Renovation education

Although there aren’t a lot of new golf courses being built these days, numerous renovation projects are in the works or being planned, giving needed work to architects and builders. But they aren’t the only ones affected. Wherever a course is being reworked in any way, a superintendent and a membership will be involved, inundated and inconvenienced. Patience and flexibility are the key words for those groups.

I’ve seen firsthand the problems renovations can cause. To help you reduce their severity, here is a very biased list of considerations for the membership, and the superintendent and crew.

Start by understanding that the process will not be as neat and easy as anyone trying to sell it to you is saying. It will be messy, time-consuming and disruptive. I hope the following will help make your lives easier.

• First and foremost, have a plan. And make sure it is agreed upon by the membership, as well as supported by a timeline and a budget. Renovations take months, possibly years, of planning and decision-making before the first shovel goes into the ground.

• Conduct a total-course assessment looking for other things that need to be repaired, upgraded or removed. It’s better to do one big project rather than a series of smaller, drawn-out jobs that will most likely cost more and take longer – and cost more not only in dollars, but also in goodwill.

• The members’ best friend before and during a renovation is the superintendent, who is on your side, not that of the architect or builder. If that isn’t the case, you might need a new superintendent, or at least sit down with him for a serious conversation.

• If members have questions or concerns before the work begins, make sure they are heard. If there are areas of the course and its infrastructure you feel need work, speak up. You may never have a better chance.

Before the bulldozers, dump trucks and dirt piles show up, ask the following questions:

• Have the club and superintendent identified an architect and builder? Do you know who you are working with? Have you seen and played some of their recent renovation efforts?

• Is the renovation being done for the right reasons? Does the majority of the membership agree or are a few squeaky wheels pushing this through?

• Is the renovation designed to fix problems like drainage, irrigation, greens and bunkers? Or is the renovation just fixing some members’ bruised egos?

• Has the club set aside an adequate budget to complete the work?

• Is your superintendent capable—both in attitude and time—to oversee the renovation, or do you need to handle a separate project manager?

• While the course is under repair, where will the members play? Have arrangements been made for reciprocal privileges? And is the club prepared to offer reciprocity in return at a later date to other clubs?

• How much revenue will be lost while the renovation goes on?

• Is the timeline realistic? When will the work be done? Turf doesn’t grow in the off-season, so anyone who says the disruptions will be minimal is lying or misinformed. Or both.

• Who is responsible for regular communication to the membership about timing, progress, rules and regulations, and everything else affected while the work goes on?

You’ll probably come up with questions of your own. Ask them before agreements are made and contracts signed.

Some other realities you and your club should face:

• Those fancy drawings, diagrams and models in the clubhouse lobby are depictions, not reality.

• Renovation work is noisy and goes on from dawn to dark.

• It might make sense to close the club while the work is being done rather than trying to keep open, certainly for play.

• Outside workers have not been trained, as your regular maintenance staff has, to stop and allow members to play through. But you don’t want them to stop because that makes the job take longer and cost more.

• Expect heavy equipment on the grounds at all times, making noise and traffic issues. And with these big toys, come big damage to the course and big safety concerns.

• Supplies like greens mix, bunker sand, gravel, sod and pipe will need to be delivered and stored somewhere. That will mean cars can’t park where they usually do, food deliveries and other normal operations have to be rerouted, and other day-to-day operations will be affected.

Tim Moraghan, principal, ASPIRE Golf (tmoraghan@aspire-golf.com). Follow Tim’s blog, Golf Course Confidential at http://www.aspire-golf.com/buzz.html or on Twitter @TimMoraghan