If I Was… A Golf Course Owner

OK… admittedly I am going to tread a little lightly with this topic. I’ve been in the golf business a long time and have known many great facility owners. These were smart business people with great ideas about how to make a day of golf special for anyone that played their course.

I also have had the misfortune of visiting facilities over the years that, let’s just say, could improve a few things. Oddly, most of the time I’ve had this type of experience, they’ve seemed to all have one or more of three common issues.

Perhaps the most common issue is staff that is less than helpful. I know we all have bad days at the office, but if an entire staff is having one on the same day, it’s most likely something that occurs every day. An owner’s staff is the face of the owner. If the staff is not friendly and inviting, it reflects poorly on the owner.

It is not that difficult to train the staff to be friendly. A simple smile and “how’s your day going” is really all that is needed. If you want to step it up a bit, staff that have the ability to predict the needs of the guest truly puts a shine on your facility.

I’ll admit, there are times when golfers themselves make it difficult to have a friendly smile, but at the end of the day, it is the job of anyone in the service industry to fight through that and try to maintain a personable demeanor.

The second most common issue I see is dirty carts. When I worked at Innisbrook in Tampa, if the carts had even a blade of grass on the wheel well, we had to wash them again. Keeping the carts clean seems like it would be too labor intensive and time consuming, but the guest is going to spend the next 4 to 5 hours in that cart. These days, that cart might even be their office. Any time I have had at least a clean cart to start the round, I’ve felt better about the experience.

An owner does not need to dress them up with folded towels and a yardage book for each player. Simply have the glove box clean and no grass or sand on the floorboard.

Finally, the thing I believe that makes the biggest difference is the available services at the course. The food does not have to be four-star fare; it just needs to be simple and prepared consistently. A great hot dog or fresh sandwich make the stomach feel good and a cold beverage completes the package. As I said, it doesn’t need to be eligible to win a Micheline Award or expensive. Simple food prepared consistently well goes a long way.

Have a competent instructor on site. I know I teach for an instruction company full time and I’d love nothing more than to have more people taking lessons from me or my coworkers, but if a course has a good instructor that is available to service any last-minute issues, golfers will feel more confident on the course and generally will play better.

None of the things I am suggesting are earth shattering nor are they anything new. Simply put, they are the little things. Years ago, McDonald’s was struggling, and Burger King was gaining market share. The executives at the Golden Arches sent out a survey of customers to find out the best thing they could do to regain market share. They were surprised to learn that the biggest thing they could do was to improve the condition of their bathrooms. Nothing about changing their menu. Nothing about making the restaurant more upscale. It was as simple as a clean restroom. The same holds true at golf courses. The little things like clean restrooms/locker rooms, simple food done well and clean carts go a long way to making a golf facility more successful.

To be fair, golfers have to play a part in making any operation successful. If you see something wrong, tell someone. You don’t have to be mean about it. Simply passing along that there are no paper towels in the bathroom will allow the staff the ability to make things right. If the food is cold, calmly ask if they can try to make it better.

Facility owners want to make your day better and give you the best experience they can. If we don’t know something is wrong, we cannot fix it.

Maybe someday I will own a facility and if my course does not meet the standards I laid out here, I hope one of our readers puts this column in front of me and reminds me what is important.

To all the owners that do things well, THANK YOU and keep doing what you are doing. If we want more people to play the game more often, we have to remember the little things to make their day.