Peterson: The Municipal Golf Association - San Antonio, or our DBA, Alamo City Golf Trail (ACGT), comprises the eight municipal golf courses owned by the City of San Antonio. We have a long-term partnership with the city, operating the courses as a 501c(3), where our operating proceeds are reinvested into the facilities.
As CEO of the organization, I work collaboratively with our Board of Directors, provide the vision for financial well-being and long-term sustainability, motivate our staff and strive to provide our customers with a great golf experience. Our Mission Statement is to offer affordable and accessible golf while providing the best-in-class facilities, so we are a high-volume operator with roughly 290 employees supporting over 420,000 rounds of golf.
Peterson: Wow, just thinking back, I realize I've crossed the 30-year mark working in golf! Starting my career during my last few years in college, I have never looked back. Fortunately, my first job was at a nice private member-owned club in Texas. The club's leadership - Jim Schrader, General Manager, and Neil Etter, PGA of America Head Golf Professional - taught me how to be a consummate professional by dressing well, treating others with dignity and respect, providing quality golf instruction and running high-caliber events.
I also spent a few summers working with Randy Houseman, PGA, in Vail, Colorado. Randy was a terrific mentor who helped me truly understand the business aspect of the industry.
After a stop in New Orleans and the Austin, Texas area working at Jack Nicklaus's signature facilities, I eventually made it to San Antonio. I spent a few years at a high-end daily fee facility and a local resort facility, which prepared me well for my current role. Jim Roschek, PGA, brought me on board with the Alamo City Golf Trail in 2013. Jim was the ultimate leader and mentor, and I hope I do him justice in following in his footsteps.
Other great influences shaping me as a PGA of America Golf Professional include past and present coworkers, board members, family, friends, church leaders and my favorite PGA of America Golf Professional, my wife, Sorrel Peterson.
Peterson: There are plenty of acronyms or goal-setting methodologies that I try to follow, but I pay attention to what is working and what is not. Keeping a journal of random notes and thoughts helps me stay organized during quarterly evaluations and annual business planning. We also track our KPIs closely every quarter in a myriad of areas. This allows us to be nimble in our decision-making. I'm a numbers guy and fairly competitive, so surpassing prior year results has always been important.
More recently, my goals have morphed into those being more nebulous. Are course conditions improving? Is our staff more engaged? We use various platforms to measure those areas, but I'm also evaluating them on a feel basis during site visits and by playing the courses. We have a solid group of director-level professionals who are highly engaged and don't require a lot of management. I enjoy working with them on how they manage their departments, but ultimately, as long as we share a similar vision, I trust and support their decisions.
Peterson: As a proud PGA of America Golf Professional who only ever wanted to work in golf, it's saddened me to see people leave our industry because of a perceived lack of compensation and lifestyle opportunities. There is no denying that when you first break into the golf industry, the pay scale relative to the time commitment may leave you wondering what you did. However, this might be the biggest change we've experienced in the profession, at least in my time. Wages are way up, and the requirement to work every weekend and every holiday is no longer the standard.
Golf has also become fairly expensive for the consumer. Increased expenses and a high supply-demand imbalance have created membership waitlists and record profits for course owners and operators. With this, the golfer's expectations have increased, and they are quick to take to social media to express their opinions. A strong marketing team has never been more important for many clubs, especially daily fee facilities.
From our company's perspective, the influx in play over the past few years has been dramatic, as our round counts have increased by over 40 percent from pre-COVID numbers. This has allowed us to make massive investments in our courses. We fully renovated one facility in 2021 and another in 2023. Another is currently under renovation, and we'll close another for a major makeover as soon as it reopens. Because we operate as a non-profit and I have great support from our Board of Directors, we have pivoted a little this year in our operating model. We have intentionally shrunk our profit margins to serve our loyal customer base better and compensate our dedicated staff. We recognized that we were receiving too much play, thus causing pace of play challenges, hurting course conditions and exhausting staff. We spread out our tee time intervals, started closing facilities for general maintenance and increased our general agronomy budget. From a staff perspective, we have dramatically increased wages, enhanced the benefits package and worked to promote a better work-life balance. From talking with industry peers, this is a more common trend for clubs to find the right equilibrium for long-term success.
Peterson: I've become more involved in every facet of the golf industry, trying to educate myself and surrounding myself with a tribe of big thinkers. In addition to serving on the STPGA Board of Directors and pursuing advanced PGA certification in Executive Management, I am involved with the National Golf Course Owners/Operators Association and soaking up as much as possible from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Leadership books and podcasts are a staple in my car time playlists, and regular visits with industry thought leaders keep me appraised of all the new trends, challenges and opportunities. Asking questions never gets old, as there are many perspectives to learn from. I've also worked on being a better listener - seeking to understand before I can be understood took me a while to fully comprehend. As someone who considers himself a lifelong learner, I know enough to know I'll never know it all, but hopefully, one day, I'll know enough!
Peterson: The journey a PGA of America Golf Professional can take in his or her career will most likely have plenty of twists and turns - and perhaps a dead end or two. Mistakes are inevitable, and we can't always control when they happen, but we can control how we let them impact us moving forward. Embrace them, grow from them and allow them to reset your compass. As a marathon runner once told me, she enjoyed the training, planning and preparation as much, if not more, than the actual race. This is a great metaphor for a life as an aspiring PGA of America General Manager. Stay patient, focus, surround yourself with great people, be curious and believe in yourself!
Andrew Peterson, the 2008 Southern Texas PGA Section Player Development Award winner and 2010 Section Merchandiser of the Year for Resort Facilities, is the President and CEO of Alamo City Golf Trail in San Antonio, Texas