Eight certainties of golf course management

To paraphrase the otherwise dense 20th century German philosopher Theodor Adorno, when it comes to social criticism, only the exaggerations are true. In that spirit, I present the findings of my four decades of research into the everyday life of golf course superintendents. I can’t prove these hypotheses quantitatively. But I know they ring true.

1. The 90/10 Rule: At every club I have ever seen, 90 percent of the noise, complaints and discontent comes from 10 percent of the members. Half of them express themselves through a fog of self-induced, liquid medication; the rest of them are perpetual depressives intent on making everyone else as miserable as they are. No matter what, they are unhappy. My advice to greenkeepers, pros and general managers is to stop listening to them and to engage the rest of the members, most of whom are reasonable and agreeable to thoughtful measures of everyday management.

2. The 30/70 Rule: If you parse the operational budgets of most facilities, the golf course absorbs about one-third or less of the expenditure yet generates just under three-quarters of the revenue in terms of green fees, guest fees and share of initiation fees. Dollar for dollar, the golf course is a big moneymaker and subsidizes the rest of the facility’s operations — including every meal served.

3. The clubhouse is a sinkhole: Think of it as a variant of the Peter Principle (1969). What started as “people rise in a business hierarchy until they reach their level of incompetence” yielded “expenditures rise to meet income” and “junk expands to meet the capacity devised to store it.” In golf, the overhead costs of maintaining an enlarged clubhouse entail additional personnel, utilities and utilization such that you always end up falling behind. Whether it’s added service labor, HVAC, food waste or security, that new wing or expanded bar ends up sinking the operational budget further behind and puts the club in a deeper fiscal hole, which only drains funds away from the prime facility at any country club or golf facility: the golf course.

4. Cost per shot, bunker maintenance is a waste: More than 50 percent of all shots in a round are played onto, across or upon the putting surface. Meanwhile, your average golfer only plays three to four shots per round out of a bunker. From that standpoint, it is simply nuts that the cost for maintenance per square foot for bunkers is equivalent to that of greens. Economically, it makes no sense to groom meticulously what are supposed to serve as “hazards.”

5. Focusing on greens, fairways and tees guarantees 90 percent success: Given the perceptions and concerns that the vast majority of golfers have, a focus on “maintenance down the middle” is a guaranteed winner. The gains made by focusing on peripheral areas, especially the rough, flower beds and native areas, has what economists call diminishing marginal utility. In other words, it takes a lot of additional effort to make even very slight gains there. Start with the central lane of play and take care of that first.

6. Only 1 percent of play is from back tees: Most of the play at a golf course is from 6,500, 6,000 or 5,000 yards. Those are the players who are paying the bills. The back tees get about 1 percent of play, and most of that is from “industry comps” like college kids, ex-pros or golf business insiders. If you think I’m kidding, just check the divot wear pattern on those back tees. There isn’t any.

7. Defending par is easy: At most clubs there’s still too much emphasis on degree of difficulty or fixing a hole that is relatively easy. If you are really concerned about defending par, simply watch an average foursome play any hole. For the vast majority of golfers, the holes need to provide fun, variety and interest, not a masochistic obstacle course.

8. When it rains, the parking lot is empty: No matter how good the hamburger and onion rings, if weather conditions render the course unplayable for the day, the parking lot is empty. F&B consumption is a function of the golf. A modest menu and adequate service will thrive if the golf course is outstanding. If the golf course is lousy, the best steak in the world will go uneaten.