Bloom Golf Partners and Flagstick LLC recently collaborated to conduct a first-of-its-
kind study to find out how today’s assistant superintendents feel about their future in the
business and what kinds of things are likely to keep them in turf or drive them away.
The study is based on responses from 170 aspiring superintendents and includes
insights on a dozen questions as well as insights from hundreds of verbatim comments.
The full report will be available in mid-March on the Bloom Golf Partners website. Here’s a summary of our key takeaways.
From the assistant/employee standpoint:
- Most impressive is that their top goal when they become a superintendent is to
create a great, healthy workplace culture. - Most don’t think a bachelor’s degree is needed for the technical side of the job
but about a third think turf school can be a steppingstone for bigger jobs at bigger
clubs. - The biggest obstacles to career development are feeling overlooked, failing to develop communications/leadership skills and not having a realistic career plan.
- Burnout, lack of appreciation and poor work-life balance are still issues…but their
sense is that it’s improving. About 40% of respondents still don’t know if they’ll
make it their “forever” career. - Yet, most are overwhelmingly optimistic because they see the opportunity and
generally feel good about the evolution of the profession as well as improved
compensation and work-life balance.
From the superintendent/employer standpoint:
- There’s huge value in creating a good workplace culture that encompasses
appropriate pay, flexible scheduling, and active mentorship. - Mentoring and OJT should focus on leadership, communications and networking.
- Comments showed that some aspiring turf pros changed jobs several times to align themselves with a superintendent with a reputation as a good mentor and teacher.
- Not feeling trusted or not having project oversight delegated to them is frustrating. They say that budget management and day-to-day financial operations are too rarely part of their OJT education.
- Many assistants don’t feel they have a clear understanding of their salary progression so transparency on compensation, annual reviews and career path is important.
Pat Jones of Flagstick LLC said the results mirrored some of the findings of the
Superintendent Employment Trends study done a year ago. “They also know they need
better communications, networking and leadership skills,” said Jones. “We need to
teach those things as well or better than how to set up a spray tank or read a soil test.”
Tyler Bloom of Bloom Golf Partners pointed to the optimism most feel about their future. “This is clearly a great time to be an experienced assistant looking to move up to a
bigger job,” said Bloom. “But to do that they need to find the right mentor and make a
real career plan. The ones that take the initiative to improve their soft skills and network
effectively will have the best chance of succeeding sooner.”
If you’re in need of further insight and best practices, set up a FREE Talent Strategy Call with our team.
Questions about this study or need other industry insights?
Pat Jones
Flagstick LLC
440-478-4763
patjonesgolf@gmail.com
About The Author
Tyler Bloom is the founder of Bloom Golf Partners. A former golf course superintendent and turf professional, Tyler’s love of all things golf began at the age of six when he stepped onto the course for the first time.
Tyler has an Executive Certifacte in Talent Acquisition fro Cornell University and a degree in Turfgrass Science from Penn State University. With 20 years of experience in the golf and turfgrass industry, Tyler has worked directly with reputable club leaders at some of the most prestigious clubs to place over 300 professionals in executive and management level positions throughout the United States.
Are you ready to build a top-performing team that drives results? Our proven framework, methodologies, and implementation is based on our personal track record of developing world-class teams. In addition to talent acquisition, we provide leadership development and ongoing consultative services for the golf course and club industry. Our team has personally coached and mentored dozens of future golf course superintendents across the United States.