D-S
Well-known member
You might not know many members clubs where staff get free membership but it is quite often the case, including my club and a lot of nearby clubs.
Club Pros and Assistants in club competitions
- Thread starter D-S
- Start date
Lucifer MorningStar
Well-known member
That’s pretty much what my former club did from memory and I think that’s a happy medium it provides interaction on the course and doesn’t detract from members playing in members comps.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Seems a great way to get free membership- work some hours behind the bar , our members would be livid giving away free membership when others pay over £1500 for theirs
wjemather
Well-known member
Your question was: "...are they doing the job they are paid to do, be available in the shop or for lessons?" which can be applied equally to casual golf as it can competitions. I get you didn't mean that but the thought process is the same; and it reminded me of our former chef who was constantly subjected to 'comedians' on the course questioning why he wasn't in the kitchen making them bacon sandwiches whenever he was playing golf (whether in a competition or not).
Incidentally, he was a franchisee who received free membership (for him and his family). I'm aware of several local clubs (including members clubs - as confirmed by D-S above) with similar arrangements for staff and franchisees - it's really not as uncommon as some appear to think.
Neilds
Assistant Pro
Great tangent!
Would it surprise you to find out that not every club runs the same way as yours and you don't actually know what goes on at every golf club in the country?
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
How is it a tangent
People are saying that staff and franchises get free membership
Where is the tangent ?
Seems mad to be giving away free membership just for working at the club
Not a chance that happens at our place , they can play the course , they can use the facilities but not free membership
You fit casual golf into your time off. Comps are at a particular time and the pro / assistant may compromise some of what they do so that they can play in the comp. Their priority is their job, not playing in a club comp.
I'm sure there are places that offer free golf with the job, I just haven't come across them
Neilds
Assistant Pro
The tangent is from pro's to casual bar staff. Big leap by anyone's standard. I'm sure that nobody has said bar staff get free membership, and would not expect them to.How is it a tangent
People are saying that staff and franchises get free membership
Where is the tangent ?
Seems mad to be giving away free membership just for working at the club
Not a chance that happens at our place , they can play the course , they can use the facilities but not free membership
I know some clubs around that give marshals' free membership but they have to commit to a number of hours every week. Makes the running of the club much better and helps everyone out so why shouldn't they get a bit of a perk?
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Well they are staff employed by the club ? A lot of pros are franchises , why wouldn’t some who works behind the bar every day not be the same ?
Where do you draw the line
There are perks and then there is giving away memberships with cost others a lot of money as well as a stake in the club
Lucifer MorningStar
Well-known member
But then you’re in the realms of going off thread. Because this is about Pro/Assistants playing in club comps.
Not about who should or shouldn’t get free memberships. The same argument can be levied that why certain groups get a reduced membership compared to someone like me over 40 but they have same playing rights. It is a tangent even if you can’t see it and it’s not relevant to should club Pro play club comps.
Maybe that’s a thread you’d like to start as it is a completely different discussion. A very valid and interesting one but very different from what this thread is ultimately about
wjemather
Well-known member
The same applies to comps. There is no difference.You fit casual golf into your time off. Comps are at a particular time and the pro / assistant may compromise some of what they do so that they can play in the comp. Their priority is their job, not playing in a club comp.
I'm sure there are places that offer free golf with the job, I just haven't come across them
How would playing in a club comp during time-off compromise their work, but playing a casual round of golf wouldn't?
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Would ask - why would club shop pros etc want to play in club comps ?
There are comps organised by PGA for them to enter and compete against fellow pros and assistants
There are comps organised by PGA for them to enter and compete against fellow pros and assistants
Huge difference. Club comp on a Saturday, tee offs between 7.30-3.00pm. Pretty busy time in the club shop for most courses. Assistant is out on the course, not available in the shop. Pro needs the toilet, needs to eat etc, shop gets closed for 10 minutes. Other things can happen, make them up
.Assistant goes out to play mid week at a dead time for the club, let's say hypothetically, 2pm on a Tuesday, maybe 5pm on a Wednesday. They can see the bookings, they know it impacts no one.
Neilds
Assistant Pro
Practise? They might have an important PGA competition coming up and want to add a bit of pressure
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Why do they need to play in a club competition for that ? It’s not really pressure is it
They can just practise on the course
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wjemather
Well-known member
I don't know of any clubs where all comps are on Saturdays (at least two-thirds of ours aren't).Huge difference. Club comp on a Saturday, tee offs between 7.30-3.00pm. Pretty busy time in the club shop for most courses. Assistant is out on the course, not available in the shop. Pro needs the toilet, needs to eat etc, shop gets closed for 10 minutes. Other things can happen, make them up
Assistant goes out to play mid week at a dead time for the club, let's say hypothetically, 2pm on a Tuesday, maybe 5pm on a Wednesday. They can see the bookings, they know it impacts no one.
Pros are allowed time-off, even at weekends. The sky doesn't fall-down when they are on holiday and out of the country; why would it be any different if they happened to be on the golf course?
Like anyone else, pros are entitled to do whatever they want with their free time. Why should they be restricted to "dead time" on the tee sheet?
Neilds
Assistant Pro
You asked for a reason, I gave you a reason. If you can't accept that then who am I to try and change your mind!
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Pro’s are entitled to do what they want in their free time , I would also expect more pros would be well aware of the needs of members and not be looking to be taking up tee times during comps that have been created for the paying club members
I would also think that any decent pro would be looking to maximise his earnings and be there available for members during the busy times -
A pro gets employed by a club to provide a service - not sure playing in club comps is a service that the club would look to do
I also suspect it’s very theoretical because I can’t see many club pros actually playing in club comps as there is very little benefit to them
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
In my life work in golf I can say that the four clubs who allowed their Pro's/assistants [and greenstaff] to play in club competitions were happy friendly places. [Two were quite posh]
The two who did not were less so. [neither were they posh
]
The two who did not were less so. [neither were they posh
]
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
This.
Our assistants are going to have plenty of work as our Head Pro is dropping a lot of his member teaching/coaching as his time working with Lottie Woad has now increased significantly. The assistants would be daft to waste their time playing in club comps when there is pretty good money to be made from coaching.
Though I note in passing that our ex-Head Pro (now Assistant Club Manager) is playing in the annual Am-Am this Thursday that our big Thursday Roll-up has and that is followed by a dinner. Interesting that his HI is 1.4 and we no longer think of him as a club pro.
