Leading the course, serving the community: A day with a golf director
Before the first golfers of the day tee off, Tim Tarcha, director of golf at Slippery Rock Golf Club and Events Center, is already making his rounds.
He’s checking course conditions, reviewing tournament schedules, meeting with maintenance crews, scheduling lessons and answering a steady stream of phone calls — all before most members have even started driving to the semiprivate club in Slippery Rock Township.
Every day at the golf course is a balancing act between customer service and business management for Tarcha, all while sharing with others his passion for the game he loves that he picked up from his father.
“You wear a million hats,” Tarcha said. “There are a lot of fires to put out and people to take care of. You have scheduling, managing staff and running the tee sheet. You have to take phone calls and run tournaments. Corporate and charity events. I don’t deal in food and beverage, but I do have that background.”
Tarcha took over as director of golf at Slippery Rock Golf Club in March 2025, his first time as a head director, having been an assistant at other courses.
The Center Township native decided in the 1990s that he wanted to pursue a career in golf, first starting out at a local retail store, later taking his Playing Ability Test through the Professional Golfers’ Association of America — a 36-hole on-course examination of a player’s proficiency on the course.
Passing the test, which he did on the first try, allowed him to officially begin his golf management training with PGA of America. He said the program has three levels.
“These levels cover soup to nuts,” Tarcha said. “Customer service and the whole encompassing of the golf business. It’s based on your ability to run a business more than anything. They teach you the business of golf.”
To enroll in the program requires employment at a golf club. That is what Tarcha did, starting out at Hill Crest Country Club in Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County.
He did that for a few years, then moved to the Boston area in the early 2000s, which is where he began levels one and two of the program. Tarcha became a PGA Professional in 2010.
Unlike professional players on tour, a PGA Professional is a golf expert and business leader who specializes in coaching, club operations and the management of the sport, backed by the education received from experience and through the PGA of America program.
“The biggest misconception is you play golf all day long,” Tarcha said of being a PGA Professional. “If I wanted to play this morning I could have. When I see people up on the range, I will go help them on the house. It’s a good way to build clientele, but it’s also passing goodwill.”
Now that Tarcha has over a year under his belt in his current position, he has been able to turn Slippery Rock’s golf operation into his own.
“When I came in, it felt like I was bailing water the first year. This year, I am steering the ship,” Tarcha said. “It’s running nice. The greens crew has done a nice job with the course, and we put a lot of systems in place as far as customer service.”
One customer service aspect he has implemented is something golfers will notice before they even set foot in the pro shop to pay for their round.
When arriving in the parking lot, golfers are greeted by a staff member and offered a golf cart immediately, along with a club cleaning — services not typically offered at a course open to the public.
“The customer service side doesn’t cost anything,” Tarcha said. “It takes just a little extra time, but it goes a mile. We are trying to offer country club services at a semiprivate golf club. The guys are friendly and on point.”
Tarcha also helps the groundskeepers who take care of the course by cutting the grass, moving tee markers, hole locations and more.
“These guys take pride in what they do,” Tarcha said. “I have a strong relationship with the maintenance crew, which is part of my job because I hear all the feedback from the golfers.”
Not all golf courses have an established food element, but Slippery Rock Golf Club does, with Twisted Oak Tavern connected to the clubhouse and pro shop.
The venue also has an event space for large gatherings, such as weddings and golf outings, all of which Tarcha helps manage alongside his team.
Tarcha also helps manage the tee sheet, which is the daily schedule used by golf courses to track and manage all tee time reservations, player names, group sizes and course utilization.
Essentially, it is the schedule that helps the course make its money efficiently, which Tarcha said can be a “logistical dance.”
“We have leagues and membership play, along with public golfers,” Tarcha said of the tee sheet. “It’s a constant battle and probably the most difficult thing that I run into on a daily basis.”
The final element of Tarcha’s job is teaching, where he provides lessons to golfers throughout the week.
“That is the rewarding part of what I do, being able to pass that information along,” Tarcha said. “I love golf, and the interactions with people is a blast. I am a social guy, so it fits.”
His biggest swing tip for the average golfer is to swing with your arms and your body.
“I break the swing down into four parts,” Tarcha said. “Your lower body, your torso, head and hands. They have to work together and have to work with proper timing. Most people play this game, they hold the club too tight and feel like they are hitting the ball hard, and they like to use their arms as the lead of the swing.”
Tarcha said he never has to force himself to get out of bed in the morning to come to work because he truly enjoys what he does, passing down what he knows to the next generation, while helping golfers make lasting memories that he hopes will bring them closer to the game.
“I am coming to a golf course to work,” Tarcha said. “It has so many pros to it, but there is a lot of busy work. I love my job, and you know what they say — if you love your job you never work a day in your life. That’s really what it is.”
This article first appeared in the August edition of Butler County Business Matters.
