Adobe Stock, deagreez
After Billy Davidson was promoted to superintendent of Collier’s Reserve Country Club in Naples, Florida, he and former golf pro Steve Waugh discussed the importance of meeting ownership expectations.
“They spent their entire career as successful CEOs and CFOs, and running huge businesses,” Davidson recounts Waugh saying. “They can smell (BS) a mile away. Tell the truth.”
Davidson keeps that in mind when creating budgets — especially ones during course renovations — as superintendent at Country Club of Naples, in Florida, where he has worked the last 18 years.
In April 2023, the club started a rebuilding project, updating the design, greens, irrigation system, tees, bunkers and grass. To prepare for the overhaul, Davidson limited maintenance practices during the 2022 fiscal year, comparing this process to preparing to sell a car.
“If you know that you’re going to trade your car in or you’re going to sell your car in six months, you probably are not going to put new tires on it, if you need new tires,” he says. “Because you’re like, ‘The next guy can worry about it.’”
With the construction starting after the COVID-19 pandemic — and amid the looming threat of supply chain issues — he and his team purchased inventory in advance. “I had the entire irrigation system sitting in my building here six months before we ever started, which would normally not be the case.”
Although he describes the process as a “planning nightmare,” procuring the resources in a timely manner helped prevent delays.
Other factors he kept in mind while preparing for the project included payroll and utility expenses.
“A lot of people forget to add freight, a lot of people forget to add sales tax, a lot of people forget to add a contingency,” he continues. “So, you need to think about what it actually costs to get it.”
Working under the premise of “underpromising and overdelivering,” Davidson multiplied the cost, including Florida’s sales tax of 6 percent, by 1.1 while also adding a little inflationary buffer, following Waugh’s advice of telling the truth.
“If you can save $80 and it’s not going to kill you or you can save a little bit of money, … you’re not going to not achieve the desired result for the sake of trying to be a hero.”
Whether making a budget for a project or not, Davidson strives to keep constant communication with everyone and remain comfortable asking for help.
"They’re not expecting you to be … Warren Buffett and understand spreadsheets and financial acumen the way they do,” he adds. “So, if you need help, ask for it.”
Adriana Gasiewski is Golf Course Industry’s editorial assistant.
