Pinecrest Men's League

Minutes of Pinecrest Starter-Marshal Pre-Season meeting - 3/12/08

Items covered:

Sick-Roll – Dick Eustis ( Sunday pm shift ) continues chemo treatment and condition is tenuous, get well card signed and mailed to “Slippery” hoping he has a speedy recovery………..Dave Gottlieb ( Sunday pm shift) will be on extended family sick leave taking care of his mom in Michigan. If/when David returns he will be welcomed back, he did his duty well.
We recognized Dave Borowski for doing such a good job on our new web site. Go to www.pinecrestmensleague.org and go to bottom left hand corner, click on starter shack for brigade info. We decided as a group not to include the duty roster with phone numbers and e-mails . This info will be available in our sign-in binder, in front with other messages, etc.
Recognized “bench mark” volunteers …5yr, 10 yr, volunteers……as follows: 10 year man – John Wittemore ; 5 year man – Maureen Doherty, Cameron Frazier, Tom Gray, Bill Mergler, Pat Patrick, Bob Sankey, Mark Stupalski, Steve Berliner. Sincere thanks go to all of these dedicated volunteers.
Miki Louis ( Sub list ) was congratulated for entering into holy bliss with her new man Barry, …..heck, this was a biggie so we even cut the cake, one more time
Upcoming events at Pinecrest: 3/24/08, 4/19/08, 5/17/08, 6/15/08, 6/23/08, 7/26/08, 8/27/08, 9/28/08……complete list will be posted with the minutes, extra marshaling will be needed on these days so if you want to mark your calendars and help out fine, or think about supporting the events by participating.
New happenings: New EveryBody golf instructor Michael Choi is on board, ( K. J.’s cousin ) , also new counter staff: Timmy Boy and Alex………….be sure to say hello
Two bio- retention ponds going in at course entrance soon,…….. bids, referendums, blah, blah going out for new earth dams on #8 and #2/7. Expect a mess @ start-up ……..whenever that is
New training manuals made available to all new starter-marshal’s …….and for anyone else who wants one
STARTER INFO: Do not commit too early on the “Unavailable” ( often called reserved, open or starter’s time) tee-times. Save till last minute to take care of other starters, friends, etc…..or reduce the walk on list…….AM shift should never fill in pm reserved times with early phone requests. Leave those times for the afternoon starter. ………………when you are booked solid and receive a phone request, never, tell a potential customer “ we’re booked, try East Potomac, Jefferson, etc……always tell them to come down, we may have cancellations, no shows, blah, …….we may gain a new customer, they may buy merchandise, food/drink, driving net, ……..we like the business.
Reminder that we have Adapted power carts…..allows limited/no mobility patrons to golf…….they go anywhere on course their travels take them, except the greens.
Starter-Chips, issued to those that check in with starter and presented to counter-staff to verify check-in is a good and useful tool, especially if starter is out in the shack……….use if you want, good idea
The condition of the Starter’s table conveys a distinct message to the visitor. Make sure the area is clutter free. Do not crowd around the starters table, give starter room to work.
Telephone contacts: answer promptly, use proper ID and greeting, “ Hello, this is the Pinecrest Starter, how may I help” …….do not keep people on hold for long, offer to call back or state you will put them on hold for a period of time. Take accurate messages, learn how to transfer calls…….be remindful that many patrons may not be fluent in English…….it is our job to make the extra effort required to serve these patrons………..Non-verbal response- hand gestures, etc. to communicate. Do not yell or get upset, I’m guessing that won’t help…remain calm and courteous and hope help is on the way. Treat each person respectfully, when visitor is leaving, be sure to bid them a good day.
Plan your divot/ball mark maintenance work when you arrive for duty. Make it a priority item. Log your activities.
Do not leave early for the day until the maintenance is done. Tell MOD you’re leaving.
Mention to patrons the Pinecrest rain- refund policy from the on-set when the weather looks particularly ominous.
Don’t take up all of the room in the “Black BooK” used for days-off and vacation entries……save room for others working that day.
On busy days, we need full coverage so the AM shift should not leave until they are relieved (early person by the 1 pm starter and late person by the 2 pm starter)
PLAYERS ASSISTANTS: A pace of play work sheet has been developed and will be test piloted before asking our volunteers to perform this additional task. If anyone wants to volunteer to help with this testing, please contact me after meeting or thru e-mail.
Until then… when marshaling, if you find a slow group that is backing up the course, ask them ( respectfully) to pick up the pace and to stay up with the group in front of them……….2nd visit = park behind them and observe…..this will usually get them to move more quickly……3rd, ask them to pick-up and catch up with the group ahead of them
Bunker rakes- should be left inside bunker and under lip……for grounds-keeping reasons.
Do not plan to play golf on your working days………do not go out until after last twilight group has gone out. ( 1 hr after last tee time)
Course maintenance program: going good, please mark your work in the log in book, PCG management is happy with new program and has noted early results……..green sand has been procured…….this sends a message that we care about the appearance of the fairways , tee-boxes………….. and with numerous other inprovements to the course by Bryan and his boys, and Fargo Frank’s carpentry work we’ll have a course we’re all proud of and will enjoy playing.
Other maintenance remarks: DO NOT pile sand too high on the divots……no higher than ground level…….sand quickly damages the cutting blades on the mowing equipment ………please brush level or smooth with your foot. “LESS IS BETTER” in this case………………….if you have a limited supply of divot mixture when you go out, it is preferred that you do the fairways first, then the tee boxes………..of course, never pour sand in the ball marks on the putting greens, use the ball repair tool provide for that task.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: “Customer interaction self assessment” made available for those who want to look at their customer interactions and ways to improve.
Appearance is important. Wear red uniform shirt whenever possible. This is a county requirement for quick identification reasons. If not good due to weather, please turn out properly.
Use “comment box” in clubhouse, suggestions, comments are welcomed
Everyone that plays the course comes thru the starter. It might be their first time dealing with FCPA. Make a good 1st contact with all patrons. Do’s: Voice tone; consistency, ( “ hello, Pinecrest Starter, this is……, how can I help you” ; and mirroring , a verbal skill of editing and summarizing the customers words…….repeat last words and ask if your understanding of the complaint or situation is correct.
CLOSING REMARKS:
The starter-marshal brigade has three main goals: 1. to make the golfers day as enjoyable as possible while maintaining professional standards and running a business, PROMOTE GOLF 2. work as a team with other employees…..try to make the shift enjoyable, 3. perform your duties the best that you can, be proud of the job.
“Word of Mouth” - on average, customer will tell 5-7 people about positive experience, compared to 10-12 told if experience was negative. Do the math.
No matter how hard we work for quality customer service, unfortunate conflicts may/will arise. When conflict arises, and it appears that it will escalate………CONTACT MOD

FINAL NOTE: Player Assistants are to monitor play on a regular basis. Yesterday a golfer became ill on the 3rd hole and had to walk back to the clubhouse. He waited for the marshal to make his rounds but this proved futile as no body came. Please take your duties seriously, we are here to assist our customers.