Golf

Golf & Technology: Using Science to Improve the Art & Experience

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The question of whether golf is more science or art has been debated for years. Most good players and PGA/LPGA professionals will tell you it is both.

Teachers and coaches today use available science and modern technology to help their students improve their art. It is not just about playing the game, but about how technology can give our members and guests a better experience.

When I was a young assistant golf professional in the 1980s, few golf shops were using computers to monitor and track inventory and sales, assist in tournament administration, manage payroll or even handicaps.

We always had a handicap book where you would write in your scores. The person who calculated our handicaps would come by and pick up the books once a month. Magically, we would then get a handicap report to staple up on the wall for the month.

This, of course, is before the USGA created the GHIN system. Yes, I go back that far.

Many companies today offer services that raise the service bar for members. For example, members love to push a button and something happens. Remember the doorbell-type ringer at the bag drop, and hope they get your clubs on the cart quickly.

Now, members can let the golf staff know where they want their clubs, i.e., at the range, on a cart or at bag drop, all with the push of a button on an app. The club staff can be on top of this service feature to make sure the member’s day starts on a positive note.

Among the best things that have come about for high-end clubs are the apps that let you know who’s getting ready to walk through the door or drive up to the entry to the club before they even get out of their car.

Asking a member for their member number tells them one thing: “I don’t know who you are.” Now, your staff can see who enters the parking lot, including their name, member number, a picture or headshot and other personal information the member approves ahead of time.

It is a far cry from tracking the information in the club’s POS, printing it all out and reading through it for the next day. It allows the golf staff to be on top of it. The information is at your fingertips, or your staff’s fingertips, in real time.

Golf staff can coordinate with the F&B team regarding cart items, such as favorite beverages or snacks. They can have something delivered in the round without calling in, waiting on hold, then dealing with the possibility of human error with a verbal order.

It may be that they want their favorite sleeve of three new golf balls on the cart for each of their guests. The ability to drive extra revenue is the side benefit of elevating the member and guest experience.

At my home club in the mountains of Arizona, we constantly check the app for lightning delays when we hear the horn go off, as it tells us exactly how long it will be till the delay ends or we hear another horn.

Sometimes it comes in handy near the end of a round to decide if you’re going to wait it out or not. Technology has made golf a more enjoyable game. Online tee times are almost the norm now and have come a long way in the last 10 years. So much easier than dialing a phone for 10 minutes and hoping you are one of the lucky ones.

I could write a whole article on the benefits of instruction, which I have mentioned in some of my previous articles. Technology has been a game changer, with teaching technology that encompasses a range of tools and systems designed to enhance golf instruction and player development, including launch monitors, virtual reality, AI-powered analysis tools, wearable sensors and pressure plates.

These technologies provide detailed feedback, personalized training and a more engaging learning experience for golfers of all levels.

We truly live in an age where if someone thinks it, someone finds a way to design and offer a solution. Challenge your golf team to make every day an awesome golf experience for members.

THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – September/October 2025

Paul K. Levy, PGA, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE. He can be reached via email: paul@kkandw.com.

Golf & Technology: Using Science to Improve the Art & Experience2025-10-14T17:32:13+00:00

10 Books That Belong on Every Golfer’s Bookshelf

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In scope, quality and imaginativeness, golf writing soars above the literature of other major sports.

Yes, I’m biased. I love the game. But I also love great writing.

For starters, the vast playing field allows for the mind to wander over landscapes, fauna and flora, to conjure up fairways and greens. The time consumed by actual athletic motion and ball flight might absorb only three or four minutes of a typical four-hour round. That leaves plenty of time for the mind to observe, scrutinize and criticize the smallest aspects of the game and the biggest aspects of life.

All that mental activity has produced an array of literary works. My own golf library—about 1,400 books and continuing to expand—represents but a modest percentage of all golf titles published over the decades.

Every golfer has preferences. Some go for instructional guides; others are drawn to dramatic accounts of players in competition. Some embrace golf fiction; others follow the game’s rich history.

So here are some suggestions that reflect my personal favorites from all different genres, designed to interest both golfer and nongolfer alike. On one level, these volumes have helped shape—or document—the story of one of the world’s oldest games. But they are so much more than that; they are great reads that make us marvel and think.

It’s a mind game
“The Mystery of Golf”
By Arnold Haultain (1908)

Golf as the ultimate mind game is the focus of this idiosyncratic little essay. The book is part psychology, part physiology of the nervous system, and in large part a musing by a thoughtful writer on the frailties of the human body under the pressure of physical exertion.

Its immediate object is the gap between anticipated potential and actual achievement that a golfer experiences during a round. “In almost all other games you pit yourself against a mortal foe,” Haultain writes. “In golf it is yourself against the world.”

Yet much of this book pertains to the challenge anyone faces when performing a task that they know they can excel at, but rarely do—whether it’s piano playing, writing under deadline or attempting do-it-yourself handiwork at home. The best golf writing, it turns out, is also about life.

Swing, swing, swing
“Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons”
By Ben Hogan (1957)

Anyone who has ever caught someone practicing their golf swing while waiting for an elevator or standing in line at a coffee shop will have wondered what the obsession is with that peculiar motion.

Rest assured: There is a massive literature on the subject. Published instruction on the golf swing dates to the 1850s. Arguably the bestselling, and still one of the most discussed among swing gurus, is this lavishly illustrated volume written by Herbert Warren Wind in conjunction with golf legend Ben Hogan and first published as a series in Sports Illustrated. The bold graphics by artist Anthony Ravelli and accompanying technical detail are at times overwhelming even to an experienced player.

One particularly memorable illustration shows a drawing of Hogan prepared to swing, with a sheet of glass at a 45-degree angle resting around his neck. The caption advises: “Visualize the backswing plane as a large pane of glass that rests on the shoulders as it inclines upwards from the ball.” It all makes for much to think about—verging on “paralysis by analysis,” as the phrase goes. But that obsession is part of the allure of the game. For the dedicated player seeking to get getter, this singular volume provides dozens of bold images to think about and envision, on or off the course.

A fictional world
“Golf in the Kingdom”
By Michael Murphy (1971)

A student of Zen, on his way to an ashram in India, stops off in Scotland to play a round of golf at an obscure course and is smitten by the spirit of the game. This work of fantasy became a surprise bestseller, in large part because you don’t have to be a golfer to be enamored of the way Murphy, a co-founder of the Northern California-based Esalen Institute, turns playing golf with the mystical golf pro Shivas Irons into a journey of the soul’s limitless possibilities. It’s less about mastering the golf course than about the New Age adventure of extending oneself transcendentally, outside space or time.

A world tour
“The World Atlas of Golf”
By Pat Ward-Thomas, Herbert Warren Wind, Peter Thomson (1976)

As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to be an armchair traveler than to page through this globe-trotting volume of famous golf courses. Wind’s essay, “The Imperishable Genius of the Master Architects,” makes a convincing case that golf-course designers are artists whose work merits serious study. Whether exploring Muirfield (Scotland) Pine Valley (U.S.), Hirono (Japan) or Royal Melbourne (Australia), this analytical travelogue relies upon detailed maps, course narratives and tales of some great shots played upon them to make these places come alive as cultural artifacts that you are effectively visiting in absentia.

Meditations on a sport
“Following Through”
By Herbert Warren Wind (1985)

The dean of American golf writers honed his craft over a four-decade period at Sports Illustrated and the New Yorker. His Cambridge University training in classical literature shows up in long, complicated sentences and a range of historical allusions. No one else in the press tent of a U.S. Open ever described one of Jack Nicklaus’s mammoth tee shots as “Brobdingnagian.”

Well into the 1980s, Wind’s followers didn’t consider a major championship concluded until Wind’s essay on it appeared—often two months later. His “North to the Links of Dornoch” in 1964 made known to the world the heretofore hidden gem of a Scottish Highlands links, Royal Dornoch Golf Club. Wind’s depiction of the alcohol-fueled atmosphere of esteemed British stuff-shirt amateurs at Rye Golf Club in “An Entirely Different World: The President’s Putter” in 1972 never gets stale as an exemplar of savage parody. Anyone enamored of the writings of such Britons as P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh or Kingsley Amis will be at home in Wind’s pages.

A game to remember
“The Greatest Game Ever Played”
By Mark Frost (2002)

The triumph of local amateur Francis Ouimet in the 1913 U.S. Open at the course he had caddied at, the Country Club in Brookline, Mass., was a turning point in American golf. The win by the working-class hero helped convert perceptions of golf from an elite indulgence into a populist sport.

n the hands of a talented storyteller like screenwriter Mark Frost, the tale acquires mythic status. That is because Frost takes liberties to delve into the minds of the chief protagonists in the epic moment: not just Ouimet, but also the two British golf champions he beat along the way, Ted Ray and Harry Vardon. The result is a thrilling story of a working-class triumph and the growth of golf’s mass appeal.

Elevating the craft
“Bernard Darwin on Golf”
Edited by Jeff Silverman (2003)

It’s a good thing that this grandson of famed naturalist Charles Darwin gave up law to become a golf scribe. Over the first half of the 20th century, Englishman Bernard Darwin elevated professional golf writing through wide-ranging essays published regularly in the London newspaper the Times, as well as Country Life magazine.

A fine golfer himself whose game was marked by an insufferably vile, self-directed temper, Darwin traveled widely to report firsthand, whether it was on Ouimet’s victory in the 1913 U.S. Open, throughout Great Britain and Ireland visiting great courses, or at obscure amateur events watching up-and-coming amateurs. He was equally entertaining describing great players, rules debates, swing technique or the misfortune of playing golf with ill-mannered people. Among the highlights is “The Links of Eiderdown” from 1934, in which he finds himself laid up in bed with a cold, only to take pleasure in the imaginary golf holes formed from the folds of his blanket. Darwin’s craftsmanship allows even the nongolfer to find such prose engaging.

Tiger tale
“Tiger Woods”
By Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (2018)

From a childhood that bordered on near-abuse by his father to emergence into the global stratosphere as a one-name golf great, Tiger has been a fascinating figure. Also, a tragic one, given the gap between his public achievements and his private life disasters.

This is no hagiography. The authors hold nothing back while still conveying the excitement of watching Tiger’s daring shots that few if any of his PGA Tour peers would even imagine trying. The two biographers detail both the on-course and the, at times, sordidly off-course paths taken by contemporary golf’s most dominant character. Golfers will eat up the story, but even nongolfers will find fascinating the path to stardom. For both audiences, the question left open is whether the achievement of eternal sports fame is worth the price paid along the way.

Architectural masterpieces
“Golf Architecture in America”
By George C. Thomas Jr. (1927)

The period between the two world wars coincides with the Golden Age of golf-course architecture. Enduring gems such as Pine Valley, Pebble Beach, Winged Foot, Riviera and Augusta National were created in this era; a century later, they are still challenging the best golfers while continuing to provide enjoyable walks in the park for everyday players.

Among the many self-taught designers who worked in that period was George C. Thomas Jr., a wealthy Philadelphian who took his expertise in horticulture to the West Coast and created such memorable Golden Age courses as Riviera, Bel-Air and Los Angeles Country Club—North Course. In addition to writing several respected books on rose cultivation, Thomas wrote a landmark volume on the fine art of naturalistic golf design. Its enduring value resides in the detailed drawings and photographs of famous golf holes. They convey features like bunkers and fairways with broken, irregular edges that blend with the arroyos and dry washes of the Southern California landscape.

Anyone interested in landscape architecture will find this book compelling for its aesthetic, one based more on a scruffy sensibility than a lush, polished, lawn-like presentation.

A seat at the table
“Matchless: Joyce Wethered, Glenna Collett and the Rise of Women’s Golf”
By Stephen Proctor (2025)

Fresh off the press, this book traces the history of late 19th- and early 20th-century women’s golf and how it culminated in a series of matches pitting the dominant female players of the interwar period on both sides of the Atlantic.

Englishwoman Briton Joyce Wethered and American Glenna Collett are at the center of this account, but many other amateur golfers appear on stage as well in what amounts to a generational “life and times” of women’s golf. What we have here is not mere game narrative of major championships, but sportswriting embedded in a larger cultural contest. This was, after all, as Proctor reminds us, “when suffragettes around the globe were fighting stubbornly, sometimes violently, to establish their rightful place in a patriarchal world.”

Wall Street Journal – September 2025

Bradley S. Klein is a veteran golf course writer, book author and design consultant. He has previously written for the USGA Green Section Record on golf course renovation planning and other topics. He is an industry partner with KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, a consulting firm providing executive search, strategic planning and data analysis services to the private club and hospitality industries. Please contact Bradley S. Klein directly for assistance.  He can be reached at igolfbadly@aol.com | 860-508-7696 | @BradleySKlein on X (Twitter)

10 Books That Belong on Every Golfer’s Bookshelf2025-09-30T20:07:11+00:00

Your Golf Professional’s Office: Should They Spend Time There?

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Every professional at your club—from the executive chef to the tennis pro, clubhouse manager and chief financial officer— has a designated office. Yet, too often, golf and country clubs fall short when it comes to providing functional, well-designed office spaces.

Offices are often small and tucked in a corner, especially in clubs built 100 years ago. I had one office where, if two people wanted to sit down and talk to me, I had to shut the door to squeeze in a second chair.

In the world of recruiting and executive search, one of the questions for candidates for any position is this: “How do you spend your day?” How much time do you spend in the office? If someone spends too much time in their office, it is a concern—they do not get out to meet the members, greet them and their guests, or see what members of their management team are doing. The old management-by-walking- around theory.

But when it comes to your golf professional, you want them to be in their office as much as possible. A great professional uses their office well. You might ask: Do you mean the computer room, the bag storage area or the pro shop corner where holiday gift wrapping happens, or could you possibly be talking about “the great outdoors”?

That is exactly what I am referring to—the office with green grass and white sand in the bunkers, which is the space members pay thousands in initiation fees and hundreds in dues each month to access. We’re talking about the practice facilities and the golf course.

Often, a club will ask me how much time the professional it is considering recruiting spends coaching and teaching. The concern is that if they are spending too much time coaching and teaching, they’re not doing their job. In our specialized world, many clubs have a director of instruction whose job is to coach and teach. But I say the culture of coaching and teaching starts with the head of the golf operation—the director of golf, or the head golf professional at some clubs that do not have the title of director.

I often share with clients that you want a professional who is an expert in coaching and teaching the game and passionate about their operation being one that focuses on lowering members’ handicaps and creating enjoyment.

What better way to make sure members continue to pay their dues every month than to help them want to play more golf? Golf is a game where, if someone doesn’t improve, they will often get discouraged. This is not good for the club’s attrition rate.

Great leaders of golf operations get that. They create a culture in which the entire golf staff engages members to help them improve their game. What better way to ensure someone stays a member of a club than to see their use of the club go up?

I have, on rare occasions, even seen clubs that can bonus the golf professional based on the overall handicap average of the club going down in, say, a given year.

Teaching and coaching programs and cultures today include many things. In the previous article, I discussed the importance of your club having a modern-day practice building with hitting bays, state-of-the-art equipment that uses technology to the highest degree and club-fitting equipment to get you that right set. It may be a great junior program—one of my passions in my earlier club professional days—where you ensure that you have a strong next generation of golfers and club members. It could be a strong women’s beginner instructional program that makes it fun for new golfers to take up the game and meet other women at the club with whom to grow in their golf experience.

The message here…you want your golf professional to spend a lot of time in their office. This also includes playing with members. Your professional’s ability to coach, teach and play the game at a high level is something members respect and enjoy when they spend time with a member of the professional staff.

So next time someone thinks the golf professional is spending too much time in their office on the green grass, think again about the value they’re creating for your membership. When it’s all done, that’s why you hire them.

THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – July/August 2025

Paul K. Levy, PGA, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE. He can be reached via email: paul@kkandw.com.

Your Golf Professional’s Office: Should They Spend Time There?2025-08-11T20:47:36+00:00

Is Your Golf Professional an MVP?

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MVP—Most valuable player. Whether it’s the NHL, NFL, NBA, or even your child’s Little League team, the term MVP is widely used in sports. Webster’s defines MVP as “the player who contributes the most to his or her team’s success.”

But what does it look like when your golf professional is an MVP? How can a club assess if its golf professional’s performance is MVP worthy? While every team member plays an important role in your club’s success, let’s focus on what it takes for a golf professional to stand out as the MVP.

MEMBER RETENTION: THE CORE OF SUCCESS
One of the most crucial aspects a club should constantly monitor is member retention. For clubs with golf courses, a significant portion of dues often goes toward the golf department and course maintenance. But when members are paying for their golf membership, they may ask themselves: “Am I playing enough golf to justify this membership?”

Your PGA/LPGA professional and their team should be consistently evaluating the progress of their members’ games and how often they play. The more your members feel that golf is an integral component of their lifestyle, the more likely they are to stick around. No one is better equipped to increase a member’s excitement about the game than your golf professional. This can be achieved through a variety of programs and coaching options. But it’s about more than just offering a 30-minute lesson—it’s about building a close, lasting relationship that helps improve the member’s skill and overall enjoyment of the game.

In today’s golf environment, many clubs have adopted the concept of player development, where the professional’s primary focus is to help members develop and elevate their game. What programs do you have in place that increase interest and encourage players?

STATE-OF-THE-ART TEACHING FACILITIES: FROM EQUIPMENT TO EXPERIENCE
Modern teaching facilities are now expected at top-tier clubs, and your golf professional is the one who transforms these spaces from a building filled with equipment into a dynamic environment where game enjoyment and improvement happen.

Many clubs now offer indoor and outdoor instruction bays equipped with cameras, launch monitors, video swing analysis, club fitting systems and putting labs designed to help players improve every aspect of the game.

Is your golf professional collaborating with the fitness department to incorporate golf fitness evaluations? In today’s competitive golf landscape, understanding a player’s physical strengths and limitations is as important as the technical aspects of the game. By combining technology with fitness, your golf professional can help improve a player’s overall golf performance.

CREATING EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES: MERCHANDISING AND TOURNAMENTS
Beyond teaching, a golf professional’s MVP status also shines through their ability to create memorable experiences in the golf shop and through club events. Offering a creative merchandise experience that excites members can lead to conversations with friends and help solidify your club’s reputation.

Well-run tournaments with thoughtful additions, such as special prizes or unique formats, can elevate a regular competition into an event members will eagerly attend and remember fondly. These experiences not only boost member engagement but also enhance retention. Key metrics like merchandise revenue and tournament participation and satisfaction provide clear ways to measure success.

BUILDING LASTING RELATIONSHIPS
The heart of any successful golf professional lies in their ability to build relationships. MVP professionals excel in fostering connections with members, their guests and fellow team members. They take pride in ensuring that every member’s visit is better than the last. It’s about creating a welcoming environment that makes members feel valued.

When your golf professional is dedicated to enhancing the overall experience through golf instruction, creating memorable events or simply building personal relationships, members are more likely to return, bringing friends along and contributing to a thriving, loyal community.

THE MVP EFFECT
When your golf professional hits all the marks by fostering player development, using cutting-edge technology, creating exciting events and building meaningful relationships, your membership will recognize them as the true MVP. Members will show up on the property one day sooner and stay one day longer. And when that happens, the praise will flow: MVP, MVP, MVP!

THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – May/June 2025

Paul K. Levy, PGA, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE. He can be reached via email: paul@kkandw.com.

Is Your Golf Professional an MVP?2025-06-13T18:24:06+00:00

Now That I Am on the Golf Committee, What Is My Role?

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Committees help determine the direction and shape of the member experience and provide a blueprint for the management team, in this case, the golf professional, to deliver the experiences the membership desires. The golf professional must build strong relationships with the golf chair, the golf committee and the board.

Members experience the club in many ways and engaging with them benefits everyone involved. As these relationships develop, you gain a better understanding of how to communicate effectively and will build trust. In the words of the Ford Motor Company, ensuring annual alignment for the enjoyment of the golfing membership is job No. 1.

Recognize that committees often have a short tenure and may bring varying agendas, which can create challenges each year. The strong relationship between the golf professional and chair will help everyone successfully navigate this dynamic and allow for an enhanced work environment for the golf staff and enable members to enjoy their time at the club more.

The golf professional’s tenure will increase because the golf professional will be seen as a leader with the members’ best interests at heart. And remember, the golf professional still reports to the general manager, which is a key relationship, not the golf committee or chair.

The golf committee should empower the golf professional staff to handle one of the simplest and most challenging tasks for busy clubs: How is the club going to operate managing the daily tee sheet? Some high-end private clubs have not used tee times for years, especially those doing smaller amounts of annual rounds, but COVID-19 changed that for some clubs. In today’s world, sophisticated software allows golf professionals to do this in an organized manner that is equitable for members.

Things to consider: How far in advance can a member make a tee time? What are the guest play rules? What are the limits to the amount of guest play? When can guests play? How often for each guest? How do we track that? If guests are playing that often, the membership director should recruit them for membership.

The planning should begin with setting the annual tournament calendar. How many events? What role do the MGA and WGA play? Are there couples, junior golf, player development events to engage newer golfers? With too many events, the “non-tournament playing member” feels limited in the number of times this member can get on the golf course, especially on weekends, when most events are held.

Conversely, if you don’t have a challenging enough offering, members who have the competitive itch feel you are not meeting their needs. Balancing the schedule with today’s more filled-up tee sheets can be arduous.

This pre-planning should start before the budget cycle to get all constituents to agree on the number of events, budgets for each event, format and size of the field, among other items. What type of food and beverage will each tournament require, and is that properly pre-planned and budgeted for?

Some final thoughts: First, the golf committee’s role is not to manage the golf professional and the golf staff daily or weekly. The committee should trust the chair to work with the golf professional on what the committee needs to have brought back to the committee to discuss.

Six committee meetings a year should provide a good balance for an effective governance process in this area. Weekly golf committee meetings are unnecessary and can lead to the professional feeling that trust is not there. Your golf professional should get with the chair well before every meeting to set the agenda and distribute it to committee members.

The committee and chair should see the golf professional as the “expert in the room.” They should respect the golf professional’s input and trust the golf professional to lead the golf program, as the board of directors does for the club general manager/COO. The golf professional has a vested interest in the golf program’s success and will guide the program well over the years and deliver an exceptional member golf experience for everyone.

THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE – March/April 2025

Paul K. Levy, PGA, Search & Consulting Executive, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE. He can be reached via email: paul@kkandw.com.

Now That I Am on the Golf Committee, What Is My Role?2025-05-14T16:27:15+00:00

Making Your Mark as a New PGA Professional

Making Your Mark as a New PGA Professional in the Private Club Industry

Starting a career as a new member of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) is an exciting and pivotal moment, but it can also be extremely intimidating. Whether you’re focused on playing, coaching, managing a facility, or member engagement, your dedication to mastering the game and fostering relationships will define your success. The path ahead is filled with lessons and experiences that will shape your role as a leader in the golf industry. Here are a few key pieces of advice to help you lay a strong foundation for your career.

Choose Your Leaders Wisely
When considering professional opportunities as a new golf professional, looking to work for a leader who invests in your growth, providing guidance and opportunities for development both on and off the course, is of real importance. You should be after someone with around-the-block experience, a person who has worked in different golf industry environments, and who has a proven track record for developing talent. During interviews consider asking questions like, “Can you tell me about your path to leadership in the golf industry and who influenced your success?” or “What programming do you have in place for supporting the success of your team members?” Asking good questions during interviews will help you avoid getting stuck behind the pro shop counter for too long, and help you identify a good boss that will push you out of your comfort zone.

Roll Up Your Sleeves
Gone are the days of being simply a golf pro who focuses on coaching or retail. The modern golf club and resort requires all-rounders. Try to gain experience in as many areas as possible: retail, coaching, operations, committee involvement, and even social media. You may find that you have a particular flair for something you hadn’t previously considered. This diverse experience will make you invaluable to employers and give you a solid grounding should you choose to specialise later on.

A Mentor Makes a Difference
There is no substitute for experience and a good mentor will save you from the mistakes they’ve already made. Seek out anyone who has walked in your shoes and lived to tell the tale. It’s important to choose a mentor that aligns with your long-term goals, whether it’s in instruction, management, or another facet of the golf industry. The mentor isn’t there to pat you on the back; they should also challenge you, hold you accountable, and push you to achieve more than you thought possible. They can also help you build a strong professional network, which is invaluable in this line of work.

Golf Trends
As a PGA professional, you will be expected to be the font of all golfing knowledge. Be it from the latest driver technology to who’s leading the Order of Merit, the members and guests will look to you for insights. Identify channels that keep you on top of industry trends, retail developments, and tour news. Regularly engage with professional development resources, such as PGA seminars, industry publications, and online courses, to keep your knowledge current. Embrace new technologies, like golf analytics tools and digital platforms to enhance both player experiences and operational efficiency. Staying informed will help you remain a valuable asset and help you make more informed decisions in your role resulting in fresh and relevant value offerings for your clients.

Keep an Open Mind
Variety is one of the most exciting things about becoming a PGA professional. The different career paths open to you are remarkable! You may have your heart set on being a Head Pro or a Director of Golf, but for now, give other avenues some merit. Embrace unexpected roles or challenges, as they may lead to rewarding experiences and growth you hadn’t initially considered. Stay flexible and willing to pivot as you gain more exposure and refine your strengths and passions. I’ve seen professionals perform admirably in equipment sales, club management, events/tournament planning, marketing and brand management, social media, TV commentary, golf course design, and go on to own successful businesses in the golf and tourism industry.

PGA Monthly – December 2024

Michael Herd is an International Consultant and Search Executive with KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, a consulting firm providing executive search, strategic planning and data analysis services to the private club and hospitality industries. Michael can be reached at +44 (0) 7903 035312 and at michael@kkandw.com.

Making Your Mark as a New PGA Professional2024-12-12T22:06:48+00:00
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