Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
#1
|
||
|
||
Executive Courses going forward
I spent a couple of hours with Mitch Leininger, the Director of Executive Golf for the District, this past Wednesday.
I initiated contact with the PWAC, regarding the recent problems with the Exec Courses. They referred my letter to Mr. Brown the Assistant Director, who responded immediately, substantively and patiently. He also suggested I contact Mitch and arrange to visit some of the District’s current Exec Golf course projects, which I did. I spent a couple of hours with Mitch, yesterday. First off, I have to commend the District for not only their quick response and consideration, but of all the governmental and quasi-governmental units I’ve dealt with through the years, not one has been any more forthcoming with information or access to staff and documents. While we might not always agree with what the District does, their commitment to transparency and access, is to be commended. As to the golf. I think the District has gotten the message, that residents and golfers are not happy with the condition of the courses this year and have resolved to do a better job going forward. I didn’t ask why the situation was allowed to deteriorate to what we saw this year, but I can speculate that the District got caught behind the curve. I think a less than aggressive maintenance program over the past years, combined with adverse weather conditions this Spring, brought things to a head. It’s fairly easy to grow grass when conditions are optimal, it’s more of a challenge when the weather turns against us. I have a attended a couple of PWAC meetings, where golf was a subject and the District has said they need to do a better job with their contracts, management of the contracts, as well as course maintenance. Keep in mind, “contracting” and “managing” golf courses, are two different tasks. While they sometimes overlap, we can’t always expect a Golf Course Superintendent to be an expert in contracting, nor a contracting expert to be a golf maintenance whiz. I think the District is going to re-visit how their contracts are structured and managed. I visited a couple of courses, in the process of being renovated. I think the inclusion of the USGA in this process, is a huge positive step. From what Mitch told me, they’ll be consulted as necessary, as renovations move forward and they’ll be providing analysis of some of the construction materials. The District also moved forward with a “direct purchase process”, for golf related materials (fertilizers, fungicides, etc.). Buying directly should save money, but more importantly, standardize the products that are being use on the golf courses. Going forward, I think we’ll see an improvement in conditions and hopefully, a long-range plan that insures they don’t get caught behind the curve again. Also, the District is planning a "course condition" guide, that's going to be published (or posted), so anyone looking to play, will be able to have some insight into current conditions at a specific course (this was discussed at the PWAC meeting). & yes, I made a number of suggestions that I think might improve conditions and their contracting process, as well as increase Customer (resident) Satisfaction. We’ll see what next year brings. |
|
#4
|
||
|
||
The value of complaining on social media has run its course, in my opinion. Besides, I think it's disingenuous to just complain and not offer suggestions or help or whatever. So I went to the source.
Quote:
It would be much too easy to say, Mitch Leininger has been the Director of Executive Golf for the last 4-5 years, so let's blame him and fire him. Some PWAC members appear to have been suggesting that. I don't think it's that simple. Yes, "the buck stops at his desk", but one man can't manage 40+ Executive Golf Courses, without a support structure, budget and team to help him. I think (& this is just my speculation, I wasn't told this) the majority of Mitch's "team", are the Contractors TV uses ... not his own staff. He's obviously got the PGA Professionals on staff, but they already have their hands full with the day to day operations they're responsible for. Just my opinion, but I don't Mitch is the problem, it's larger than one person. I think the District has some systemic issues that need to be dealt with. TV and the District's responsibility has grown exponentially over the last 15 years and I'm not sure their infrastructure has kept up with that growth. When I say "infrastructure", I don't just mean people, I mean their way of doing business and contracting. What was a simple and reasonable process 10 years ago, may not be as effective these days. Just a personal opinion, but I think the District is under-staffed and from what I've seen, the various district commissioners and the advisory boards, create more work than they produce. I'm sure there are exceptions, but many of the Commissioners come to meetings unprepared and are more worried about what time the pickleball courts will open and other minutia, rather than the millions of dollars they are tasked with managing. |
#5
|
||
|
||
Quote:
Never should have gotten this bad. |
#6
|
||
|
||
Quote:
That said, the Championship Courses are a horse of another color. I'd love Rickey Craig (VP of Golf/Tennis) to call me and ask me to tour some of the courses with him and make suggestions. I've been waiting for Jessica Biel to call me for a few years now. Rickey will probably call after Jessica does. |
#7
|
||
|
||
The buck should stop with the man in charge. When it comes to his salary I’m sure he points to the fact that he is in charge of everything golf related and with that amount of responsibility he should be compensated for it. Things have been complacent too long around here, new faces, new ideas are needed. Those currently in charge laugh all the way to the bank every time they cash their checks,
|
#8
|
||
|
||
Quote:
I used to work a golf course when I was young and I see bizarre practices here. For example, Escambia. We played it one weekend, the greens were grown to probably 1/4” one weekend. Maybe wanting them to get a good growing in as the weather gets warm. then, bang they were cut to normal playing conditions all at one time, lots of scalping, tearing, etc. We never would cut more than a 1/16 off the top when coming out of winter conditions. Finally, how do you relate to Mitch and his crew where he took the time with you? I think it’s great that he did, I think the scorecard is great addition and hope as you said grows to a weekly update on all courses and their status thanks again… |
#9
|
||
|
||
Quote:
One idea I tried to push, was the idea of using CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) as a standard and incentive. If you bring you car in for service, you get a survey the next day. If you stay at a hotel, you get asked for a review. If you use Customer Support for anything, you get a survey. Every other company in the world, seems intent on knowing what their "customers" think, why shouldn't TV operate the same way? & why shouldn't those who do an exceptional job, be rewarded or incentivized? |
#10
|
||
|
||
You didn't ask Why Executive Golf Courses were Allowed to Deteriorate
Quote:
|
#11
|
||
|
||
Quote:
I can tell you exactly why the courses were in the condition they were in ... lack of proper maintenance. The District did not have an overall "Agronomy Plan" for the courses and has been using "task based" contracts to mow & fertilize. No where in the process is there a standard that says, "the goal is to provide quality playing conditions, regardless of weather or volume of play". We've been hiring landscapes to cut grass and put down fertilizer, like we've been maintaining a soccer field. Maintaining golf courses is an entirely different process and hasn't been done in the past. |
#12
|
||
|
||
Quote:
I don't know Mitch at all. I've sent a couple of letters to the PWAC, with specific suggestions for improvement and they ended up on Bruce Brown's desk and he suggested I spend some time with Mitch, which I did. |
#13
|
||
|
||
Quote:
|
#14
|
||
|
||
Scalping
Quote:
Escambia happens to be where we've played the majority of our recent rounds. Had forgotten about the day when the grass on the greens there was so long and that the putts were so slow. They were *very* lush and pretty that way. :-) But, I *did* notice the recent scalping there. With your work history you'd know more about it than I, but my sense was that it was more of a "settings" problems with the "reels" on the mower - as if it (or part of a set of reels) weren't "level" - based on the intermittent scalping pattern. I would've expected the whole surface of the greens to have been scalped, rather than the patchy, angled, "spots" of damage if it were all just mown too short, too quickly. Anyway, it reminded me of how I've wondered whether the curve behind which maintenance got with the horrible greens this winter might've been as simple as scalping areas (from poor settings?) just as the grass was going dormant. Certain slopes lend themselves more to scalpage, and the patterns could conceivably have been explained by such. I ran that speculation by the USGA inspector who met recently with Mitch (and who shared his email address with us). I haven't yet received a response to my longish inquiry. Like Brian, I did receive a response from Howard Brown from the district when I emailed him about the conditions back early on. Shared his response here on TOTV. Still haven't heard whether the testing for fungus yielded any results. If Brian isn't sharing all that he learned, I suspect that he probably has pretty good reasons. He strikes me as being particularly knowledgeable on the subject, right eloquent, and as one operating with a sharing and helpful "intention". I again thank him. |
Reply |
|
|
|