Communicating out of a quandary

The author and presidential speech writer James Humes once said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” I have found this to be an extremely accurate statement when it comes to communicating with the membership at our club, and never more so than during the early part of this season.

The year started with a unique set of challenges that I had never faced in my nearly – yes, it’s hard to believe the following number – 30-year career. Where the time goes is another story.

After seeing a big increase in the number of members at the club since 2020, I knew something needed to be done to have adequate practice facilities. A driving force behind this project was making sure we had enough space on the range tee to be able to grow healthy turf throughout the season. Our golf course architect, Ron Forse of Forse Design, was brought in during 2021 to update the club’s long-range master plan. In doing so, he also revised the design of the practice facilities. In today’s competitive golf market, having top-notch practice facilities is a way to attract members as well as to keep the ones you already have.

After reviewing the architect’s plans, I was approached by our general manager and club president and asked if this was something we could handle in-house. I knew this type of project would test my skillset, but I also knew that we had the knowledge and the talent on our staff to pull it off. There would also be certain aspects of it that we would need executed by outside contractors, such as laser grading and dozer work, to have it completed correctly. So, we set off in January and early February to create a new and exciting portion of the club that members could enjoy when they returned to the club in the spring.

In addition, the club wanted a better space to hold outdoor weddings, a big revenue source. Tacked onto the practice facility renovations was creating an outdoor event space within close proximity to the clubhouse with the ability to hold a 300-person wedding tent.

The winter portion of this project included bringing in fill and using a bulldozer to remove the old practice bunkers, leveling the area where the new, 19,000-square-foot range tee would be located, and begin the leveling and grading for the event space. Our existing driving range tee was significantly undersized by today’s standards at 7,000 square feet, and the chipping area was in desperate need of a new practice bunker. The plans also called for moving the green to create a larger and safer chipping area.

Nobody could foresee what happened next: Mother Nature delivered a blow to many golf courses in the Northeast and Syracuse, New York, area that hadn’t been experienced for many years. As winter began to fade, it quickly became evident that not only did we have about three acres of a muddy construction site to deal with, but we also had 13 greens with significant winter damage. Needless to say, this was not how myself or any of our members wanted the 2022 golf season to begin.

As time went on, the extent of the winter damage became clear, and I knew we would need to do significant amounts of seeding as well as re-sodding portions of greens to get them playable in the shortest amount of time possible. I also knew that we would need to begin the season with some greens completely closed and utilize temporary greens, and some greens with portions of the greens closed to play. If there was a silver lining to any of this, it was that our existing chipping green consisted of the exact same 100-plus-year-old perennial biotypes of Poa annua that the greens on the golf course have. Luckily, we were able to strip the entire green and use the sod to replace some of the worst damaged areas on the course.

Due to the severe extent of the winter damage, and the massive undertaking of the construction project, we needed to quickly create a clear line of communication between myself, our board of directors and the membership. This was critical so that every one of our members understood the seriousness of the damage on the greens and how I planned to return the greens to the condition that is expected at a high-end club. We also needed a timeline for the completion of the construction project.

We started by bringing in the USGA for a site visit. If you haven’t used their Course Consultation Service, I can’t recommend it enough. USGA Green Section agronomists are highly skilled professionals, just like we are as superintendents. Having them on site helps to bridge a gap between golfer and superintendent. There’s something about that logo that makes people want to listen to what they have to say.

Once we had the agronomist’s detailed report, we shared it with our membership. It was posted on the club’s website immediately, and emails were distributed so members would know how to access it. We then began a weekly “Q&A Series with the Superintendent,” which consisted of a list of questions drafted by our club’s vice president that I answered each week as thoroughly as possible. This format made for an easy way for our members to understand every step we were taking to return the greens to full health and how the construction work was progressing.

One of the early decisions the club made based on USGA recommendations was to keep the golf course closed until May 1. This decision wasn’t an easy one and it was deliberated for some time. We have short enough golf seasons here in Central New York, so telling our members it might be even shorter this year was a tough pill for some to swallow. Questions like “When the course opens on May 1, will our greens be back to normal?” and “How has the weather impacted your recovery program?” were critical to answer as honestly as possible so people could understand that conditions would not be what they were accustomed to seeing in a normal spring. As time went on, we updated the membership when greens that had been closed were ready to be opened for play. We also sent a number of emails with photos attached to show the progress that was made week after week.

By using a combination of email blasts and our “member text” program, we provided a constant communication stream to the entire club on a consistent basis. We began using the member text program a few years ago and it has been a huge success for all aspects of the club. It’s a very easy and effective way to communicate to any members who opt in to receiving the texts. We also use it to relay information about frost delays or the need to ground carts due to bad weather. Other departments also take advantage of this modern method of communication for such things as announcing gameday food and drink specials in our tavern or sales in the golf shop.

These many methods of communication enabled me to keep everyone at the club on the same page throughout a busy and difficult time. Not only did this help to inform our members of everything I’ve mentioned, but it also prevented rumors and falsehoods from being spread due to a lack of accurate information. Unfortunately, living in the information age also sometimes means we are living in the misinformation age, so I think it is critically important to make sure we as superintendents are getting the right messages out to our memberships at all times.

I’m happy to say all 18 greens reopened by Memorial Day weekend. Although some areas that had severe damage struggled a bit during the hot summer months, with the help of my fantastic staff and solid turf management practices, the greens returned to full health, and we provided great playing conditions for the majority of the season. We also finished the range tee and opened it in mid-May. The short-game facility was completed and opened about a month later. These renovations have been extremely well-received and appreciated by the entire membership, and the club can proudly say that we have some of the best practice facilities in Central New York.