The Challenges Facing UK Golf Professionals
Well, at long last (touch wood) it appears that our golf courses are drying out.
We can all get back to playing golf in “normal” conditions.
It’s been a gruelling 10 months or so for everyone involved at golf clubs across the whole of the UK.
None-more-so than the club professional.
Keen to stress what a tough time it has been for the pros is Northop Golf Club general manager Matthew Pritchard, himself a PGA professional and the current chairman of PGA England and Wales North.
“We know that the horrendous weather we have all experienced since last summer has made life more difficult for anyone working at a golf club, but in the main, people like greenkeepers, secretaries, admin staff etc have all still been getting paid so they have suffered no financial hardship, no stress regarding making their mortgage payments, no stress regarding paying suppliers in the winter, no stress as to how they pay their staff costs,” said Matthew.
He added: “Generally at most clubs, the pro is paid a retainer, not a salary where there are benefits such as pension, sickness pay, national insurance contributions etc. From this retainer, which is generally less than £20,000 per year in this region, they have to pay staff to keep the shop open up to 80 hours a week in the summer, which at the new minimum wage equates to nearly a £1,000 a week in wage costs and about £45,000 a year just to service the shop hours!”
The money that pros used to make from retail is becoming less and less as more people buy online or at the big golf retail stores.
“It makes you wonder how the club pros are surviving.
“Unless you have an indoor teaching studio, you can’t even really teach. All income streams have been affected and there has been virtually no income for more than six months and, just to make matters worse, at almost every club the point of contact for all members is the pro when they complain about course closures, ground conditions, the weather, the fees going up, the decisions taken to open and close the course, the introduction of trolley/buggy restrictions etc.
The PGA professional this year has realistically less than six months now to earn enough money for the whole year!
“Despite all this, when clubs look at cutting costs, where do they focus their immediate attention, yes you guessed it, the pro’s retainer.
“Studies across the world have shown that clubs when they make this decision that inevitably leads to pros leaving a club, the club suffers financially, why? Well it is the professional that generates new members through interaction with golfers or through taking beginners through from the initial beginnings of their golfing journey through to membership, PGA pros, if engaged with the club, are the financial “rainmakers” that can drive the club forward.
“Club members, and more importantly committees, often have very little idea what a PGA qualification means and what an all-encompassing degree qualification it now is.
“The pros are uniquely placed to be the person that can help save a club from themselves. This year is going to be key, the covid bounce has gone, costs have increased massively and any more poor weather and who knows what the future will hold?
“There are so many professionals that are struggling both financially and with mental health issues that I personally feel we could be entering a period where huge numbers of pros go under. I hope I am wrong and that more people will support their club pro this summer and appreciate the fabulous jobs the majority of them do.”
