S7 EP 06: Change Your Role to Increase Your Income & Grow Your Bottom Line

04/04/22 • 34 min

One thing we could probably all agree on is that traditionally the golf industry is pretty resistant to change. Look at the way we staff our golf operations with a Head Professional and X number of Assistants. That’s been the model for as long as anybody can remember. Add to that the scope of the job for everyone on the staff from teaching some, running events, doing some merchandising, etc. It’s been the same for a long time.
As we know we’re either in or approaching a crisis in the golf business. We need more Golf Professionals and while there are differing views on how we’re going to find them, no one has their finger on the definitive answer.
With that said, with challenges like these come innovation and now is the time to start thinking differently about how we structure the jobs at our facilities. At the forefront of this are two players in particular. The first, Club Corp, isn’t really known for innovating in the employment department within our industry. The second, Retail Tribe, is dedicated to helping clubs and Golf Professionals grow their business. The marriage between the two has created a new role for the modern Golf Professional that is revolutionizing how we view the impact a Golf Professional can make on the bottom line.
In a nutshell, as you will hear, Club Corp took traditional teaching professionals and Assistant Professionals and started incentivizing them to engage with members, develop programming, and generate excitement around the golf program. In turn, the Professional receives a cut of membership dues, program revenue, membership retention dollars, and spend on other items at the Club. Because they found that the more engaged a golfer is, the more the use the facility and the more they spend. And who better to engage golfers than a PGA Professional. It’s something that when you say it out loud, you respond with “of course”. But only now has someone stepped up and rewarded the Professional for the true impact they’re making. This model has been so successful, that Club Corp is rolling it out at every one of their facilities. That’s right, all of them.
Take the time to listen to this entire presentation that GBN hosted at the PGA Show this year. This model has the potential to revolutionize how Golf Professionals work and could save the industry in a time of crisis. Yes, it’s that powerful.
Here’s GBN's presentation with Ian James, the CEO of Retail Tribe, Mark Gore, the Sr. Vice President of Golf Operations at Club Corp, and Matt Anzalone, the Regional Vice President of Player Development at Club Corp.

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Previous Episode

S7 EP 05: Retaining Golfers...and Golf Professionals | Don Rea, PGA Secretary

It’s not often that we get to hear a conversation on the issues facing our industry directly from the leaders at the PGA of America. In the summer of 2021 I had the opportunity to record a conversation with Don Rea, the current Secretary of the PGA, and feel this conversation was definitely worthy of releasing again.

This was a wide ranging discussion that covered the challenges of recruiting in our industry today as well as goal setting for your future, while profiling Don’s unique rise through the industry to one of the most influential positions in golf today. If you’ve ever wondered if it’s possible to go from cleaning carts and picking the range to becoming the owner of the golf course, you need to hear this conversation!

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S8 EP 01 | The Club Pro Crisis | Shane Ryan, Golf Digest

This episode is brought to you by GBN University. GBNU is where today's PGA Professionals come to grow their skills, advance their careers, and increase their bottom lines. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com/gbnu for more info.
Welcome to Season Eight of the Getting Better Now podcast!
We kick things off with an important conversation about a topic you’re all too familiar with. There probably isn’t anyone listening that didn’t either read or hear about the Golf Digest article “The Club Pro Crisis”, published earlier this spring. Author Shane Ryan dove deep into the personal stories of a number of PGA Professionals, who opened up to him about their struggles in our industry. For those of us in the business, it was both familiar and a little bit (if not a lot) depressing. We all read the article saying to ourselves, “Yep, I’ve done that.”, “That’s right, that happened to me too.”, or even “You think that’s bad, how about this one?”.

Since the article put a spotlight on why our industry is struggling and what the job of a PGA Professional is really like, the good news is that a lot of people saw it and were awakened to our reality. Personally, I had former members of mine reach out and ask if all this was true and what I thought we needed to do. Solving this problem has to start with an awareness from decision makers that there is indeed a problem, and thanks to Shane Ryan, the ball is rolling a little faster now.

That’s why I wanted to bring him on the podcast and talk more about the article, the people that he spoke to, and his thoughts on what the problems are and how we can solve them. My goal is to put as much attention on this issue as I can, and hopefully this episode helps. If this gives you one more opportunity to send something to the leaders at your club to help prove that you need change at your facility, then please use this as a way to help. You know all of the stories that you’ll hear about, because you’ve lived them. But don’t assume the members at your club or the owner of your course knows them too. As Shane tells us, Golf Professionals have leverage like never before and an opportunity to force change for the better. We just need to make it happen.