Happy New Year to everyone! I always find the first few weeks of the New Year interesting, as "resolution" season is upon us. In my world, it means I see more people on the street and greenway during my morning runs, and you probably also see it everywhere you look. Resolutions are funny things, and make me think about something I wrote about in my blog 4 years ago. 

  "I am not talking about New Year’s resolutions, because they don’t work. Typical resolutions are reactions to things we don’t like when we look in the mirror. The problem with that approach is that we should embrace that person instead of rejecting them, acknowledging what makes us unique, and make tangible plans to become our ideal self."

I thought a lot about that paragraph during my Holiday break, as 34 hours driving to Kansas City and back provides a lot of time for self-reflection. Most of all, I thought about how I do my job, and if my priorities match the priorities of Carolinas PGA Members & Associates. With every "I'm burned out" email or phone call I receive, it appears increasingly obvious that they do not. So as I plan how to allocate my time, energy, and enthusiasm in 2023, my "resolution" is to be more intentional about serving PGA Members on their terms, not on mine. 

In addition, I created 3 additional reports that I thought would benefit the Section staff, Board of Directors, and select Committees (Education, Tournament). Those 3 reports are:

• Education Preferences Report

• Tournament Participation Report 

• Carolinas PGA Supershow Report

If you are the Committee Chair and would like to share any of these reports with your Committee Members, please do not hesitate to do so, as I believe they could provide powerful insights that Committees can us to help them plan their 2023 initiatives. 

It really is a massive amount of data contained in 45,951 cells on a spreadsheet. Jeff asked me what I found interesting when looking at the results, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. In addition, I would also love to hear what you find most interesting from the reports. 

1. Work / life balance issues with recruiting / retention implications - Members employed as a Head Professional or Director of Golf are almost 2x more likely to work 6 or 7 days than a 5 day work week.  In addition, they are slightly more likely to work 50+ hours than below 50 hours each week.  The data is even worse at private facilities, as those Members are almost 3x more likely to work 6 or 7 days and are 2x more likely to work 50+ hours. From a recruiting perspective, is this the type of job that people will want?

2. PGA Related Education - There is very little interest in PGA related education (Specialized, Certified, ADM, PGA.coach, PGA REACH). There is probably a need for some follow up survey to understand if members feel they already know this information, or if they are just uninterested.

3. Tournament Participation - Overwhelmingly, members report that playing in tournaments is important to them, but most participate very little or not at all. They cite the time away from family and work as the major reason, so I'd like to see if attendance at one day chapter events has risen to fill that competitive void.  

In an effort to make the survey and reports even better next year, I welcome your feedback (positive or negative!), which you can provide by CLICKING HERE.

Additional Topics to Watch

A couple of things are happening around the country that could have implications for golf facilities and PGA Professionals in the long term, so I thought it would be worth mentioning now.

• Kentucky passed a law requiring the collection of State Sales tax on services, including golf lessons.

• The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new proposed rule addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors (IC) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Obviously, the decision in Kentucky will impact either the price of a golf lesson or the net profit of a golf lesson for the instructor. Because this is a state decision, there is a chance nothing similar could happen in the Carolinas, or perhaps one of the states could be impacted by a similar decision. 

The other situation is a federal proposal, though nothing has been decided yet. You can read a good summary HERE, but this bullet point is enough to scare any employer who has agreements with Independent Contractors. 

"The proposed rule would replace the generally employer-friendly test announced by the DOL in January 2021 with a test that is decidedly more likely to result in findings that contractors have been misclassified under the FLSA and are entitled to overtime."

It might make sense for the Section to try and figure out which Members are classified as an IC and which employers have agreements with IC's so we can be proactive in providing guidance to both parties. 

That seems like enough information for report, and I appreciate the opportunity to work with all of you. As always, please let me know if you have any questions, and I'll see you next month in Greensboro.

All Active Positions

PGA Compensation Profile - Carolinas Section Participation

Job Preferences - Carolinas Section Participation

Names and emails of people who have applied to the Pre-Qualifier program. PQ applicants purchase and review the five qualifying level courses: Introduction to the PGM and the Golf Profession, PGA History, PGA Constitution, Rules of Golf and Career Enhancement to be eligible to register for the qualifying test through our third party test company virtually.

Please note that PGA HQ does not collect employment information at the time of PQ registration.