Is your team Managing Blind?

Last Friday I presented at the CMAE Friday Forum to about 50 GMs and golf club leaders. I asked them a simple question: what do you actually want to get out of your F&B operation?

It's a powerful question. Everyone had an answer.

It's got me thinking this week, though. Do the people running F&B day-to-day - the Head Chefs, the F&B Managers - do they know what you're trying to get out of it? Do they have the numbers? Do they know what great looks like?

Or are they managing blind?

This isn't a criticism. Golf club operations are busy. There are a lot of moving parts. Sometimes the numbers just don't get passed on as quickly or as clearly as we'd all like.

Here's what I see far too often:

Most clubs have regular heads of department meetings, which are valuable. I'm not convinced the F&B management team are walking into those meetings with the clear numbers they actually need, though.

F&B Managers and Head Chefs don't always know how they performed on a monthly basis. They know it was "busy" or "quiet," but they don't know the actual sales figure.

GP percentages aren't always clear, and sometimes there's genuine surprise when they finally see them.

The labour percentage is almost always the last number to be discussed. Usually in a "can you explain this?" tone after the damage is done.

Here's the thing: these are the only three numbers your managers can actually affect.

Sales. GP. Labour.

That's it. Those are their levers. Everything else - membership numbers, weather, committee decisions - is outside their control.

If they don't know these numbers, if they're not tracking them weekly or even daily, then they're managing blind. You can't expect them to hit targets they can't see.

It's so important to show your managers what good and what great looks like.

What's a strong GP for your operation? What's a realistic labour percentage given your service model? What sales targets make sense for your footfall?

More importantly: what can they actually do to affect these numbers positively going forward?

Because without that clarity, you're just hoping things improve. With it, you're managing deliberately.

The fix is simpler than you think.

I came across this framework recently (see image) about meeting cadences for leaders:

• Daily check-ins (5 minutes): Keep it light, keep it moving. What's happening today?

• Weekly tactical (45-90 minutes): Review the metrics, identify blockers, fix small fires.

• Monthly strategic (2-4 hours): Zoom out. Look at the trends. Make decisions.

• Quarterly offsite (1-2 days): Step away. Reset the vision. Think bigger.

Most golf clubs I work with do the monthly meeting. Some do weekly. Almost none do daily. Very few do the quarterly offsite properly.

The clubs that do? Their managers know their numbers. They see problems early. They course-correct before things spiral.

If you'd like to talk this through...

I offer a one-hour strategy call for £245 + VAT.

Sometimes you don't need a full diagnostic. You just need an hour with someone who understands golf club F&B and works with clubs like yours every day to talk through a specific challenge - how to structure your meetings, what KPIs actually matter, how to get your managers managing proactively instead of reactively.

You'll get practical advice tailored to your club, plus a written summary afterwards.

If that sounds useful, just reply to this email and we'll get something in the diary.

Tony

Quick one — if you’ve not done this yet, my scorecard helps you spot gaps across guest experience, costs, and day-to-day ops. Takes a few minutes and you’ll get a proper report at the end.