The Golfdom Files: The Profitable Trio

Do you sometimes feel like you’re asked to do three jobs at once? If so, you’re not alone. In this article from the June 1973 issue of Golfdom, Illinois superintendent Paul Voykin explains why it takes a team effort from the superintendent, golf pro and club manager to operate a golf course profitably and efficiently. To read the full article, click here.

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The Profitable Trio

By Paul Voykin

The Russian word troika always brings to my mind the image of three snorting horses pulling a sleigh full of Russians with hungry wolves chasing close behind. The expression “troika system” sometimes is used to describe the three key administrators in a club operation who pull the club’s sleigh — golf professional, superintendent and manager — a triumvirate equally responsible, working together as a team and trying mightily to keep abreast of the inflationary dollar.

Their paramount aim is to give the club membership a first-class operation. Why does a club need three department heads? Why three entities? Can’t one executive run the whole shebang successfully? Not really, not if you want a first-class operation in these three important areas. Of course, it’s been tried a long time ago, and some clubs are still recovering from the bad experience. Conversely, other clubs now have forgotten their sad experiences and are advocating going back to the restriction of that era — complete control by one man.

A quarter of a century ago, when I first began apprenticing as a “greenkeeper,” one man handled two and sometimes three key jobs in a golf course operation. His titles became legion: pro-greenkeeper-manager, pro-greenkeeper, pro-manager or manager-pro, and sometimes even greenkeeper-pro-manager.

Sad to say, some clubs are now trying to go back to that mixed-up yesterday. And that’s bad. It didn’t work out then and it won’t work out today.

Club officials in those days learned quickly that when more and more demands were placed on gracious country club living, with its syndrome of comforts and recreational services, a man was either a good greenkeeper and a poor pro, or still worse, a man was a damn good manager, but poor in the other two departments.

Finally, as the pressure on good turf grooming and meticulous care continued on the golf course, with greater demand in the clubhouse and pro shop for better service, the man ended up being good at nothing. The sad part of that experiment was this: The more man became proficient at one job, the worse he became at the other two. It was a frustrating experience, and a lot of guys ended up shell-shocked.

There is something else also. There was a lot of job movement, especially by managers who finally found a good residence in hotel and motel management.

Eventually, wise club officials learned that, by having one man in complete and undisputed control, the money saved was negligible and the club services neglected. It was proven in the long run that the most successful method was to have three different responsible department administrators working together to provide the utmost in country club service. The same premise still holds true today. Admittedly, there has to be one man (the manager) to coordinate everything for the other two with the chairman and committee.

That’s all right. Remember, the manager controls the club’s money and final bookkeeping. I am not against that principle, but complete control has never worked out, and I don’t think it ever will. Also, there must always be a member-department head involved in working together in planning and enforcing constructive suggestions, exchanging views and finally teaming up with the three administrators to carry out the plans once they have board and committee approval.

For one man to be in dictatorial control and to expect a top-notch operation is, in my opinion, too much to hope for.

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