Ground Staff

I have yet to talk to anyone at Peninsula Country Golf Club who thinks the groundstaff do a good job and an honest day’s work. On the rare occasions you see the groundstaff on course, there’s a pretty good chance they will be standing around having a chat and not doing anything of much use.

Without exaggeration, I estimate that at least 20% of the time I see groundstaff they are standing (or sitting) around not doing anything. No one begrudges staff a smoko every now and then, but our guys have taken the smoko to the extreme. I have heard (OK, this is hearsay only, but I can believe it’s true) that amongst other clubs, the level of work done by our staff is considered a joke.

We constantly hear from club management that for an 36 hole course, we have to make do with a relatively small number of groundstaff. Maybe, but if they all did something approaching a fair day’s work, it would be like recruiting an extra 20% of workers.

When they do grace the club with a bit of work, as often as not they stuff it up.

I have mentioned before the regular appearance of workman’s boot prints in bunkers, and tyre tracks left in bunkers. We have also had quite clear machinery damage on a number of greens. On some days, early in the morning, it’s clear from the dew marks on some greens, that mowing staff can’t be bothered mowing the greens right to the edges. And we’ve all seen those painted markings on some fairways saying “do not mow” that are constantly being mowed over.

Again, where’s the supervision, where’s the management, who is taking responsibility, where does the buck stop?