Butler’s Golf Course is a 36-hole facility outside Pittsburgh still owned by descendants of John Butler, who founded the course nearly 100 years ago after finding oil in the nearby hills.
Landscapes Golf Management partnered with the family in 2016 after another group had operated the course for the previous five years. Several key employees left during the transition. The remaining staff was experienced, dedicated, and hard-working, but they lacked the support, operational systems, and cohesive leadership required for excellence.
In the maintenance department, LGM’s priority was to replace the superintendent. Next, they implemented standard procedures across the department and added a full-time mechanic to handle all equipment repairs and maintenance. A training program taught staff new skills as irrigation, spray, and equipment technicians. This improved employee engagement, improved job performance, and decreased maintenance costs.
In Food & Beverage, only two full-time employees kept the operation going. The business unit was profitable, but via sacrifices to service, quality, and employee morale. This is not a successful long-term strategy, especially for a course so integrally connected to the local community.
Landscapes began by reorganizing the leadership, hiring front-line staff, and implementing a deep training program. Cross-training gave front-of-house and back-of-house staffers a new perspective, and all team members completed customer service training.
Butler’s also participated in LGM’s Leadership Training Program. This program places Assistant General Managers in crucial roles at clubs and trains them on the skills required to be successful General Managers in the LGM system. In 2021, this program proved vital, as the long-tenured General Manager moved out of the area. The assistant general manager seamlessly moved into the interim general manager role. He smoothly sailed the ship through the business planning and budgeting process, giving the recruiting team ample time to find the right General Manager in today’s challenging labor environment.
The team’s evolution at Butler’s is a testament to LGM’s “Culture First” mindset. LGM believes that by training and empowering staff through a positive work environment, we create happier employees who give great customer service and are dedicated to the club.
Treating our employees right and trusting them to take care of our customers is a formula proven successful for Landscapes over nearly 30 years.
