It’s been said that a penny saved is a penny earned. But with rounds of golf slowing in the last couple years, those pennies are harder to come by. Pair that with the rising costs of materials and stagnant budgets, and superintendents are fighting to keep costs down while maintaining a lush and healthy golf course.
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Richard Gagnon, superintendent at Segregansett Country Club in Taunton, Mass., says almost 45 percent of his budget is labor. At full complement, Gagnon has 18 employees working for him.
“You’ve got to pay the most attention to that,” he says of his payroll. “More is better. I can’t use 10 people at 2 p.m., but I can use all 18 at 6 a.m.”
By prioritizing when his employees are on the clock, Gagnon has maximized his work force. Also, with the money saved from eliminating a lot of the overtime used, he hired some part-time help. Some of those employees work only a handful of hours for lower pay and golf privileges.
Gagnon says an added benefit of limiting overtime was keeping his full-time staff fresher.
Trent Wash, superintendent and club manager at Ellsworth Meadows Golf Club in Hudson, Ohio, keeps only two full-time employees on the maintenance staff and three in the clubhouse.
“You can kill yourself with labor,” Wash says. “We limit or curb overtime as much as possible.”
With a budget of $350,000 for the public course, Wash also incorporated natural areas on the renovated Ellsworth Meadows. This lessened the chemical and fertilizer usage on parts of the course as well as the time it would take an employee to maintain the area.
Gagnon did the same thing late last year and says he will implement the practice from the onset this season.
Sandy Clark, certified golf course superintendent at Barona Creek Golf Club in Lakeside, Calif., has the luxury of a higher budget but still watches costs closely. He sees clubs doing too much in a couple areas, one of which is purchasing chemicals.
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Money saving tips for superintendents |
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Buy what’s needed … not more |
“We only invest in what we need,” Clark says. “If we have a problem, we deal with it. Our supplier network is good enough to have what we need in a day’s notice.”
Gagnon saved his club $4,000 by pre-ordering half a season’s worth of chemicals before the start of the year. Though he says he wouldn’t recommend ordering more than that because of not knowing what the upcoming year holds, he knows he’ll use what he’s bought, and the money saved can be helpful elsewhere.
Watering the course is another aspect of which Clark pays close attention.
“We very carefully control water,” he says. “It’s not so much the cost – it’s pure water management.”
Clark says too many courses are wetter than they need to be and suggests analyzing the irrigation system, everything from nozzles to the pump’s efficiency to head spacing.
Dave Nadol, superintendent at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver, says thinking outside the box resulted in a lot of supplemental income for the course.
The owner, who also owns the housing community near the course, analyzed what he was spending on an outside company to landscape the houses. He determined it could be done with course equipment.
Though he was against the idea at first, fearing it would take him away from course responsibilities, Nadol supports the change and reaps the rewards of additional money added to his budget. Last year, $250,000 was added to the budget from landscaping profits. The landscaping business is now self-sustaining, with a manager and six laborers.
“We don’t sacrifice quality for price,” Nadol says. “It’s really nice to have money to do what we need to do. We’re able to provide a country club product available to the public.”
Keeping equipment in good working condition also is key to controlling costs. When Gagnon joined Segregansett, the $30,000 fairway aerifier was broken down and sitting outside under a tarp. Instead of accepting the thought of it being beyond repair, he looked into it deeper and found the problem. With a repair bill of just $125, the machine was up and running – saving the course a couple thousand dollars it would have spent to contract an outside company.
General maintenance of equipment is a universal thought to save money. By performing regular maintenance and operating the equipment by the book, Clark says he’s got carts that are five years old yet look and perform like new.
Steve Daurer, superintendent at The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill., cuts a lot of excessive spending by not dealing directly with a manufacturer when replacing parts. Though he has a healthy budget at the semi-private facility, not paying the manufacturer’s price – which can be twice as expensive as aftermarket parts – saves him money to be used for other areas of the course.
Creative management comes in handy when eliminating or reducing costs. Gagnon has several employees who are handy at woodworking. So, he had them create 60 cart signs during the winter while snow covered the fairways. Replacing the worn or broken signs with quality wood signs, Gagnon saved as much as $20 on each piece by doing the work in-house and added beauty to the course.
Gagnon’s members also provided an invaluable service to the course. They suggested “divot parties” where they would comb the course once or twice a month and fill in the divots. Gagnon says he couldn’t spare the employees for the task, but the members were more than happy to lend a hand.
As with any other aspect of life, dealing with limited funds can be difficult at times but well worth the trouble when the final product comes out the way it’s intended. GCN