Pay attention!

“Beware the Ides of March!” Caesar was warned by the soothsayer. Caesar, a very superstitious man, wasn’t the sort to take a soothsayer lightly.

Nor should those of us in the golf business dismiss the warnings the calendar issues as it turns to the third month of the year.

• Increased participation and membership growth.
• Improved member and golfer satisfaction.
• Improved course conditions.
• Non-dues revenues.
   

In most clubs and at most courses, course conditions are the No. 1 consideration. The condition of the golf course defines the level of management attentiveness and competence. Even non-golfers are distrustful of an unsightly golf course. Course conditions are a signal of the lifestyle of the community the course serves.

Hopefully, your plan includes something new that will make 2015 more fun for your members and customers. Maybe you should try FootGolf or introduce 15-inch cups to give the game a fresh look.

What new wrinkles can you add to the traditional member-member or member-guest events? The key to finding the right mix of creativity and traditional is to ask your members and regular golfers what aspects of the club appeal to them most and where they would like to see new options. But remember, if you’re going to ask for their opinions, you should be prepared to deliver on at least some of their suggestions. Failing to do so breeds a lack of confidence.

Now is also the time to make sure your staff understands its role. Top-performing businesses are characterized by employees who are fully dedicated and committed to key performance goals.

Have you told your staff what you want to achieve this year? Have you applied measurements — corporations refer to these as Key Performance Indicators or KPIs — to your goals so that everyone understands how the team is performing?

Weekly and even daily goals can add energy to long summer days, especially for your hourly workers. Such goals can be as simple as hosting more rounds, selling more putters or conducting more special events than the year before.

Post a score! One of the attributes of golf that makes it so engaging is that every player has an opportunity to post a score at the end of his or her round and then to improve on it the next time out. Similarly, you can give your team measureable goals and post daily, weekly and monthly performance metrics. Every staff member should know what you want to accomplish in 2015 and what their role is in meeting the goal.

Heed the winds of change. Club leaders and key managers must be attuned to external influences that can impact performance. Here are several to watch:

Employment. Trending favorably this far in 2015, this indicator affects consumer confidence, which can encourage or discourage decisions to join clubs and use recreational facilities.

Crude Oil Prices. The cost of petroleum-based products has a direct influence on many expense line items, including maintenance equipment, energy costs, food prices and most everything delivered to your front door.

Weather. No one factor will more directly affect how cautious or aggressive you should be with your budget. It’s March and every club and golf operator should have a clear understanding of predicted weather trends.

The broader market recovery driven by macro forces has enabled golf to re-set its pricing and re-focus on key market influences. In many market areas, these factors have turned positive and will be good for the clubs paying attention to key goals and performance measurements.

For those facilities, the Ides of March hold great promise.

Henry DeLozier is a principal in the Global Golf Advisors consultancy. DeLozier joined Global Golf Advisors in 2008 after nine years as the vice president of golf for Pulte Homes. He is a past president of the National Golf Course Owners Association’s board of directors and serves on the PGA of America’s Employers Advisory Council.