A golf manager is typically responsible for all the day-to-day operations of a golf course or country club. This person will often double as the course pro, in which case he will take on that set of responsibilities as well. These duties may vary from course to course, and will largely depend on the size of the facility. Some golf managers are responsible for the fiscal management of the club, personnel, grounds, member or customer relations, and other similar duties. More expensive courses and exclusive country clubs will also tend to have a variety of assistant managers that work under the golf manager.
In cases in which a club has a separate general manager and head pro, the golf manager will typically be responsible for the fiscal health of the club and various daily operations. Some clubs may have financial directors or accountants to handle the accounting, with the manager being in charge of the larger financial picture. To this end, the manager will often be required to formulate a business plan by which to operate. Such a plan may lay out goals and operational directives for the club, and the manager will then use the plan to monitor the performance of the club over time.
Many clubs combine the role of golf manager and head pro into one position. In these cases, the manager will need to have the requisite qualifications to be a head pro, and will often be the main interface between the public, or membership base, and the club. This essentially places the golf manager in charge of ensuring customer satisfaction and good relations between the customer base and the club. With membership-based clubs, the manager will also often be responsible for monitoring membership retention and attrition. This can be an essential function, since, in these cases, all of the operational funds for the club come from membership dues.
At larger clubs, the golf manager will often take on an expanded managerial role. Rather than handling each and every task himself, he may have a number of subordinate managers working under him. This may include assistant managers in charge of things like grounds keeping, finances, marketing, or sales. While the general manager must be familiar with the operations of each part of the business, in these cases he will also require strong managerial skills to set goals for his assistant managers, while still keeping an eye on the progress of the club as a whole.