Sun City West golf operations managers reported that the division employs 131 people, 10 of them full time, and is relying on a largely part-time resident workforce to staff pro shops and course operations.

The details were presented Thursday, Sept. 11, to the Sun City West Recreation Centers Golf Committee by Pat O’Hara, golf operations manager. O’Hara said weekly payroll for opening pro shops can exceed $22,000 and that starters, ball pickers and janitorial staff are paid at different rates: “Our starters, they're paid a dollar more than minimum wage. Ball pickers, minimum wage. Janitors are at $15 an hour,” he said.

The committee heard that organized play remains robust: tournament participation for 2025–26 shows a 20 percent increase over last year and the first fall tournament reached its 100-player limit. O’Hara said the community has “a little over 2,300 very, very active golf members.” He also reported that the “green team” volunteer program grew by 14 percent to 267 listed members with 35 graduates this year.

Committee members asked for clarity about where club membership records will be filed after organizational changes; O’Hara said the clubs are transitioning recordkeeping and he expects that work to complete closer to December. He noted some handicap data come directly from USGA systems and therefore are not captured in the local club listings.

On pace-of-play, O’Hara described a monitoring system used during busy season and cited benchmarks supplied by the Arizona Golf Association: about four hours for regulation courses and three hours for executive courses with 7–8 minute tee-time spacing on executives. “If it's longer than 7 and 8 minutes… there's an opportunity for a backup,” he said, and the committee discussed possibly adjusting tee-time spacing on courses where backups commonly form.

The golf division also uses a text-alert system for course status: texting SCW golf to the published number places phones into a notification queue for morning condition updates, frost or closure notices.

The committee asked several operational questions during public comment about instruction scheduling, the presence of PGA professionals and the roster of instructors; O’Hara said three or four staff teach lessons but availability on the online booking system can vary and members may call the pro shop directly.

The report closed without formal action. The committee scheduled follow-up items for the next meeting, including review of policies and tour dates for several courses.