Thoughts from the Director of Golf
I am honored to have been selected as the next Director of Golf at Pokegama Golf Course. Taking over for anyone that has worked in a job for 35 years would be difficult, let alone someone as loved as Bob Cahill; I appreciate the chance to earn your business and respect. My wife Stephanie (Johnson) and I are both originally from Grand Rapids and graduated from GRHS. We have two daughters, Kate (25) & Claire (23). Kate is attending graduate school in Germany and Claire works for a law firm in Minneapolis. Here is a picture of the love of my life and our two daughters:
Stephanie and I are excited to be back in such a great community and to be close to Stephanie’s parents, Dave & Judy.
I think Barry Farber says, “with change comes new opportunities”, and I like that. The great thing for me is I am taking over a well-run facility; I don’t have to spend a great deal of time reinventing the wheel. I will, however, set goals to help drive revenue and keep focus on a positive guest experience while maintaining a fun and safe work environment for my team. At each of the golf courses I have managed during my 30 + years in the industry, I have been pretty consistent in keeping a positive guest experience at the center of what I do. Your feedback in this process is critical and I will be implementing a survey system that ties into our point of sale. Each time you visit, if you check-in inside the golf shop and we have your email, you will be sent a short questionnaire after your round asking how we did. Your positive customer feedback helps me coach my team in areas customers tell us we can improve. It also helps me let my staff know when they create a “wow” moment. Positive feedback to the team is even more important and I incentivize them when they get their name mentioned in the surveys. Our team will be wearing name tags to help you identify who stands out.
I am going to need some help from you in certain areas for us to achieve our goals in 2024.
1. There will not be any play before 6 AM and all play will be off the first hole. This allows our maintenance team to get out and do what they need to in a safe and timely manner.
2. We are also asking that folks ride 2 to a cart. This helps minimize wear and tear both on the cart and on the course.
3. Keeping carts on the paths near the tees and greens will also lend itself to less soil compaction and overall improved course conditions.
4. Pace of play. The Minnesota Golf Association rates our course every 5 years and part of this process is to establish USGA pace of play. The expected pace of play from the white tees is 3 hours and 57 minutes and from the red tees is 3 hours and 26 minutes. Keep in mind that there are certain times of the day that you will be able to play faster than that and most often you will. Just understand that when the course is full, the team will be managing to the USGA pace of play. If we don’t have a baseline to manage from, it becomes too subjective to enforce.
5. Check into the golf shop before your round. Recording every round is for your safety and helps us ensure the accuracy of our tee sheet. The starters will be asking to see your receipt, as will the rangers on occasion. We are tasked to verify that all rounds are paid for and recorded; this is our system to make that happen.
6. We will be working to pair twosomes together. We understand that folks have a desire to play just as two and there will be times when the tee sheet allows for this; we will help identify when that is for you. During busy times we will not be able to offer this as it creates pace of play issues. I have seen where people will try and get around this by booking a foursome and only showing up with two. We will be tracking no-shows; if we identify a trend of booking for four and only showing up with two, we will stop it.
I appreciate your help with all of these items; I have seen the positive experiences that come from working together to achieve goals. Thank you for your business. I look forward to seeing you here soon!
Tom Beaudry
Director of Golf, PGA
Thoughts from Steve Ross
The mild winter has lent itself to outstanding course conditions once we open. The lack of frost in the ground in December allowed for the rain to percolate through the soil so we don’t have any damage from ice; in year’s past, we have seen substantial ice formation which happens when it sits on top of the soil for a long duration. The turf is very brown/yellowish this time of year but should start to green up as soil temperatures warm into the 50s. Right now, the ground is still frozen, so it will be a while.
I am looking forward to a great season of golf at Pokegama!
Steve Ross
Golf Course Superintendent, GSAA
What is new?
You should notice a few new things happening at Pokegama Golf Course the next time you visit. The new fleet of golf cars arrived last month; we are keeping 10 of the previous fleet to decrease the times we run out on busy days. John Bauer and his team have been busy getting the inside of the clubhouse painted and it looks great! There is also new carpet being installed the last week of March which will further enhance the look of the clubhouse. New merchandise for the golf shop should be on display the first part of April. Be sure to stop in and see all the new lines we are carrying!
We are giving away a season pass to the driving range! To win you just need to have created an online account and you can do so by visiting https://pokegama.cps.golf/onlineresweb/auth/verify-email . If you are a new user then just fill in your information and hit submit. If you are a returning user please just verify your email by logging in. We will draw for a winner on March 29th.
There is still time to get signed up for the Ping Demo Day this Thursday March 14th!
To see the most up to date information about the golf course and when we are opening check out our Facebook page or our website.
Junior golf registration will be done online this year and will go live May 1st. Information about the program will be up on the website soon!
We are taking applications for summer employment for both the course and grill and these can be downloaded here.