BERLIN – A little more than a month after taking over operations at the Ocean Pines golf course, officials from Landscapes Unlimited say their transition into a management role at the facility has been a smooth one.
The Nebraska-based Landscapes Unlimited took over management of the Ocean Pines course from Billy Casper Golf May 1. Though the new company is still reviewing policies and practices at the course, Scott Nissley, regional manager for Landscapes Unlimited, said the process was going well.
“Everybody wants it to go faster than it can go and we’re sensitive to that,” Nissley said.
He said that since coming to the Pines, Landscapes officials had been working to review the course’s existing policies and to collect feedback from golfers.
“We’re still doing the basic review,” Nissley said.
To gauge the feelings of the golfers using the course, the company has been asking them to complete a brief questionnaire. It asks their thoughts on pricing, quality and other key aspects of operations. While that is still ongoing, Landscapes has addressed some concerns at the facility already. The restrooms, for example, are being improved.
“We certainly are trying to address the low hanging fruit,” Nissley said, “the obvious things.”
The course, he said, did have a good month in May and had just finished providing the Ocean Pines Association with financial reports. One of the company’s primary goals during the past few weeks was to improve communication between the golf course and the association and its board of directors.
“We are engaged in what we think are enhanced communications among the different entities,” Nissley said. “We see that there may have been some challenges that arose because of communication issues.”
Dave Stevens, president of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors, said that when the previous management company was in place the board “wasn’t learning all it needed to know in a timely manner.” To keep that from happening again, he said there would be quarterly meetings with Landscapes officials. The board will also continue to receive the golf course’s monthly financial reports.
“We want to understand the data,” Stevens said.
Stevens says that if board members have a good understanding of how things are going at the course they’ll be better able to address community concerns if they arise.
Stevens said it was unfortunate that a few employees had opted to leave their positions at the course. He added, however, that it had been their decision to do so.
According to Nissley, everyone working at the course when Landscapes Unlimited took over retained their positions. Three people did leave their jobs but Nissley stressed that was not because they were asked to. Two of the individuals accepted jobs in other parts of the country while the third resigned to pursue a personal business venture.
“Each one of those people, it was their choice,” Nissley said.