Golf - a competitive sport for some, a relaxing past time for others. There are beautiful greens, nice weather, good company, and lots of opportunities to eat and drink. But what makes all this possible? The people behind the scenes. Working at a golf course is definitely an experience unlike any other, so if you've been through it before here are seven scenarios to which I'm sure you can relate.
1. You regularly befriend elderly men.
2. You check the weather obsessively.
When you work at a golf course weather is everything. Shifts are dependent on the forecast, the number of available tee-times varies with rain, the grounds crew needs to plan accordingly, and approximately every single conversation you have in a day will involve it.
3. Drinking and golfing are apparently synonymous.
If you aren't a personal fan of golf, working at a course makes it clear why some people are. As far as I know, it's the only event that successfully combines sports and beer...and liquor, and wine, and any combination of the three. Not a bad gig.
4. Waking before the sun rises is very normal.
5:00 am start times, 4:00 am commutes, 7:00 am late mornings - all part of a day's work. It makes nightlife a little dull, but the early mornings grow on you real quickly.
5. Your wardrobe has been taken over by polos.
This one isn't a huge surprise since polo shirts are also called golf shirts. When you work at a course, picking out an outfit for the morning involves choosing between this collared shirt or this collared shirt. It's not cute, but it is easy. If you're really lucky, you may also wear khakis...I know, they sound hideous.
6. You can whip it in a golf cart.
Driving a golf cart isn't exactly rocket science, I know, but it's amazing how bad some people are at it. When you're an employee you're expected to be able to do all sorts of things with a cart - balance serving trays full of food, catch up to other carts, go on weird terrain, or transport tons of maintenance equipment. Easily accomplishing tasks like those makes it all the more shocking when a twosome manages to back a cart into a pond twenty yards away from the tee-box.
7. You've unknowingly learned a ton about the sport.
I'll never forget the day when I overheard a customer ask about the Players' Cup and, to my absolute amazement, I almost instinctively rattled off the top ten. Never have I had an interest in the professional golf, but after talking to golfers day in and day out and hearing it on TV in the background, I guess I've learned something after all. The job is a learning experience, indeed.
So, to my fellow golf course employees, here's to lots of sunny days and hopefully not having to wake up too early tomorrow morning.
