Golfdom, November 2017

Continued from page 25 That 30000 in many areas is enough to employ a year round assistant superintendent who if trained properly will be able to step into the vacant maintenance leadership role and employ on site knowledge to hold the pieces together until a replacement is positioned and brought fully up to speed Obviously the 30000 would be an additional budget expenditure but it offsets the postulated risk It is insurance AT THE CORE OF A CORE What does a core of employees look like Every course has variations but a core begins with the superintendent the assistant superintendent and the equipment manager As the lead of all things maintenance the superintendent is the star of this show However a core is focused on making sure that continuity is maintained in the event of a superintendents departure so the role is less of a core member than a core facilitator The superintendent ensures that the core can function and that there is an assistant and an equipment manager Both role players must be fully informed concerning processes that regularly occur on the course Its fair to assume the assistant is regularly involved in planning assignment and execution of maintenance tasks A bit more effort is required with the equipment manager as their primary function is assuring a reliable maintenance fleet Communication is the key here Beyond these key positions further core employees easily could include fulltime year round staff such as irrigation techs spray techs or crew employees All these positions if provided with enough information training and intentional retention act as effective support personnel for an organization The core employee concept is a necessary long game strategy for golf courses Its next man up mentality insulates an organization from trouble All core employees should be training their replacements Every superintendent or general manager should have an assistant who can take their place in the event they are no longer willing or able to continue their work and each of these assistants should have a crew member foreman second assistant who in the same event could competently perform their tasks The execution of this strategy affords a course better avoidance of failure Its one more way to assure long term success G Chris Sorrell CGCS is superintendent of Stonebriar Country Clubs Fazio Course in Dallas This is the third time he has written for Golfdom 26 Golfdom November 2017 Golfdom com PHOTOS BY SETH JONES A DIFFERENT KIND OF INSURANCE Without developing a core of experienced employees any golf course imperils itself Experience for other employees is the ultimate assurance of a smooth transfer