Get to Know Your Region - Doug Turner
Doug Turner, PGA
Career Consultant | PGA Career Services
Proudly serving the Southern Texas PGA
How do you see the industry evolving in the next five years?
I think from an employment standpoint we are in for a real shift. Assistants are hard to find and when we do, many of them do not want to work every weekend and holiday from May to September. So I am already seeing some subtle changes from some of our PGA Professionals. Moving to a 5-day work week, one weekend off per month seems to be offered more and more. The moderate clubs are going to struggle to retain GM’s and HP’s if they are not healthy and paying better than they are. Will be interesting to see where it all goes but I think that is the most impactful and immediate change in the next 5 years.
What are you most looking forward to with working with the Southern Texas PGA?
STPGA top to bottom is a fantastic Section. I was trying to tell one of my friends that it seems like the level of professionalism is extremely high and I am looking forward to being around Professionals who take their careers in such a high fashion.
What is your favorite golf memory?
I made a hole-in-one playing with my dad as we were trying to beat an incoming snow storm. Played 2 more holes in the snow because my dad said the hole-in-one would not count if we didn’t finish!
If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Let values have a stronger place in my decisions. I made a career move while a member of the STPGA that was strictly a financial decision and I knew 2 days in it was not a good decision. Think through what you really count as a value and then let that help you make your decisions. Very big difference between goals and values and knowing the difference between the two would have helped me avoid heartache.
What is your favorite part about working in the golf industry?
Relationships that I have made in this business are fantastic. I was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, working with a group of Americans who were leading a one day Medical, Dental, and Optical clinic and saw a lady with a logo'd jacket from a club that I helped years before and she absolutely loved her PGA Professional and I helped him get the job and count him as a friend. Small world in the golf business.
What is your personal motto?
Golf motto may be - “Swing Hard and Look Up!”
What changes/improvements have you seen in the industry since you've started?
Perhaps communication. It’s easier for clubs/courses to communicate to their customers. For the PGA it’s quite amazing how things have changed. When I started with this position in 1998, we sent notices in the mail. It added tremendous amount of process time for the employer and our professional applicants. One fun part of that was that the outside of the envelope said "confidential" on it and spouses figured out what it was and would open them and look straight at the location and compensation and determine if a application was to be submitted often before the professional had a chance to look at it. So I would get a phone call saying, “my spouse tells me we are applying for this job…”
We moved from snail mail to faxes and emails. Huge change in process. The number of consultants makes career services a more regional/section connection than in the past. I covered 7-8 Sections at one time and that made it feel more “national” as to what we have today.
What is the PGA of America doing that is going to benefit the PGA Member?
That’s probably a better question to our officers and board of directors but what I say that there seems to be a real interest in driving relationships at the local level. The new regional model should give Sections easier access to support from National.
What is the best piece of advice you could give for people in the industry or those trying to get in the industry?
Think through your gifts/abilities and family values as you look for jobs in our industry. There are multiple ways to be involved in this great game of golf and it’s not a one size fits all. This applies to those already PGA Members and those who are thinking about it. There are some high-profile jobs that I hear assistants say, “I would really be great there and that’s a long term goal of mine” and then a few minutes later talk about the time demands they are encountering at their current facility. I remind them that often those jobs require more time as the expectations for customer service are at their peak. Fit matters and learning about yourself and about a job can help you find the right place.
What benefits or rewards come from working as a career consultant and helping PGA Professionals find their place in the industry?
Relationships. I resigned my position after 13 years and thought I would never come back. Those 5 years I was away, I had many professionals reach out to me for advice because I had been there for them as a Career Consultant. Those calls really validated our relationships and the work we did together to maximize career and family. I have friends in multiple Sections that I can call and bounce ideas off or help them find their next assistant or just talk about life. Very rewarding and can now see some long term successes.
