Golfdom, November 2017

Building a strong core As the author has learned a next man up mentality in the maintenance building is an insurance policy in which courses should invest N othing dooms a golf course to obscurity more than the absence of a long term stable core of employees A well heeled employee core ensures maintenance and club management a continuous linear history of the relevant BY CHRIS SORRELL CGCS practices maintenance issues and daily operations inherent in an operation A superintendent who embarks on a new position where a core of employees is absent is going to have a trying time getting up to speed with course demands Unfortunately I have a great deal of experience in this area BEEN THERE DONE THAT Every course that I have taken over as superintendent has been nearly or completely devoid of a core This includes a rural course where new ownership felt the need to remove the long time superintendent a municipal course whose management company saved money by not replacing the superintendent and assistant for six months and a daily fee course whose massive course wide turnover never allowed retention of employees long enough to develop a core In all these instances the course suffered as its tangle of maintenance issues had to be unraveled without any significant guidance The takeaway Without development of a core of experienced employees any golf course operation imperils itself A proper core of employees will be trained by experience or direct tutelage how to handle detailed issues that arise These employees are insurance that little issues dont become big issues and they also harbor explanations for why seemingly eccentric 24 Golfdom November 2017 Golfdom com