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YOUR CAREER
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Season of opportunity
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Unless you’re in the Sunbelt, springtime means opening courses that have been closed for winter or preparing for bigger crowds at courses that stay open year-round. In either instance, spring offers a sense of excitement and anticipation for facilities and golfers alike — and a great opportunity for superintendents to reach out to their customers and community.
Offer an open house. The nice weather provides the perfect time to invite golfers, media and other community members out to the course, and specifically your maintenance facility, to learn more about what you do. It can be as simple as a meet-and-greet, or you can develop a presentation that highlights what the superintendent profession entails. Know your audience and key in on specific topics that may be of interest to them. Have you completed a major renovation project? Show it off, or walk members through the details of an upcoming project. Want to highlight your environmental efforts? Prepare a talk that focuses on the environmental aspects of your operation. Grill hot dogs or order pizza or barbecue, and the investment of time and money you put into an open house will be well worth the connections you’ll make with your customers.
A friendly face. If you don’t have the time or budget to host an open house, then make the effort to spend some time at the first tee. Golfers who have been holed up all winter are excited to get out and play and talk about the game they love. Be a visible presence in the morning or spend some time in the grill room. Introduce yourself to golfers, share what’s coming up this season that may affect their games, and answer any questions they may have. Work with your golf professional as a team to greet golfers and let them see how the entire facility works together to provide an enjoyable golf experience. Just 30 minutes a day greeting your golfers goes a long way in creating a better understanding of how your efforts are crucial to their enjoyment of the game.
Host a media outing. It’s not just golfers you’ll want to connect with as golf gets into gear this spring. If you don’t already have a working relationship with your local media, now is the time. Plan an outing for local sports, business or environmental media members. They’ll get free golf and you’ll get the chance to explain why golf courses are great environmental and recreational assets to your community. Most important, next time you have an interaction with your local media — whether it’s a positive event you want to promote or because you need to explain how summer drought has affected playing conditions — you’ll already have a connection with local writers and editors.
For more information about promoting your facility and your profession, visit the Solutions/Tools section of www.gcsaa.org, or contact the GCSAA communications department at 800-472-7878 or commteam@gcsaa.org.
Are you the type of superintendent who’s media-shy but knows the importance of getting the message out to the press about what’s happening on your course? An upcoming GCSAA webcast is designed especially for you. “An Easy Approach to Working with Local Media” focuses on how to take a proactive approach to promoting your golf course, your profession and your staff. Presented by Jeff Bollig, director of communications for GCSAA, and Lynn Cannon, director of development for the Golf and Environment Foundation of Arizona, the webcast will explore easy ways to communicate to a variety of audiences the value of your course and what it provides to the community from environmental, economic and recreational perspectives. For more information, visit www.gcsaa.org/education/webcast/webcast.aspx, |
