The Most Important Person At Your Golf Course
Is it the club’s CPGA Professional staff? These men and women know everything about teaching, playing, rules, clubs, merchandising, finances, and many other aspects of the game.
Is it the club manager? This person oversees everything that goes on at the club, including food and beverage, weddings, parties, and a zillion other duties.
These two are important, even indispensable members of the team. Then there’s the owner who took the risk to get it started, the governing body of golf, the NSGA and RCGA who uphold the integrity of the game.
But the most important person? THE GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT!
If your course has burned out greens, nobody will play. If the grass is uncut on the fairways, or full of weeds, they will go elsewhere. Bunkers of mud, drainage issues resulting in standing water, and broken down golf cars will put the pro and manager out of a job.
The Super is a politician, diplomat, environmentalist, manager, accountant, machinist, psychologist, boss, and employee, to name a few.
At The Links at Penn Hills, ‘Super Dave’ watches over the course like a mother hen. And you can tell-it’s a pleasure to play, great greens, green grass, beautiful bunkers, golf carts that run, drains that actually drain, tee markers that aim in the right direction, pin placements that are appropriate to the occasion, etc.
I rode around with Dave one morning. I’m here to tell you, a superintendent is way more than a greens keeper-grass jockey.
When I arrived at 7, he had already been here for 2 hours! Before I came, he had
· Opened the maintenance barn and pro shop
· Checked the tee sheet for amount of play, checked the weather network
· Scheduled the daily tasks for the crew
· Debriefed the staff when it arrived
When I showed up at 7, I hopped on a cart next to the old dog Rudy, and we
· Toured the course checking turf conditions, machine cuts, scooping out new projects, etc.
· Checked into the pro shop and kitchen, to see if they had any issues, needing his help.
· Chatted with Director of Golf Pat Decoste, and owner Sandy Shive, to see if that had any questions or concerns.
· He then assigned secondary tasks to the staff based on the morning tour
· When he ducked into his office to work on invoices and update budgetary spending, I ducked away to my now seemingly easy job of teaching Mr. Schmidt not to slice.
What about the weather? This rainy spring tested every Super in the Maritimes. After 40 days and 40 nights of rain, I started called Dave ‘Moses’, as he seemed to have an ability to part the waters. After a while, the named morphed into ‘Noah’, just trying to stay afloat.
Some of the premier courses in our province also have premier superintendents. These are facilities that have the funds to go along with the superintendent’s expertise. These folks are scientists of turf management, and have been trained at the top schools for this career, Guelph, Rutgers, or Penn State.
But what about the less high budget courses, in just as good shape with less to spend? Caralynn Cullen presented a Truro Club to the Men’s Amateur that, she set out to renovate hole 17 to create an even better layout. Caralynn works harder than any two men.
Have you played Airlanes Lately? Not a high-end budget, but really fun to play, kept that way by Kevin Obritsch and Oscar Rushton.
Mountain Golf Club is another fine course kept in great shape by Shane Sutherland.
And some of these guys can play. Dean Woodman at Avon has been a top player for years, as is John Mills. Even Dave can sneak into the low 80’s on occasion.
Thank you all for making Nova Scotia a premier golf destination! Keep up the good work.
Ed Hanczaryk
Ed Hanczaryk is a member of the PGA as well at CPGA. He was named Top 50 Teacher in Canada by the National Post, and CPGA Teacher of the Year the last three years.
