April 2007 Inside GCM this month

LEAD STORY • Golf Course Rankings 1

FROM THE CMASA • Member Resignations 4
GOLF ASSOCIATION OF SA • Who’s Who in SA Golf 5
COURSE MANAGEMENT • Poa Annua Management 7
BIRDIES AND BOGEYS • Snippets 9
TRANSFORMATION • Traditionalism vs transformation  10
HR DEVELOPMENT •The SMART way to set objectives 13
HR LEGAL • Background information on the CCMA 15

A monthly newsletter brought to you by Compleat Golfer magazine.  Volume 3 Issue 4

The Art and Science of Golf Course

Rankings – Understanding the System
The ranking of golf courses has always spawned controversy and emotion in the
golfing fraternity. John Botha explains how courses are ranked.
It was the Americans, with their penchant & Ancient, was the first to rank courses, in different countries, and it was Compleat
for “best-of” lists, that can claim to have simply by choosing venues for major events, Golfer that first ranked South African courses
first compiled a list of ‘ranked’ golf courses particularly the Open Championship. This some 15 years ago. A group of knowledge-
in the 1960s. Of course long before this, official sanction elevated the standing of able golfers, mostly professionals, were
golfers debated which courses deserved these courses, and the assumption was made recruited to enter their top-10 courses for
special status. The first list compiled by the that the courses on the Open Roster were the consideration, and it was from these sub-
Americans constituted a ranking in order best championship tests. missions that the first list of “South Africa’s
of difficulty – a simple task, as the USGA’s The growth of the game, and in particular
handicap ratings were used. It is probably fair the burgeoning golf tourism industry, did Continued on page 3
to say that golf’s governing body, the Royal much to encourage the ranking of courses

de Zalze has got it right. A short carry for lay-up and a long carry if you are going for the green.

 NDREW WILSON • email: anorbury@iafrica.com • cell: 082 575 3861

■ Editorial A A monthly
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to you by
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Golf Club Management April 2007 


Continued from page 1
Best” was compiled. Admittedly, this system
had its failings – many of the panelists hadn’t
played certain courses for some time, and
besides logistical problems, it was felt that
a panel heavily weighted with professionals
would produce an unfair bias towards those
courses that hosted professional events, and
those with the best championship credentials.
(It is also fair to assume that a pro is likely
to be influenced, albeit unwittingly, to favour
those courses that suit his or her game.)
Since then, the ranking of courses has
become more equitable by the development
of a more refined system, and a smaller,
dedicated panel of judges. These judges
meet regularly and constantly work on their
skills, ensuring that they are all working to
the same set of values.
A shift in paradigm has been to firstly rank
each hole individually before factoring in
other criteria. The method employed in the
past, (and still used by other panels), is to only
apportion a value for the course as a whole in
the various categories; for example, for playa-
bility, shot values (or resistance to scoring) and
aesthetic value. Besides being extremely dif-
ficult to do, there is an inherent danger of this
method resulting in one or more holes unfairly
influencing the course’s total score.
The way that a total ranking score is cal-
culated is as follows: From the first tee, each
hole is given a mark out of ten for defini-
tion, playability, shot values and aesthetics
(bear in mind that factors such as clubhouse
facilities etc have no bearing on course
rankings). Each hole is studied from the
championship tees, club, senior and ladies
markers, and note is taken of length, landing
areas, positioning and visibility of hazards,
forced carries, greens complexes, and pos-
sible pin positions. By way of example, high
values for each category would be depend
on the following:
Definition: Simply put, a player should be
able to formulate a strategy for playing a
hole from the tee. In the case of par fours
and fives, the landing area should be visible,
as should any hazards, and on par threes,
particularly longer varieties, the “bale-out”
area should be visible.
Playability: A simple test is to consider
whether a novice could play a medal format
on the hole. Holes with long carries over
water, for example, will be penalized.
Particularly penal rough, deep bunkering or
severely sloping, fast greens will also cause
a hole to score poorly in this category, as
will hanging lies on the fairway, etc.
Shot Values: A hole with a high value in
this category should fairly test golfers of all
abilities. Ideally the longer the player hits
the ball off the tee, the narrower the margin
for error should be. The strategic placing
of hazards and the risk-and-reward factors
come into play here, and the difficulty of
the green’s complex should be proportional
to the average distance of the approach.
(Prevailing winds are also considered when
marks are apportioned for this category.)
The ranking of courses
has become more equitable
by the development of a
more refined system,
and a smaller, dedicated
panel of judges.
Aesthetics: The beauty of a hole is self-
explanatory, and factors such as how well
the design fits with the surroundings, as
well as the beauty of the backdrops, are
considered.
Once these marks have been tabulated
(out of a possible 720), an overall mark out
of 100 is given for each of the following
categories: routing, design balance, mem-
orability, landscape management and
conditioning.
Routing
The routing of a course should primarily be
logical. Distances from green to tee should
be neither too far nor too near, and ideally
one group of players should not cross the
path of another during the round. Safety
is an obvious consideration here, and on a
well-routed course there is no danger of a
player being struck by a ball. Crossing roads,
proximity of homes to the playing area, and
the balance of up, down, and side-hill holes
are also considered.
Design Balance
The mix of holes – long and short, together
with the blend of high and low stroke is
examined, as is the shape of holes i.e. those
special feature
favouring either a draw or a fade. Ideally the
two nines should match in difficulty, and holes
1 & 10 should qualify as good openers, just as
holes 9 & 18 should constitute good finishes.
Memorability
None of a course’s 18 holes should have a
“sameness” about them – each should have
its own particular feature and challenge,
yet all should fit into the overall feel of
the design.
Landscape Management
The environmental friendliness of the course
is examined here, and obviously marks are
deducted for signs of soil erosion, poor her-
bicide/pesticide management, and liberal
water use. While courses are not penal-
ized for having alien species of flora, it is
expected that older courses have a program
in place to replace non-indigenous varieties.
High marks are earned for the establishment
of corridors of indigenous trees and grasses,
and the introduction of natural wetlands.
Conditioning
This category goes beyond the general
quality of turf, and all areas are examined.
The levels of tees are evaluated, as is the
consistency of greens (holding qualities and
putting speed), quality of bunker sand etc.
General housekeeping is critically exam-
ined, as is the overall care devoted to areas
of rough.
The results of our course rankings are
never going to please everyone, and the
usual misgivings include the unfairness
of comparing big-budget resort or estate
courses with the more modest private clubs.
Every effort is made to remain impartial in
our judgment, and our system is designed to
give every course a fair chance. For example,
no value is given for historical significance,
so newer courses are not at a disadvantage.
Most importantly, our system is designed
to identify those courses that come closest to
pleasing all golfers, from the novice to pro-
fessional – the often elusive goal of every
course architect.
For John Botha’s impressive CV and
the current top 10 listed courses in
South Africa, see Birdies and Bogeys
on page 9.
Golf Club Management April 2007 
 CLUB MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Member Resignations: your last
chance to make a good impression
Beryl Acres, General Manager, Club Management Association of Southern Africa gives
us a 12 point damage control checklist for handling member resignations.
Resigning members should receive the
same prompt, friendly service they were
afforded when joining your club. Whatever
their reason for resigning, they still remain
part of your community and have friends
who are still your members. They will talk
about your club after they are no longer
members and when that happens it would be
preferable if they spoke kindly about your
club. How you handle the resignation will
effect the lasting impression the member has
of your club.
Checklist :
Assuming your club has a policy that states
that a member wishing to resign must do so
in writing:-
• All resignation letters should be reviewed
by the Club Manager. The Club Manager
in turn should familiarise himself/herself
with all the members’ personal details
and any information that may suggest the
reason for the resignation, i.e. letters of
complaint, surveys, etc.
• At the weekly management meeting, the
club manager should enquire if any man-
agement staff are aware of the reason
why the member has tendered his or her
resignation. Any information gathered
from the management team could be
useful when the Club Manager makes the
call to the member in an attempt to save
the membership.
• It is also useful to examine the members’
account to establish when he/she last uti-
lized the facilities and to further establish
if his/her account is overdue.
• The Club Manager, having established
who on the management team has a good
relationship with the individual member,
should instruct that team member to make
contact with the member.
• All this information gathering should
be prompt – the sooner the resigning
 April 2007 Golf Club Management
member is contacted, the better chance
the club has of saving the member-
ship, or limiting the damage.
• It is a matter of choice if the con-
tact is made by telephone or by
appointment but the opportunity
to understand and interact with the
member in a face-to-face interview
is valuable.
• Should the member be resigning
due to dissatisfaction in relation
to club policies or facilities that
do not live up to his/her expec-
tations, the interviewer should
note the members’ grievances
and request an opportunity to
take corrective action. Not
all members’ grievances can
be accommodated. If this
is the case, the member
needs to be advised why
it is not in the club’s
best interests to imple-
ment changes required
by the member. When
a member is informed
why the club did or did
not take certain actions, he or
she is grateful for the facts and tends to
become more understanding.
How you handle the
resignation will effect
the lasting impression the
member has of your club.
• Reasons for resignation outside of the
club’s control include relocation and
retirement. In these cases the member
should be thanked for being a member of
the club and be advised that his resigna-
tion will be handled immediately
by the accounting and member-
ship departments.
• Some clubs conduct an “exit inter-
view” with resigning members. This
can either be handled by the Club
Manager or a Committee member.
In this interview the member is asked
why he/she is resigning and what the
club could do to improve the facilities
and services to satisfy members and to
prevent future resignations.
• The club should track reasons for resigna-
tions to help prevent them in the future by
identifying trends.
• The accountant must ensure that the
members’ account is settled as soon as
possible and ask for the member to return
his/her membership cards.
• A letter signed by either the club manager
or club president/chairman should be
sent to the resigned member. The letter
should acknowledge the resignation of
the membership, express both the club’s
pleasure in having him/her as a member
and its genuine regret in losing him/her
as a member.
Members are the lifeblood of the club.
Clubs need to work at attracting new
members and retaining existing members.
Resignations are a reality. You can never
stop them completely; however, you can
control them by being proactive in meeting
your members’ needs, interests and expec-
tations. When a resignation cannot be
avoided, a club should handle it in a profes-
sional manner. This will hopefully mean
that the resigning member will leave your
club with a good lasting impression.
Beryl Acres can be contacted at the
CMASA on 011 482 7542 or by e-mail at
gm@clubmanagement.co.za

Who’s Who in South African Golf
Ever wondered who to talk to when a golfing issue arises. Ian Leach of the South
African Golf Development Board gives us the introductions.
Golf in South Africa has no central co-
ordinating body. Instead, ten independent
national bodies operate, each with their own
specific field of responsibility. Each of these
ten organisations has provided GCM with a
summary of their main purpose for existence
together with their contact details.
• Professional Golfers Association of
South Africa
The P.G.A. of SA is dedicated to training
and serving golf professionals whose prin-
cipal aim is to offer a highly professional
service to amateur golfers at a club, driving
range or any other golf establishment. The
P.G.A aims to gain the highest possible
standards of employment for its members
who must be highly trained, extremely
competent and able to take on the com-
plete role of Professional or Director of
Golf at any golf facility.
Contact details: Dennis Bruyns (Director
of Training and Operations) 011-485-1370
or admin@pgsa.com
• Women’s Golf South Africa
W.G.S.A is the national body that admin-
isters women’s amateur golf in South
Africa. It is tasked with growing women’s
golf and providing competitive opportuni-
ties to attain excellence in golf. W.G.S.A
has the responsibility to assist the amateur
provincial unions to administer golf suc-
cessfully and transparently and to partner
with all bodies in golf development.
Contact details: Vivian Horak
(Secretary/Treasurer) 082-893-0094 or
womensgolfsa@global.co.za
• Women’s Professional Golf Association
Women’s Professional Golf is governed by
one organisation with two divisions namely
the teaching division and the tournament
division. Their purpose is to promote
interest in the game amongst women
professional golfers and to provide oppor-
tunities in teaching and tournament play.
Contact details: Lesley Copeman
(President) 011-447-3034 or
lesleyc@worldonline.co.za
the golf associations of south africa
• South African Junior Golf Foundation
The purpose of the S.A.J.G.F is to foster
and promote interest in Junior Golf. It
does so by encouraging the playing of golf
by the youth of South Africa through tui-
tion and competition.
Contact details: Ann Rycroft
(National President) 082-895-1326 or
arycroft@srk.co.za
• Club Management Association of SA
C.M.A.S.A is a professional but voluntary
club membership association established
to collectively represent social, sporting,
recreation, country and resort clubs across
South Africa. Their Mission Statement is
“To serve our members in every possible
way and enable them to improve their
own professional standards in the man-
agement, financial control, productivity,
service and efficiency of their clubs”.
Contact details: Beryl Acres
(General Manager) 011-482-7542 or
gm@clubmanagement.co.za
• South African Golf Development Board
The SA Golf Development Board is the
officially recognized body responsible for
developing golf amongst children from
disadvantaged communities. The board’s
main responsibility is training school chil-
dren through a PGA recognized coaching
structure and bringing them into main-
stream golfing structures, specifically the
SA Junior Golf Foundation.
Contact details: Ken Viljoen
(Managing Executive) 021-852-8056 or
kenvil@sagolfboard.org
• South African Disabled Golf
Association
The SADGA is a national body. It oper-
ates in all the major cities, and its main
aim is to encourage every South African
with a permanent physical disability to
play golf. It also promotes golf as a viable
form of rehabilitation and recreation as
well as creating public awareness of the
challenges facing disabled golfers and
to highlight their achievements. It hosts
regional monthly golf days with its flag-
ship event being the Nedbank SA Disabled
Open.
Contact details: Eugene Vorster
(Executive Director) 021 9345682 or 084
432 6384 or e-mail info@sadga.co.za
• Golf Course Managers and
Green-keepers Association
G.C.M.G.A is a voluntary association
of greenkeeper and trade members that
provides information to its members,
represents their interests and facilitates
training. It also provides a valuable forum
for discussion and networking among
greenkeepers and trade representatives.
Contact details: Warwick Fynn
(Chairman) 082-779-3756 or
greenkeeper@glendower.co.za
• Southern Africa Tour
The Southern Africa PGA Tour is an
association incorporated under Section
21 of the Companies Act. It operates
a group of businesses, among which is
the Sunshine Tour and Sunshine Tour
Productions, responsible for the admin-
istration, management, staging, hosting,
television production and sponsorship of
professional golf tournaments on behalf
of its members, the professional golfers of
southern Africa.
Contact details: Johan Immelman
(Commissioner) 021-850-6500 or
jimmelman@sunshinetour.com
• South African Golf Association
S.A.G.A is the controlling body of ama-
teur male golf in South Africa. Among
others its objectives are to promote,
advance, encourage and foster the game
of golf; guide and assist members in their
administration and general conduct of
the game; promote holding of competi-
tions and tournaments and to regulate the
conditions governing the playing of tour-
naments; and finally to formulate the rules
for rating of golf courses and the system
of handicapping of players.
Contact details: Neale Kunhardt
(President) 011-783-5474 or
sagolf@global.co.za
Golf Club Management April 2007 

Poa Annua Management
Darren Berry of Golf Data looks at ways to manage Poa Annua in both warm
and cool season turf.
The control and management of Poa annua
is always a hotly debated issue at golf clubs
around the country.
Selected climatic regions are certainly
more likely to provide sustainable condi-
tions for the development and spread of Poa
annua, but it remains a common challenge
throughout the country due to the standard
maintenance inputs required for most golf
courses.
The word management is a key part of the
whole Poa annua issue. One can never com-
pletely control or eradicate Poa, but through
the proper implementation of a few basic
maintenance principles, one can certainly
manage the situation with a good degree of
success.
Before we look at the practical manage-
ment strategies, I believe it is important to
distinguish between a warm and cool season
turfgrass.
The vast majority of golf courses in
Southern Africa are maintained in warm
season turfgrass species, such as kikuyu
(Pennisetum clndestium) or Bermuda
(Cynodon dactylon/transvaalensis).
The last ten years though has seen the
introduction of cool season turfgrass onto
a number of high profile projects such as
Pezula, Pearl Valley and The St. Francis
Links.
Cool season varieties which have been
utilized include, Perennial Rye, Kentucky
Bluegrass, turf type Fescue and Colonial
Bentgrass.
The majority of golf course greens,
regardless of the turf variety used on fair-
ways, are seeded with creeping Bentgrass,
which is also a cool season turf variety.
Poa Annua Management
in Warm Season Turf
The biggest difference between the manage-
ment strategies employed in warm season
turf compared to cool season turf, is the use
of selective herbicides.
Poa annua is itself a cool season turf-
grass specie. All cool season turfgrasses
can be selectively eradicated from a warm
season turfgrass stand with the use of
selective post-emergent herbicides such as
Simazine or Propyzamide (Kerb). These
post-emergent applications should be
made annually in autumn or spring, when
the desired turfgrass specie is still growing
vigorously.
Pre-emergent herbicide applications
can also be made in conjunction with the
post-emergent program to provide further
coverage. These pre-emergent applications
should be made annually in late summer, to
discourage the germination and establish-
ment of Poa.
In addition to chemical management
inputs there are also various cultural man-
agement tools which can be utilized to
create a growing environment which is
less supportive of Poa and encourages the
desired turf species. Some of the cultural
inputs include:
• Decrease excess moisture by correcting
any drainage concerns.
• Increase the mowing height, in rough
areas especially, to discourage Poa seed
germination through shading.
• Adjust fertilizer application schedules and
rates to coincide with the growth curve
of the desired turf, thereby discouraging
Poa.
• Control moisture stress, which can cause
the Poa to wilt and die as its does not have
a dormancy mechanism like the perennial
grass types. This is not a popular tech-
nique due to the severe pressure put on
the desired turf specie.
Poa Annua Management
in Cool Season Turf
The management strategies for cool season
turf are slightly more challenging for the
simple reason that poa annua is also a cool
season turf specie. This fact immediately
eliminates the use of selective post-emer-
gent herbicides as they will also harm the
desired turf specie.
course management
Chemical management strategies for cool
season turfgrass include,
• The application of pre-emergent herbi-
cides annually in late summer.
• The use of plant growth regulators is an
extremely valuable tool for poa manage-
ment in cool season turf. Paclobutrazol
effectively suppresses the poa plant thereby
reversing the natural balance in favour of
the desired turf specie. Applications of
Ethapon will effectively eliminate the Poa
seedhead thereby reducing the potential
for spread.
Cultural practices are similar to those
used in warm season turf, namely,
• Correct drainage problems.
• Increase mowing height.
• Adjust fertilizer application schedules and
rates.
• Control moisture.
• Collect clippings to minimize spread of
seed head.
A final cultural practice which is used pri-
marily on greens is hand weeding.
Hand weeding can be very effectively
employed when the greens are new and poa
populations are low. The operation is very
time consuming and labour intensive and is
not often an option in larger areas.
An important issue that all stakeholders
must consider is the environmental consid-
erations and long-term sustainability.
The turfgrass management industry as a
whole is under increasing pressure to main-
tain golf courses in an environmentally
sustainable fashion.
This can be best accomplished through
proper implementations of a sound Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) programme,
whereby chemicals are used as a last resort.
The maintenance of healthy turfgrass,
which is able to effectively compete against
all turfgrass pests, should always be the
highest priority.
For more information contact
Darren Berry on darren@gdmaint.co.za,
083 671 9399 or (044) 384 0680/3.
Golf Club Management April 2007 
 birdies and bogeys

Editorial Note Current Top Ten The Pro Shop

Now that the period of holiday madness is
behind us and our daily lives are returning
to some form of predictability and routine,
hopefully you will find time to page through
some back copies of Golf Club Management.
Over the last few months we have tried to
bring you articles that will help to make your
professional lives a little easier. Whether
you a course superintendent, a resident Pro
or a club manager, we have aimed our arti-
cles at topics that we hope will have been
of interest to you. We now need your help
though. You are our customers and GCM is
your magazine.
Drop an e-mail to Andrew Wilson at
anorbury@iafrica.com and let us know:
1. What you have enjoyed or not enjoyed
about GCM over the last few months.
2. Where you believe we could improve.
3. Any specific topics you would like us to
research and write about.
We really do want to hear from you, and
now that e-mails are a way of life, it is so
easy to keep in touch.
Andrew Wilson can be contacted on
0825753861 or at anorbury@iafrica.com
Course Rankings
The following courses make up
Compleat Golfer’s current top-10 list.
Don’t forget to buy the May 2007 edi-
tion of Compleat Golfer to see who are
the new movers and shakers.
1. Gary Player Country Club
2. Arabella GC
3. Durban CC
4. Leopard Creek CC
5. Glendower GC
6. Humewood GC
7. Wild Coast CC
8. Pecanwood GC
9. Beachwood GC
10. Royal Johannesburg & Kensington
GC (East Course).
See our lead article on pages 1 and 3
of this month’s GCM to find out what
factors are taken into account when
determining a course ranking.
Read “How to improve your rankings”
in next month’s issue of GCM.
Lets get philosophical!
Do your customers really know what
you stand for? Marks and Spencer, the
UK retailing giant, built their business
from scratch on five basic philosophies.
These were:
1. To offer customer’s a selected range
of high quality, good value goods.
2. To embrace science and technology in
order to remain at the cutting edge of
developments.
3. To keep things as simple as possible,
especially for the customers.
4. To establish and maintain the highest
standards of hygiene and cleanliness.
5. To practice good human relations with
all stakeholders.
Do you have a set of philosophies that
are known and understood by your staff
and customers alike? Next month GCM
we will explain how M&S incorporated
these philosophies into their daily opera-
tions and how Pro Shops at golf clubs
could adopt similar strategies.

LABOUR PAINS John Botha – a man for all fairways

Ordinary Hours of Work For John Botha’s article on course rankings see our lead story on pages 1
and 3.
What are the ordinary hours of work that you can
John Botha has been a professional golfer for 30 years, and has been a member
ask an employee to work before they become enti-
of the Compleat Golfer editorial team for 14 years. He was apprenticed to Gary
tled to overtime? Section 9 of the Basic Conditions
Player, and after serving as the head professional at the Sun City resort during
of Employment Act spells it out clearly.
the early 1980s, he moved to Rondebosch Golf Club where he was based for
If an employee works on five days of the week
three years. He was also employed by JCI as Director of Golf at the Randfontein
they may work up to nine hours in any one day, not
Estates Golf Mine, and his passion for golf and in particular golf course
including the lunch break. If an employee works
design philosophy has taken him all over the world. During his travels, he has
on more than five days a week they may work up
played many of the world’s top-ranked courses, and his involvement in golf
to eight hours a day.
media has included radio commentary for the BBC and 702, television work
You may also enter into an agreement with your
for SABC, and he has contributed to several golf publications. Known for his
employees to extend the normal working day by
monthly column ‘Botha’s Bunker’ in Compleat Golfer, he is also the convener
up to fifteen minutes per day in order to allow
of Complete Golfer’s panel of judges that rank South Africa’s courses, having
employees who’s duty it is to serve the public, to
developed the system that is currently employed. “Having studied and modified
continue performing those duties after completion
the methods used internationally to rank courses, we believe that our formula
of the ordinary hours of work. This is subject to a
produces meaningful, reliable and unbiased data,” he says. “It is not our aim to
maximum extension of sixty minutes in any one
merely identify the most difficult courses, nor those that simply have the best
week.
championship credentials. Our system rewards courses that can be enjoyed by
It should be noted that those earning in excess
all golfers – from the professional to the novice. You know you are on the right
of R115,572 per annum are exempt from section
track when the first-time visitor to your course, no matter what their handicap,
9 of the Act. For more information go the govern-
cannot wait to come back and play it again.”
ment website www.labour.gov.za
John’s email address is bogeyfree@mweb.co.za

Golf Club Management April 2007 


A trade-off between “traditionalism”
and “transformation” is taking place
on the fairways of South Africa
Ian Leach, board member of the South African Development Board suggests a 5 point
action plan to tackle transformation on the fairways and in the golf clubs of SA.
South Africa has accomplished a transfor-
mation miracle over the past ten years and
while there is still a long way to go, the nation
can be proud of this achievement. Business,
sport, entertainment and society in gen-
eral, have undergone radical change. One
just needs to step back ten years and draw
the comparison to realize how radical this
change has been. Most sporting bodies and
most sport codes however have a more suc-
cessful track record than golf. Golf, and golf
clubs in particular, are notorious for being
“traditional”, “old fashioned”, “exclusive”,
“snooty” and even “reluctant to change”.
Cricket, rugby and athletics have produced
far more top order players of colour than
golf. Administration of these sporting codes
is also managed by more people of colour
than golf.
Current Situation
Professional and amateur golf is admin-
istered by a number of individual and
independent bodies who co-operate with
each other as opposed to cricket and rugby,
for example, who have a central controlling
body. Very few numbers of people outside
of golf clubs actually administer the game of
golf. Collectively the S.A.G.A., S.A. Tour,
S.A.L.G.U. the P.G.A of S.A and the provi-
sional unions employ probably no more than
fifty people. While these bodies have an
extremely important role to play in transfor-
mation, it is golf clubs themselves who can
and should lead the way. Transformation
in golf clubs is not confined to bringing
formerly disadvantaged people into the
game. Historically golf has been the playing
ground for the well-heeled white males who
restricted membership and playing rights
to the majority of women, juniors, people
of colour and those of different religions.
Fortunately most of this has changed over
10 April 2007 Golf Club Management
the past ten years but the backlog is still
enormous and golf clubs need to accelerate
their efforts to change. In summary the
status at most golf clubs has not yet been
normalized and there is no better time to
begin than now.
Historically golf has been
the playing ground for the
well-heeled white males
who restricted membership
and playing rights to the
majority of women, juniors,
people of colour and those
of different religions.
For example, membership at most golf
clubs is still predominately male and white.
Admittedly black and female golfers have
really only come onto the scene during the
past five to ten years. With few exceptions
senior employees at clubs throughout the
country are also still white and herein lies
a huge opportunity for clubs to contribute
towards positive change. Within both gov-
ernment departments and private sector
business, there is strong emphasis to pro-
cure from empowered supplier companies.
The same sense of urgency does not seem to
exist with golf clubs.
Golf development has grown exponen-
tially over the past few years but as Ken
Viljoen, the Managing Executive of the
South African Golf Development Board
pointed out in an interview in the February
edition of GCM, “more contribution from
clubs would be welcome.” A number of
transformation
clubs have embarked on some form of junior
development programmes but very few have
introduced any form of genuine develop-
ment programmes aimed at transformation.
Threats of non-compliance
Currently there is no legislation forcing
clubs to comply with any standards nor
are there any quotas enforced by govern-
ment. There has been talk of withdrawing
property tax concessions from those clubs
that are not making adequate transforma-
tion progress but so far nothing has come
of this. It is perhaps just a question of time
before government takes action unless clubs
speed up the process both individually and
collectively. There is no control body that
monitors what clubs’ are doing nor does
any database exist that records the accom-
plishments of golf clubs. What is evident,
is that some clubs have introduced some
outstanding initiatives, while as an industry,
golf clubs have not yet reached the first
green. Golf clubs should not risk the pos-
sible consequences of non-compliance with
a transformation strategy while this opportu-
nity still remains optional.
The only way that golf will remain quota
free, is if large numbers of clubs rise to the
challenge on a voluntary basis. If not the
consequences might be difficult to bear.
The following is a suggested 5 point action
plan to help clubs tackle transformation:
1. Constitutional discrimination
If clubs have not already done so they need
to begin with their club constitution. Most
club constitutions were originally written
with gender discrimination built in. This
is now illegal and all reference to gender
discrimination needs to be removed. For
example any adult person must be entitled to
full membership based on criteria set by the
club, and must be entitled to play golf as a full

member. There is nothing
wrong with continuing lady
member categories but even
that would be preferable to
define in some other way
such as “five day members”.
Another area in the Club
Constitution that needs to
be investigated is the new
member application process.
In the past many constitu-
tions were written in such a
way that made it was almost
impossible for people of a
different race or religion to
be proposed as members, How attractive is golf club membership to these aspirant golfers?
let alone be accepted into
the club. In summary any form of gender or
other discrimination must be totally removed
from the Club Constitution.
2. Membership development
The interest in golf among black South
Africans has grown exponentially over
the past few years. Golf clubs should be
scrambling to attract these new golfers into
their clubs. A large proportion of these new
golfers, instead of being attracted to estab-
lished clubs, are joining some other entry
level golf membership such as “Play More
Golf” offered through the World of Golf. In
an effort to persuade these aspirant golfers
to join a club, they should be nurtured and
integrated into the club life as fast as pos-
sible. Clubs might even consider some form
of special introductory offer to attract new
black golfers into their clubs. In the long
run the more balanced and integrated a club
membership is, the better off and more stable
that club will be. The long-term growth in
the game will undoubtedly come more from
the black communities than from traditional
sources.
3. Employment
There are more black people employed
at golf clubs than any other group. Sadly
however, little progress has been made by
clubs to promote these employees into the
more senior and management positions.
Most of these employees are still employed
as course workers, machine operators, gar-
deners, waiters and barmen. Then there is
the caddie contingent who are not employed,
but who offer their services on a daily con-
tract to the player who hires them. Certainly
there are many clubs who have taken the
initiative to hire and train black people into
senior positions but in terms of total num-
bers these remain in the minority. Ideally all
golf clubs should set goals to train and pro-
mote competent black staff with potential
into senior staff and management positions.
Clubs should also go out of their way to
elect previously disadvantaged people onto
their committee.
4. Sourcing of services and suppliers
Another area where club management can
play a significant role in transformation is to golf industry. South Africa is a world player
source product and supplies from empow-
ered companies. Here too, clubs could set
goals to purchase a targeted percentage of
their total annual spend from BEE suppliers.
Very few clubs are actually doing so.
Golf has become a high
profile sport in South
Africa and the eyes
of government are no
doubt on the game
as well as the greater
golf industry.
5. Development of Golf
Clubs have a fantastic opportunity to pro-
mote and participate in transformation in
the field of development. The South African
Golf Development Board and other devel-
transformation
opment agencies such as
the Ernie Els Foundation
are doing good work in
teaching previously disad-
vantaged children to play
golf. Most often when these
students reach the age of
eighteen they are required
to move off on their own
and often don’t have the
resources to continue in the
game. There is a wonderful
opportunity and a desperate
need for golf clubs to align
themselves with one of
these established develop-
ment agencies. It would be
in every single golf clubs’ best interest to
provide expense in their annual budgets to
assist with development of golf. In addition
to this, many clubs do offer free member-
ship, financial assistance and free lessons to
a selected number of development members.
Any club that does this will be guaranteed
the long-term support and loyalty of those
young people.
Concluding Comments
Golf has become a high profile sport in
South Africa and the eyes of government are
no doubt on the game as well as the greater
to be reckoned with. The staging of major
world events such as the Presidents Cup,
the Women’s World Cup, and the World
Amateur Team Championships has ensured
this. The track record of South African pro-
fessional and amateur golfers is second to
none. The game is growing fast especially
among ladies and people of colour. Any golf
club that has not already done so, needs to
put the past behind them and focus on the
opportunities of the future. Keeping up with
the changing times on the question of trans-
formation is not good enough. Imbalances
of the past have to be corrected and clubs
should seriously consider the merits of
accelerating their efforts in every possible
way to bring about positive change. The
opportunities are great and the long-term
benefits will be even greater.
For more information contact
Ian Leach on 082-892-8693 or at
ianleach@bdmail.co.za
Golf Club Management April 2007 11

The SMART way to set objectives
Andrew Wilson of GCM examines what goes into the establishment of challenging and
effective objectives and shows how they can be applied within a golfing environment.
To quote Lawrence Peter, there are
two types of people who fail. Those who
thought and never did and those who did and
never thought!
In the January issue of GCM we talked
about planning for the New Year and this
included identifying your Key Result Areas
and then setting appropriate objectives. In
the process of setting and achieving objec-
tives, you have to both think and do in equal
proportion. The setting of the objective is
the thinking process; the achieving of the
objective is the doing process. There has
been much written on the subject over the
last thirty years, especially on the subject
of “Management by Objectives” by authors
such as Peter Drucker. In his book The
Effective Executive”, published as long ago
as 1967, he makes a comment that is so appli-
HUMAN RESOURCES – DEVELOPMENT
cable to our situation in South Africa today.
He says and I quote, “To tolerate diversity,
relationships must be task-focused rather
than personality focused. Achievement must
be measured against objective criteria of
contribution and performance.”
What Drucker is saying is measure a
person on what results they are achieving,
against agreed and appropriate objectives,
rather than designing a job to suit the per-
sonality and strengths of the individual. In
other words, fit the person to the job rather
than the job to the person.
In spite of all that has been written on the
subject of objectives, managers still find the
process of setting and agreeing objectives
with team members, a complex and stressful
process. One style that emerged in the 1970’s
was the SMART approach to setting goals or
objectives, which stated that they should be
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant
and within an agreed Time limit. Let us look
at each area in turn:
Specific.
What do you want to achieve? What do you
want to be different this time next week,
next month or next year? Focus on outputs/
results not inputs/activities. It is all about
what results you want the team member to
achieve not what you want them to do. Also
try to state the outcomes in a positive rather
than a negative tone.
Measurable.
Everything we do should be measurable.
Continued on page 14
Continued from page 13
Whether it is standards, quantity, quality or
opinions, we must be able to measure results.
When setting and agreeing objectives with a
team member, the establishment of meas-
urements is a way of ensuring that you are
both agreed on what success will look like.
Without agreed measurements, one person’s
opinion on acceptable performance could be
very different from another’s.
Achievable.
Ensure that the objectives that you are setting
are stretching but not impossible to achieve. If
the objectives are too difficult, then very soon,
people will lose interest. If the objectives are
too easily achieved it will be boring and, over
time, standards will drop. Objectives should
be set so that people have to think of new
and innovative ways to achieve the standards
expected.
Relevant.
The critical thing here is that the objective is
right for you. When agreeing an objective with
a team member you have to gain not only their
acceptance that the objective is appropriate,
but also their agreement that they are the right
person to tackle the task and are capable of
achieving the objective. Unless there is 110%
buy-in from the team member to taking own-
ership for achieving the required results, you
will be lost before you start.
Time.
It is critical to include a time frame with
your objectives. By when do you want the
task to be completed? In more complex
cases you will need to put in interim time
deadlines so that you have a check on when
major components of the objective should
be completed. A time frame will also
enable you to set follow-up dates to check
on progress. Don’t imagine that once the
objective has been set it will be achieved.
The importance of follow-up is critical to
the success of any project.
To test the process lets look at an
example. We will take the teaching Pro set-
ting an objective for him or herself in order
to measure the effectiveness of their les-
sons. It would be easy to set objectives for
the quantity of lessons given but the quality
is a different matter. Let’s assume that the
teaching Pro has established a golf clinic for
club members with handicaps between five
and 18 for an hour every Friday afternoon
for six weeks. How would he or she write an
objective to help measure the effectiveness
of the clinic? How about this?
To monitor the handicaps of the people
who attended the clinic over a six month
period after the end of the clinic. 80%
of those attending the clinic should have
reduced their handicaps by at least 20%
within a three month period of having com-
pleted the clinic.
If my matric level maths is correct, this
would mean that a five handicap player
would be playing off no more than four
and an eighteen handicap player would be
playing off no more than 14. All the compo-
nents of a SMART objective are included.
The goals are specific and positive; they are
very measurable; they are certainly achiev-
able; they are relevant to the teaching Pro’s
image in the club; and there are realistic
time frames.
Andrew Wilson
Human Resource Strategist
Cell: 0825753861
E-mail: anorbury@iafrica.com

The Commission for Conciliation,
Mediation and Arbitration;
some background information
More and more golf clubs are finding themselves answerable to the CCMA.
Andrew Wilson outlines why the CCMA was formed and what are its powers.
The CCMA is a statutory dispute resolution
body and was established in terms of Section
112 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), pri-
marily to resolve disputes of mutual interest
between employers and employees in terms
of section 134 of the LRA. It may only
become involved in disputes that relate to
the LRA, the basic conditions of employ-
ment act or the employment equity act. It
has no jurisdiction beyond these three acts.
The CCMA has three main functions to
perform:
1. Its main duty is to resolve disputes that
are referred to it and over which it has
jurisdiction.
2. It can offer advice to both employers and
employees within its field of jurisdiction.
3. It can make rules to regulate and govern
its own processes.
Having said this, its two main activities are
conciliation and arbitration. To give you
an idea of the magnitude of workload that
they are handling, over 350 new disputes
are referred to the CCMA daily. So if you
are taken to the CCMA, don’t feel you are
on your own. What are conciliation and
arbitration?
Conciliation.
This is the first level of dispute resolution.
The CCMA commissioner will try to resolve
the dispute through persuasion and negotia-
tion. The CCMA has no power at this stage
to impose any judgement although they
can and will bring pressure to bear on an
employer or employee if they feel that either
party is in the wrong. Their sole purpose is to
reach a resolution and conclude a settlement
agreement. If the commissioner is unable
to obtain a settlement agreement between
the parties then he or she will declare the
dispute unresolved and issue a certificate of
failure to settle.
HUMAN RESOURCES – LEGAL
Arbitration.
If a dispute remains unresolved at the end
of the conciliation process it can, under cer-
tain circumstances, be referred to arbitration
which is a final dispute resolution function of
the CCMA. The powers of the arbitrator are
extensive and his or her determinations are
final and binding and there is no appeal to a
higher authority. It is therefore essential that
if you are approaching a possible arbitration
hearing at the CCMA you seek appropriate
legal advice as the penalties can be severe.
Over 350 new disputes
are referred to the
CCMA daily.
The commissioner has the powers to:
• Determine all issues regarding jurisdic-
tion and make rulings in this regard.
• Determine issues with regard to evidence
and make rulings in this regard.
• Rule in favour of either the employer or
the employee.
• In the case of dismissals, and if the com-
missioner finds in favour of the employee,
he or she can order re-instatement, re-
employment or compensation up to a
maximum of 12 months salary.
As mentioned earlier however, the CCMA
may only get involved in certain dis-
putes and these can differ depending upon
whether they are at the conciliation or arbi-
tration stage. Let’s firstly look at what type
of disputes can be referred to the CCMA for
conciliation. These are:
• Freedom of Association disputes con-
cerning the freedom to join or not to join
a union or employer body.
• Organisational rights and the entitlement of
unions to act on behalf of their members and
to have access to appropriate information.
• Disputes of interest that do not relate to
existing rights of employees.
• Unfair dismissals.
• Unfair labour practices.
• Discrimination disputes relating to the
employment equity act.
• Interpretation and application of collec-
tive agreements.
What needs noting however, is that just
because the CCMA can conciliate certain dis-
putes, it does not necessarily mean that they
can automatically arbitrate the same types of
dispute. The following are some examples of
where they do not have jurisdiction:
• Disputes regarding discrimination must
be referred to the Labour Court if unre-
solved at conciliation.
• Disputes of interest such as wages can
only be resolved by collective bargaining,
strikes and/or lock outs.
• Disputes regarding freedom of association
must be referred to the Labour Court.
• Disputes regarding automatically unfair
dismissals, dismissals prompted by
operational requirements, or dismissals
as a result of participating in unprotected
strike action must be referred to the
Labour Court.
Labour law can be incredibly complex, time
consuming and expensive. Every effort should
be made by both employers and employees
to resolve disputes through constructive com-
munication and negotiation in an effort to
avoid a referral to the CCMA. Once at the
CCMA however the onus must be on trying
to settle the matter at the conciliation stage,
because if it goes further to either arbitration
or the Labour Court, the costs in both time
and money can be excessive.
Andrew Wilson, Human Resource Strategist
Cell: 0825753861 or e-mail
anorbury@iafrica.com
Golf Club Management April 2007 15