Is your workplace a birdie?

Golf boasts rankings for nearly everything.

Best courses in every imaginable subset.

Best players in every possible demographic.

Best drivers for high-, mid- and low-handicappers.

Best course hot dogs.

The lists are staples of consumer golfer media. They generate clicks, likes, engagements and views, and still sell magazines. Debates ensue when they are released. Getting ranked boosts facility and personal pride — and ego. Shrewd companies and courses use gaudy rankings to create competitive advantages.  

One area of golf has remained relatively ranking-free over the years: industry workplaces.

We’re changing this in 2025.

Golf Course Industry has forged a partnership with Best Companies Group to create a list of “Best Courses to Work” in the industry. Best Companies Group has extensive experience partnering with people-focused organizations and brands, including our GIE Media siblings Lawn & Landscape and Pest Control Technology, to produce thousands of employee engagement lists, rankings and surveys.

Results and accompanying profiles of highly ranked courses will appear in our June 2025 issue. We’re stoked about beginning this project. Great content producers are like great superintendents. The search for better ways to satisfy consumers never stops. Our team relishes integrating new content programs and storytelling tactics into our editorial playbook.

Before we reach next June, we need your course’s help. Producing the rankings and subsequent stories requires industry participation.

Connections, schmoozing, reputation or bribes won’t propel a facility to the top of our “Best Courses to Work” list. Participating in the program involves having your course’s employees complete the Best Companies Group survey on the following areas: leadership; corporate culture and communications; role satisfaction; work environment; relationship with supervisor; training, development and resource; pay and benefits; and overall engagements. Companies landing must meet an overall score threshold to crack the rankings. 

Registration opened Oct. 29 on Golf Course Industry’s digital and social media channels. Courses can register for the program by using this link. Registration closes Dec. 27.

The program is exclusively for golf courses. The rankings will not include suppliers, distributors, universities, industry associations, contractors, governments and others. Courses in the United States with at least 10 full- and part-time combined employees are eligible to participate. Once a course registers, Best Companies Group arranges to have their employees surveyed. Best Companies Group also distributes a human resources questionnaire that captures benefits, perks and programs that improve the employee experience.

We strongly recommend courses and clubs delegate ambassadors to coordinate the program. If you’re a superintendent bracing for a busy winter, send the registration link to a human resources employee, general manager, company executive or club official with access to the entire workforce.

Why take time and effort to participate?

Labor remains challenge No. 1a, 1b and 1c throughout the industry. Recognition on a national, metrics-based list as a “Best Course to Work” can help cut recruiting costs and time, and improve retention rates for current employees by 14 percent, according to Best Companies Group research. Instead of telling potential and existing employees you’re an employer of choice, you can show them a glossy magazine with your course’s name in it. Courses will have earned this honor because it demonstrates employees feel appreciated and valued.

We believe this has the potential to become the most impactful rankings in golf. People make golf the greatest game of all and developing a loyal team transforms a course into a must-play spot. A business invested in treating employes awesomely is cooler than a layout on desirable land with tasty hot dogs at the turn.

June 2025 can’t arrive soon enough.