Head golf Professional at your club

[John Burnes]

[Off topic]

My friend's club is looking at their head professional.  He asked me how do I evaluate one, and three things that come to the top of my mind are: 1) a good teacher, 2) knows the rules, 3) can play the game.

Of course, personality and good organizational skills are important too, but I was curious as to what you guys thought.

[JR Potts]

Totally depends on the type of club, the structure of the club, the use of the club and the club's amenities.

[Bill_McBride]

A head pro has to know how to do things like making sure a new member has a game.  

[John Burnes]

Bill-that is a good one for sure.

To qualify-

I would say a general private club with over 300 members in the Mid-Atlantic region.

I guess I am starting this discussion because (like alot of jobs), is the employee clearly told what is expected of him and at what level?

[C. Squier]

 What value does your pro being a good player bring? Third place in the local section event isn't why I'm paying dues.

[Carl Johnson]

[Off topic]

My friend's club is looking at their head professional.  He asked me how do I evaluate one, and three things that come to the top of my mind are: 1) a good teacher, 2) knows the rules, 3) can play the game.

Of course, personality and good organizational skills are important too, but I was curious as to what you guys thought.

(1) The last shall be first.  Understanding that his (her implied, too, in all cases) job is to do his job, which at most clubs is going to mean running the golf operation to serve the members - who are not playing golf for a living, but just trying to have some fun during their "free" time.  Organizational skills, personality, and a good sense of what's important in life are parts of that - I may think of more later.

(2) Teaching?  What?  Depends on the club.  Larger clubs may have an assistant pro who teaches skills.  More important than teaching golf skills is teaching how to play golf.  This may be the most overlooked part of teaching golf.

(3) Rules.  Needs to know what he knows and doesn't know, and how to look up what he doesn't know.

(4)  Can play the game.  The PGA of America has some playing standards that a PGA golf pro must meet.  That's good enough for me.

[Mike_Young]

The job description varies at different types of clubs as to what is expected today by golf professionals.  It will be interested to see where the PGA goes since so many clubs no longer use PGA golf professionals.  They missed the boat in the last few years.

[Josh Tarble]

This isn't always going to be the case, but in general...someone you would gladly invite into your normal game.

[Tommy Williamsen]

It makes a difference whether he is at a country club or a golf club.  Different things are expected at a country club than a golf club.  I will assume that he is at a country club.  At a country club the pro has to play well with the other facets of the club.  Golf is not the only engine that drives the club. There is tennis, pool, fitness center etc.  All want some of the dollars to run their various programs.   The pro should be a good merchandiser.  My wife complains a lot about the clothes at our country club. Obviously, he needs to be able to organize club events--ladies' day, youth, member guest, etc.  He needs to be visible.  Folks always want to know where the head pro is.  I don't think playing ability is all that important.  It certainly isn't as important as it was forty years ago.  The members want the pro at home.  They really don't care how he performs in tournaments.  Head pros don't always teach much.  Some who are very good do, but much of the time the assistants do the bulk of the teaching.  It is a way for them to make some extra money.  Some clubs have a teaching pro who does much of the teaching.

[Jonathan Sirois]

Having benefitted from such a Head, I appreciate those that invest time and energy into building and supporting a youth program. Educating the young members helps to form adult golfers that "get it." You know, the ones you want to play with. While I'm not yet a father, I'd imagine that there is something nice about being able to off little Timmy or Susie to a junior program so that they can learn the game properly, knowing I'll be able to tee it up with them in the near future. To me, this is one of the ways a club's future health and reputation can be secured.

A nice thought.

Cheers,
Jon

[J_ Crisham]

Personality is the most important factor in whether a head pro is successful .  Given the diversity of a membership and staff they unfortunately must be all things to all people. Being a good teacher may help but who really cares if their club pro is the best player in town. If the guy is a complete tool there will soon be trouble brewing in the pro shop. It's all about temperament/personality in my book.

[Pat Burke]

tough to say without knowing the club culture
My questions for you would be
1) Is the job well defined by the club?
       WHat are the goals for the golf op?
       Is it a family club, serious golfers club, social (or what combo of)
       Is the pro expected to teach?  Play with members? Play in tournaments to represent club?
       Are the member's events run well, well attended, and a can't miss event for the club?
      
2) IF the job requirements are well defined, is the current pro meeting the goals of the members?
3) Is the pros' staff growing (personally) and improving?  Revolving door of staff?  Are clubs looking to steal staff because
    everything is done so well?

[Sean Leary]

What value does your pro being a good player bring? Third place in the local section event isn't why I'm paying dues.

+1.

Needs to LOVE golf though. That is a big one for me...

[Steve Kline]

The head pro must be a service oriented person. Meeting the needs of all the members is a tough job. The best will be friendly with all members and not appear to be part of cliques with certain groups of members (I've seen that and it is not good). Needs to be organized and keep the pro shop stocked and running smoothly. Should be highly visible at peak times, helping to organize games. I think the head pro should play with members of differing abilities occasionally. (The supper should too.) One, I think some members like it and it builds relationships between the members and the staff. Two, he sees how the course is playing for differing skill levels. There are probably many other things too.

[Paul Jones]

It all depends on the needs of each club.  We have a wonderful Pro, but he is different from a lot of others I have seen.

[Michael Moore]

At my club our new, young head pro was let go a few weeks ago. In part because he joined a neighboring club. You can't make this stuff up.

[jeffwarne]

At Riverside Municipal our new, young head pro was let go a few weeks ago. In part because he joined the neighboring Falmouth Country Club. You can't make this stuff up.

Sure there were other issues, but curious...
Why exactly should he not be allowed to join a neighboring club?

[C. Squier]

At Riverside Municipal our new, young head pro was let go a few weeks ago. In part because he joined the neighboring Falmouth Country Club. You can't make this stuff up.

Sure there were other issues, but curious...
Why exactly should he not be allowed to join a neighboring club?

Totally agree w/ Jeff....our dir. of golf is a social member at the club across the street and I find it to be completely normal. Why begrudge a guy the ability to have a place of his own to get away and play golf? If your board thinks the only place he should golf is where he works, they're really out of touch.

[C. Squier]

What value does your pro being a good player bring? Third place in the local section event isn't why I'm paying dues.

+1.

Needs to LOVE golf though. That is a big one for me...

Yep. There's no bigger turnoff than the asst pro who sulks around all day b/c he hates his job and now hates golf. Whatever the curriculum is to get your class A card, I hope it includes methods to cope mentally with knowing you're going to not be 100% in love with your job as you climb the ropes. In my experience, once a pro hits that wall, it's just a matter of time until they're a desk jockey like the rest of us and out of the business.

[Terry Lavin]

I have always thought there were various characteristics that successful golf professionals share.  They include:

1.  Great communicator.  The head pro has to really be able to talk with people, remember names and have an engaging personality.  This is true in the pro shop, on the lesson tee and in the Board room.

2.  Great organizer.  The head pro needs good organizational skills in order to run good golf events.  The pro needs to work well with other management people and with the committees that deal with golf.

3.  Bonhomie.  A great pro is somebody that most people would like to hang around with, play a game with and have a couple drinks with.  This goes with number one, but it extends beyond the game and the job.

4.  Trainer.  A good head pro develops great assistants and helps them get their first jobs at other clubs.  This is important for many reasons, including mentoring and networking, but it also indicates a certain type of character.

5.  Businessman.  A good head pro is efficient at running the shop, knows how to stock good merchandise, how to sell without being a pest and how to balance the books.

[Lou_Duran]

A reasonably intelligent, organized, well-mannered individual who understands golf would be near the top of my list of "necessities".  Above that, the person has to like people, be largely unencumbered psychologically, and exude integrity.  It would be nice if he could play well and teach, but those skills are not nearly as rare and can be purchased at a reasonable price.

[Michael Moore]

Jeff and Mr. C. Squier -

Thanks for your responses. Upon further review, what I wrote was a rumor, untrue. It just seemed strange to me that the public face of a club would be allowed to be a member elsewhere and that if he wanted to play a different course he could just make a phone call. I stand corrected and apologize. One is always learning something new here.

[Paul Jones]

I was good friends with our previous Superintended.  He is a good golfer, but would never play the course he worked on.  He would play the muni by his house that he grew up on.  I asked him why and he told he wouldn't enjoy his round for a number of reasons, but mostly that he would see work that had to be done while he was off.  There were other reasons also, but he did spend a lot of time at the course and could see why he didn't want to play there also.

[C. Squier]

Jeff and Mr. C. Squier -

Thanks for your responses. Upon further review, what I wrote was a rumor, untrue. It just seemed strange to me that the public face of a club would be allowed to be a member elsewhere and that if he wanted to play a different course he could just make a phone call. I stand corrected and apologize. One is always learning something new here.

No need to apologize....just my opinion!

[C. Squier]

I have always thought there were various characteristics that successful golf professionals share.  They include:

1.  Great communicator.  The head pro has to really be able to talk with people, remember names and have an engaging personality.  This is true in the pro shop, on the lesson tee and in the Board room.

2.  Great organizer.  The head pro needs good organizational skills in order to run good golf events.  The pro needs to work well with other management people and with the committees that deal with golf.

3.  Bonhomie.  A great pro is somebody that most people would like to hang around with, play a game with and have a couple drinks with.  This goes with number one, but it extends beyond the game and the job.

4.  Trainer.  A good head pro develops great assistants and helps them get their first jobs at other clubs.  This is important for many reasons, including mentoring and networking, but it also indicates a certain type of character.

5.  Businessman.  A good head pro is efficient at running the shop, knows how to stock good merchandise, how to sell without being a pest and how to balance the books.

Lock the thread, delete all other responses leaving just this one.  Spot on, TL.