PRO'S RETAINER

[mjsw13]

How much is it at your club, roughly, if you know.

Just out of interest like.

I believe our pro is on about £20,000 - and all his rates etc. are paid also.

 

[jammydodger]

Thats pretty close to the figure at our place. He also gets a share of the green fees and all he can make out of the shop. Which is a lot cos he wont have anyone else take lessons so basically hes on a real cushy number but does the absolute minimum possible to earn it.

 

[CrapHacker]

The guy at my local does a lot of lessons. He works from about 2.00 pm to about 6.00 on lessons, 3 or 4 days a week.

So say that's 15 lessons a week ( purely hypothesis here, and chosing numbers that leave easy maths )

At £20 a pop that's £300 a week.

He get's booked up from ( say ) May to September which is about 20 weeks.

So at a VERY poor guestimation that's £6000.

Which basically means that for someone on that sort of starting rate the yearly wage is somewhere between £25-£30K.

Not a huge amount of money in this day and age.

And I'm also guessing that dealing with us lot whinging after bad rounds, and dodgy greens, and slow play, and blokes with shorts on, and electric trolleys, etc etc, it often doesn't feel like half enough.

 

[Leftie]

I heard of one Pro who tried to sell two sticks hinged at one end. He thought that that would be easier to do than work for a living.

 

[Robobum]

How many other people are in the shop??

At least 1 assistant pro? and another "shop boy"?

So that's two more wages that have to come out of that retainer at minimum wage at least. Shop is open during the summer for at least 8hrs (more like 10 at most places)

Quite frankly the pro's are welcome to their £20k retainer as I know that i wouldn't get out of bed for that sort of money.

 

[thecraw]

A lot of Pro's work really really hard and deserve their retainer. They provide a service and help out the juniors, know their members by name and help the club.

Others on the other hand are grumpy arrogant ignorant sods who should be charged with theft of wages!!!

Having a good club professional can mean bringing in new members and an increase in club revenue. Never underestimate the value of a good club professional.

 

[Robobum]

Never underestimate the value of a good club professional.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[slugger]

Quite frankly the pro's are welcome to their £20k retainer as I know that i wouldn't get out of bed for that sort of money.

Just as well most of the people working in our great NHS are more than likely to get out of bed for that sort of money!!!

I'm pretty sure you'd get out of bed for that sort of money if nothing else was available.

 

[Robobum]

It was to coin a phrase, but if you want to take it literally.....

Shop is open 7 days per week for 8 hrs a day and the pro employs a "shop boy" to pay less than minimum wage.

Pro covers 4 days @ 8hrs a day.

That leaves 24hrs per week @ £5 an hour x 50 weeks = £6k minimum which comes out of that retainer.

Stock your shop with £30k worth of golf gear for people to come in and tell you that they can get it 1 pence cheaper on bargainbucketgolf.com and have to sell off a load of stock at trade value or less.

So, to answer your point, no I still wouldn't get out of bed for that retainer. I would go and stack shelves or clean your hospital for you. That way i'd make more money and have an awful lot less hassle.

 

[viscount17]

I've never understood how the pro-shop makes enough to cover the staff that they have,
Pro and assistant - both teaching (and expensive) (there used to be two assistants),
five 'shop boys' - usually with two on at busy periods otherwise one

 

[Jabba]

Our pro shop is open 6 days a week.On 1 of those days the pro's father looks after the shop, so our pro works 5 days a week. In the summer he will still work between 50 and 60 hours per week.

Lessons only cost £12/30 mins and he is understandably very busy with these and can often still be seen teaching at 8 Pm. If he's on a £20k retainer,I think he earns every penny tbh.

I've gotta say nice things, I've got a lesson booked at 2 PM

 

[thecraw]

£12 a lesson???????????

That's cheaper than chips and hardly worth his while!

 

[Yerman]

I would go and stack shelves or clean your hospital for you. That way i'd make more money and have an awful lot less hassle.

You've clearly never heard of MRSA, C. Diff, or the biggest parasite of all - the NHS manager.

 

[SharkAttack]

£12 a lesson???????????

That's cheaper than chips and hardly worth his while!

No Craw, that's £24 an hour and not bad in anyones eyes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think a good pro knows his target audience. No point stacking the shop with top of the range gear if your club is full of old duffers who aren't likely to change their sticks. However if you have a good range of demos, club fitting etc then you can attract custom. Putting yourself out and trying to be as competitive as possible helps.

I have to say my pro is very good. He'll always try and do a deal and even if he can't price match will normally chuck in a sleeve of balls or something similar.

It isn't as glamarous a life as I think many picture it to be. OK it might at the top end clubs but sitting in a tiny shop in winter with two old boys playing all day is tough. Bottom line is support your pro. Make the effort to get to know him. Mine will always stop and give me a 5 minute checkup on the practice ground. Its a two way street

 

[madandra]

I heard of one Pro who tried to sell two sticks hinged at one end. He thought that that would be easier to do than work for a living.

Thats a Very EASY way to make some lolly.

 

[drawboy]

I heard this one years ago and love it, apologies if you have heard it, Ahem! A bloke had borrowed all of his gear for a knock off of his mate, the only thing he didn't have was a ball marker. "Go see the pro in the shop and he will sell you one" said the guy to his mate, so off his pal toddled into the pro shop. "How much are your ball markers please?" inquired the novice golfer. " A pound" replied the pro. So the man handed over a quid, the pro put it into the till and gave the guy a penny!
I love that one, class.

 

[Simbo]

I heard this one years ago and love it, apologies if you have heard it, Ahem! A bloke had borrowed all of his gear for a knock off of his mate, the only thing he didn't have was a ball marker. "Go see the pro in the shop and he will sell you one" said the guy to his mate, so off his pal toddled into the pro shop. "How much are your ball markers please?" inquired the novice golfer. " A pound" replied the pro. So the man handed over a quid, the pro put it into the till and gave the guy a penny!
I love that one, class.

Brilliant!!