Every golf course, at some point, will need to hire a qualified superintendent to manage the conditioning of the golf course. It is a fact that today, in this age of necessary environmental awareness, the hiring procedure and ultimate decision is a significant one for many more reasons than just environmental awareness.
The superintendent is senior management. What must be made clear is determining which kind of superintendent position this is. Is it for a working superintendent or an administrative superintendent?
Budgets for course maintenance today, while tighter than pre-2008, are still in excess of a million dollars on many courses. Superintendents today manage people. In many cases, staff on 18 and 36 hole facilities exceed 50 people in the summer months. A lot of scheduling is needed for maintenance requirements and tournaments, membership play, and weather events.
Chemistry, accounting skills, public relations and much more are all part of the job requirements of a superintendent. Education is essential, and experience, as well as the ability to work as part of the club team along with the GM and the golf professional, are necessary skills.
Most important of all, is the relatively “silent” requirement of a superintendent: the ability to actually grow grass. Simply put, the applicant who gets the job should be the best at growing grass. Often the person who dresses the best, or is the most charming, or has the most impressive resume, may, in fact, not know how to read a soil test, or correct the troubling soil or plant health issues that lead to aggressive use of pesticides.
The best applicant won’t simply apply a Bandaid solution to the problem, but will dig deeper and be able to find the underlying reason for deteriorating turfgrass conditions on golf course greens, tees and fairways.
More than ever, science, and the understanding of both plant and soil chemistry, is critical. Greens and tees have mostly sand root zones in which proper, beneficial chemistry must be built and managed to create a balance.
Many individual seminars are held to teach aspects of this structure. All this information is tied together in Creating a Balance 101, 201 and 301 sessions, where a journey is taken from the soil up through the plant as nutrition travels. These sessions include the different methods of actually feeding the plant, as well as pitfalls, and the results of improper chemistry situations.
Over the years, a paper has been created with a short series of questions aimed at soil test results and chemistry issues, as well as plant chemistry facts. These questions, along with the answers, provide a valuable guide for the hiring procedure. This information can allow any board of directors, greens committee, or group tasked with hiring a superintendent, to determine which applicant is the best choice.
The ideal candidate should be the one who can provide the best possible growing conditions for turfgrass on the golf course, and ultimately provide the best golfing experience for members or the playing public.
This can often make a big difference to golfers when it comes time to deciding where to go to play. Who hasn’t heard, or said: “Let’s go there, the greens are great!” Let’s face it, most of us want to play where the greens are the best.
Golf is experiencing a bit of a lull at this time. Educational conferences are full of general sessions and there are many spokes in this wheel of golf course management.
Growing grass efficiently, effectively, and in an environmentally responsible manner is simply not possible if a soil test cannot be understood, or if the golf course staff makes decisions based on sales proficiency and not soil or plant chemistry facts. A lack of knowledge and understanding could result in the club’s money being spent unwisely and may, in fact, not produce the best overall conditions.
This paper can help make a huge difference in the hiring process and be an insurance policy for any club when it comes to making this critical decision. The paper consists of asking the applicant three questions on soil chemistry, three questions on plant chemistry, and a sample soil test to look at asking for an evaluation.
Often the reason for hiring a new superintendent is that the previous person had issues growing grass. It happens all the time.
I’m more than pleased to share this information with those interested.
Pat Differ
Pat Differ was the superintendent at Point Grey Golf and Country Club and at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, BC. He started is own business with Port Turf and Floratine Canada and involved with Evergo Sales and Dawson Seed. Pat can be reached at 604-855-1241, email patdiffer@gmaim.com
