Quick tips: Get your upgrades

Getting resources to maintain a golf course can be daunting enough, let alone winning support for upgrades that take things up a notch. We asked Robert Wiemer, golf course and landscape operations manager at Timber Pines in Tampa, Florida, to share his strategies for successfully pitching major projects.

Don’t take opposition personally. “I try to remember that the members own the property, and it’s my job to make sure they are fully educated,” Wiemer says. “You’re never going to please everyone, and you’re never going to get everything you want, but it’s our job as professionals to continually improve things.”

Get expert support and opinions. Enlisting other professionals and consultants allows a membership to compare objective opinions. “Don’t feel like you have to go it alone. Someone has been through the same tribulations you have,” he says.

Take stakeholders into the field. Seeing is believing, according to Wiemer. “Sometimes members say they understand, but they may not truly understand until they see it,” he says. “I will bring people into the field or the shop to make sure they understand why we want something. That hands-on experience helps a lot.”

Do your homework—and make sure it’s accurate. “You don’t want to make the mistake of looking ill prepared,” Wiemer says. Give yourself plenty of time to build a case by starting early.

Anticipate every question you’ll be asked. When you satisfy the people with the toughest questions, support will follow. During one renovation, Wiemer says members had a multitude of opinions about which grass to use. He carefully researched the choices until he found just the right grass. Because of his thorough legwork, he could respond to challenges with facts.

Document projects before and after they are done. Before and after pictures provide lasting evidence that you act in the best interest of the course and its members. Examples of past work can build support for future projects.