Jack Dillon
- None, Golf Inc.
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Articles by Jack Dillon
Advanced swigging
Issue 29 : Mar/Apr 2003 Swigging up a halyard can be a bit daunting for youngsters, since it takes coordination. At the other end of the age spectrum, older sailors may face physical limitations. Setting a taut jib — essential for windward work — is difficult for arthritic hands. Faced with both contingencies, I came up with a swigger, a homemade device combining a belaying pin and a cam cleat. It’s even useful for those whose ages fit somewhere in between.
How being robbed of our valuables on a beach in Sicily turned into a blessing in disguise
Down by the beach in Cefalu, a charming seaside town 40 miles east of Sicily's capital, Palermo, disaster struck. My girlfriend Charlotte and I – relishing our holiday that we had saved up for with part-time jobs at university – had gone for a swim, entrusting our possessions to a respectable-looking young couple sunbathing nearby on the golden sand. When we returned, however, the young couple had gone, as had all our valuables. No cards or cash. No digital camera. No phones. Panic kicked in.
How being robbed of our valuables on a beach in Sicily turned into a blessing in disguise
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Plastic navigation
Although the logarithmic speed scale stick, above, is rarely mentioned these days, it continues to be an invaluable tool for figuring time, speed, and distance. Issue 38 : Sept/Oct 2004 Here are three navigation aids you can use when your GPS isn’t working or to reinforce old time-tested methods of navigating. Make a logarithmic speed scale stick. Rarely mentioned in any books on navigation, this little device is for fi guring speed-time-distance problems.
What, FSMA In Possession Proceedings? Lessons From Dhillon V Orchard
Jack Dillon’s articles from Gatehouse Chambers are most popular: in United Kingdom with readers working within the Banking & Credit, Business & Consumer Services and Property industries Gatehouse Chambers are most popular: within Finance and Banking and Employment and HR topic(s) When the law of property and financial services meet, which prevails? This question was at the heart of a recent Court of Appeal case.
Conversion Under Section 21(1)(b) Of The Limitation Act 1980 And Good Faith Pursuant To Section 44(5) Of The Companies Act 2006 (South Bank v Galliard)
Gatehouse Chambers are most popular: within Employment and HR topic(s) in Europe with readers working within the Property industries Dispute Resolution analysis: This case concerned the granting of leases in the context of a hotel development. There are two key aspects of the Court of Appeal's decision. First, the expansive interpretation of 'converted' in section 21(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980) to disapply statutory limitation.
Baker’s dozen: 13 thoughts to improve your course for 2026
As the golf industry looks out anxiously towards the beginning of Spring, with both national & local events on the calendar and the hope for continued healthy membership rolls, I thought it fitting to provide more than my usual three ideas in this In My Opinion post. Today, I am stretching this post, adding ten additional ideas for the new season ahead.
Set aside the manager ego and think like a rookie
As the leader, you have earned many perks over time. Beginning with your title, position, office space, and more. You have certainly accomplished a great deal. You have earned your success. Being at the top of the pyramid, your perks may also include special parking, significant bonus compensation, industry conferences, annual trips, or other benefits that align with a leader at your level of experience and accomplishment.
The right operational tools for keeping plans on track
As an experienced leader, you have certainly impacted a handful of major business situations during your work life. They may have included: a property turnaround, a large club project, an additional business category, or even a new operation, created from the ground up. As an accomplished leader, experiencing new, extraordinary business situations provides critical tools that can pay dividends for years and years.
Providing frictionless, excellent service to your customers
Frictionless, a definition: happening very easily without anything to make it slower or more difficult. This is one dictionary’s definition of the word frictionless, the word I believe marries well with the idea of excellence in service execution. As the property leader, you have expectations. Expectations that members will continue to like what you and your team provide.
Why staff retention should be your club’s top priority
Separating people from their jobs is difficult. There is only stress all around. In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney worked full-time for a firm that spent the day terminating people, because their clients found firing their own employees distasteful. The last time I was separated, it was due to our largest client cutting their agreement by half.
Retention is… - Golf Inc.
Separating people from their jobs is difficult. There is only stress all around. In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney worked full-time for a firm that spent the day terminating people, because their clients found firing their own employees distasteful. The last time I was separated, it was due to our largest client cutting their agreement by half.
A Matter of Trust
A few weeks ago, while on a morning walk, I was listening to a podcast, expecting to hear one specific word. This particular podcast featured a conversation between a garage door entrepreneur and a marketing expert representing several industries within the home improvement sector. They talked and talked about communications, walking the walk, creating and maintaining a successful workforce.
Finding the right cadence
The accomplished business leader recognizes that culture is a key driving force behind organizational success. They know that culture is not driven or dictated from the top but by every employee, every positive action throughout the business day. Culture bubbles up from the daily execution of successful decisions made throughout the operation. No motivational quote or corporate mantra posted on the bulletin board will enable an organization to find its reason for being.
Keeping your anger in check
I was upset last week. There was a situation at work that had me and my counterpart at odds. Because we were not in the same space, temperatures never overheated, and the misinterpretation soon passed. Quickly forgotten, we moved on to the work that pressed on our schedules. Earlier in my career, I may have become angry, remaining in that state until the teammate was ready to admit defeat.
Lean in as a leader
For several of my early years in this industry, I played at being the smartest guy in the room. It included working hard at keeping my mask snug and secure. Being young, not long into my first role, it was essential, I believed, to exert strength while quietly hiding my fears. Today, things are very different.
The winning traits for course success
After decades of wearing a buyer’s cap, the great recession hit me, as it did millions of men and women across every industry, every business, large and small. It was early 2010 when my number was called, sending a 50-something to the street without his supper or a go-forward plan. Given the global situation, this job elimination was not surprising, nor devastating at that moment.
Cover Me! I'm Going In(demnity)
This article considers the role of a claim for an indemnity in professional negligence claims. We ask what lessons can be drawn from the authorities about the nature and limits of a claim for an indemnity, when it can be useful or appropriate, and how should it be used.
Meet the merchants: Caroline Basarab
It is not every day that we have the chance to run into a long-standing member of the PGA, who also happens to be an award-winning operator and merchant and in my opinion, one of the best in the game. Caroline Basarab is that person. She is a golf professional and merchant overseeing six shops at an amazing community, Reynolds Lake Oconee, with seven great golf courses, and an ever-improving team of people longing to impress the boss, while creating great hospitality for residents and guests.
Meet the merchants: Part 1
Back, long ago, in another place and time, I was named the buyer in a golf retail space I had walked into just weeks earlier. Buyer. I was now responsible for all golf merchandise that our customers would see and purchase. That was heady stuff for a guy who simply wanted to become a golf insider someday. Anointed, I knew I needed not only to own the role but to become better than qualified. I needed to be a merchant — one who could choose, present and then communicate the reasons why.
People vs. process
A question has been taking up space in my head for a long time—about twenty years. It was a question laid out to me as part of a conversation with a friend, a PGA golf professional. He had been speaking with a golf management company executive about how best to operate a golf course while creating a memorable experience together with a profitable bottom line. The question: does it take people or process to successfully operate a club?
Attention and care for your serious players
In ancient times, the late 1960s, the game had a stranglehold on me, and teenage life took a very sharp turn. What became essential was learning how to play this game. After a lifetime in baseball, golf became my oxygen. I longed to get better, spending hour after hour risking the wrath of elders, hitting bucket after bucket at the local range. Back then, the average driving range was little more than a field, approximately 16 acres, with several spray-painted plywood yardage signs.
Growing with purpose
As you look to hold onto this post-COVID high, many operators search for new ways to latch onto the next grand idea for a new infusion of golfers, rounds, and revenue. No doubt it is a tough mission, fraught with question marks and indecision. That awful event that created a reinvention to our game and business is over. Since June 2020, the game has been upside down (in a good way), with increases in every corner and every revenue stream.
How to deal with a crisis of confidence
Mistakes happen. Every person on the payroll makes them. Although never made with malice, they happen. Failures occur at every level. When a leader makes a mistake—a decision made too quickly or an error in judgment—it may lead to significant consequences. In addition, it may affect the leader directly, causing this person to question their motives, even their ability to do the job.
Change your speed to change the game
We know the issue. We talk and we talk about people: the talent shortage, large blocks of retirement, and the newbies, who come in for a peek, only to exit in haste. People issues are not a thing, they are the thing in operating a business. As we gather steam for the season ahead, this post offers three ideas about people and building the team by narrowing the gap on finding candidates, training, and getting people on the team with greater speed and urgency.
Observations from the bleachers
This post combines several different pieces, sort of like a bag of mixed M&M’s. It is a post of opportunity, of recollection, with fond memories of decades spent in a very joyful career. As I sit here looking out toward a new year, I see a healthy industry wrapped around a game in flux and an economy in question. While more and more people spend on their next experience, the overall credit card debt takes on even more zeros. Like most modern money questions, this one has no simple set of answers.
Satisfaction on and off the golf course
The word “satisfaction” has different meanings depending on the usage and the situation. During my school career, it meant we narrowly passed a subject, barely moving up to the next grade level. On a restaurant wall, a sign proclaiming satisfaction means it is OK to grab a quick meal there. In music (my opinion), it is the title of the greatest Rock & Roll song ever! The song cut by The Rolling Stones in the mid-1960s is a masterpiece of lyrics and sound.
The smartest of gifts
There are gifts, and then there are those unique gifts that resonate over time. What did your employees want as they prepared for the holiday season and began to think about the year ahead? What helped make their holidays and new year something special, beyond the ordinary? The overriding answer just might be hope. Hope that the club will thrive, that the game will continue on its upward climb, and that you will recognize their efforts as essential to your success.
Going to school on the coldest day
The coldest day in Cadillac history was Jan. 30, 1951, when the official temperature at the U.S. weather station at the Cadillac airport was -41 degrees. The Cadillac schools were all in session. At the high school (located where Kirtland Terrace is now) we had to wear our coats in the study hall, and every 10 minutes we had to leave our seats and walk around the room. We only had two buses that picked up the country kids, so the rest of us walked to school, walked home for lunch and back to school.
The easy, hard things to do
As the property leader, people understand how busy you are. One minute you are finalizing next month’s calendar, the next you have an unhappy member in your office. The work of the leader never seems to end. While this is true, taking care of the things that will keep you focused on the greater good is an important mindset for the business overall. In addition to those items that come at the leader, he/she is looking outward, observing the world beyond their to-do list or pro shop counter.
Ideas for shop success in 2025
It is interesting to step back and appreciate that in a world of unlimited internet and giant warehouse stores, the golf shop, with its undersized presentation, continues to churn on and thrive. With an amazing number of suppliers, continued healthy rounds, and fans of every age, the opportunity to build a successful retail program is available for most golf courses with enough play and a bit of space.
What are your “what ifs” for 2025?
Whether 2024 was a record revenue season or something less than expected, planning 2025 brings with it as many imaginative wishes as hopeful ideas. The fun part about future planning meetings is that they allow for throwing lots of stuff against the wall to see what just might stick.
Why it's vital to build a bench of employees
Fielding a team that is complete and ready to play when the whistle blows is never a problem for a football team. They can find more than enough athletes who want to do the blocking and tackling. Although a team may incur many injuries, they will always recruit enough players to field a complete squad. A business is different.
Don’t be afraid of trying new ideas
He appeared on my television screen in the early 1960s. I was nine and a baseball fanatic. When I first saw him, ball 4 had crossed the plate. He drew a walk. Unlike the hundreds of batters I had watched before him however, Pete Rose did not walk to first base: he ran a sprint! As a young major leaguer, he loved to play the game. His energy on the field earned him the name: Charlie Hustle.
Hiring is about more than talent
Hospitality, like comedy, is a unique type of work. No matter the state of their personal lives, the people in these roles must be on when “on stage” in front of members or an audience of fans. When we watch a comedian roll out one funny story after another, we cannot imagine they might be in distress because of off-stage problems. But we know that everyone has problems. They come as part of the ownership card to adulthood.
The three legs of a well-crafted property: the golf course, operations and hospitality
One of the more difficult areas of the leadership role is investing time in finding and hiring talent. The ability to recruit, hire, coach, and retain key people is essential and it is hard. It is hard because it can feel like an extracurricular activity as often the effort is about tomorrow, while today, you are knee deep in hosing down a stream of fires. Hiring talented people is a skill developed over time through experience and the mistakes of days gone by.
The privilege of leading
It feels good to grow and be promoted. Being named the property leader becomes an amazing moment. It is the hope of many who set their sights high in this industry. Becoming the leader of a golf club is an especially unique opportunity. A golf club has several touchpoints, from the sources of revenue, the miracle called agronomy, the connection to the community, and the pieces held together despite weather and other challenges.
Ideas on the back of a napkin
In the last scene of the series The West Wing, President Bartlet is shown flying home after ending his government service. He reaches down to pull out one of the many mementos received through the years. It is a framed cocktail napkin, with the written words: Bartlet for America. This was a gift from best friend Leo McGarry, who had recently passed away. This napkin played a part in his decision to run for office. It therefore carried a very special meaning throughout his years of service.
Thinking about the golf shop in 2025
Although I will date myself here, there is a ’60s song by The Byrds that applies to this post. “There is a season, Turn, Turn, Turn.” In the world of the golf shop, this line applies in a few different ways. First, most buyers look to create greater turns in their shop, no matter the product category. At the same time, when it comes to specific products, especially golf clubs and golf bags, there is a defined season. Golfers buy clubs maybe every three years, and possibly a new bag too.
Great minds need not think alike
Successful businesses are driven by talent. Hard-working passionate men and women with leadership qualities and even aggressive attitudes. In other words, they tend not to be shy about things around them. An additional advantage of hiring talented people is that many are creative. They will come up with new ways to do the things done every day. They will also create ways to drive new business. At a time when talented people have options, it is important to bring your people into the tent.
Build a team of appreciating assets
During the mid-1980s, my goal was to know everything I could about customer service. Although the basics of good service were already a part of my daily habits, the company I was leading was about to become one of the largest regional organizations of its kind. It would require a great deal more knowledge. I needed a larger bandwidth. Part of the process was any number of seminars and materials to read. In one seminar with a top management leader, the book “Customers for Life” by Carl Sewell came up.
Position your club for excellence
Baseball has been a part of my life since before I knew how to walk. Back in the day, crawling around the carpet, I was hitting a rubber ball with a 6-inch wooden bat. The game was fun right from the start. As a kid, I watched, and I played. Dreams of the majors roamed through my nights until I realized my dreams were much larger than my talent. I continued to watch and play the sport right through my teen years.
The long tail of Frederick Taylor: it’s about service, not science
No matter the industry many in business are still trying to figure out this thing called leadership. It continues to play out when management is on one side of the field, while the staff hangs far away, over on the other side of play. Over decades and decades, over many tries, working to address service with one voice and strategy has been a challenge. Why is this still an issue in the modern age? While leadership still finds blind spots, we realize that golf is in a fantastic place.
Make customer obsession your focus
Listening to a podcast recently, I stopped straightaway in my tracks, as the guest spoke about service. He didn’t talk about basic customer service; instead, he talked about customer obsession. The conversation was all about obsessing over the customer. As the podcast ended, I began to think about my early days in this business. Days when our team members were all about the customer and their individual needs, driven by our boss, an obsessive golf professional.
What we know about golf today after COVID
Let’s go back in time. It is January 20th, 2020. The Sunbelt is playing lots of rounds as the industry gets ready for another PGA Merchandise Show. There is nothing extraordinary on the calendar at the club beyond wondering about the final 2019 numbers and how they might grow 3-4% in 2020. Fast forward to March 30th, and the world has gone dark.
Four game-changing people I’ve known in the golf industry
When a person works in one industry for more than 50 years, they get to know and work with a great variety of people. When that industry is golf, it becomes magical due to the creativity, kindness, and warm personal support. Having worked in this industry for a lifetime, serving more than a dozen organizations in several career-changing roles, I have known amazing numbers of extraordinary men and women.
Pick Two - Golf Inc Magazine
The 88th Masters is over. We have a winner to add to the history books alongside another one-of-a-kind event that is truly must-see for those both inside and outside the game. As someone who has been there, I can tell you Augusta has a unique majesty, a very different feel than a screen could ever present, with slopes and lies far more penal than what network television showcases each Spring.
Changing the game
The game of women’s basketball has been changed. It has grown in a very real way thanks to the passion, talent, and eye-popping skills of one player, Caitlin Clark. Over the past season, especially during the recent NCAA Women’s Tournament, Clark brought millions of new eyeballs, many now fans, to women’s basketball. She became must-see TV. It was amazing to watch (and I did.) One person with passion and focus changed a team and a sport.
Denial in the Nile: intention and contract formation
The Court of Appeal in SMIT Salvage BV v Luster Maritime SA [2024] EWCA Civ 260 has dismissed an appeal against the High Court’s decision that no contract was agreed for the remuneration of salvage services provided to refloat the ‘Ever Given’. Introduction When one of the largest container ships in the world, the ‘Ever Given’, grounded in the Suez Canal at 05.40 UTC on 23 March 2021, so too did a substantial proportion of global trade.
Now: What’s next?
We say it over and over and over: the game is hot. It remains hot. It took off with a booster beginning in June 2020. It continues to move in the express lane, giving those serving the industry a healthy place to do what they do. Last year was another strong year for results. With fewer 18-hole courses than a generation ago, rounds, revenue, and rate were all up.
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