Spring potpourri

Afternoon Delight

A recent New York Times article spotlighted a work trend that’s lifting golf and impacting the workflow of superintendents.

Surveys show 66 percent of U.S. employees work remotely, at least part time and a staggering 92 percent call home their office at least once weekly.

Saving commute time to and from corporate offices means golfers are cutting out by 3 p.m. to get in a quick nine or even 18 before the dinner bell rings. Work can always be done after normal business hours, eh?

“There’s more play than ever during the mid-afternoon hours,” says a south Florida superintendent.  “We are shifting staff to align with this traffic tend that we don’t see stopping anytime soon.”

The New York Times had the quote of the week from a 62-year-old corporate vice president: “Unless there’s something that is semi-critical going on, I don’t take my work phone with me.  The only reason I use my phone is for golf app.”

Welcome to the afternoon golf economy.

Must-See TV

We learned that the new golf-lifestyle streaming network Golf Nation (think Netflix for golf) plans to delve into the superintendent world. Plans exist for a new informative and entertaining series of shows titled “Keeping up the Course” or a variation thereof. Golf Nation will follow superintendents and their maintenance crews around golf courses and properties before sunrise and after sunset.

Several industry brands are vying for presenting sponsorship of and product integration within the series.  We don’t have a timeframe on production or when Season 1, Episode 1 will premiere, but it’s exciting nonetheless to give this segment of the industry its rightful appreciation.

Golf Nation entered the scene with a sneak-preview of shows in December. They include “Golf Unseen” which takes viewers to exotic courses with cultural experiences; “Tee Shots” where golfers drink, chat and tee it up with famous mixologist Bill Binder; “Watch. Buy. Play” focused on the planet’s hottest golf products; and “Don’t I Know You?” based on the nostalgic TV hit “The Newlywed Game” with the first episode featuring Zach and Kim Johnson.

Shows are free to watch on www.golfnation.com with a custom Golf Nation mobile app and availability to tens of millions of smart-connected TVs coming soon.

Golf Nation is the first and only producer of original, entertaining golf-lifestyle shows with the ability for viewers to instantly purchase items on-screen while never leaving the streaming experience.

Get a Grip

One of our intrepid reporters recently visited a mid-level private club. He reports that its maintenance crew never looked better. All were wearing attractive workman gloves coordinated in color and style.  The club logo is green and emblazoned on gloves to match uniforms. When course TLC folks look as tidy as golfers, we’re onto something.

Upon inspection, the gloves turn out to be appropriately branded Everstrong.  They are designed and manufactured by Zero Friction, maker of popular gloves for golfers.

Everstrong’s utility glove features a reinforced index finger for stronger grip; breathable mesh that promotes air flow and keeps hands cool; high-dexterity properties; a durable leather palm; and a rubber pull tab for easy on-off. There’s touchscreen capability for when the boss calls to inform crew members of the latest need on the eighth hole.

After looking at the suede, sheepskin leather and synthetic leather options, this crew opted for the silicon-coated glove known for aiding lifting and gripping.

You heard it here first.

Jump Start

As Jack Morgan likes to tell it: “Failure to plan is a plan for failure.”

The vice president of Landscapes Unlimited and its Project Development Group is also the company’s co-creator of its now-formal JumpStart program.

The well-respected developer and builder of golf courses of daily-fee, private and resort varieties, counsels its partners to get on the right path from the get-go.

After all, shaping and cementing golf-property owners’ visions and supporting strategies for project development or redevelopment is imperative to avert project chaos, budget overruns, schedule delays and hordes of additional, deleterious effects.

Morgan and team guide, recommend and advocate based on strict diligence and varied experience.

The early-on work: a capital strategy, market research, business and daily operations framework, programming reviews and recommendations, marketing evaluations, financial scenarios, proforma iterations, and how-to execution and management planning, and associated tasks.

Outputs include a summary of the owner’s charter, outlines of physical plant and operational programs, a comprehensive market review, program level budget and schedule, phased timelines based on capitalization and other drivers, and a start-up budget and multi-year, lookahead proforma.

Clubhouses, turf care and landscaping complexes, state-of-the-art practice facilities, entertainment venues, lodging and other amenities also require a concept-through-commission roadmap.