Golf Club Management
Quick reference and reading list
Frameworks on one page
| Framework | Use it to | Evidence | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mintzberg’s managerial roles | Describe what managers actually do | Some evidence | 1 |
| Agency, stewardship, resource dependence | Decide what the board is for | Mixed evidence | 2 |
| Cornforth’s paradox perspective | Explain tensions in member clubs | Some evidence | 2 |
| Design archetypes (kitchen table, boardroom, executive office) | Locate the club’s governance stage | Some evidence | 2 |
| Structure in fives | Diagnose co-ordination and silos | Some evidence | 2 |
| Planning hierarchy | Trace the vision down to tasks | Practitioner framework | 3 |
| Collins and Porras vision | Write the core ideology and future | Some evidence | 3 |
| PESTLE | Scan the macro environment | Practitioner framework | 4 |
| Porter’s five forces | Understand competitive pressure | Some evidence | 4 |
| SWOT and TOWS | Turn analysis into options | Practitioner framework | 4 |
| Stakeholder salience | Prioritise stakeholders | Some evidence | 4 |
| Deliberate and emergent strategy | Spot strategy that wasn’t planned | Some evidence | 5 |
| Goal-setting theory and SMART | Write objectives that work | Strong research base | 5 |
| Balanced scorecard | Measure strategy beyond money | Mixed evidence | 5 |
| Schein’s three levels | Diagnose culture | Some evidence | 7 |
| Competing Values Framework | Compare current and preferred culture | Some evidence | 7 |
| Cultural web | Find what holds a culture in place | Practitioner framework | 7 |
| Psychological safety | Get people to speak up | Strong research base | 7, 13 |
| Lewin, Kotter, ADKAR, Bridges | Plan and lead change | Practitioner framework | 8 |
| Values, power and capacity in change | Predict whether change will stick | Some evidence | 8 |
| Process mapping, lean, PDCA | Improve systems | Some evidence | 9 |
| COSO internal control | Design controls | Practitioner framework | 9 |
| PMBOK, PRINCE2 | Run projects | Practitioner framework | 10 |
| Planning fallacy, reference class forecasting | Make estimates honest | Strong research base | 10 |
| ISO 31000 | Manage risk | Practitioner framework | 11 |
| Swiss cheese model | Explain how accidents happen | Some evidence | 11 |
| Hierarchy of controls | Choose safety controls | Practitioner framework (in law) | 11 |
| Triple bottom line, ESG | Frame sustainability | Practitioner framework | 12 |
| Organisational silence | Explain missing bad news | Strong research base | 13 |
| Bounded rationality, biases, groupthink | Improve board decisions | Strong research base | 13 |
| Cynefin | Match the method to the problem | Practitioner framework | 8, 13 |
| IS success model, TAM | Evaluate technology | Strong research base | 14 |
| NIST AI Risk Management Framework | Govern AI use | Practitioner framework | 14 |
Core reading
If you read only six things:
- IoDSA (2025), King V Code on Corporate Governance
- Ferkins and Shilbury (2012), Good boards are strategic, Journal of Sport Management
- Cornforth (2004), The governance of cooperatives and mutual associations, Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics
- Amis, Slack and Hinings (2004), Strategic change and the role of interests, power, and organizational capacity, Journal of Sport Management
- Mintzberg and Waters (1985), Of strategies, deliberate and emergent, Strategic Management Journal
- Breitbarth, Kaiser-Jovy and Dickson (eds) (2017), Golf Business and Management: A Global Introduction, Routledge
Textbooks
- Johnson, Whittington, Regnér, Angwin and Scholes (2020), Exploring Strategy, 12th edition, Pearson
- Hoye, Smith, Nicholson and Stewart (2018), Sport Management: Principles and Applications, 5th edition, Routledge
- Schein (2010), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass
- Cameron and Quinn (2011), Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture, Jossey-Bass
- Club Management Association of America, Contemporary Club Management
Industry and regulatory sources
- GolfRSA: affiliated clubs and golfers; Women in Golf Charter; Transformation Charter 2019 to 2023; HNA update
- Club management: CMASA education (BMI programmes and CCM certification)
- The R&A: 2024 Global Participation Report; Golf Course 2030
- Governance and tax: King V; SARS Tax Exemption Guide for Recreational Clubs
- People and safety: Code of Good Practice on harassment; Employment Equity sectoral targets
- Liquor (Gauteng): Gauteng Liquor Act 2 of 2003
- Privacy: Information Regulator: POPIA
- Sustainability: GEO Foundation OnCourse
- AI: South Africa National AI Policy Framework; NIST AI RMF
Videos
- Managing and strategy: Henry Mintzberg on leading, managing and strategizing (IESE) · Planned and emergent strategy (tutor2u) · The five competitive forces (Harvard Business Review) · How great leaders inspire action (Simon Sinek, TED)
- Governance: Working and governing nonprofit boards (Funding For Good)
- Culture and change: Schein’s three levels of culture (Mike Clayton) · Building a psychologically safe workplace (Amy Edmondson, TEDxHGSE) · Kotter’s 8 steps (Kotter) · The Cynefin framework (Cognitive Edge)
- Systems, projects and risk: PDCA explained (EPM) · What is project management? (Association for Project Management) · James Reason explains the Swiss cheese model · POPIA explained (Clym)
- Technology: How the World Handicap System works (Open Stance Golf) · Why your handicap changed in 2024 (Your Golf NCG) · Navigating the jagged technological frontier (Ethan Mollick, Stanford Digital Economy Lab)
Draft module material for the PGA of South Africa Director of Golf certificate, for discussion. South African law applies throughout. It is general education, not legal or financial advice: Acts, regulations and codes change, so check the current version and take advice before acting on them.