Ep. 30 - Michael Boucher - Golf Course Lawns - Mow Money, Mow Problems Podcast

Michael Boucher spent 25+ years in turf, from Clemson turfgrass to golf course superintendent at TPC Piper Glen. In March 2020 he started Golf Course Lawns in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and got his first customer from one post on his neighborhood Facebook page. Today he treats only warm-season grass (Bermuda and zoysia) across the greater Charlotte area. In this episode he and Matt get into: Why he refers fescue leads out, and gets Bermuda leads sent back Pricing by the square foot, and the 10-day follow-up that catches problems early Starting landscape lighting small: a few uplights and a path light What fuel prices, fertilizer costs and a record drought did to this year's budget How he uses ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to run the business The aerator horror stories, and why he paints dormant lawns green in winter Golf Course Lawns: https://golfcourselawnsllc.com Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:25 From Golf Course Superintendent To Owner 2:01 Customer Number One 3:25 The Warm-Season Niche 4:57 The New Customer Experience 7:55 Training A Team To His Standard 10:00 The 10-Day Follow-Up 12:10 Programs, PGR And Landscape Lighting 17:08 Pricing By The Square Foot 19:10 A Year-Round Schedule 20:15 New Builds And Fescue Leads 23:26 Fuel, Fertilizer And Drought 26:34 The 3- And 5-Year Plan 28:55 Running The Numbers 30:39 How He Uses AI 33:45 AI Content That Helps Or Hurts 38:01 AI Answering: Let Callers Choose 40:24 The Horror Story Question 44:47 Who Is Golf Course Lawns? #lawncare #landscaping #greenindustry #smallbusiness #podcast