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It’s budget season for most golf course superintendents. Yes, just as the leaves begin to turn and retailers unveil their Christmas shopping displays, it’s once again time to sharpen those budgeting pencils and freshen up the PowerPoint skills.
But wait … isn’t it always budget season?
Yes! Or at least that’s how we should be thinking: Not as a once-a-year chore crammed into one frantic week, but as an ongoing responsibility — as critical as any nutrient that is applied to the course — carried out on a disciplined and consistent basis.
If you’re not thinking that way, if you’ve waited until now to contemplate your 2026 budget review and proposal, you might already be feeling the pressure: Worrying if you have all the facts and figures at your fingertips to make a compelling case for your budgetary needs. Wondering if you’re up to date on the latest trends and technology to increase efficiency, savings and enjoyment. Sweating the pressure of the big presentation to your managers and owners.
Yikes!
But budgeting doesn’t have to be an annual anxiety-ridden sweat festival. It can be, well, business as usual. That is, if you put your knowledge, experience and commitment to work in a disciplined and consistent approach. There’s still time to apply some of these tactics to the 2026 budget. Add them all to a folder on your desktop labeled “2027 Budget” and begin to breathe easier.
1. Review and update the course’s agronomic plan every month. What’s changed in the last 30 days? How does the plan need to be adjusted? Considered in this way, as a dynamic document, your plan is always current and requires minimal work at yearend before submitting for review and approval.
2. Keep meticulous records, including notes from meetings with managers and owners, to make sure your budget proposal reflects big-picture objectives, as well as the details that management considers important. It’s pretty impressive when you can say to a manager: “Remember that discussion we had back in April about drainage problems on No. 14? Here’s how we’re addressing that in next year’s budget.”
3. Check in regularly with the accountant to review how you’re tracking against the current budget. While you’re at it, preview any major funding and resource needs you’re contemplating. An accountant’s reaction could preview how easy or tough it will be to push through a specific request.
4. Make your presentations informative, engaging and compelling. Make sure the presentation addresses key goals and objectives for the coming year, the methods (standard or upgraded) that will be utilized, and the results that should be expected when you and your team have the resources outlined in the budget proposal.
Some suggestions:
- Use comparable golf courses for reference. These clubs should be realistic comparisons to your own facility with similar seasonality and capabilities. (Helpful hint: Augusta National is not a realistic comp for most courses.)
- Show photographs of the cutting heights, cultural practices and outcomes to which you aspire. If a picture is worth a thousand words, use your network of fellow superintendents and suppliers to speak volumes.
- Describe the methods and details (additional equipment, labor and materials) that are critical to the course conditions that the agronomic team, owners and managers want to reach.
- Don’t be shy about describing your own hopes and aspirations. Be willing to show the passion that brings you to work every day.
- Keep the presentation professional and positive. Be patient with questions and interruptions. Make eye contact to bring emphasis to your commitment to your job and for the requests you’re making. Allow ample time for questions and discussion.
The budgeting process — from preparation to presentation — need not be a harrowing experience and one that adds even more pressure to a pressure-packed job. That is, if you’re prepared.
It’s time to get started.
