Your Fairway Crew's Labor Data Is Older Than You Think

What the newest labor data says about fairway crews

Many superintendents who quote national labor data are working from numbers that predate the last two seasons. The newest GCSAA labor survey we could confirm is from 2022, when 63 percent of respondents rated the labor market bad or very bad, according to a GCBAA newsletter that cites that survey.

A newer GCSAA budget figure exists. According to a USGA Green Section Record article, the 2024 GCSAA Maintenance Budget Survey shows average labor expenditures rose 17 percent from 2022 to 2024. We did not open the GCSAA report itself, so treat that figure as secondhand.

For crew planning, the short answer is this: use the national numbers as context for the budget discussion, and build fairway crew hours from your own records. A national average can tell you the market is tight. It cannot tell you how many mowing passes your course lost last month.

How the labor market rating has moved since 2012

The 2022 result matched the 2019 result, and the decade-long pattern is what stands out. According to the same newsletter, the share rating the market bad or very bad was 19 percent in 2012 and 45 percent in 2016.

Across the four survey points the newsletter reports:

• 2012: 19 percent rated the labor market bad or very bad
• 2016: 45 percent rated it bad or very bad
• 2019: 63 percent rated it bad or very bad
• 2022: 63 percent rated it bad or very bad

Why a national average cannot set your crew hours

A 17 percent rise in labor spending could come from higher wages, more hours, more overtime, or some mix of all three. The secondhand summary does not say which, and it blends courses with very different acreage, budgets and climates.

Your course sits on one side of that average. Fairway acreage, hole count, rough acreage, irrigation zones and whether you run a day or twilight crew all change how many hours a mowing week takes. A national figure is a fair backdrop, not a schedule.

What to pull from your own timecards first

Start with three records for the same window in 2022 and in your most recent season: paid labor hours on fairway and rough mowing, overtime hours in those same weeks, and the number of days each mowing or equipment role sat open before it was filled. Compare matching windows rather than annual totals, because a spring hiring gap can distort a full-year average.

Then trace where the hours went. If overtime climbed while fairway passes were skipped, you have a coverage problem. If overtime held steady but open days grew, you have a recruiting problem. Those causes call for different fixes, and no national survey can tell you which one you have.

Testing open positions and overtime against the national trend

The national trend tells you whether to expect a tight market. Your records tell you whether your crew sits inside it. If an open role stayed empty longer than the gap between two scheduled mowing windows, that vacancy cost fairway quality, not just payroll.

Write the test down before the budget meeting: the hours you planned, the hours you worked, the days each open role stayed empty, and which fairway cuts moved as a result. A board can push back on a national average. It is much harder to push back on a log of skipped cuts.

What the 2025 GCSAA labor report can and cannot settle

GCSAA's operations surveys page lists a 2025 Capital Budget and Labor Survey report. We could not read its labor findings, so this article quotes no 2025 labor figure. According to the GCSAA page, full reports are for members or can be purchased, and the 2024 maintenance budget report is listed there too.

Until you have read the 2025 findings yourself, the most recent labor numbers you can cite with confidence are the 2022 survey result and the secondhand 2022 to 2024 spending figure.

Where robots fit once the crew math is clear

Once your records show which fairway hours are the real gap, a robot may close part of it. Service Robot Co. is an OEM neutral integrator for US businesses. We pick the right robots across manufacturers, then finance, deploy, integrate, train and service each unit through a nationwide network of US engineers.

Our offer is a lease. After a site assessment, we quote one fixed payment on a three-year lease, so the lease cost can be weighed against the crew hours it frees. Bring your timecard test to that assessment, because it is the clearest picture of where your hours go.