On 1st April at Muswell Hill Golf Club the BIGGA London Section has organised a seminar to learn about greenkeeping software which was described by Matt Plested, head greenkeeper at Muswell Hill as “The most efficient management system I have ever used”.
This software has been developed by a company called Punctus, established in 1999 by sister and brother Andrea and Herwarth Talkenberg. The Punctus Greenkeeping Program has been on the market since March 2002. More than 250 head greenkeeper and golf courses in Europe now trust and use the Punctus Greenkeeping Software which makes Punctus the European market leader by a wide margin.
The seminar will feature the results from the 2009 Punctus Study with detailed information on cost structures in greenkeeping from more than 40 golf courses.
Here Andrea Talkenberg, an economist with many years experience as a business consultant, tells GBN what she expects the seminar will achieve.
GBN: What is the seminar about and how did it come about?
Andrea Talkenberg: We have done a study on cost structures in greenkeeping together with a few customers. I called Matt Plested – who uses Punctus – a couple of weeks ago to show him the details. The results from the study show clearly that good documentation is very important in managing cost levels in greenkeeping. There is a lot of room to influence cost levels!
Matt, who is also secretary of the BIGGA London Section, was very taken with the study and suggested, we do a workshop on the Punctus Program. Adrian Hobbs, general manager at Muswell Hill GC then took the idea up to invite the managers in the region.
This is a hands-on seminar. We will look at the benefits in using a greenkeeping software, which is easy to use and covers areas like employee records, machine repair and maintenance records, course maintenance reports, at the push of a button for the committee or owner and more.
Matt Plested says that I can quote him as describing Punctus as “The most efficient management system I have ever used!”
GBN: Why are you also inviting the Club Managers?
Andrea Talkenberg: Greenkeeping costs are a substantial part of the overall expenses at a golf club and there is an increasing need for good cost management. Documentation and daily management happen on the greenkeeping side, but overall management based on the reports happens between club managers, greens committees and course managers.
GBN: The invitation mentions the new Punctus Study 2009
Andrea Talkenberg: Yes. The first study was very well received by our customers and so we decided to do another – bigger one – this year. We will bring the new Punctus Study 2009 to the workshop.
The study shows how much time is spent on which areas – from greens, fairways etc to machines, parking lots and the famous ‘5 minute jobs’.
If you take into account the cost of using the machines involved, you have real controlling information for the greenkeeping side. If you know in detail, where the man and machine hours are spent, you have the information to manage your cost levels.
This sort of information you cannot get from accounting data such as overall salary cost or how much you spent on fuel. The Punctus Study shows how big the differences are in each area and can help a club to identify areas in their own data, where they might want to take a closer look.
GBN: Is the Punctus Program easy to use?
Andrea Talkenberg: Yes, very easy and also very fast. Ten minutes a day and you are done with your regular work.
GBN: What if I am interested, but cannot make it on 1st April or am too far away from London?
Andrea Talkenberg: Contact us, there will be other workshops: www.punctus.com
BIGGA London Section www.biggalondonsection.co.uk