"How did you handle unexpected weather events like heavy rain or drought?"
Like an NFL football coach, you train for the unexpected moments that bifront you! Get the plays together and practice them, you don’t wait for them to come to you. Heavy rain, thunderstorms, flooding, lightning strikes, high winds, snow, sleet, hail, vandalism, fire, drought; ponds empty, pumps go down, any type of emergency you can think of that may happen, many will happen.
You get the team members together, tell them where to be, the time frames, and what is expected. All to get the best outcome and playing condition possible without the fans, players, owners, etc. even knowing that it was even a problem, or how hard it was for you to achieve. This is a 24/7 job! These things can happen any hour of the day or night. As a Golf Committee member once told me during an extreme moment, “This is why we hired YOU!”
Think of these situations backwards. What needs to be done first to last? What is the most important task / to the least important? Do the best that you can, with who and what you have to work with, and call on reliable experts you may have on standby if necessary. KNOW what can wait until tomorrow, or a week from now. In other words, have your play sheets written up and posted… Just in case you are unavailable, get pulled away, or are in another situation. Have your number two and three backup personnel ready to take over and perform the plays! Keep the extended turf family you have within your business in mind, as they may be willing to help at any moment. We ALL know we are in this together!
I believe at one point in my career, there was a push to change ‘Golf Course Superintendent’ to ‘Golf Course Manager’. In these situations which happen often, the word “Manage” really means something!
Then when it is all over, really REALLY thank those involved! A party, trophies, money, whatever. Your team is with you, and you need to reward them. It will most likely happen again. Go over the plays: what worked / what didn’t work.
Make sure that your superiors, members, bosses, homeowners, etc. get the full story. If it all goes well, most won’t even know anything happened, nor experienced any problems. This is what you want, but ALL must know how you and your team won over the situation.
As I have said before, Heroes… ALL!
-Mark S. Merrick, CGCS Retired
Introducing ‘Merrick Mondays’, a segment where we hear from Mark Merrick, our resident brand Ambassador, Chief ‘Cool” Officer, and general source of wisdom and secrets of the universe, to spotlight a dose of interview-style content, weekly.