Delivering member value on the golf course. (Sports).

The value of any club membership rests on the benefits received and perceived by its members: the club's unique services, its ambiance, its history and traditions, and other tangible and intangible benefits which signal to members

excellent value for price paid.

For a golf club, surveys show that the perception of value lies in three primary areas: the quality design of the course, the quality of course maintenance, and the quality of the playing experience. When this quality is eroded through improper maintenance, long round times, or waiting on every hole to play, the value of club membership quickly declines. It is essential that both the club management and the golf professional staff recognize the subtle and not-so-subtle signs that a club is losing its quality edge while there is still time to take corrective action.

The best scenario is when I get a call from the club owner, manager, or head professional asking for help. In these cases I know with absolute certainty that we can work together to improve the value of the golfing experience. Far more difficult is when the call comes from the club's membership. This typically signals a potential rift between management and members, and tells me that the management team could be far less receptive to outside help.

However, when it is the club's key managers who recognize symptoms of eroding value, much can be done. This is where I can eliminate waiting on holes and reduce round times by 20, 30, and even 50 minutes with no loss of membership access to the course. And the glory for this success is correctly laid at the feet of the professional management team for taking the initiative to identify and address the problem with new and innovative solutions.

Telltale Signs of Declining Value

In an economic downturn, membership value becomes a larger concern than might otherwise be the case. Think of it this way: For many clubs, a round of golf is the club's major product, the primary reason to belong. Therefore, every single round of golf provides a "moment of truth" for management and staff. And so every round must provide a consistent opportunity to deliver the highest quality product the club has to offer -- an "unforgettable golfing experience."

How can you determine when members are not receiving that quality product? One obvious way is to listen and respond to member complaints. Complaints that are not quickly addressed by management usually get passed to committees, setting the stage for the scenario I described above. At this point, membership value has already been questioned. To avoid this, let's explore the three elements of this product I mentioned earlier: course design, course maintenance, and the playing experience.

Course Design

Considering the quality of your course's design, you generally either have it or you don't. If you don't, course redesign, renovation, and restoration projects are major undertakings whose initiative fall to the club's committees and require extensive long-range planning and decision-making. When I work with a course under design or construction, or a course planning for renovation, I am able to provide a computer simulation model to help build a smooth flow of play and an "unforgettable golfing experience" right into the course design.

Course Maintenance

Players rate the condition of the playing surfaces as keenly important to the value of their golfing experience. Happily, today's sophisticated golf course superintendents are skilled in delivering consistently high quality playing surfaces, and most degradation of quality can be quickly diagnosed and fixed. When I work with a course, I often suggest adjustments in the length and location of rough, course set-up, or other maintenance practices that allow a smoother flow of play and still maintain the character of the course. But overall, it is the superior condition of the course that singularly sets club play and the benefit of membership apart from public (and even high-end world-class resort) courses.

The Playing Experience

The golfer's perception of value is inextricably connected to "slow play" -- the most difficult problem to understand and solve. No matter how great the design or how exquisite the turf, if golfers say they are "waiting to play every shot" the value of that club membership is being eroded. At their wits' end, club managers and professionals I work with are amazed to find that these age-old problems can be successfully addressed with new understanding, new tools and technologies, and new management practices.

Other Key Factors

Does your course have a lottery for the Saturday starting times, or do members need to call in weeks in advance to "get on the ballot," as they say in Scotland? It's not the act of signing up that is the tip-off; it's the member's desperate desire to play before 9:00 a.m. At courses with a pace of play problem, members vie for the few early tee times because they know play will start on time and finish in a reasonable amount of time; usually less than 4.5 hours. Later players will enjoy neither of these benefits. The product (the golfing experience) has no consistent value. And with product inconsistency comes the question, "Why do I belong to a club?"

The feeling of having the course all to themselves is the reason many members join a club. With the proper management training and ongoing practices in place, that feeling can be delivered to each foursome throughout the day, even when the course is full. But to reach and maintain this level of service requires understanding of the many causes of slow play, and day-to-day practices to make each customer "moment of truth" a successful one. A grateful member at a southern California country club told me, "I used to tee off at 8:20 a.m. and finish at 1:20 p.m. Now, thanks to you, I tee off at 9:30 am and finish at 1:40 pm with no waiting!" Now there's value.

Aligning expectations with what a club can deliver

We all have built-in expectations of what a round of golf should be, often based on myths that may not hold true for many of today's courses. The "Myth of the Four-Hour Round" is a case in point.

In 1994 I was honored to co-author the USGA Pace Rating System Manual which described the new USGA objective measurement tool that calculates what it should take to play a course when the course is full. With this tool, management teams and club members can learn the best playing time their course can deliver under optimal conditions.

Recently the general manager of a prestigious club with a very difficult course asked me to help them achieve four-hour rounds. The hostility between members and management was intense, each blaming the other for rounds of nearly five hours. When their USGA Pace Rating showed them that rounds of 4 hours, 26 minutes were the best that could be achieved with their unique course design and routing, everyone relaxed.

We worked together to train the staff and put in place management practices and player education recommendations which brought the average round time to just under 4.5 hours. Knowing what was achievable on the course allowed the management team to correctly define "slow play." Members' expectations fell in line with what course managers could deliver, complaints were minimized, and the perception of value immediately improved.

Management techniques to maximize delivery and the perception of value Using the USGA Pace Rating as a benchmark, we can compare the time it "does take" to play on a full course to the time it "should take" to play, and the course can take steps to close that gap. When managers clearly understand the five major factors that impact the pace of play, unique local problems can be identified and solutions implemented. Elements of customer service coupled with training for management and staff hold the keys to returning the club to its glory days and bringing exceptional value to the club membership.

Five Major Factors That Impact Pace of Play

To implement a pace improvement program at your course, first look at the management practices that are in place for scheduling play (and actually starting play) on the course.

Look at player behavior and the way the club manages the flow of play throughout the round and how you indicate to the players and marshals where they should be at any time during the round. Player ability should be recognized and managed, and players encouraged to play from the proper tees.

If your pace of play improvement program only addresses how players can play faster, you are treating only one element of the equation, and surprisingly not even the most critical. Be sure your course maintenance practices contribute to, rather than inhibit, the smooth flow of play. Course design impacts the pace and flow of play on any course and sets the bar for what is achievable.

For a complete analysis of these five factors, see Bill Yates' article series in Florida Golf News found at www.pacemanager.com. Click on "current articles."

When thoughtfully organized and approached, the seemingly unsolvable problem of what we call "slow play" can be approached with customized solutions for the unique aspects of your club, course, and membership. The result? Increased membership value.

Bill Yates is the developer of Pace Manager[TM] Systems, a hands-on training and pace of play improvement program for golf course management teams. The PGA of America has approved his training program for continuing education hours for its members. Next year Yates will be consulting with the Royal and Ancient on the pace of play for the British Open at Muirfield, and the British Amateur at Royal Porthcawl. For information call: [phone], e-mail [e-mail], or visit www.pacemanager.com.