On the 26 April our Course Director posted a communication to Members (see link below) explaining the short-term role Turfmaster are performing to remediate our course. This communication also highlighted that this would give us the opportunity to assess Turfmaster as a possible long-term solution.  

Turfmaster stepped in when we were faced with difficult circumstances, and we have noted:

  • productivity and quality improvements in our course care;
  • a visible improvement in the condition of the course; and,
  • generally positive feedback from Members.

We also acknowledge there is still more to be done to restore the course to the condition we expect.

Given the progress that has been made and the difficulties in recruitment and retention in the current labour market, we feel it would be remiss of the Committee to not give full and proper consideration to a proposal from Turfmaster.

Clearly there are pro’s and con’s on either side of the outsourcing debate and we now intend to engage in a detailed evaluation of Turfmaster and the feasibility of putting together a scope of work and contract terms that would satisfy our requirements. This will include an evaluation of:

  • the reliability and merits of Turfmaster as a potential long-term contractor;
  • selection and appointment processes for key personnel engaged at NGC;
  • the schedule of services that we require to maintain the course at a level that meets or exceeds Members’ expectations;
  • the Key Performance Indicators we will use to track and manage the performance of the contractor;
  • the total cost to provide the services;
  • understanding the options for ongoing equipment ownership, maintenance and replacement over time; and
  • how we could extract ourselves from an agreement and resume in-house operations if for any reason a decision is taken to terminate the relationship.

We understand this is a significant decision and members may have strong views one way or the other. To help us understand the priorities and concerns of Members we are inviting you to submit the key questions you would want answered if you were participating in the evaluation process.

We request the questions:

Once we have worked through the submissions and the evaluation we will host an information evening to present our findings and answer as many of our Member’s questions as practicable. We expect there will be repetition in the questions and this will be helpful in determining the relative importance of issues.

We look forward to your input to this process and the opportunity to understand what is important to you.  The merits of an outsourcing proposal will be dependent on our ability to answer the questions submitted.

The Committee

20 May 2022

 

Course Update May 2022