ILLUSTRATION BY Roberto Parada
On the surface, a leadership job at a country club might not seem so different today than it was even in the 1960s. Some clubs still chase after those “simpler” times when golf was the ultimate priority, men wore jackets instead of denim and the menu in the dining room offered whatever you wanted provided it was steak, chicken or fish. But the reality is very different.
Tastes were evolving even before the pandemic turned the past two years into a work-from-home experiment for many club members. A general manager is now essentially running seven businesses—a retail shop, pool, restaurant, maintenance facility, banquet hall, fitness center and entertainment venue—for groups that range from busy professionals with young kids to retirees. Head pros must keep those groups happy with fewer assistant pros entering the business and even fewer willing to stick around for the 60-hour work weeks it took to move up the ladder.
Filling leadership positions like general manager and head golf professional in this rapidly changing, COVID-complicated environment is a lot like buying a house in a superheated real estate market. A guide who knows the terrain and has the agility to adapt is invaluable—which is why executive search firm Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace has grown into a 20-person operation, conducting more than 100 searches a year for clubs like Winged Foot, Desert Mountain and Congressional, making it and Bob Ford’s Golf Business Network two of the premier search firms in golf.
This article is from Golf Digest, read it entirely by clicking HERE