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Pro shop verses golf maint winter staff

6 posts
  1. Douglas Davis
    Douglas Davis avatar
    6 posts
    12/29/2017 8:12 AM
    Hello, 9 hole muni course here jointly owned by a city and a park district. City controls the administrative duties. The finance director orders me to lay off my $11.00/hr assistant from Jan 1 to March 1 because he the employee wages are "killing him" "bleeding him dry" and yet the pro shop has a GM, assistant GM, AND pays a cashier to answer a phone or just sit very very bored. Anything wrong with this picture?



  2. Mark Van Lienden
    Mark Van Lienden avatar
    14 posts
    12/29/2017 12:12 PM
    Douglas ,
    I love your topic.I have seen it so much in my career.It has frustrated me far more than I ever should have let it. Worst was a private club ran by the golf pro.You can make a pretty good bet that if that pro or any general manager was paying out of their own pocket there would be less people in the pro shop.I found it hard to address the problem without creating animosity.It always amazed me how poorly they can do their jobs and yet criticize anything wrong with the golf course whether or not what was wrong was anybody's fault or nature.I have no solution and can only offer my sympathy.



  3. Steven Huffstutler
    Steven Huffstutler avatar
    11 posts
    1/1/2018 11:01 AM
    Since it's a government operation,perhaps the local media would be interested in seeing an up close and personal example of waste fraud and abuse. I would also suggest that the Finance Director has a boss, too. I guess it depends on how upset you ar over it. They apparently are taking care of everyone except you.

    Steve



  4. Richard Laux
    Richard Laux avatar
    4 posts
    1/2/2018 12:01 PM
    must be a municipal problem. We have 54 holes but only 1 golf shop is open all year. The golf director and all the pros work in that shop all winter, no layoffs. I have two supts. and two mechanics, As always the city says nothing
    about the golf shop, but wonders why we use so much fuel to heat the shops in the winter, minus 3 today.
    Rick Laux
    Director of Golf Maintenance
    Kalamazoo Municipal Golf Association



  5. Stephen Johnson
    Stephen Johnson avatar
    0 posts
    1/9/2018 9:01 AM
    Interesting, at a former position I had the golf maintenance staff would be paired down to my self; as superintendent and the mechanic/assistant (one person). At the pro shop they would keep the General manager, Head Pro, Office manager, and restaurant manager, and evn this year have hired a merchandising pro? What ever that is, and still only have the Superintendent and mechanic in the maintenance facility. This was one of the reasons I left the position when an opportunity presented itself. To make this scenario even better while during my 10 years at that facility Troon Golf was under contract for a five year span. reducing staff wasn't only part of their operational standard I know that they were the ones who introduced our owners to the idea. Troon's first winter in the contract I was ask to take a leave of absence w/o pay from Dec. through Feb. Left in place in maintenance was an assistant and a mechanic, separate positions at the time. While all the afore mentioned club house staff remained. Long story short the mechanic was caught stealing, the assistant resigned to move to another facility, and I was ask to to return to work.



  6. Christopher Thuer
    Christopher Thuer avatar
    101 posts
    1/9/2018 7:01 PM
    I may be wrong but I am pretty sure people don't join or go to certain courses because of the merchandise.

    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN

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