While outsourcing or contract maintenance has been around for over 40 years, it still seems that the concept is new to a lot of people. Outsourcing is simply put as “Having a company provide all the materials, supplies and equipment that is needed to take care of the golf course maintenance operations at a facility”.The club is paying for this service typically thru its own staff and operational budget, where a club that outsources this operation, pays only one invoice a month for all the services that are performed. To put it into an analogy that is simple to understand, think about the landscape industry. The landscape industry involved with aThe landscape industry evolved with a full-service account that mows, edges, blows, and takes care of the grounds including all labor, pest control, fertilization, equipment, and materials that are needed to perform this service. In order to manage the expectations of this landscape service, there is usually a set of standards or specifications that are agreed upon at the time of hire. The more detailed the standards and specifications, the more precise the company can deliver the standards.This works the same way in a golf course maintenance operation! A club develops a set of standards, and the maintenance company provides an annual price to live up to these standards that are set. A fixed cost and precise delivery of service takes the guesswork out of an ever fluctuating maintenance budget and the labor burden that is involved with it.
