What important skills or qualities does a person need to have in order to be successful in the career path you have chosen?.
To be successful as a Head Golf Professional or General Manager a person must excel in three different areas. These areas include proven business skills, good customer service skills and a complete understanding of golf technology. These aspects do not stand alone, each of them has several internal factors that when combined with the next, help a person to succeed in this field.
The first skill needed to be a successful Head Professional or Manager is a complete understanding of golf course operations. This combined with a good business sense will lead to unlimited success. One of the main duties of the pro is to hire a crew that will make the golf course not only friendly but run like a well oiled machine. The hired staff may only be looking for summer employment meaning new people may be required on a yearly basis. This may pertain only to northern climates where the season is only six to eight months of the year. An assistant pro may only be around for a few years making it necessary to hire a replacement quite frequently. This is based on the assumption that most assistants will eventually want to move on to become a Head Professional at a different location. .
Another aspect of the Head Professional is to set up the pro shop at the course. Setting up the pro shop is not as easy as one might think and it involves several business decisions. To set up the shop, golf equipment such as clubs, balls, shoes, bags and clothing must be ordered by the pro or manager. To decide what equipment will be sold at the golf course the pro must do some research. Most pro shops will carry between two and four name brand golf clubs while the remaining sets are lesser known but more affordable for the average person. This allows a more diverse range of golfers to choose clubs according to their individual skill level.