A business in your community likely needs help. There’s a good chance a pleasant family providing jobs for neighbors oversees the finances and operations.

Some states are permitting these businesses to operate under strict restrictions this spring. Other states are forbidding customers from entering the premises but allowing a small team of determined people to maintain a multimillion-dollar asset covering large acreage.

The revenue they receive comes in a variety of forms: individuals seeking solitude, families, friends, competitors, after-work leagues and sizable gatherings scheduled months in advance. The latter two represent projectable revenue. Not even the brightest industry minds can now project what tomorrow will bring for these businesses.

Think of the times you have been urged to support a local business over the past two months. Think of the times you acted on that urge. The family-owned pizza place gets your business once a week. You still ordered a Mother’s Day or a just-because gift from a local jeweler or florist, either online or via phone.

But what about your local golf course? If you live in a state where elected officials are permitting golf, have you played 18, or even 9, at a course likely suffering because leagues can’t linger for a post-round drink or two and gatherings are being canceled?

You work in golf. Your dedication makes it a better game and business. Most of you, though, struggle to find the time or a reason to play more golf. We last asked about your golf habits in our 2016 State of the Industry survey. Only 41 percent of you play at least once per month.

The amount of time and effort you put into the job is a big barrier to playing more golf. That barrier will not be lifted this spring or summer. Away from work, your life might be different. The kids’ organized activities are on pause. Your favorite team isn’t playing. Your vacation could become a staycation.

Just maybe disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic are providing additional recreational hours. Just maybe those hours can be devoted to something you have been putting off for years … such as playing more golf.

A golf course might be one of the few places you can take your children or meet your buddies as summer approaches. A golf course is safe and soothing. Spacing is easy on a golf course. Have you ever walked off a course and mumbled, “I wish I had stayed home?” Probably not. But have you stayed home and mumbled, “I should play more golf?”

Try playing somewhere different this spring and summer. Sure, you might have access to where you work, or maybe an industry contact is willing to secure you a tee time at an A-list private club. But supporting the golf economy in tricky times involves spending $20 to walk 9 at a local public course. Your business will be appreciated. Your mind will feel better.

Municipal courses are subsidized; dues and initiation fees sustain private courses. Those two segments account for 6,223 of America’s 14,613 golf facilities, according to the National Golf Foundation’s 2019 Golf Facilities in the U.S. report. That means 8,390 courses fall under the “daily fee” category. Small businesses dominate this sector and help make the golf industry unique. Small businesses in nearly every industry are collecting fewer fees this spring.

Golf courses, like other small businesses, are community assets. Small acts of support can help the pleasant people who own and operate one close to your home endure the hardships of an unpleasant spring.

Think and act locally within your own industry. You might rediscover the joys of a healthy activity while boosting a business that needs support.

When the USGA and R&A released their key findings from the Distance Insights project on Feb. 4, I never imagined that just two months later I would be placing stakes six feet apart on the edge of all teeing grounds at our first hole as a visual reference assisting players to maintain a safe social distance.

I had heard of COVID-19 prior to the Golf Industry Show. I remember it was in the news, but mostly it was in China. As one of 12,000 attendees who spent time exploring the 500 exhibits spread over 450,000 square feet in the Orange County Convention Center, I washed my hands frequently to prevent catching a cold.

On March 11, my wife and I watched as the President addressed the nation in response to the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 becoming a pandemic. We have faced West Nile Virus, SARS, bird flu, swine flu, Ebola and Zika over the last two decades, and now this. I never experienced serious fear during those other outbreaks. But this has been different, especially in the way the entire world reacted.

I have never witnessed anything like what is happening around us. A few days later, I addressed my team and said we would take new measures to observe the CDC’s guidelines on social distancing. Only one person per utility vehicle. Enhanced sanitation and disinfecting of steering wheels, door handles, hand tools, etc. would occur daily. By the next morning, we took steps to limit the number of people in our employee meeting room to comply with even newer guidelines announced the evening before.

Daily announcements from the Governor’s office coincided with our changes. First, it was the closure of all restaurants and bars, which immediately impacted our food and beverage operation. A week later it was the closure of gyms, health clubs, yoga studios and other exercise facilities, leaving golf as the last holdout for recreational and physical activity, other than walking or hiking. I have played a few rounds since the March 11 address.

As the days slowly pass, I’m learning about the incredible behind-the-scenes effort to make the case for golf. A coalition of associations are working around the clock to plea with lawmakers that golf has a purpose and golfers can participate safely within the CDC’s guidelines. Club managers, PGA professionals, superintendents, owners and state lobbyists are touting golf’s economic impact and recreational benefits in the effort to keep courses open.

On March 26, Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, where I reside and work, issued a stay-at-home order. Playing golf was listed as an approved outdoor activity because of the coalition’s effort. Four days later, the Governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order. He also included golf as an approved outdoor activity.

I wrestled up the courage to update my blog on March 31. I had been reluctant to do so because of the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 situation and I didn’t want to recite something that became inaccurate or obsolete in less than 24 hours. I told my membership about the steps we had taken, both within the facility to keep ourselves healthy and safe, and on the golf course to provide them an environment to play golf as safely possible – no carts, bunker rakes, coolers or sand divot bottles, and cups turned upside down to prevent putts from falling below the surface. Golf looks different, but the course does look good with less clutter.

Golf has been around for centuries and will survive this pandemic. I have believed golf has the potential to be a beacon of hope. I know my inbox was flooded with thank-you messages following the blog post.

But I know there are others who feel differently. Why should folks continue to have the luxury to play golf when everyone else is sacrificing? I know some golf-lovers won’t play during the shutdowns out of guilt. Others are happy to tee it up each day.

I don’t know whether playing is right or wrong. The health services director of Sacramento County, California, recently visited a busy golf course and declared what he witnessed as safe. But the director of the adjoining county health department said, “The question should not be whether something can be done with social distancing, but rather must something be done?”

All I can do is what is permitted in North Carolina. Our team is happy to continue serving members and we hope to keep providing folks an important outlet in the safest manner possible.

Stay safe, everyone!

As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, there’s a big difference between real “news” and people just talking. Noise and distractions can blur what’s important. As a result, critical information can get lost in a sea of chatter. Chances are, none of this comes as a surprise to you. But these are still key points to remember when you are called upon to communicate, whether about COVID-19 or anything else.

Cluttered, confusing messages to your staff or golfers will inhibit forward progress. With so much new information coming every day, it’s crucial that you improve your communications methods: Your job should be to present the facts, clearly and completely, with an eye toward achieving the desired action or outcome.

COVID-19 is an example of our tendency to over-obsess about what we see on the news. It’s also a good, if unfortunate, example that troubled times demand succinct, swift and coherent communication to our members, customers, clients and bosses.

What lessons did you take from the pandemic? How did you spend your time sheltering at home? Were you glued to the TV set wondering if your golf course would re-open? Or did you craft a revival plan as well as a meaningful message explaining what will need to be done? Here’s what I learned:

Lesson No 1: Keep it simple, keep it real

At times like these, it’s essential that you communicate efficiently and truthfully. Especially when people are being bombarded with endless and contradictory messages. To get your points across:

• No fluff. Don’t over-explain, sugar-coat, or make jokes.
Useless information wastes everyone’s time, especially yours.
• Regular updates are important, but not too many. Don’t talk just to hear yourself.
• Be honest: If labor is the issue, explain why your crew can’t get to every little detail.

Lesson No. 2: Timing is everything

• If the information is irrelevant by the time you’re ready to use it, it’s too late.
• If you have a long-range message regarding on-course activities to be conveyed over several months, daily updates are useless and a distraction.
• Do not waste time – yours and your members’. If you have something worthwhile to share, great; otherwise, keep quiet and do your job.
• Repeating the same message will annoy your audience. You’ll be seen as the guy crying “the sky is falling” and you’ll be ignored.

Lesson No. 3: Avoid hypotheticals

Don’t say what couldbe rather than what is known to be true.

• Predictions are just that, and they will come back to hurt you. Bet on it.
• Assumptions and guesses can turn out to be wrong, even when there’s some science behind them. Case in point? Weather forecasts.
• Be careful of confirmation bias, believing something to be true, then bending everything else to fit that belief.

Communicating during a crisis takes extra discipline and leadership. Natural disasters, stock market dives and other disease outbreaks are learning experiences. And there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you are learning just like everyone else. All the more reason to make your points clearly and get things done as you prepare for whatever comes next. Whenever and however you are communicating, keep the following in mind:

Have a goal. Before you say or write anything, know what you want your audience to do with the information. Is action required, or are you trying to inform, educate or update?

What’s the best way? Should your message be written, appear on social media, be a video or photo? Will face-to-face work best? Make sure the medium fits the message.

Be organized. Start by creating an outline that includes your goal, main points and how you can illustrate them. Follow this plan and avoid “scope creep.” Be the one who stands firm when the world is shaky.

Be Persuasive. Use facts, though tough times do often call for appealing to your emotion. (Just don’t overdo it.)

Less is More. Be concise. Don’t waste time with tidbits, repeated information or overly complicated scientific details.

Keep it Simple. Don’t be a scientist. Use visuals to make or enhance your points.

Listen. Good communication is a two-way street. If you don’t give your audience the chance to engage – and then listen to them – you won’t connect. Encourage their feedback, listen to what they’re saying, and address their concerns.

No matter where your course is located, the next few months are going to be demanding. As I write this in late April, about half of all United States courses are open for play. That number is likely to increase steadily by the end of spring.

The ability to reopen the economy locally or nationally will depend upon the development of a three-stage public health program that starts with comprehensive testing, includes antibody testing and monitoring, and ultimately produces a vaccine. Anything less than that and the reboot will be partial at best.

We’re in it for the long haul. For superintendents, this will be a very trying time. Instead of thinking of it as the most difficult you have faced, consider it the most important. If you adjust and innovate, this should also be the most rewarding time of your career. Here are 10 things to do to help you adapt.

1. Get involved in facility finances, not just in budgeting your own department. That means learning about food and beverage budgets, dues, initiation fees and capital investment.

2. The smart clubs will not simply slash but use this time to rethink their entire operations. Moving forward will require some creative thinking about distance spacing in the restaurant and bar, and whether it really pays to rely on offering full-service sit-down meals that traditionally lose money on every cover served. Many facilities are discovering the value of take-out service: low labor costs, less food spoilage, more camaraderie among appreciative golfers and community residents. We are going to see a big shift in how facilities structure their F&B.

3. The same goes for dues. The smart clubs won’t just slash fees because of cutbacks in clubhouse services. We’ll see more creative financing of initiation fees. Clubs should also resist simple dues cutbacks and rely instead on rolling over a percentage of the monthly fees as credit for continued membership next year. That creates more of a sense of ownership in the club rather than a transactional, customer bargaining relationship with your members.

4. Superintendents also need to plan for a new range of responsibilities. Who is going to police “social distancing” among golfers or cart use and traffic? All facilities will need to develop policies and protocols for handling these issues – scripted responses by staff, delineation of responsibility and hierarchies of authority for making tough calls. Superintendents need to be a part of that conversation because they and their staff will be on the frontline of any monitoring.

5. For superintendents with smaller crews because of furloughs, make sure you communicate to your staff about what their concerns are and what their opportunities are for advancement. Encourage them to develop new skill sets and to become familiar with different machinery. Don’t be afraid to learn from them. Make sure they understand the importance of the new morning rituals of sanitizing – and that they understand the need to protect each other as well as golfers.

6. Leave some blank space on the whiteboard every morning. Decide every day what you are not going to do. Golfers grateful to be playing at all will accept less than pristine conditions. Single cut the greens instead of double cut and roll. Rake bunkers every other day. Let the rough grow a little. Get used to less than perfect. It’s going to be part of the new normal anyway.

7. Use your newfound free time to reconnect with former colleagues, old professors, turf professionals you admire and friends you have not spent enough time with. The payback here is so rich both emotionally and vocationally.

8. Keep in touch with former employees who have been let go. Let those you want back know you want them back. Given the generosity of the federal unemployment benefits supplement in many states, some of them will be making more now than they did when they were working. That won’t last. Make sure you stay in their plans.

9. Make use of educational resources. Spend time with what’s being offered by the GCSAA, CMAA, USGA Green Section and various turf and facility consultants. Encourage your staff to participate. Include decision makers at your facility, whether they are board or green committee members or folks sitting on the municipal golf committee.

10. This is a great time to get away from the facility. There’s less pressure to perform and a lot more time and need to be home. Sure, your golf course needs you. But your family needs you more. And you need them more.