Want high standards on your golf course? Pay for them!

Golf clubs who want to produce course standards at the “level golfers have come to expect” must make salaries an attractive proposition for staff.

That’s the view of the Committee for Golf Club Salaries, who are recommending some chunky increases in wages across the industry.

The CGCS believes golf clubs should be giving all staff a 7 per cent increase in 2024 and, with an increase in the National Living Wage arriving in April, they’ve also suggested assistant greenkeeper salaries increase by nine per cent.

The body, which comprises representatives of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association, the Golf Club Managers’ Association, and independent golf club experts, arrived at the figures following “extensive research” which took geographical regions, facility sizes, core responsibilities, club ratings, and qualifications and experience into account.

The golf industry has been embroiled in a staffing crisis in recent years, with NCG reporting at the end of 2022 that some clubs did not have enough personnel to keep their clubhouses open as long as they wanted.

Staffing issues have been particularly marked in greenkeeping since the coronavirus pandemic with a BIGGA survey showing a third of greenkeepers had considered leaving the profession.

• NOW READ: Is your golf club in trouble? Experts warn as staffing crisis deepens

Committee for Golf Club Salaries: ‘Highly trained staff are critical to the continuing success of golf’

Wages, pressures of the job, along with a re-evaluation of life goals since the start of Covid-19 had reportedly driven some lower paid staff out of the industry.

The CGCS said while it was aware of the need for clubs to ensure staff were suitably paid and valued by employers, it was also aware “that employee reward and retention must be balanced alongside the affordability and financial health of the business”.

But John Pearson, Membership Services Manager for BIGGA’s South East Region, and who represents BIGGA on the CGCS, added that – in terms of greenkeeping – the industry had to use salaries to encourage the “recruitment and retention of staff”.

He explained: “Our hope is that trained golf club staff take these recommendations to their senior management team and have open and professional conversations about salaries and other employee benefits, such as training and development opportunities.

“Highly trained staff are critical to the continuing success of golf, from the grassroots through to elite championship level, and we were heartened to hear that more than 16 million people enjoyed playing some form of golf in the past year.

“Golf is experiencing a boom and these recommendations go some way towards recognising those who have helped make it possible.

“Today’s greenkeepers are highly trained, knowledgeable members of the golf club structure and if course standards are to be maintained at the level golfers have come to expect, the industry must be an attractive proposition with regards to salaries and working conditions to encourage the recruitment and retention of staff.”

Now have your say

Should clubs stump up more to keep staff and make golf club jobs more attractive? Will your club implement these Committee for Golf Club Salaries recommendations? Let me know with a comment on X.

• NOW READ: Golf clubs warned: Pay more or staffing crisis will deepen