Ricky Heine, General Manager and Director of Grounds, The Golf Club Star Ranch |
Ricky Heine lives today in the same small Texas town where he grew up. But while he’s called the same place home for 44 years, Ricky’s life and career has been anything but routine or predictable.
Most recently, Ricky was elected as the 71st President of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). In taking this role, he became the first president of the organization to have achieved the status of being a club General Manager.
After graduating with a degree in agronomy from Texas A&M, Ricky served as Superintendent of two Texas clubs, Elkins Lake CC in Huntsville, and River Place CC in Austin. Then, in March 2000, he was named Director of Grounds for a new course in Austin, The Golf Club Star Ranch, and helped it get ready for its opening in May 2001.
In 2003—for reasons he explains in the conversation that follows—Ricky also took on the General Manager’s duties at Star Ranch. In his dual role, he has helped the club continue to grow and prosper, not only through great golf, but also strong pro shop sales, increased food and beverage revenues, and a thriving business for meetings, weddings and banquets that use the club’s facilities.
Certainly, Ricky has unique insights not only for how superintendents can advance their careers, but also how someone with a superintendent’s background can contribute to all aspects of club and resort management. Here’s what he had to tell me about those topics, and more:
Q Ricky, I hear that like many superintendents, myself included, working in agronomy runs in your family. How did this business get into your blood?
A It started with my father, a farmer who instilled a strong work ethic in me. He recently passed away at age 94, but still maintained a pesticide applicator’s license until he was 88. I also have an older brother, Bobby, who was a superintendent and is now a golf course consultant. That all contributed to my going to Texas A&M to get an Agronomy degree and starting to work as a superintendent. Once in the profession, I got involved with the GCSAA—I’m a Past President of the Central Texas and Lone Star chapters, and served on the national GCSAA Board for the past six years before being named President this year.
Q How did you come to find yourself in a General Manager role at Star Ranch?
Much of the GM’s role is about “empowering your team to do the things that make the facility successful,” says Heine, shown here with several Star Ranch staff leaders. Left to right: Sales Manager Megan Woodard; Director of Golf Rob Fulford; Assistant Manager Samantha Fulford; Mechanic Jose Trevino; Golf Course Superintendent Travis Carlson; Heine; and Assistant Superintendent Rogelio Denova. |
A Throughout my 17 years as a golf course superintendent, it seems I was always asking to be in the “loop.” This included things like golf carts, sales, insurance issues, and even food and beverage.
In 2003, when my employer at Star Ranch decided to make management changes, I was asked if I would consider managing the entire club, instead of just the golf course itself. When I asked, “Why me?” the response was that I had always showed good attention to detail and follow-through.
Q Did you always have a GM role in mind?
A Not at all. I guess I was just practicing the focus on a team concept, and on “putting the facility at the center,” that the GCSAA has been promoting for the past four to five years. The offer came as a complete surprise. I gave it some thought, and felt it was the right time to try something different. I have not regretted accepting it.
Q Once you had the added position, how did you go about preparing for the GM role?
A I think I always “prepared” just by learning, listening, helping, and giving support at the facilities where I have worked all my life. Getting to know the ownership and management team from the inside out, plus making some sacrifices when necessary, was all part of it, too.
Q How would you suggest that other superintendents who may be interested in becoming a general manager prepare themselves for a transition from superintendent to managing other areas?
A I believe that the Club Managers Association of America has an educational program for these things, and superintendent members of GCSAA can now get some of that education through the [combined] Golf Industry Show. I personally have not done that yet, but instead learned in the field from people that I trusted, and through hands-on conversations with the professionals in other areas of the club. But GCSAA will continue to have more and more access to education in these areas for those members who are seeking it.
Q How would you define the role of club GM?
A The GM’s role is to represent the ownership and manage the business as if it were your own. I feel like I have always managed this way, so it has been an easy transition. The job, compared to being a superintendent, is really just about managing a few more people and the leaders of your teams, and empowering them to do the things that make the facility successful. I don’t consider general manager to be a “higher” or “more prestigious” position, just a different one with different challenges and different opportunities.
Q How about involvement with the golf course?
Heine’s “attention to detail and follow-through” led to his being asked to be General Manager at The Golf Club Star Ranch, where he started as Director of Grounds. |
A The golf course is important—the facility is usually centered around it, and many other departments rely on its usage to be successful. And if you look at surveys about course satisfaction, the importance of conditioning is well-documented; it’s the driver of golfer enjoyment and course selection. So much of the focus of the management team should be to ensure its condition and improvement.
That’s why superintendents can make good GM candidates, because they already manage the largest staff, the most valuable resource, and take a global perspective of the facility. The golf course superintendent and the GM, in fact, have a lot in common. The demands of the superintendent profession have gravitated to make it more compatible with being a GM. The profession began as the “art of greenkeeping,” then added to that the “science of turfgrass management,” then grew into the “business of golf course management.”
Q Do you see the futu
re of governance at most clubs as “one size fits all,” with a true general manager or COO, or will there be more of a team approach?
A I’m surely not an expert on this topic, but I don’t think there’s a “one size fits all” model out there. The type, size, and facilities of a club all play a part in the decision regarding a management structure. I think it’s more about the people involved—the right person can, and should, find the leadership role within the facility. C&RB
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