Executive course: Golf Association of Philadelphia's director talks business on the green

Interview enough chief executives and patterns emerge: They like to wake up early and write short e-mails, and are scheduled to the max.

And many enjoy golf, which seems contradictory, given their time commitments.

But because Mark Peterson, 40, executive director of the Golf Association of Philadelphia, spends most of his time with golfers, it's no mystery to him.

"Business can be conducted on the golf course," Peterson said, sitting at the Llanerch Country Club during a break in the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship hosted by the association last month.

"You understand someone's integrity on the golf course by how they hit those shots and how they react. You can equate that to how you want to work with them" professionally.

So it's kind of like an 18-hole job interview?

Very much so. There have been endless [stories] about how you can conduct your interviews through a four-hour round of golf.

How about some tips?

For those conducting the interview, it's [watching] facial expressions; how they control their anxiety or their potential anger after a bad shot. If things in business aren't going your way and you're at the board table, how are you going to react? It's the same as when you hit a golf shot out of the rough. If you slam your club or you use profanity or you kick the grass, immediately we understand. That's your innate reaction. It's born inside you.

What if you are being interviewed? Advice?

You compliment the good shots. You encourage the bad shots. It also has to do with how you interact with other players. Are you standing in the wrong place? Is your shadow on their line of putt and, therefore, distracting? So if you control all of those things, it doesn't matter how you play the game.

Were you a caddie?

I was not, which is odd because so many people get into golf through caddying. I had a summertime job in high school with the Wisconsin State Golf Association, and it turned into a career.

Then you came here to attend Villanova?

Yes. The director of Wisconsin knew the director of the Golf Association of Philadelphia and made a call. The network of golf is powerful. All the people that belong to these private clubs, most of them are successful. If you can put yourself in the right position to utilize that network, it can take you anywhere. It can make you executive director of the Golf Association of Philadelphia.

What's the status of golf?

For the last several years, there has been a lot of focus on the decline in the total number of golfers in America, the total number of rounds.

There's concern about time?

Right, and the cost. There's no denying the numbers are declining. We actually haven't seen that here. We're fortunate to be enjoying a record number of individual members, a record number of member clubs, and our tournament participation is showing that we will have a record number of tournament entries in 2015.

Wow. Why?

Participation in golf mirrors the economy. So with a rise in the markets, some consumer confidence, [there's an increased] ability to escape from the office and play.

OK, but what about here?

Golf in Philadelphia is heavily private. With private members, you have individuals that are more affluent.

So they tend to be less affected by downturns?

Correct.

What about demographics?

Well, certainly there has been a lot of focus on trying to bring more minorities, juniors, and women into the game. In most private clubs, there's not a lot of diversity. It's growing. But it's not at the level that everyone would like it to be.

At golf courses, is there a time you really like?

For me it's usually around 6:15 a.m. when we're setting up a golf course [for a tournament]. There's no one on the golf course. It's usually cooler. You have that excitement of what the day will bring. To enjoy a cup of coffee and make certain that the holes and the tees are in the right positions in a peaceful setting . . . as the sun is coming up, there is no better place to enjoy the game.

jvonbergen@phillynews.com

215-854-2769@JaneVonBergen