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GOLF
TEACHING PRO®
If you were a golf course manager, how would you respond to the following scenarios?
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During a busy day early in the
season, several groups legitimately complain about the slow pace
of play on the course. Do you…
a. Apologize for the slow play but explain that
your Players Assistants were doing the best
they could to keep play moving?
b. Explain to the golfers that it was a busy day
and slow play is to be expected particularly
early in the season?
c. Tell them that you understand that play
was unusually slow today and offer them a discount voucher for
their inconvenience
and ask them to please come out and try the
course again?
d. Tell them that you are not surprised as you
saw many bad players out on the course
today?
Answer: Although A, B and D
may all be very true,
none of those answers will bring any satisfaction to
the golfers and CUSTOMER SATISFACTION is the
number one priority. Discounting golf is certainly not
the answer to everything – but the course is obviously
having a good day (causing slow play) and you want
to cultivate as many happy customers as possible.
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Your club policy is that employees must
request days off two weeks in advance for
scheduling purposes. A usually very reliable
part-time staff member comes to you and
informs you that he needs the next three
days off because of a wonderful opportunity
that just came his way. You are already short
staffed because of others who had requested
off a couple of weeks ago. You…
a. Reiterate the policy and explain that you can’t
give him the days off.
b. Let him know that you’ll be glad to cover for
him even though you’re short-handed and to
have a great trip.
c. Let him know that he can have the time off
as long as he can find someone to cover his
shifts.
d. Moan and complain about how difficult it will
be to cover for him so that he feels bad about
the late notice – but cover for him anyway.
Answer: Reliable part time staff is hard to come
by and are an essential component of any smooth
running golf course. By allowing him to feel good
about his opportunity, he will be much more
productive when he returns, bringing with him a
positive attitude and good morale. Answer C would
seem to be a reasonable solution but it will very
possibly cause extra stress and hard feelings between
the staff members who can’t, won’t, or eventually do
cover his shifts. Staff will be much more willing to
cover if asked by the Director or Head Pro – thinking
they will be banking some good will for later use.
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A golfer comes into the shop after having
a confrontation with another group and
ultimately your Player Assistant. He is very
upset with the way he was spoken to by the
PA and demands that something be done. He
is a regular customer and influential in the
community. Your PA has already made you
aware that this individual was hitting into
the group ahead of him on more than one
occasion. When the PA approached him he
became loud and abusive. You should…
a. Apologize for the confrontation because “the
customer is always right” and allow him to
leave feeling good and limiting any negative
publicity.
b. Respond in a strong tone making sure he
understands that hitting into other groups
will not be tolerated and that your PA acted
appropriately.
c. Tell the customer that you will speak to your
PA about the way he spoke to him and assure
the customer that it will never happen again.
d. Explain that you have already heard what
happened from the PA’s point of view but
would like to hear his side too. Discuss how
the situation can be avoided in the future
without demeaning the actions or authority of
your PA.
Answer: The trick is to neutralize the situation, take
steps to prevent it from reoccurring, and to protect the
integrity of your staff. Making a stand and lecturing on
the customer’s wrong- doing may feel good and deserving,
but will probably come back to haunt you at some
point. It is very important that your staff understands that
there is a right and wrong way to communicate with
customers but that you will support them when they
are forced into a difficult situation during the course of
doing their job. Correct answer – D.
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Membership is down and a small group
claiming to represent a contingency of
16 members comes to you because they
have been offered a better deal to join a
neighboring club. Do you…
a. Tell them you will match the other club’s offer
if the group will rejoin your club?
b. Meet with the group to discuss a mutually
beneficial resolution?
c. Point out to the group the benefits of
remaining at your club and impress upon them
how much you value them as members?
d. Advertise special pricing and incentives to all
members to attract additional members while
limiting the departure of current members?
Answer: Members can be tough to come by, and
at times, even tougher to keep happy. “The grass is
always greener” philosophy does present challenges
when trying to get members to rejoin year after
year. Meeting with the group to discuss a possible
resolution AND impressing upon them how much you
value their memberships are both necessary steps.
Often times the members just want to know that they
are valued and are heard when it comes to golf course
and membership issues. Matching the other club’s
offer will most certainly be found out by your other
members and will create a terrible situation. If the
numbers continue to drop, advertising special pricing
and incentives may become necessary – however,
getting pulled into a price war with neighboring clubs
will usually only benefit the golfers and hurt any and
all of the clubs involved. Unfortunately, sometimes
drastic measures must be put in place to get through
difficult times. Correct answer – C.
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A group of eight have reserved two prime
tee times on a Sunday morning. Four players
show up and announce that the second
foursome decided to cancel. You…
a. Politely let the gentlemen know that they had
reserved two tee times and that they will have
to pay the greens fees for the time that will go
unused.
b. Politely let the gentlemen know that this is a
prime time for the course and in the future you
would appreciate their calling ahead to cancel
the time.
c. Don’t say anything and accept that this is part
of the business.
d. Make a note of the reservation for future
reference and let the staff know that if a
multiple reservation is made in that name
again that the individual will have to leave a
credit card number to secure the times and
that it will be charged greens fees for any no
shows.
Answer: This is a common
occurrence at golf courses
that take advance reservations. Answer B is probably
the best way to handle the situation at the time, but it
would also be prudent to implement a policy to take
a credit card number at the time of the reservation
and let the person know that it is course procedure
to charge a green fee for no-shows in prime hours of
operation. The policy should be written down and
all pro shop employees should know the policy. If
you have to enforce the procedure, be sure to keep
a record of the charge, day and time the reservation
was made and the name of the person. That way,
you can have it available for a customer who disputes
the charge or the credit card company disputing the
charge.
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You are the Director of Golf Operations and
a Certified Golf Instructor presents you with
a plan to teach golf at your facility and bring
students. When you present this to the golf pro,
he resists and tells you he does not want any
outside instructors teaching at his golf course.
You…
a. Tell the pro that it is not his decision and you are
allowing the new teacher access, like it or not.
b. Remind the pro that the goal of the course is
to bring in business and that the instructor’s
plan does not compete with the pro and that it
will bring in new business to the facility.
c. Discuss with the pro the benefits of having an
individual that will bring in new business and
assure him that there is room for both to grow
and prosper.
d. Demand that the pro come up with a plan that
will add the same revenue promised by the
certified golf instructor’s proposal.
Answer: It would be easy to just tell the pro that you
make the decisions not him, but that would probably
create hard feelings and cause more harm than
good. It is always better to be up front and try to get
people to see the bigger picture. Golf is a competitive
business and convincing him in the long run that
the more opportunities to improve the bottom line is
good for everyone. C would be the best approach.
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A guest of a member of your golf club is
having dinner in the main dinning room
of the clubhouse. One of your wait staff
informs the club manager that this person
is receiving multiple calls on his cell phone
and is annoying their members. Club policy
clearly states that cell phones are not allowed
in the main dinning room. Therefore, you
respond in the following manner:
a. Confront the member and reiterate the policy.
b. Confiscate the cell phone from the guest and
say it is against club policy but the phone can
be picked up at your office after dinner.
c. Do nothing.
d. Tell the waiter to explain the policy.
e. Show the member the written policy on a
small business card you had developed for that
purpose.
Answer: E
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The starter on the first tee of your golf club
calls you stating that Dr. Smith, a suspended
member for nonpayment of dues, has just
teed off with three guests. Dr. Smith has been
a respected member of the community and
a club member for seven years. How would
you, the club manager, handle the situation?
a. Tactfully escort Dr. Smith and his guests off the
golf course.
b Allow him and his guests to finish the round
and ask Dr. Smith to see you in your office
after the round.
c. Have the ranger hand him a note reminding
him of the situation and ask him to see you
after play.
d. Allow him to finish the round with his guests
and telephone him the following day.
Answer: B
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For your pro shop you need to decide what
retail prices to set on apparel and equipment.
To help determine, you need to find the gross
margin percentage (GMP) in figuring these
prices. The equation for GM is displayed:
GMP = (Sale of goods—Cost of goods) /
Sale of goods. Therefore, which one of the
following is not included in calculating the
GMP?
a. Rent
b. Cost of apparel and equipment
c. Shipping cost of apparel and equipment
d. Retail price
Answer: The best answer is “A.” The cost of rent
to house your equipment and apparel is definitely
not part of the GMP equation. Hence, rent would be
considered an indirect cost. Any cost directly related
to equipment and apparel such as shipping and the
wholesale price is part of cost of goods. And, to
complete the calculation, the retail price (which is
the sale of goods) is the other number required for
the GMP.
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Copyright © 2011 United States Golf Teachers Federation, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this article in any kind is strictly prohibited.
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