Deftly coping with complaints

Veteran superintendent Randy Pinckney had just opened a course after a full tee-to-green renovation. While driving his mentor around the site, an unhappy golfer stopped his cart. “The greens are extremely slow, they’re terrible, and you should be ashamed of yourself,” the golfer told Pinckney.

Despite the many positive compliments the course received, Pinckney couldn’t stop thinking about the one negative complaint. His mentor told him, “I know it’s hard, but you have to find a way to let it go.”

No matter the industry, no matter the job, criticism happens. For golf maintenance professionals, criticism often consists of complaints about green speeds, tee times, cart paths, hole closures — the list goes on.

As superintendents, assistant superintendents, greenkeepers and general managers, how do you best handle the critics? How do you “let it go?” How do you know when to take a critic seriously?

Let’s learn how some of the industry’s best compartmentalize and address complaints.

Judge your product yourself

With 44 years of experience in the golf industry — and 40 of those as a superintendent — Rafael Barajas suggests experiencing your product yourself. Just as a chef may try their own food, or a designer may wear their own clothes, go out and play the course.

Now the principal owner of International Turf Services, Barajas has found that being a player himself has helped when conversing with golfers and members. Along with his experience as a former GCSAA president, Barajas’s decades in the industry have taught him how to not let critics bother him.

“Just evaluate your job performance every day, and when you look yourself in the mirror, get up in the morning and you know that you’re doing a great effort,” he says. “The rest of it doesn’t matter. What matters is your family. Have a great balance. Understand that if you work harder, the criticisms are going to be there regardless.”

Talk to those with more experience

Longtime industry stalwart Tim Hiers recommends delaying a response to complaints by bouncing ideas off more experienced peers in the golf industry.

“For example, if a member comes up with a complaint that’s a little bit stuffy, you should be like, ‘Can you give me a little bit of time to think about it? I’m gonna get back to you within three days, if that’s OK,’” Hiers says. “He needs to put it on his phone as a reminder, he puts it on the wall. He does not want to fail to get back to him within three days, but he might bounce it off two or three savvy veterans and between the three, help come up with a decent response, because sometimes responses can create more agitation and more animosity, and more unnecessary work.”

Pinckney also recommends surrounding yourself with a team of industry confidants.

“They’re going to understand exactly what you’re going through, and they’re going to give you a bite to deal with,” Pinckney says. “You know, you can’t hold it in, or else you might take it out on a member or a golfer, or an employee. It’s very difficult for people to hold in negativity and not let it release. And you have to have a network of people to make sure that you can get that release and that you can laugh about it.”

Never say you’re not concerned

Hiers has also learned not to brush off complaints. “That’s a red flag,” he says. “All you’re telling them is you don’t care.”

Instead, Pinckney suggests hearing that concern, and keeping a consistent response.

“I think one of the most important things is you say the same things,” Pinckney says. “You say, ‘I’m sorry, sir or ma’am, I’ll make sure I’m aware of it now.’ And then you call your network of friends that do what you do and you ask them. Acknowledge their complaint and move on.”

Embrace it

Carlos Arraya, general manager and CEO of Bellerive Country Club just outside St. Louis, has learned to embrace the criticism.

“There’s a variety of players with a variety of skills that have a variety of opinions. So, they’re gonna give you a variety of feedback,” says Arraya, a former superintendent who moved into an executive role in 2021. “If you can’t handle feedback, it’s going to be very difficult for you to be successful long term in the environment.

“I think we’re in a feedback-rich environment, and it’s not going to go away. It’s going to get exponential in nature. The more we pay for things, especially the game of golf, the more people are gonna give you feedback, so just be ready.”

Try not to take it too personally

In Batavia, New York, Terry Hills Golf Course superintendent Thad Thompson says that, after years of experience, he knows how his greens are playing. Because of this, he knows a valid complaint before someone can even voice it.

“I know what my golf course looks like or is playing like at the end of the day,” Thompson says. “So, if there’s actual criticism that’s valid, I know it before I hear anybody criticize me about anything.”

Thompson has learned through experience that most complaints come after a bad golf round. Don’t take the criticism too personally, because it could be a golfer’s way of getting over that bad score, he says.

Never get into an argument

After 39 years in the industry, Meadow Brook Club superintendent John Carlone has learned to never get into an argument with a member or a customer.

The longer he has been in the industry, the more frequent the complaints have become. In fact, the Long Island turf pro even has a nickname for the criticism: “The case of the ‘toos,’” Carlone says. “I hear it every day. The bunkers are too firm, the bunkers are too soft, the bunkers are inconsistent, they’re too wet, they’re too dry, the greens are too fast, they’re too slow, they’re too soft, they’re too firm.”

Carlone has learned the importance of not arguing with a member, and credits that for part of the reason he has been in the industry for so long.

“Never get into an argument. Never, never try to defend your position by saying you are right and their complaint is wrong,” Carlone says. “This is my opinion: If you get to the point where you want to argue and you want to get into an argument, it might be time to get out of the business.

“If they’re willing to listen, you can explain it to them. I think on too many occasions, superintendents can get too technical and start to talk about all our practices and what we do, and they really don’t want to hear that. They don’t care. I’ve learned that.”

As a superintendent, complaints are going to come. It’s up to you to handle the criticism as best as you see fit. If you encounter a case of the “toos,” take the advice of the experienced industry pros and handle the situation with care.

“Don’t let negative criticism be the driver in your life,” Barajas says, “because it’ll drive you nuts and drive you out of the industry.”

Kelsie Horner is Golf Course Industry’s assistant editor.