Dear Members, I am writing this just 8 days into the term of the club’s new Committee. We are concluding the process of allocating portfolios and reviewing the Terms of Reference for each SubCommittee. The hard work now begins.
One area that members will be casting their attention towards is our golf course renovation. In my conversations with John Eu, the Chairman of the Project Steering Committee, I have flagged two areas for attention. Firstly, cost escalations beyond the expectations covered by budgetary contingencies. This after all is a multi year project in an inflationary cost push environment. Secondly, the impact of these escalations on our ability to deliver without material compromises. If there is an assured confidence that the promised product can be delivered then execution in a prompt fashion must follow in double quick time. Delays can only feed the inflationary monster. You have my assurance that this will be a primary focus of The Committee.
A closely related area is the maintenance of our golf courses including the “new” ones hopefully soon to be bestowed upon us nine by nine. If we do things the same way, we will achieve the same results. Changes can be as simple as the way we do our yearly budgeting. Budgeting cannot just be in Ringgit terms but also in quantities of fertiliser, sand, labor, diesel etc separating factors that the Golf Course Superintendent can control (quantities) and the ones for which he has no control over (prices). We also need more objective ways to measure the condition of our golf courses. What you can’t measure, you can’t manage. We will want to begin by ascertaining the base condition of the golf course today and with continual measurements, we should be able to ascertain
improvement or degradation. By also setting the Golf Course Quality Standard we wish to achieve, we can ascertain the resources we require to achieve those standards. Members can then decide through the budget process if they wish to expend the necessary resources.
I mentioned responsibility mapping in my election manifesto. We will begin at the Swimming pool and Tennis court areas on a bottom up basis ensuring we have operating and maintenance checklists with an “owner” for each and every task. If the checklist is signed off but the work has not been completed, we now at least have a basis for accountability. The checklist should also pick up defects and items requiring repair which will similarly be allocated to an “owner” allowing Management to monitor accountability based on response times.
I have heard the frustration of our friends in the Tennis section over the “performance” and safety of our covered courts during inclement weather. We will engage the relevant professionals to look at both the lightning safety and water flow issues to better understand the scope of required improvements.
Membership will be another area of focus. Given the limit of 20 new Ordinary members per Calendar year, how do we allocate this new scarce resource? Do we allocate purely by queue position? Do we prioritise Malaysians and encourage our Non Malaysian friends toward Corporate Memberships? What role will increasing diversity play? Should we continue to have a fast track process? If so, what criteria should we use? Objective or subjective? Perhaps, we may even return to members at General Meeting for a higher limit if the current 20 doesn’t serve the interests of the RSGC. Separately, we have a large contingent of members who are non-golfers.
When we consider Reciprocal Club arrangements, we may also want to consider Premium non-golfing clubs. The reciprocal arrangements can reflect the asymmetric availability of sporting facilities.
You may have noticed that The Committee now has a Convenor looking into Sustainability. I believe this to be an area that no socially responsible club can avoid. We will begin slowly at first, perhaps considering sustainability in our procurement processes but must over time incorporate Sustainability seamlessly into our entire operating model and financial disclosures.
These are but a few of the issues occupying the bandwidth of your Committee Members. I believe in getting all the basics right and if you have ideas you would like to share, I would love to hear from you. Thank you.
Raymond Yeoh
Captain
