[Kumabjorn]

I'm not a pro either. So I've only seen it from the other side. I think the business is a lot more complicated than it used to be. A Harvey Penick just might not make it today.

At my club (I'm in Sweden) we had this English Pro who had lived in Sweden for a long time. Back in England pros were treated as mean labor or servants. Especially when he was a young Assistant. In Sweden they are demi-gods, yet there are unspoken borders. Well, he had a wife that after many, many years at the Club was convinced that the Club was theirs, not the members'.

He was extremely adept at the social side of being a pro. Knew all the members' names, always greeted them cheerfully and listened to their boring stories about three putting the 11th and whatnot. The couple didn't have children, and it began to show when he taught junior groups. When the parents were his own age, they shared views on bringing up kids. But as the parents got younger (actually him getting older) there was a clear value gap. So the Club decided he needed an Assistant to take care of the Junior Program (a fairly large chunk of his income).

Now the Wife gets royally pissed (can I write that? If not moderators will kindly edit).

[You're okay here, Kumabjorn ]

Whenever members come in to get their slices or fat shots fixed she brings out the big appointment book and give them a slot two week down. While he obviously aren't having other lessons. Now, golfers with problems in their swings are not a patient lot. Since he also shows up 5 minutes late, and finishes 5 minutes early (not a big thing if you got what you wanted from the lesson, but this is one of the unspoken borders) members loose patience. So members go to pros at adjacent clubs to take lessons from their pros.

Since the Wife is now considered the Problem, and she runs the Pro Shop, the next decision from the Club is not to renew their lease on the Shop and Range. The Pro is offered a position as advisor (decent pay, short hours) and all the lessons he can drum up. Wife keeps him on a short lease and forbids him to accept. Now he is free-lancing as instructor, but since his reputation is severely damaged (most people don't see the connection to the Wife) his calendar is not exactly cluttered.

So my point is: if you're having your wife run parts of the business make sure she is a "people person" and always remember that being a teaching pro is a service oriented business. Here we have the expression; "The customer is King", in Japan they say "The customer is God". So no matter what kind of dumb-asses happen to be customers, they are infallible. And that really sucks.