Kicking chapter tires (Advancing the game)

It’s rare when subsidiary organizations become more valuable to their constituents than their parent organization. But, this is where the relationship between the GCSAA and its 103 chapters has evolved to recently.

I say this because to most of the country’s 22 million-plus golfers the GCSAA is a logo on TV – an organization that every day golfers can’t see firsthand or readily identify with. To borrow an appropriate phrase, you can’t “kick the tires” of the GCSAA. But, golfers can kick the tires of their neighborhood GCSA chapters and legitimately identify with these chapters up close and personal. Today, however, while a few of the major chapters appear to be ready to pass the tire test, in reality, none are basically ready because today’s chapters primarily address their members’ needs and haven’t sought a standard-setting leadership role within their regional golf communities.

Looking at this issue one layer at a time, well-performing golf course superintendents can demonstrate their profound individual professionalism at the courses where they work; and the GCSAA has educated the country’s golfers via TV spots that it’s the national representative of 15,000-plus golf course superintendents. But, neither of these two scenarios enhances the professional image of golf course superintendents as a whole or advances the profession. The truth is, presently, there’s no concerted effort being made to realize these two paramount objectives, which is a shame because the profession’s upside reality is virtually unlimited and quite attainable. (See my November 2006 column.)

The GCSAA might commit to promoting the profession some day, but its successes will always be limited because it lacks direct continuing contact with the country’s 15,000-plus golf courses. Yes, the nation’s golfers can visit the annual GIS and read the GCSAA’s magazine, but less than a fraction of one percent of the country’s 22 million golfers do. Therefore, we must conclude the GCSAA won’t be the primary agent of change as its membership continues to look for profession advancement. But, because the 103 GCSA regional chapters have direct continuing contact with the nation’s golf courses, I suggest once the chapters realize they’re the sole frontline interface with the nation’s golf courses, they’ll accept the responsibility and grow into the role of the much needed agent of change.

That said, the GCSA chapters aren’t generally prepared to meet this challenge. For example, a sloppily run invitational tournament, a weak educational forum, a poorly written newsletter or a shallow Web site will send the message to the local golf community that while golf course superintendents can grow grass, they’re not sound operational managers across the board. The professional image of the golf course superintendent and the profession suffer accordingly.

A key observation is that when it comes to evaluating management capability, the quality of an organization’s operations will generally be judged at the level of its weakest link. Because chapter board and committee members are more than busy at their day jobs and meeting family obligations, they won’t be able to eliminate the weak links from chapter operations consistently. This is why I introduced the concept of a chapter executive director in my May, June and July 2008 columns. Only a proven professional (i.e., a chapter executive director functioning within the job description presented in my July 2008 GCI column) will be able to provide consistent quality management to the GCSA chapters. Once this scenario begins to evolve, one chapter at a time will contribute to the overall enhancement of the profession’s image, while at the same time also better serving its members.

Caution: Since introducing the concept of a chapter executive director, several chapters have reacted to this opportunity quickly, making the false assumption they’re equipped to conduct a search for and hire an executive director without counseling support. This would be a big mistake because hiring an executive director is a uniquely new challenge to the GCSA chapter world. For example, because an airline maintenance department manages a fleet of planes well doesn’t qualify these maintenance-based professionals to interview and hire pilots. To hire effectively, search teams must share in the same operational experience as the candidate they’re looking to hire. There’s no substitute.

The price that would be paid should a chapter make a bad hire of an executive director would be significant – the bad hire would embarrass the chapter and the golf course superintendent’s profession; the sizable two-year salary investment made in the new hire would be wasted; and the concept of engaging chapter executive directors would be setback indefinitely, stalling further professional growth and recognition. Therefore, until the GCSAA commits to providing proven counseling support to executive director programming, chapters should contact a proven consultant for counseling before committing to a formal executive director search process. I firmly believe it’s important for chapters to grow into the executive director concept because their profession’s advancement depends on this. But, understand, there’s no margin for hiring error. GCI

Jim McLoughlin is the founder of TMG Golf (www.TMGgolfcounsel.com), a golf course development and consulting firm, and is a former executive director of the GCSAA. He can be reached at golfguide@roadrunner.com or 760-804-7339.