Club professionals

[Cheifi0]

If it doesn't bother you then that's fine, personally I don't agree with what you've said, people very seldom join golf clubs for the professional. And it is a job not a charity.

We had a new Pro join our club from another in the area as head teaching Pro. I know of at least 3 members who followed him from that club so wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more.

At our place I believe he is on retainer but has added a lot of value to the club with state of the art teaching facilities a good selection of equipment and was also instrumental in bringing the Euro Pro tour to the club. Overall top notch.

 

[bobmac]

Simbo, what is the finnancial arrangment between your club and the pro?

 

[Ads749r]

If it doesn't bother you then that's fine, personally I don't agree with what you've said, people very seldom join golf clubs for the professional. And it is a job not a charity.

If it wasn't for my pro I wouldn't of joined our club as the office staff just couldn't be bothered to show me around where as he did so the pro defo advertised the club atmosphere which turned into a sale. I don't see how you can speak for everyone just because it's probably not happened to you.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Our pro is a superb asset to the club

As well as running a well stock shop and always price matching and helping you choose the right equipment and will always find a way to get you what you want

He also is very well assisted by two very good assistants - one has just arrived from the Gary Player Academy in SA

All three of their diaries are full for over 6 weeks in advance for lessons

On top of that the Pro is now the director of golf and works alongside the course manager , head of greens and myself is sorting out the course and competitions - he started the job this year and the improvements have been massive

And finally he is a cracking bloke who is very friendly and always will take time to chat to a member

We are rightly proud of him

 

[Break90]

Our Head Pro has been at the club for 25 years, he also has 3 assistant pro's, there's always one in the shop and the others are normally booked for lessons

the shop is excellent, a great range of brands, clothing, accessories as well as clubs.

indoor studio with track man etc for fitting sessions.

he sends a weekly email newsletter to members with weekly offers and news, all the pros will always stop and chat if they can.

members get a discount on lessons, and there's a loyalty scheme whereby you get points for every purchase which are converted twice a year into a monetary credit to your pro shop account

he and his team are definitely an asset to the club

 

[Garush34]

No pro or shop at our place. Dont see the need for one where we are. If it was a bigger club then yeah but for our size it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Karl102]

Ours is great. Friendly, helpful and always willing to price match anywhere... He even match my mate for a set of g25 irons from the Carnoustie ebay golf shop! He is part of the foremost buying group. He gets a retainer and then operates profits from the shop. Out of that he pays for his assistant (I think) who is also a really nice guy.
Our club certainly benefits from having one.....

 

[c1973]

I believe our pro is on a retainer plus what the shop makes.

He is without a doubt a tremendous asset imo. Decent stock and plenty of manufacturer options, usually a deal to be made, reasonable lesson rates and plenty of involvement with the juniors.

I have to say, I'm glad he's at our club and I try to give him as much of my business as possible.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

thanks for typing that out, now I don't have too. Exactly as you described apart from we get a small discount on lessons. I think without them the club wouldn't feel the same. They both helped me in feeling welcome and explain the club to me and how it's run. They even introduced me to other members to play with. Plus I spend many hours in there just chatting rubbish to them (I think they enjoy it). From what I see in the pro shop is that all members pop in to say hello and there's some type of camaraderie with everyone. Without the pro shop I think the club would slowly go into chaos.

Decent pro that's been in the post for at least fifteen years and an excellent assistant who will do well when he qualifies. Not the greatest stock, especially clothing which is solely Callaway and mostly with the club logo. Limited stock but he will price match where possible. It's a set up that works well and the members and the pro both seem happy with it

 

[Simbo]

Simbo, what is the finnancial arrangment between your club and the pro?

I'm not 100% sure, that was why I was kinda asking what the general arrangement was.

When I first joined I believe he was on a retainer, he got a % of the green fees and competition money. Any money we won had to be spent in the shop. Plus whatever he sold in the shop, he took his lessons at his range and not at the club. He was hardly ever at the club though, almost always his assistant who ran things, although the shop had decent stock there was no way they could match American golf etc for prices. Th club ran into financial difficulties and he was released from our club. I think his retainer was 20k a year, that's a good years salary for a lot of people, plus all the above on top,of that makes a pretty decent wage.
What the club/members have got,out of this arrangement I'm really struggling to see, it looks to me like he's been getting money for doing very little.

 

[Oxfordcomma]

Round our way the same guy is now in charge of several clubs. He is now Director of Golf at my old club, Drayton, and has expanded over the last few years to be running the pro shop at (at least) 4 local clubs that I know of, including my new club Goring. As far as arrangements go, I think he pays the clubs to be there then takes all income from sales and lessons although I couldn't swear to that, it's just from talk on the course.

Whatever the arrangement, it works really well for both of the courses that I have experience of. He runs a good organization, has qualified pros in place, and for equipment he offers price matching for online shops. He's a huge part of the old club and at the new place the pro that works for him is a big benefit to the club.

 

[Wayman]

our pro is on a retainer and also gets a % of greenfees
he has only just been in shop since march and doing a cracking job, lots of stock in shop and also willing to price match and give a good deal out

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The theme seems to be if you have a good pro then members are happy with the set up. If the pro is a little lazy then members struggle to see the point. Seems fair to me.