By Judd Spicer, Host of the Spicer Speaking and Fire & Ice podcasts
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While California – and the country beyond – continues to enjoy record-setting round counts in the post-pandemic era, the nation's most populous state is currently keeping its collective rangefinders focused on a number of issues which threaten to hamper the present party.
With water worries, real estate hikes, cost of living issues, environmental aims and regulatory compliance all finding the laundry list, the matter of golf course labor is one which undoubtedly perforates the flatcaps of respective industry leaders.
In turn, with a feeder supply of tomorrow’s superintendents not flowing as quickly as in years past, enhanced wage competition for hourly staff has the state’s golf community—and its bottom lines—on watch.
Food Fight
Sporting the nation’s second-most golf courses in what is the world's fourth-largest economy, California is tied for the second-highest statewide minimum wage in the nation ($16.90/hour). Two years ago, with the state legislature's passage of Assembly Bill 1228 (known as the FAST Act), fast food workers across California enjoyed a mandated boost of $20 minimum per hour.
And though a recent paper from the University of California, Santa Cruz revealed a mixed bag of concrete findings two years after the FAST Act's unveil, research appears conclusive on the respective facts that: fast food workers are receiving fewer shifts; menu prices have been raised; and, more restaurants have leaned on automation in lieu of human staff.
While the golf industry as a whole champion a living wage, course owners and operators across California were oft-put in a position to act fast on FAST as it pertained to hourly wage employees in banquet staff, entry level kitchen positions and, namely, maintenance teams.
Marc Connerly, executive director of both the California Golf Course Owners Association and the GCSAA of Northern California, recently queried respective association membership on the impacts of FAST.
"When reaching out to the board of directors of the GCSAA of Northern California, I did receive several responses," says Connerly, "and it seemed pretty unanimous that they had been forced to increase their labor rates to $20 or more an hour for their maintenance crews as a direct result of, specifically, the fast food minimum wage."
Paying more to Peter means paying more to Paul.
"And, of course, when you increase those entry level wages, you have to start increasing the wages of other employees who were already $20 or $22," Connerly explains. "So, there's no doubt that it's (FAST Act) impacted the wages of agronomy crews, even if it hasn't been a pervasive issue."
Per the findings of UC Santa Cruz, golf has been able to offer an employment continuity not found at the drive thru. Adds Connerly:
"I had one member tell me that, at the golf course, they're able to offer full-time hours and some benefits that aren't offered by the fast food restaurants; so, there are some competitive benefits on the golf side."
At Troon, affiliated with 39 courses across California, which accounts for about 10 percent of its domestic portfolio, retaining staff requires a close eye on both course whereabouts – and Wendy's.
"Part of the pressure we have in California is that there are often other industries and avenues to go make more than the minimum wage," says Brian Hampson, Troon's senior VP of science & agronomy. "In golf, pre-COVID, we lived around that $16-20 an hour, which would typically have us around 10-15 percent ahead of an entry level or local minimum wage. But as labor rates have started to climb, we quickly adjusted to more of an $18-22 an hour minimum model, and I think that has worked well in some markets; in others, the model is more like $22-28 an hour."
The Generation Game
While each domestic generation comes with its own set of needs and proclivities, today's Gen Z's – which accounts for a healthy portion of golf's hourly workforce – would appear to tee-up a distinct scorecard of employment ideals.
Josh Heptig is the director of golf course operations for the County of San Luis Obispo, overseeing a trio of courses; one of the plays under his watch, 9-hole Dairy Creek, has the proximity benefit of being less than two miles away from California Polytechnic State University, and across the street from Cuesta College.
"What we've really noticed is that by being flexible with hours, schedules and students, we've been able to create a solid team," says Heptig. "We also provide them with free access to the range and free access to go play golf when it's not busy. I think through these things we make up for whatever the shortfall may be in wage scale compared to the restaurants."
Knowing that a dollar sign can't be put on an ethos comes with its own intangible value. In an age of remote workplaces, a blower, of course, can't be operated from home and a cocktail can't be poured via WiFi.
"This generation of workers – while wage is still important – having that flexibility is of great importance," Connerly says. "If they're in a position to, say, have the ability to take off early one day to attend a family function or for whatever reason, that is one benefit which has no price tag."
Along with malleability, offering balance for today's entry-level or even ladder-climbing staff seems essential.
"It can be a challenge because a lot of the work we do today still hasn't changed a whole lot from when I was a young golf course maintenance worker," Hampson says. "I sit on a mentoring committee through Syngenta for a program called 'Green Start,' and the conversation, mostly driven by assistant superintendents who are 20-somethings, is a lot about work-life balance."
With said "balance" and "flexibility" undoubtedly proving the Gen Z key words, Heptig has seen workforce successes by way of generational habitat.
"Making a fun environment where they feel like they have a place," continues Heptig, "and where they feel like they have input on how things are run, have a sense of purpose and usefulness – that's all something we see in this younger generation. They need to have their 'Why?' or 'Why am I here?'"
Answering the questions can come by way of fostering and guiding in-house talent who see a potential future in fairways.
"In many cases, we'll offer to pay for educational opportunities or training to just try and manufacture our in-house talent," Hampson says. "And there is the loyalty there – if I pay for your education, chances are that you're gonna stick around for a little while."
Today's Grass, Tomorrow's Tending
While the importance of today’s tee sheets never leaves the eye of course owners and operators, a pipeline concern about tomorrow's staffs – namely in the agronomy realm – can be a disquieting worry in California and beyond.
"It's still more difficult to find seasonal staff that wants to do grounds' maintenance; and that's not just a problem here, but nationally," says Heptig. "And, here in California, or anywhere west of the Rockies really, many of the turf programs have kind of fallen apart. People that want to be superintendents or assistant supers or mechanics or foremen, they're getting more and more difficult to find."
With much of the Gen Z domestic workforce reportedly struggling for career openings, both the Golden State's golf grounds and far beyond would appear fertile with vocational opportunity.
"There's a huge need for people in this space, and I'm not sure if there just aren't enough people getting exposed to these opportunities or if people just aren't interested in getting up for the early morning hours," Heptig adds. "We just need to get in front of more young people and let them know that this can be a great career."
In something of an inverse histogram, golf's future grounds' teams are ripe with opportunity (and wage potential), and yet short on bodies.
"Wages are going up, but we don't see that talent pool going up at the same rate," states Hampson. "For assistant superintendents, we used to find them for around $40,000 a year all day long; now, there are now plenty of assistant superintendents across California making more than double that."
Despite such handsome wages, finding the superintendents of tomorrow is requiring deeper digs.
"We have had some struggles with that," Hampson candors. "We've worked hard partnering with GCSAA and other industry partners to try and explore every avenue – things like Future Farmers of America or being more involved with smaller school turf programs."
And just as the world beyond adjusts to enhanced automation, the game's next labor force will require knowledge in-kind.
"Of course, the industry is fluxing; we've got an autonomous ball picker on our range and we've purchased three autonomous mowers on one of our courses," Heptig concludes. "And these technologies will change that mechanical need and expertise; in the future, it's not gonna be so much a diesel engine mechanic, but also having somebody with the skills to repair a motherboard or figure out a mower with an app or work a diagnostic system."