Confessions
of a Golf Course
Starter
Tips, tales and truths
from a professional greens greeter
by MICHAEL J. STOTT
QUESTION: Are starters/marshals A) revenue generators; B) range rovers;
C) non-essential personnel?
ANSWER: Depends upon whom you ask, but for busy private and daily fee
courses, answers A and B are no-brainers, especially for savvy business owners
trying to protect their investment.
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G
LEN BYRNES, a PGA professional at the Golden Horseshoe, likens a
good starter to a maître de at a restaurant. A pleasant greeting can set the
tone for a fine dining experience.
William Knox Stacy, M.D., worked as both a starter and marshal at Midlothian’s
Independence Golf Club for nine years. Prior to that his day job was chief of staff at
the McGuire Veterans Hospital.
In the beginning he volunteered at Independence for the usual perks: to be
outside, generate nominal pin money and gain access to free golf. What he also got
was an education. His boss at the time was PGA director of golf Mike West. “He
schooled us in a very structured and professional way,” says Stacy, “and encour-
aged us to take ownership of the course.
“Mike impressed upon us that you could have the best greens in town, the finest
fairways and an easy course, but if you couldn’t start and finish people on time they
wouldn’t come back. ‘You’ve got to maximize your golf course if you are trying to
make money. You have to look at yourself as an airline,’ he’d say. ‘An airline can be
great, but if planes don’t take off on time, people won’t fly on them.’”
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