Golf
The more forward thinking clubs will have had a course policy document in place for some time, to establish and maintain those standards expected in the daily maintenance of the golf course.
Billy McMillan, in this article, reviews its value in the face of modern day golf course management and suggests how we may develop it into a more accepted and modern day working document
The final piece of the jigsaw
I
t could be suggested a course policy document is restrictive, idealistic and whimsical. I say “could be” because I have been told that it is just that and, “in modern day thinking, pretty useless and plays little or no role in modern day golf course management”. Harsh words to my ears, because it was always my intention to have in place a vision for the development of the golf course going into the future; to outline those greenkeeping values of quality that we all hunger for. It was forward thinking in the sense of development and safeguarding qualities, so yes, I have always taken the view that it was a useful working tool.
It has been supported, in its production, by all the major golfing bodies here in the UK and been sold as a starting point for course improvement at golf clubs up and down the country. Something I have wholeheartedly agreed with but, being frank, it’s had its day, I think.
28 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014
It would be foolish to persist with a document that bears no relationship to changing times and the reality of golf as a business. So, what is the alternative to this dated and out of touch document? It’s not complex and has been the case for some time now that modern day golf course management has had to evolve and develop around the reality of the business that we are involved in. It should reflect the current economic facts and deliver qualities to establish a security of tenure in the longer term. Might I suggest that the reality of a course policy document in modern terms leaves little to be desired? It smacks of isolation and doesn’t reflect the reality of ‘inclusion’ to other departmental areas of the club.
The reality today is that we are all inexorably entwined in our club’s management team. We play a part, don’t we? And a major part, it must be said, because firstly our membership come to the club to play golf, and it should never
be the case we undervalue the jewel in the club’s crown that is the course itself. The reality is rather than a course policy document, we need a ‘club policy document’ that not only reflects the golf course but, more importantly, takes a holistic overview of the club’s business. There should be, within its pages, a merging of departmental areas of your business and, of course, have a common and up-to-date language of terminology. Frankly, height of cut margins, grass species dominance and cutting frequencies, however important, no longer form the bones of a working document for the club. They are, in fact, daily working policy reflecting current aspirations in the development and conditioning of your golf course. Growing grass is the easy part of this equation; more important is how these values can be supported within the business opportunities at your club. Any modern document will have to be flexible enough to react to change and
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