I have been on my club's greens' committee for 6 years. I was chair last year.
During that time we have:
1. Redone the bunkers once and since replaced the sand (the first sand was horrible and turned to mud when it rained) - now have pro angle sand which is a big improvement. Unfortunately, this was underway when I joined and I couldn't add much input.
2. Gassed and regressed the greens - had penn links bent that had been overtaken as much as 50+% by poa and replaced with 007. Last year we reopened in May and it was great until mid July when the weather killed us - lost parts of collars and some green edges (of course the year before the extreme heat killed all the poa so the greens were awful then too). The new grass bounced back well in the fall and I am hopeful for the coming year.
3. During the greens project, the local sewer district came through and built a new sewer line through the middle of the course. Couldn't have asked for better timing and the easement fees helped pay for some improvements - including some fairway grading and new & redesigned tee boxes.
We have a good. knowledgable super who takes listens to the committee's input and then does what he thinks best (luckily for the club). I really haven't seen a lot of outside influences or politics and I think things work reasonably well. I wanted to be on greens because of my interest in GCA, thanks to this site. While I was fortunate enough to see a few major projects come to fruition, I learned the day to day activities of a greens committee is more about aeration, what fertilizers are being applied, equipment that needs to be purchased, etc.
I also learned perspective. When I was a new member on the greens committee, we were shown of a new design for a hole that would have involved taking some excess land. I was really excited about the opportunity because I thought it was a great design. From a GCA perspective, it was a no brainer to go ahead. However, the larger perspective gained from serving on other committees and on the board, I realized the cost implications of that action and had second thoughts. The hole has remained unchanged.
I just finished a four year term on the board and was president year before last. For the most part it was a positive experience. Having seen what makes the club work, I really understand what is important and what isn't. Especially when I was president, I felt it was very much "my" club - as in why are people not taking care of ballparks on "my" greens.
The biggest issue was the complaints of other members. I didn't mind the constructive criticism or genuine complaints, but too often it was essentially put in a tone of "you guys are the biggest bunch of idiots (to put it nicely) that I have ever seen and I can't believe..." Maybe its just me, but I have never found that to be a good way of getting things done. Luckily, it didn't happen too often and many people expressed their appreciation for our efforts.
I also was chairman of the entertainment committee for 2 years - that caused me more headaches than the greens committee!
In all, a great way to learn how the club is run, how the golf course is kept up and what makes the club successful overall. I would recommend it, but make sure people have their eyes open before jumping in.