golf professional growth

Spend more than a few minutes in a room with a group of Golf Professionals these days and you're bound to start hearing about some level of "burnout".  The affect of the pandemic on golf and the labor shortage have come together to put even more pressure than normal on today's Professionals.  

In this episode, we cover the 5 reasons we can feel burned out and go over practical solutions to address this issue.

In this episode, we flip the script as Dean takes questions about his career, the development of Golf Professional Growth, how he actually left the golf industry while in college, and much more! 

Thanks to Ricky Potts, host of the Wednesday Match Play Podcast for the opportunity to share my story.  Be sure to check out Ricky's show and subscribe HERE

With the record numbers we're seeing at courses throughout the country, Golf Professional's are now faced with the challenge of often having to say no to their members and customers.  No there aren't any tee times, no there isn't any space in that event, no we can't host your outing...and so on.  This is new for many of us since we've been trained to say "Yes" and to constantly seek out ways to grow rounds and revenues.  

As I found out in a conversation a few years ago, knowing how to say no and tell someone something they don’t want to hear, is literally a science.  Experts in behavioral psychology have studied the tactics that are most effective at delivering your message in a way that diffuses angry situations and will limit the push-back you get from our now disgruntled members and customers.  

Our expert that we’re learning from is Richard S. Gallagher, author of “The Customer Service Survival Kit”.  Some of the critical lessons we’ll hear from him are: being nice and polite is great, but it doesn’t help an upset person feel better, leaning into criticism is much more effective than explaining “why” or playing defense, and the key to diffusing a difficult situation begins with acknowledgement.

It’s late August, 1996.  I had just arrived at college for my freshman year.  Like most college kids back then with this new-found independence, I was taking the opportunity to sit in my dorm room and stare at the TV, free from anyone telling me where to be and what to do.  Without Netflix, or YouTube, or Prime, we watched what was on TV.  And on this particular Sunday, the eyes of the golf world were fixated on the final of the United States Amateur Championship.  

Over the last few years, Tiger Woods had burst on the scene and captivated golfers with his unmatched talent, prodigious length, and record setting play.  It’s safe to say that no amateur golfer had garnered this much attention since Bobby Jones, some 70 years prior.  Tiger was no longer just known in golf circles, he was a celebrity. 

As I sat on my bed in that tiny room in State College, PA, it was time to watch Tiger take his victory lap through that final match and achieve what no other golfer had ever accomplished...winning three U.S. Amateur Championships in a row.  

But something happened on that path to victory.  A young, fellow college player from the University of Florida, named Steve Scott, was 5 up after 18 holes.  This wasn’t supposed to be the story line.  How could Tiger’s monster drives and the backing of an entire gallery, not take down this opponent?  Was Steve Scott going to be what stood in between Tiger Woods and golf history?  

As many of you know, the legend of Tiger Woods took a huge leap forward that day.  His comeback from that 5 down deficit was everything you came to expect from the most dominant player in our game.  Tiger would go on to turn professional shortly after, would soon win his first PGA Tour event, and eventually The Masters, just 7 months later.  You know the rest.

But as we learn in the episode, all was not lost for Steve Scott that day.  He played as well as he could, taking Tiger Woods to the brink of defeat and during his college days, reached #1 in the amateur golf rankings.  But it’s an episode on the 34th hole of the match that stands out to many.  We discuss what happened and how Steve’s reaction, his sportsmanship and his decision to do the right thing, even in defeat, has benefited him time and time again.  

In fact, it’s the title of his upcoming book, “Hey Tiger- You Need to Move Your Mark Back”, the story of the ‘96 U.S. Amateur and the moment that has defined Steve Scott’s career as a player and now as a PGA Professional.    You can get the book HERE.

www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com
www.golfgeniuis.com

For my money, building a successful career on the PGA Tour where you earn enough money that you’re not worried about your next check, where you’re not consistently losing your card,and you’re able to control your schedule, is as tough as making it any sport out there.  There are no guaranteed contracts.  There are no drafts, trades, or free agencies.  There’s you and your game vs. the best players in the world.  And if you don’t play well enough, your career is over. 

So if you manage to put together 10+ years on the PGA Tour that include 3 wins, you have a career that a lot of tour players would love to have.  And if you know where Jim Herman came from and his path to the tour, his career is even more impressive.  Jim always aspired to be on the PGA Tour, so he left college and hit the mini-tours.  Each fall he’d go to PGA Tour Qualifying School, and for six years in a row, he failed to make it to the final stage and get out at least to the Nationwide Tour, now the Korn Ferry Tour.  In between trips to Q school, he worked as a Golf Professional doing all of the duties that so many of us do each and every day, running clinics, placing orders, teaching lessons, and everything else.  And that’s where I met Jim. 

In 2006 and 2007, we were Assistant Professionals together in New Jersey and at that time, while Jim still felt strongly about chasing his dream of making it to the tour, reality was getting close to setting in.  Was life going to be playing and competing as a Club Professional and always wishing his dream came true?  Or could he actually make it out there?

In 2007, he finally made it through.  He had status on the Nationwide Tour.  A couple years later, he notched a win on that tour and made it to the big leagues.  There were plenty of bumps in the road that ensued, lots of ups and downs, lessons learned, and as Jim says...definitely some luck too.  

But as we enter the 2021 PGA Tour season, he’s still out there.  He’s exempt for two more seasons after his third career win last summer and at this point, life is good.  

He’s as humble as they come and that’s why he’s easy to root for.  I hope after this conversation you become a fan as well.  We get into some great insight into how he’s handled these pressure situations that feel like life or death at the time.  He’s a throwback to a former era before players relied on data, stats, and a coach standing behind them 24/7.  He’s proof that there are a lot of different ways to get it done out there, and more proof that through hard work, belief, and persistence, dreams can come true.

www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com

Are you using Golf Genius Software for your event management?  www.golfgenius.com

How you manage your time has never been more critical.  It’s no longer a “nice to have”.  You see, time management is really not about managing time.  You can’t manage time.  There are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, no matter what you do.  

Time management is actually priority management.  It’s how you take the items that are most important to you and put them on your task list and your calendar to make sure you’re getting them done on time in order to serve the people around you.  That’s it in a nutshell.

And in the end, the payoff at being better at this is that it allows you to accomplish more.  It allows you to work with a calm confidence mindset that is willing and able to take on more, because you know you can handle it.  

It’s not enough to just keep saying “yes” to every new opportunity or every new task, you actually have to produce results.  There’s nothing worse than saying yes, and then failing to hold up your end of the bargain.  Pretty soon the people around you will lose their trust in you.

Your ability to advance, to make progress, to achieve your goals will be limited.

Don't make these time management mistakes!

Have you checked out Golf Professional Growth?  Head to www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com for tons of great info on how today's Golf Professionals can "Work Smarter. Live Better."

If you're going to be in a job search anytime soon, Golf Professional Growth has premium content from experts in the career space to help you stand out and land the job of your dreams!  It's GPG's "Career Accelerator".  Over 3 hours of insight on interviewing, resumes, and getting noticed in a crowded space.   Get the info, and get ahead! 

Go to www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com/careersummit!

There’s no doubt that if you’re a listener to this podcast, you’re familiar with Golf Genius.  In fact, there’s a very good chance that you’re a user of one of their products.  

As the last decade progressed, Golf Genius eventually emerged as the leader in tournament management software.  Their client list is well into the thousands and spans the entire globe and at this point, there isn’t anyone even close to being a true competitor.

But what you may not know is how this all started.  The humble beginnings took place in the Philadelphia suburbs when a retired software exec wanted to write a program that would make planning the annual golf trip a whole lot easier.  So Golf Trip Genius was born.  As it became evident that Golf Trip Genius wouldn’t scale at a level to sustain a business, it’s founder, Mike Zisman, targeted golf leagues at public courses and eventually recruited a local PGA Professional to help get his foot in the door with Golf Genius at private clubs.  

As one of the first customers, I remember seeing this product for the first time.  No doubt the TV leaderboards and the event portals were a cool feature, but it was going to take some time before this little company could take down the bigger names in tournament management.  

Little did I know the level of determination, skill, and valuable experience that Mike brought to the table.  And thanks to that, and the efforts of 39 PGA Professionals, and the entire company, Golf Genius sits on top.  

Yes, Golf Genius is a sponsor of this show, and I’m proud to have them as a partner, but I invited Mike on the show because I wanted to learn more about his story, more about his leadership philosophy, and how he plans to keep Golf Genius in it’s current position.  As one of the innovators in email technology in the late 70’s, Mike has seen the entire internet age come to life.  From the outside looking in, it’s been a privileged career but not without an incredible level of hard work and dedication along with more than his fair share of adversity.  

Have you checked out www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com? 

If you're in search for a new position in the golf industry and looking for secrets to get ahead of the pack, go to Golf Professional Growth's "Career Accelerator" for insider info from leaders in the golf search space.  Go to www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com/careersummit

“In order to do the things you want to do, you need to be around the people that are doing it, in the places it’s happening.”  

That, in a nutshell, is The Proximity Principle and it’s the title of Ken Coleman’s book, which is a roadmap to figuring out what you want to do, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there.  

For anyone, young or old, that feels they still have more to achieve in their career and is looking for clarity on how to put a plan together, this book is your answer.

Ken is a nationally syndicated radio host of The Ken Coleman Show, where he goes live on the air every day of the week taking calls and providing actionable advice for people looking for guidance in their careers.  He’s the former host of the Entreleadership Podcast, where he had the opportunity to interview hundreds of successful leaders and innovators and learn their secrets to success and prosperity.  

But for Ken, this wasn’t always the case.  There was a season in his career where he was struggling with the desire to do something different, to get out of his current situation and get into broadcasting, where he knew deep down was where he was meant to be.  

So, over the course of 7+ years he began to put himself in front of the right people and in the right places and after plenty of patience, persistence, and sacrifice he landed where he is today, at Ramsey Solutions, doing what he loves to do.  Little did he know at the time, it was The Proximity Principle at work.  

Get your copy of The Proximity Principle HERE

This is a fantastic conversation on careers and the power of clarity and intentionality.  If you want to hear more great career conversations, I’m running GPG’s first virtual event on Monday, October 5th, the Career Accelerator Summit.  I’m speaking with leaders in the golf career space and to deliver the insight and expertise you’re looking for to land your next great job.  

My guests are from the PGA of America, as well as some of the top executive search firms in the industry and they’re going to reveal the tactics and tips that can help you stand out in the interview process and achieve your goals.

Just go to www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com/careersummit to register and get access to the interviews being launched on October 5th.  And the best part….it’s free.

Are you using Golf Genius software for your event management? Find out more at www.golfgenius.com

We’ve all heard the phrase “golf is an outdoor game”.  Most often, we’re saying this to players that are playing in poor weather conditions as we're trying to help them deal with those conditions.  For Eric Eshleman, the 2019 PGA Golf Professional of the Year, it takes on a different meaning.  

As he tells us in this conversation, golf is played outdoors, so Golf Professionals should be out where the game is being played. As a sought after coach to players of all levels, including PGA Tour players and dignitaries like Condoleeza Rice, Eric spends hours and hours every week on the lesson tee.  In addition, he’s built one of the most successful junior golf programs you can find anywhere, since he began at Country Club of Birmingham in 2001, which includes a junior club championship that hosts over 200 players!

All of this while fulfilling his duties to his staff as the Director of Golf and more importantly to his family as a husband and a father of three boys.

In this conversation we get into how he manages all of his responsibilities and stays organized.  We discuss some details about managing email and planning that I think could help many of you if you’re struggling to manage your time.

Eric tells us how he hires and builds his team and finally, advice for any young Golf Professional.  What’s the one thing you need to be able to do to help ensure your success in this business?  It’s a unique perspective on the importance of being able to build relationships, which is key to anyone’s career in the golf industry. 

Check out the list of tools and resources to help you "Work Smarter and Live Better" at www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com!

Are you using Golf Genius Golf Shop?  Check it out at www.golfgenius.com.

Welcome to the first episode of The Golf Professional Growth Project!  What is this show all about?  We're going beyond the traditional skills that we usually focus on (teaching, playing, merchandising, tournament ops) and diving deeper into the real skills that it takes to have long-term success in the golf business.

The GPG Project is here to help today's Golf Professionals "thrive at work and succeed in life".  Leadership, organization, communication, and more.  All in the context of the golf industry and for you, the Golf Professional.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Seth Godin- Tribes

David Allen- Getting Things Done

Are you using Golf Genius for your event management and in your Golf Shop?  Why not?  Go to www.golfgenius.com to find out why you should be.

If you’re in a leadership role, there’s no doubt the spotlight has been shined on you to respond appropriately for all of the people that you impact.  How should a good leader respond?

What if you’re not in a leadership role yet but are hoping to be in one someday soon?  Are there lessons you can learn from this crisis?  Where can you focus so that when it’s your turn to respond, you have the answers?

Thanks to our guest, Leadership Expert John Eades, we get the answers to these questions and more.  John has been on the show before.  Back in episode 008, he coached us through the importance of building a positive culture on your staff and the elements of a great culture.  I encourage you to go back and listen if you didn’t hear that one.

This time, John encourages us as Golf Professionals to use this time to evaluate where we are in our skill development and capitalize on this unique opportunity to improve.  Because as we’re finding out, the most valuable staff members are being retained in many cases.  So, have you asked yourself, how much value are you bringing to your facility?

John is a very accomplished player, actually the reigning North Carolina Amateur Champion, and wants nothing more than to see all the Golf Professionals that make up our industry succeed and thrive.  He’s passionate about his work and passionate about golf and you’ll hear all of that in this episode.

If you’ve been wondering if you’re taking advantage of the opportunities that come alongside such a difficult time, let John coach you through it in this episode.

www.learnloft.com
www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com
www.golfbusinessnetwork.com

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

As PGA Professionals, we’re in the business of “Growing the Game”.  It’s a phrase we hear ad nauseam in our business.  Grow the game at our facilities, in our Sections, and in our communities.  So in order to do our job of growing the game, we develop programs for our members and customers that consist of clinics, lesson packages, golf schools, junior programs, beginner programs, the list goes on and on.  

However, we rarely ask the critical question.  In our efforts to “Grow the Game”, are we making a lasting impact on the game by actually creating golfers?  

What does it even mean to create a golfer? 

Ryan Dailey and Matt Reagan have been asking this question, and they’ve come up with an answer.  

Who are Ryan and Matt?  There aren’t many of you out there that don’t know, but just in case you’ve missed it, they’re two regular Golf Pros that are revolutionizing how we introduce new players to the game.  Through the development and evolution of Operation 36, they’ve impacted thousands of golfers and helped Golf Professionals all over the world develop successful programs and businesses, all with an idea seemingly so simple you say “why didn’t I think of that?!”.

Start from 25 yards and shoot 36 for nine holes and them move back to 50 yards.  Rinse and repeat.

But beyond creating a long term development model for junior golfers, they’ve set out on a mission to create one million new golfers by 2025.  As audacious as that goal seems, they have a plan to reach it.  

And it begins with a question we should all be asking at our facilities…”How do I create a golfer?”

When we ask that question first and then work backward from there, the way we structure and create our player development programs fall into place.

If you’re in the planning stages for 2020, this is a fantastic conversation to help you get on the right track and truly make an impact on your facilities this year and beyond.

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

It’s been said that you can’t grow personally or professionally without developing self awareness.  Knowing how you’re perceived by others, what your strengths and weaknesses are, how you handle stress, and how you impact those around you, are just some of the elements of self awareness, that can go a long way in helping all of us reach enjoy success at work, and also at home.

For Cameron Doan, the Head Professional at Preston Trail in Dallas, this pursuit of developing self awareness for himself and his staff members, has paid huge dividends.  For Cameron, he’s been able to lead each team member with a higher level of effectiveness, since he knows their individual needs and how they will respond in certain situations.  As he tells us, this has also allowed him to raise his level of self awareness and understand how his staff members perceive his actions.

As the 2018 National Bill Strausbaugh award winner and a recent inductee into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, Cameron has spent his career devoted to getting the most out of staff and helping them achieve their personal goals, no matter what those goals may be.  He's mentored countless PGA Professionals onto successful positions throughout the industry.  You’ll hear him describe the methods he uses to achieve this and plenty more valuable insight. 

You'll also hear Cameron's thoughts on the most critical skills for PGA Professionals, you'll learn the six types of motivation, and the four areas he focuses on, which he learned from a Hall of Fame basketball coach. 

This episode is a little longer than normal, but I thought it was too good to split up into two episodes.  This conversation is a wealth of knowledge from an expert in development and mentorship, and contains a lot of great lessons for all of us.  

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode, we dig into the ins and outs of the Head Professional interview process. This discussion is going to be a great resource for any of you listening that are either planning on interviewing for a Head Professional position or if you will be helping to coach an aspiring Head Professional through the interview process.  We brought back Patrick Seither (Episode 001 & 003), the President and CEO of the Golf Business Network, to pick his brain about his experience running the Executive Search side of GBN’s business.  

Patrick sees this process through from start to finish, working with both the candidate as well as the clubs, so his insight is really unique in this area.  We discuss what clubs are looking for today in their next Head Professional, how you can stand out from the pack in a competitive interview process, the nuts and bolts of the interview including reference letters and portfolios, and how to ask thoughtful questions that can impress a search committee.  

Hopefully this helps anyone out there that will be going through this process.  And if you are...good luck!

Links:
www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com
www.golfbusinessnetwork.com
www.golfgenius.com

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

When times are toughest, we feel like work is controlling our lives. We feel it’s the only thing we have time for (and sometimes don’t even have enough time for) while everything else (family, friends, health, finances) sits on the back-burner until things “slow down”.

It’s why most PGA Professionals will tell you either directly or indirectly that finding “balance” in this industry is elusive, if not impossible, but something they wish they had.

If you've ever struggled with the challenges of this business and feeling like you're being pulled in too many directions, this episode will help.  Based on data from experts, you'll learn where you can place your attention to help reduce the stress of being a busy Golf Professional and how success doesn't have to come at the expense of living a happy and fulfilled life.

You can learn more by reading "The Balance Series" at www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com.

To learn more about the Golf Business Network, head to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com.

GBN is the leading private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals. Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you. Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.