professional Staff of which 4 are Penn State PGM Alumni
-Executive Director of the Philadelphia Section PGA

The conference was a very dynamic program with each segment having it's own characteristics that were beneficial. It was shaped through three different formats that lent their own unique perspectives:

1.) Presentation
2.) Tour of the Merion GC Golf Operation
3.) Round Table Group Session

PRESENTATION FROM HOST, SCOTT NYE

As Head Professional of Merion Golf Club, Scott has cultivated a wealth of knowledge in his experiences not only at Merion but his entire 26 year career as a golf professional. Scott treated his presentation as an opportunity to talk about what it takes to "make it" in the golf industry as a young professional. He related well with the students, allowed his staff to add to the discussion, and gave good, sound advice for "climbing the ladder" in the golf industry. Highlights of Scotts presentation are as follows:

"What is this industry all about?"

People! In his first year at Merion, Mr. Nye approximates he met 7,000 new people, and told multiple stories about how people he may have met even briefly have either influenced him or have been influenced by him throughout his years in the golf industry.

"How should I go about advancing in this business?"

Take small steps. Nobody takes "large leaps" in this business, but those who do all of the small steps well and are consistently excellent at their daily duties and interactions with people are the ones who get "big breaks" down the road.

"Do something new each year."

In order to be an excellent and rounded PGA professional, you must seek new opportunities every year. Complacency will kill a career, especially early on. If you try something new each year, especially from an educational standpoint, you will be come a well-rounded and valuable golf professional.

"What is the main purpose of a golf professional?"

To connect people. Golf is all about the interactions of the people involved in the sport, and by being a welcoming professional and by treating people as you would guests in your own home, you can create a culture at a golf facility that promotes the game and the interaction of great people. Most importantly, be real and genuine in your interactions. "Let people like you for who you are at your core."

"What should I expect as a young professional age 18-26?"

Out of college, you may not have the most appealing job responsibilities. Work hard, do the small steps well, and advance slowly up the ladder. The good jobs come to those with patience, perseverance, and a good work ethic.

TOUR OF THE MERION GOLF OPERATION

The tour began with a walk down the 18th hole and up to it's green complex. The interns were able to catch a glimpse of the "Ben Hogan 1-iron" plaque in the fairway. Beginning the tour like this really gave them an opportunity to feel what Merion is all about and to see where history has been made. After the walk down 18, they proceeded into the golf shop, which hasn't changed since the 1960's. Again, the interns could feel the history and see how another golf shop is merchandised and displayed. We proceeded into the golf professional staff office area which has to be one of the better arrangements in the club business. Finally, the group was taken into the operations inventory room. Interns were able to see first-hand the volume of merchandise that Scott and his staff manage. In addition to their daily offering to the members, the staff has been merchandising U.S. Open apparel in preparation for the 2013 Open, thus offering another set of unique challenges and learning opportunities.

ROUND TABLE GROUP SESSION

The conference culminated in the group session in which the interns were given an opportunity to share their internship experiences, operational best practices, and what they have learned. In their own tales, the following subjects were discussed:

-Attention to detail
-Leading by example
-Life perspective
-Handling difficult situations
-P.A.L.T. (Pride, Attitude, Leadership, Treating people the way you would want to be treated)
-Good old fashioned hard work
-Making sure members and guests are leaving the facility with smiles on their faces
-Traveling and doing internships in different regions, experiencing different cultures
-What they can expect to apply after they have graduated from the PGM Program

IN SUMMATION

The golf business is tough and often times unforgiving. Many PGM students drop out of the program after their first internship, and there is nothing wrong with that, this business is not for everyone. Interns from across the region have worked hard this summer. Hopefully the 2011 PGM Intern Conference gave those that attended an opportunity to step back and reevaluate their goals. Through the conference, I believe the interns left more networked, informed, inspired, and re-energized, and those were the general purposes of the event. By seeing a place like Merion, hearing from someone like Scott, and networking with fellow peers in such a setting, maybe interns can more closely understand what is possible with hard work and dedication to the profession. The sky is the limit and as Scott said in his presentation, "Your success is in your hands".

"Excellence is...caring more than others think is wise,

expecting more than others think is possible,

risking more than others think is safe,

dreaming more than others think is practical."

A Dozen with Kevin Sprecher from Sleepy Hollow Country Club

2011-07-29T18:47:00.002-04:00

After graduating from Arizona State University in 1992, Kevin Sprecher began working for Jim McLean at the Sleepy Hollow C.C in Scarborough, NY during the summer and the Doral Resort and Spa in the winter. From 1993-1995, Kevin assisted Jim McLean with private lessons, schools, seminars and clinics. He worked closely with PGA, LPGA, and Nike touring professionals, conducted follow up lessons with Jim McLean’s private students and organized and administered golf schools at Doral & PGA West. In 1995, Kevin was promoted to Master Instructor at the Jim McLean Golf School. He spent the summers of 1995 and 1996 teaching at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, NY, the summer of 1997 at the Piping Rock Club in Long Island New York, the summer of 2002 at the Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, NY and is currently the Director of Instruction at the Sleepy Hollow C.C. In 2000 and 2004, Kevin was nominated as one of GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teacher’s in America and he was featured on the cover of Golf Illustrated in the fall of 2003. Kevin has been a contributing writer to GOLF Illustrated magazine since 2001 and has several articles coming out in 2005. Kevin has had the opportunity to work with a number of PGA, LPGA, and top amateurs. For example, Brad Faxon, Peter Jacobsen, Len Mattiace, Liselotte Neumann, and George Zahringer (US Mid-Am Champion). Kevin has given his time to pay it forward, hopefully you can learn something and take it to your job and beyond.

Describe your background in the golf business. How and why did you get into it?

I got into the business because i enjoyed working with people and loved golf. When I learned I could make good money and be involved with golf I knew teaching was for me. I got my break when my parents moved from California to Connecticut before I graduated ASU. One of my father's partners, Mr. Cummings, at work was a board member at Sleepy Hollow. Mr. Cummings asked Jim McLean for a favor and to give me a chance. When I interviewed with Jim he offered me an assistants position working for one of his top teachers, Dave Collins. The pay was $200/week and I worked 70 hours a week, but I loved it.

What have you learned during your experiences with Jim McLean and now Sleepy Hollow GC?

I've learned more than I can express on the spot here. I've been working with Jim for over 18 years and at Sleepy Hollow for over 10 years. A few of the more important things I learned are:

Get things done. What ever your project is, get it done thoroughly and timely. And then let people know you did it. No one is going to take notice unless you make them.
Learn how to play and hit all the shots. No one respects a teacher who can't demonstrate what they are teaching.
Be a leader. Initiate projects, when something is offered be the first to volunteer. Like Lee Iaccoa said "You can lead, follow, or get out of the way!"
Jim has always taught me to continue to seek knowledge. Even if you don't agree with the philosophy, understand it in case someone has a question.
The client is always correct.

When you first started as Director of Instruction at Sleepy Hollow, what were the first few things you had to do to get your feet on the ground and get your business rolling?

When I started as SHCC in 2003 I was coming in after several years of little to no instruction programs. I need to get the club back into taking lessons again. When I was there in 1992-93, Jim McLean had five teachers teaching all day and a 100+ person junior program. So, I put together several different Adult programs to get people interested again. I brought in some specialty teachers. I walked the range in the mornings and hung out on the first tee introducing myself to the membership.

We had a teaching shed which I dressed up with photos and set up training aids on the range as well. I just tried to get the word out that the teaching program has made a change for the better and encouraged people to come take lessons.

What did you do in your early years as a teaching professional to set yourself up for your current success and future success?

I was fortunate to work for Jim McLean before he became world renown. I was his personal assistant for three years which exposed me to all levels of players and some of the best amateur and professionals in the world. I nurtured those relationships to the point where they started to call me. I studied video as much as I could early on to learn what the best players do differently from the average players. I made sure I knew everything that was going on in Jim's business and the golf industry. I also watched as many great teachers as possible. Being at doral in the early 90's gave me access to many of the tour players during the week the PGA tour was in town. I basically tried to learn as much as possible.

What are some aspects of your teaching business that if you didn't do them well, it would be detrimental to your business?

Your clients have to improve, period!
Don't be late.
Talk about your client, not yourself.
Follow up. Email makes it very easy.
Continue to learn. Read, watch, listen to something about golf daily.

Keep the lessons simple. There's no need to try to impress someone with all of your knowledge in one hour.
Remember how lucky you are to have a job and to be doing something you love and get paid for it
Make sure your clients have a fun time learning.

If a young apprentice comes to you and says, "I want to be the best teaching professional I can be", what would you tell him/her and how to get there?

Train under the best. even if you have to work for free for a year.
Read and watch everything you can. The internet is a great source for information. Something I wish I had in my early years.
Learn to play.
Be patient. It's takes years to formulate your own philosophy and be good. Don't always worry about the money. Experience is more valuable.
Don't give up. It's a tough environment with the economy these days.
Ask for help. You can't do it on your own.

Do you have any books you could recommend aspiring teaching professionals to read?

Anything from Jim McLean, John Jacobs, Ben Hogan, Bob Rotella, David Leadbetter, Jimmy Ballard, and the top players books. That should be enough for the first year or so!

In your experiences as a teaching professional, I'm sure you have seen and worked with your fair share of teaching professionals. What sets the great ones apart from others?

Their ability to communicate clearly.
Their passion for knowledge.
Their confidence.
Their ability to say the same idea in ten different ways.
Their ability to make the client feel like they are the most important person for the hour.

Can you give young assistants/teaching professionals any tips towards forming their teaching philosophy?

Study all the different philosophy's that are out there and take the part you agree with.

"Empowerment" with Bruce Patterson from Butler National GC

2011-07-11T06:22:00.000-04:00

Bruce Patterson is the Director of Golf at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois. Butler National is consistently voted by Golf Digest as one of "Americas 100 Greatest Courses". Bruce has a strong leadership background that includes his current position as District 6 Director of the PGA of America, representing Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Bruce gives us some great perspective on the significance of empowerment in our golf operations and it's critical nature when it comes to our development as assistant professionals.
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What is empowerment to you?

Empowerment to me, is giving authority to staff members, and in my opinion it has to be full authority. Since they are the “front line” who will be engaged the most with the members and their guests, I need them to have the most authority to make rational decisions and judgment calls. From my view this benefits all involved; the member, their guest, the club’s image, and my operation.

Were you empowered when you were an assistant professional? How so? How has the empowerment you experienced impacted you today?

When I was an assistant, I was not empowered to make any decisions and I needed to seek approval for any type of issue. For what would seem like a simple solution to a problem I had to stand by not being authorized to answer a concern. So, when I became a Head Professional on my own, I vowed to set up a system that gives authority to my staff in making “game time” decisions. To that end, I feel that this has made my operation “speak with one voice.” I believe we are consistent, and we hardly ever position the member to be in an embarrassing position. Our goal is simple; to make sure the member feels like they are the most important member at the club.

How do you empower your staff? What are any unique practices you utilize to empower them?

To empower the staff I make certain that we all understand what rules we have, the level of their impact, and what flexibility we can offer. I like to use the airlines as an example, an agent at the gate has a vast amount of authority and makes timely decisions, rather than calling for upper management for approval, and I like my staff to feel the same amount of authority. When this happens, solutions are timely and seamless if handled appropriately.

Can you explain, in your opinion, why empowerment is so important when creating a learning environment for assistant professionals that fosters their growth?

Empowerment establishes confidence and accountability, and I also believe that it better prepares an assistant golf professional to go through the interview process with real examples of how they have and will administer their golf shop. I further believe that with this approach, they will enjoy their job more and will become life long, quality, PGA professionals.

What negative effects do you perceive as happening if empowerment does not exist in a golf operation?

If empowerment does not exist in a operation, then that particular individual simply becomes a wonderful #2 Golf professional who can function well but can not become the MVP that each club or course is looking for in their Golf Professional. They will always need to be lead, and rarely will they be willing to take any chances or show true leadership on the club’s behalf. They become a good “Indian” but not a good “chief”.

Bruce, would you like to add anything else as we wrap things up?

One of my major goals in hiring an assistant professional is to provide them with all the necessary tools and resources to allow them to reach the goal of becoming a Head Professional. I personally get no greater satisfaction in seeing this become a reality; my commitment to them from day one is this and is my goal for them. 19 have made it so far, more to follow.

"Empowerment" with Jeff Kiddie from Aronimink GC

2011-07-04T09:58:00.001-04:00

This past week, the PGA Tour was at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania for the AT&T National. Jeff Kiddie is the Head Professional at the storied Donald Ross layout, which has played host to it's fair share of events including the 1962 PGA Championship, 1977 U.S. Amateur Championship, 1997 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and the 2003 Senior PGA Championship. Nick Watney earned the victory, but when all is said and done and the tents, bleachers, and ropes are removed, it's back to daily operations for Jeff and his staff. Mr. Kiddie, the 2011 National Merchandiser of the Year (Private), offers us some great perspective on his views of workplace empowerment and how it all adds up to a well-oiled golf operation designed to service their members and guests, as well as provide staff with educational learning opportunities so they can be ready for what lies ahead in their careers.
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What is "empowerment" to you?

To me "empowerment" is handing over the reins for a given task or job. It's giving an individual the ability to make their own decisions, solve problems and be responsible for what they are doing.

Were you empowered when you were an assistant professional? How so? How has the empowerment you experienced impacted you today?

I was definitely "empowered" as an assistant professional. I worked for Jim Mrva at Monroe Golf Club and in my first year or so of working for him I definitely was not too empowered. Now that I look back on it, I'm sure I wasn't very ready to be trusted with any major responsibilities, I needed to learn. This is very much Jim's style, he’s a very hands on professional even still today. I think that's why he has been so successful developing young assistants because he is so involved on a daily basis. However, after a getting comfortable with Jim's systems and style, I was definitely given more rope. By the end of my tenure with Jim, I thought I had been given a fair amount of responsibility. It was a great stepping stone in my career.

When I went to work for Charley Raudenbush at Pine Valley Golf Club, I felt as though I was given much more responsibility and less looks from over the shoulder. I think it came at a good time in my career too. I was more confident in my abilities and was ready to be more empowered. The assistant professionals at Pine Valley were almost made to feel like they were running the golf operation. We were very involved in the buying process for a very successful retail operation, we ran almost all aspects of the tournament operations and handled a good share of the reservation processes. Charley really only stepped in when he saw something that he didn't like or if he thought something could be better. He truly made us feel like we were "empowered".

How do you empower your staff? What are any unique practices you utilize to empower them?

I think I am definitely a blend between my two former employers. I think it's because my staffs are a blend of their staffs. Jim often times has an assistants that are younger and in need of his training, while Charley generally gets assistants that are further along in their careers where Pine Valley will be their final stop before a head pro job. My staffs have been some of both. I have had the real solid assistant that came with good training and I have also had the younger professional pretty new to the business and not too far removed from college. I have also had assistants that would fall somewhere in the middle too. They all need to be treated and empowered differently.

Like many other professionals, I assign specific responsibilities to each assistant. My lead assistant not only is entrusted with some of the most important tasks, but I also rely on this position to be a leader to the other assistants. I make it clear to him/her they are in charge and that I am relying on them to lead both when I am there and especially when I am not. I want them paying attention to all aspects of the golf operation just as they would have to do in their own job. The other positions are handled on a case by case basis. If a less experienced assistant needs to be guided for a while before I trust to truly empower them with their tasks, we'll do just that. However, if they prove quickly that they can do things the way we expect them to be done, I will start empowering them a bit more.

I don't know if I do anything particularly unique. I think that might be a better question for my staff.

Can you explain, in your opinion, why empowerment is so important when creating a learning environment for assistant professionals that fosters their growth?

Empowering assistants isn't important to creating a learning environment for an assistant professional, it's critical! It's probably the most important tool in preparing an assistant for his/her own job. First of all, it builds confidence. If somebody can do something well from start to finish without being guided throughout, it will only build one's confidence to do it again and maybe add more of their own touches to it the next time as well. Also, when empowered to do something for the first time, an assistant usually makes some kind of mistake and if they are anything like me, they usually learn the most from making mistake. If an assistant is never empowered to do something, they may never get the chance to make a mistake. This takes us back to one of the main components of "empowerment", problem solving. Learning how to solve problems after making a mistake might be one of the best lessons an assistant can learn before he/she gets a head professional job.

What negative effects do you perceive as happening if empowerment does not exist in a golf operation?

I think the most negative effect that any operation, not just a golf operation, will feel when employees are not given the feeling of empowerment, is a lack of team atmosphere. The employees will just start to feel as though they are puppets or robots, always doing what they are told. They will feel as though their input is insignificant and not relevant.

Also, I think the golf operation could get stale. We are always trying to come up with new ideas for our operation and if I was the only one coming up with ideas, it would be a short list. I rely on my staff for their creativity and past experiences to help make our operation better and without empowerment you may never get these ideas out of these individuals.

"Empowerment" with Bob Ford from Oakmont CC & Seminole GC

2011-06-27T08:47:00.002-04:00

Bob Ford has been the Head Golf Professional at Oakmont Country Club since 1980 and Seminole Golf Club since 2000. He has moved more than thirty of his assistant professionals on to Head Professional positions of their own. Bob has been a leader in our industry in every capacity as he has been recognized on sectional and national levels for his teaching, playing, and merchandising abilities. But I am inclined to think that it’s not those abilities that have moved so many assistant professionals onward. Rather it has been his ability to make everyone around him better that has made the difference. In this short but poignant interview, Bob takes us back to 1979 as well as explaining his empowerment model for his current staff. We hope you enjoy Bobs insights into how he has accomplished what he has accomplished.
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What is empowerment to you?

Empowerment to me is giving my staff authority and responsibility. Ultimately it’s my butt on the line but frankly I could never do all that is required by myself and would die trying.

How were you empowered when you were an assistant?

As an assistant, I was in charge of the daily receipts and reconciliation of all sales which at that time were $125,000 for the year!!!! I did the banking (what there was that wasn't member charges) and that’s about all, however the business learning experience was very helpful when I took over. At the time I had no experience with invoices but when I did take over in November 1979, by the time spring arrived I was fully versed and ready to go.

How do you empower your staff?

As far as my staff goes, each assistant professional is in charge of a particular vendor and we do the buying together and then they are in charge of the receiving, approving the inventory, and displaying it on the floor. This gives them a sense of ownership of that area and they receive wonderful experience from that relationship. One assistant is in charge of tournaments, one is in charge of Junior Golf, and one is in charge of scheduling and the website. All of the assistants take turns with starting our players to get to know everyone. We do have a Director of Merchandise who is not a PGA member and is also a part time bookkeeper. So everyone has authority over their particular area and the obvious responsibilities that go along with their area.

What negative effects to do you perceive as happening if empowerment does not exist in a golf operation?

Without this dispersing of responsibility, one person could never do it all and the assistants learning experience would be greatly affected in an adverse way. By the time one of my assistants gets to be my top guy, they have made countless decisions (some good, some bad), and they will be ready to become my successor if my plane goes down. It is not easy for some personality types to "Let Go" but without allowing others on your staff to make some serious decisions, it will take longer for them to become confident in themselves and your members will soon see the way the operation is run and will always ask for you, knowing no one else can make a decision. Plus, it didn't take me long to realize, many of these young, wonderful assistants, were a lot smarter than me and only made me look better in the eyes of my members. So the moral of the story is: Hire bright, good looking assistants, give them responsibility and authority to make decisions, live with the mistakes, grow from them, grow together and make our game better!!!!!

There is quite a bit to take from Bob's perspective, but I think one of the biggest things is the consequences of not letting go if you are the Head Professional. If you are the HP and you are not empowering your assistant professionals, it will take longer for them to become confident in themselves and comfortable in the golf operation. The staff will always feel like they are on "pins and needles". Just as important, like Bob said, your members will soon see the way the operation is run and will always ask for the HP, knowing no one else can make a decision. Some Head Professionals want it that way because they perceive that it further secures their job, and there may be some truth to that, but it's not a healthy environment for anyone.

"Empowerment" with Ian Dalzell from Huntingdon Valley Country Club

2011-06-20T10:46:00.003-04:00

Ian Dalzell is the Head Golf Professional at Huntingdon Valley Country Club in suburban Philadelphia. Shortly, after graduating from University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, Ian came to America to become a golf professional. After serving his apprenticeship at a few clubs in upstate New York, he took the 1st Assistant Professional position at Redding CC in Connecticut where he served the membership for four years before accepting the Head Golf Professional position at Hidden Creek Golf Club, NJ. Ian worked a total of nine years at Hidden Creek, the last five as the General Manager & Head Professional before accepting the position at Huntingdon Valley on January 1, 2011. Ian currently serves his association as the Director of Section Affairs with the Philadelphia PGA and has been an invited speaker and facilitator at several PGA Educational Seminars and Conferences over the years. Ian gives us some awesome perspective on the critical nature of empowerment in our golf operations.
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What is "empowerment" to you?

Giving staff the ability to make ultimate decisions, to go from being order takers who punch the clock to team members who are vested in the finished experience and feel like they have influence over the daily operations, both by their words and more importantly by their actions. One of the definitions I found online was “to invest with authority” and I think that hits the mark. If you always feel like there is a person above you, then the buck stops somewhere else and there is not that sense of ultimate responsibility. The buck needs to stop with you and when it does it truly feels different.

Were you empowered when you were an assistant professional? How so? How has the empowerment you experienced impacted you today?

Yes, and I try to pay it forward as much as I can. My former boss Sam Olson (Redding CC, CT) did mentor me in the early phase of my career and gave me responsibility when even I was unsure if I was ready for it. That made you act differently, made you think differently, and when the final result is based on your decisions and actions you start to take greater pride or “ownership” of it. It forced me to learn and it ultimately pushed me to be the best professional I could be. The cautionary tale though is that just as with any other relationship in life, you have to have participation from both parties. I have had staff in the past who I empowered to make decisions, but they would shirk the responsibility and ultimately not only learn very little but also not advance their cause of becoming a Head Golf Professional. In short, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink!

How do you empower your staff? What are any unique practices you utilize to empower them?

Give them ultimate responsibility in various areas – let them run a tournament from start to finish; allow them, if the club is willing, to sit in and even occasionally chair a Golf Committee Meeting; charge them with heading up an Outing from soup to nuts; involve them in decision making and ideas for golf operations improvement. In short you must hand over the keys to the farm and have an element of trust that they will act in accordance with the best interests of the operation in mind. It is not just a catchphrase to say we learn from our mistakes, and sometimes you have to let staff make mistakes which in turn become valuable lessons and shape your future operations.

Can you explain, in your opinion, why empowerment is so important when creating a learning environment for assistant professionals that fosters their growth?

You cannot learn to drive a car if you don’t sit in the driver’s seat. I literally saw a bumper sticker this week that I thought suits this topic. It said “Unless you are the lead dog the scenery never changes”. Kind of apt for this story. You have to feel the heat, take a risk and with that comes great reward.

What negative effects do you perceive as happening if empowerment does not exist in a golf operation?

Empathy, lack of growth on a personal and professional level and an overall loss of focus. We are all, or at least should be, in this business to excel, grow and succeed. If you are not taking on responsibility within your employment and taking initiative to evaluate your operations and make suggestions for improvement, then you are not learning, not growing and not moving in the right direction. If you don’t have goals you don’t have reasons to come into work. A goal without a plan is just a wish...do something about your future and change the direction now!

Thoughts on Leadership

2011-06-14T21:04:00.001-04:00

Leadership is an intangible ability that not everybody is gifted with. However, it can be developed. Leadership is such a broad term. Leaders come in all kinds of different faces, sizes, and shapes. The golf business has many leaders, and they will grow in number as the business continues to evolve into…a business. However it has its fair share of those that lack leadership skills. Hopefully the following entry will give you a broad perspective on what makes a great leader in our business.

Empowerment

Some people want everything done their way. Their approach stifles the creative power of the rest of the staff. No matter how great the project/assignment looked or read, if he doesn’t do it, then it isn’t good enough. A great leader doesn’t teach their followers how to be successful by doing things his way. A great leader teaches followers how to be successful by doing things their own way. This is what empowerment provides.

Self-Positioning

Much can be learned from the game of Chess, like foresight, circumspection, and caution.
Whether they know it or not, some people want to run their golf operation very similar to the game of Chess. These people can be characterized as managers more than leaders. They definitely have some leadership traits; however they definitely fall on the side of “manager”. Chess is as individual of a game as there is. In Chess, you are literally in full control of your progress, whereas golf, although known as an individual sport, we are not really in full control. Often weather can take control of our progress, our caddy can impede on our decisions, and other outside agencies can have an effect on our performance. Because of their micro-management and their apparent desire to do most of the work themselves, you can tell they are always trying to position their staff (much like Chess) in the correct places for them. A great leader doesn’t position his followers for them. A great leader teaches their followers how to successfully position themselves on their own.

Mold by Experience

As we grow and learn as golf professionals, people don’t mold us. Our experiences are what mold us. Some people will try to mold you, but it just won’t happen. This dynamic can even slow your learning curve. For example, take an assistant professional who never has to do anything from start to finish, whom everything is always done for him. So when the time does come for him to run a show, he doesn’t know what to do. Assistants must be given the reigns to something, i.e. a tournament. If not, then they’ll never develop any confidence and they’ll never know how to run a tournament and never develop a philosophy on it. We develop our philosophies through experience because our experiences inspire us. Nobody can develop our philosophies for us. If someone gave me a scripted philosophy to use in an interview, it wouldn’t work because there is no inspiration behind it because I didn’t actually experience it. Great leaders don’t mold their followers. Great leaders allow their followers to evolve and mold themselves - to think, act, and react for themselves. To develop their own philosophies based on their own experiences.

Envision Success and Involve Others in It

Some people are insecure in their positions. The confidence they exude is a smoke-screen for their insecurities. It is almost as if they sit down, think about, and make a list of all the different ways they could fail and lose their job, and then do whatever they can possibly do to not “commit” those acts of failure. This mentality is a far cry from the way in which we should be inclined to think. Instead of making a list of ways to fail, how about making a list of ways to succeed. Great leaders don’t try and avoid failure. By just trying to avoid failure, you will end up avoiding “success” to in the process. Great leaders embrace inevitable mistakes, they envision success, and instead of solving problems on their own, they involve others in working through the failures and reaching the vision.

Top-Down Relationship

Great leadership is a top-down relationship, not ground-up. The truly successful leaders that I have seen in this business are the ones that (whether they know they are doing it or not) actively come down to the level of his/her staff. When the employees on the “front-line” can relate to the Head Professional, that is when inspirational leadership begins. There are too many people out there that think that, to be perceived as a leader, they have to be “larger than life” to their staff, “above” them, “above” doing dirty work, or they have to be constantly perched in their office to be differentiated from their staff, or they have to be perceived by their staff as always right. The great leaders admit when they are wrong. Great leaders come out of their office and onto the “front-line”. Great leaders don’t shy away from the dirty work. Great leaders come down to the level of their staff. Great leaders are not “larger than life” to their staff, rather they are imperfect, humble, and for lack of a better word – normal.

Speaking of the Top

While we’re on the subject of “the top”, take this as food for thought. A great leader encourages leadership at all levels. It works today when leaders release decision-making power and put it into the hands of people actually doing the work. Over-dependence on one person at the top stifles leadership initiative and resourcefulness at all levels. You might ask, why should I put myself out, take a risk, or exercise initiative, that’s the leaders job. Valuable talents within all of us are held in check by the belief that leadership at the top is what makes for success, not the contribution of those lower in the organizational chart. When we place our complete trust in those at the top to “fix things”, we fall into the trap of expecting someone else to fix things for us. It is the leader’s responsibility to make sure this culture does not exist. Everyone is a leader.

Leadership is Stewardship

There may be a better term for successful leadership. Stewardship is operating in service, rather than control, of those around us. Leadership is not about getting others to serve us or our purposes - no matter how noble, right, and good they are. Leadership is about abandoning self-interest to serve those we lead, this to is stewardship. Be careful of “leaders” who just want to be well known. Self serving interests will always stifle their success and sometimes even the success of those around them, whether it is today, tomorrow, or the next.

Implementing vs. Cultivating

Instead of implementing a structured system that is designed to control the employees, great leaders will cultivate a structured system that is designed to allow the employees to be in control of themselves. “Implement” as a verb means to place into effect, to perform, or to carry out a procedure. “Cultivate” means to grow, raise up, or produce. With that said, cultivating is a process. It takes time for staff to find their identity in the golf operation, let alone their identity as golf professionals, and be in control of themselves. Managers implement, great leaders cultivate a process and trust it, and they give their staff the space required to be in control of themselves and grow an identity as a staff member and a golf professional.

A former boss once told me that because of how people-oriented our business is, “our level of success can be directly related to our leadership ability”. But it’s important to understand that we can’t fake leadership. We can put on a “uniform” of leadership on the outside but what is inside will always prevail, whether it is today, tomorrow or the next. We can read all of the leadership books we want and think like a leader all we want, but if we don't start acting like leaders, we'll miss the boat and we'll help our staff members miss their boat as well.

"Leading & Managing" featuring Cameron Doan of Preston Trail GC

2011-06-06T10:59:00.000-04:00

Cameron has been a Class "A" PGA Professional since 1994. Prior to attaining his Class "A" distinction, Cameron worked for Bill Eschenbrenner at El Paso Country Club. When Bill retired, Cameron assumed the role. After his time at El Paso CC, Cameron earned the Head Professional position at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, once the longtime home of the Byron Nelson Classic. During his career as a PGA Professional, Cameron has been featured on The Golf Channel and in Golf Digest. In addition, he has been recognized as the Sun Country PGA’s Player of the Year from 1996 to 1998 and by his peers as the 1997 Sun Country PGA Teacher of the Year, and the 2003 North Texas PGA Teacher of the Year.
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When I asked Cameron what came to mind first when he heard the word "leader", he aptly stated,

A combination of experience, presence, confidence, humility, success and work ethic.

If you notice, everything he said are intangible characteristics. Because that is what leadership is. It's not something you can feel, touch, or see. Leadership is something you experience. So if that is what leadership is, what is management? I asked Cameron what came to mind first when he thought of the word “manager”.

Someone between the guy in charge and the guys at the bottom of the totem pole.

I asked Cameron what he thinks are the differences between the two as they relate to our jobs as golf professionals. He stated,

Leaders are involved, out front, big picture oriented. Pushing, prodding, taking charge, and taking responsibility for problems, then solving them. Managers tend to carry out someone else’s orders, play it safe, stay in the middle of the road.

In a previous article in PIFG, Bruce Carson from Onwentsia described his relationship with staff as “my staff knows that there is one chief and the rest are indians”. So when I asked Cameron about his experiences and how he feels leading and managing should be balanced when it comes to managing a staff and a golf operation, he gave some great insight that sort of reminded me of Carson’s insight:

The golf professional in charge has to be a leader. At times, he may have to manage, depending on the organizational structure and politics of a given operation. But ultimately, if he’s not a leader, he’s easily replaceable. He needs managers underneath him to carry out his vision. Some of those guys, like a first assistant, will be leaders themselves someday. Others, like a caddie master, are best suited for the manager role long-term. Good leaders find out which positions need either transition or permanent management, then fill them w/ the right skill set.

As assistant professionals, we are always trying to figure “it” out. We have staff around us and without the right approach, they will fly away and do their own thing. We have to approach them the right way. Are we leaders or are we managers? When I asked Cameron about his opinion on if the requirements of assistant professionals are more managerial, and do we become more of a leader when we become HP? He had this to say:

Yes to both parts. The tough part is knowing how to lead when you’re not in charge. If you’re working for the right guy, he’ll teach you that, and give you opportunities to lead in certain areas, while also giving opportunities to watch leadership in action.

I then asked Cameron, with regards to leading and managing, what are the overarching principles that he wants his assistants to embrace and take with them as they move on in their career?

Leadership is understanding that when you’re the boss, everybody is watching what you do, 100% of the time. You can’t let up, you have to set an example. Keep your temper in check unless turning it loose will be productive in the long run. Give your staff the room to make decisions and mistakes on their own, once they understand what your standards are. Follow up afterwards and turn the mistakes into learning experiences. Evaluate them constantly, explain what it takes to succeed, give them suggestions on how to get their. You can’t make someone want it, but if you have someone that wants it, you can help mold them into a successful professional.

For those of us who feel like we are not taking on a leadership role at our clubs, I asked Cameron how assistant professionals can become better leaders and how can we become better managers?

Leadership - Get in the game. Hold your fellow assistants accountable. Don’t sit around waiting for someone to tell you what to do, find something to do. Come to work every day with the goal of making the club and yourself better. Managing – explain what’s expected, walk the walk yourself, and evaluate.

In wrapping things up with Cameron, we decided to bring everything full circle. I asked with respect to leadership, if he could think back to his previous bosses and current mentors and tell us what they did that set them apart and what he has learned from them?

The two men I worked for expected a lot from me, and they let me know that early and often. Their standards were high for themselves and their operations. They communicated that and lived it. They answered my questions. They gave me responsibility and supported my successes. They taught me that some positions in an operation are hard to fill and keep filled, so find a good match, illuminate strengths and hide weaknesses of those employees. Realize you’re always on stage. If you can’t handle that, you shouldn’t be in charge.

"Leading & Managing" with Sam Wiley from Wee Burn Country Club

2011-05-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

Sam Wiley is the Head Professional at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut. Sam joins a stellar list of past golf professionals at Wee Burn, including Stewart Maiden, Jimmy Demaret, Bob Goalby, Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper, and Roy Pace. Sam gives us some great perspective on the subjects of leadership and management in the context of our golf operations.
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When you hear the words "leader" and “manager”, what comes to mind?

A leader in the golf industry, as well as any industry, is someone who guides or oversees. Someone who portrays a professional image and leads by example. Someone whose conduct is always being observed. A leader is a person that is looked up to. A manager is an individual that delegates to staff, is detail oriented, exhibits excellent time management skills and needs to be extremely organized to be most successful.

How do you balance the two and do you favor one style over the other when it comes to running a golf operation?

I would prefer to think that I am leader, but I truly think I am constantly floating between the two styles throughout the day. I think we as golf professionals have to be careful that we don't get caught up trying to do everything. My staff learns through me being a better manager and delegator of responsibilities.

In your opinion, are requirements of assistant professionals more managerial and do we become more of a leader when we become HP?

Unfortunately by job description this is true, but I think by asking for responsibilities assistant professionals can be leaders. One way my staff leads is that they know that I am open minded to new and better ways of operating. Especially in today's world of fast changing technology. It’s important to recognize that many assistant professionals have the advantage of being more knowledgeable than me in some areas. Whenever there is an opportunity that I know our membership can benefit, I will let the assistant staff member take the lead. Another great way is to get involved with the Assistant Professional Board of Directors in your section. There is no question that assistant professionals will refine their leadership skills when they become head professionals. It happens the moment they sign the contract.

With regards to leading & managing, what are the overarching principles that you want your staff to embrace and take with them as they move on in their career?

Many times the staff members I hire are experienced golf professionals and understand the basic X's and O's of running tournaments, etc. What I try to instill in my staff is how to properly interact with members, as well as, how to form a cohesive team environment. I have always believed that the pool of qualified professionals is large and beyond the critical basics of our job descriptions, it is the type of person that you are and the relationships that you create amongst your staff and members that is critical to your long term success.

How do you give your staff opportunities to be leaders and how do you give your staff opportunities to be managers? Any formalized training process? Do you rotate responsibilities amongst your assistants?

My assistant professionals gain leadership experience through our junior golf program. Each year one of our assistant professionals is given the responsibility of junior golf coordinator. This gives these individuals the opportunity to coordinate and lead all junior golf activities. This begins over the winter as they set up the junior golf calendar, meeting with the junior golf committee. The assistant then leads the junior/parent kickoff meeting, they schedule all staff for the clinics including myself, conduct all junior golf/junior parent tournaments and are the emcee of the closing banquet and awards ceremony. This is a position that staff members always look forward to because it allows them to truly be the lead.

Formal training begins in March when all staff members receive manuals that outline our staff meeting dates for the year, a golf shop and outside operations policy manual, recommended reading materials, a summary of all staff members job descriptions and a tournament responsibility break down. We work through this information in the first couple staff meetings to ensure we are all on the same page. We also use mentoring or shadowing for new hires and interns.

I do rotate job responsibilities each year to make sure we are training well rounded golf professionals. When I worked for Craig Harmon he was a big advocate of the rotating responsibilities and a three year and out philosophy. He wanted to make sure his staff was well prepared when a job opportunity presented itself.

How can assistant professionals become better leaders and how can we become better managers?

I think assistant professionals have more opportunities to become better managers within their normal roles and responsibilities. For example, the staff member in charge of scheduling is truly learning to manage. It is their job to interact with the other staff members and navigate the mine field of balancing personal requests and professional responsibilities. I also think the job of tournament coordinator allows each person to sharpen their skills as a manager. These individuals must be organized to the smallest detail to ensure the event goes off smoothly. Many times these professionals are delegating responsibilities and then following up to make sure they have been completed.

With respect to leadership, can you think back to your previous bosses and current mentors and tell us what they did/do that set them apart? What did/do you learn from them?

I moved through my apprenticeship with a very businesslike approach. I knew the strengths of each of the professionals that I went to work for. I sought out and was fortunate to work for national award winners in merchandising, teaching, professional of the year and Bill Strausbaugh winner. I believe to be successful at the highest level you don't necessarily have to be first in any one category but if you are in the top 3% or 4% in teaching, playing, merchandising and administration you will be successful in the high end private club business. The quest to improve and educate should never stop. I continually seek advice from former employers and peers. I truly enjoy spending time watching the Butch Harmon's and Jim McLean's of the world teach. I think this is something that has diminished over the years. I spent countless days and weeks traveling and watching the best professionals teach and I think that has paid huge dividends over my career.

"Leading & Managing" by Michael Kernicki of Canterbury GC

2011-05-23T20:26:00.000-04:00

Michael Kernicki is the Head Professional at famed Canterbury GC in Beachwood, Ohio. He was hired in January of 2009 and is only the sixth Head Professional in Canterbury's storied history, which includes Henry Picard (1938 Masters champion and 1939 PGA champion). Canterbury GC hosted the 1932 Western Open won by Walter Hagen, the 1940 U.S. Open won by Lawson Little, the 1964 U.S. Amateur Championship, the 1973 PGA Championship (Jack Nicklaus's record breaking 14th major title), and the 2009 Senior PGA Championship. Michael is in a unique place that allows him to hone in on his leadership ability and operate a world class operation. We hope you enjoy his insights on the topic of "Leading & Managing".
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True Leadership

A wise man once told me, “You can be a leader without being a manager, but you cannot be a manager without being a leader”.

The nature of rising up the ladder in the club professional career automatically categorizes you as a manager. If you rise the ladder, succeed from one position and improve your career to the next position you are obviously an effective manager. I believe true Leaders are those successful individuals who can see the big picture and can articulate to their teams, the masses, associations, etc. a clear direction. The leader is one his team wants to follow because they can see success. The leader who is an effective manager succeeds because he exudes the confidence in the way he conducts himself and his business so much so that his team is comfortable and follows.

The Goal

Leading your team to success, let’s say at a private golf club or country club, can be achieved by understanding the direction given by the Board or General Manager of the Club, implementing that direction through close interaction with your team, clear communication, setting goals and having your team set goals that are measurable, while creating an atmosphere that is fun and driven to succeed. I state that the goal of our golf operation is to be the “benchmark by which others measure themselves”. Is that true, do we succeed at that? Clear communication with everyone on my team to understand what that statement means, all of us on the same page, committed to that goal, gives us a chance to reach that goal.

Driven to Succeed

My Assistants can definitely be leaders and yes they are managers. I want people on my team that are driven to succeed. With that attitude they will definitely be on top of their game day in and day out. They want to succeed, they want to move up the ladder in their career and therefore they will strive to reach our goal as a team while constantly bringing new ideas to the table as to how we can get better. If you are just doing the same thing each year…you do not move forward.

Staff Advancement

I allow my Assistants to be responsible for certain events, programs, etc. They are the point person and I want to be led by them in certain tasks regarding an event or program. If they are getting off the track or off message, then as the leader and manager of the entire department I bring them back and clear the focus. I want my more tenured professionals to be leaders, or should I say “mentors”, to the assistant professionals and interns under them. My job is to train them all, at the various stages of their development, to achieve our goals, their own goals, and when they are ready to move them into their own leader and manager position so they can do the same to their staff.

Live and Learn

At the end to the day, we are not curing cancer here or performing brain surgery. Will we make mistakes? Yes we will. Will those mistakes be totally costly to the overall effort – No. Will we learn from them – Yes. And, we will use what we learn to become better. Clear communication, taking pride in what we do, being on the cutting edge in our profession, and exemplifying that to the managerial team of the club, my board of directors, and my members will help us reach our goal. Therefore, they are all proud of their golf operation under my direction. Therefore, I am successful!

"Leading & Managing" with Cary Cozby from Wichita CC

2011-05-16T16:10:00.004-04:00

Cary Cozby became the Head Golf Professional at the Wichita Country Club in 2000, only the fifth Professional since 1923. Before coming to Wichita, he was an assistant golf professional at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa (1995-2000) and Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma (1993-1995). In 2005 he added the responsibilities of CEO for the club. In the South Central Section, Cary is the recipient of the 2002, 2007, 2010 Merchandiser of the Year, 2003, 2009, and 2010 Golf Professional of the Year, 2003, 2004, 2005 Horton Smith Award, 2009 Bill Strausbaugh Award, and the 2002 National PGA Merchandiser of the Year Award. He is also the recipient of the 2002 and 2010 PING GOlf Regional Club Fitter of the Year Award and his golf shop has been ranked in Golf World Business 100 Best Golf Shops from 2003-2007 and 2009-2011. Recognition certainly is nice, but hearing Cary's perspective is very indicative of just how he has become so successful.
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When you hear the word "leader", what comes to mind first?

A leader in my mind has vision and can look at the world from a bigger picture than most. A leader has the best interest of all others, knows where he wants to go and keeps his focus and those around him with their eye on the prize. A leader communicates the goal and WHY we are doing something vs. HOW to do something. A monkey can learn how to do something, a leader will get people to follow when they understand the 'why'. Everyone wants to be a part of the winning team. The leader aspires to be great and understands that it is a bottom up process and not a top-down process. The leader is conscious of the needs and ambitions of those around him and genuinely cares about their well-being. In the end, he knows he will win if he does. A manager is the person worrying about the bottom right-hand corner of the P&L.

What in your mind are the differences between leading and managing as they relate to our jobs as golf professionals? How do you balance them and do you favor one over the other?

The two are worlds apart. There is a big difference between leading people and managing them. Obviously I think the leader is the most effective and when your operation runs at the highest level, the financial side of things seem to take care of themselves. I have a controller at the Club that keeps me apprised of the financials and I have her prepare me the analytics I like to look at on a weekly basis. Other than that, I worry about our member's experience at the Club

In your opinion, are requirements of assistant professionals more managerial, and do we become more of a leader when we become HP?

You can absolutely be a leader as an assistant. For example, in how you view the operation and how you deal with members and the staff under you. Yes, you have to be responsible for hourly employees and payroll but you can lead them and get them to buy into something bigger than just clocking in and out. However, there can only be one true leader of the operation and that needs to be the HP. You can show your maturity by always supporting the HP, even when you disagree. I did not always agree with my mentor but it was his operation and I was there to learn from him and take care of the members. I just made notes on how I would do it if it was my operation. We are all melting pots of our experiences, both good and bad.

With regards to leadership & management, what are the overarching principles that you want your staff to embrace and take with them as they move on in their career?

It is important for them to understand the entire club, period. If they get that and are driven to deliver a great experience to every member, then they will be the leader of the club and the club will "cinch their wagon" to them. It won't be anything managerial to them. Hopefully our professionals leave here with a 360 degree viewpoint of the entire club.

How do you give your staff opportunities to be leaders and how do you give your staff opportunities to be managers? Any formalized training process? Do you rotate responsibilities amongst your assistants?

They're expected to conduct themselves as head professionals in every aspect. We do not have a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd assistant professional, although the ranking does take care of itself based on how they perform and how the members relate to the assistants. The training from me is in not so much in the HOW we operate but much, much more on WHY we operate the way we do. Achieving the big picture goals through the small details. And it is daily, they rotate amongst the managing of the Open-to-buy and managing the Outside Service Staff, but everyone is held accountable for everything. This keeps us sharp! The last line of their job description is "anything not mentioned above"

The assistants manage the Outside Service Staff and our Junior Golf Program, although I am involved with both. You can see the transformation of (most) of our assistants over time and how they begin to notice the small details that make an operation great. I know when we are getting it when they are trying to stay two steps ahead of me. That was always my goal working for Dave Bryan at Southern Hills. I tried to anticipate what he was thinking, seeing, and handle it before he asked. Our current staff is excellent at this. If we have five people trying to conduct themselves like a head professional and their goal is to have my job, we are going to deliver a tremendous experience to our membership...which is the goal!

Can you touch on the staff-library you established at WCC and what you hope to achieve through it?

The library is comprised of mostly service and leadership books, none of which deal with the golf industry/club business but they all relate if you are paying attention. Which I assume they are if they check a book out of our library. The goal is to keep momentum up amongst the staff and keep the creative juices flowing. We need everyone here to be engaged in the experience and this simply supports that ground up philosophy.

How can assistant professionals become better leaders and how can we become better managers?

Find out who does it the best and learn from them, there is no magic formula.

With respect to leadership, can you think back to your previous bosses and current mentors and tell us what they did/do that set them apart? What did/do you learn from them?

Dave Bryan at Southern Hills was a great leader and made it clear what the expectations were. He also had a great ability to solve problems, it was tremendous. He would focus in on whatever the issue was and come up with the perfect solution and in a manner that calmed all parties. Brent Goodger at Oak Tree Golf Club had this way of making everyone that walked through the door feel welcome and comfortable. My father, Jerry, at Hillcrest C.C. in Bartlesville, Oklahoma was as detailed a professional as you can be and didn’t care who you were, he treated everyone like a king or queen. He worked relentlessly at wearing all the hats, a great example...pretty good father too! There are numerous others I consider mentors and try to learn from every place I visit; including hotels, restaurants, etc.

"The Hot Seat" with John Kennedy, HP at Westchester CC

2011-05-04T18:20:00.003-04:00

Short, poignant answers are often the best answers. "The Hot Seat" is designed to cultivate quick, poignant answers from some of the top veteran golf professionals in the country. On the hot seat today is John Kennedy Jr. from Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.

John Kennedy Jr. has spent the last 20 years at Westchester Country Club. He is the third member of the Metropolitan PGA Section to be named a recipient of the National PGA Horton Smith Award, which honors individuals for outstanding contributions to PGA Education. John has also earned multiple Section Merchandiser of the Year and Section Horton Smith awards; was the 1997 Section PGA Professional of the Year, and the 2005 Section Bill Strausbaugh Award winner.

Fifteen of Kennedy's former assistants have gone on to PGA head professional positions. Among the many education programs he has supported include serving as a consultant to the Bhutan Junior Golf Association, which offers three and six-month internships for aspiring PGA Professionals to help grow the game in the tiny Himalayan country bordered by India and China.

As it states on his businesses website, www.johnkennedygolf.com, John’s greatest passion, as a professional, has always been education for his students, his staff, his fellow professionals and for himself. Additionally, it is John’s involvement and quest for improvement which he credits for any success he has achieved.
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What are some aspects of your position, that if you didn’t do them well, it would be detrimental to the operation?

Take time to prepare and commit time to implement staff training, staff management, and staff feedback.

What are the overarching principles of your operation that you want your assistants to buy into and perform at a high level, and take with them when they leave?

People come first (either staff or members), spend time preparing and continue to grow as a person and professional.

In your eyes, what does it mean to "serve"? What are the best ways that you have found in your experience, to serve the members and their guest's?

Listen first. Then respond to their concern/request and take action.

When hiring, what do you look for in a potential assistant professional?

Humility. Also enthusiasm for people and the game.

What can a new assistant professional on your staff expect to experience/learn during their apprenticeship?

Exposure to all phases of the operation. Exposure to membership and exposure to their fellow staff and my self.

In today's environment, being a golf professional is as dynamic of a job as it has ever been. Between merchandising, tournament operations, instruction (teaching, fitting, fitness) and leadership/management, what kind of advice can you give an assistant professional so that he/she may better balance the responsibilities?

Pay attention to your health and your faith. Develop proper time management skills. Commit to learning.

Can you explain the importance of having a college degree in today's economic environment as it relates to the golf business?

Gives creditability, usually helps maturity.

What advice would you give a young apprentice navigating through his/her path as a golf professional?

Outwork the competition and always continue to grow. Also, increase your exposure to membership and professionals.

Earning our first head professional job must be exciting, what are some critical success factors for rookie head professionals in their first few months on the job?

Positive first impressions are very important. Do not over-promise and under deliver. Identify club needs and address them appropriately. Support your staff in their goals.

In our golf operations, there are generally 2, 3, even 4 different generations of employees. With some generations being harder to lead/manage than others, how can we be successful in bridging the gaps between multiple generations amongst our staff?

Show respect. Give timely feedback. Create opportunities for outside-of-work social gatherings.

Some clubs don't have an assistant professional hierarchy, i.e. First Assistant and/or Second Assistant and so forth. How can a hierarchy in place be helpful?

It allows opportunity for growth. Also, it keeps you aware of sharing responsibilities.

How do you draw the line between being your assistants' friend and their boss?

It's important to be interested but to not be involved in their personal lives unless asked.

It's easy for many to assume that once you're a PGA member, a head professional position just falls in your lap, and that simply isn't the case. When an assistant of yours works hard for a lengthy period of time and achieves his/her Class "A" status, and asks you "What's next?" What would you explain to them?

Continue to expand your sphere of influence (who you know and what they know about you). Continue to increase skills so you are ready when the call comes.

Importance of Getting Involved

2011-04-25T14:07:00.005-04:00

"Why should I get involved?"

"What can I possibly contribute?"

Do you have an opportunity to be involved in some way with your PGM University Program, PGA chapter or section, but you're intimidated by being involved? Or hesitant to put yourself out there? Maybe we just need to do a better job of asking different questions:

"Why shouldn't I get involved?"

"What will I contribute?"

The fact is that HP's and/or hiring committees will hire you based on your performance in your job. Any credentials from involvement with the section/chapter are icing on the cake. However, getting involved is extremely important, especially in this day and age. The more icing on the cake, the better. The job market is increasingly competitive and we have to give ourselves an opportunity to stand out as much as possible and get our resumes towards the top of the stack. But that might be somewhat selfish if we did it for our own personal gain.

The most important reason for getting involved is this. We all have our beefs with the PGA and probably our sections. But complaining and not doing anything is aimless and accomplishes nothing. An old boss of mine once said, "If you are going to approach me with complaints, you better have some solutions to discuss, if not then quit complaining."

We can all voice our opinions, but it's harder to be heard if you're not involved in some way. Being involved with your chapter/section allows your voice to be better heard and better yet, be a part of the solution. Being involved also grows your sphere of influence and puts you in a position to make change. Serving your fellow golf professionals is one of the most effective ways to do that.

On top of that, by being involved you can gain an incredible amount of perspective as a golf professional. Regardless of whether you're an assistant professional or head professional, we are all a part of something much, much bigger than ourselves or our daily roles as golf professionals. Does the PGA have its issues? Probably. Every organization does. But the fact is that it's not going anywhere, it's here to stay. So it is in our best interest to be a part of it and not against it. Besides, don't forget that the PGA gives you a distinction that is a big reason why you have your job. In most cases, no Class "A" = no HP job. Get involved. There is nothing to lose and so much to gain. To be immersed in how the Association and your Section functions WILL make you a better golf professional, and who doesn't want to be a better golf professional?

Believe it or not, but there was a time (a long time ago) when Sections did not have paid staff. On the Section level, everything was done by the golf professionals themselves. They volunteered their time because they cared. They ran the tournaments, participated in each others events, and ran the job bulletins. Although this doesn't exist any longer, volunteering our time and effort and being involved are still there. The opportunities increase our leadership skills and they give us a peak into how the Association was once run and still is to some extent. Being involved also gives you many opportunities to meet some great people and do a lot of networking, both pivotal pieces of the puzzle in improving ourselves as golf professionals and advancing in our business. Get involved because all of us can contribute something.

Interview with Ray Cutright from Idle Hour Club

2011-04-19T10:01:00.004-04:00

Ray Cutright is the Director of Golf at Idle Hour Club in Macon, Georgia. He has served in a leadership capacity at both the section and national levels since 1977. He currently represents District 13 (North Florida, South Florida, Georgia Sections) on the PGA Board of Directors. In addition to serving as President of the Georgia Section ending in 1997, he has picked up along the way recognition as Central Chapter Golf Professional of the Year and Teacher of the Year as well as Georgia Section Golf Professional of the Year, a Bill Strausbaugh Award, a Horton Smith Award, Merchandiser of the Year Awards for both Private and Resort, Section Golf Professional of the Year, and a National Horton Smith Award. Needless to say, Ray is a legend in the Georgia Section. We are proud to have been given his time and insight into how assistant professionals can sharpen our tools and advance in a todays challenging environment. We hope you enjoy.
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How do you know you're "ready" for your first HP job (Is it a feeling, does somebody tell you, do you wait until your next in line)?  

We see and talk about mentoring constantly in our Association. I had the fortune of finding a young PGA Professional when I was a teenager who took me under his wing and taught me from the very beginning. He had been a good player and also had the fortune of working under a great golf professional himself.

Because of this, my philosophy has been to hire young people who are good players and love the game but also understand that golf is a business that revolves and grows from others playing and enjoying the game.

From the beginning, I make it clear that we must have a plan and there is a final goal of becoming an independent “stand alone” golf professional. When I feel like they can make it on their own, we begin the process of building a resume to prepare for the opportunities that become available. I tend to push from my end much harder than they do. It’s always good practice to interview for a position when the opportunity presents itself so they need to have all the tools in place.

Bottom line in my opinion is finding a successful professional to help you chart your course from the beginning. In this very competitive world, it is sometimes difficult to find someone who is willing to share but I have always found it to my advantage to hire my weaknesses and go from there. I believe I will become a better professional and person by hiring and developing my assistants to be better than I am. I have learned a lot from them over the years too!

Planning, training, and educating yourself along with timing should create the “right time!”

Can you describe your experiences as an Assistant Professional and what you learned?  

You always hear stories from professionals about how it used to be when we were coming up in the golf business. It definitely was different compared to today but not necessarily better. I was raised to believe it took sixty to eighty hours a week to do the job. Because of that, I have learned over the years to teach my apprentices about time management and “visibility” at the right times. We have become so business correct over the past thirty years we have forgotten who we are. The wonderful thing is that it’s not too late if we are willing to honestly evaluate ourselves on a regular basis and pay attention to our facility and customer needs.

Fortunately my mentor, Butch Hansen taught all of us from the beginning that people skills were essential in our profession. They included playing with as many different players possible, greeting, listening, and focusing on the customer at all times and anticipating their needs to create the ultimate experience every visit. He believed, and I still do today, that everything falls into place after that. The business component is easier than ever thanks to all the technology. Get out there and be available, visible, and receptive to your customer’s needs. Increased competition makes it even more important today. There are no buttons or advertisements that will take the place of personally exceeding customer needs every time. It takes a consistent commitment to do it though and we are in a society of quick fixes. Step back and look at successful professionals over the long term. They remain focused, educated, visible, attentive, consistent, and excited about making productive change!

Can you reflect on the transition (first 6 months to a year) from AP to your first HP job and what it was like?

Even though I thought I knew everything, I had to be on my own to realize what an important part of my life Butch played. Even today, I remind him that things would be different if he had not been there.

My first head professional position was in Toccoa, Georgia in 1976. It was a nine hole semi-private facility in the north Georgia mountains. I had been at three upscale private clubs with Butch since age fifteen so this was foreign to me. It was one of my best experiences ever and it taught me that we are in the people and relationship business first. To this day, we still have life long friendships from this position.

I was the man! All of a sudden it was myself, my wife, and a few part time high school and college boys. I was in front of the line of fire and Butch wasn’t there to lean on or shield me. I had to develop and execute the plan everyday and when it failed, adjust. Fortunately, Butch had tested me and given me enough rope to keep moving forward.

What are some aspects that if you didn't do them well, it would be detrimental to the golf operation?

All customers want to be “wowed” on a regular basis. The leader must be visible and the staff trained to make sure they are greeted properly on every visit. I see too many operations with an atmosphere of come in and register and go play with no staff interaction. In this day of less play, interaction is the key to the customer returning for the next round or purchase. They are looking for a reason to be supportive and loyal!

Learn names, LISTEN, write notes, send emails, work the first tee, or walk the practice tee and give a few tips. Work ahead and develop routines, programs, and promotions that draw the customer to the golf course and your staff. 

What are the overarching principles you stand by as a golf professional and would like to see assistants stand by?  

I always remember in addition to my personal character, morals, and ethics, I am an employee of the facility and because of that, certain rules apply. We start by addressing all customers as Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Times have changed and there are many who do not prefer that title so I have softened there but only when a request is made. Even though human nature tends to make us favor certain customers, it’s essential that everyone is treated the same, especially in the application of rules area. We are in a business where first impression is extremely important so I impress appearance at all levels, eye contact, and firm handshakes. I believe in asking a lot of questions to make sure the facility and customer needs are being met on a daily basis. This tends to create an atmosphere of being over prepared, which I like. ANTICIPATION in any profession is a gift that goes a long way in making an operation special. I teach my staff to react and create experiences for the golfer so they come to play and leave excited.

What do you look for in an Assistant Professional?  

Hunger! I want my assistants to come to work everyday on a positive note and absorb everything they can to reach for their ultimate goal of becoming a head professional. The golf profession is not for everybody and I believe it’s best to lay it out upfront as far as my expectations and their expectations. I had the privilege of being around Davis Love, Jr. for quite a while and he was the best visionary I have ever seen. You laid out the plan and worked on what it took to reach your goals. The road wasn’t always perfect but you adjusted and kept going. I have to know this person is willing to do whatever it takes everyday and has the capacity and desire to grow and challenge me on a regular basis. I have learned so much from the assistants that have worked along side me. It’s fun and satisfying to see an assistant who loves the profession and game as much as I do!

What kind of advice would you give a young apprentice that aspires to one day be a HP?  

Whether we like it or not, the opportunities to become a head professional are lessening daily and I don’t see it getting better soon. Most apprentices have their view of what it takes to be a head professional but when the time comes, because of lack of training, education, finances, business skills, and people skills, they are not ready. To be successful, it must become a way of life. You must be willing to give all you have along with a well thought out plan of progression to start with. Developing life mentors is so important because as you progress, there will be situations, issues, and goals you need help on. I believe you must have people who have been through the golf professional life to keep you on track. Never be afraid to seek advice, ask questions, and constantly evaluate your long-term goals. I see very few successful professionals who are not totally emersed!

For an AP that might feel limited in his/her role, what kind of advice would you give them?  

It’s always best to discuss your situation with your employer first. There may be some communication issues or the operation may not be set up for you to work outside your job description. Take some time and make a list of the areas you want to grow in. Ask your head professional for some time and discuss your goals. Even though your present position may not change, you open the door to challenge the present and exceed the job expectations.

The education and instruction opportunities produced by our Association are the best out there. Seek advice from other professionals who have been successful in the roles and fields you aspire to excel in. We have been moving toward specialization but I believe it’s good to get a taste of it all early. Time has proven that nothing is forever and situations change. I never dreamed I would leave Sea Island as the Director Of Golf to become a traditional golf professional again.

Constantly grow, train, dream, and educate yourself.

Due to the cost of running any facility, I believe the professional who can do it all will always have opportunities.

What are some ways you think assistants can stand out at their facility?  

Great question! I am a firm believer that first impressions are so important. They can start by learning names and greeting every customer the way they want to be, by name. Anticipation is priceless! In my view, it’s my idea of reading minds and providing services that the customer remembers. I always tell my assistants I hate name tags because I want them to stand out so much that everyone knows who they are. Even though all facilities and situations are different, there are staples if well done will go a long way. As a team, sit down and list the areas you want to excel in. Once you do that, keep referring to and performing that list better than anyone else.

How do you think assistants can be better "salesmen" in their golf shops?  

Product knowledge is essential in selling any product. They must stay current on what’s out there in the marketplace and listen to their customer’s needs. With so much access to information in the equipment and instruction venues, your customer will challenge you. Be proactive and stay out in front of them by studying and telling them before they tell you. By doing this you let them know you are the expert and interested in their well being.

Listen and speak when the opportunity is right. When they get your total focus, the response usually equates to a sale of some kind. In any case, you have gained their respect and interest.

What are some strategies that you think assistants can use to develop their teaching skills? 

Teaching is a funny part of our business. Like playing, we have tended to move away from it as we all try to survive in the business area. We need to understand these two components are the key relationship building tools we possess as PGA Professionals. I mention this because most operations do not consider playing and instruction as priorities. Consequently, an assistant has to make an effort to develop their teaching skills. In my opinion, all golf professionals must develop basic skills if only to fix someone on the first tee on Saturday morning. My advice to all entry level instructors is to understand the basic fundamentals of pre-swing, swing, and golf ball management. From there, it’s easier to focus on what makes the pupil create the swing motion and ball flight they do. If there is no one on staff at their facility, they need to find instructors in their area that will allow them to observe lessons and hopefully some discussion time. PGA education is dedicated to improving the instruction field so they should use this opportunity because it involves printed material and “hands on” opportunities. Most important, develop a teaching routine: structure the lesson, understand the fundamentals, and stress to the student to follow your working plan for improvement. Every opportunity to read, observe golf swings and successful instructors should be taken.

Teaching is an acquired skill developed over time. If it’s fun for you, you will get better. If your students have fun, you will prosper!

With all of the hats many assistants wear, what kind of advice can you give assistants to better manage their time at work?  

Determine the staples and do them when they need to be done. Even the ones you don’t like! The sooner it happens, the more time you have to devote to the golfers, playing, teaching and visibility.

I do my office work after hours or early in the morning. Emailing can be done during off hours so other than phone calls or a few meetings, I don’t like to be in an office……the customer can’t see me! Remember, we must be available when the golfers are there.

One of your assistants has just achieved his Class "A" and asks you, "Whats next?", what would you tell him?  

We have been working on this long before they achieve this goal. Because I want them focused on becoming their own man from the beginning, we work on the transition of an apprentice to a Class A member regularly. It’s unlikely they will get their own job first time out but very healthy for them to go through an interview process. We have spent time on preparation which involves appearance, written materials, and product knowledge, skills, and practice interviews with me. Lots of what if’s and anticipation questions!

As I mentioned, first impression is often the only chance they get so we have to be ready!

When opportunities arise, we discuss them and decide what action to take.

Do you buy or sell an assistant professional heirarchy (First Assistant, Second Assistant, etc.)?

Really, I don’t. I look at our operation from a team view and we determine what has to be done and who will do it. Since my goal is to make all our assistants ready to be on their own, I make sure each one of them experiences what it’s like to be the leader and team member in various project situations such as events, budgeting, creating financials, merchandising, developing an activities calendar. Their desire, skill level, and ability to finish a task determines who gets what. I personally make sure I am asking questions and giving them the tools they need.

We are always a team whether we succeed or fail.

What staffing model do you use at Idle Hour?

I can’t say I have a consistent model because customer needs and staff skill level change. Since we develop a SIMPLE business plan annually, the goals we have for our operation, customer service, and staff growth are in place. It’s up to me to make sure we follow the plan and stay on track to achieve the goals we set out to accomplish. I like my staff moving so I tend to keep it lean in the golf shop and have them promoting the game in some form: playing, working the first tee, and teaching. Basically, areas where they come in personal contact with the customer.
You can give the same plan to ten people and a small percentage will execute it exceptionally! We will adapt if needed to be exceptional.   

How do you draw the line between being your employees friend and their boss?  

I have had the privilege of working in many types of environments over the past forty years. Golf professionals work long hours and I have found it much more productive to have an atmosphere that is fun for the customer and the employee. I always let my staff know what I expect and ask a lot of questions to help them develop their own thoughts and views on how things should be done.

My mentor, Butch Hansen was extremely tough but I knew he would do anything for me. He constantly challenged me to reach for more and supported me when I dropped the ball. Kind of like when I was a little league coach…..learn, practice hard, play hard and I am satisfied. I still hated to lose though!

I make sure I spend enough time with all staff. I listen and keep them current on my expectations. I want them to know I support them always but it’s essential they perform at a level that excites other staff and our customers. Most important, I want them to see me giving it 100+ percent always.

Thats all from Ray, hopefully you have been able to get some great perspective on your position as a golf professional and how you can sharpen your tools going forward.

Thanks, Ray!

A Look Inside the 2011 PGA Spring Conference of Leaders

2011-04-11T07:31:00.005-04:00

"You learn from listening, not talking" - Leo DeGisi, 2-time Philadelphia PGA Golf Professional of the Year

On the evening of March 30th, I returned home from attending the 2011 PGA Spring Conference of Leaders in St. Louis, Missouri. The annual conference brings together the PGA National Officers, Board Members, Past Presidents, Delegates from all 41 PGA Sections and PGA Committee members. It was my first one and the experience was eye opening and impressive. With that said, my goal was to just watch and learn. When it comes to knowledge, PIFG wants to spread the wealth. To give you some perspective on how the PGA is operated and how we as members and apprentices are involved, provided below is the agenda of the conference.

Informal Session

On Tuesday March 29th, the Informal Session was held to discuss two Resolutions concerning PGA members who do not meet the MSR requirements and are transferred to Class F status. The session gave every attendee the opportunity to stand and speak for or against the resolution to Article VIII of the Professional Development Program. I witnessed first-hand how democratic our governance process is in the PGA of America, and it is a good thing.

Special Meeting

On early Wednesday morning, the Delegates continued with the Formal Session, in which the two Resolutions were voted on. Again, everyone in the room was given an opportunity to speak for or against the resolutions. Once again, what I witnessed were golf professionals like you and me being given the opportunity to speak their mind. A democratic and very appropriate process. Some delegates spoke on behalf of their entire section, some just spoke on behalf of themselves. For more information, log on to PGA Links for a closer look at the resolutions brought forth at the Spring Conference of Leaders.

Strategic Planning Update & Discussion

Following the Special Meeting, the conference continued with an eye opening update of the PGA's new strategic plan. The PGA hired Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to gather data and information to formulate a strategic plan being dubbed "Golf 2.0". A common theme or word used during the strategic planning session was the word "reset". The term is in reference to the fact that since the recession hit, industries across the board have had to reevaluate their business practices, and initiate new objectives and strategies, thus literally starting from scratch and "resetting". Such is the case with Golf 2.0. Although the PGA will not literally be starting from scratch, Golf 2.0 is most definitely a "reset" for the future.

The golf industry is in a bit of trouble in case you haven't noticed. Although it could be a lot worse, the industry is still in need of repair. As you can probably guess, the economy has had a major effect on the industry. Golf courses have been closing while the number of golfers is declining against the backdrop of a growing U.S. population. Golf 2.0 is a comprehensive and broad initiative at spearheading the charge towards growing the game. I am in awe that what is happening is essentially this: The PGA has moved their needle from what they and the golf industry perceives about the public, to how the public perceives the PGA and the golf industry.

Because of this paradigm shift in how the PGA of America acquires information, the dynamics of what is needed has shifted from what the PGA and the industry believes should be done, to what the public believes is needed. Because of the BCG study, the said shift will likely create change in our Association like we haven't see in decades. Golf 2.0 will trickle down into all of the PGA's programs, especially the member-education programs. Golf professionals will need to be trained differently. During the meeting, it was discussed that, historically the relationship between PGAHQ and the rank and file apprentices and members has been a bottom-up relationship. In Golf 2.0, it will have to become a top-down relationship meaning the PGA will have to come down to our level in providing training and education instead of us going to them.

The BCG study is not proprietary information, meaning it is not confidential and it is available to you. I HIGHLY encourage you to reach out to your sections Executive Director and request a copy of The PGA of America: Golf 2.0 presentation by BCG. Golf 2.0 will effect all of us in a positive way. You are going to hear more and more about Golf 2.0 as time goes on and the Association is likely going to experience an almost unprecedented evolution since it's founding in 1916 because of it.

Committee Meetings

After the strategic planning meeting, we broke up into our committee groups. Each committee was designated a board room at the Hilton St. Louis Airport (host site of the conference). The committee meeting was another example about how I was able to see how the gears turn in the PGA of America. I saw first hand that, despite what many believe, the PGA is not actually run by the national officers and PGA Headquarters. There were more than a bakers dozen of committees represented at the conference, and each one is literally comprised of golf professionals just like you and me:

-Affinity & Consumer Marketing
-Apprentice
-Communications & Public Relations
-Disabled Golf
-Education
-Employment
-Government Relations
-Inclusion
-Instruction
-Junior Golf
-Membership
-Play Golf America
-Tournament
-Section Executive Directors

Education Committee

The committee I am privileged to serve on is the Education Committee. In the past few years, the PGA has been revamping and enhancing it's educational programs to it's members, particularly it's formal apprentice and member training programs. In this term, we are continuing the momentum created in the previous committee term. What the previous committee term developed was the revised programs for all its member education programs:

PGA PGM 2.0 (formerly the Professional Golf Management Program)
PGA CPP 2.0 (formerly the PGA Certified Professional Program)
PGA MPP 2.0 (formerly the PGA Master Professional Program)
PGA Legacy

Now that Golf 2.0 has been unveiled, we discussed as a committee how it will trickle down into the apprentice-member education programs. As stated earlier, we will have to train our apprentices and members differently due to the requirements of Golf 2.0. The new PGA Education Program is greatly enhanced and could be what we are looking for going into the future. It may not be more difficult for apprentices and members to work through (An educational program does not have to be harder to be better), but they are more efficient and they now better prepare us for the business and economic conditions that exist today and will exist down the road.

Regarding Golf 2.0, it was also discussed that integration between education, employment, instruction and player development committees will be critical from a collaboration and decision-making perspective. There was further discussion that most of our committees overlapped with education. We also agreed that all aspects of the industry need to be leveraged to move the needle in this plan. Specifically, owners and general managers need to be pulled together and sold on the concept. And the application of the content must be turnkey and easy to understand.
Last but not least, all generations must be considered when building educational program designs. The distribution of this information needs to be blended between local delivery and digital online (social networking) delivery.

During the committee, one of the committee chairpersons, Dawes Marlatt, made a great point on education that I would like to convey to you. There is no question that in the world we live in, the smarter you are, the more opportunities you'll get. There is no denying that. With that said, how can we "buy" opportunities? As PGA Professionals, our currency is our education. With that said, how can we package our education so we can "buy" opportunities? Education is critical and the PGA recognizes that. It is why they are enhancing their education programs to better prepare us for the landscape that exists out there in our industry.

In Summation

Despite what many golf professionals may think (I have at times been one of them), the apprentices and members of the PGA are actually in very good hands. The PGA is not perfect, in fact nobody is. At the conference, the PGA leadership were even humble enough to admit shortcomings they have had in the past. With regard to the national officers, at the end of the day they are regular golf professionals just like us. When they depart from their high profile conferences, they are going home to a family and a club professional job that are not any different than ours. With that said, their decisions and their motives effect them just as they effect us.

The golf business has evolved greatly in the past 30 years. Some of it for the good and some of it probably for the bad as well, but change and evolution are a certainty. Fiscal responsibility will always be up for debate in any organization as large as the PGA. But what became loud and clear to me was that the PGA of America is embracing it's leadership role in the golf industry just like they did in 1916.

By the end of the conference, I had met up with a group of my sections golf professionals and one of them made a very interesting comment during our discussion that hit home with me. Leo DeGisi said, "You learn from listening, not talking". I realized that listening was exactly what I did during the conference and what I had hoped to do. I met many great golf professionals and did more networking than I could have imagined doing. But listening with an open mind was the key ingredient. It should be for any experience in our lives.

The Critical Nature of a Policies & Procedures Manual

2011-03-28T10:49:00.003-04:00

One thing that every golf professional should know is that in order for your employees to follow the rules they have to know what those rules are. But for some, just the thought of having to put together a handbook on what is acceptable and what is not in your golf operation can seem overwhelming. Additionally, some professionals dread the thought of being bound to more rules when they are already bound to so many others outside of work. So in these cases what some do is simply rely on word of mouth and hope their employees figure out the rules down the grapevine. Well, the grapevine is not good business practice.

We often hear Tour players explain what happens when they hit a bad stretch during a round, they “revert back to their fundamentals”, and often it works. When a club and its golf operation are going through a time of change (economic downturn, staff downsizing or changeover, etc.), there is no better place to revert to than the fundamentals of the operation – policies and procedures manuals. They are the backbone of the operation. No backbone equals no structure or operational alignment.

With all of this said, it always surprises me how many golf operations don't have a policies and procedures manual, or have one but it is severely outdated and neglected. Policies and procedures are the "rules of engagement" of your operation. The staff and their adherence is where accountability ends, but the manual is where accountability begins.

What are Policies and Procedures?

Policies and Procedures are the strategic link between the club or golf operations vision and its day-to-day operations. But why is that so important? It's because well written policies and procedures allow employees to understand their roles and responsibilities within predefined limits. Basically, policies and procedures allow management to guide operations without constant intervention.

Does Facility Size Matter?

Size matters. The larger the club or resort, the more emphasis that needs to be put on policies and procedure manuals and other related informational handbooks, however they are no less important for the smaller golf operations.

What happens is that the larger the golf operation is, the larger the departments become. Thus for the larger operations, more employees are needed in the outside services department, more starters and rangers are needed, more retail staff is needed, and more assistant golf professionals are necessary.

Quite simply, the more people that are involved in the operation, the more emphasis that is needed on policies, procedures, and informational resources to keep everything tight and well-oiled. When there are so many questions floating around from different angles, we have to go somewhere for the answers in a timely manner. That “somewhere” is the source, and the “source” is the manual.

Staff Growth

The presence and use of a policies and procedures manual gives staff the opportunity to learn. Experience in the development, maintenance, and evolution of a policies and procedures manual is critical to the growth of assistant professionals as they are looking to become a Head Professional. How can you appropriately execute the role of a Head Golf Professional if you have never created or dealt with in some form, a policies and procedures manual?

Often assistant professionals will have opportunities to revamp, update, or create from scratch informational employee handbooks and policies and procedures manuals for their golf operation. At first it can seem like a daunting task to take on. But with direction from a Head Professional that SHOULD have experience in the development of one, the task should be executable and a great way for the assistant professional to add another attractive piece to his/her resume.

Protection

If none of this has hit home with you, then perhaps this will: A policies and procedures manual protects the staff, especially the Head Professional. For example: As the Head Professional of XYZ Golf Club, you have generally done a fantastic job. But what if something were to go wrong? We're not perfect. What if a few of your decisions and a couple bad days have attracted the curiosity of your clubs Board of Directors? During the meeting, they are questioning some of your practices and how you operate certain areas of the golf operation. During this meeting, they ask you to provide to them your operations policies and procedures manual to ensure that formal systems are in place and what happened was not the result of poor management but rather the result of a coincidental accident.

Do you have one? If you don't have one to provide them, then you are in trouble. A policies & procedures manual can protect you and your staff. The manual is insurance to both parties that systems are in place and good management practices are being conducted.

Hopefully this article has given you some perspective on the critical nature of a policies and procedures manual. If you already have one and it's updated, then take comfort in knowing that you are prepared and all of your bases are covered. If you don't have one, then you need to think about developing one. This article should give you enough reasons to take measures and start building it for your staff and your operation.

Bridging the Generational Gap at Our Clubs

2011-03-21T15:12:00.003-04:00

In the golf business, like any other business, there comes a point when it’s “out with the old and in with the new”. But let’s rewind (try and imagine the sound of a scratchy tape being rewound) to a point before this conclusion – when the old and the new are working together.

In the golf business, many clubs have several different generations within its work force. It is very common for many clubs to have retired folks as its starter/rangers, high school and/or college folks as outside service employees, senior management like the HP or Director of Golf in their late 30's and into their 40's, and General Managers in their late 40's and into their 50’s, and the assistant professional staff are in their post-graduate mid-to-late 20’s. This is an interesting dynamic that we all need to pay more attention to.

I have heard that this is the first time in American history that we have had four different generations working side-by-side in the workplace. If you are old enough, remember when older workers were the bosses and younger workers did what was asked of them, no questions asked. There were definite rules as to how the boss was treated and how younger workers treated older workers. In the club business, roles today are all over the place and the rules are being rewritten daily.

Research indicates that people communicate based on their generational backgrounds. Each generation has distinct attitudes, behaviors, expectations, habits and motivational buttons. Learning how to communicate with the different generations can eliminate many major confrontations and misunderstandings at your club.

Unlocking the Mystery at Your Club

To begin to understand how individuals in different generations act and react, one must first start with understanding oneself. Begin by seeing where you fall on the “Generation Time line” above. The next thing to consider is the individual and his or her underlying values, or personal and lifestyle characteristics, which seem to correspond with each generation, as shown in the following table.

The characteristics listed in the table are but a very few of those that have been studied and reported by various authors. Not every person in a generation will share all of the various characteristics shown in this or the next table with others in the same generation. However, these examples are indicative of general patterns in the relationships between and among family members, friends and people in the workplace. Individuals born at one end of the date range or the other may see overlapping characteristics with the preceding or succeeding generation. Understanding these characteristics about individuals makes it easier to look at workplace characteristics and how they manifest themselves in business, specifically to us, our club operations.

What Generations Reveal

Developing a relevant understanding of generations can uncover what makes members of each generation tick. Though people act and react differently to various situations, it is generally accepted that those with similar backgrounds (gender, race, education, income, etc.) tend to share similar viewpoints, outlooks, communication styles, work habits, and expectations. They also tend to understand and experience a greater comfort level with each other. The same is true of members from similar generations. Research has clearly shown that generational membership is also a key variable in determining employee, consumer, and overall human behavior.

While issues between generations can be positive, it is the negative experiences that cause people to expend time, energy, and emotional resources. Workplace issues between members of different generations are often not pleasant or productive. Such experiences are taking place more often, resulting in decreased productivity and employee satisfaction.

Extensive research on generational issues within a wide variety of organizations has revealed that varying levels of employee disenchantment, miscommunication, and ill will, as a result of generational differences, are present. These realizations, which are listed below, were uncovered following detailed observations and discussions of generational issues with management, workers, and customers.

Generational differences are real. The ideals, values, traits, goals, and characteristics held by generations are increasingly different from one another. While representative of a newer trend, these differences are substantial and play a significant role in how members of each group relate to one another. A few specific differences between generations include communication styles and expectations, work styles, attitudes about work and life, comfort with technology, views regarding loyalty and authority, and acceptance of change.
Generational differences cause misunderstanding. It is widely recognized and accepted in organizations that people of different generations often aren’t on the same page. As with other dissimilarities between people, lack of commonly held beliefs and experiences can, and often do, cause misunderstandings among employees of different generations.
Generational differences cause strife. Due to the misunderstandings that occur, tensions between people of different generations are not uncommon. Though workplace tensions are not limited to workers of differing age groups, strife from inter-generational dealings is often difficult for co-workers to settle.
Generational issues impact the workplace. Misunderstandings and strife within a club can negatively impact employee interaction and productivity. Consequently, the entire operation suffers, as valuable time, energy, and emotions are wasted dealing with crises rather than managing the business of serving the members. Differing work and life expectations can also create tensions. While some disapprove of those who end their workday promptly at 5:00 p.m., those departing conversely resent the "glares" they receive as they walk out the door, thinking that those who stay late should get a life. Furthermore, both of these groups spend their days growing weary of those who are distracted from work finding care for their parents and fielding calls from their teenage children.
Generational differences can be minimized. Having a solid understanding of other generations is critical and should not be assumed to exist. Though the differences between generations have increased, steps can still be taken to minimize the negative outcomes that result from such differences.

Getting Back to Work

-At XYZ Golf Club, the Head Professional is 62 and he is having a difficult time relating to and keeping up with the innovative young apprentice professionals under him that are trying to spread their wings. In turn, the young apprentices are having difficulty responding to the Head Professionals work style and old-school procedural preferences. The assistants offer more modern suggestions for improvement, however the HP just wishes the assistants would do what they’re told, like they did back in the 1970’s.

-The outside services staff at XYZ Country Club is comprised of high school students that just needed a job because they’re parents were no longer paying for their clothes and providing them with their weekend recreational money. There are also a few local college students in the mix who looking for some extra cash for books and beer money. The staff is consistently late and sometimes they don’t show up for work at all with out a phone call into the golf shop. The assistants who oversee them have a difficult time trying to show them the importance of being on time.

-The starter/ranger staff at ABC Golf Club are in their late 60’s to late 70’s. There are even a few in their early 80’s. Some of them want the job for their benefits they receive as well as to bring in a little extra cash to compliment their social security checks. Some of them want the job because they want the playing privileges. They are comprised of former military officials, mechanical engineers, a former Army Ranger, and a handful of former executives of major corporations. Since the economy went downhill, staffing models have changed and various policies and procedures have been adjusted and modified, thus affecting them. On top of that, the starters/rangers are overseen by a young assistant golf professional. The starters have had a really hard time being managed by an assistant professional who has barely “left his mothers womb”.

-The outside services staff at The XYZ Club has a diverse mix of age groups within. A few high school students, a few college students, a PGM intern, a few in their 30's, and a few in their 50's. Work styles clash and often result in animosity within the staff, thus killing service levels.

How would you manage these situations?

There are more pronounced differences between the generations today than ever before. What can one expect with the dramatic changes in our world in the last 60 years? Being aware of these differences can help individuals tailor their message for maximum effect, regardless of the task, or the relationship — family, friends, workplace peers. Good business is based on understanding others. The majority of us think the correct way, and the only way, is our way. In business, as well as in personal life, that is just not true. To work effectively and efficiently, to increase productivity and quality, one needs to understand generational characteristics and learn how to use them effectively in dealing with each individual.

A colleague once told me that if you “young folk” don’t learn how to work and communicate with the “old folk”, our operation will suffer. However, I couldn’t help but think that it could be the other way around. In many ways, it’s about getting the "old folk" to work and communicate with the "young folk". Time isn't moving backwards. The business, the profession, and the professionals are changing, growing, and moving forward with the times. Yes, young pros like me need to know how to communicate with the older folks, but I think the older folks need to adapt with the times as well.

Here are a 6 things to keep in mind when juggling the different generations at your club:

Just because “we’ve always done it this way” doesn’t make it right. Don’t resist change. If there’s a better way, don’t be stubborn – adopt it.
Just because it’s new doesn’t make it better. Focus on getting the right result. Then find the most efficient way there, whether that’s old or new.
Speed is good but only if you already have direction. See the big picture before you dive into the details. Then you’re ready to move fast!
Don’t view each other as competition. Appreciate the differences – your respective strengths and weaknesses. Focus on how you complement each other because there are lessons to be learned on both sides.
Age doesn’t matter when learning new ways, even if they’re old ways. Some wisdom is timeless. There may be leading-edge ways to use that timeless wisdom. But remember this, they’re both valuable!
At the end of the day, there are going to be employees that just don't budge and it can be detrimental to the operation. This is when you simply and politely ask them, "Do you want this job or not?"

“There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age – I missed it coming and going.” - J.B. Priestly
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References for this article include:

Karp, Hank; Fuller, Connie; Sirias, Danilo. Bridging the Boomer Xer Gap: Creating Authentic Teams for High Performance at Work. Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black Publishing, 2002.

Kersten, Denise. “Today’s Generations Face New Communications Gap,” USA Today, November 15, 2002.

Lancaster, Lynne C.; Stillman, David. When Generations Collide: Who They Are, Why They Clash, How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2002.

Sago, Brad. “Uncommon Threads: Mending the Generation Gap at Work,” Executive Update, July 2000.

Walston, Sandra Ford. Distinguishing Communication Approaches Across Generations, 1999 (online publication), http://www.walstoncourage.com/pages/articles/generation.htm.

Zemke, Ron; Raines, Claire; Filipczak, Bob. Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace. New York, N.Y.: American Management Association, 2000.

What's In Those Two Stars?: The PGA Certified Professional Program

2011-03-13T14:04:00.003-04:00

The purpose of this article is to give you an honest assessment of the PGA Certification Program. The program has evolved from the PGA Specialty Certified Program in 1996, to the PGA Certification Program in 2004, to PGA CPP 2.0 which begins this year. Note: This is not an assessment of PGA CPP 2.0, rather an assessment of PGA CPP, the program of which my certifications were attained.

After I achieved my Class “A” in 2007, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had worked pretty hard on progressing through the program and it took up large chunks of my time. When it was all finished, I went home and said to myself, “What do I do now?” I had become so accustomed to the process of attaining this classification that when I was finished with it, my free time felt empty.

I played more golf, I practiced more, I read more, but I still needed something else. That’s when the PGA Certification Program began to draw interest from me. In the ongoing process of continuing education in the business that we're in, the certification program seemed to be a good direction to go in. But I had questions first, as I usually do before I embark on a process. It was obvious to me what the benefits were to the apprentice program and how the cost and time would pay off. Quite simply, achieving your Class “A” is a necessity as a golf professional. But what is the “PGA Certification Program”? How will my efforts in attaining certification(s) benefit me? Will the cost of the program be offset in tangible or intangible ways? In this economy, is it worth it? Is attaining certification(s) a necessity?

I’ve heard many sides of the story. Some say the program is a means for the PGA to make more money. I’ve also heard down the grapevine that some time ago, the PGA took a survey of all of the Fortune 500 companies, asking them if they would hire a PGA Professional, and they unanimously answered “no”. Subsequently, the PGA took note of this view on its professionals, as well as the direction the golf business was going and would be going in, and began turning the wheels of a plan to increase the business savvy of its professionals.

I think we can all agree that the golf business has evolved a great deal in the past 20 years. At the time, it was good that the PGA leaders recognized this and sought to act upon it. In an interview from Board Room Magazine in 2005, Roger Warren, then President of the PGA, discussed the reasons why the Certification Program was developed:

The PGA Certified Professional Program was developed in recognition of the fact that the golf industry is constantly evolving, and our profession needs to evolve with it. Employers have always sought frontline managers that can deliver a great golf experience and generate revenue. The new program produces PGA Professionals equipped to handle and address these needs. In designing the program, The PGA of America enlisted the expertise of leading golf industry employers from multi-facility organizations, resorts, public courses and private clubs across the country. Together, these industry experts became a part of the PGA Employment Council, which analyzed the gaps between PGA Professionals' skills and the requirements of golf industry managers. In addition, they also provided counsel on the program's career path courses.

When asked by Board Room Magazine of the benefits of being a PGA Certified Professional, Roger had this to say:

In addition to remaining on the cutting edge of today's workforce, PGA Certified Professionals are able to use their training as a springboard to further their careers and income potential. Plus, PGA Certified Professionals and PGA Master Professionals are able to leverage the expertise of nine regional PGA career consultants, who work with employers to find the top qualified candidates for available positions throughout the industry. With employers increasingly looking for candidates with the highest level of training and certification, they have come to rely on these PGA career consultants for recommendations.

In my search for answers with regard to how the program might benefit me financially, I uncovered the following statistics published in 2008:

GENERAL MANAGER
Title                                  Median Total Comp            % Variance
Certified                                  $116,636                                27%
Not-Certified                          $85,000
Master Professional                 $105,000                                19%
Non-Master Prof.                   $84,872

DIRECTOR OF GOLF
Title                                  Median Total Comp            % Variance
Certified                                 $126,300                                 25%
Not-Certified                          $95,000
Master Professional                $135,000                                 30%
Non-Master Prof.                   $95,000

HEAD PROFESSIONAL
Title                                  Median Total Comp            % Variance
Certified                                 $90,000                                   31%
Not-Certified                         $62,500
Master Professional                $100,000                                 37%
Non-Master Prof.                  $62,800

I am not so sure how these compensation characteristics would hold up in today’s economy, but never-the-less, that is what they found. I made sure I didn't make my decision based on these numbers. Statistics don't guarantee anything. Never-the-less, I decided to do it.

When I decided to do it, it was during the economy’s plummet, and it wasn't long before I got laid off due to the economy. These things weighed heavily on me. In the current economy and in a business that has very few jobs with many qualified candidates, I felt it would be in my best interest to do everything I could to add to my qualifications and broaden my knowledge of the golf business. Although I have yet to see any tangible results from having three certifications, I do feel like my knowledge has been broadened tremendously. And at the end of the day, what more can you really ask for. Additionally, because I own the certification library, I will always have the information to draw upon in the future.

I learned a lot from the subject matter, much of it being information that I was not familiar with, even after four years of college. In my opinion, the subject matter is what makes the program unique. It is information you probably can’t find anywhere else besides undergrad or graduate school curriculum. Some of the topics broached and that you will have to study include:

Becoming a Manager
Capitalizing on Change
Crisis Management
Finance Essentials
Intercultural Business Etiquette
Leading a Team
Leading & Motivating
Making a Presentation
Marketing Essentials
Negotiating
Understanding and Using Contracts

What the program does not do is give you experience. The program is merely the act of studying and processing information and being tested on your knowledge of the material. There is no work experience involved. It doesn’t lead you through work experiences like the Apprentice Program does. What the certification program will do is draw upon your work experiences. If you don’t have a certain level of experience in the golf business, it will be more difficult for you to pass the certification tests. Even then, it is not beyond the realm of possibility for you to pass with little experience as a Class “A” professional. Because as I stated, a large majority of the testing process is from information that must be studied.

If you’re thinking about enrolling into the certification program, I would encourage it. Nothing will ever trump actual, tangible work experience. Your work experience will be the basis of your success, but the Certification Program has the potential to be that icing-on-the-cake to move your resume up higher in the pile. In today’s economy, what more can you ask for?

Interview with John Spina from The Philadelphia Cricket Club

2011-03-06T08:52:00.002-05:00

There is an infinite amount of knowledge out there and one of PIFG's initiatives is to draw it all out. John Spina is the Director of Instruction at The Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. John was awarded the Philadelphia Sections Teacher of the Year Award in 2004. John is also ranked by Golf Digest as one the Top-15 Teachers in Pennsylvania. John has been very kind to lend his perspective into the world pf instruction and how assistant professionals can sharpen their skills as teachers.
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We all have a different paths throughout our careers, I think it’s important for young assistants to hear the paths of other professionals. Describe your background in the golf business and why you got into it.

Upon graduating college with a degree in Education, I had some hard decisions to make for my future. I knew that I loved the game of golf, but did not realize I could make a career out of it. I was fortunate enough to meet local PGA Professional, Gary Hardin, who took the time to mentor me and steer me in the right direction. Gary helped me land my first Assistant job at Eagle Lodge in 1993. I stayed there as an Assistant until 1999 when I began working for PGA Professional Jim Smith at Talamore CC. It was at Talamore when my career shifted and I began to specialize in teaching. In 2005 Jim and I moved on to the Philadelphia Cricket Club where Jim took the Director of Golf position and I took the Director of Instruction position.

The Cricket Club has what I believe to be one of the best practice facilities in the Philadelphia area, how has your experience there enhanced your ability as an instructor?

Having a first class facility allows me as a teacher to work on all aspects of the game with my students. Many clubs have driving ranges, yet few have top notch short game areas to help strengthen all aspects of the game. I also have two studios at PCC which allows us to provide state of the art video technology to enhance our students learning experience.

As an instructor, what is it that makes you "John Spina" to your members?

One of the greatest lessons I learned from both Gary Hardin and Jim Smith is that at the end of the day your reputation is all you have. That being said, the moment I joined the Philadelphia Section, I made sure to always treat my fellow professionals with respect. This includes everyone from the bag boys and caddies at visiting clubs to the GM of the dining room. Each person deserves my full respect. When dealing with my members I have always made it a point to "figure out a way to say 'Yes". When a member asks for an early lesson, I ask them "how early do you want to come?" I also make it a point to do the little "extras" which make a huge difference with my members...sending a good luck text before a big match or sending a congratulatory e-mail or even a simple phone call to help pick up someone’s spirits. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but these little things make a huge impact on members

This philosophy shows your members how much you care and are willing to do for them and their games. Every member wants to feel special and if you make it a point to do this you will gain their respect.

What did you do in your early years as a teaching professional to set yourself up for your current success and future success?

I LISTENED. Too often teachers are not good listeners. Every time I have had an opportunity to pick the brain of another experienced PGA Professional I stopped talking and I listened. This is the greatest piece of advice I could give any young assistant. We learn from each other.

What are some aspects of your teaching business that if you didn't do them well, it would be detrimental to your business?

Organization is one of the keys to running a successful business. If you are not organized you will make mistakes that will have a direct impact on your business. This is critical. This includes booking, reminder phone calls, clinics, schedules etc. Disorganization creates chaos.

In most circumstances, assistant professionals wear all of the hats (tournament operations, merchandising, personnel leadership and management, etc.), some times instruction can get lost in the whirlwind of it all. Considering all of this, how do you think assistant professionals can be better teachers and take steps to really know the craft and teach the game well?

At the very least, Assistants need to stay up to date on the latest teaching techniques, theories and philosophies. They need to read and do their due diligence if they want to get to the next level.

With that said, as opposed to "at the very least", what are some ways assistants can really go above and beyond in their learning process and stretch themselves to reach their maximum potential?

If I was an assistant looking to become the Best teacher then I would find out who the Top 3 teachers in my Area or section were and call them and ask if you could either sit in on a lesson or ask him Questions for an hour. Oh yeah, then you have to BE QUIET AND LISTEN! Just take in all that you see and hear, and you will learn a lot.

Can you give young teaching professionals any direction with regard to steps towards forming their teaching philosophy?

Great Question! What I see with successful teachers is they have a core set of principles that they use as a Blueprint. For a example, whether it’s Stack and Tilt or Jim Hardy’s "One Plane" or Eddie Merrin’s "Swing the Handle”, the teacher must get a grasp on a Philosophy and style. He / or She must then be able to adapt accordingly to their students. So the real Question the Teacher must then ask themselves is WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS BEST FOR ME? I think you have to do your homework, read articles, talk to other professionals, study video, gather data etc. And formulate your opinions on how the game would be best taught by you to your players. You have BELIEVE what you are saying because your convictions are a big part of your believability to your students. Whatever Philosophy, BELIEVE IN IT!

What are the overarching principles you stand by as a teaching professional and would like other teachers/assistants to stand by?

My philosophy stands by a blue print of four main ideas.

Build players around sound fundamentals including grips, stance, ball position etc.
Build players motion around rotation of the body. The usage of the bigger muscles in the modern day player is the engine that drives the motion.
I try to give my players a basic understanding of swing shape and plane.
Develop a connection of the arms and body so the motion is compact and together.

If a young apprentice comes to you and says, "I want to be the best teaching professional I can be", what would you tell him/her and how to get there?

I would tell him to stay organized, listen when around experienced professionals, do the little extras and continue to learn and gather knowledge.

Who have been your mentors and what have you learned from them?

I have had two phenomenal mentors in Gary Hardin and Jim Smith. Gary taught me how to play the game as well as how to teach the game better. He has always been a huge sounding board for me throughout the years and is someone whom I really admire both personally and professionally. Jim Smith is in my opinion the most well rounded golf professional I have ever been associated with. He has helped me to understand the business of golf and how to run a successful instructional program. He has taught me that the everyday business fundamentals must be adhered too at all times.

Do you have any books you could recommend aspiring teaching professionals to read?

Ben Hogan’s Five Fundamentals,
Jack Nicklaus' Golf My Way

In your experiences as a teaching professional, I'm sure you have seen and worked with your fair share of teaching professionals. What sets the great ones apart from others?

The ones that do the little extras.

Well put, John. Thank you so much for your time. The golf business is a tough and sometimes unforgiving business. Your contribution will go a long towards helping assistant professionals along their particular career path.

Time Management for Assistant Golf Professionals

2011-02-27T17:10:00.004-05:00

A huge advantage of membership with Golf Business Network (GBN) is the contributions it receives from it's members. The membership consists of many golf professionals from very high profiles clubs, and with that comes a great pool of perspectives to draw upon. With regards to time management in the context of our job as a golf professional, time is a precious commodity, a commodity that we can not get back. The following article, authored by the GBN staff with contributions from GBN members, represents their take on the sensitive issue of time management.
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As we are all well aware there are only 24 hours in each day and we cannot get time back. Therefore, we’re all faced with the daily struggle to manage our time in the most efficient manner possible. Many of our Assistant Golf Professional members have inquired how our Head Golf Professionals effectively manage their time on a daily basis. After analyzing information from several Golf Professionals effectively managing your time can be separated into the following areas:

Starting the day.
Being visible to staff and membership.
Handling daily tasks including e-mail and calls.
Delegating assignments to staff.

Starting the day

This is an often overlooked area. Each day adjustments need to be made to the daily routine, so we asked head pros about how they start their day?

“Before I begin returning calls and emails, I tour the property to see that things are in order and make adjustments to my and my staff’s schedule if necessary. It’s also a good way to be seen by members and staff alike.” - Gene Mattare, Saucon Valley CC

“I always seek out the caddie master first thing in the morning so I am familiar with the play for the day. This will allow me the opportunity to reshape my day based on who will be on property.” - Bob Ford, Oakmont CC & Seminole GC

Being visible to staff and membership

“I start my day by reviewing the day’s play list and determining how I will be able to personally interact with each member before they play, during lunch or on the golf course.” - Dennis Satyshur, Caves Valley GC

“I’ll walk through the dining areas at lunch and frequently visit the practice range during events or heavy play days.” - Gene Mattare

“I will start the day off by walking through the club to see a few department heads and say hello to the people having breakfast. I take the time to do those things before I sit at my desk and start calling and replying to emails”. - Bob Ford

Handling Daily Tasks Including E-mail and Calls

“I personally try to return e-mails in 30-minute blocks. Chasing e-mails while working on another project delays that project from completion. Therefore, I will close Outlook so I do not see the e-mails coming through. In addition, I created a worksheet ‘hard card’ that assists in keeping me very organized. Now everything is in front of me and I carry it in my pocket. I can add to it during the day and it is up-dated each evening before I leave.” - Brendan Walsh, The Country Club

Delegating Assignments to Staff

“I don’t think any Golf Professional or successful manager can be successful unless they delegate effectively. It not only allows you to accomplish more work, but it also is an extremely important element of an Assistant Professional’s apprenticeship. In addition, I always try to hire intelligent, self motivators, who can be given a lot of room to make decisions as they mature.” - Gene Mattare

“Delegating effectively is without question a huge reason for my success. My team and I have established the responsibilities I must carry out myself and the decisions they can approve without my stamp of approval. It is imperative that this line is crystal clear with you and your staff.” - Bob Ford

“The right people look at tasks as opportunities. Therefore, I look to hire people with this attitude and who can apply it to their daily life. It seems this trait will make it easier for them to become a successful golf professional.” - Brendan Walsh

The Takeaway for Assistants?

You must be organized each and every day, as well as being flexible to make adjustments.
Develop a system for being visible to the members and guests at the club.
There’s no substitute for hard work. Start each day early and end only when the day allows.
Embrace responsibility when you are given a task.

Step Up Your Teaching by Conducting a Photo Shoot

2011-02-20T15:28:00.003-05:00

Allow me to preface this article by saying that there are probably many, many full-time teaching professionals out there that could write a better article on this subject than I could. But for what it's worth, I figured I would give it a shot.

One of the biggest ways I have found to promote yourself as a teacher is what Gale Peterson once told me, “presentation”. From how your clinics are set up, how your private lessons are managed, and the instructional documents you distribute to your students. This article is going to touch on instructional documents and the photographs that accompany them. Depending on what heights you want to take your teaching to, it may be in your best interest to have a database of pictures of yourself in various stages of the various swings that you can then utilize for a litany of purposes including magazine articles, marketing photos, and instructional documents. Allow me to elaborate:

For quite some time, whenever I would give a lesson or a clinic, I would and still try to get everyone’s email address for the purposes of sending them a recap and staying in some sort of communication with them. Within the recaps I would accompany pictures of certain stages of the swing that were tailored to the student I was emailing. Often, I would get these pictures from the internet, mainly Google Images. After a while, it kind of dawned on me that I needed to step it up a notch. I needed to start personalizing the information that I distributed to the students. Instead of sending them pictures of random golfers or tour players they can’t relate to, I needed to start sending them these same kinds of pictures but of myself.

Additionally, I decided that I didn't want to rely on email. I thought I could continue to take advantage of email to maintain communication, but I also needed to start giving the students an opportunity to leave the lesson with something tangible in their hands. This is so they can feel they got something more out of the lesson than just my time and instruction, like a complimentary instruction card with a few sequence pictures of myself, a brief written step-by-step of the swing being applied, and my contact information.

I had always seen the notebook/picture books that the teachers at my facility were using, so I based my pictures largely on that. However it was the actual execution of the photo shoot that was going to be the challenge. At the first realization that I wanted to do this, I was excited to do it and add some flare to the presentation of my instruction, however I was quickly and rightfully grounded by Gale, and I found out it was going to require patience because of reasons I will discuss later. I got some great advice from Gale on how to properly execute such photo shoots and go home with quality pictures to layout and present to the students. If you're in Florida for a winter or you have time in the spring or summer, these could be great times to conduct these photo shoots. Remember, it’s all about “presentation” and if you’re going to do a photo shoot of this nature, you might as well as do it right and do as they say in the deep south, a “jam-up” job.

Photographer

This is the expensive part of the project and sometimes the most difficult part to commit to. I was very fortunate that an acquaintance of mine was the photographer in the marketing department of my club. He was open to doing the photo shoot for free, but in exchange for a few lessons. This was no problem for me. Of course, not everybody has this type of situation, so you’re going to have to figure out what your budget is and what you’re willing to do to make this photo shoot happen. Research local photographers and explain your project and you never know, one might be willing to do it in exchange for lessons and/or a round of golf at your club. However a personal digital camera can often suffice, I've done a few shoots with my personal camera and the pictures came out quite well.

Sunlight

When having your swings photographed, one of the key elements of a good picture is using the sunlight to your advantage. The best time to do a photo shoot is in the morning or in the late afternoon. This is because light is much more effective for photographic purposes when it is shining at you rather than shining on top of you. In the middle of the day, the sun is on top of you and the pictures do not come out as bright, natural, or clean as when the sun is coming from an angle. Also, whether the shoot is in the morning or the afternoon, make sure you set up so the sunlight is behind the photographer and shining at you. Long story short, always follow the sun.

Third Person

If the photographer is not a golf professional or doesn't know a lick about the golf swing, then it is of utmost importance to have a third person that knows the proper positions in the golf swing, like a golf professional, with you. Let's face it, our swings are not perfect, and you can't see yourself performing the sequences while the camera is clicking. The photographer likely will not know if your wrists need to be hinged more, the club needs to be extended more, or your feet need to be wider. You need a third person there, preferably an experienced teaching professional, that can coach your through the sequences. In this process, you'll learn a lot about how your swing stacks up in photos.

Weather

There are two sides to the coin when it comes to weather and the time of the year you choose to do the photo shoot during. You might want to do the photo shoot in cool weather, preferably late spring or early fall, maybe not the heat of the summer. Remember, these pictures are in essence a marketing tool, and you can’t be drenched in sweat in the pictures. However in the summer, days are longer and the sun is brighter, so you may want to consider that as well.

Itinerary

Have an itinerary mapped out before hand. Do not go into the photo shoot and wing it. You won’t be able to go from swing to swing or angle to angle in an efficient manner and the photo shoot could take much longer than necessary. Don’t go into it blind. Have a plan and stick to it.

Designate a dozen or so areas throughout the practice facility and the golf course(s) that are appropriate to each aspect of the game. Do not go into the shoot with out a clue or you’ll be driving around in your shuttle cart spending aimless time looking for spots instead of knowing exactly where you want to go and when. Also, make sure you have some scenic spots because once again, these pictures are in essence a marketing tool and you don’t want all of the pictures to be in the same background. Switch it up.

Attire

You’re a golf professional, so keep it professional and wear pants. Have a pair of khaki pants and a pair of black pants. If you're going to shoot for a full day and hit every kind of swing/stroke, bring two or three solid shirts, preferably colors that contrast well with a green background. Striped shirts don’t do well in pictures of this nature. It’s important to make a few shirt changes and pant changes. You don’t want all of your pictures to be the same with regard to what you’re wearing. Change it up so it looks like you’ve done this more than once. Once again, you’re marketing yourself. Make sure your attire looks timeless. Wear classic style golf shoes that won't look out of date ten years from now. White shoes may be the best for these kinds of photo shoots as they contrast well with the ground.

Spray Paint

Spray paint will be one of your best friends on this photo shoot for a couple of reasons. You may want to draw alignment lines so that viewers have a reference of your feet alignment, ball position, and where you are aiming. Spray painting lines will also give the photographer a reference point when lining up and taking the shots. Additionally, so the pictures are relatively identical and there isn’t much variation with regard to proximity between you and the photographer, you may want to spray paint a dot for where you’re going to stand and a dot for where the photographer is going to stand, so the both of you can return to those points should you leave for a break or a shot check.

Tripod

Having a tripod might be optional. Some photographers have a steady hand, some don’t. A tripod will come in handy as it will minimize the shaking of the camera during the shots. Additionally, having a tripod that is adjustable will help greatly. Preferably one that can go as high as 50 feet to capture full shot shapes or clinic set-ups, etc.

Grip Shots

When your shooting your grip shots that will be up close, make sure you’re wearing a fresh, brand new glove. Remember, you’re marketing yourself. Don’t wear a browned out glove aged in sweat from the summer’s heat. Keep it clean and professional. Maybe even wear a glove with your club logo on it to personalize the pictures. Or you may opt to wear a standard Foot Joy or Titleist glove so the pictures are timeless and you can use the pictures in the future when you're at a different facility.

Vanity Shots

Have some pictures taken of your self next to your staff bag. Look professional and stand tall. You never know, you may have opportunities to publish articles in local magazines and newspapers, and the editor typically requires a high-resolution photo of yourself in a golf environment. What better pictures than to be standing next to your staff back with a big smile on your face, showing those pearly whites!

There you have it. Hopefully this gives you some perspective into a subject that you may encounter in your teaching career. Depending on your depth of commitment to becoming a better teacher and pushing yourself as far as possible, a photo shoot for the purposes outlined in this article may be in your best interest. At the very least, it’s a great learning experience. When you walk away from your first few photo shoots, you learn A LOT about your own swing. For the purposes of photographs, you likely will not be in the correct positions that you might think you're in, it's just that simple. It helped tremendously to have Gale as the outside perspective to guide me through the frames.

As you can see, there is a lot to accomplish with photo shoots of this nature and there is a lot to learn as well. At the end of the day, you'll have some great pictures and you'll be well on your way to making instructional documents that will serve as a great marketing tool for you and a training aid for your students.

Click, Click

Interview with Bob Forman of GolFIT Carolina

2011-02-13T14:29:00.008-05:00

In the past ten years, with the exception of club fitting, there is no trend in golf that has grown as much as golf fitness has. We can no longer teach the game and meet today's demands of our students without having some kind of working knowledge of golf fitness, anatomy and physiology. Bob Forman is the owner and author of Golfit Carolina (www.golfitcarolina.com), a golf fitness educational website. Bob has been in the fitness field for over 28 years and is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor through the Titleist Performance Institute and Flexor motor learning program. He is currently the Director of the Golf Fitness Academy at High Point Regional in High Point, NC, and provides golf fitness programming for the Dyer and Schatz Golf Academy at Barefoot Resort and Golf in Myrtle Beach, SC.
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Describe your background and how you got to where you are?

I have a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology and have been in the fitness industry for 28 years running fitness/wellness programs for major corporations and currently a medical fitness center. I also enjoy playing golf. Back in 2006 I attended The World Golf Fitness Summit down in Orlando where Greg Rose and Dave Phillips introduced their, then, 10 years of research into what makes an efficient golf swing. That Summit not only changed the game of golf, it ignited a passion in me to pursue this new spoke of the player development wheel. I have since established The Golf Fitness Academy at High Point Regional and have worked with all levels of golfers over the past 4 years, and provide golf fitness workshops, and consult for several country clubs and resorts.

Can you explain the relative overall importance of fitness knowledge for today’s teaching professionals and can you describe the teacher professional-fitness instructor relationship that we find today and how important it is for there to be concise collaboration between the two?

Golf fitness can make life easier for the teaching professional and even, perhaps, more lucrative. Many of us are not physically prepared to play this game. Just look at some of the swings out there. If the teaching professional is trying to get the student to get a better shoulder turn or stay on plane or maintain a good wrist hinge, etc. and the student just physically can not perform those tasks or the tasks leading up to those outcomes, it's going to be a struggle.

So what options are there?

The only option is compensation. Find something the golfer can do to enhance impact and improve ball striking. The problem there is that by altering the swing and/or body positioning, you risk injury to the golfer.

What can a knowledgeable golf fitness instructor identify?

A knowledgeable golf fitness instructor can identify the golfer's anatomical deficiencies (muscle tightness, weakness, and/or imbalance) and isolate them in a customized exercise program. In doing so, the golfer will improve his/her ability to perform the movements necessary for an efficient golf swing. That will make it easier for the teaching professional to get the student in the hitting positions that will result in better ball striking.

The other factor is that injuries related to golf are either related to the golfer’s anatomy and/or swing mechanics. By identifying the injury triggers, the golf fitness instructor will be able to design a program that can isolate those deficiencies and alleviate/eliminate the discomfort. This will get golfers who have either limited time or stopped playing entirely, due to these nagging aches and pains, back out on the golf course. That means more greens and cart fees, lessons, golf balls and tees sold, golf apparel purchased, etc.

I've worked with quite a few golfers who have been in this situation and they want nothing more than to be able to get back out on the links and play the game. Working collaboratively, the teaching professional and the golf fitness instructor can make a huge difference in these individuals!

There seems to be a big debate these days on how to get more folks playing golf. One answer is making them and their swings healthier. In doing so, you increase playing performance and satisfaction, and that will make them want to play more. I know from my own personal experience along with many of the golfers I have been privileged to work with over the years that this is true.

I asked Greg Rose at TPI if there is any data to support this and though he agreed with me, there is not. I believe, however, that TPI will be coming out with some type of survey, if they haven't already, to document this. If they don't, someone should.

Now that we’re on the subject of TPI, TPI seems to be the preeminent certification for golf professionals with regard to golf fitness. Can you explain TPI and how it will benefit assistant professionals/teaching professionals along their career path?

Yes, TPI is the standard. They have a "golf professional" certification category that I highly recommend if teaching professionals want to learn more about the physical aspect of the golfer and the golf swing. I do want to add, though, that a firm knowledge-base of anatomy and physiology, along with exercise training methodology is essential for effective, safe outcomes. This is especially true as it relates to the injury component I discussed previously.

As this golf fitness technology evolves and expands, more golfers will be seeking it. Keep in mind, this is still relatively new to the sport even though sport physiology has been around for a long time. The research is what has given it credibility and has pretty much laid to rest all the myths and misconceptions about exercise and golf.

What advice would you give an assistant golf professional that is interested in getting into the golf fitness industry?

In my mind, the ultimate package in a teaching professional is a combination of technique and the physical characteristics of the golfer. The equipment component as well as the mental aspects are also both very important. A teaching professional can dabble in fitness and a golf fitness instructor can dabble in the golf swing, but if the desire is to produce a quality program, the best scenario is a collaborative team approach with each discipline offering its expertise. I do feel each should know a bit about the other.

Do you and/or your staff ever work with assistant professionals/teaching professionals in educating them or working with them to improve one of their students? If so, how might this process work?

Yes, as much as I can. I always follow-up an assessment with a Pro Summary that goes to the teaching professional the golfer is working with. He/She needs to know what is going on, physically, with their student and needs to know that in 2 to 3 months their student will have a lot easier time doing what it is the teaching professional is trying to get them to do. . . that is if they keep up with the exercise program. Any input they wish to give is welcomed and is usually very beneficial in the design of the exercise intervention. This is especially true if there is something quirky with swing mechanics.

Are there other certification platforms for assistant professionals/teaching professionals to consider?

Another very good program out there is Flexor, http://www.flexor.com. Flexor is a motor learning program that helps the golfer with flexibility, body awareness during the swing, and balance. It is being marketed, predominantly, to teaching professionals and can be used on the driving range as well. Certification is necessary to use the Flexor methodology.

In your experiences, do you have a real life, inspiring success story that stands out the most to you that involves the collaborative effort of you (or any fitness instructor) and a teaching professional that led to a drastic improvement in the students golf game?

There are plenty of success stories where the golfer makes significant gains in range of motion, for example, and that helps them do what they need to do physically when working with the teaching professional and swinging a golf club. That's why these two spokes on the player development wheel need to work together.

It's a safe bet to say that many golfers lack flexibility and range of motion and because of that, it's difficult for them to improve swing mechanics, as their bodies are restricted in what they can do. Frustrating for the golfer and the teaching professional.

Once those limitations are identified and a customized exercise program is maintained, it won't take long before the golfer can perform those movement patterns instructed by the swing coach that he or she couldn't do a few Weeks earlier.

So a big part of the collaboration is the timing piece and knowing when to focus on a bigger shoulder turn, as an example. The more fulfilling stories are the ones where we get golfers who have limited play or even given up the game due to a chronic injury, like low back.

Bob, thanks so much for giving your time and insight. The golf business, especially game-improvement, has become so dynamic and there still seems to be more room for growth. Good luck on your endeavors.

To contact Bob, call 336-509-4610 or email at bob@golfitcarolina.com

"How The Top Teachers Built Their Careers" by Golf Business Network

2011-02-06T14:07:00.002-05:00

The following article is the kind of insight members can expect through their association with Golf Business Network (GBN). GBN asked its members listed among Golf Digest’s Top 50 Greatest Teachers in America: “As one of the most accomplished instructors in the game, what steps did you take as a young teacher that really got you moving on the path to becoming a top teacher?"
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“Learn to teach the whole game with competence. A mistake I made early on was to spend 90% of my time teaching 30% of the game, which was ball striking. My goals have shifted so that I now try to spend one-third of the available time developing students’ putting skills, one-third on short game skills and one-third on ball striking. After that you have to get students on the course to transfer the skills they learned on the practice area. I also believe teachers should be competent in club fitting. I don't understand how you could teach someone to play to their potential if their equipment doesn't fit. The first goal when selling equipment shouldn't be the profit of the sale, it should be to help a player improve. If all professionals sold equipment to help players improve, the industry would be much healthier.”
- Todd Sones, Coutour Golf and Impact Golf, Vernon Hills, IL

“Some of the things that I spent a lot of time on when I was starting out included:

Visiting all of the top teachers in the country.
Learning as much as I could from academics including kinesiology, anatomy and biomechanics.
Filming as many different golf swings as I could to discover the uniqueness in each swing.
Improving my communication skills by attending a Dale Carnegie program.” -Dr. Jim Suttle, Cog Hill Golf & CC, Lemont, IL

“Early in my career I bought books and read, and read and read. Today, if I were starting out I would turn on my computer and view every golf teaching site I could find. Knowledge can be turned into two kinds of gold. The golden moments when you have helped someone and the other gold is the monetary reward, the payment that is traded for your knowledge. Recognize that there are many approaches to teaching that work. People who are method teachers will always find some success because anything works for somebody. But nothing works for everybody, so they will also have their failures. So learn as many methods as you can and then fit the best that you have to the person in front of you and your success rate will be high.”
- Dr. Gary Wiren, Trump International G.C., West Palm Beach, FL

“For me, the process of watching various teachers in action as well as reading a variety of golf books made all the difference in my development. Also, I think that experience plays a huge role in development as a teacher and coach. I find that a trained eye, good video skills, etc. are only effective if the instructor is able to pass along the information to the betterment of the student.”
- Eric Alpenfels, Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, NC

“I was trying to get better with my game and I would try to take lessons from the guys whose swings looked good and could hit the ball well. I would play in mini-tour events and ask the better players questions and that lead me to learn more about the golf swing. As I stopped competing and started working in the golf business, I would travel to take a lesson from the top teachers. Watching lessons is fine, but I believe you get more out of learning by experiencing a lesson. I would pick up things I knew would help me teach better every time I took a lesson including how to communicate better, latest video techniques, etc.”
- Don Hurter, Castle Pines G.C., Castle Rock, CO

“Davis Love Jr. told me to never forget what it's like to be a student. We take for granted how easy it is for us and don't appreciate how difficult it can be for the student. Take a lesson doing something you have never done before. See what it's like to have a professional watching you while you struggle to develop a skill. You will have a new perspective on being a student and your new found empathy will make you a better teacher.”
- Todd Anderson, Sea Island Learning Center, St. Simons Island, GA

“Observe the best teachers in your area teach. Take a note pad and write what you would do with each student and see where you differ from the instructor. If you have the opportunity, ask the instructor why he went in the direction he did. Begin to train your eyes to first observe the set up, the setup writes the script of how the club will be swung. Anticipate what each set-up problem will cause in the swing. As you become more proficient , you will begin to fix the cause, not the effect.”
- Mike Adams, Hamilton Farm GC, Gladstone, NJ

“Two things that I did early on were to work on my swing and become the best player I could. To accomplish this I took lessons from some of the best including David Leadbetter, Ben Doyle, Mike Adams and Mac O'Grady which laid the foundation for learning about the mechanics of the swing as a teacher myself.”
- Mike Bender, Mike Bender G.A., Lake Mary, FL

"The First 90 Days" featuring Hudson Nationals Theron Harvey

2011-01-31T08:44:00.002-05:00

2009 marked Theron Harvey’s first year as Director of Golf at Hudson National Golf Club on Croton-On-Hudson, New York. Before settling at Hudson National with his family, Theron was the Head Golf Professional at The ACE Club in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. Taking it back further, Theron served as an assistant professional at Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey, Monroe Golf Club in New York, Colliers Reserve Country Club in Florida, and Las Cruces Country Club in New Mexico.

When I asked Theron what he believes were key aspects that he had to focus on as Director of Golf in his first 90 days, he gave some great insight into how he broke the process down of transitioning through his first year at Hudson National. From my interpretation, it seems like Theron really took a holistic approach in that he focused on the whole of the golf operation by dissecting each department down and evaluating what was currently in place and creating a plan relative to what was needed in each department. When all was said and done, the retooled departments were pieced back together again into a cohesive, well-oiled golf operation ready to exceed expectations and serve the members and guests on a daily basis. The breakdown of his approach was as follows:

Daily Operations

The primary concern for Theron’s approach with general daily operations was making sure everyone was on the same page regarding the team’s vision, leadership, and individual roles. Theron has a great Head Professional under his wing, Chris Cavanagh, so it wasn’t painfully difficult to get everyone on the same page.

Another emphasis for daily operations was communication to staff, to the membership, and the Superintendent, Chris Smith. A member contact information notebook was created for the front counter, as well as clear expectations were communicated with Chris Smith regarding daily course set-up, tee placements, and pin sheets. Another key aspect of this communication that they strived for was the updating of the member website regarding staff descriptions, tournament schedules, instruction programs, and fitness programs.

Many small aspects went in to revamping and improving the golf operation at Hudson National. Staffing issues had to be sorted out including office use, staff uniforms, name tags, staff phones, and shop voicemails. An organizational chart was created to further streamline communication. The organization chart included every pertinent position in the golf operation from the General Manager, down to the starter station and guard station.

Then there was a mass updating process of current aspects of the golf operation. This included the updating of the bag room list and notebook, the club repair notebook, the golf cart notebook (watering and rotation), the suggestion/complaint notebook, and starter notebook with rounds and times. Also updated was tee sheet program to block new rules of play, tournaments, and outings. Updating staff plates in golf shop was important. Also of importance was the updating of the Club Rules notebook when finalized by the Board of Directors. The Club Rules notebook consists of the Guest Policies, handicaps, directions, and things of that nature. Finally, a great program Theron started for the golf shops daily operations was a list of “never out” items for golf operations. These are items designated by staff as items that they should never run out of and should always be kept at a par level, like balls, gloves, tees, ball marker, etc.

Instruction

The next area to attend to was instruction. One of the first things he put his focus on was hiring a full time teaching professional. In doing so, he created a job description and a list of benefits that came with the position. With regards to the staff, he thought it important to centralize lesson booking by having one lesson book to be used by all staff. Advertising price changes for all but individual lessons was pertinent. Promoting lessons, lesson packages, clinics, and golf schools on bulletin boards in the ladies and men’s locker rooms.

The teaching facility needed organizing. It was cleaned up, a TV was installed, all V1 software was updated, and sequence photos were posted as well as posters and pictures. Short game flags were set up on the range. Theron upgraded the range balls to ProV1’s. He also created a relationship with the local Titleist Performance Institute fitness instructors Scott Reilly and Dr. Rob Neal to set up preseason seminars and in-season clinics with the professionals.

Merchandise

The first thing on the priority list with respect to the merchandising operation was creating a form letter to update all vendors of staffing and billing changes. Reviewing inventory and sales procedures was pertinent as well as selecting the shops new vendors. A cash flow chart and buying plan was created as well as an analysis of each sales category. Theron and his staff set up a skeleton/layout of the golf shop to reorganize the golf shops displays and a count was taken of each fixture and section to determine proper merchandising capabilities. A list of “props” was made to be purchased such as vases, small trunks, suitcases, etc.

A master list was created of all accessories that needed to be purchased such as hats, belts, socks, underwear, shoes, sunglasses, etc. A notebook was created for all orders and purchase orders. A vendor catalogue file for special orders was created. New purchase order books were ordered and a procedures manual was created for special orders, gift cards, etc. New and fair pricing was reconsidered for the membership and communicated to them. Liquidators were contacted to get rid of old clothing and the PGA was called to liquidate old clubs. Lastly, a schedule of demo days was set up through the year with multiple vendors.

Tournament Program

Pertinent to the tournament program was the complete review of the previous years calendar and creating a master golf calendar for 2009. The member event handbook had to be finalized with event descriptions, formats, pricing, etc. A credit card size calendar for the members was created for their personal use. Tournament invitations and information deadlines were uploaded on Therons Blackberry. Tournament checklists with budgets and deadlines were created. Notebooks were gathered and set up for each event. All tournament orders were organized and placed ahead of time. All staff was familiarized and trained on Event Man Software. An inter-club schedule was created with other top clubs and the possibility of hosting a pro-member or pro-am type tournament was broached.

Locker Room

With regards to the locker room, an emphasis on a more cohesive relationship with the Food & Beverage department was sought. Also, it was vital that all locker plates, locker tag procedures, and policies and procedures were updated accordingly. Issues of staffing, scheduling, and budgeting were all revisited to enhance the operation of the locker room. Finally, a review of all amenities available to members and guests was done to make sure everyone was on the same page going forward.

Caddie Program

New expectations for the caddie program were outlined when Theron came aboard. Uniforms and name tags became a requirement. Caddie professionalism was stressed, i.e. calling members and guests as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” In that regards, first names were no longer to be used. Vital to the operation was making sure the caddies played a larger role in policing play within their group. No player is allowed to play the clubs new Titleist Pro V1 practice balls. Also, no player is allowed to have their golf cart ever leave the fairway while playing to the green. When exiting and entering the tees and greens, the golf bags are to be carried. To improve the practices of the caddies and their supervisors, a template was created for two caddie reports by the caddiemaster. Personal caddie observation reports are to be turned in once per week. Additionally, a caddie utilization report every week with member and guest comments is to be submitted. Record of all start and finish times, slow play, or poor etiquette is to be submitted as well.

As you can see, in the first year, the breadth of what sometimes needs to be done in a particular operation can be intimidating. However that’s why so many veteran head professionals preach the importance of the hiring of great staff. Having the right people by your side will make all of the difference in being able to accomplish a laundry list of tasks such as this one. Hopefully by reading this, your perspective has been broadened and you will be up to the task when you are finally called to run your own golf operation.

"The First 90 Days" by Hartford GC's Joe Connerton

2011-01-24T19:52:00.001-05:00

Joe Connerton is approaching his third season as the Head Golf Professional at Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford, Connecticut. It is his first HP position as he arrived there fresh off an assistant professional position at The Country Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Joe describes the first 90 days in a unique way. According to him, it’s of particular importance to evaluate the general golfing environment that exists at the club so you can then formulate an appropriate plan of action. Joe provides some great perspective on how to approach the first 90 days of a head professional job, let alone our first Head Professional job:

Establish Lines of Communication

As an incoming Head Professional, the first ninety days provides an opportunity to gather information, set goals and form priorities for the upcoming season. Open lines of communication within each department and member chairpersons of the respective committees associated with the golf program will help a Head Professional to garner the necessary information.

Define the Golf Environment

As the lines of communication develop you will be able to define the golfing environment and learn what makes the game of golf significant at your facility. It is imperative to recognize the noteworthy details pertaining to the importance of the game, as this will provide the opportunity to establish a game plan for the future.

Plan of Action

As the environment becomes apparent, the Head Professional can establish a golf program that fits the needs of the particular facility. Elements that require particular examination are the golf shop, the men’s program, the women’s program, the junior program and the teaching program. The information obtained pertaining to each program and their current levels of success will allow the Head Professional the opportunity to devise a priority list and to set goals that are concurrent with the department heads and chairperson of each committee.

Team Effort

Please keep in mind that as your goals develop, it will be a collective effort from an entire team. The more you understand about the club and the golfing climate will allow the best opportunity to search for the most appropriate candidates to hire to complete your professional team. The best leaders hire a team that has a common goal. An accurate set of goals and priorities, and a team to execute the goals, should provide positive results for the future.

Once again, Joe comes to us with a very unique perspective. We can't do anything or make any decisions until we evaluate the golf climate and the general environment of the club with regards to golf. If we have an itchy trigger-finger, then rash decisions will result and it could cause some friction between us and the membership. Have a keen eye and a firm set of goals that the first class staff that you built will buy into. The job would seem to be half way through if you can accomplish that.

"The First 90 Days" by North Shore CC's Michael Shank

2011-01-17T07:49:00.001-05:00

It seems like it was just yesterday. After two unsuccessful interviews and applying for ten HP jobs, Michael Shank had his best chance yet at a top club. After four interviews (two with the selection committee, and two playing lessons with foursomes) Michael had finally broke through.

Fast forward to today: Michael Shank is now just a few years into his first Head Golf Professional position at North Shore Country Club in Glen Head, New York, home of a Top-100 course designed by legendary architects Seth Raynor and Charles Blair MacDonald. Exclusive for PIFG and it's readers, Michael gives us a great account of what it takes to get off on the right foot as a new Head Professional.
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If you have just secured a Head Golf Professional position, congratulations! In today’s market, securing a Head Professional position can be very challenging, with many talented candidates applying for a limited number of spots. Once this hurdle is cleared, you must prove to the Selection Committee and entire club membership that their faith in you was justified. To that end, you must excel in several critical areas:

Establish Goals

Before taking on the job, you must clearly establish goals for each area of the operation. These should be well thought out before the interview process begins, but now it is time to get specific and implement strategies towards accomplishing these goals. Make certain your goals are consistent with what the membership desires.

Hire Your Team

One of the most important components of first season success is the team you build around you. Deciding whether to keep existing staff in place or start from scratch depends largely on the circumstances of the position. Determining how the membership feels about staff members and what they are looking for going forward will steer this decision. Getting the right team members in place, and clearly expressing your expectations and goals to them will go a long way towards a great first season.

Meet and Engage the Membership

Getting to know each and every one of your new members is a top priority. No matter the club type, service is always the bottom line. Obviously you need to know everyone’s name, but finding out about their golf game or how many grandchildren they have can be just as important. To provide the best service, you need to understand who your members are.

Organization

It is easy to be overwhelmed with the number of tasks in front of you, so staying organized is crucial. Create to-do lists for all of the categories and tasks to be addressed: golf committee and tournament calendar, open-to-buy for the golf shop, instructional programs to be implemented, junior golf camps, etc. Be sure to delegate responsibility to your team, and make clear which areas each assistant are accountable for.

Communicate

Stay in constant communication with your staff and the membership to get feedback on what you are doing. Being on top of any potential issues quickly will help diffuse them and make certain everyone is happy.

The first season as Head Professional can be an enjoyable time. If you can get off to a good start, hopefully you can enjoy a good relationship for years to come.

"The First 90 Days" by Crooked Stick GC's Tony Pancake

2011-01-09T15:47:00.003-05:00

Tony Pancake is the Director of Golf at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana. He was the Indiana Sections 2009 Golf Professional of the Year as well as the Kentucky Sections 1992 Golf Professional of the Year when he was HP at Valhalla GC. A list of his other awards that reflect his leadership ability include a Bill Strausbaugh Award, Junior Golf Leader of the Year, Horton Smith Award, and Merchandiser of the Year award. Exclusive for PIFG and its readers, Tony offers up some great perspective for assistant professionals on transitioning into a new Head Professional position.

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In my 23 years as a Head Golf Professional I have had the privilege of working at four private clubs. Each was different in terms of culture, membership and expectations. Your first few months on the job are critical to establishing your creditability with the Club and how you are perceived by the membership. First impressions are difficult to change so if you start off on the right track, you’ll give yourself a great opportunity for long term success. Based on my experience, here are some ideas for you to consider as you prioritize your first 90 days.

Build Relationships with your Members/Customers

Golfers enjoy having a personal relationship with the Head Golf Professional so reach out to them with personal calls, emails, meetings, lunch, etc. Every opportunity you have to personally meet/interact with a member is important. Also develop a system for memorizing all the names. It can be difficult if you don’t have a plan.

Organize Your Team

You cannot do it by yourself so immediately you need to recruit, hire and train your staff. The operation should reflect your vision so it’s imperative that you set the standard and communicate it to your staff. Don’t be afraid to delegate responsibility as it will engage your staff at a higher level and will free you up to spend time with your membership.

Get to Know the Staff Members in Other Departments

Take the time to reach out to the other employees of the Club. They have been around and can share some institutional knowledge about the Club that will help you and you also want their support as the membership will be asking them about you.

Develop Your Programs

Going into a new job you should have a general plan for your various programs like Junior Golf, Ladies Golf, Merchandising, Instruction Program, Caddie Program, etc. but each Club is a little different and you’ll want to tailor your programs to fit the needs and expectations of the membership.

Financial Details

In today’s market the financial aspects of a club’s operation is at the top of the list in terms of importance. I encourage you to gain a quick understanding of the operating budgets of the club, membership, payroll, etc. If you can have a positive impact on the financial aspect of the operation, then the leadership will be more likely to trust you with more responsibility. Finding a balance between the financial needs of the operation and providing a quality experience is a challenge you will have throughout your career.

Energy and Attention for Your Family

Maybe the most important thing you can do during your first 90 days on the job is to make sure your family is handling the transition well. You may be moving to a new city and it’s easy for you to focus on your job but neglect the fact that your spouse is in a new area, just left friends or relatives, and your kids are in new schools. Make sure you are saving enough time and energy each day to let them know how important they are to you. The excitement of a new job will wear off quickly if life at home is not going well.

My last piece of advice is to have fun and enjoy your new opportunity! It is the result of many hours of hard work and dedication.

"The First 90 Days": Critical Success Factors for Rookie HP's

2011-01-02T16:00:00.004-05:00

How does the road begin as a rookie head professional? We’ve been busting our tail as an assistant professional for what seems like forever, and our hard work has finally paid off, but only to realize the hard work has only just begun! When we enter our new role as a rookie head professional, what are the critical success factors in the first few months? Who better to ask for direction than some of the best in the business and just as I expected, they gave some great insight! Here is what we can learn from their contributions and I know that as assistant professionals, we can all take it home with us and hold on to it until we finally cross that threshold into our first HP job:

Learn About the Previous Regime

One of the first things we have to get in order is knowing the circumstances of the previous head professional. Finding out a little bit about how or why the club chose to go in the direction they did is crucial when we are officially on board. Take the perspective of Eden Foster from Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York:

“I think a big mistake that rookie Head Professionals do is they try to make their mark too soon. If the former Head Pro was fired they should find out why he was fired and pay close attention to not make the same mistake. If the former Head Pro retired after a long career then it is important to keep things status quo the first year and start to make a larger impact the second year. Make a lot of little changes that first year. Things that most people may not notice but added up make a big change.”

Remain Grounded and Set Your Priorities

Something we should take heed to is our natural inclination to invoke excitement within ourselves during a very special event. The road as an assistant professional and striving to be prepared for our first HP job is long and many times arduous. The process of preparing, interviewing for, and attaining an HP position is quite difficult and sometimes seems like there is no end in sight. Finally, when we are successful and have earned our first HP job – this must be pretty exciting, I can’t imagine it being any other way. But from the perspective of Bruce Patterson at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, taming that excitement is in our best interest:

“After just going through a long interview process I am sure you are full of excitement and vision on how you are going to make this job something really special. You have a long check list from all your education from the PGA of America and you are ready to attack all of them. This is where your first red light should go off. I think it is extremely important to begin by setting your priorities. You will need to work through them in an orderly fashion and restrain yourself from attempting to "do it all" at once. Pick the most important areas like staffing; it is imperative to have a competent head assistant. Determine your management style, learn how to efficiently delegate and develop a time management program for you to follow. Baby steps are first and foremost for steady growth.”

Trust Your Staff

When beginning your first tenure as a HP, it is important to draw out the leader in yourself that hopefully you had been cultivating as an assistant professional. If the situation calls for it, once you have put together your staff, trusting them is critical. Bruce Patterson briefly sheds light by noting this important aspect of your first months as a HP:

“It’s critical to not try to "do it all myself ". Learn how to allow your staff to do a project their way instead of my way. These were clearly the most difficult learning curves for me in the early months.”

Ask Questions

Another aspect of grave importance is asking questions. Many of us can get stuck in the thought process of, “Well, if I ask questions, it will seem like I don’t know what I’m doing.” That just simply isn’t true. Perception is important, however asking questions can do nothing but help you. Be humble enough to ask questions. Bruce Patterson says it best about his experience as a young HP:

“Don't be afraid to ask questions, especially from those that have experience. I some how had the foresight to sit down with two influential members and successful businessmen. My quest at the time was to learn from them some secrets of running a successful business. While I came away with many great ideas (the best one being, hire good people and get out of their way), what I didn't know was, I created two "fatherly" figures who felt "invested" in me and my success. Whenever they saw an issue brewing, they had my back. Bottom line: Get a mentor at the club and a fellow PGA member who you respect and your learning curve will be shortened dramatically, and ask a lot of questions!”

Get To Know Everyone and Help Others Keep Perspective

At Interlachen Country Club, in his first Head Professional job, Nathan Ollhoff paints a picture of the transition he went through as he stepped into the new role, as well as briefly describing what the first few months were characterized by:

“I was fortunate to start in January 2009 which for a club located in Minnesota, enabled me to get acclimated at a better pace. I remember very clearly being offered the job in late December and flying back to Seminole for a few final days of work, packing up all my belongings and driving north to start work as the HP. The long drive provided a lot of time to think and strategize. The first few months were filled with getting to know the staff, the membership, and the nuances of the club. Also, being an assistant so recently I felt like I could relate well with the assistants. My goal as a HP was and still is to help them keep perspective (because of the current environment) yet motivated each and every day."

Gene Mattare from Saucon Valley CC also builds on what Nathan explains about getting to know the membership:

Interact with your membership as much as possible. Be visible when necessary -particularly during the first year. Your staff will be watching how you relate to the members. This is a great time to establish your service philosophy.

Establish a Relationship with Your Vendors

From a retail standpoint, your relationships with the vendors are extremely important. You have to have them on your side and supporting your goals for the golf shop. Like your current staff, some will buy in, some may not, and that may be a green light to go in another direction. Gene Mattare briefly emphasizes this importance:

In your first 90 days, make a list of vendors that you will be using. Call the sales representatives and schedule appointments as needed. It’s extremely important to establish these relationships and nurture them going forward; your success from a retail standpoint depends on it.

As you can see by reading the perspectives of Eden, Bruce, Nathan, and Gene, there are quite a few bases to cover when arriving into a new HP job, especially our first HP job! Their pearls of wisdom should give you direction as you navigate into and through the process. For the next 4 weeks, look forward to exclusive content from some of the countries best Head Professionals as we continue forward through "The First 90 Days", a 5-part series on how to approach the first 90 days of our first HP position.

PGA PGM Program Spotlight: Making the Best of Your Internship

2010-12-26T13:09:00.004-05:00

Your PGM University Internship Coordinator has successfully placed you at one of the countries top facilities that will surely decorate your resume. Having the clubs name within your credentials will put your resume towards the top of the pile when searching for future assistant positions, maybe even future HP jobs. However, don’t rest on your laurels. There is more to it than just having the clubs name on your resume. There is still a job to do and it must be a top priority for you to make the best of your internship. How do you make the best of your internship? Here is what some of those involved had to say.

Take the perspective of Charlie Wilder, Cooperative Education Coordinator at Mississippi State University. Charlie maintains the vital link between employers and students; his task is to facilitate students finding not just any co-op experience, but the one that will best fit both the employer and student. Here is what Charlie has to say about how to make the best of your internship:

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Be willing to travel to an unfamiliar part of the country, and avoid going back to your home course for your internship. Getting out of the comfort zone provides interns with an opportunity to grow personally and professionally. Working at a new course is also a great way to build a network of professional relationships.

Proving Ground

Be willing to work hard and work some more. Each day during your internship is your chance to prove your worth to your supervisors, your customers, and yourself. Make the most of each day during your internship and stay focused on your job. Most students only get one shot at college, so don’t mess it up. You represent your university while you are at work, and your actions will affect the relationship between your employer and your institution.

Quality of the Program

Instead of searching for the most popular courses for internships, do your research and seek out the courses with the most popular internship programs or the ones that are experience-focused. Your internships are your training for your career; you need a work environment where you will experience a healthy balance of challenges and supports. A big name may look good on your resume, but it means nothing if you cannot back it up with worthwhile experience.

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Bob Ford, Head Golf Professional at Oakmont CC and Seminole GC gives his valuable insight into how you can make the best of your internship:

The best use of your time as an intern is to observe the other part of the operation that you are not a part of. Most of our interns run the outside operations. They get a great education from the ground up. From the time the cars and bags hit our driveway our interns are involved. What I like to see them do when they are not on the clock is to watch us teach, run the tournaments, and observe what happens in the shop.

In the PGM University Program, you will typically be completing three internships, it is very important to take into account how you complete them. Also, having fun is not to be disregarded. In your youth as an apprentice, the quality of your work is to be taken seriously, but it is pertinent to enjoy the journey. Bob Ford builds on this with some great perspective:

Making the best use of your internships would also be to intern at a resort course, private club, and daily fee to see how they all are so different. To do some work on the grounds and in the food and beverage department would be smart as well. The more you learn about the grass roots of what we do the better. It is a great time in your life, enjoy life, grasp it, and live your dreams.

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Andy Betz, Internship Coordinator at North Carolina State University, gives great perspective by thoroughly breaking it down the NC State way:

Geography

The faculty at North Carolina State University, encourage our students to take advantage of all of the opportunities in front of them, and maybe see a part of the country they may never see again. Each internship will cover different parts of the country and the world.

Facility Type

We also recommend that our students experience different aspects of the ever changing golf business. We like to see them experience different types of facilities such as: Private, Semi-Private, Public, University, Municipal, Resort, Teaching Academies, Associations and any other golf related opportunity. By having the chance to see different areas of the golf business, our students can realize where they would like to work when they graduate from our program.

Operational Diversity

Once our students are on their internship, we like them to be able to experience as much diversity as possible on what it takes to be a successful golf professional. We like to see them exposed to the following: Outside Operations, Golf Shop Operations, Scheduling, Customer Service, Tournaments, Rules, Instruction, Budgets, Inventory Management and any other information the Supervising Professional would like to expose to the intern.

PGM Program Work

Another important part of an internship, is for the intern to work on his or her Work Experience Kit. We strongly suggest to the intern to complete as much of their Work Experience Kit while on their internship, since the majority of the information must come while on the job. The Work Experience Kits require a tremendous amount of back up documents to support the students work and the only place they will find that information is while they are on their internship.

"Hijack"

One thing we always suggest to our interns is to pick up any informational document that they see while on their internship, such as: cart signs, sale signs, rule sheets, policies and procedure manuals, golf cart record keeping, instruction manuals, just to name a few. Any and all of these documents will be valuable to the students as they proceed through their career in the golf business.

Above and Beyond

At the conclusion of each internship, I have an exit interview with each student to discuss what they learned while they were on their internship. What I have learned from these meetings, is that the students that went out of their way on their own time are the individuals that are being sought out for great jobs after graduation. The student that works their 40 hours a week and leaves immediately after their shift will certainly learn what the golf operation is all about, but they may not get to see some other facets of the golf industry that they may not know exists. The student that clocks out and stays around the facility to help out with a junior clinic, assists with inventory, asks to shadow a member of the Professional Staff, F & B Staff, or the Golf Course Maintenance are the young men and women who will be overly successful in today’s golf business. We tell each student almost every day how important their grades are, but it is what they learn, who they meet and their job performance that will decide what type of job they will earn when they graduate from the PGA Golf Management Program.

Hopefully you have taken some perspective from this article on how to approach your internship opportunities. The internship opportunities at PGM Universities that are available can't be found anywhere else. Nowhere else do you have an opportunity to graduate with three work experiences at potentially top clubs, earn your college degree, and become a Class "A" PGA Professional. Don't take your internships for granted because they will surely determine your short and long term paths as a golf professional.

5 More Ways to Stand Out at Your Facility

2010-12-20T18:08:00.006-05:00

Back in March, we posted an article titled "4 Ways to Stand Out at Your Facility". Our golf operations are all about the team we're a part of, but each one of us also as has an opportunity to display our unique personalities as individuals. There is something to be said about shining in our own unique way. The following are 5 more ways we can stand out as assistant professionals at our facilities.

Show People, Don’t Tell Them

When asked about where the locker room is or where the cart staging area is, it goes a very long way to show them or lead them there. People want to be led. They want to be shown where things are. From a service standpoint, don’t just point your finger and tell them where it is, it’s short and not very personable. When you lead someone to the locker room, it gives you an opportunity to chat and personalize yourself as well as personalize the golf operation.

Don’t Always Be Asked

It’s great to be someone who does what he’s been delegated to do. But it goes twice as far to be someone who does things without being asked to do them. Don’t be that guy who doesn’t do anything unless he’s asked. Initiative will take you far in this profession let alone any other area of business. A former boss of mine called it “operational awareness”, which means to see something before it might happen (good or bad) and take measures to act upon it.

Downtime

Fill your downtime with productivity, no matter what it is. In a golf shop or even the outside services department, there is always something to do throughout the day. If you’re not seeing anything that needs to be done, then you’re just not looking hard enough. Obviously our lunch breaks are significant to us and they should be. But it’s those spurts of 5, 10, or 15 minutes of dead time between member/guest action that make the difference in a well kept and well run golf operation versus a poorly kept golf operation.

No Exemptions

Because of a title you might have or because of the seniority you might have, don’t act like you are exempt from certain tasks or responsibilities as an assistant professional. I know of Head Professionals at top-100 clubs that pick the range when necessary! When they told me this, I was inspired. If you’re a First Assistant, the things you did before you moved into that role shouldn’t go away entirely. All the title means is that you have added responsibilities now on top of your old responsibilities. Will you have to execute those old responsibilities as much as you did before you got promoted? Probably not. But don’t completely shut yourself off from them and think you will never have to do them again.

Team Work

Your golf operation rests solely on the efforts of your team. Vince Lombardi said, "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work". Simply put, there may not be a better way to stand out individually than to submit to the team and be a team player. Period.

How Can We Be Better Salesmen In Our Golf Shops?

2010-12-13T08:20:00.006-05:00

As assistant golf professionals, we may prefer not to be “counter jockeys”, however in some cases, it is what it is. When we are “holding it down”, we are surrounded by merchandise, opportunities to sell it, and everything else that comes with a merchandising operation. How can we be better salesmen in our golf shops? Before we share with you some industry perspectives, allow us to discuss some points of interest that have the potential to sharpen your skills as a salesman in the golf shop.

Utilize Your Sales Reps

If there is anybody that wants to help us sell, it’s the sales reps. The more we sell, the more we turn our merchandise over, and the more we turn our merchandise over, the more we buy again….and sell even more. Bring them in for product knowledge seminars. We pay a high dollar for the quantity of hard good and soft good products we bring in, we should get something a little more in return than just the product. Seminars are in their job description and in my experience, they aren’t utilized enough. Sales reps relish the opportunity to get in front of you for a presentation or seminar on his/her products.

Merchandise Presentation

Which stack of shirts would you be most inclined to purchase from? That are folded with paper inside to add structure and clean look, or a stack of shirts that look like pancakes one on top of the other. The days of leaving shirts in their plastic packaging and displaying them on a table, are long gone. Merchandising is downright competitive and it has become another way to add value to a member or guests experience at your club. The presentation of your golf shop with regards to organization, cleanliness, and style, play a significant role in increasing the buying-morale of your members and guests. Folding shirts may not be the most enjoyable task to do, however it’s making a much bigger difference than you think. As an assistant golf professional, take the initiative to practice this and other presentation tasks, as much as possible.

Study Up

It’s as simple as browsing the websites of your vendors. For example, you can learn so much about your Maui Jim products by browsing their website. Maui Jim sunglasses block 100% of the suns UV rays. Their sunglasses are polarized meaning they absorb 99.9% of reflected glare, which means they are as glare-free as it gets in the sunglass industry. Additionally, with the glare out of the way, three earth elements boost color, increasing both the amount and color your eyes naturally perceive – like a graphic equalizer does with sound. All Maui Jim lenses are water-proof, anti-reflective, scratch resistant, and distortion-free. Finally, for driving and general wear, Maui Jim lenses are 20% thinner and lighter than conventional laminated glass lenses. It will take you 5 minutes to read this on mauijim.com, and the same can go for your other vendors.

Get Your Hands Dirty

Folding shirts may seem like the most menial task ever but believe it or not, there is a lot of good that can come out of it. When answering the question the title of this entry poses, Jim Donigan from Peter Millar stated in his past interview with us, “Touch the product, turn it inside out”. Folding stacks of shirts can certainly be monotonous, but you are touching the shirts, looking at the shirts, and feeling the fabric. Throughout the process of folding and stacking, enough information can be learned to make you an expert.

Get Personal

Take more time to get to know your members and guests. In other words, do your best to understand them, both personally and professionally. Golf professionals at public or resort courses might think, “Well why would I do that if I am likely never going to see them again”. Wrong attitude. No matter where you work, get personal with your members and guests. Engage in conversation with them and draw interest from them. It may even be valuable for your staff to sit down together, brainstorm, and list everything on a spreadsheet that you know for each member like favorite sports teams, favorite apparel vendors, hobbies, etc. This way you can refer to the list to personalize your service to the members.

As promised, here are some industry perspectives from those who most definitely know a thing or two about salesmanship:

Lisa Langas, Sport Haley

I think that assistant professionals can be better “salesmen” by just being themselves and talking about their passion – golf! However, in order to do this a few things need to be done to set the right tone in working with customers:

Don’t think of it as selling. You are providing a solution to your customers/members to help them play this sport better, look and feel better while playing, or encourage them to support a business which is important to them.
Get out from behind the counter and work with the merchandise. This includes being involved in displaying and setting the floor with merchandise so it makes sense to be easily shopped by your customer/member. When you are working with the merchandise people will want to talk to you which makes it much easier to help them select products that they are looking for.
Conversational selling works great in a golf shop. You have the opportunity to really get to know your customer and develop a relationship with them. Make it about them and what they need and they not only ask your opinion/advice, but actually act upon it.
Be knowledgeable! You need to know what inventory is coming in each month, what your customer service expectations are, why merchandise is priced the way it is, and learn about the vendors/products being sold in the shop so you can explain features and benefits and be an expert. People are willing to pay a premium for the right solution when they feel they are working with an expert.
Invest in your self in terms of selling techniques, customer service standards, visual display ideas, etc. You can do this by reading your PGA magazine best practices e-mail, check out books on the topics, look at other golf shops and see why you like a shop or not, take photos of shops that you like the displays or flow of the merchandise. A great resource is the Association of Golf Merchandisers which is focused on the education and training to be successful golf retailers.

Craig Kirchner, Leading Golf Shop Retail Consultant & PGA Magazine Contributor

“Being good at anything usually involves being confident. Being confident in sales begins with knowing what you are talking about. Training golf staffs to be better at retail involves planning product knowledge seminars with your vendors and having round table discussions about service and sales. Bettering yourself involves taking every advantage of information available and reading things like Pay It Forward Golf. We recently had Andy plate from Polo speak at Old Chatham not only about the new line but Polo’s new management, attitude, and marketing. Dean Hurst at Bayville now sets up his vendor meetings so that the entire golf staff can see the line and spend time with the rep. It all really begins with understanding the service aspect of retail and realizing that anyone walking into a retail space deserves to be acknowledged and provided quality assistance. The challenge in each shop should be to know three things about any item in inventory that aren’t readily apparent so as to be able to strike up an interesting conversation.”

Corey Crelan, Vineyard Vines

I think it is important to just acknowledge that “sales skills” are vital and not optional in just about every aspect of a golf operation. Teaching, club fitting, apparel, tournaments, outings, and simply selling yourself all have a sales aspect to them. In order to be a successful professional you must have a handle on selling.

Jim Donigan, Peter Millar

The most important single thing is get out from behind the counter and learn from old dogs like myself. When a new shipment comes in, try to get involved in putting it out and merchandising the group. Try to figure out what you can put every item with; if it’s a golf shirt, try to figure out how many different pair of shorts and sweaters it can go with (that are currently in the shop). It doesn’t even necessarily have to be the same brand. Don’t just match it up to 1 sweater and 1 short. Be prepared when the customer says, “I already have a sweater that color.” When a guy is sniffing around something in particular, don’t ask if he needs help, go grab the other things like it and put them together and say, “Hey, you know what would look great with that? This!” Always know which of your members are your “buyers”. Pick out special things for them and tell them it’s in their locker. That shows that you thought of them and grabbed it before anyone else had a chance to snag it.

As you can see, there is definitely something to be said about the importance of polishing our salesmanship abilities. The golf business is a business now more than ever, and never before has the business required it's assistant professionals to play such a large role in selling not just the experience, but the tangible product that comes along with it.

Interview with Joe Plecker from Baltimore CC

2010-12-06T10:11:00.006-05:00

In the world of instruction, there are so many great teachers. PIFG does it's best to draw knowledge out of this expansive pool of instructors. Today, we have a great one in Joe Plecker. Joe is the Director of Instruction at Baltimore Country Club in Timonium, Maryland. The club is proud to have hosted the Senior Players Championship from 2007 to 2009. In addition to being a Top-100 club, the clubs is also one of seven in the country that operates within two locations. Joe is a member of Golf Digests "Top 40 Teachers Under 40" and was the Middle Atlantic PGA Teacher of the Year in 2007. This week, Joe gives his insight to us about his background and how we can be better instructors on our path as assistant professionals.
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Describe your background in the golf business. How and why did you get into it?

I got started in golf by being raised in a golf family. My father, Coleman, is a Master PGA Professional and was the head pro at Towson Golf & CC in Maryland where I learned how to play. I worked for him all through high school and then for Bob Ross at Baltusrol Golf Club, in New Jersey. All the while I was fortunate to have lessons with Bill Strausbaugh, Jr. at Columbia CC in Bethesda, MD. The exposure to great leaders in golf helped me to aspire to a career in the game. I guess I never considered doing anything else.

Something I've noticed is that there are so many great teachers, like yourself, that have ties to the Jim McLean Golf School, describe what you took away from your experience there and what it is about the JMGS that grooms such great teachers?

I think two distinct elements make Jim McLean instructors successful. The first is true apprenticeship. You start at the bottom and work your way up, observing lead instructors and learning the basics of the business. This proves invaluable as you progress as a teacher and business person. The second is using a systematic, well researched approach to teaching. Truly knowing what matters makes an instructor not only valid, but above reproach.

I understand you used to teach at Chelsea Pier in NYC, what was it like working their and what did you learn?

I jumped at the chance to teach in New York City because I thought it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was! I lived in the West Village on Jane Street and could walk to work every day. I met so many different people and really gave more lessons than I ever imagined. In golf terms, I learned that players need to spend time on a course to really improve. Many players I coached were great ball strikers at the range in the city, but struggled in their occasional rounds. Because I could not get them on the course, I could not help them with situational on course lessons. Today, I spend more time on the course as a result of my teaching experience in NYC. I also learned what it means to live in a great city like New York and understand diversity in people while appreciating the differences. Mostly, I learned how to hail a cab and understand the subway system!

What have you learned during your current experience at Baltimore CC?

Baltimore Country Club is a great place to work. I have learned that a large club with many departments has to have communication and lots of coordination to make it look easy. When I plan events around instruction, I work with our golf staff, maintenance staff, housekeeping, food and beverage department, special event staff and locker room staff to make it first rate. It takes help from every department to make things go smoothly, and BCC has the best people in the club business to work with.

When you first started as Director of Instruction at Baltimore CC, what were the first few things you had to do to get your feet on the ground and get your business rolling?

First, I had to be visible! I had to meet everyone, spend time with the membership through playing rounds, walking the range and having lunch with as many people as I could. It is so important to get off of the lesson tee and connect with your membership before you can expect success. Then, it came down to giving great lessons. Word of mouth is always going to be your best way to let people know you are a good coach.

What did you do in your early years as a teaching professional to set yourself up for your current success?

I made up my mind early on to teach the game of golf as my career. I feel that this simple dedication led to a successful career path. Teaching the game of golf has to do with dedication and lots of hours on the lesson tee. The more you do it, the better you become. I also think I have done well because I really enjoy helping people.

What are some aspects of your teaching business that if you didn't do them well, it would be detrimental to your business?

Communication / Follow Up - Stay in touch with clients through your website, emails, newsletters, text messages, voice mails and yes, handwritten notes.
Stay current with technology - Invest in yourself by acquiring technologies that you can use in your daily teaching. I use V1, Casio high speed cameras and the Science & Motion PuttLab in my lessons. It has made all the difference.
Educate Yourself Daily – Attending summits for credits is the motivation of mediocre Professionals. Be 100% in your life to what you do and who you are! Follow the best teachers’ writings, videos and summits to learn about how to become a better teacher. Read books on learning, philosophy, kinesiology and any thing else that applies to your teaching. Never think you have learned enough.

In most circumstances, assistant professionals wear all of the hats (tournament operations, merchandising, personnel leadership and management, etc.), some times instruction can get lost in the whirlwind of it all. Considering all of this, how do you think assistant professionals can be better teachers and take steps to really know the craft and teach the game well?

The golf business can be very busy, leaving little time to focus on every aspect of your job duties. Do not neglect your golf game. Practice, play and talk with your co workers about your game. Spark conversation with the better players and teachers at your club to engage in thoughtful chats which will help your teaching. Take lessons for your game as well. Being a student is a great perspective to know what it takes to communicate to your future clients. It will also give you a good idea of what you like to focus on and what you do not.

What are the overarching principles you stand by as a teaching professional and would like other teachers/assistants to stand by?

I focus on getting players into a neutral starting position, based upon their own physical abilities. From this ready position, a golfer’s swing plane is directly correlated to their balance and swing sequence. If players are able to start in a ready position, sequence their swings by turning their shoulders, arms and hands together, the club reacts to this turn naturally without manipulation. This is where great golf begins.

Now, if what I wrote is confusing to you at all, consider it another way. Imagine your best golf swing. Is it balanced, centered, free flowing with light grip pressure? That might best describe the feel for the swing I create with my students. If it’s still confusing, email me. joe@joepelcker.com. After the basics of movement have been made consistent, I focus heavily on playing lessons and situational learning. I think more teachers should get on the course with their students to make a bigger impact.

If a young apprentice comes to you and says, "I want to be the best teaching professional I can be", what would you tell him/her and how to get there?

I would say, “Me too!” Every top teacher I know still has that drive and enthusiasm for teaching. Luckily, we all share together our progress and learning together at summits and conferences. I attend every one of these I can get to each year. I would have them go to as many of these as they can. I also network with the best teachers in my state. It is amazing how willing teachers are to share their best practices. Stay in touch with the people who are the best near you, too.

Who have been your mentors and what have you learned from them?

My father, Coleman who started me in the game is a life long mentor. I also was fortunate enough to know and take lessons from Bill “Coach” Strausbaugh, Jr. at Columbia Country Club. He really helped me with my game and was a great man, a true role model PGA Professional and person. Rick Martino has been a great mentor. I’ve learned more about the swing, teaching and being a full time instructor from him than anyone else.

Do you have any books you could recommend aspiring teaching professionals to read?

“5 Lessons” by Hogan
“Little Red Book” by Harvey Penick
“7 Secrets of World Class Athletes” by Steve Yellin
“Philosophy for Dummies” by Tom Morris, Books for Dummies – I really like how this book summarizes every major and minor philosophy.
Any book by the Dali Lama is great for learning.

In your experiences as a teaching professional, I'm sure you have seen and worked with your fair share of teaching professionals. What sets the great ones apart from others?

The ability to read their students, understand their needs and diagnose their swings quickly and effortlessly. It’s hard to do! The best teachers are the most experienced, by far.

Can you give young assistants/teaching professionals any tips towards developing their teaching philosophy?

Be original! Draw on your own life’s experience and how you learned to play to develop your own original style and order. If you are just beginning to teach or have for a long time, be sure to journal your thoughts daily or weekly to have as a reference when it comes time to summarize your philosophy.

Can you tell assistant professionals that might aspire to be teaching professionals how not to begin a lesson and how not to end a lesson?

Good question! Do not assume anything when you begin. Ask questions. If it is your first lesson, ask every question. Get to know who is in front of you and then you can connect with your student better. Do not end your lesson without summarizing and asking for feedback from your client.

PGA PGM Program Spotlight: Penn State University

2010-11-29T07:47:00.003-05:00

The Penn State University PGM Program certainly seems to have it going on. When it comes to opportunities available to the students, the PSU PGM Program is pretty dynamic. The program was founded in 1990 and since then, its faculty and staff have molded a program that, for lack of a more fitting word, advances its students. Penn State PGM graduates have interned and/or worked at a litany of the countries finest clubs including Shinnecock Hills, Merion, Oakmont, Somerset Hills, Inverness, Prairie Dunes, Aronimink, Butler National, Crooked Stick, Olympia Fields, The Country Club, Baltusrol, Myopia Hunt, Saucon Valley, and Congressional.

But don’t count out the other career paths. Penn State PGM graduates have found themselves in positions within the PGA of America national office, PGA sections, manufacturers like Fairway & Greene, Acushnet Company, and Nike Golf’s world headquarters, as well as tournament service companies like BlueGolf. When all is said and done, Penn State PGM students select an internship from among over 8,000 facilities throughout the United States.

When asked about what makes Penn States PGM Program standout from the pack, Brian Soule, the programs Internship Coordinator, aptly states:

"One of the things that really stands out at Penn State is the alumni base. We currently have over 400 alumni, most of whom work in the business. The alumni range from being sales representatives for Peter Millar and Polo Golf to being co-head golf professionals at Augusta National. The alumni not only represent us well, but they also reach out to us each year for their intern needs, which helps "build the network" that we always hear about."

From a merchandising standpoint, for three consecutive years, Penn State Golf Courses were ranked in the “100 Best Golf Shops” list by the Golf World Business Magazine, a Golf Digest publication serving golf retailers. PGM students have the opportunity to learn from this “Model Golf Shop,” which was also recognized by the Philadelphia PGA Section as a “Merchandiser of the Year” for four consecutive years.

How can we pose to you this article without discussing the Penn State PGM’s new golf instruction facility, The Golf Teaching and Research Center (GTRC). Designed to advance golf research and instruction, GTRC opened its doors on November 11, 2009 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Says Brian Soule, “It has already been recognized as a "groundbreaking" facility. In the Center, we have two 3-D motion analysis system (one optical and one electromagnetic), 2-D video analysis using V-1, a FlightScope Launch Monitor, and many other useful tools that we use to help train our students both in their own games and as instructors.

Eight motion sensor cameras stationed around the room register his movements, and a complex stick person replicates the swing on high-definition monitors at either side of the room. This motion capture system is the same type of technology used to give the video game version of Tiger Woods realistic movement. But in Keller Building, the technology becomes a teaching tool. The center provides a cutting-edge, high-quality learning environment for Penn State PGM students. In addition to the motion capture system, the GTRC boasts a three-dimensional Doppler radar ball-flight machine that predicts the trajectory and distance of the ball, a synthetic putting green, and several pieces of equipment to modify clubs. The center also has a space in which physical assessment tests are conducted with help from faculty members in the Department of Kinesiology.

“We are excited about the Golf Teaching and Research Center because it is further educating our students to become better teachers of the game, which will allow them to be more marketable after graduation,” says Dr. Burch Wilkes, director of the PGM program and instructor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.

By breaking down the finer points of how a golfer moves and swings, the center will give students a new perspective on golf and golf instruction. “The equipment in the Golf Teaching and Research Center is more advanced than most other teaching institutions right now, which will give students a real advantage when they graduate,” says Eric Handley, director of the GTRC and instructor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.

Because it is indoors, the center also provides year-round education—which is a huge asset when snow-covered fairways prevent golfers from practicing and learning. “We typically like our students to learn outdoors, in the environment they’ll be working in, but it’s not always easy in the northeast,” says Handley. “We hope to serve the golf community through the center,” says Handley. “The instruction techniques we’ll be creating and developing will not only benefit students, but the entire golfing industry as well.”

Additionally, Penn State PGM has a very well run student society that gives students an opportunity to be an elected officer and sit on the society’s executive board. Also within the student society, students have the opportunity to be involved in community service projects, scholarship programs, enjoy the perks of merchandise programs, educational travel expenses, learn from guest speaker series, and attend and host educational seminars. Patrick Gunning, Class of 2007 and currently an assistant professional at Shinnecock Hills describes some of his experience in the PGM Program at Penn State:

“The PGA/PGM Program at Penn State University has helped me develop as an individual and professional. I have been able to refine my leadership skills as a member of the Executive Board, serving as Secretary, Vice President, and President; improve my golf game through our tournament series; and most importantly, gain valuable industry experience through internships. One of the greatest assets of the PGA/PGM program is the incredible network for students. I attribute all of my success in the golf industry to the experiences that have been made available to me through the PGA/PGM program at Penn State.”

You don’t have to be a genius to see what the Penn State PGM program is trying to do. It seems as though they are trying to not only build upon their network, but also revolutionize the PGM University program model. From the looks of it, they are doing a pretty good job of it.

Tips to Stay Sharp as Snowbird Golf Professionals

2010-11-22T09:31:00.006-05:00

Chad Penman is a PGA Assistant Golf Professional at Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York during the spring, summer, and fall, and travels south to Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples, Florida during the winter.

“In working in the north and the south, I have noticed that the outside operations assistants in the winter climates tend to treat their jobs as a vacation from the northern grind. I try to get the guys at my club to be motivated and continue working towards their professional goals even though they are working in a non-traditional assistant position. If they’re going to develop effectively, assistant professionals need to stay sharp during their winter experience in the south. Observe teachers, finish PGA bookwork, practice, and play.”

Chad is right.

If you are a snowbird golf professional, we have to stay sharp when we go south for the winter. It’s not a vacation. You are under the microscope no less than you are during your primary job in the north. Approach your winter job as your primary job no less than you do of your northern job. Make sense? Veteran head golf professionals will weed out assistant professionals that don’t stay sharp. As I said in a previous article, they smell a great work ethic like its blood and they know exactly what a poor work ethic looks like. Don’t take that for granted. Tom Dyer, Director of Golf at Old Marsh Golf Club aptly states:

"Appreciate that the golf world is very small, you must do your very best in all positions regardless of job description or duties. You never want bad performance coming to back to haunt you in the future, especially when peak performance at a winter club (due to the broad northern national base of most Sunbelt memberships) has the potential to create opportunities for you all over the country."

Relish the opportunity for networking. When traveling south for the winter, it won't take long to notice what is happening. If you’re a snowbird assistant professional, your network doubles and triples in size. You cultivate new relationships every time you go back and forth and before you know it, you now have “family” in multiple areas of the country. Potential job opportunities will arise, however they will only arise if you stay sharp and continue to work hard.

In this business, image isn’t everything, but it sure does account for a lot. Even on your jaunts south, project yourself professionally and with integrity. And work just as hard as you do at your job in the north. Again, going to Florida for the winter sounds exciting, and it is in many ways, but by no means is it a vacation. Treat it like a vacation and you might be packing your bags and going back to the great white-out.

Brian Boushie, Director of Golf at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Florida provides PIFG readers with some great perspective into the matter:

Recharge the Batteries

Having the entire winter season to “re-charge the batteries” is crucial to having a successful Assistant Golf Professional experience. Finding an Assistant Professional position in the south that requires a 40-50 hour work week can seem like a part-time job after coming off an 80-hour workweek in the northern part of the country. Using those hours to stabilize yourself mentally and physically will keep your passion for the game and the business strong.

Physical Fitness

Get in shape! Finding the right exercise and healthy eating program will keep you strong both mentally and physically. It will help you play better golf and also help you to prepare for those 12-14 hour days that can be so demanding on your body. Find one night a week that you can organize a game of football, basketball, softball, etc. with the other Assistants. It’s a great way to stay in shape and helps you to get to know your peers a bit better.

Observe Teachers

South Florida has the finest teaching professionals in the country. Seek them out. Book yourself a lesson with them. Call them and ask if you can shadow them for a day to watch them teach. When I was an Assistant, I spent all of the money I made on taking instruction from some of the finest professionals in the country. This is where I formed my teaching philosophies that have carried me through my career. Invest in your own future!

Off the Clock Learning

You will learn more when you are off the clock than when you are on. Most of the time seasonal Assistant Professionals are parking cars, cleaning clubs, loading bags, picking the range, etc. While these are the basics of our business and can be viewed as the most important, you will need to learn more than these skills to be a fine Head Professional. Come in on your day off and shadow your Director of Golf, Head Professional, or even First Assistant. Ask if you can run a tournament or event on your off time. Come in and spend a day with the Merchandiser for the Golf Shop. See what they do, how they do it, and how they prioritize their time. Ask the General Manager if you can shadow him/her for the day. It always helps to learn how other Clubs manage their operations to give you the most rounded experience possible.

Game Improvement

Work on your golf game. Practice. Set goals. Play. At Jupiter Hills, our Assistants work 3.5 days per week in the winter. This gives them another 3.5 days to come up to the Club and practice, play with the Members, and work on their golf games. No one is going to hire a Head Professional who can’t break 80! You must be able to beat every Member at the Club if you are their Head Professional!

Golf Course Maintenance

Visit with the Superintendent to see if you can shadow him or his assistants a day a week on your day off. Learn how to mow a tee, green and fairway. Learn the agronomy side of the business because you will need to be knowledgeable on it in the future.

Tom Dyer continues with his assessment of why it's important to go south as well as making the best of our winter experiences:

I believe it is essential for young professionals employed seasonally at Northern clubs to strive to work the winter season somewhere in the Sun Belt. There are numerous reasons and benefits ranging from additional income, ability to work on your golf game, learn and gain experience from different professionals and lastly to double ones network of new members and professionals you can resource in the future.

To make the most of your experience be very disciplined with time management. Maximize every opportunity to play and practice. Spend time enhancing your teaching skills by watching good instructors work or offer to assist them for a day in exchange for observing. Get involved in your winter clubs tournament operations even if you have to volunteer, the experience could be invaluable in the future.

There you have it. When going south or west for the winter, stay organized, stay focused, keep working hard, and never get comfortable. It's not a vacation.

Interview with Cory Crelan from Vineyard Vines

2010-11-15T08:52:00.001-05:00

Cory is an account executive for the Golf Division of Vineyard Vines. His territory has him calling on 8 states in the New England region of the United States. Cory has a unique perspective as he was once a club professional and moved to the sales side. He has been kind enough to lend us his perspective of crossing over and the intricacies of Vineyard Vines and the sales world.
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Tell us about your background in the golf business. How did you get into the golf business and what clubs did you work for in the Met Section?

I graduated from the Ferris State PGM program in late 1995. I grew up in New England, but ended up landing my first job in the Met Section at Ardsley Country Club in Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY. I worked for Jim Bender there for three years before moving close by to Scarsdale Golf Club in Hartsdale, NY. I worked for Bill Smittle there for three seasons before moving onto The Vineyard Golf Club. I was friends with Gene Mulak from our Ferris PGM days. He got the opportunity to be the first head pro at the brand new Vineyard Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard. Gene always helped me with my game in the winters and told me what an opportunity this was going to be on the Vineyard. Lastly after three summers on MV, I worked one season for Charlie Bolling out at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island.

In a circle of life story, last September I was fortunate enough to get married to my wife Monica. Our wedding reception took place on the terrace of Ardsley Country Club.

Let’s talk about Vineyard Vines. How did your relationship with VV begin?

Tim Gerges started the golf division of Vineyard Vines. His father is a member at the Vineyard Golf Club. Shortly after I left the club, Gene let me know that they were starting a golf specific division and put me in touch with Tim. At the time, Tim wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out as this was brand new for them. I got the chance to work the one season with Charlie at Fresh Meadow and we kept in touch all that year in 2006. The golf line did really well that summer and I started that Thanksgiving. It really helped out that Jim Bender, Bill Smittle, and Gene Mulak were all big early supporters of Vineyard Vines.

Considering that you're a former club professional, are there other former club professionals on staff at VV?

I am currently the only former club professional working at Vineyard Vines. There are only currently three golf specific employees that work out of our Stamford, CT office. I know they would not hesitate to hire another club professional. If we continue to have the success we did this year, we will need more staff in the not too distant future.

Can you briefly describe VV’s mission and vision as it relates to the golf division?

Our company philosophy is quite simple, we make quality products that people like to wear and offer the best customer service possible. On top of that we have fun and we know our customers do too. On the golf end of things, we got our start selling custom silk ties to some of the best clubs in the country. Of late, our custom belt business has really taken over where the ties began. The golf line now includes: men’s, women’s, youth, and custom products. We are trying to make classic golf wear that’s found at the best private clubs and golf shops.

How does VV relate so well to the golf professional? Golfers?

This question could really be answered from a couple of different points of view. The professionals that do well with our line would be the first ones to say that we have the best margins in the golf business. There are so many unprofitable things that eat up professionals’ open-to-buy that we really stand out in that regard.

In regards to the line itself, I think the line resonates with a lot of people because it is a lifestyle brand and not strictly golf specific. You can wear our polo and shorts as easily to go play golf or go the grocery store. We’ve had a very good response to our ladies golf line because it is not outfit driven. Unlike a lot of ladies lines, you can easily mix and match our tops and bottoms for on the course or off.

I think a lot of professionals lose sight of the fact that their members wear and buy clothing outside of the club. As a company, we know the parts of the country and demographic where our line sells well. In many instances, it is just a matter of whether the golf professional in those particular areas want their members to buy our line from them or some other way which may be online, through the catalog, or at a local specialty shop.

It is a huge perk for golf shops to offer the ability to use tournament credit, to offer member discounts, and to have the ability to put purchases on the member charge. A normal retailer can’t offer that kind of service. If you charged something on your member account and then paid your club bill with a credit card, you would effectively be given up to 60 days to pay for that golf shop purchase.

When you got out of the green grass side and hooked up with VV, can you describe the training program VV walked you through and the general transition process as it relates to VV?

I was able to shadow my boss Tim Gerges a lot during my first year. Tim is the company’s 9th employee and has seen all the changes and expansion with the company over the years. He made me feel comfortable with my role at the company and provided a lot of guidance along the way. Initially, I spent a lot of time getting familiar with the line and our golf accounts through working in inside sales position.

Is there anything you can tell us about VV that is not well known? Any behind-the-scenes aspects that make VV so unique in their approach?

Most of all, I will say that it is just a very fun place to work. It shows when you meet our employees or even call the office. We have a great team of passionate, talented people working at VV. The entire operation is under one roof here at our CT headquarters. There are graphic designers, apparel designers, wholesale teams, customer care representatives, photographers, accountants and college teams all in our building. It is not your typical office setting. A lot of our local accounts enjoy making the trip to the office to write their orders.

One of the biggest changes for me was working around a younger age group of people. Most of the coworkers are still under 30 years old! Summer time in the office is just what you would imagine it to be here- shorts, flip flops, and summer hours. My dog Speeder has been known to make an appearance here on Friday afternoons.

What are some ways Assistant Professionals can be better "salesmen" in their pro shops?

I think it is important to just acknowledge that “sales skills” are vital and not optional in just about every aspect of a golf operation. Teaching, club fitting, apparel, tournaments, outings, and simply selling yourself all have a sales aspect to them. In order to be a successful professional you must have a handle on selling.

One of my favorite quotes is, “People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy.”

In your extensive experience on both sides of the golf business (green grass vs. sales), I'm sure you have seen and worked with your fair share of assistant professionals. From your perspective, what sets the great ones apart from the "not so great" ones?

From my experience, the best professionals (head, teaching or assistant) all have great rapport with their memberships. You could probably boil it down and say they all have superior people skills. It is obvious when observing the way great professionals interact with members, guests, and their families. Those professionals make each person they deal with feel like they are the most important person in the world. I know that you can’t be each and every member’s best friend, but the truly great professionals make each member feel as though they can count on them as being a friend/confidant.

When it comes to sales representatives, I believe Golf Professionals can often get stuck in always thinking, "What can my rep do for me?" or "What do I need from my rep?" I want to flip the script and ask you, what do you want from us golf professionals? What can we do for you?

I currently call on accounts in eight states. This past year, our team was out after the PGA show having drinks and we ran into a large group of assistant professionals. I knew a number of them and started talking to one particular group which included a pro from Merion G.C. in Philadelphia, one from Knollwood C.C. in Chicago, and a third from Northshore C.C. on Long Island. All three started asking each other how they knew me. It was kind of funny when all three responded with, “he’s our sales rep!”

Traveling and setting up appointments is a real challenge with that large of territory. I am super appreciative of people who are able to get back to me as soon possible. If you have no interest in seeing the line, are already bought up for the year or just don’t think it is a good fit for you, please just be honest.

Both our clothing and golf line have expanded tremendously in the past few years. Our golf line offers way more golf oriented products than it did from when I first started with the company in 2006. It can be challenging to get professionals to have an open mind and see what’s new in the line. Unless they are particularly retail savvy and travel to the regional retail marts, they are likely going to be surprised with how far we have come in such a short amount of time. Believe it or not, a number of professionals are still under the impression we only sell accessories and that our products can’t be embroidered.

Throughout your career, what have been the overarching principles that you have stood by, principles you hope rub off on your peers/colleagues?

No matter what job you are doing, it takes no more skill or intellect to be a hard worker. I didn’t know a lot about sales when I first started with Vineyard Vines. However, I knew that if I was diligent about taking care of the “easy” things the rest would fall into place. The things I consider “easy” are oftentimes overlooked by a lot of sales reps and professionals for that matter. These tasks require no specific skill or aptitude other than caring about doing a good job: getting back to people right away, answering voicemails & emails quickly, being honest, owning up to mistakes when they happen, and being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes.

In the different roles you have played in your career, what have been aspects of your positions, that if you didn't do them well, it would be detrimental to your operations?

I am going to take a different spin on your question. I think the one thing that assistant professionals should never overlook/neglect is their playing ability. I am not trying to suggest every assistant should be a tour player. It’s just been my experience that playing with the membership is the single best way to get to know members on a more personal level. The easiest way to make a good impression with a member is by holding your own on the golf course. It is the one aspect of the job that separates you as a golf pro from any other profession. I think it even helps my credibility as a sales rep when I am out there trying to qualify for the Met Open alongside my accounts.

For a green grass professional interested in getting into sales with a company, can you describe the transition from green grass to sales? In what ways, if any, did you have to approach the transition? What might a young pro sacrifice when going from green grass to sales? What have you found are the biggest differences between green grass and sales? Are there pro's and con's to the sales side and what might they be?

I think the transition to working in sales was easier than I thought it was going to be. I think my accounts appreciate the fact that I was once in their shoes. My accounts know that they can trust that I am not going to inundate them with merchandise and will guide their buying in the right direction. I don’t think there is a tremendous sacrifice anymore seeing you can keep your PGA membership working as a sales representative.

In my case, I gave up my membership so I can play in amateur tournaments around the New York City area. For me, the biggest attraction of this side of the business was having weekends off and being able to live in one place year round. Also, I now have a bit more time to explore interests outside of golf.

Since getting my amateur status back, I have discovered how spoiled I was before. As a professional, you never think about paying for greens fees, equipment, range balls, practicing, tee times, etc. It is a tough pill to swallow the first time you have to pay $8 to hit 45 balls off mats at a lousy driving range!
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There you have it readers. Cory Crelan from Vinyard Vines. Hopefully his unique perspective will help you sharpen your skills and sales ability in the golf shop and beyond. Look forward to more perspectives from the golf industries best professionals, only at Pay It Forward Golf.

7 Tips to Getting Through the PGM Apprentice Program

2010-11-08T04:31:00.002-05:00

The PGM Apprentice Program is by no means on the scale of earning a degree at Harvard University, however the apprentice program does take diligence, hard work, patience, and it is not without its fair share of trials and challenges. Maybe these seven tips will help you along the way:

Utilize your resources

The people around you like your colleagues and even members and guests will be your most valuable resources. The Class “A” professional(s) you work with should welcome the opportunity to help you with open arms. Utilize them. Be deliberate and seek their assistance.

Commit

Make a conscious decision to committing to the program and finishing it in a timely manner. Motivation is usually derived from commitment. When we don’t commit to something, it’s hard to give even a little extra effort to accomplishing something. If you don’t commit, you probably won’t finish the program in a timely manner and you’ll miss out on many opportunities.

Timeline

Give yourself a timeline and stick to it. Make a point to tell yourself, “I want to finish the program by February 2011”, lay out a plan, and knock it out. Break it down further into more manageable tasks like, “I want to finish Level 1 by October 2011, Level 2 by March 2012, and Level 3 by July 2012.” Don’t go into it thinking, “Oh, I have 6 years to finish the program, I’m not starting yet, I’m not worried about it”. Commit and knock it out.

Don’t Get Stuck

Don’t return from a checkpoint and put your books in the closet for a few months because one month will turn into three, three will turn into six, and before you know it, you’ll have gone a year without putting a dent in the next work experience kit. Time flies like a speeding bullet and you can’t get the time back. There is no reason why you can’t finish the program in three years, two years is just as realistic, one year is very possible.

No Shortcuts

We all know that there are ways to take shortcuts around various parts of the Apprentice Program. But don’t take the big shortcuts. Be diligent and thorough because there is much to be learned. Believe it or not but there are many things you can take with you after you have graduated.

Presentation is Everything

Make sure your work experience kit is clean and tight and the materials you put into it like rules sheets, advertisements, and instructional documents are of a high standard. Emphasis on this can often downplay misspellings; however with that said, don’t disregard the accuracy of your grammar.

Final Project

Your presentation skills and your thoroughness are key when it comes to your level 3 project. When sitting there viewing others projects, you can tell how much your fellow golf professionals put into their presentation. Also, take heed to time. When they explain to you how important it is to stay within the time range, do it. A classmate failed his presentation and had to come back because his presentation was 2 minutes over.

Connectivity: The Purity of Teaching

2010-11-01T01:00:00.006-04:00

The instructor-student dynamic in golf is personal and it is networking in its purest form. If done well, before you know it, you'll have cultivated a web of contacts and relationships that will assuredly become your network. Allow an explanation of this concept.

When we’re in the golf shop merchandising and selling the golf experience (and a shirt or two) to the members and guests, we are networking but our time to do so is relatively limited to a short conversation, a shake of a hand, and they’re out the door in a few minutes. When we are running a tournament, perhaps a member-guest of 48 teams, we do have the opportunity to network with 24 guests whom we have likely never met. That’s 24 opportunities to make an great impression that could pay off for us in the short or long term. However when running a tournament, we are usually going in one direction and the golfer is going the other way – The time isn’t lasting.

Teaching is lasting. There is something more unique about the networking that is cultivated through teaching. Golf is a sensitive subject to many struggling amateurs and it takes a lot courage for them to showcase their abilities (or lack thereof) to a teacher they have never met before. Every lesson is accompanied by casual conversation and numerous moments that showcase who you are not only as a teacher, but as a person to. Through a blend of conversation, education, and enjoyment, a student gets the entire package of who you are as a communicator, teacher, and person. Depending on your success, this can make or break the impression the student has of you. One year from now, the student will either remember you or the student won’t remember you. Which one, is up to you.

In my teaching endeavors, there have been numerous times where I learned of head professional job openings and teaching professional openings. This just doesn’t happen nearly as frequently when running a tournament or merchandising a golf shop and manning the front counter. From the standpoint of quantity, our opportunities to showcase ourselves around the front counter of the golf shop or the cart staging area of a tournament are no less than the opportunities to showcase ourselves when teaching. However, it’s the quality of the opportunities that makes the difference. Typically we are with the student for an hour at a time, which is a lot of time if you think about it. An hour is plenty of time for someone to get to know who you are. An hour is longer than it typically takes to sit down and have a cup of coffee with a friend.

Teaching is networking in its purest form. If you teach well enough, students come back to you and they can potentially go from being a student to a friend. If you have made a difference in their game, they entrust you with a sensitive area in their sporting life, and to many amateurs, that can mean a lot. They keep you by their side and before you know it, a year or two or three have gone by and you have seen them grow up in their game and even life. There is so much opportunity, both personally and professionally, for you as a golf professional in this relationship dynamic. Your students will go home and tell ten friends about you and before you know it, you’re getting a call from the President of XYZ Country Club asking you if you would like to interview for their Head Professional job. What started off as a silly first lesson about chasing around a little ball gradually becomes something so much more than that.

You don’t learn as much about them or spend nearly as much time with members and guests during their jaunts through the golf shop. Does that make it less significant? Absolutely not. You don’t learn as much about them or spend nearly as much time with members and guests during their forays on tournament day. Does that make it less significant? Absolutely not. But in those cases, although all of your attention is towards the member or guest, a majority of your focus is on something else, like the phones ringing, the stack of shirts that needs to be folded, the line of golfers waiting to check in, or a customer waiting to be fitted for a pair of shoes. When teaching, all of your focus, attention, and heart are on one thing – the student. For that one hour, there are no phones ringing, no stacks of shirts to be folded, or no line of golfers waiting to check in, it's just you and your student working towards a goal together. For that one hour, nothing else exists around you besides helping the student improve upon something that usually means so much to him/her. Don't take this for granted and make the best of your time teaching.

Interview with Jim Donigan from Peter Millar

2010-10-18T07:31:00.002-04:00

Although Chris Knott founded Peter Millar as a lifestyle brand, it's through golf that his company has become almost instantly recognizable. It can be found in most of the pro shops of the Top-100 golf clubs. It's what many of the Titleist touring pros wear at tournaments. It's what the NBC Sports golf team wears. And it's what the U.S. Ryder Cup team will wore in Wales just a few weeks ago. Today we have one of Peter Millar’s sales representatives, Jim Donigan, here to share with us his perspective on a brand and a business that we Assistant Professionals find ourselves knee deep in.
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Jim, thank you so much for lending your perspective to us today. There is so much knowledge out there and part of Pay It Forward Golf’s purpose is to “go out on a limb” and simply ask for it. On that note, please introduce yourself to the readership and explain what your sales territory is and your background in the golf industry.

My name is Jim Donigan and I’m with Peter Millar. My territory is the peninsula of Florida, Sea Island and all of the Islands (from Bermuda to Aruba). I’ve been with Peter Millar almost since Day 1 of the company – and what a great company to work for, too!

I grew up in the business, you might say. My folks owned the preppy store in Gainesville, FL where all the U of F students and town’s people would buy their Lacoste, Gant and Polo shirts. In fact, the first Lacoste shirt ever to not have a green gator/croc on it was the Orange one – they did a Royal gator at my father’s request!

After graduating from U of F, I worked for Gant Sportswear for 12 years selling to the retail stores. At one point, I had managed to open 60 Gant shops within the major retailers (Burdines, Dillard’s, Belk’s, etc.) here in Florida. When the big retail stores started consolidating in the early 90’s, it was time to do something else or move to New York City.

Golf seemed to be a natural for me, I had become a low handicap by that time and knew the apparel business pretty well, but didn’t know the first person in the golf apparel business. At first I had a bunch of no-name lines, but eventually built up a nice business. None of the pro’s or buyers knew me, but I showed up wearing a coat and tie and talked of nothing but business. It seemed like a lot of the other guys down here wanted to talk about PLAYING GOLF at their club, not about how to make the shop more money.

My first big brand job was with a high-end golf apparel company that specialized in the Italian 80's Egyptian mercerized yarn, I was with them for 9 years. It took me a couple of months to get over the sticker shock and was amazed at the demand for $150 shirts! It was a great experience as I had no prior involvement with that fine of cotton and the mercerization process. Eventually, 60’s mercerized Egyptian yarn made the 80’s Egyptian mercerized knit shirt obsolete, and the business slowly faded – “9/11” didn’t help matters either.

How did your relationship with Peter Millar begin?

Toward the end of my tenure at my previous company, a buddy of mine, Chris Knott, called me and asked if I’d be interested in selling his cashmere sweaters on the side. Sure, I said, what the heck. The rest is history! Chris’ theory was (and still is) this, “A poor man NEEDS a bargain, but a rich man LOVES a bargain!” That is Peter Millar in a nut shell. Give that “better” clientele the finest materials with styles, models and fits that he and she are comfortable with, make them affordable and you’ll have them lining up at the door.

Can you briefly describe Peter Millar’s mission and vision?

Our vision is to offer a lifestyle to our consumer from golf shirts and cashmere sweaters, to swim suits and boat shoes. Sell to the best golf shops, resorts and specialty retailers and grow our business within those accounts. Don’t dilute the distribution by selling to everyone – sell the special places, so as to keep the brand special – and try to grow the different categories within that account.

One time, at a Member/Guest that I was working, a participant came up and told me how much he loved Peter Millar and how we were “everywhere”! I sort of chuckled and said, “No, we’re just ‘everywhere’ YOU go.” He agreed, laughed and proceeded to list all of the Merion’s, Pine Valley’s, Baltusrol’s, Seminole’s of the world where he had seen Peter Millar.

How does Peter Millar relate so well to the golf professional and golfers in general?

Golf pro’s and buyers aren’t really any different than a guy who owns his own specialty store. We just try to service our customers the way they want to be serviced. We’re always trying to do something better; take our shipments, for example. We don’t just throw a bunch of shirts in a box with a packing list taped in a pocket outside the box (that you can’t read because it was the 3rd or 4th carbon copy). We have a double compartment box, our shirts in a high quality bag, double tissued, with the packing list on the top of the shirts in an envelope. The top shirt in the box is the first shirt listed on the packing list. This makes it easy to check in our product and get it to the floor quickly. Plus, whoever checks our stuff in gets a mint that we put in the box!

As far as the golf consumer goes, almost everyone in the sales and design staff are golfers, so we’re concerned with style, fit, etc. We’re more critical about our product than any everyday consumer could ever be, because we know both sides of the story. Actually, the guy who helps Chris design the line was the 1st Assistant at Pine Valley before he started working for us.

What are some ways Assistant Professionals can be better "salesmen" in their pro shops?

The most important single thing is get out from behind the counter. Touch the product, turn it inside out, and learn from old dogs like myself. When a new shipment comes in, try to get involved in putting it out and merchandising the group. Try to figure out what you can put every item with; if it’s a golf shirt, try to figure out how many different pair of shorts and sweaters it can go with (that are currently in the shop). It doesn’t even necessarily have to be the same brand. Don’t just match it up to 1 sweater and 1 short. Be prepared when the customer says, “I already have a sweater that color.” When a guy is sniffing around something in particular, don’t ask if he needs help, go grab the other things like it and put them together and say, “Hey, you know what would look great with that? This!” Always know which of your members are your “buyers”. Pick out special things for them and tell them it’s in their locker. That shows that you thought of them and grabbed it before anyone else had a chance to snag it.

In your extensive experience as a sales representative, I'm sure you have seen and worked with your fair share of Assistant Professionals. From your perspective, what sets the great ones apart from the "not so great" ones?

Great assistants are, above all, gentleman. But, that doesn’t mean you have to be a robot. One of the most important things that I’ve learned from Chris Knott was that people like to be around/do business with people who are happy. The “smile” is the biggest tool in the sales bag/member relations. That doesn’t mean that you have to tell a good joke every time or be fake, but by the same token, nobody wants to hear someone else’s problems – especially when they’re at their club trying to escape the nagging wife, husband, boss, office politics and griping.

I like to get selling information from the guys who are there on the front-lines every day. Every time I’m in the shop I’ll ask the Assistant Professionals what’s been selling and what hasn’t? Many times, the buyer or H.P. who is doing the buying, doesn’t always REALLY know what people are buying and why. The assistants who are into it and “get it” know exactly what’s going on and why.

If you had to recommend some books for Assistant Professionals to read, what would they be?

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
“Who moved my cheese?” by Dr. Spencer Johnson
“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey

You have many fantastic clubs in your territory and these clubs are certainly a cut above many others. What kinds of things can assistant professionals expect to learn from a merchandise operations aspect at clubs of this stature versus clubs of a lesser cut?

The only thing I could say is to adapt to the situation that presents itself. Also, always try to trade up your customer/member and do it with service. When it comes to price, someone will always be cheaper, but they won’t always out-hustle you. If all you can sell is $45 shirts, make them look like $100 shirts! Get some nice hangers, buy as many bust forms/mannequins as you can afford. There are plenty of websites that you can get them cheaply and you’ll pay them off in 2 shirt sales. When it comes to product mix, try to always have a Good, Better, Best assortment. As you know, there are very few places like Sea Island and a shop needs to have some merchandise that reflects the buying public. If the club is surrounded by million dollar homes, don’t have any cheap stuff in the shop even though you’ll hear about it for the first year, “Jeez, the old pro used to have affordable stuff in here. Now I can’t buy anything in this shop”. Chances are, that guy didn’t buy before either and the guy who does like nice things was buying his stuff somewhere else!

Golf professionals are always asking, "What can my rep do for me" and "What do I need from my rep?” I would like to flip the script and ask, what do you want from us?

Be honest. Putting off the inevitable doesn’t do anyone any good…..this goes for everyone (pros and reps). If you’re doing the buying at the club and don’t want to buy a line, tell the rep. Any good rep appreciates a honest answer and will move on. He just needs to hear SOMETHING– if you don’t want to talk to him, call first thing Saturday morning when you get to the shop or call the company and get his e-mail and shoot him a quick e-mail explaining your reasons. If he or she doesn’t “get it” and keeps calling, that’s their problem. You’ve done your part.

Jim, Peter Millar has made some great strides since 2001. Based on my experience with the company, there is no indication that Peter Millar will be going away anytime soon. I am sure you are an asset to the company and they are where they are because of staff members like yourself. Thanks so much for your time. You’re doing a great service to Assistant Professionals. Best of Luck.

PGA PGM Program Spotlight: Clemson University

2010-10-11T08:41:00.003-04:00

I graduated from college in 2002, and I did not attend a PGM University Program. I have many friends that have attended one. Because of the post-graduate path I took through the PGA PGM Apprentice Program, my knowledge of the PGM University Program was minimal. But the more I worked with PGM University graduates and interns, the more I became curious about their path, and the more I learned about the PGM University dynamic.

This week’s entry is the first of a series of articles spotlighting PGM Programs and related topics revolving around them. This weeks spotlight is a feature article on the PGM Program at Clemson University. There are currently 20 schools that offer the program to its students. The first one was established by Ferris State University in 1975. Mississippi State University followed suit in 1985 and then New Mexico State University in 1987 and Penn State University in 1990. Since 1990, 16 more schools have been approved and the golf business now has a new path for aspiring golf professionals to take.

To begin, take this perspective from Brian Soule, a member of Clemson University PGM’s first graduating class in 2005. He served three internships at Green Hill Yacht & CC, the Sea Pines Resort, and Pebble Beach Golf Links. After getting his Masters degree at UNLV and working with their PGM Program as a graduate assistant, he joined the faculty with Penn States PGM Program in July 2009. Brian serves as an instructor, academic advisor, and most importantly, as the Internship Coordinator and Assistant Director:

The current setup of the PGA Golf Management program is one in which students are able to gain a college degree while working their way toward PGA membership; a "best of both worlds" scenario. The opportunities available to students in the internship program are endless. Students have the opportunity to work in all different settings in the golf industry, ranging from daily-fee courses to elite private facilities. In the past five years or so, we have also seen an interest in the non-green grass side of the industry, where students have interned at indoor teaching facilities, with golf equipment manufacturers, and with PGA Section and even PGA National offices.

The current state of the internship program at Penn State is quite healthy. This summer alone, we have placed 132 students at 101 sites in 21 states, with positions ranging from working at Top-100 clubs to working for Top-50 instructors. The students will be presented with opportunities to learn about the golf industry, to learn about how to run an operation, and to learn how to teach the game of golf, just to name a few. The positions range from first-year positions in the golf industry, helping to run outside operations, to full-time assistant golf professional positions for our graduating seniors.

The students coming out of the current PGA Golf Management curriculum are more prepared than ever, and much of that is due to their intense four-and-a-half year schedule, in which they are always working, whether it is in the classroom or in the field while on internship.

With all careers, there are many ways that students can progress through their line of study and set themselves up for long, successful careers. In the PGA Golf Management program specifically, students are presented with unique opportunities to set themselves apart and to truly develop as golf professionals and as individuals. The first opportunity is that students begin their college careers in a "cohort"; a group at their respective university with whom they will study for four-and-a-half years. This cohort is their first real exposure to the power of networking. They learn quickly that their colleagues are the most important people in their professional careers, and that the relationships that they form are as important as any other aspect of the golf industry.

On that point, students who learn the value of networking and relationships early in their college career are typically the ones who we see excel through their internship programs and who set themselves up for the top positions post-graduation.

A second strategy that many students take advantage of is to use the resources available to them as effectively as possible. Students in the university PGA Golf Management program are blessed with the support of their cohort, the faculty at the university, and just as importantly, they are blessed with their affiliation with the PGA of America. When students utilize the resources available to them, such as seeking advisement from their faculty, studying with their cohort for PGA Checkpoint, and utilizing the many resources available to them from the PGA of America, they are truly set up for success.

Brian gives a great perspective into the PGM University model. Now let's hear another Clemson PGM graduate, Reed Lansinger. Reed is currently in his third full year at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. Through his interview with PIFG, he provides plenty of great insight into his experiences in the Clemson PGM Program, and offers a great perspective on the values of the PGM University model.
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How did Clemson PGM prepare you for your immediate future as a golf professional?

As a freshman, all the incoming PGM students are grouped together in a residence hall. So right from day one, you are together with the kids that will be your classmates for the next four years in your major. This not only gives you people to study with but provides you with friends with similar interest’s right from the get go. My class started with 20 people and we graduated with 11. The drop out rate isn't a bad thing. PGM is very golf-intense so it really weeds out the kids who aren't as interested as they originally thought. Just like the PAT does a decent job of eliminating golf professionals who aren't very good at the game. Also, in my mind, the drop out rate had nothing to do with our faculty or the classes.

Each class, each volunteer opportunity, and every internship goes a long way to shape a student's interests in the golf business. They show you what side of the business is attractive to you, whether it is teaching, merchandising, or something completely different.

Where did you do your internships and what did you learn from each one?

My first year internship was a three month stint at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, which is a 36-hole private facility in suburban Philadelphia. I worked for Terry McDowell, who is currently the pro at Mirasol in Florida. It was a terrific first internship because my only previous work experience in the golf business was as a caddie.

My second internship was a six month stay at Merion Golf Club also just outside Philadelphia. I worked for Scott Nye and did everything from fold shirts to junior clinics to picking the driving range. The highlight of the internship was having the club host the 2005 U.S. Amateur tournament in August.

My third internship was at the Sea Island Golf Club. I worked the summer months in 2006 for Brannen Veal and Chrissy Felton. After spending the first 3 weeks at the Retreat Course, I spent the rest of the summer working at the Lodge. It was a different type of operation than I had previously worked at, resort versus private. My exposure to teachers like Mike Shannon and Jack Lumpkin was the highlight of my internship. The experience of working in a multi-million dollar golf shop was also very rewarding.

My final internship was at the Baltusrol Golf Club working for Doug Steffen. I did three months doing almost everything. After I finished my final semester at Clemson, Doug offered me a job as a full time assistant professional. Now, I am starting my third full year here.

Have you been able to apply what you learned in PGM/internships at your first professional job at Balty? What have you been able to apply?

I would argue that my internships were the most valuable part of PGM. You learn so much with on the job training. My classroom background at Clemson prepared me for those internships and then the internships prepared me for my full time job. I think the biggest thing that classroom training prepared me for was customer service. Customer service is perhaps the most crucial aspect of being a golf professional and the model that the PGA education program drills into you is definitely important. Also, teaching basics were very important and is something every professional should review until they can recite them without pause.

In reflecting on your experience at Clemson PGM, what advantages do you perceive exist in attending a PGM school for aspiring golf professionals?

The biggest advantage in my mind is how they set you up for your internships and provide assistance in finding and gaining work experience. The other thing is that when I graduated from Clemson, I was essentially a Class “A” professional. All I had to do to make it official was to find a job. Because of Clemson's reputation as a golf school and as a rising PGM school combined with the internships I completed, I had a job offer from Baltusrol and Merion. Not an easy decision, but a great problem to have. Also, the way Clemson's program is set up, they provide such great opportunities to play and learn about golf and to expand your knowledge of the business. The smaller size of the program is also very advantageous. The individual attention is not found in any other PGM program. Rick Lucas and Adam Savedra work extremely hard to make it a great program and to see all of us succeed. They are such a great resource for me as I move on in my career. Not a month goes by where I don't call up those guys on the phone. The alumni network of Clemson PGM is also growing and is another terrific resource.

Were you involved with the Clemson PGM students association and did you have a seat on its student board of directors? What do you think can be learned from having this kind of opportunity?

Yes, I held a position almost every single semester on campus. Freshman rep, secretary, vice president and then I was President as a junior and a senior. Then my last semester on campus, I didn't do anything on purpose. It’s always a good opportunity. You learn how hard it is to organize a big group of people for golf and various other events. It also allows you to be the face of the program student wise. I enjoyed it for sure.

From what I have been able to gather, the PGM University path is the way of the future for golf professional education and advancement. Not only do students have an opportunity to graduate a Class “A” PGA Professional at a ripe, young age, but they can also graduate with multiple work experiences under their belt at world-class facilities via an internship placement program. Let’s not forget that they will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a major college as well. Talk about killing three birds with one stone! Hopefully this entry gives you a bright perspective on the PGM university path. On that note, look forward to future articles featuring PGM university programs.