- Claire Hart lost 90% of her photography work during the pandemic, so she got a job at a golf course.
- As a beverage-cart attendant she earns an hourly wage of $11, automatic 20% gratuity, and cash tips.
- This is her story, as told to writer Elle Hardy.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Claire Hart, a 39-year-old beverage cart attendant in Las Vegas. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My background is in nuclear medicine, which is a subfield of radiology. During the financial crisis in 2007, there were no jobs in this field, so I took up my hobby of photography as a full-time career and moved to Las Vegas. I photograph really large events, like weddings, red carpets, nightlife, and corporate parties, so when the pandemic hit in 2020, I lost 90% of my work.
Unemployment was only paying around $469 per week, and I just couldn't rely on that to be able to pay my mortgage and bills. I had a friend who was working as a cart girl in Las Vegas, and she told me I could make $600 in a day. I applied and had one interview at my friend's course before I was offered the job, and I haven't looked back.
There are 3 different roles that we do
The variety makes it more fun. There's the cart girl who drives around selling drinks. Then there's what we call "working the turn," which is the building on the ninth hole, or the halfway marker. Finally, we serve inside at the grill.
They like to switch us around, especially in the summer because no one wants to be outside in 110 degrees every day. When you first start, there are around three weeks of training across all areas.
I can make hundreds in tips a day. I started in the busy season, which is usually around March and April before it gets really really hot in Vegas.
We're a public course and very well known, which means we can have up to 200 people on the tee sheet every single day. We're pretty close to the strip, so we tend to get big groups of bachelor parties. We also get a lot of corporate types who want to wine and dine their clients on the golf course instead of going out to dinner.
Our course tends to get higher-end clients and celebrities
In my first week, three or four celebrities showed up, including the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team and Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton in "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air."
It's always interesting to meet and greet these people. I haven't had any who have been high maintenance or demanding, though they tend to be really short interactions. You really have to make the most of that time because these guys want to keep moving.
My tips for doing well with customers are to always introduce myself, let them know about the specials we offer, advise what's ahead on the course, and tell them about the food we offer at the turn. If they haven't played the course before, I give some advice on where to aim. I used to play golf a little, and my parents are keen golfers, but being out on the course every day, I've learned some tips. It's also important that I see them multiple times on the course.
There's always somebody in front who's slow and someone behind who's fast. It's important that we don't slow people down but make sure that they're staying hydrated or having their "swing juice" — that's what we call alcoholic beverages, which seem to help people play.
We get an hourly rate of $11 an hour plus cash tips
On top of that, my club specifically does an autogratuity on every transaction. Even if someone doesn't tip me, I'm essentially still getting a tip. Whether they buy one beer or they buy $100 worth of beer, I'm still getting 20% of whatever they spend.
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One of our sister courses has gone under reconstruction recently, and they were a private course. So, over the last few months, we've become a private course. We've seen a decrease in the total tips we can get because we're not allowing these big bachelor parties to come in.
We'll go back to normal at the end of September. That's the start of our second good season of the year because the weather starts to get cooler. Tips do vary by season. We make the most between March and June and then October to December. They also vary a lot if the weather is super cold or super hot — because either they're trying to play quickly or trying to stay hydrated.
That said, it can get up to 115 degrees and there are still going to be 100 people out there playing. No matter if it's wind, rain, or sun, golfers are dedicated.
Our hours are pretty flexible based on the number of golfers
The typical early shift, if you start in the grill, begins at 5:30 a.m. Our uniform is a gray branded polo with black shorts — or pants in the winter — a hat, and a lot of sunscreen, if it's summer. The first golf cart comes in at around 6:30 a.m. If you have a shift at the turn, you typically start at about 7:30 a.m.
Usually, the day ends between 2 and 4 p.m. If we have big gaps later in the day, we might get to leave a little earlier.
In the late summer months, since they don't want to be overstaffed when we're a little slower, they'll have one person on the cart all day, which might be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's a longer day than normal, but you also get overtime, which is time and a half.
I haven't had any negative experiences with clients in the almost 2 years of working at the course
We pride ourselves on our course being a little more upscale than some of the other ones.
I have had some crazy experiences, though. A few weeks ago, I was working the turn by myself when we got word on the radio from maintenance that there was a swarm of 30,000 killer bees coming through the course. Everyone had to take cover and we had to close a portion of the course so that the animal inspector crew could come in and move the bees to a safe place. That was pretty crazy, and it took about three or four hours to get them to move. Luckily, no one got stung.
We have to take CPR and first-aid classes. You always have to be prepared. Golf balls are hard objects flying toward you. They can break your arm if you're in close enough range.
Perhaps two months ago, I saw some golfers waiting to hit at the 17th hole when all of sudden I saw one start running frantically. I drove down the hill to where I could see them and one was just bleeding everywhere. He had hit a ball and it had bounced off a rock and hit him in the nose. I had to use my medical training to make sure he was okay, stop the bleeding, and clean him up. Thankfully, he was fine the next day.
That's definitely a hazard of the job. We have plexiglass on all our carts. We have to be really mindful when we're driving as we're taking the course in reverse. It's important to memorize the course and know safe areas to pull over and wait for golfers to finish hitting.
Our regulars will go above and beyond, and we establish relationships with them
Some of these guys are out there five days a week, so you get to know each other pretty well. They bring us Christmas or birthday presents, usually gift cards for places like Trader Joe's for between $25 and $100. One regular gives me $50 every time he sees me, and the guy who got hit in the face gave me chocolates. I just got engaged, and many of the regulars came up to congratulate me.
Now that the pandemic has subsided, I've been back doing photography, too. The golf course I work at is really great about working around my schedule, so I can tell them if I need to go away for a week.
Vegas is one of those cities where everyone has multiple jobs, especially as gig workers and freelancers, so flexibility is fairly common. In the end, it's good money and I love being outdoors. Our team is really great. One lady has even been there for 20 years.