Author: bennett

Grasshoppers, Water, and the Golf Business

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Beginning in June 1874, a swarm of grasshoppers dense enough to block the sun’s rays – so copious that you could scoop them up with shovels – descended on the drought-ravaged Great Plains. They mowed down crops and brought economic devastation to entire communities. In a scene eerily familiar, the chewing herbivorous insects, a close cousin of the locust, did it again in 1931 in regions suffering from prolonged periods of below normal rainfall.

No one is predicting a return of the grasshopper, although that seems a haunting title for an apocalyptic movie. But history does warn us of the dangers of extreme drought, when grasshoppers can flourish and when turfgrasses are most vulnerable. As we move into the summer months, when rainfall is scarce in many parts of the United States, golf courses and sports facilities are reminded that they must manage water usage and consumption diligently.

Audubon International, which promotes sustainability for businesses, recreational properties and communities, is committed to bringing solutions to golf and sports facilities. “Putting your golf course, community or resort on the path to sustainability may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be,” Audubon International CEO Christine Kane says. “We suggest starting by establishing an environmental policy that will guide your operations. This will bring your employees and members onboard and pave the way for incorporating topics such as water conservation, IPM or wildlife management into your budget, marketing and maintenance processes.”

Golf facilities and clubs also benefit from sustainability’s halo effect. Many members today expect greater levels of environmental stewardship from businesses and other organizations with which they are associated. In addition to its environmental impacts, sound water management has taken on a good-for-business shine as well.

Research points out that sound environmental stewardship matters to women and millennials especially.

Eighty-three percent of U.S. women believe that climate change is a serious problem, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center study. Nearly 70 percent of the women polled worry that such changes will affect them personally. The bottom line is that women are concerned about sound environmental practices and are receptive to learning how golf course managers are caring for Mother Earth.

Pew further reports that drought is among the top four climate-related concerns. “Fully half of Americans name drought as their chief climate change concern, and this is especially true in drought-plagued Western states compared with other regions of the country,” according to the research.

Clubs and courses seeking to attract younger members would do well to take a responsible approach to environmentalism. “Brands that establish a reputation for environmental stewardship among today’s youngest consumers have an opportunity to not only grow market share, but build loyalty among the power-spending millennials of tomorrow,” says Grace Farraj, an executive with Nielsen Environmentalism.

Audubon International launched its Water & Sustainability Innovation Award this year to recognize landscape companies, organizations and municipalities for sustainable, water-efficient projects. Corica Park South Course of Alameda, California, and its management firm, Greenway Golf, was the first recipient.

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf provides a tangible form of recognition for clubs and courses committed to protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of the game. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf course operations, the program serves an important environmental role worldwide.

Audubon International also has developed Standard Environmental Management Practices that are generally applicable to all golf courses. These standards form the basis for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf certification guidelines. Points of focus from the ACSP for golf facilities include habitat planning and management guidance, which educates club members and other golfers while increasing the understanding of best management practices for pesticide use.

This article was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine. 

3 Attributes of an Outstanding Club Manager

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What does it take to be an outstanding club manager? And for clubs seeking to fill this role, what attributes should they be looking for?

GGA’s new Executive Search Director, Patrick DeLozier, explains what it takes to be among the best private club managers.

It takes a particular type of individual to be a club manager.

Seldom is it a job with set hours and set responsibilities; it is more often a vocation which requires an unprecedented level of commitment and drive.

Rewarding? Yes. Challenging? Most certainly.

Throughout my time both at the sharp end of club management, as well as participating in national associations and state boards, one thing was abundantly clear – the role of the club manager is inextricably linked with the success or failure of a club.

It is, therefore, an appointment clubs cannot afford to get wrong.

But what makes an outstanding club manager?

1) Strong work ethic

High performing club managers are leaders with a relentlessly strong work ethic.

They are dedicated, committed and visible to the whole club – including both their membership and their team.

Beyond the general day-to-day requirements, the best club managers have a sense of when and where to be at all times. Not simply to be seen, but to demonstrate leadership and accessibility, consciously engaging with everyone they encounter in a meaningful and constructive way.

For team members this means being willing to mentor, offer guidance and invest time in their well-being and progression, whatever the role. For members, it is going the extra mile, ensuring exceptional service levels and a commitment to continuous high levels of satisfaction.

The club manager should be the face and voice of the club, not tucked away in a back office.

2) Forward-thinking

Effective managers do not stand still. They are always growing, always looking forward.

For them, success is just fuel to improve, and failure is an opportunity to learn and avoid repeat mistakes.

They are relentless when it comes to innovation: they recognize trends, the importance of future generations, and consider how to best position their club to take the opportunity they present.

As golf and particularly private clubs move ever more towards service and experience, the most forward-thinking club managers are tuned into three important things:

  • Continuous investment in the property (and the areas in which to invest)
  • Attracting, training and motivating the right people for their team
  • Perfecting operational execution to create the ultimate experience for members and guests

3) Welcomes accountability

A high performing club manager never waivers when it comes to being accountable and holding oneself to exceptional standards of integrity and honesty.

While moral and ethical accountability is of paramount importance, so too is business accountability.

Successful managers engage in business intelligence and the ability to root decisions in evidence and fact. They embrace performance targets, and motivate their team to meet them.

More broadly, outstanding club managers welcome the existence of a strategic plan to determine the direction of travel, underpin all that they do, and provide a vision for the future they can unite the entire club behind.

To perform such a complex and varied role, a club manager will need an armory of attributes – not just three. But these traits should serve as a good foundation for what it takes to be an outstanding private club manager and help to safeguard your club from choosing the wrong candidate.

Recovering from the missteps of inadequate leadership can be an enormous burden, so if your club needs guidance in the recruitment of a new club manager or leader, please connect with me for an informal discussion.

Connect with Patrick DeLozier

Looking Outside the Boardroom

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Board members are an important source of experience and knowledge. But when making strategic decisions on the future direction of the club, that expertise can easily be hampered by a lack of access to valuable data and actionable information.

GGA’s Bennett DeLozier explains how to connect your board with the critical insights they need from outside the boardroom.

Scenario: you’re a manager, it’s sunny, you’re in a board meeting, fluorescent lights buzz overhead.  The group is brainstorming capital improvement projects ahead of next season.  The topics of budget, capital reserves, assessments, competitor offerings, and attracting new members swirl around the room.

Someone claims that what members “really want” are new amenities, another counters that new amenity supporters are mostly younger members in restricted categories, a third comments on the price of dues for this group.  Opinions begin to diverge on membership pricing, someone mentions member satisfaction, people start using the word ‘should’, and a healthy, productive conversation turns to conjecture.

In this situation, a common reference point can bring everyone back on task. You’re confident you probably have data points on all of these topics somewhere in your office or in your inbox.  You’re scrolling, scrolling.  Before long, the meeting adjourns with decisions on hold, and you leave with a list of research tasks and staff projects to tackle in advance of the next one.

Board Members Need Information

While this scenario may be an overdramatization, it’s not terribly uncommon.  This is what happens when intelligent, capable people face important decisions without actionable information.  It deters strategic thinking and is taxing for the manager and staff.

Board members are usually smart, business-oriented people and they expect to have empirical discussions just as they have done in their own line of work.  Their job is to strategize, and a strategy is only as good as the information which informs it.

The most effective club managers gather, consolidate and deliver a war chest of information to the boardroom in order to facilitate better, easier, and quicker decisions.

The Right Kind of Data

A word of caution: not all data is good data and managers are wise to beware the data ‘dump’.  So, what does the right kind of data look like?

  • Data that is current. In a perfect world, the provision is real-time data and predictive analytics.  Data should be updated as frequently as possible and be on-hand for timely, relevant insight before annual planning exercises and performance monitoring activities take place.  In some markets, data that is 12 months old is out of date.
  • Data that comes from multiple sources. A combination of internal club data and external market data are required to be informed at both a micro and macro level.  Data from the club’s management and point-of-sale systems or reports from department heads alone doesn’t cut it.
  • Data that is useable. In presentations and speaking engagements we’ll often joke about the graveyard for strategic plans: in a three-ring binder on your credenza collecting dust.  Cheeky, but true.  Data should be readily available and accessible in a digestible manner.  Having to look for it, go get it, wait for it, or set-aside-15-minutes-for-everyone-to-skim it usually means your data isn’t seaworthy.
  • Data that works for you. Transferring the right kind of data to your board requires you to have a framework for gathering, analyzing, and succinctly documenting all the research and information that is Your data framework should not create more work for you. In other words, you need technology to gather, centralize, and process that information into synthesized insights.

What kind of information do boards want?

They want consolidated internal data to inform them about the club’s financial and operational performance, as well as member satisfaction, habits, preferences, and attitudes.  They want external data which informs them about competitive offerings, prevailing market trends, industry standards, and helps them contextualize the club’s performance relative to others.

Most importantly, they want to know about progress – where the club is now relative to where it needs to be or where members want it to be.

Why don’t boards have this type of information?

Simple. Because their manager hasn’t given it to them.  Usually the manager hasn’t given it to them for really good reasons: they don’t have the time, resources, money, or – in some cases – the culture to support data-driven decision-making.

To be clear, managers should not be expected to have the ability to answer every question which comes their way.  However, they should be expected to successfully guide the process of strategic decision-making at their club.  Here are six tips to make you more efficient and effective at connecting your board with critical insights:

  1. Survey members on satisfaction every year, if not more regularly. Be deliberate and selective with attitudinal surveys, capital improvement surveys, and club votes, but be adamant about doing a satisfaction survey every year.
  2. Know your market inside and out, literally. Knowing your internal market means helping your board know the club’s performance and members.  Knowing your external market means keeping your board apprised of competitors, industry standards, trends, and best practices.
  3. Maintain a constant grasp on the state of your club’s operational and financial data. Being able to reference, provide, or recite details about the club’s finances and operating performance is one of the most effective ways to enhance your command presence in the boardroom.
  4. Keep your data organized and ready to go on short notice. Get yourself in a position where you’re prepared to deliver an informed response to any questions which come your way or threaten to derail a productive discussion.
  5. Report on performance metrics before you’re asked. Be proactive about regularly updating your board on current status, changes, and evolutions within the club.  As the saying goes, they don’t know what they don’t know.
  6. Build upon your data and monitor how it changes over time. This will provide your board with a sense of progress and will serve as a powerful cache of information when it comes time for your annual performance evaluation.

The Dreaded C-Word

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Let’s face it: soliciting independent, expert advice can sometimes be felt as an admission of inadequacy. However, the power of a third-party evaluation is something that can benefit almost any business – when selected carefully.

GGA’s EMEA Partner Rob Hill looks at the challenges and the benefits of employing an external consultant, how to select the right one, and what value a club should expect to gain from the relationship.

For many of us there’s an inherent discomfort in asking for help or support. It can often feel like an admission of being incapable of fulfilling particular aspects of your role.

But the truth is, an external vantage point can deliver an alternative assessment and different solutions to a club’s challenges – something that can be very difficult to accomplish from within.

If it’s a choice between sitting in silence (while your business plateaus) or seeking help, the latter is the only option.

A fresh perspective

Enter the consultant. The individual who is touted to have the answers to your questions, the vision you need to realize your club’s long-term sustainable future, the source of support and guidance you have been craving.

While this should be the function of the consultant, the delivery often falls short. And this is why distrust of consultants is not uncommon.

For some club leaders or board members this distrust is only a perception, for others it stems from direct experience of having achieved disappointing results with the support of consultants in the past.

Whatever the reason, skepticism looms large.

Demystifying the truth

So how do you go about finding the right consultant? How do you peel back the image to reveal their genuine credentials and potential fit to work with you?

Their previous work is a good place to start.

Ask for a broad assortment of references, testimonials and examples of work previously executed at other clubs, preferably those of a similar profile and standing. This will help you to establish a clear picture of whether they could be a valuable source of guidance.

Supplement this with online research. Websites, LinkedIn, social media and web searches are all effective channels to help you learn more about your prospective partner and ensure you have carried out your due diligence before entering into an agreement.

Reminding yourself why

Now that you have assessed a number of candidates, it can be useful to take a step back and remind yourself of the reasons behind seeking help and what additional value you are hoping a consultant can bring to your club.

While each club has its own unique set of challenges, the following is a broad set of attributes a prospective consultant should bring to the table:

  • Knowledge of a wealth of best practices and tactical advantages that can benefit club leaders (who typically have limited exposure to current trends in club strategy, leadership and operations).
  • An impartial perspective and the ability to generate new ideas you may not have already considered for your club.
  • The ability to translate often complex problems and proposed solutions in clear-cut, actionable detail.

Making the first move

Once all parties agree and the decision to employ a consultant is made, club leaders should begin by producing a clearly stated brief for what is needed and what the club is looking to achieve.

Typically, it will be up to the club manager to connect with and fully inform the candidates of the circumstances as well as the needs and expectations of the club. This will allow the consultants to develop an appropriate, tailored and effective proposal from which you can select the best candidate.

Extracting value

The key role of a consultant is to help you achieve those results that you are less likely to accomplish without the outside help, and these should be clearly laid out as the foundation and benchmark of the relationship from the outset.

What other ways should club leaders generally benefit from the relationship?

  • Provision of simple, practical guidance often derived from complex information and detail. Theory is inadequate to a club leader’s needs.
  • A clear roadmap indicating how long the consultant will need to be involved, a definition of the right goals and milestones for progress, and an outline of the specific results that will equate to a successful project outcome.
  • The ability to lean on an independent and objective source of guidance to protect the best business interests of the club.

So, while turning to an outsider can present an internal challenge, and must always be undertaken with a careful and strategic approach. Working with the right strategy consultant can pave a path for growth and success for your club that you might otherwise not achieve without that clear, focused outside perspective.

Substance Over Style

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In the old west, big talkers who didn’t deliver on what they promised were described as “All hat and no cattle.” Simply put: more image than substance.

None of us wants to be thought of in those terms. We all want to deliver the goods as promised. Doing so, while often challenging, is more achievable when you take these important steps:

1. Develop your strategic plan carefully because that’s where you lay out your promises in the form of goals and objectives. Stephen Johnston, the founder of Global Golf Advisors, often explains the importance of strategic planning by saying, “The lack of a strategic plan is not as dangerous as not having fire insurance, but it’s certainly playing with fire.”

The key components of a sound strategic plan are: (a) market analysis; (b) operational review and comparison against performance benchmarks; (c) financial measurement — especially of the sources and uses of funds; and (d) clear-eyed evaluation of governance practices. These four components assure that you have a plan that states clearly your goals and objectives and establishes a broad understanding of expectations.

Remember that an effective strategic plan answers the question: What? The business plan provides the details behind How? When? Who? and Where? The tactical plan outlines the steps that will implement the strategy.

2. Put your strategy to work. Strategy is only as good as the execution that backs it up. Putting strategic goals and objectives into action also requires a plan — one that describes in detail how you and your team will achieve the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.

3. Make sure club leaders and managers understand the plan and how their functional areas are expected to contribute to its success. In 1962, President Kennedy declared, “We will put a man on the Moon in this decade and return him safely to Earth.” Shortly thereafter, while on a tour of the NASA Space Center, the president came upon a janitor mopping the floor. When asked by the President about his job, the janitor responded, “Mr. Kennedy, I am part of the team that is going to put a man on the Moon.” That is plan buy-in and real-life awareness. The lesson: Make believers of your staff.

4. Review your plan’s success. No matter how well-intended a plan might be, careful evaluation and follow-up ensure that the plan remains relevant and purposeful. Another benefit of ongoing evaluation is evolutionary improvement and maximized understanding. Here are three steps to ensure that your plan is working at full capacity:

  • Provide quarterly strategic plan updates. Report your accomplishments and missteps with equal openness. Quarterly updates keep strategy alive in the boardroom and assure members that their board and club management are keeping their promises. Members support trustworthy leadership and trust is built on accountability in your actions.
  • Post a strategic scorecard. After the quarterly update, post the results truthfully and without acclaim. No different that posting your golf score, this is a matter of open accountability for performance. Embrace accountability for your strategic plan’s effectiveness.
  • Produce an annual report. Tell your members what has been accomplished. Align the annual report, as any major corporation would, with the strategic goals and objectives for your business and report on progress toward those goals. Provide members and stakeholders with a succinct summary of the strategic effectiveness of your plan, your board and yourself.

Strategic plans are based on the notion of having a focused plan of action on which all can rely. This step helps to make you and your work more trusted while bringing focus to what makes your facility successful.

One of the more common concerns in many golf courses and clubs is the question of vision or what it really wants to be. A carefully developed strategic plan clearly states who and what you are and establishes a trustworthy foundation for achievements. It shows people that you’re more than just a hat – it’s evidence that you’re bringing the beef.

This article was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine.

How to Embrace Emerging Club Technology

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In a market brimming with new technology solutions that could revolutionize the way you run a club, GGA Partner, Derek Johnston, reveals how your club can embrace these opportunities, while mitigating any business risks they could create.

Technology continues to change the world; new devices, platforms, and applications continue to enter the market at pace. Yet the criticism leveled at clubs remains the same. The industry is ‘slow to change’, ‘reluctant to adapt’, or can be ‘averse to new technology’.

Is this truly the case? And, if so, what are the reasons for the reluctance?

A technology dilemma

The promise of what enhanced technology can bring to a club is a compelling proposition: better information, increased productivity, improved accuracy, cost efficiencies, delivering an enhanced experience to members and guests. But it’s true that club leaders face a paradox, in that while new technology can often be the source of these tangible advantages, it can be the gateway to unforeseen issues and risks – ones which can easily go unnoticed if not supported appropriately or utilized correctly.

How have these risks come about? In part, through the existence of historical governing frameworks and adherence to traditional operating practices which have not kept pace with the digital transformation. Add in a human element, where individuals may not be properly equipped to implement or operate new technology with due skill and attention, and what were risks can easily become real-life business issues.

A common business issue clubs encounter is not just identifying a new technology solution, but adopting and integrating it effectively.  Clubs can decide upon and acquire a technology and not use it – sometimes they don’t know how best to use it, other times their chosen technology is incongruent to their current business processes or improvement objectives, and, more often, folks simply don’t have the time.

Technology is a tool like any other, it fulfills its purpose when it’s being used. To embrace emerging technology, clubs must identify and select the right tool for the job, map out their implementation approach, restructure their existing processes, if necessary, and define targets against which progress will be measured.

Five Tips to Drive Technology Success:

What can clubs do to mitigate risk when assessing and implementing new technology?

1. Use evidence to inform your decisions

Based on business intelligence and current performance indicators, what are the areas of improvement you have identified? Technology solutions should address those areas directly to realize productivity, accuracy, cost efficiency, or other specifically identified improvement objectives.

2. Be selective

Scrutinize the technology proposition as it relates to its ability to address business needs and make significant improvements when compared to current processes. Then…

3. Take a phased approach

The majority of clubs are not blessed to employ extensive teams with broad and rich skillsets dedicated to technology implementation, training, and maintenance. This typically reduces your capability to take on multiple new forms of technology all at once and be effective in doing so. Prioritize and take a phased approach to how you introduce new technology.

4. Invest in staff training

While learning can and does take place ‘on the job’, ensure the relevant staff members are appropriately trained on an ongoing basis either by yourself or your technology partner. This will ensure you maximize the benefits of the new technology to your club, avoid improper use and protect against too few individuals owning the knowledge connected to the technology.

5. Set goals and targets

You may be investing on the promise of increased efficiencies, but unless you set targets and put in place the necessary measures to track performance, it’s impossible to assess the effectiveness of the new technology. Clear expectations and targets will help your staff buy in to its introduction and encourage your technology partners to best assist you in achieving them.

Although these steps may appear to be extensive, they should in no way be viewed as a deterrent to change. Why? Because there is also risk attached to inaction, standing still while the wider world continues to evolve.

Take one aspect of consumer behavior, for example. As the trend towards mobile and digital continues to grow and evolve, if your club becomes disconnected from this trend it could be seen as old-fashioned, traditional, or in ways simply incongruent with what your club really stands for. While clubs should never feel technology should be forced on them, they should at least consider what existing members and prospective members want; what the club needs to operate efficiently and effectively fulfill its mission; and what club leaders require to effectively develop, monitor, and maintain the club’s strategic direction. Most importantly, clubs should be prepared to act on their findings.

Embracing change

How then should a club approach technological change? In short, with an open-mind and a pragmatic, data-driven approach combined with the support and buy-in of staff, members and club stakeholders.

Whether the aim is to increase productivity, reduce costs or deliver a better experience to members and guests, those invested in the success and sustainability of the club will recognize the intention to improve. Not only will this protect against the market forces of standing still, it will take those invested in the club on a journey towards a better, brighter, more sustainable future.

For help on identifying and embracing emerging technology at your club, connect with Derek Johnston.

Executive Search: Chief Operating Officer at Scarboro Golf & Country Club

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CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
SCARBORO GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

The Club:

Scarboro Golf & Country Club has a truly unique and prestigious history which dates back to 1912. The Club is a private member club in eastern Toronto, Canada and has an 18-hole golf course that is consistently ranked among the top 100 courses in Canada with a grand Edwardian clubhouse which opened in 1914.

The course was originally designed by George Cummings and was extensively changed in 1924 under the direction of A. W. Tillinghast. The golf course went through a further renovation in 2010 which was overseen by famed golf architect Gil Hanse. Mr. Hanse designed the golf course in Rio to host the 2016 Olympics. He has designed and worked on many other world-renowned golf courses and performed numerous Tillinghast restorations.

Scarboro has been proud host of the Canadian Open golf tournament four times. Past Champions include Sam Snead, Bobby Locke, Dave Douglas and Doug Ford. In hosting the 1958 Canadian Amateur Championship, a first-round casualty was an 18-year-old Jack Nicklaus. In 1961, the course was one of 25 that hosted the World Series of Golf matches between Masters and British Open champions, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. In fact, Mr. Palmer was so taken with the golf course, he included Scarboro’ s signature par 3 Hole # 14 as one of his all-time favourite holes. Numerous other professional and amateur events have been conducted on the Club’s fairways over the years including the CPGA tour championship in 2012.

The Position:

We are looking for a Chief Operating Officer (/COO) reporting to the Board of Directors to oversee the Club’s operations. The COO has full responsibility for all aspects of operations including sales and marketing at the Club, effectively managing all resources to deliver a consistently excellent member experience. The COO, with oversight from the Board, will guide and assist the Board in the development and implementation of Club policies and programs.

The COO will be responsible for the following:

  • The consistent delivery of a member experience commensurate with specified member expectations as well as member recruitment.
  • The performance management for the Club’s financial results, sales, marketing, operating processes and senior management performance. Senior Managers who report directly to the COO and are responsible for the day-to-day activities and processes. Although the COO will rely on the Senior Managers to operate the daily activities, the COO will be ultimately responsible for overall performance metrics and service, member growth and retention and revenue growth.
  • Representation of the Club to members, staff and external agencies. The COO is engaged in new member onboarding.
  • The execution of the Scarboro Golf & CC Strategic Plan and resulting Business Plan, Membership Development Plan and overall marketing strategy.
  • The supervision of the entire Club operation including food and beverage operations, membership services, golf services operations, golf course maintenance, Club facilities and administrative services.
  • The execution of Board policy and strategy.

Candidate Profile:

The COO reports to the Board. Given the leading role this individual will play in achieving the strategic objectives of Scarboro Golf & Country Club, it is essential that the successful candidate possess the following core competencies, experience and attributes:

  • A leader with the ability to build strong teams by motivation and leading by example. Has the ability to provide direction and expectations, performance feedback and recognition that leads to positive outcomes;
  • Previous experience as a senior leader at a private club or other similar facility is desirable, experience in the hospitality industry beneficial;
  • A self-starter and results oriented work style combined with excellent collaborative, communication and interpersonal skills with all the Club’s stakeholders;
  • Strong professional deportment with a clear commitment to member service through an open and transparent customer/member approach, demonstrates integrity and ethical conduct in words and deeds;
  • A strategic thinker with strong business acumen to maximize revenue potential through aggressive member acquisition as well as effective retention programs;
  • Politically astute. Able to identify potential issues and deal effectively with them while exercising tact and diplomacy;
  • An entrepreneurial style combined with a background in all aspects of business management including business development, finance, information technology, human resources, risk management and performance management;
  • Readily accepts and responds to challenges. Directly confronts problems, seeks help when needed and is solution oriented;
  • Incorporates succession planning by preparing staff for key leadership roles;
  • Ensures compliance with all regulatory and matters affecting the Club;
  • Experience reporting to and collaborating with a Board that has adopted a club governance structure and processes to lead the Club and COO to success;
  • A post-secondary degree in business or a related discipline preferred;
  • A Certified Club Manager designation (CCM) is preferred.

Note:
The position is currently vacant.

Compensation:
The Club will offer an attractive compensation package, commensurate with experience, which will include a competitive base salary and benefits.

Inquiries:
IMPORTANT: Interested candidates should submit resumes along with a detailed cover letter which addresses the qualifications and describes your alignment/experience with the prescribed position by Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019. Those documents must be saved and emailed in Word or PDF format (save as “Last Name, First Name, Scarboro COO Cover Letter” and “Last Name, First Name, Scarboro COO Resume”) respectively to: execsearch@globalgolfadvisors.com.

George Pinches
Director
Global Golf Advisors Inc.

For more information on Scarboro Golf and Country Club: www.scarborogolf.com

Executive Search: Controller at Scarboro Golf & Country Club

Date:

CONTROLLER
SCARBORO GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

The Club:

Scarboro Golf & Country Club has a truly unique and prestigious history which dates back to 1912. The Club is a private member club in eastern Toronto, Canada and has an 18-hole golf course that is consistently ranked among the top 100 courses in Canada with a grand Edwardian clubhouse which opened in 1914.

The course was originally designed by George Cummings and was extensively changed in 1924 under the direction of A. W. Tillinghast. The golf course went through a further renovation in 2010 which was overseen by famed golf architect Gil Hanse. Mr. Hanse designed the golf course in Rio to host the 2016 Olympics. He has designed and worked on many other world-renowned golf courses and performed numerous Tillinghast restorations.

Scarboro has been proud host of the Canadian Open golf tournament four times. Past Champions include Sam Snead, Bobby Locke, Dave Douglas and Doug Ford. In hosting the 1958 Canadian Amateur Championship, a first-round casualty was an 18-year-old Jack Nicklaus. In 1961, the course was one of 25 that hosted the World Series of Golf matches between Masters and British Open champions, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. In fact, Mr. Palmer was so taken with the golf course, he included Scarboro’ s signature par 3 Hole # 14 as one of his all-time favourite holes. Numerous other professional and amateur events have been conducted on the Club’s fairways over the years including the CPGA tour championship in 2012.

The Position:

We are looking for a Controller reporting to the Chief Operating Officer. The Controller manages the financial operations of the club, supervises the accounting functions and provides analytical support to and participates with the COO, Board, Finance Committee and others for planning, budgets and solutions to business problems. The Controller recommends, implements and maintains the Club’s financial plans and policies, its accounting practices, fiscal records and the preparation of financial reports. The Controller makes decisions in accordance with Club policy on administrative or operational matters and ensures the operations’ effective achievement of objectives.

The Controller will be responsible for the following:

  • Recommends and implements policies to control and coordinate accounting, auditing, budgets, taxes and related activities and records; develop, establish and administer procedures and systems pertaining to financial matters. Responsible for the Club’s internal controls and compliance to same.
  • Prepare financial statements, forecasts and analysis for all administrative and managerial functions. Maintain all accounting records; develop, analyze and interpret statistical and accounting information.
  • Manage the annual audit.
  • Evaluate operating results for costs, revenues, budgets, policies of operation, trends and increased profit possibilities. Serve as liaison to finance, insurance and pension committees. Supervise the staffing, scheduling, training and professional development of department members.
  • Responsible for the development, implementation and operation of all accounting and information systems support; for the administration, management and maintenance of the equipment systems employed in the collection of information and for the training and supervision of staff related to (but not limited to) the Administrative area.
  • Development, analysis, and interpretation of statistical and accounting information in order to appraise operating results in terms of profitability, performance against budget, and other matters bearing on the fiscal soundness and operating effectiveness of the organization.
  • Responsible for evaluating the performance of personnel in the Administration Department. This individual recommends training requirements, has the duty to keep the staff at the highest level of skill necessary to meet Club needs and objectives, and may recommend that personnel be hired or removed from the Department.
  • Establishes major economic objectives and policies for the Club and prepares reports that outline the Club’s financial position in the areas of income, expenses, and earnings based on past, present, and future operations.
  • Coordinates and directs the preparation of the budget, business plan and financial forecasts, institutes and maintains other planning and control procedures, and analyzes and reports variances.
  • Is responsible for tax planning and compliance with all federal, provincial, and local corporate, payroll, and other applicable taxes.
  • Furnishes internal reports, revises and updates reports to be more useful and efficient, and furnishes external reports as necessary.
  • Evaluates and recommends insurance coverage for protection against property losses and potential liabilities.

Candidate Profile:

  • CMA, CA
  • Five to seven years of professional accounting experience with at least two years as Controller; Not-for-profit experience an asset
  • Excellent management, leadership, analytical and interpersonal skills
  • Ability to design and implement a control reporting system. Experience in systems integration, flowcharting, documentation and key control analysis required. Experience overseeing information technology operation and electronic data transfer between systems
  • Strong communication skills
  • Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures or governmental regulations.
  • Knowledge and understanding of retirement plans and benefit programs.
  • Knowledge of pertinent Ontario and federal employment laws and practices.

Note:
The position is currently vacant.

Compensation:
The Club will offer an attractive compensation package, commensurate with experience, which will include a competitive base salary and benefits.

Inquiries:
IMPORTANT: Interested candidates should submit resumes along with a detailed cover letter which addresses the qualifications and describes your alignment/experience with the prescribed position by Tuesday, June 25th, 2019. Those documents must be saved and emailed in Word or PDF format (save as “Last Name, First Name, Scarboro Controller Cover Letter” and “Last Name, First Name Scarboro Controller Resume”) respectively to: execsearch@globalgolfadvisors.com.

George Pinches
Director
Global Golf Advisors Inc.

For more information on Scarboro Golf and Country Club: www.scarborogolf.com

Using Technology to Your Operational Advantage

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In what ways are clubs realizing operational gains through new technology solutions? GGA’s Martin Tzankov outlines the solutions helping clubs to reduce costs and enhance the playing experience.

Golf and innovation do not always go hand in hand. Attempts to bolt new age technology into a traditional game and well-established club structures have often produced mixed results.

However, this doesn’t prevent club leaders constantly being inundated with new platforms, systems and applications, each with the promise of revolutionizing club operations or the member experience.

To help bring a meaningful commercial focus to this conversation, the following are some new technologies that are taking seed and proving their worth in providing actionable business intelligence, operational gains, and cost savings.

Keeping members moving

As much as we want to allow members to move around the course at their own pace, maximizing their enjoyment and social opportunity, there will often be certain individuals who create discontent through slow play.

While you may, at least anecdotally, know who these individuals are, there is often an absence of cold, hard proof.

This is where GPS-technology comes in. It’s now possible to track individual member movements around the golf course and monitor how long it takes them to play an average round. Armed with this intelligence, club leaders can address this issue and make significant inroads to solving problems around pace of play.

Clearly, there’s a balance and sensitivity to be struck when tackling this topic, and individual circumstances and other variables come into play. For this reason, you may wish to only address individuals who are repeat offenders at peak times of play – in other words, those who impede the experience for other members and guests. In any case, the data you obtain from the GPS-technology will play a fundamental role in overcoming this all too common problem.

Cutting down maintenance

There’s another side to GPS-technology; one which has the potential to unlock major cost savings. By tracking the movements of players, you can quickly establish a picture of where the common ‘pinch points’ or bottle necks lie on the course, areas where players tend to hit and lose balls, or particular hazards they find difficult to overcome.

This data will allow you to work with your superintendent more closely and proactively; looking at the root causes of the problems players face and, indeed, don’t face when navigating the course.

While there are design and maintenance tactics which can help mitigate lengthy ball searches in notorious areas, the real cost savings come from the areas where players tend not to venture…

By determining where these areas lie on the golf course through player tracking data, you can take the decision to reduce inputs and turf management in the knowledge this will not impact the playing experience. The benefits of increased maintenance efficiency to the Club are extensive. Financially, the Club will realize substantial cost savings from a reduction in chemical inputs and by doing so improve the long-term ecosystem of the course environment. From a labor perspective, reducing the managed area of the golf course will free up the workforce to increase its focus on other areas of the course and development projects. Whatever timeline you attach to these changes, the tangible long-term benefits are there and waiting to be realized.

Real-time security and data

A wave of clubs can be found upping their game when it comes to security. We have witnessed clubs installing technology such as retina scanning, geofencing, or keycards and access fobs to know who is at the club and when.

While security is the fundamental motivation behind such a move, the data this presents to clubs can prove invaluable in learning more about member engagement. Yes, there is a time commitment involved in analyzing and extracting some real value from this information, but if it can help you learn more about how some members’ engagement has tailed off, or which facilities or events they are engaging with over others, you can develop tactics to re-engage these members and boost their satisfaction levels.

Take events as an example. You may have a successful, thriving events program but find that a combination of POS and member data reveals that these are only really popular among elder members, while younger members are largely absent. We already know that the injection of younger members into these events is viewed favorably by elder members, and increased socialization will encourage a greater sense of attachment to the Club. So, it makes sense to conduct analysis into younger members’ attitudes, wants and needs from an events program so you can build on its success and make it more inclusive too.

A final thought

When it comes to implementing new technology, my message is this: be open to change. Your club may have established processes or ways of doing things, and it can be uncomfortable when technology threatens to change those. This will result in some clubs shying away when, actually, those that prosper will be accepting of the fact that change is inevitable. Not only that, they will see the opportunity change can bring.

For advice on introducing new technology to your Club, connect with Martin Tzankov.

What Works on Social?

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The most popular channel may change over time, but the social media momentum continues to grow. For some clubs it can be difficult to know what to post, when and how often. We asked GGA’s Linda Dillenbeck to spell out all things social.

There is not a day that passes that doesn’t have a news report about something posted on a social media channel. Nor does a day pass when you don’t see consumers glued to their devices and feverishly typing the latest content they simply must share.

Whether we like it or not, social media has changed the way consumers communicate and gather information. Today, brands must have a social media presence or they miss the opportunity to reach 78% of the U.S. population who rely on these platforms to connect, gather information and socialize.

Consider these facts from Statistica and the Pew Research Center:

  • 68% of U.S. adults report they are Facebook users. Roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook daily.
  • Facebook use is relatively common across a range of age groups, with 68% of those in the 50 to 64 age range and nearly half of those 65 and older report they use the site.
  • Over 70% of Instagram users are between the ages of 25-65. The share of users 35-54, a key target for future club prospects, is 30.2%.
  • Twitter has 67,000,000 users in the U.S. Of that number, 46% access the site daily.
  • LinkedIn has approximately 154,000,000 users in the United States, around half of whom are college graduates living in high-income households.
  • Women are nearly three times as likely as men to use Pinterest (42% vs. 15%).

Despite the reach of social media, we often hear the reason clubs are not active on most of these platforms is because they don’t have enough time. Our first recommendation is always this: Find the time.

Your members and prospects are engaging with these platforms on a daily basis, and what they read, see and hear there plays a part in their decision-making. Without any Club presence, you forego this opportunity to engage with their lives and influence them.

Furthermore, a lack of presence can leave you at a competitive disadvantage. In the cases of Instagram and Facebook, these social media platforms will create “unofficial pages” displaying user photos and comments about their experiences. This hands consumers control of your brand message, allowing them to dictate the tone of conversation and could lead to a misrepresentation of your Club in this space.

Channel choice

To select the social sites most appropriate for your Club it helps to understand each platform’s purpose as well as consumer expectations for the type of content they seek.

Facebook users want to be entertained, educated, informed and obtain answers to questions in real time. On Facebook, your posts can be longer and include website links. You can also create events (open or closed) to promote to your members, prospects and wider stakeholders.

Instagram is a platform to share your story through photos and video. When users log onto Instagram, they want to be inspired and surprised by what they see at your Club.

The primary purpose of Twitter is to allow people to share thoughts, opinions, news and events with a large audience. Tweets that generate the most engagement are “how-to” lists, questions and quotes.

Remember, both the nature of the platform and demographic of the users there will dictate that not all are appropriate or impactful for your Club. So be selective, and double up your efforts on which are most fruitful rather than spreading yourself thinly across too many of them.

Crafting your message

The thought of creating content for social sites can be intimidating at first, however, we believe there is plenty of information to share. A few examples include:

  • An individual post of each golf hole with a short description of how to play the hole (that’s 18 or 36 posts).
  • Photos or short videos of your chef preparing signature menu items.
  • Unique and interesting design features found in your clubhouse.
  • Member events and activities. A word of caution here, never post a photo of a member unless they provide permission when the photo is taken.
  • Short golf, swimming or tennis videos offering tips from the professionals on staff.
  • Announcements of staff hires, renovations, special events, etc.
  • Flora and fauna found around the grounds of your Club.

Once you begin posting your content, it is important to monitor the statistics for likes, shares and comments. This information will help you to understand the type of posts generating the most engagement. Once you are equipped with that information, you can focus on how to generate more of the same.

Social media marketing does require time and effort. But once you establish a habit of a monthly or weekly content plan and roll this out you can manage your time investment efficiently, and focus your efforts on establishing a two-way conversation and social identity for your Club. One that, crucially, is consistent with its brand and ethos.

Inspiration

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

 

This article was authored by GGA Manager and Marketing expert Linda Dillenbeck.

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