The Superintendents role

[Marc Haring]

There is debate amongst Superintendents on what their job role and objectives are. Most say it is to present the course in the best possible condition for their members and that is just about it.

This is fine but personally speaking I feel I have a much broader range of objectives.  For example:

·   Help develop the business in any way possible but specifically through good customer relations and continued quality management.
·   Ensure health safety and welfare of staff.
·   Maintain or improve the integrity of the course design.
·   Continued professional development of staff and self.
·   Effective succession management.
·   Competitor analysis and market research to establish what are the optimum course conditions to ensure maximum enjoyment to all golfers.

What does everyone else think? It would be nice to get a golfers perspective on this.

[Peter Galea]

Looks like I'll be rewriting my job description.
 I especially like the -
  "Competitor analysis and market research to establish what are the optimum course conditions to ensure maximum enjoyment to all golfers."
Now there's some research that's right up my alley. Do you think 3 days a week would be enough?

Very simply put, the super's role is to "schedule and implement maintenance of the golf course."

[Pat_Mucci]

Marc,

I'd agree with Pete, with one small caveat.

In practice, the role of a Superintendent varies, dependent upon the cultural history of each individual club.

[TEPaul]

I'm sure a superintendent's role involves all those things listed above but to me these days a very important role of a superintendent is to deliver various defined "playabilities". Obviously those of the membership responsible for this kind of thing need to specifically define those "playabilities" with the super so they can both be on the same page in their expectations.

[Don_Mahaffey]

What Pete said, with Pat's caveat added sounds about right. The old "other duties as needed" clause. I will add this, I believe it's the Superintendents role to be a steward of the land whether it's in the job description or not.

[Ed_Baker]

I think another element that is important in the superintendents role at a private club is to " effectively communicate the mission of the entire maintenance department to the green committee and in turn to the membership at large, including the resources neccesarry to produce specific playing conditions."

I have seen many superior superintendents get burned out or beat up emotionally by the membership because the green chairman really did not understand the entire scope of work needed on a daily,weekly, monthly basis, to produce certain playing conditions.

In my opinion, the three dynamics that have the largest impact on a successful maintenance program are;
Weather
Playing Schedule
Budget
As the superintendent only has limited control over two of the three dynamics, his/her supervisors need to understand how all three effect the superintendents job, and the effect on playing conditions.

[Marc Haring]

You see, I just think there is too much emphasis on doing what the members want. I have carried out quite a bit of that market research lately and believe me, it’s not only fun, it’s bloody hilarious. The inescapable conclusion was that the members clubs are out dated, run by amateurs and frankly not much fun to visit.

I would personally like to see the Superintendents role broadened right out so that all that development stuff becomes part of their job description. I see so many golf pro’s move into positions of influence at golf clubs by being called Golf Directors and such like but actually, the superintendent is often the most qualified to take on such roles.

[Joe Hancock]

Hopefully, this thread will differentiate between what the super's role is, and what it should be. From my perspective, there are a lot of reasons why supers do thy king's bidding....and thy king's shilling is top priority. That doesn't mean money shouldn't matter...but it matters too much, and that's as much a societal statement as it is a golf industry statement.

Joe

[Steve Okula]

I see so many golf pro’s move into positions of influence at golf clubs by being called Golf Directors and such like but actually, the superintendent is often the most qualified to take on such roles.

Very few of us supers have the ambition to go the route of club manager or golf director. It's not in our souls. We are happiest when we're out doing something physical on the golf course, and uncomfortable in committee meetings.

Maybe we're attracted to the maintenance shop, rather than the pro shop, in the first place because we are not naturally political animals, we perceive ourselves more as craftsmen than politicians.

[Kris Spence]

A good superintendent always leaves the course better than they found it.

There is not a more versatile role in the golf business than the supt and in my opinion none more important.  

Unfortunately, the pro and gm gets the face time with the members while the supt is behind the scene doing the real work.  My advise, dont let the pro or gm educate the members about your role, if you do they will make sure you are a rung or two below them on the ladder.  Make sure they know who you are and what it is exactly you do, its the most important job of the course.

[Joe Hancock]

A good superintendent always leaves the course better than they found it.

Kris,

Do we superintendents  know what "better" is any more? Have we succombed to speed and green and blemish-free such that we don't know how to make the course play "better", just look "better"?

I know there are many supers, especially the types that hang out here at GCA that know better, but where are we as an industry?

I agree with your statement in premise, though.

Joe

[Marc Haring]

Very few of us supers have the ambition to go the route of club manager or golf director. It's not in our souls. We are happiest when we're out doing something physical on the golf course, and uncomfortable in committee meetings.

Steve.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head and it's something that never even occured to me although I don't think it's a case of lacking ambition.

Personally I love all that development and managerial stuff. Maybe I'm just a nerd waiting to get out.

[Steve Okula]

Marc,

I don't mean to say that GCS's lack ambition, but that our ambitions don't typically lie in the way of club management.

Our ambitions may be improvements to the golf course we're on, or to move to a higher paying super's job, or to go into consulting, construction, or, dare I say it, architecture.

[Michael Hayes]

I woud like to put my two cents in on this topic...

I think Marc's thought's are right on target in that we superintendents need to add value and worth to our trade.  We are out there doing alot more than just mowing grass and cutting cups.

I work at a club that has no GM and I report directly to the Green Committee Chair.  

In my tenure I have come to belive that budgeting and the ability to work within those budgets is about the most important thing a GCS can do to be successful within the eyes of its membership.  Yes, golf course conditions matter, but how those conditions are achieved is of even greater consequence.  I have learned that because the club down the road spends x, I have to prioritize my x-100 to bring about the desired coure conditions to please my members...I do this by being thrifty and using a combination of old and new school maintenance practices.

Information Officer is another task essential to the GCS.  PR within the club is best left to a powerful Green Committee, but lacking that it is up to the super to let the membership know what is affecting their playground BEFORE they can formulate thier own opoinions.  Externally, the GCS is best suited to be the point man in PR work because the topic of discussions will never be the membership.  A GCS will focus on the environmental stewardship that exists at the club and help the community see the club in a different not so PRIVATE light without stepping on memberships toes...If you haven't gotten involved with local schools, watershed committees or planning groups you are missing some great chances to raise the sense of comunity interaction that your club needs to be viewed as proactive.

Okay, that might have been closer to 3 cents, but what I am getting at is that a GCS is often devalued into being a lawn boy, when this person is typically a motivated, educated, and underused asset in his/her positon