What Separates You…from Every Other PGA Professional?

In golf, differentiating yourself from others is quite simple. If you shoot a lower score, you win. In the end, you are measured by your ability to get the ball in the hole. On the PGA Tour it’s money earned, FedEx Cup points, world ranking and the number of wins that separate one player from another. There are stats to measure every conceivable area of the game which tell us who is the best at what. Proximity to the hole from 125 yards in the rough, from 250 yards in the fairway, Bounceback percentage, strokes gained, total driving, on and on.
While we as golf fans often find ourselves rooting for one of the players at the top of the rankings, for some reason one player will stand out to each of us and we either consciously or subconsciously pick our “favorites”. What is it about a player that attracts us? Is it the measurables? The wins, the stats, the bank account?
Or is it his style, his fascinating skill level, his innate talent, his personality, his persona? Is it the way he talks and walks, the way he dresses or the way he treats players and his caddie? Is it the look on his face as he walks up the fairway in the heat of the moment? The way he reacts after a great shot…or a terrible one? One could argue these traits and others like it are solely what create fans and followers of tour players. For those at the top, that means big money from endorsements and appearances. It’s what takes them to another level and makes marketers gush.
Are you a “Dustin guy” or Jordan or Rory or Rickie?
Fortunately for PGA Tour players, most of that doesn’t matter. Most aren’t on tour to create a following and build a fan base. For the best, it happens organically but their focus is on the measurables. The wins, the next check, the standings. That’s what counts in the end because when it comes down to it, their success in their career is based on them and them only.
What Differentiates Us?
As Golf Professionals, our opportunities to differentiate ourselves are not as easily measured. Wins and losses are not clearly defined. Most wins are small. Comparable to a single in the first inning instead of a walk-off home run. A well-executed tournament, an order fulfilled for a customer, a new properly fit driver. Unlike other industries, we don’t close monster deals, secure huge accounts or renegotiate multi-million dollar contracts.
Losses can be small too. However, they sometimes can go unnoticed until we find out their effects have festered and increased over time to a critical point.
How Do We Become Successful?
Success isn’t written on the scorecard, except maybe at an annual review…and that’s if you have an annual review. Because success isn’t always measurable, but we know it when we see it.
Sure, we can track rounds played, shop sales, outing revenue, green fees, cart fees and all the KPI’s. Some of those are direct results of “vocational” skills such as effective merchandising practices, business practices and tactics, and our ability to create programs to boost those metrics. Success in those areas is critical and the best Golf Professionals are doing it on a daily basis. But can we ultimately generate the revenues, provide the service or create the environment we need to just with “practices” and “tactics”?
At what point do the “soft skills” come into play? Most would define soft skills as leadership (which is vague), management (too general) and interpersonal skills (too broad).
Best selling author Seth Godin details his definition of soft skills so profoundly:
“Let’s call them real skills, not soft. Yes, they’re interpersonal skills. Leadership skills. The skills of charisma and diligence and contribution. But these modifiers, while accurate, somehow edge them away from the vocational skills, the skills that we actually hire for, the skills we measure a graduate degree on.
So let’s uncomfortably call them real skills instead.
Real because they work, because they’re at the heart of what we need today. Real because even if you’ve got the vocational skills, you’re no help to us without these human skills, the things that we can’t write down, or program a computer to do. Real skills can’t replace vocational skills, of course not. What they can do is amplify the things you’ve already been measuring.
Imagine a team member with all the traditional vocational skills: productive, skilled, experienced. A resume that can prove it. That’s fine, it’s the baseline.
Now, add to that: Perceptive, charismatic, driven, focused, goal-setting, inspiring and motivated. A deep listener, with patience.
What happens to your organization when someone like that joins your team?”
Simply put…it’s what makes your customers, members or students choose you over others. Like they root for one PGA Tour player over another, it’s what makes them root for you.
Golf Professional Growth is the attempt to highlight these skills in the context of PGA Professional’s everyday life. We’ll explore all areas and examples of these skills from inside and outside of the industry.
Want more? Head to www.golfprofessionalgrowth.com, take a look around. Hope it helps.
