Golf As the quote on the facing page from the man considered one of golf ’s greatest course architects (he co-designedAugustaNational with Bobby Jones) illustrates: greenkeepers are passionate about their jobs. And o en, they lose sleep worrying about the condition of the courses they keep. Since fall is a season of thanksgiving, what better time to take a moment to sing the praises of your local superintendent. A er the summer, it’s a return to routines whether you are retired or not; kids go back to school and snowbirds like yourselves start to plan for your annual winter sojourn in warmer climes. For most golf courses across the country, autumn is the time when turf and maintenance crews start the gradual process of putting the course to bed for another long winter’s nap – aerating the turf, fertilizing and putting covers on the greens to protect these precious putting surfaces and help the turf underneath recover faster come spring. In my 20-year golf-writing career, I’ve befriended many superintendents. I’ve written features for many trade publications on topics ranging from pond management to integrated pest management. I once even wrote a weekly column for the PGATOUR.com calledTurf Talk, in which I interviewed the superintendent of the course where the event was played each week to learn about the preparation that went into hosting a TOUR event. Heck, I even taught a communications course for a few years at the University of Guelph to students in the two-year diploma program in Turfgrass Management. e point? I’ve seen rst-hand how hard a job these professionals have, and I have come to admire them. ere is a reason why the leaders of these turf crews are called superintendents; they truly are super humans – super heroes if you will – of the golf industry. ey do a superior job daily under di cult and challenging conditions; many of the factors which they face are outside of their control, such as weather and government regulations. First, let’s learn a bit more about how this unique profession evolved. Did you know that, until the 19th century in Scotland and the U.K. where the sport originated, people golfed on whatever grass was available? Previously, there was no such thing as golf course maintenance. at task lay to the sheep and cows that grazed on the land. In the early days, before the rst instrument to form holes was created by Robert Gay in the 1800s, greenkeepers’ main job was cutting a circular hole to change cups in each green and extricating the soil by hand, making sure not to damage the surrounding area. e greenkeeper alsomoved tee positions, tended the sheep which grazed on the course (prior to mowing equipment, they were the means of keeping the grass cut) and repaired rabbit burrows. Most of the early greenkeepers at North American courses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were Scottish immigrants, who brought over this skilled trade. e classic 1980s golf ick Caddyshack portrays the greenkeeper as a bumbling idiot, thanks to Bill Murray’s hilarious character Carl Spackler, who spends his days trying to rid his beloved Bushwood CC of a pesky gopher. is stereotype, or that of the greenkeeper as merely a labourer outside in a baseball cap, up to his ankles in mud, just growing grass, is no longer valid. Today, superintendents may not look like businesspeople but, even if they still get out Greenkeeper: a person responsible for the care and upkeep of a golf course Golf’s Unsung Heroes: The Greenkeeper Thank Your Super Today 46 | www.snowbirds.org
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