Golfdom, January 2015

The golfdom reporT Help wanted Survey shows an interesting trend good help is getting harder to come by do you believe its become Harder in recent years to find and keep good assistants Yes 60 their first superintendent job In those years it can be difficult for assistants to work a lot of hours and make a living on 50000 a year while getting married and starting families What Ive found is that these guys are having to find a higher salary immediately and they just cant afford to work those eight years before getting that higher salary says OKeefe And keep in mind the eight years as an assistant is if youre lucky Those who make it through the years as an assistant are there because of the passion for the job he says Those who hang in there and get promoted they love it says OKeefe You only get into this industry if you love it No 40 There arent as many applicants with full 4 year bachelor degrees It seems to be becoming more of a trade so to speak where guys are learning on the job and getting experience in the field and maybe taking some classes on the side or going through programs online and getting an education that way Groelle says GCSAAs OKeefe usually retains three assistants at one time and he tries to provide a fair wage as they work their way through the ranks But the current vice president of the GCSAA believes the cost of living is the reason it has been more difficult to find assistants in recent years OKeefe who will take over as president of the GCSAA at the 2015 GIS in San Antonio says it takes the average assistant superintendent seven to eight years to attain Tom Bolon superintendent at Lake Forest CC in Hudson Ohio is in need of a new assistant superintendent and looks over the résumés he has received Bolon advertised the position nationally and locally but only had a total of 25 applicants He was not optimistic about the talent pool It is hard to find someone really ready and willing to put in the time and effort Bolon says When I was an assistant superintendent my job was to take as much as possible off the superintendents plate and people are not willing to do that Sixty percent of readers agreed with Bolon that it has become harder in recent years to find and keep good assistant superintendents The amount of applications being received and work ethic are not the only problem seen by readers David Groelle GCCS has not encountered any issue retaining assistants calling himself blessed that he has only had to hire two in his 14 years at Royal Melbourne CC in Long Grove Ill Still Groelle noticed a difference in the candidates education the last time he hired a new assistant Those assistants who hang in there and get promoted they love it OKeefe says You only get into this industry if you love it 24 Golfdom January 2015 Golfdom com