[JMEvensky]

...for a commensurate drop in member expectations?

If a GM,Board, and Green Chairman absolutely had your back,would your job be made easier?

The reason I ask is that now would seem to be the perfect time to get away from some "luxury" maintenance practices and their attendant high costs.Less frequent bunker maintenance,less consistent rough,maybe even a weed or two.

If you only had to deliver "playable" instead of "manicured",would it be worth the lower budget?

Our Super said yes,but figures lowering member expectations is the harder part of the bargain.

[Matt Day]

would the members then expect a 20% drop in the fees to compensate the drop in standards?

[Joe Hancock]

Would the golf course play better with 20% less spent and 20% lower dues/ fees? Eventually, I would submit.....

Joe

[Patrick_Mucci]

JMEvensky,

You have to be careful to differentiate "conditioning", as in playing condition maintainance, from non-playing condition maintainance.

I'd be very happy to see the latter fall 20  % or more as long as the former was the object of the budget's focus.

One of my biggest complaints is loading the green budget with non-golf course line items, like club ground maintainance, tennis court maintainance, flower and shrub bed maintainance, etc, etc..

That's where I'd like to see the green budget get relief, or at least have the budget segregated into strictly golf course items and non-golf course items.

On my first visit to Lehigh, a wonderful golf course, I was struck by how many superfluous gardens/shrub/flower beds were scattered through out the golf course, at every tee, every cart parking spot, near every green and then some.
They had to represent a substantive portion of the maintainance budget, and they had NO impact on the play of the golf course.
Probably someone's idea for "beautifying" the golf course, which DOESN'T need beautification, it's a great golf course.
I label it part of  the feminization of golf in America
Get rid of the flowers, shrubs and decorative trees and put the money where it belongs, in the golf course.

End of rant

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Nice topic.

The budget we work with at our course is probably on the low end for a private club. However, I do not feel the product we provide is low end. I really feel we punch way above our weight weight when it comes to course conditions. Rather than cut 20% from our budget we have looked at what our priorities should be, pulled money for the the areas of less priority and put money into the areas of greater priority. The end result is playing or golfing conditions you might find at a course with twice our budget. Again, I will use my usual disclaimer of our climate allowing us to do or not do some of the things we do or do not do. But its up to each individual to figure that out at their own course.

Bottom line is as Superintendents a big part or our job, maybe the biggest part, is managing membership expectations. I saw this quote from Bill Cosby yesterday that pretty much sums it up. "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

[JMEvensky]

Bottom line is as Superintendents a big part or our job, maybe the biggest part, is managing membership expectations.
 

Chris,I understand your point,but I think this shouldn't be part of your job.

Speaking as a member,I think this is part of the problem I'm trying to solve.Assuming we're talking about member-owned clubs,the expectation management should,IMO,be the responsibility of those members charged with running the golf course--the Board and Green Chairman.

When John/Jane Q. Member feel it's their inalienable right to stop the Super on the golf course and opine about the state of maintenance,bad things are going to happen.Especially when their frame of reference is their neighbor's front yard,the PGA Tour course they saw on TV,or the resort they visited last week.

Just seems like now,given the economic climate,members might be more willing to forego some "manicuring" than they would have a year ago.I just want to make certain that the members know it's a conscious decision,not the Super's screw up.

[Troy Alderson]

I would say YES, and agree that dropping golfer expectations is the hard part.  As a former GCS and current AGCS, I do not understand the need for colored flags to designate pin location.  Most golfers are not good enough to hit a golf ball that precisely.  I also would like to see less focus on a certain color of green and just accept the natural color of the turf.  I still agree with Jim Arthur's view of maintenance and the GCS should be knowledgeable enough to determine the true needs of the turf in the golf course's geographical location.  Mr. Arthur's view of GCM seems to be that of the UK only, buy his insight is a great place to start when determining the needs of the golf course we each manage.

Troy

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Bottom line is as Superintendents a big part or our job, maybe the biggest part, is managing membership expectations.
 

Chris,I understand your point,but I think this shouldn't be part of your job.

Speaking as a member,I think this is part of the problem I'm trying to solve.Assuming we're talking about member-owned clubs,the expectation management should,IMO,be the responsibility of those members charged with running the golf course--the Board and Green Chairman.

When John/Jane Q. Member feel it's their inalienable right to stop the Super on the golf course and opine about the state of maintenance,bad things are going to happen.Especially when their frame of reference is their neighbor's front yard,the PGA Tour course they saw on TV,or the resort they visited last week.

Just seems like now,given the economic climate,members might be more willing to forego some "manicuring" than they would have a year ago.I just want to make certain that the members know it's a conscious decision,not the Super's screw up.

In a perfect world maybe that isn't part of my job but in today's world it is. It might be and often is channeled through the green committee and BOD but by working to manage these expectations myself I feel my club and the membership understanding of what we are doing is way ahead of the curve.

[Brett Morris]

As a Super I wouldn't want to.  Given the amount of work we put in to getting a golf course playing well (and looking good), I'd hate to watch the golf course slip from a level where you know it can be.  As noted above, if you want to see flowers, shrubs, et al., then go visit a botanic garden.  Trees on a golf course are merely weeds which have turned hard.

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