It's hard to believe it is already June, and for most of the section that means the heart of the golf season. As I mentioned in my April report, when golf courses are busy, demand for my time and requests from PGA Members and employers always slow down. With that, I thought I would do something a little different with this report and give you my thoughts of the employment side of the golf business. Think of it as a "State of the Union" of all of the hottest topics that I deal with each day...from my perspective.  

Compensation - The good news is that compensation for PGA Professionals continues to rise both in the Carolinas and across the country. You probably remember the $1.5 million in increases that I reported at the annual meeting in February. Since that time, members have reported about $120,000 more in increases, which is a good start to the year, and I hope we see a lot more at the end of the season when most evaluations take place and budgets are set for 2024. 

To better gauge the market conditions, I did some research on Assistant Professional jobs posted in the last 7 months to better understand compensation, and came up with the following information:

Jobs with the word "first", "1st", or "Lead" in the title:

• Base salaries ranged from $35,000 - $60,000

• Average posted minimum salary was $43,058

• Average posted maximum salary was $47,764

• Average posted Total compensation (including lessons, bonus, etc) was $55,647

All other Assistant jobs:

• Base salaries ranged from $30,000 - $60,000 (the $60k was at a facility that does not use "first" assistant...they just have assistants)

• Average posted minimum salary was $37,987

• Average posted maximum salary was $42,171

• Average posted Total compensation (including lessons, bonus, etc) was $49,670

Anecdotally, I have been hearing a lot of stories about Assistant Professionals making base salaries in the $45,000 - $50,000 range, with additional income from lessons bringing their total compensation over $70,000. It's not enough to become a billionaire, but it does allow someone to make a living. 

Labor Supply - As of June 13, there were 12 Assistant Professional positions in the Carolinas posted on the PGA Job Board. This could be interpreted in one of two ways…clubs are having success filling positions, or they have decided to work at current staff levels and avoid posting positions. I hope it’s not the latter, but I am still getting a lot of calls from PGA Members who still have openings on the staff and are struggling to fill them. As a result, I have encouraged many professionals to consider hiring non-PGA candidates for hourly golf shop positions. This is not the time to be short staffed, and sometimes a body is better than nobody at all. 

It should be noted that lack of mobility for applicants is also a headwind to hiring, as very few candidates are willing (or able) to relocate for a new position right now. The lack of available housing in many areas, and the prohibitive cost of that housing has shrunk the talent pool even more. 

But there is good news! I received a note on April 7th indicating that there were over 1,200 new associates registered since July 1, 2022, which represents the biggest number since 2015! Our recruiters have been working hard to provide new talent to the PGA pipeline, and according to this metric, their work seems to be paying off.  

Work / Life Balance - The data collected in the December Member & Section Operations report showed that work /life balance has improved for some classifications. In summary, it's good to be anything other than an A-1 or A-4. As I said in my January report, 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. We haven't asked for this information since December, and probably won't until the end of the year, but anecdotally not much has changed. While the highest ranking professionals are still trying to provide work/life balance for their staff, labor shortages are forcing many professionals to work even more. 

In summary, this feels like mostly good news. Most people are making more money, and if we can continue to recruit more people to the industry, maybe we can fill the openings and allow everyone to create a little more balance in their life. It is important to remember however that EVERY member has their own story, and their story may not feel so positive. Collectively, I hope to find a way to lift everyone up.   

Final Thoughts

You will notice the number of PGA Compensation Profiles below is in RED. This means that we have not yet hit our goal for Compensation Profile's created or updated in 2023. We need to have 1064 (an oddly specific number) Members / Associates create or update their compensation in PGA.org by October 31, 2023 in order to receive $19,500 in additional ADP funding. This is a significant amount of money, and I will continue to update this group as to our status. 

It was great attending a few events in May, including the Ladies Pro-Pro, and the North Carolina Open. My apologies for missing the Pro-Assistant, as it is one of my favorite events of the year, but final interviews for the Executive Search at Country Club of Lexington were scheduled at the same time. I look forward to traveling to the South Carolina Open, Carolina's Open, Assistants Championship, Senior & Ladies Championship, and other Assistant Association events throughout the summer.

As an update, file this under the "never changing update" category, but I wanted to share that NOTHING has happened with the rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors (IC) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposal is still being debated, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open and will provide an update when I have more information. 

Finally, I am taking a family vacation from June 21 - July 4. If you need any assistance during that time, please contact my teammates Jim West (jwest@pgahq.com / 561-446-4928) or Greg Stenzel (gstenzel@pgahq.com / 561-379-7724)

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to work with all of you. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see all of you soon.

Respectfully submitted, 

Mike Mueller

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