Superintendent Visit Cancel The title field is required!

1. Stephen Moffitt

   

   0 posts
   
   3/28/2013 6:03 AM

   I was on the course yesterday playing golf and received a phone call from the GM notifying me that another superintendent was at the course with his greens chairman to take a look at the course, I believe are considering regrassing and wanted to take a look. I was never notified or contacted about this until the superintendent and greens chairman where on property. The GM and the visiting superintendent are old friends and the course is about 3 miles away. I am pretty bothered by this considering that there was no direct contact with me before, although I made contact with the superintendent when I saw him on golf course, I was cordial during our introducing of each other and made no reference to him about not contacting me before hand, like I said the GM and him are good buddies and didn't want to make to much out of it then. I have been at my facility for about 8 months and this is my first superintendent job, my budget and crew are not big and I fill many roles. I should include too that the course I am at has a single owner, who I have a great relationship with and who is behind me and supports my opinions and the direction I am going in with the golf course. I guess I am just looking for opinions on the situation and venting at the same time.
   
   Steve Moffitt

   
   
   
   
2. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   3/28/2013 7:03 AM

   Steve,
   
   The visiting superintendent is a "friend"? It's probably nothing to seethe over but your friend should have, at least, sent you a text saying he was on the way to your course. You should tell him to give you heads-up next next time. If for nothing else so you can make sure he doesn't get hit by a rogue sprinkler head.

   
   
   
   
3. Stephen Moffitt

   

   0 posts
   
   3/28/2013 7:03 AM

   He is not my friend, he is a good friend of the GM. I have never met him in my life.

   
   
   
   
4. Larry Allan

   

   0 posts
   
   3/28/2013 8:03 AM

   My old boss would simply drive up to the offending super, be cordial, and then ask him to leave....next time you would like to play golf here, please call me and allow me to set it up for you.
   
   I don't have a big enough set to do that but when it has happened I have called the super the next morning and said the same.

   
   
   
   
5. Jackson Reiswig

   

   0 posts
   
   3/28/2013 8:03 AM

   Stephen,
   
   I would be bothered too. However, since the Supt is a friend of the GM, I wouldn't read to much into it. You said you were out playing golf, right? So I'm guessing this wasn't a visit at 9 in the morning... It's entirely possible that the visiting Supt simply figured that since he was in contact with the GM, he didn't need to give you a heads up. Incorrect, but possible. I'd say for the most part everyone in our area is pretty cordial, and follows the code. Regardless of this Supt's intentions, it was a disappointingly unprofessional move. I hope he remedies his disregard for the fellow Supt, as information travels fast in our chapter. Not a good way to promote cooperation and communication between local Supt's. Double negative too, as if it isn't hard enough already to get out and try to enjoy a peaceful round of golf!

   
   
   
   
6. Gary Carls

   

   19 posts
   
   3/28/2013 10:03 AM

   Since you didn't know him he should have notified you in advance so you could have been available to talk with them about what they were hoping to see while there. Being a friend of the GM perhaps he might have just assumed that the GM would tell you he was coming over with his greens chairman to look at some things.
   
   I would just talk to the other superintendent and explain the situation in a cordial manner and then see if you can help him with any additional information. If you have a good relationship with your owner it could actually turn what might have been a negative experience back into a a positive one for you and that relationship.

   
   Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative
   
   
7. Sean Hoolehan

   

   0 posts
   
   3/28/2013 10:03 AM

   Steve,
   
   Congratulations on your first Superintendents job. I think you handled the situation perfectly and professionally. Well Done!! Its not always as easy to check ourselves in these situations.
   
   I would let it go. The GM and he are friends and you don't know it may have been a last minute thing. The GM was good enough to let you know they were there, my bet is they were sympathetic to your feelings but they are good friends and comfortable with each other. Sometimes we can get a little sensitive about protocol. I am a great fan of calling first and making contact with the superintendent prior to visiting but when your dealing with friendships its just different. I would make a effort to get to know your neighbor Superintendent. I would give him a call and ask him what he thought about your course/work any suggestions. Maybe you could stop by his place and tour his course with him. You might find out that you can be of great help to him since he was at your place looking for solutions.
   
   
   Good luck,
   
   Sean

   
   
   
   
8. Ashton Alan W

   
   3/28/2013 12:03 PM

   Steve,
   
   I agree with Gary...
   
   I have been in this situation before, only it was a member that brought the Superintendent out to my course. In my case, I had no response to my initial contact with this individual, so I made sure that he was made aware of item number one on our Professional Conduct Guidelines.
   
   http://www.gcsaa.org/About-GCSAA/Governance/Professional-conduct-guidelines.aspx
   
   The fact that he is friends with your GM should have made him recognize the necessity even more, IMO...

   
   
   
   
9. Wahlin Scott B

   
   3/28/2013 12:03 PM

   I think there is a difference between being at a strictly private club where access is limited and being at a course that is open to the public. Every local superintendent who plays my course pays full price and only occassionally do I get a call. C'mon out, relax and enjoy yourself. You don't need to call me!

   
   
   
   
10. Larry Allan

    

    0 posts
    
    3/28/2013 12:03 PM

    Scott Wahlin, CGCS said: I think there is a difference between being at a strictly private club where access is limited and being at a course that is open to the public. Every local superintendent who plays my course pays full price and only occassionally do I get a call. C'mon out, relax and enjoy yourself. You don't need to call me!

    
    Scott, when I have played in Florida at even low end public courses I have either by phone call or email or a talk with the pro Identifying myself and making sure the super was made aware of my presence before setting foot on the course. That is what I expect from others. He wouldn't recognize me from any other hacker on his course, but I believe that is what we should do, comped or full price

    
    
    
    
11. Steven Huffstutler

    

    11 posts
    
    3/28/2013 3:03 PM

    I think you should hunt him down and shoot him like the dog that he is.....buy hey, that's just me.
    
    
    Regards,
    
    Steve

    
    
    
    
12. Clay Putnam

    

    33 posts
    
    3/28/2013 5:03 PM

    Stephen Moffitt said: He is not my friend, he is a good friend of the GM. I have never met him in my life.

    
    
    Ok. Remove "friend" from my post and do the rest.

    
    
    
    
13. Tyler Daniels

    

    1 posts
    
    3/29/2013 12:03 AM

    I agree with Sean.
    
    Good job. I would have kept golfing. What's he going to say that you have never mentioned to the GM? All his ideas cost money too.

    
    
    
    
14. Robert Crockett

    

    4 posts
    
    3/29/2013 7:03 PM

    Steven Huffstutler, CGCS said: I think you should hunt him down and shoot him like the dog that he is.....buy hey, that's just me.
    
    
    Regards,
    
    Steve

    
    Ditto....I would never conduct myself in that manner and expect the same.

    
    
    
    
15. Kevin Girt

    

    0 posts
    
    3/31/2013 8:03 PM

    OK WoW!, you've been there 8 months, courses are 3 miles apart and he hasn't welcomed you? What a turd but there are some out there that give superintendents a bad name. Sounds like he has no respect for the people he should consider colleges. But hey that's just my opinion.

    
    
    
    
16. Border Ricky H

    
    4/1/2013 9:04 AM

    Recently my family and extended family were at a very popular tourist spot in the southern U.S.. While there we had the treat of staying across the street from a beautiful course. My father in-law and did not bring clubs or other gear as it was a "family" vacation but the gals suggested that we go ahead out and enjoy a day. I made it a point to contact the super and ask him his policy on golf, not expecting anything but if comped great if not great we were playing golf in the warm sun late in Feb.. The super that I contacted never replied in anyway shape or form, I was slightly disappointed. I had hopes of maybe talking a little shop, cup of coffee, breakfast, lunch, or even a beer later. After thinking about it I am sure this super has loads of other guys who contact him just like I do. I still feel that one e-mail telling just that, would have been appropriate.
    Believe it or not I do have some supers visit us here in WV, if they contact me I will make it a point to visit or at the very least let them know that I will not be able to see them but have some fun. Doing so I have been lucky enough to meet some darn nice folks. Sometimes these darn nice folks send me a darn nice gift for extending some hospitality. So as I see it that super missed out on a darn nice thank-you gift.
    Ricky Border
    Oglebay Resort
    Wheeling, WV

    
    
    
    
17. Verdun Scott M

    
    4/1/2013 3:04 PM

    Stephen,
    
    First of all Congrats on breaking through and getting that Superintendent Job. Parts of me agree with all posts made on this thread, everything from shoot him to ignore him, generally my first reaction is very emotional and afterwards I realize that ignoring the problem is perhaps the best plan of action. It is disappointing that people ignore protocol like that, personally I have a former Supt who was one of my sales reps who is a friend of a member, he plays the course 8-12 times/year and has never called to let me know he's coming out, very disappointing for sure.
    
    I think the best thing you could do is to call him and ask what he thought about the course, offer to provide any information that he would like regarding whatever he was looking at that day. Try to make a friend out of your neighbor first of all because it's always nice to have another set of eyes to take a look around with you when you need it. Second, if he is a friend of your GM it could greatly benefit you to have him as an ally and if you choose to handle the situation in an aggressive manner it could ultimately reflect poorly on you.
    
    Be the bigger person, assume that it was an honest mistake with no sinister intentions and move forward from there.
    
    Good luck with this,