사진 확대 Kim Han-ryong, CEO of The Cross BGC, poses against the backdrop of the course.
“There are only two criteria for a good golf course. It’s course grass quality and staff service. If you are touched by the grass, golfers will visit again, and the service will improve only when the employees are happy.” No employees have seen Kim Han-ryong, CEO of The Crosby Golf Club (GC), wearing a suit. I always wear sneakers on my work clothes or T-shirts. Whenever you need to go out to the course, look at the grass, and when you need a hand, you immediately step up and join the work together. He is not a managerial leader, but a practical action leader.
The Crosby GC, which opened in Hobeop-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do in 2020, is now in its fifth year of golf course, but it is attracting attention from the golf world. The 27-hole The Crosby GC, built on 320,000 pyeong of land in the Hobeop JC, is directly created and operated by Bando Group, which owns golf courses in Korea, the United States and Japan.
The know-how accumulated from Bando Group’s long experience in operation is intact in this place, where there is no single mat in the tea box like a high-end membership golf course. And at the center is CEO Kim, a field leader. Kim, who completely revived the Ulsan Bora CC course, then restored the devastated grass over three years after Bando Engineering & Construction acquired North Shore CC and Kamo CC in Japan, and then took over Crosby CC in San Diego again to normalize operations.
In particular, CEO Kim holds a course manager’s license and has built up his expertise by studying landscape architecture at the graduate school of Pusan National University. It is the current The Cross BGC that poured all of its knowledge and experience into it. CEO Kim said, “There is no secret. You just have to know and care about grass, which is a living thing, and run and manage it with your feet,” he said with a smile. He also expressed his goal of studying grass physiology in the future for more precise and sustainable management.
Above all, The Crosby GC is attracting attention for its unconventional operation. CEO Kim reduces the reservation team if the grass is not in good condition. It is a loss in the short term. However, CEO Kim stressed that “saving grass is the way to save the golf course,” and explained, “Even if we reduce profits a little, the grass must be healthy to bring profits during the real peak season.” Also, if the grass is good, satisfaction is high and the revisit rate goes up together. In the long run, it is beneficial to focus on grass management,” he added.
This is not the only one. For now, there is a gap of about two hours between the morning and afternoon rounds, so the management team can free up the sprinkling work. Ironically, the number of teams has been reduced, but rather, the reservation rate has increased, so there is no loss. It also maximizes profits through night golf, but it gives employees and courses a break. This is why caddies and employees’ satisfaction naturally increased. His work is also “Van Teasing Area,” which minimizes profitable night golf (third round) for employee rest and course recovery, and allows him to use four seasons by placing both grass and middle fingers in half.
He said, “People and grass are the same. He said, “If the golf course and the staff have good energy, golfers will naturally be satisfied and revisit.” He stressed that if money gives satisfaction, not first, profits come with it.
[Reporter Cho Hyosung]
