Meet the PGA professional: Craig Haugh

The head professional at Fereneze Golf Club in Glasgow, Craig Haugh, talks about catering for an increase of 150 members, stock control amid supply issues and growing the junior section.

Can you detail what your life was like from the first lockdown in March 2020 until the present day?

At first, after realising we would be closed for a while, it was a case of contacting suppliers to restructure, cancel or delay orders already placed and thankfully they were all excellent to deal with and understood the position that we were in. In fact, having some prolonged time away from the day-to-day club professional role was quite refreshing as it gave me some time to think. I hadn’t had more than two weeks off work consecutively since before turning pro 13 years ago.

I did, however, find I was bored quite quickly after the initial month had passed and I volunteered to help the greens’ staff doing basic duties three days a week to give me some kind of routine and life structure.

I offered some online video analysis lessons free of charge that kept me connected with my membership which I felt was crucial. Before the shop officially reopened I focussed on my starter responsibilities to respond positively to members’ enthusiasm to get back playing.

We trialled some live scoring software via mobile phones which gave members some variety to play before ‘normal’ competitive play could be resumed.

In the background I was working on getting the shop ‘Covid-ready’ and TGI Golf were excellent in keeping us informed of what was required and often this could be sourced through the TGI Direct platform.

What daily challenges do you face in running a pro shop and teaching?

We enjoyed a huge surge in membership with around 150 new members.

Whilst this has obviously been great for my business, it has also brought new challenges with stock control and knowing which products will appeal to both new and existing members.

We are always busy during the peak months battling to time manage between coaching hours, shop hours and club commitments constantly, which can lead to slipping into bad habits of working excessively long hours.

It felt a bit out of the normal routine but in a positive way and my planning and organising skills have had to be stepped up to meet new demands whilst continuing to provide members with a positive experience.

There is a constant flow of new golf products – how do you manage your stock to serve the needs of your members and visitors?

It has been an extremely difficult year with the obvious issues with supply chains and suppliers having to estimate when product will arrive, if at all, so we have had to, at times, take a measured risk assessment on stock levels – perhaps over stocking to prevent potentially losing out on sales to our bigger online competitors.

I still work fairly ‘old school’ in terms of how we manage stock, looking at weekly sales and what’s selling fast and also products that have not been as popular as we thought they would have been and making future purchases based on this.

I have utilised TGI ‘Swap Shop’ with our partners a lot, and it has helped me to source products, either I don’t stock or have been out of stock with suppliers. I have always worked in retail, even prior to turning professional and have always believed that personal one-to-one customer care is the best approach and brings customers back if that experience is a positive one. If members leave the shop with an experience that can’t be found anywhere else they will spread the good word and that is often hard to beat and quite satisfying.

How do you manage your day?

I am huge on routine! To be honest, without it I tend to struggle with getting things done efficiently. I plan medium to long term and then prioritise tasks in a weekly list that often varies and grows in response to events that arise over the course of the week, but there is still a sense of satisfaction when things are cleared. I have recently moved to an online teaching diary with Acuity Scheduling, which has meant a more structured diary of lessons and my pupils have also enjoyed how much easier it is to book lessons online.

What are you doing to support junior golf and introduce kids to the sport?

As a club we have always produced some excellent junior golfers. However, when I first arrived at Fereneze some six years ago, numbers were dwindling with only a nucleus of six to 10 regular playing juniors.

We have grown our junior numbers over the years to around 40 most of whom play regularly, with coaching supplied during the year after-school sessions, Easter and summer camps, plus additional junior competitions throughout the year.

The club has also provided free junior membership when any adult is a member of the club. We also offer a family style membership rate, all of which has helped introduce juniors to the game. Notably, all of this had a spin off to competitive performance with many single figure handicaps, a keen level of competition which has led to our junior team winning their local league for the last four years.

Are you trying to attract more women to golf?

Fortunately I managed to recruit Clare-Marie Macaulay, already a PGA pro and honorary member at the club, in recruiting new female members for the club. She has been doing additional taster sessions and end-of-year get togethers which go down really well. We can always do more, and this is really an area we need to focus on in the years to come. We offer a ‘red tee’ specific membership which offers great value and is attractive for recruiting new female golfers

Do you have any programmes in place such as academy membership to make it easier to introduce beginners to the game?

About four years ago we undertook a detailed profiling of our membership and recognised we needed to do something to regularly attract new members to safeguard the long-term future of the club.

We identified that we needed to attract more members between the ages of 18 and 35, who we now offer a discounted rate to, which has brought us in 100 new members and this category is now full, which is superb.

We also launched a ‘PlayGolf’ lifestyle points-based membership which is great for beginners, casual golfers and shift workers. This again has brought us in 70 new members since we launched it, with many of them going on to become full members.

A lot of PGA pros are having to be a step ahead of their competitors in their offerings and technology – what additional added value services do you provide?

We are always trying to move forward as a business and have made significant changes since I started including a total shop renovation allowing us a far bigger retail space, an indoor studio which has allowed me to teach 12 months of the year and members can also use it to practice and compete socially on the simulator.

When Covid landed at first we also launched our online store through Shopify, which has given us an added revenue stream and a good way to get our new products out there to members who perhaps don’t visit the shop as often.

When did you join the TGI Golf Partnership and what was it about it that attracted you?

I joined TGI Golf in 2016 when I took the role up as head professional at Fereneze. I had previously worked for Gordon Stewart at Cawder who was chairman at TGI Golf at the time and I witnessed how being a partner helped Gordon develop the business and the benefits of networking within the wider group. It seemed an easy decision to follow suit.

Has TGI Golf been of benefit to you as a PGA professional?

Being a TGI partner has been invaluable to my business since joining six years ago. There are so many benefits to recognise, be it retail advice, connections with other partners, marketing tools, golfing trips abroad, the business conference and much more.

For what I have put into my TGI Partnership I have had back tenfold in terms of help and advice all aimed at benefitting my business.

What year did you turn professional and what have been your career highlights, both playing and employment?

I turned professional back in 2009 – 13 years ago now! Like most I probably had expectations of playing more and competing regularly.

Qualifying to play for Team Scotland at last year’s TGI Golf Partnership Trophy at the K Club was a highlight and great event at an unbelievable venue which has rejuvenated my ambition to start playing more again this year.

I would say that becoming the head professional here at Fereneze has been very rewarding and looking back we have really made a difference which members seem to have appreciated. As a smaller local club with community at its heart I believe the club has offered me a great opportunity and has been a great fit.