Pro Shop closed in the mornings for bad weather? Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   1/23/2015 8:01 AM

   I am curious as to if any of your clubs close the pro shop in the mornings when bad weather is expected. Am I just being too picky? Our pro started texting his employees to stay home until 8am or 9am when we are having or had bad weather. I understand trying to save a few dollars but I also feel that it is important to have someone man the phones! what do you think?
   another side to this is that only I can close the golf course but by setting the time his department opens he has effectivly went over my call. Oh the kicker to this? he does it from his home 30 miles away (north).

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   1/23/2015 9:01 AM

   I once replaced a Superintendent that used to call in frost delays while he was sitting in bed. One morning it came back to bite him. He called in the delay from home and it was about 40 degrees at the course. The assistant had the crew out mowing and the pro called B.S.
   
   Now if the weather is expected to be severe enough to where driving may be difficult or it is assumed the course would not open, as long as everybody is on the same page, I see no problem with the staff arriving later than normal.

   
   
   
   
3. David Brandenburg

   

   3 posts
   
   1/23/2015 4:01 PM

   I guess it all depends. If it gonna be a total washout there is no reason to have staff in staring out the window watching it rain. If it is a short frost or rain delay I think you are right someone should be in to answer the phone and make reservations for later in the day or customers could think you are closed for the day and call the next course on their list or make other plans.
   
   Any temporary closure should be noted on the door and on the answering machine. Or the phone should be forwarded to a salaried employee.

   
   
   
   
4. Mark Dennison

   

   0 posts
   
   1/24/2015 5:01 AM

   James,
   
   Someone should be answering the phone. We're a service industry and customer service should be a priority in my opinion.
   
   Mark Dennison
   Christiana Creek CC
   Elkhart,IN

   
   
   
   
5. Theodore Piersol

   

   0 posts
   
   1/24/2015 2:01 PM

   I had a pro who would close for coring the greens.

   
   
   
   
6. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   1/26/2015 7:01 AM

   To be honest this last Friday we had 2.75" of rain over night with only light sprinklers left by morning as the front pushed through. He elected to close the proshop until 9am and let his people know. He never informed me until 8:30 and the clubhouse was not informed as they showed up at 8am. This is a Friday now we are talking about and the outlook for play that day was great, especially after 10am. My issue is that I know some of our golfers call in to see the conditions before deciding to go to another course if ours is not open. I feel that someone should man the phones especially since they take tee times for Sunday at 8am!
   
   This has been a habit he is forming and my problem is that he has only been her 1.5 years and I have been here 21 now and this is the first our pro shop has not had someone manning the phones.
   
   I am going to let our Board of directors figure it out as I sent them a letter Friday on it. They was not aware of him doing this.

   
   
   
   
7. Sandy Clark

   

   0 posts
   
   1/26/2015 9:01 AM

   Just sounds like laziness to me rather than good management. Years ago at a previous course, we would put a message on the pro shop answering machine telling about frost or rain conditions. At least the members could call and have an immediate understanding prior to 7 a.m. but nobody at all! Doesn't make good PR sense to me. How many $ does it save over the course of a season compared to the ill will it creates?

   
   
   
   
8. Adam Stottlemyer

   

   0 posts
   
   1/27/2015 7:01 AM

   Manning the phones and being there I think is important. But my last club we emailed all members about frost delay and updated the site, but the pro would still be in.

   
   
   
   
9. Justin VanLanduit

   

   0 posts
   
   1/27/2015 8:01 AM

   Any idea on revenue lost due to patrons not being able to know what's going on? I'd think if I was a golfer and called your place to get a tee time or find out what is going on with my tee time and nobody answered I'd either not show up or go somewhere else. Somebody should be there to communicate the conditions and how the club is handling such events. Our tee sheet system here sends out an email to all on the sheet if we have a delay or need to address something, but it has to be sent from the pro shop. I'd chalk your situation up to being lazy with poor customer service.

   
   
   
   
10. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    1/30/2015 3:01 PM

    One of the bad things about this is that they never leave a phone message and from members complaints never return calls! It is not my department so I am being very careful not to start something between the two of us but this is simply bad business. I have recently been taking over our clubs facebook page and posting club conditions and such which about 40% of my membership is following so I can and do make instant post about us being open or not as well as cartpath conditions. I have tried to get him to do the same but he tends to wait until the last minute to post anything which does not help. I have a feeling a few board members are going to have a talk to him about it!
    Thanks for the replies!

    
    
    
    
11. Adam Stottlemyer

    

    0 posts
    
    2/2/2015 7:02 AM

    My suggestion is not too get involved in it. You don't want to start having bad blood between you and the pro if possible. I would maybe speak to a board member you trust that you feel won't go telling everyone you're complaining about the pro, and see if he can look to speak with the pro and keeping your name anonymous. I would imagine that if this is something that is frustrating the membership that it will get taken care of one way or the other.