2018 marks Playbooks for Golf’s 10th year in business, and it has been my busiest year yet. Through those years, we have morphed from a basic map company to a full-fledged software and website provider. I would like to personally thank all superintendents who we have served over these first 10 years, I am grateful every day that I can be a small part of your operation and this industry. It’s a tough job being a superintendent and I’m glad to assist where needed.

While serving you, the consistent feedback I get is that I don’t do enough to help get the word out about everything that we can do to help other superintendents. They just don’t know all Playbooks offers. While I don’t normally post purely commercial things on this blog, I thought with our 10-year anniversary I would try to explain exactly how and what we do to assist your operation, and hopefully save you time and money. That way if any readers didn’t know, now they do. 

COVERAGE SYSTEM

This is a chemical and fertilizer software solution that actually makes it easy to plan and track. While there are many options on the market, and DIY spreadsheets, you won’t find a more turn-key, limited-effort solution with world-class support. 

You can begin using the application log in under 30 seconds and over 95% of the products you use are typically already loaded and ready. Inventory, Cost, EIQ, GDD, AI, Nutrients, etc. -- it just does it all automatically, no work on your end besides filling out your normal log. 

I personally support users 7 days a week at all hours. Most users see significant saving in labor in this area, and you should see a reduction in costs if inventory/cost/planning are used. The system is also compatible with third-party labor software like ASB TaskTracker, and governmental agency requirements.

EZPINS

This is a newer solution I developed in partnership with ezLocator founder, Jon Schultz. It allows you to move hole locations through use of the software, and provide either a daily pin sheet or mobile app with that data to members. As you can guess from the name, it is extremely easy to setup and use. Nearly every customer comments on how awesome it is to have and wishes they knew of it sooner. 

This setup is guaranteed to save you labor on course set daily, it takes the guesswork out and it’s like you are setting the course each day yourself. I developed a process to gather all information required without ever visiting your course, which means it is highly affordable and we can usually get you up and running within several days if desired. 

As a golfer, I only wish more courses had it installed for less hole location issues and knowing exactly where the flag was when I played. Golfers love it, supers love it.

IRRIGATION AS-BUILTS

We still do mapping, and the majority of it is for irrigation. We have taken old treasure maps and converted them, while others we have made a lot easier to view on the course. Like ezPins, we never have to visit the course to do the work which means it’s a fraction of the cost of GPS. You can hand-draw or digitally notate any changes you want and send back to us for updates. Over time, we are significantly cheaper than whatever you are doing now for irrigation mapping and updates. 

Our maps are compatible with Toro and RainBird central control systems, plus you get easy to use digital copies for phones and tablets. We still do hard-copy laminated Playbooks of hole-by-hole irrigation as well – sometimes old-school is still the way to go when you are out trying to water on the course. 

OTHER MAPS

While these aren’t created as frequently, we still get orders for them from repeat clients, and would like others to know in case you are in need for a special situation. 

• Yardage – Send us the data or we can come gather it. We create hole by hole diagrams with all cap yardages for use in replacing them or for actual yardage books. Can order caps for you as well.
• GPS – We can travel anywhere for on-site GPS of new irrigation, drainage, new features, etc. 
• Routing Map – Full rendering of your property with each hole easily identified. Golf shop can use it and it can also be used on club website. Great for new employees too. 
• Base Maps / Notepads – Simple digital renderings of each hole with square footages for communication with staff and club officials. All data is gathers remotely so extremely affordable. 

CAREER MATERIALS

I am sure all of you know about this as I cover career materials in great detail on this blog. Cover letters, resumes, websites, print portfolios, interview reports and more. If you are not finding the time to do them on your own or want a professional look, I can help. I do limit the number of clients I take on each year though as it is quite time-consuming and try to be as affordable as possible. CLUB PROFILESThese are websites that highlight your turf operation in an effort to attract interns and assistants. It’s a very effective way to stand out from other clubs and really showcase your operation. They also create a very professional image of your operation to club officials and members. Any more to find talent you need to be doing more than just posting an ad, and this is a must-have tool for finding the right people. 

ASSOCIATION / BUSINESS WEBSITES

We are a full-fledged website development company. With in-house design and programmers, we can build nearly any website needed. In particular, we have started assisting local GCSA associations with their websites. Not only do we rebuild them, we also manage the content for them so those who volunteer their time on the boards can save time and have a great online presence, making members happy with easy to use features for event signups and more. And new to the market this year:COURSE CONDITIONS

This is a brand-new platform that we have spent years developing, and I think it is going to be big for your operations. It is an app platform that allows you to communicate directly with golfers. Your patrons aren’t on Twitter for the most part, and they rarely read blogs. Those are great for communicating with peers, but fall well short in member communications. Course Conditions is an app golfers can download for free, and you populate the content with our easy CMS website. It is extremely simple for you and golfers will be informed in a professional format. Conditions works seamlessly with clubhouse/F&B apps too, which are steadily on the rise of implementation. 

You can send Push Notifications at any time to all app users to engage with them and generate traffic to your latest updates in the app. It is one central solution for communication, and will make your work life so much easier, guaranteed. 

While we announced this platform in 2017, we are finally coming out of our beta testing and development period and are beginning to get the word out about our live version this summer. We have special pricing for early adopters that will be lower than retail for as long as you use the platform.

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In summary, I hope that if you are in need of any help in these areas you now know of a partner you can turn to for help. 

Thanks once again to all who support Playbooks for Golf, and who read this blog. TurfNet has been a great partner for us and I appreciate the opportunity to share information on this blog through TurfNet. 

The next blog post will return to offering the latest tips and tricks on careers and technology.