Marketing
Can You Afford Not to Have a Golf Pro?
The Value of a Great Pro
by Garry McKay
Can you afford a golf pro? That's a question most golf course owners and
operators have asked themselves at one time or another, especially in
times of fiscal restraint. Perhaps, however, the question should be: Can
you really afford to operate without a golf professional?
"The hardest thing for any golf course owner to understand is the value a golf pro
can have on the bottom line," says Richard Doyle, executive director of the
Ontario PGA. "A lot of them look at the golf pro as an expense rather than an
asset. A lot of them look at the pro as a salary when they should be looking at
them as a revenue generator. A golf pro can bring back more satisfied customers
because they're on the front line and they understand the business. If they invest
in the revenue generating end of the business and allow a good golf pro to
manage it for them, they will make more money".
And exactly how does the pro become a revenue generator for the course?
Different ways for different types of facilities. At many courses, like Greenhills
Golf club in London, Ontario and Bear Creek GC in nearby Strathroy, the pro still
owns the pro shop. "I don't know how you could operate without a pro," says
Dave Simpson who owns both courses and employs golf professionals at both of
them, Simon Bevan at Greenhills and Hugh Getliffe at Bear Creek. "My two clubs
are quite different. Greenhills is predominantly members while the other is more
of a mix of members and pay-as-you-play. At Greenhills I couldn't do without a
pro because the pro organizes leagues, and club events and tournaments for the
membership and I think the members value that more than talking to a
businessman. I have my opinions on how to run the course as a business but
members like to talk golf and having a pro in the pro shop leads to constant golf
discussions. I think for the general atmosphere the golf professional makes it a
club".
Simpson says even at his other course where there is less emphasis on
membership activities, he thinks having a pro in the pro shop creates a better
atmosphere. "There's nobody better schooled in talking golf with people than a
CPGA professional," says Simpson. "And that would be hard to train in any staff
person let alone myself. And to me that's invaluable." But does Simpson see his
two head pros as revenue generators? "At my clubs the pros own the shops,"
says Simpson. "I just didn't want to be in the retail business. So the pro shops
are not a net revenue flow to the club. But it's paramount to me to have satisfied
customers. So in that sense, yes, they are revenue generators."
The situation at Greenhills and Bear Creek, where the pros own the proshops,
used to be standard procedure at golf clubs in Canada. The trend in recent
years, however, has been for golf course owners to keep the pro shop as a
source of revenue and hire a professional to manage the shop and in some
cases the entire operation on a salary.
Pros are being asked to play quite a different role. "It's changed considerably in
recent years," says Steve Carroll, executive director of the British Columbia PGA.
"I think the bottom line is that our members realize they have to have the
business skills to contribute to the business of the club. They have to justify their
existence and make a meaningful contribution to the club's operation. The days
are gone when the golf pro was just a good player and could teach a few people
and sell a few shirts and play with the members. The club and golf courses don't
have the luxury of appointing someone who just does that anymore. The
Canadian PGA now has a requirement that you have a three-year college
business diploma to become a Class A professional. And that's very much in
keeping with what we need which is skilled business people, marketers,
promoters and merchandisers. In effect, they are running a small business when
they run the pro shop and the entire golf operation."
Ian Clarke, president of the CPGA and head pro at Glendale Golf and Country
Club in Hamilton, Ontario, says the Canadian PGA is well positioned to address
the changing environment of the business. "The biggest key for us is recognizing
the change that has come from the traditional role of where the pro owned
everything, to a situation where the pro doesn't own the shop but works for a
salary with a possible bonus structure," said Clarke. "We recognize that many of
our young men and women are not only going into the golf professional business
in the traditional sense but in many cases are taking on more responsibilities
where they're managing many facets of the operation."
"The new breed of golf professionals are much better qualified than in the old
days. When I grew up you started in the back shop and moved to the front and
learned as you went. Now even our Class A professionals are forced back to the
classroom to upgrade." If a golf course owner is keeping the pro shop, but putting
the pro in charge of it, he or she needs to know that the buying of the
merchandise, inventory control and merchandising are done properly. In the past
those types of the things were rarely the professionals' strong suits, even when
they owned the shop themselves.
But Doyle says the college-trained businessman/golf pro of the 90's is different.
"Our members are becoming a lot better at understanding things like
demographics and psychographics," says Doyle. "People will say 'come on, golf
pros don't know that' - but today they do."
And that's a view shared by Max Oxford, national sales manager for Titleist Foot
Joy. "Because the business has changed, one of the keys is to be up to speed
with up to date merchandise and how to sell products," says Oxford. "But your
pros of the 90's know that. They're up to speed. They really are."
Contrary to popular belief, pro shop sales are still very important to golf
merchandise manufacturers. Golf course owners who don't have a well-stocked
pro shop may be missing the boat.
"In our Acushnet division, 67 percent of our sales are in what we call green grass
operations. Those are pro shops," says Oxford. "The golf specialty shops, like
Dynamic or Nevada Bobs account for about 22 percent and the big box stores
make up the other 10-12 percent." Oxford says they like dealing with golf courses
that have professionals. "Often it's easier to get in and see a pro. The owners are
running around doing other things," says Oxford. "And in a lot of cases the owner
is more interested in the greens fees and neglects the pro shop."
Keith Keindel, president of Spalding Canada, said the pros had to become smart
merchandisers with the advent of both the off-course golf specialty shop and the
big box retailers. He said the trend in pro shops then was to more soft goods,
such as shirts and sweaters and less hard goods such as sets of clubs. "Pro
shops were giving up the golf club business to the off course shops but now
we're seeing more shops getting into custom fitting again and getting more
involved in servicing all their customers' needs," said Keindel. "The market the
pros are operating in is a lot more complicated because the of changes in shaft
technology, club technology and ball technology over the last five to seven years
have been staggering. So trying to keep up with what's current in the
marketplace has been very difficult. It's really been demanding."
And Keindel says that makes having a pro in the pro shop all the more important.
"Canada has the highest participation rate for golf in the world now," he says.
"And if you talk to the Americans, we as a country are the most serious country
about golf in the world." Ian Clarke, who has been a head pro for 25 years says if
a club is successful, whether it's a resort course, a private club or a small "mom
and pop" operation its usually because the pro shop and the people in it are
driving it forward.
"The professional is an integral part of any club," says Clark. "The critical
component is the game and the person best qualified to teach and run the golf
program is the golf professional. They're the engine that drives the train.
Everyone who is a golf professional has a tremendous passion for the game.
That's what attracts them to the game and in turn they can instill than enthusiasm
in the members and the juniors. That's why golf has been so successful - the
passion of the people involved in the game and their ability to relay that passion
to their customers."