Swerving somewhat from it's usual fast-paced array of turf tips, the USGA Green Section highlighted customer service by the golf course management team as the lead indicator for success at its annual GIS education conference Friday.
The session featured seven speakers, from Green Section regional agronomists to experts in the realm of managing golf facilities the right way in this highly competitive age in the business of golf.
"We've got to enhance the experience through superior customer service," said Chris Hartwiger, an agronomist in the Section's Southeast Region, who said the effort to attract and retain golfers can be as simple as user-friendly amenities on the practice range and the first tee, as well such golfer "wow" factors as striped fairway mowing.
Hartwiger's sidekick at the session, Pat Gross, director of the Southwest Region, noted that customer service in the world of golf is all about attitude, organization and aeration. If the latter seems a bit out of place, think again. Customer-friendly fairway aeration -- clean, fast and virtually unnoticed -- goes a long way toward building a successful operation.
Patrick Shea of Salt Lake City, Utah, an attorney, college professor and a GCSAA member to boot, said the golf course management team has to work together to make the golf course welcoming to golfers. "Every year 3.6 million people in the U.S. start in golf and about 3.2 million of them quit," he said. "That's our challenge."
Shea's presentation centered on key areas of opportunity to grow the game on a more retentative basis through diversification -- particularly in tapping into the huge growth of the country's Hispanic population and attracting emerging core golfers among women and young people.
"We need to diversify in race, age and gender in golf if we intend to continue on in the 600 years of the game," Shea said.
An entertaining take on management team teamwork came from the general manager of The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Dave Chag, who likened golf course managers to the characters in the popular animated movie, "Shrek." It also was his way of noting that golf management needs a large dose of a sense of humor, among other things.
In comparing the course superintendent to the Ogre in "Shrek," Chag said superintendents are "Very powerful in our management team and very influential in our management team." He added that golfers are the heart of the industry and their expectations, criticisms and responsibilities have to be adroitly managed by the operation team.
Barbara Jodoin, general manager and chief operating officer at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Ga., emphasized that a facility's operating strategy is the key to creating success. A veteran of almost 30 years in club management and a leading consultant in the industry in the southeastern U.S., said "Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the same framework that caused them."
She favors turning an operation's organizational makeup upside down if need be to achieve excellence. One of the most difficult yet most important aspects of golf course management is to create a club's brand loyalty among its members.
"Members' expectations are just as high as management's," Jodoin said. "Create a culture that instills loyalty to the club. Set challenging goals for the managers and the club."
Another pair of Green Section agronomists, Dave Oatis, director of the Northeast Region, and Larry Gilhuly, director of the Northwest, gave a rapid-fire video collection of examples of golf course do's and don'ts in customer service.
"One of the most important things in customer service is a well-trained staff (maintenance) with a smile and a wave," Gilhuly said. Oatis stressed making special occasions like Ladies Day and junior golf events even more special such as all the little things that make the course more attractive. Gilhuly pointed out that informational touches like a "turf talk" bulletin board or environmental highlights.
Other touches that embellish the golfing experience include good signage, smaller divot-maintenance sand/seed recepticals for walkers and golf course etiquette videos.
The USGA also used the occasion to present its 2008 Green Section Award to Ted Horton, a 40-year GCSAA member whose resume includes stints at the likes of Winged Foot Golf Club, Westchester Country Club and Pebble Beach and who is regarded as one of the industry's champions of the golf course's compatibility with the environment.
"Ted has spent his entire life making the great game of golf greater," said Steve Smyers in presenting the award to Horton.
"This award should be shared by everyone in the golf industry," Horton said, adding that he was very humbled to join the long list of the game's icons who have won the Green Section honor -- many of whom have been his mentors during his career in golf course managenent.
