4 Things Golf Taught Me About Running a Company

For many people golf is a weekend sport. For others, it’s where they do business, whether 

playing with colleagues or customers. For everyone, though, it’s an opportunity to get out 

on the links on a nice day, combine competition with collegiality and enjoy playing 18 holes 

in a quiet place, free from the pressures of the world. It’s a wonderful escape.

Leaders can also learn a lot about decision-making while on the course. If you take a 

moment to look around and observe your surroundings, you’ll stop and realize how much 

strategic planning it took to create the moment you’re now experiencing. As a club member, 

you’re the customer. This is what went into creating your perfect afternoon.

Product development

Someone designed the course. There was an actual person and, in some cases team, that 

had a vision and planned out all 18 holes. Before the course was built, it was a large tract 

of land; essentially a blank canvas. A designer who looked at it and determined how to turn 

that space into a golf course that would offer both fun and challenge for the golfer. 

Topography was factored in as decisions were made regarding where to place fairways, 

water hazards, sand traps, tees, holes, and other features. All these decisions combined to 

create a unique, enjoyable playing experience. As business leaders we need to employ 

similar strategic considerations as we plan products and services to deliver to our 

customers and clients.

Creating an experience

In the last several years there’s been a lot of talk in the business world about not selling a 

product or service, but an experience. Marketers talk this way all the time. You’re not 

buying a Titleist TS2, Callaway Mavik or Taylormade SIM driver; you’re buying the 

experience of hitting longer and straighter drives thereby lowering your score and winning 

more rounds. It’s the same at the club to which you belong.

The experience begins the moment you drive off the road and up a quiet, leafy driveway 

that leads to the clubhouse parking lot. You’re no longer in the big, bad noisy world. You’ve 

entered a place of serene quiet that provides enjoyment, comfort and recreation. From the 

parking lot to the locker room, from the course to the dining room and until you leave, the 

experience has been carefully created to provide you and your fellow members with a 

certain level of elegance and value for your membership investment. At your company, are 

you committed to creating a satisfying customer experience at every touch point?

Attention to detail

Most people wouldn’t realize the level of detail that goes into developing a golf course or 

the attached club/clubhouse. But there is, and it was all determined with the customer in 

mind. For example, ask a groundskeeper about the greens, and he’s likely to tell you what 

grass or combination of grasses, were used to craft different parts of the course; how the 

mower is set to keep it at optimal height, how often it’s watered, and how divots are 

replaced. There’s much that goes into just that part of the playing experience, and even 

more into the other features and amenities you encounter. Attention to detail is important, 

both in golf and in the work you do at your company.

Membership retention

Maintaining membership is among the most important priorities at a golf club. In our 

business lives, we call them customers. At a golf club, where dues are often substantial, 

close attention is paid to members’ needs and wants. If a member expresses concern 

about anything related to the club, that person receives a prompt response and the 

problem is dealt with. A good golf club will continually ask members for comments and 

suggestions and listen closely, then consider how to address each. Without satisfied 

members, there are no golf clubs. Without satisfied customers, we have no business.