A Well-Played First Round
The first-ever Golf Industry Show ran as smoothly as a long-running Broadway—and drew boffo box-office numbers, too. The initial joint expo of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GSCAA), the National Golf Course Owners Assn. (NGCOA), and three supporting organizations was held in Orlando in early February and attracted over 22,700 attendees (a number that “exceeded expectations,” according to show organizers). Those who came were treated to an exclusive look at the taping of a Golf Channel interview with Jack Nicklaus (see next item); saw the actual “Building of a Green” from scratch within the Orlando Convention Center; roamed a show floor with 826 exhibitors; and attended a full complement of seminar offerings (see selected writeups in the rest of this show report).
Kind Words from the Master
The Golf Show began with Jack Nicklaus accepting the 2005 Old Tom Morris Award in recognition of his contributions and commitment to golf during two simultaneous “lifetimes” in the sport (both as a player and course designer). Opening session attendees then got to sit in on the taping of an interview between Nicklaus and The Golf Channel’s Adam Barr. In his acceptance speech and the interview, Jack Nicklaus had these thoughts about the importance of course superintendents and how golf courses have changed over the years:
• The source of all the answers. “I won’t start a project without a superintendent. I have to have them involved from the start of construction, because there are so many decisions—grass decisions, slope decisions, tree decisions— that only they can help me with. So it’s invaluable to have them from the start. “When I started on the tour, the level of maintenance at golf courses was fair at best. Everyone had complaints—the greens were terrible, the fairways were too long. We don’t have those anymore. “But we have to all remember that the idea now is not so much to bring people into the game, it’s to keep them in. If a golf course is too tough and they can’t play the game, they’re not going to stay.”
• How fairways have changed. “The guys today maintain fairways the way they used to maintain greens.”
• How bunkers have changed. “In 1962 Oakmont had furrowed bunkers, which meant if you got it in the bunkers you just chopped it out. Frankly, I wish they would bring that back. Today, the bunkers have to be perfect. And they’re never a penalty anymore. Because frankly, that’s what your memberships are sort of asking for. If I went back to furrowed bunkers, and making bunkers an actual penalty? Oh my gosh, everyone would scream.”
• How greens have changed. “Oakmont in 1962 were the fastest greens we’d ever putted on—and they weren’t very fast at all by today’s standards, probably about a seven and a half or eight. But that course has so much pitch that if you got a ball started, there was nothing to stop it. Today, with modern grasses that are very upright, the ball will stop going down the slope, so you have to cut them shorter to get more speed.”
The Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) still had a solo show act this year, and will have its own “farewell tour” next year in Hawaii before folding its conference and expo into the Golf Industry Show when it’s held in Anaheim in 2007. Here are highlights from some of the seminars that the CMAA held at this year’s conference in New Orleans in late February and early March
How to Speed Up Play, Even When It’s Steeped in Tradition
Niall Flanagan and Alan McGregor of St. Andrews Links Trust offered these insights as to how the pace of playing a round of golf can be monitored and improved, even at such an historic site as St. Andrews—which for many players is literally a “once in a lifetime” experience where the natural tendency is to fully savor each stroke, and step:
• Contrary to popular belief, even an historic course like St. Andrews runs the risk of discouraging a significant portion of its constituency through slow play. Locals account for half of the rounds played at St. Andrews’ six courses each year, and like anywhere else, when it takes too long for these players to complete their rounds they are less inclined to 1) stay at the club to spend on food and beverages and 2) play more themselves, or bring or refer others to the course.
• Good course management policies, from the time a course is first designed, are keys to establishing and maintaining a good pace of play. Remember that early par threes or fives are more inclined to create congestion, and that on courses where staggered starts are used, the same considerations should be given to the makeup of the back nine as to the front.
• Excessive focus on “finding ways for the course to beat the golfers” is a mortal enemy of efficient play; wider fairways, shorter roughs and reasonable green speeds all mean less time searching for balls or putting out.
• Caddies can be your biggest ally to pace-of-play initiatives; caddie training programs should stress how being quicker around the course in the morning enhances the opportunity for carrying a second bag and still being done for the day well before it gets dark.
• There are many subtle and tasteful, but effective, ways to keep pace-of-play thoughts and goals foremost in all golfers’ minds. St. Andrews lists suggested playing times for all holes, and for total rounds, on its scorecards; this practice alone cuts 10 to 15 minutes off average times, management feels. At its Old Course, the club also puts “3:57” on all practice balls, to remind all golfers of its objective for getting everyone around in a timely fashion (the actual average time last year was 4:12).
• Good yardage signage throughout the course also helps cure a frequent cause of slow play. St. Andrews ran into resistance about some yardage signage (such as subtly marking the distance to greens on sprinkler heads) because of its perceived effect on “tradition.” But it persevered and the changes eventually earned acceptance—and had a clearly positive effect on average times.
• One of the best ways to stop slow play, literally before it starts, is through strict adherence to, and enforcement of, starting times. Find ways to politely but firmly reinforce this policy at every step of the “customer care” process—from reservations to reception, on your Web site, at the practice area, in your locker room and pro shop, and at your caddie stand. Train your “starters” how to professionally and respectfully, but firmly, also be “stoppers” as needed. Unyielding enforcement of this policy will cause word-of-mouth warnings to travel quickly to potential malingerers: They simply can’t risk teeing off late, or they’ll lose their spot, no matter how far they've come top play your course.
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