Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Playing catch-up at
Erinvale
Volume 4 Issue 1
A monthly business-to-business Visit www.compleatgolfer.co.za
magazine for golf clubs, brought to you by for back issues of GCM
CONTENTS CLUB PROFILE
Playing catch-up
LEAD STORY
Playing catch-up is never easy 3
COURSE MANAGEMENT
is never easy
Customised aeration 7
TAX LEGISLATION
Tax on recreational clubs 8
STAFF ETHICS
Fighting crime is
everyone’s responsibility 11
COURSE MANAGEMENT
Effective biological control of Erinvale Golf Club in Somerset West was one of the first
Poa Annua on Bent grass greens 13
golf estates to be built in South Africa. Other estates have
benefited from their successes as well as their mistakes,
HR letters
Readers’ questions answered 15
HR DEVELOPMENT
Managing in hard times 19 Listening to Johan Piek (director of golf), the Gary Player design was still excellent,
FOOD & BEVERAGE Louis Strauss (clubhouse manager) and the condition of the greens and bunkers left
The festive season’s over, but it’s not Greg Leckie (greenkeeper), the identifica- a lot to be desired. Bringing the responsi-
the end of the party season 21
tion of the problems at Erinvale and the bility for course maintenance in-house has
BIRDIES AND BOGEYS solving of them seem so easy in retrospect, created a passion for excellence that wasn’t
Snippets 22
but behind their calm and confident exterior there before and we now have control over
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR lies a lot of dedication, attention to detail and our own destiny.
Reader’s letters 23 plain hard work. The boom in golf estates
Cover picture by Juan Espi (082 555 1807): has been enormous, and those being built GCM – How did you go about addressing
Looking across the 14th green at Erinvale today are at a distinct advantage over those these problems?
towards the Helderberg mountains. See our that were designed and built over ten years
club profile on page 3. ago. This is what the top team at Erinvale Johan Piek – We had to create stability in
had to say about their problems, challenges our management team and win over the sup-
and successes. port and commitment of the committee and
■ Editorial
ANDREW WILSON members. We all report directly through to
email: consultaew@iafrica.com GCM – What were the major problems the committee and work closely with them.
cell: 082 575 3861
you had to overcome? They supply us (with our involvement) the
■ AdvertisinG vision and strategic plan; it is then up to us
Simon Turck
(PUBLISHER) Johan Piek – The first major problem was to set the standards and implement the action
email: simon@rsp.co.za the lack of a stable and effective manage- plans. We can only do this by employing
cell: 083 252 8387
ment structure. Erinvale had experienced staff who support and are committed to the
■ AdvertisinG six managers in nine years and there was vision.
TYRON MARTIN
(ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE) no clear vision or strategic planning for
email: tyronm@rsp.co.za the future. It was only when the committee Louis Strauss – We had to develop a stra-
cell: 083 235 7509
entrusted the management of the golf club to tegic plan that was not only authorized and
■ Advertising Louis, Greg and myself that we were able to supported by the members, but also one that
James Ferrans
(National Sales Manager) start implementing longer-term and effec- could be funded out of current reserves and
email: jamesf@rsp.co.za tive interventions. cash flow. This is where the members came
cell: 084 252 6373
Louis Strauss – The clubhouse was to the party by supporting our debenture
■ SUBSCRIBE to GCM for R240 a year. looking very “tired” and there was no team fund. The committee was the driving force
Contact Natalie Shekleton
tel: 011 301 4448 spirit among the members and staff. Service behind this strategic planning process. Not
email: natalies@rsp.co.za standards were low and the whole financial only were they creating the vision for the
Visit our website www.compleatgolfer.co.za viability of the club and its facilities were on future but they were also instrumental in
a downward spiral. changing the management team from a gen-
A monthly
business-to- Greg Leckie – The course was suffering eral manager/CEO to the current structure of
business magazine
brought to you by
from a lack of appropriate expertise. Course having a club manager, director of golf and
maintenance was outsourced, and although greenkeeper as the executive team.
▼
Customised aeration
This month Darren Berry of Golf Data looks at how to overcome the problems of
compaction and excess organic matter accumulation through customised aeration.
All superintendents and many golfers challenges that modern golf course superin- sand topdressing. Can be very disrup-
realize the important role that a sound aeration tendents face, it is very important that the tive and will leave unstable conditions
or cultivation programme plays in main- aeration or cultivation programme be tailor- underfoot if not combined with a sand
taining a sustainable turfgrass environment. made to address the site specific problems application.
It is now more important than ever before which are encountered. 3. Carbide or Tungsten tipped vertical
that all golfers are educated about the vital Too often, less disruptive and less effec- mowing. Operation will only affect the
role which aeration and cultivation play in tive cultivation techniques are used in an surface layer of organic matter and may
maintaining the playing conditions which attempt to ease disruption to golfers. This cause severe injury to ultra-high density
they expect, year round. This is because will almost certainly lead to failure of the greens turf varieties.
there are more golfers and therefore more turfgrass stand in the long-run. Bare in mind, 4. Hollowtine cultivation with 6-8mm
traffic now than ever before. serious problems most often require serious, tines. Only affects 2-3% of the total
There are two primary reasons for cultiva- disruptive remedies. greens surface area.
tion practices and many secondary problems 5. Deep hollowtine cultivation or deep
which develop as a result. It is now more important drill. Should not be used as a substitute
The first is compaction. Increased traffic for normal hollowtining operations
on modern golf courses leads directly to than ever before that all 6. Standard vertical mowing. Virtually no
increased compaction and therefore soil- affect on organic matter accumulation.
bulk density. Compaction then, in turn, leads
to decreased root growth, decreased soil
golfers are educated about 7. Solid tining aeration/water injection/
spiking. Have no affect on organic
oxygen levels, poor drainage, wet areas and matter.
weed encroachment. Foot, cart and main-
the vital role which
tenance traffic all contribute to increased Compaction Management
compaction. Compaction becomes espe-
aeration and cultivation
cially concentrated where traffic is confined 1. Hollowtine cultivation with 12-16mm
to small or narrow areas, such as on exits play in maintaining the tines without the addition of topdressing
from greens and tees. Compaction is also sand.
exasperated by excessively wet soils. playing conditions which 2. Deep hollowtine or deep drill. Has
The second primary reason for cultivation the ability to break through the hard-
is excess organic matter accumulation. they expect, year round. pan layer left by standard cultivation
Excess organic matter can potentially lead techniques.
to black layer, sponginess, scalping, local- The following is a summary of the most 3. Water injection. Almost zero surface
ized dry spots, shallow rooting and foot effective techniques for overcoming the disruption combined with very effective
printing. Under ideal conditions, microbial two primary reasons for cultivation. The sub-soil shattering.
degradation of organic matter will match the various options are listed in order from most 4. Solid tining aeration. Ability to shatter
rate of production. Unfortunately, under golf effective to least effective. An aeration and soil with kick action.
course conditions, this rarely occurs due to cultivation programme can be developed, 5. Spiking. Cost effective and quick, but
the inputs of water, nutrients and other prac- which is site specific, by selecting the aera- penetration is limited.
tices which either increase tissue production tion or cultivation technique which is best
or inhibit microbial activity. suited to your specific needs.
Ultra-dense varieties of putting green Darren Berry of
turf are especially prone to excess organic Organic Matter Accumulation Golf Data can be
matter accumulation if they are not managed Management contacted on
carefully. Their high shoot density and the 083 671 9399 or (044)
difficulty with which topdressing material 1. Hollowtine cultivation with 12-16mm 384 0680/3
is worked into the turfgrass canopy, make tines combined with sand topdressing. or at
them very susceptible. 2. Deep scarification with vertical blades, darren@gdmaint.co.za
Considering the above mentioned (e.g. Graden, Sisis) combined with
Fighting crime is
everyone’s responsibility
Developing a culture of security and honesty within a club environment is central to its
survival. Jenny Reid of GriffithsReid believes there is more to security than just guards,
dogs and cameras.
Developing a culture of security within responsible adults and tasked with the respon- throughout the club.
a club environment depends on a lot more sibility for preventing crime. Employers we Employees, from the management down-
than just physical security measures. In deal with are amazed time and time again wards, must be seen to be respecting the
addition, you need to rely on the club’s core at how positively employees respond when legitimate interests of others, as the very
values, ethics and socio-political factors to they are asked to take an interest in the well first guide in a system of ethics. Once they
play a role in creating an awareness of the being of their company or club. There is realise that their action - or inaction – may
detrimental effects of intra-organisational a wealth of untapped goodwill out there, harm others, crime will become a self-lim-
criminality, says Jenny Reid, managing which just needs to be activated. iting exercise.
director of GriffithsReid. Too often, management is hesitant to The next step in building a security aware-
A culture of security implies the adoption go down this path, thinking that all that ness culture is for management to design and
of new ways of thinking and behaving when employees want is more money. While this implement a professional security plan. This
using and interacting within a company can of course never be discounted as a factor, could include physical preventative meas-
or club environment, be it in the HR field, our practical experience shows that when ures, but must also include elements of the
operational or backroom support units. This put to the test, financial rewards alone are staff motivational aspects discussed above.
signals a clear break from the time when not the dominating driver when employees Only a holistic approach to the problem will
security was only thought of as an issue of discuss their working environment. deliver a holistic solution.
security guards and CCTV. Finally, a comprehensive security man-
Only an approach that takes due account agement team must be in place to ensure
of the interests of all your employees, the Practical experience that all the carefully laid plans, ethics,
nature of their work, the socio-political guidelines and communication channels
pressures and an awareness of the corporate has shown that employees are actually maintained and implemented.
and club-wide importance of security, will This includes forward-looking responses
deliver the fullest possible benefit to your respond well to being given to emerging threats, prevention, detection,
club. and response to incidents, systems recovery,
Each employee has to be made aware of responsibility for security ongoing maintenance, review and audit.
their personal responsibility for ensuring Included in this should be a continuous
security. They must not only be aware of the process of reassessment, where the effec-
relevant security risks and preventive meas- Thirdly, a suitable response mecha- tiveness of policies can be reviewed and
ures, but be actively encouraged to assume nism must be put in place through which appropriate modifications can be made
responsibility and take steps to enhance the employees can report criminality. This where ever necessary, in response to
security of the club. should be through the provision of hotlines, changing environmental issues.
How then, is this to be achieved? anonymous tip boxes or direct contact, what-
Firstly, a conscious programme of ever the employee feels comfortable with. A Article byJenny Reid. Jenny is managing
awareness-raising has to be implemented. report back channel is critical to the success director of GriffithsReid and has over
Awareness of the implications of intra-organ- of any programme designed to counter intra- ten year’s of extensive corporate world
isational criminality amongst employees organisational criminality. experience in the security industry. She
is the first line of defence in club security. Practical experience has shown that is a member of The Institute of Directors,
Employees must be made aware that crimi- employees respond well to being given and immediate past president of The South
nality harms them directly in terms of lost responsibility for security; on this must be African Security Association. For more
opportunities, lowered salaries and so on. built the fourth element of the creation of a information on your security require-
Secondly, a programme should be insti- security culture, namely an understanding ments contact Jenny on 082 600 8225 or at
tuted whereby employees are treated as and propagation of a system of ethics jenny@griffithsonline.co.za
SAJGF Divisions through golf days com- African Golf Association that they will be
mencing early next year. assisting us with funding once we have
As you are aware we are a volunteer achieved this. We are the official body for
organization and as such we rely heavily on Junior Golf in South Africa; all other bodies
people taking time off from their jobs to help involved in Junior Golf must sign a recogni-
out. In 2008 we hope to establish a fulltime tion agreement with us before they can be
office which will mean easier communication part of Junior Golf.
between all parties related to Junior Golf. We therefore commit ourselves to con-
Should you be experiencing any dif- tinuing and growing our relationship with
ficulty with communication between your the golf clubs of South Africa and hope that
club and our division please do not hesitate together we can ensure a big future for golf.
to contact me.
The SAJGF has a mission statement “to For more information on the South African
Dominique Jacobs, girls’ Rosebowl
encourage the growth and development Junior Golf Foundation contact Ann
Champion of 2007 and Johan de Beer,
of Junior Golf through competition and Rycraft at arycraft@srk.co.za or
Strokeplay Champion.
coaching”. on 082 895 1326, or visit their
What we request is that every club website www.sajgf.org
Therefore all junior golf sections are ensures that every junior member becomes
encouraged by us to supervise and protect a member of the SAJGF in order for them
The South African Junior Golf
all golfers under the age of 18. Similarly to take advantage of what we can offer them
Foundation currently has approximately
there is a code of conduct for coaches and in terms of top class competition over five
4 500 members and the average annual
managers which forbids any form of abuse different age groups; age 5 to 11 (Littlekids
membership fee is approximately R150
either verbal, physical or racial. Copies of Golf), under 12, under 14, under 16 and
per annum, depending in which province
these codes can be obtained from our web- under 18.
the junior resides.
site www.sajgf.org We have an undertaking from the South
We have currently, 13 divisions of the
SAJGF countrywide which hold competi- About Ann Transvaal Ladies committee for two years
tions throughout the school holidays all year Rycraft: but already I felt that Junior Golf needed
round. Apart from that we also hold national I started playing more of my attention. We had three young
events around the country and to all clubs Golf at the “late” girls at Germiston who were very tal-
who have hosted us this year we say a heart- age of 24 in the ented and together with the club captain
felt “thank you”. UK. My first club we started regular Sunday competitions
Our thanks go in particular to all those was Peterborough for juniors with boys and girls playing
clubs countrywide who give the SAJGF Milton Golf Club together. The word quickly spread and
reduced rates or even waive rates for junior where part of we suddenly found we had 140 junior
days in the holidays. I am aware that many the membership members. By this time I had been elected
of you open up on your “day off” too, so process was to play 9 holes with the club to the Southern Transvaal Division com-
please give our thanks to your staff who give captain and lady captain during which mittee of the South African Junior Golf
of their own time so willingly. they assessed your etiquette and knowl- Foundation. This was in 1988.
During the course of 2007 we have seen edge of the rules. I became Divisional President in 1997
the introduction of new national events at How different to today where you can and was elected to the national committee
U12 and U14 level as well as the “Littlekids” join a club hundreds of kilometers away in 2000. Six years later I became the first
golf events. In 2008 we will be hosting two from your home by just signing a form woman president of the SAJGF.
new international events where we hope the online. Looking back I feel perhaps this was
top juniors from around the world will be Two years later I was in South Africa part of a ‘greater plan” for my life. I do
participating. These events will be hosted where I joined Kensington Golf Club as not have children of my own and although
in the Southern Cape and the Western Cape a competitive 12 handicapper. As a career I have loved this game since I first hit a
respectively. We will also have additional woman I was not able to play during the ball I knew I could never become a star,
events in the Hayes Junior Classic Series for week and as ladies, were not allowed to but through encouragement and creating
2008 and also the High Schools regional and play on Saturdays, I joined Germiston opportunities I believe, together with the
national events will be growing thanks to Country Club where 20 ladies were SAJGF, and the help of committed people
our new sponsor CIB. Our founding fathers, allowed to play on Saturday afternoons. from golf, I have helped some young people
the Nomads, will be holding “The Volvo I became ladies captain, a post I held achieve their dreams and that gives me the
Foundation Series” throughout the country. for six years. I also served on the then greatest satisfaction you can imagine.
Participating clubs will raise funds for the
Prioritising work
on the golf course
Does the committee member with the loudest voice normally influence what gets done
first on the golf course? Murray Veitch of Turftek gives us some pointers on how best to
prioritise your projects for the longer-term good of the club.
So often decisions on a golf course are being put the sheets up on the wall for all to see. • What would the consequences be if the
made by the existing committee only to be Once the ideas have dried up, now is the task was shelved for the time being?
changed by the following year’s committee. time to start prioritising. Get each member Should it be done now or could it wait?
Another common problem is that a single of the group to list what they see as the ten • What support/criticism are we like to
person’s ideas prevail over the rest of the most important items/ideas/suggestions. One receive from the membership?
committee due to the influence that person rule: they are not allowed to include on their • Do we have the authority to press ahead
has over other members. This usually results list a point that they raised. They have to or do we need to seek further approval?
in work being done that an individual wants select their priorities from the points raised This process will help with the forward
rather than work being done according to the by other members of the group. Comparing planning on the course. Budgets can be
needs of the golf course. each person’s priority list will help deter- adjusted to take the newly planned sugges-
When deciding on what should be done mine which objectives are to be seriously tions into consideration, and work can be
on the golf course everyone’s ideas should considered. The more times an item/idea/ scheduled so that resources are used to their
be considered and then a priority list drawn suggestion appears on the “most impor- maximum.
up. The greenkeeper may have what he tant” list, the more likely it is to become a It is also a way of getting projects onto
thinks are priorities to him or her, the club priority. the planning sheet that are important but not
captain may have a different set of priorities necessarily urgent. Stephen Covey, in his
and the same could apply to the club Pro. It’s
therefore important that everyone concerned
The brainstorming process book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, commented that we so often spend
is given the chance to sit around a table and should be repeated at least our time dealing with only the things that are
air their ideas. once a year in order to urgent, whether they are important or not.
By focusing a significant proportion of our
BRAIN STORMING ensure that everyone’s ideas time on the things that are important but not
Brainstorming is a technique used to stim- are considered for the urgent, we can dramatically reduce the fire-
ulate creative or imaginative ideas and fighting that often bugs our days.
solutions by a group of people. The object
benefit of the golf course The brainstorming process should be
is to generate as many ideas as possible out as a whole. repeated at least once a year in order to
of which, hopefully, a few good ideas will ensure that everyone’s ideas are considered
emerge. At the start of the process, the group You are now ready for the evaluation for the benefit of the golf course as a whole.
should be going for quantity, not necessarily stage. Each point should be critically ana- By going through the brainstorming process
quality. During this stage of the brain- lysed. In some instances it may be necessary every participant is given an equal chance to
storming process criticism of an idea should for individuals to explain why they think air their ideas and is therefore more likely
be prohibited; imaginative, and even zany a certain idea is a priority. This will give to be supportive of the outcomes and com-
ideas or solutions are welcomed and quan- clarity to other members. Consider each mitted to their success.
tity is important. point in terms of aspects such as:
Everyone should give as many ideas • Its degree of urgency? For more information
as possible of what they think needs to be • The budget required to complete the on turf-related issues,
done on the course. Ideas could include such task? contact Murray Veitch
things as levelling of tee boxes, adding more • The resources that would be needed to of Turftek on
sprinklers etc. If necessary set a minimum complete the task? 012 807 7282 or at
target of at least ten ideas from each person. • The time it would take to complete the leonette@turftek.co.za
Write all the ideas down on a flip chart and task?
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND YOUR NEAREST DEALER CALL 08600 48759 OR VISIT WWW.HUSQVARNA.CO.ZA
Is your golf course exceptional,
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Former Sunshine
Tour professional People on the move
Colin Sorour Greg Phillips, ex general manager of
heads an impres- Rondebosch Golf Club to Plettenberg
sive list of some Bay Country Club
35 PGA graduates Hein Papenfus, ex general manager
in 2007. Pictured of Hermanus Golf Club to Robertson’s
with top graduate Silwerstrand Golf and River Estate
Sorour, who is the Marinus Weiss has been appointed
Director of Golf manager Vredenberg Golf Club
at Bloemfontein Johan Krugel, ex Rustenburg Golf
Golf Club are Club will join Euphoria Golf Estate
PGA chairman and Hydro as manager of the Euphoria
Craig Ross and Country Club in March 2008.
Beau Barnard of Acushnet Golf. Acushnet gave cash awards to the top five graduates Bet Mills, ex Hans Marensky Golf
totalling R21 000. Club will join Euphoria as events and
For full details of the 2007 graduates, please visit www.pgasa.com golf co-coordinator in March 2008.
Danny Venter has
been appointed