In foursomes, you don't get to play your own ball. You hit, your partner hits, and every shot either sets them up or leaves them in the trees. It's the most unforgiving format in team golf, because a partnership is only as strong as its weakest shot.
This week at Medinah, Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee made it look easy. A Kiwi and an Aussie with two very different games, sharing one ball. In Friday's foursomes they came from behind to beat Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark 1 up on the 18th, with Lee's driving a feature of the day. On Saturday afternoon they did it again, beating Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark. Two days, two foursomes matches, two wins. That helped the Internationals take a 10.5–7.5 lead into the final day.
Watching them, it's hard not to think about buildings. Because building maintenance has its own version of foursomes, and most buildings are playing it badly.
01Two games, one ball
Every commercial building has two sets of maintenance obligations running at the same time.
Compliance is the one everyone knows about. Specified systems such as fire alarms, sprinklers, lifts, emergency lighting and mechanical ventilation have to be inspected and maintained under the building's compliance schedule. Once a year, the owner signs off the Building Warrant of Fitness. It's legally required, it's audited, and nobody forgets it.
Warranty work is the quieter partner. Most manufacturer warranties come with conditions: service intervals, approved technicians, and records to prove it was done. Miss them, and the warranty can be void just when you need it. And when the warranty period ends, the manufacturer's maintenance requirements don't. They're what keeps the asset performing for its full life.
Here's the foursomes part: these aren't two separate games. They're often the same asset, and sometimes the same service visit, done for two reasons at once. One missed visit can cost you twice.
One building, two sets of obligations
| Asset | Compliance schedule | Warranty & manufacturer maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| Lifts | Yes | Yes |
| Sprinkler system | Yes | Yes |
| Air handling plant | Yes | Yes |
| Roof membrane | No | Yes |
| Façade sealants | No | Yes |
| Automatic doors | Yes | Yes |
02The partner nobody's watching
In most buildings, compliance and warranties are managed like two players on different courses. Compliance lives with the IQPs and the BWoF paperwork. Warranties live in the O&M manuals, if anyone knows where those are.
That creates two kinds of dropped shot.
The first is the shared asset. The lift contractor does the compliance inspection, but nobody checks whether the manufacturer's own service conditions were met, or whether the records would satisfy a warranty claim. The work might even be done, but without the right evidence it doesn't count.
The second is the asset that isn't on the compliance schedule at all. Roof membranes, cladding, sealants, coatings and joinery often carry long warranties with maintenance conditions attached. Because they're not specified systems, they never show up on the BWoF checklist. Nobody's watching them until water comes through the ceiling, and by then the warranty may already be gone.
And this is where it matters most: these assets don't stop being critical when the warranty runs out. Think of the joint sealants around a window thirty floors up, or a roof that takes sun, wind and driving rain, sometimes all in the same day. Nothing on the compliance schedule requires anyone to check them. But if they fail, the damage, the cost and the risk are just as real in year fifteen as in year two.
None of this means compliance matters less. It means the compliance schedule is only half the scorecard. The best-run buildings balance the two: the checks the law requires, and the checks the building needs.
Compliance keeps you legal. Warranties keep you covered. Balancing both is what keeps the building performing long after the warranty's gone.
03Drive for show, putt for dough
There's an old saying in golf: drive for show, putt for dough. The best players hit fairways and greens in regulation, but tournaments are won on the greens.
Compliance is your tee-to-green game. It's the fundamentals: the inspections, the IQP sign-offs, the annual BWoF. Do it well and you're on the green in regulation, every time. Skip it and you're scrambling from the rough. It's non-negotiable, and it's where every well-run building starts.
The maintenance outside the compliance schedule is your putting. The sealants, the roof, the façade, and the manufacturer servicing that protects warranties and extends asset life. It's where a good position turns into a result, and where buildings quietly drop shots when nobody's paying attention.
Think back to Fox and Lee's Friday match. Lee's driving was a feature of the day, but the point was only won on the 18th green. Power off the tee counts for a lot, but only if someone holes the putt.
Compliance gets you on the green. Maintenance holes the putt.
04Playing the same ball
Great pairs don't just play well individually. They know exactly where their partner needs the ball. That's the job Prospero does for a building.
Prospero reads the O&M manuals, product data sheets, compliance schedules and existing asset registers, and builds one live maintenance schedule from all of them. Every task is tagged as compliance, warranty or both, and linked back to the page it came from.
Compliance
Nothing missed at sign-off
Specified systems are flagged and kept separate from general maintenance, with evidence captured as the work happens. The annual BWoF becomes a routine step, not a scramble.
Warranty
Nothing quietly voided
Manufacturer-required servicing is tracked with alerts before obligations lapse, including assets that never appear on the compliance schedule. It stays on the schedule after the warranty ends, because the asset still needs it. Before committing to reactive works, your team can check whether the asset is still covered.
Both
One visit, counted twice
Where one service meets both obligations, it's scheduled once and the evidence is logged once, against both. No duplicate visits, no gaps between contractors.
05Closing it out
A lead going into the final day is a great position, but it isn't a trophy. The singles still have to be played, one match at a time.
Buildings are the same. A clean BWoF is a good position to be in, but it doesn't mean the building is fully looked after. The warranty obligations, the roofs, façades and sealants that sit outside the compliance schedule, and the evidence behind every service visit all still have to be closed out, year after year, long after the warranties have expired.
The best partnerships make each other better. Put compliance and warranties on the same card, and your building gets the benefit of both.
Match details from PGA Tour and 1News reporting on the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club. Prospero has no affiliation with the Presidents Cup or the players mentioned.