Course of action
A Day in the Life of ... Dave Nordeen, Head Golf Pro at Somerby Golf Community
By Laurie Mona
Before a single golfer hits the links, Nordeen pulls the schedule of tee times which begin as early as 7 a.m., many of which are confirmed by scrolling through emails and picking up voice mails from the night before. A normal day is six to eight tee times before noon, with the bulk of play from noon to five.
He may also pencil himself in on the schedule. “I arrange golf with certain people who want to play with me, or may spend time teaching golf,” says Nordeen. In the spring or early summer, he may teach four to ten lessons a week.
After handing off the schedule to his outside service people, there will be 45 minutes to an hour of course prep—setting up balls out on the range for people to warm up, pulling bags. On slow days, Nordeen may help out as the starter, hanging out at the first tee.
As the day gets into full swing, he often hops in a cart. “I drive around, wave to members and guests. If I have a bunch of groups playing, we try to manage the pace,” he says. “Pace of play is a big issue,” he admits. “There’s the expectation that groups will play two or two and a half hours per nine holes; when people have to hit a shot and wait, they can become frustrated.”
So how do you speed things up? “You can’t go around with a bullhorn—‘You’re playing too slow, move it along!’—but I encourage them,” he laughs.
Worst reaction? Diplomatically, Nordeen refuses details, but will confess, “When members clash, I’m in the middle of it. Every once in a while, people will throw clubs, or rather, when you’re passionate about the game, maybe the club will slip out of your hands ... sometimes we’ll find a club buried in the turf, with the shaft sticking up.”
His advice to keep it moving? “Minimize your practice swings, don’t look for balls too long, and play ready golf.”
When not supervising golfers, he’s running back and forth to the office to check emails, return phone calls, and plan upcoming events.
Six days a week—seven when there’s a Sunday event—Nordeen coordinates all the golf activities at Somerby, including league play, corporate outings and events. He’s also in charge of managing the pro shop and merchandise sales.
“I try to have my associates run [the shop’s] day to day operations,” which allows him to focus on events. “I’m working a month ahead, taking care of details.” Admittedly, the administrative tasks—the paperwork, the budgeting—are his least favorite part of his job, “but you have to do it,” he says.
What’s he like most? “Being outside and teaching. I meet so many different people—they’re out there to have fun, we’re here to show them a good time. They start out in a good mood, we hope they leave happy. Our job is to make their day special.”
Most memorable moment? “I’ve seen some people hit holes in one—the smiles on their face when the shot goes straight down the course is like an excited kid. And there was one member that had me coordinate a special outing. He’d had a special flag made up for the 18th hole. But that day, we had storms go through, they were playing in rain and wind and had to pull off the course twice ... before they finally were able to finish and see the flag saying, ‘Will you marry me?’”
A story which may be a good analogy for the favorite part of Nordeen’s job—never knowing what the day will bring. As he says,“We set up in the morning and see what comes to us.”