Brandon Williams (fourth from right in a blue shirt) with his team at Lakehouse Resort in San Marcos, Calif. Photo courtesy of Brandon Williams
This year, GCSAA released 11 videos as part of a new video training series. The videos are designed with direct input from members and aimed to help managers introduce new employees to essential golf course tasks, like cup cutting, greens mowing and more.
Wes Denmon, Class A superintendent at Brookstone Golf & Country Club in Acworth, Ga., said he found the videos invaluable because he frequently has to hire staff members who are brand new to the game. “Most of the staff I hire is new to golf and has never worked on a golf course,” says Denmon, an 11-year association member.
“The videos were extremely useful to me, and I’m sure I’ll use them again in the future, not only for training new staff but also as refreshers throughout the season if I notice something is trending away from the way we want it done, then I can have them watch them to remind them why we do what we do,” he says.
Denmon says that with such high turnover and staff mostly completely new to golf, training on basic tasks is both time consuming and repetitive. He says eight of his crew of 24 have watched the videos so far.
“Doing what we’re doing, when we’re training, it tends to be quick. We don’t have the margin to spend a whole lot of time with one person on something, so the information is coming at them fast, like drinking out of a firehose,” Denmon says. “With the videos, they’re able to slow down, and they probably pick up more than when myself or my assistants are training them. Usually, we’re having to move on to something else very quickly after training them on a task.”
From Pleasant View Golf Club in Middleton, Wis., equipment manager Eric Meinholz (left) and irrigation tech Bill Butch. Photo courtesy of Justin Tafs
Basic crew training
The basic crew training video series is available to GCSAA members only streaming here.
- The videos in the series are:
- Bunker maintenance.
- Crew etiquette.
- Cup cutting.
- Greens mowing.
- Hand watering.
- Handheld equipment.
- Ride-on equipment.
- Safety basics.
- Tee service.
- This is a golf course.
- Walk-behind greens mowing.
Currently the videos are available in English and will soon be available in Spanish.
Denmon says he found the videos helpful and thinks his staff did, too.
“They’re to-the-point but not rushed. All the important points are covered and discussed. I feel like they’re explained in a way that makes them easy to follow and understand. But at the same time, they stress those important job tasks and how it impacts the golf course and golfer,” he says.
“It won’t hurt to have them watch the videos from time to time to refresh their memory and sort of reenergize them a little bit,” Denmon says. “The videos are great as another tool for us when it comes to training. The information I got from it wasn’t too far off from what we would do specifically for our own course, so I would recommend it to others. It could benefit their entire operations so that everyone is on the same page.”
Pleasant View GC equipment manager Eric Meinholz (center) and staff members Erik Hurd (left) and Clay Barnett. Photo courtesy of Justin Tafs
"Took a lot of the work out of for us"
Justin Tafs — assistant golf course superintendent at Pleasant View Golf Club in Middleton, Wis. — says the training series came just in time for his team.
“I gotta say, it was nice to get these videos, because we were thinking about putting something like that together just for our own facility — so GCSAA took a lot of the work out of it,” says Tafs, a five-year association member.
“Obviously, there’s going to be some differences, because we don’t have the same equipment, but it was really well done and gives people a starting point of what to expect when you come work on a golf course,” he says.
Tafs says of his staff of 13 full-timers, typically about half came to the course completely new to golf course maintenance.
“Since we’re a muni course, we tend to get a lot of different people working for us year after year. So having a general starting point for what you’re getting into working on a golf course is great,” he says.
“These days, we don’t get people who have operated equipment anymore. We’re in a well-to-do area, and a lot of these kids, their parents just make them get jobs. They’ve never ridden a lawn mower or used a string trimmer. So just getting them introduced to the equipment is great,” says Tafs. “These videos that we can get in front of people before they even start here, it just takes that much less legwork for us in explaining what everything is. The videos that are available so far, that’s all the stuff that they’re going to be doing.”
Looking forward to Spanish versions
Brandon Williams is the GCSAA Class A director of agronomy and grounds at Lakehouse Resort in San Marcos, Calif. He has a team of 20 full-time employees, about half of whom speak Spanish as a first language.
“I think the videos are a great way to train your staff. It’s a great resource and would be good to have even more videos,” says Williams, a 23-year association member. “If there was a way to get them in Spanish, that would be extremely helpful, too.
“I liked the detail they went into, some of the etiquette — you know, don’t drive on the greens. Even if you know it already, it serves as a good refresher, especially for some of the members on our crew who can get a little sloppy at times.”
Williams says he recently showed the videos to a new employee, a grounds manager, at his resort.
“He’s new to the industry, and I was just looking for something to give him some knowledge. I knew these videos existed, and I needed to give him something to try to give him more experience with our world. It was exactly what I needed him to see. They seem like good videos to show to all new employees as they come through.”
Phil Cauthon (pcauthon@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s managing editor.