Mike,
I think this is going to be the most interesting part of the future of golf. So here are my thoughts:
1. Flowers around the tees
2. Walk mowing greens
3. Four guys behind the counter
4. Four people in the administrative office
5. Teaching pros on staff
6. Small mowers - Bring back the gang!
7. Tight fairways
8. Primo
Ok, from a mainly maintenance standpoint, I've got to challange some of these....
1) Agreed.....annual flowers are a waste of time and money. However, perennial beds or native plantings can have a rightful place on a golf course, when done well with foresight and good intentions.
2) Walk mowing greens is sometimes not just a function of desire, but of necessity. In general, provided you have a perfectly maintained triplex or walk mower to choose from, the walk mower can usually provide a tighter cut with less wear than a triplex. Also, there are greens so contoured or snuggled into tight spots that it really isn't realistic to put a triplex on them. Often it can be unsafe. Walk mowers however do require either more time, or more operators to get the same job done......more labor hours essentially.
3) Agreed here as well.....however 2 may still be necessary. I just watched my front counter this morning get SLAMMED because the tee sheet is SOLID and it can be near impossible for 1 guy to check in everyone in a timely manner, especially when they want to buy a glove and can't find their size and want some balls, but want to know which play better this time of year, and want to charge part to one credit card and part to another.....if you don't mind being the guy at the back of a 20 person lineup waiting to check in, go ahead and suggest the reduced model to your pro shop.
4) Somewhat agreed, though depends on the model. I actually wish we had a club secratary or accountant because myself (as the super), the GM and the pro can't find near the time we want to get out on the course or with the customers to give the service you all seem to expect with all the laborious paperwork and number crunching and budgeting and accounts payable and personel management and all that other fun stuff managers are expected to do.
5) We have teaching pros on staff for the exact reason just listed above.....our head pro has a hard time making it out of his office between managing all his guys (pro shop desk, outside service, marshalls), scheduliing, inventory, purchasing, tournament planning, etc etc.
6) Gangs are great.....if well maintained and if your trees are few and far between. Truth is many courses would need a serious tree removal program to make use of the gang worthwhile. And others without trees would need to rework much of their mounding in order to be able to get a decent cut and not scalp the heck out of the grass.
7) Not sure what you're getting at with tight fairways.....we need to make them bigger? More grass that needs to be cut on a more regular basis? More fertilizer needed to keep them in good health due to being more stressed at a lower mowing height? Please clarify.
8.) And Primo? Are you a super? I'm pretty certain I could make a good case that the cost of buying and applying Primo as a plant growth regulator is more than worth it in improved playing conditions and the labor saved that would be needed to keep up with the mowing that would give you such playing conditions.
Almost every post on here has gotten me a little fired up and leads me to believe that not many who have posted so far are actually directly involved in running a golf course, be at as a super or pro or GM. It can sometimes be easy to think you can see and solve all that's wrong with the golf industry, but I think you'll only get a good grasp of it once you're on the inside.......there's usually reasons behind everything you dislike, if you just would take the time to talk to someone who's actually involved in the decision making about why it's done that way. Most people just use the "I know best" mentality and don't want to know the whys or why nots. Though I hate to make blanket statements, for most people who think they know better it really is sometimes "best to leave it to the professionals."
(<<--me dons flame-retardant suit 
)
JS, my bad, I wasn't clear. We're mostly on the same page here.
1. Agreed.
2. Agreed, although in my experience people use the "necessity" excuse more often than needed, especially since 99% of golfers can't tell the difference between walk mowing and triplexing. But there are certainly courses that have to be walked.
3. Agreed. One can't handle it alone. In certain times, three is even necessary, but not on a tuesday afternoon.
4. Agreed. There's certain back office staff that are necessary. I'm talking about assistant membership directors, activity directors, three bookkeepers, and so on.
5. Not sure we agree here. But there's no doubt it depends on each course's particular needs.
6. Agreed, and there are a lot of other architectural features on newer courses that prevent gangs as well (i.e access between holes).
7. My mistake. What I meant to say was that fairway heights will come up on those courses that have been looking for tournament quality conditions every day. Fairways will be cut less often.
8. Agreed, for the exact reason you state.
Like, Mike, I'm not saying it's black and white and that we'll look like UK clubs. But the fact is that the majority of golf courses have been focused on driving revenue for the past 10 years, and I think that focus will now shift to managing expenses - however that works for each course.