Green keepers/Superintendents

[Mark_Rowlinson]

What is the shelf-life of a greenkeeper or superintendent?

I ask this because, recently, I spent some time talking with a past-captain and past-president of an English club about his course which has not been significantly changed since 1907.  His opinion was that a course manager had about a four-year life in which he could improve one aspect of the course and then he was better moving on.  

That is probably an extreme case, but how does one assess the work of a greenkeeper/course manager/superintendent?

Is it maintaining a certain status quo?  Or making progress (whatever that may be)?  And how would one quantify it if one were the employer of such a person, charged with annual appraisals and performance reviews?

[Brad Klein]

U.S. average, I believe, is 7 years.

[Mark_Guiniven]

Mark, I would say generally superintendents are pretty diligent people. Before assessing them, someone should assess the collective wisdom of management and members. That's usually where the problems lie.

Four years is like one term in office. How many presidents get everything they hoped to achieve completed in their first term? You've got to have some medium and long term planning in there as well.

All agriculture benefits from continuity, where experience tunes people in to the idiosyncrasies of whatever it is they are are working with. Good supers always think proactively and are constantly preparing the turf for whatever it will face next. Poor supers simply react to things as they arise.

Royal Melbourne has had four superintendents (they actually call them curators, which I think is a much more descriptive title) since Mick Morcom took up the position in 1905. Enough said.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Mark,

You put your finger on the point.  How many UK clubs have committee members who have influence beyond 3 or 4 years?  That may be good for the club, in that they cannot do any damage during their term of office, but in the long term?

[Steve Curry]

Mark,

I have been at my position for 7 years.  The duration doesn't seem to be typical and I think has a lot to do with the club's culture.

I use the Keeper of the Green title but I do like Curator.
 

Steve

[Bradley Anderson]

Mark,

Several years ago I developed a historical record of all the superintendents to work on golf clubs in Chicago. Our record extended all the way back in some cases to the 1800's. It may interest you to know that the clubs in Chicago which are most reknowned for great golf conditioning and pedigree were more often as not the places where greenkeepers have had the longest tenure.

[Brad Klein]

Mr. Anderson,

are you suggesting the radical idea that commitment, stability, continuity and a sense of belonging to the facility are all conducive to ideal golf course conditions?

I think your notions are contradicted by the giants of industry today, many of whose guiding lights are the same wise people at private golf clubs who fire people left and right when the bunkers aren't perfect or a tree limb is dangling after a storm. Obviously, our corporate culture knows a thing or two about sound human relations: that if you keep people in fear and trembling of their jobs and replace them consistently, you'll do much better all around.

I think there's an interesting relationship between how companies are (mis)managed and how clubs are (mis)managed. What's happened to superintendents is part of that whole culture.

[TEPaul]

As far as the longevity of supers, there's probably some correlation between permancy of club administration or a certain "leave it alone" laissez faire atmosphere.

I'll give you three pretty good examples;

1. Merion, a club who had a basic "leave it alone" attitude for many decades---father, then son, supers, the Valentines. who lasted about 60 years.

2. Kittansett, a "leave it alone" great old seaside course in Mass, has had a super, Lennie Blodgett for close to 50 years.

3. PVGC, a basic "leave it alone" club whose czar, John Arthur Brown, and super Eb Steineger, came in together around 1925 and were there together for over 50 years!

[Bradley Anderson]

Dr. Klein,

I wish you could have been at Briarwood on the evening when Paul Voykin was recognized by his club for being Golfweek's Superintendent of the year. Paul would be the first to tell you that everything which he has achieved in his extraordinarily long career at one club, has been because of the support of his members and committee people.

It really is a partnership between the club and the greenkeeper, and when it works the way that it is supposed to, it is very beautiful thing.

I would wager that the warmest fellowship and best sportsmanship exists at the clubs which treat their greenkeepers with the most diginity and respect. And I suspect that it would be very hard to find lasting friendship at a club which gives it greenkeeper a "shelf life".

[Marc Haring]

Yes Mark. I too would have to have one or two concerns over the attitude of your friend. I mean ‘Shelf life’; we’re not a can of baked beans. Surely if the superintendent has that passion and enthusiasm and has always kept sight of the plot, then they do not have a shelf life.

The problem as I see it is the built in aggravation factor that goes with the job. Unlike the Pro or the Secretary, the superintendent has to regularly piss people off. There comes a time when they have to tell people to replace that divot, to rake that bunker, to ban carts, to go onto temporary greens, to close the course, to core/aerate/scarify/top dress the greens. Result = unpopularity. They then face the wrath of a continually increasing number of wound up members who are convinced the poor superintendent’s sole raison d’etre is put them off their game in his noisy mower and to destroy their course, especially on the day they want to play.

The key is communication and trying every conceivable tactic to avoid having to do any of the above.

But I’ll ask you something. How many clubs are there where the pro and secretary are on first name terms with the membership but the superintendent still has to refer to everyone as Mr or Mrs? How much of a barrier is that to effective communication?

[Neil Regan]

...the giants of industry today, many of whose guiding lights are the same wise people at private golf clubs who fire people left and right when the bunkers aren't perfect or a tree limb is dangling after a storm. Obviously, our corporate culture knows a thing or two about sound human relations: that if you keep people in fear and trembling of their jobs and replace them consistently, you'll do much better all around.

I think there's an interesting relationship between how companies are (mis)managed and how clubs are (mis)managed. What's happened to superintendents is part of that whole culture.

Brad,

  Can you give us several names and clubs, please, where people have been fired left and right because a tree limb is dangling after a storm ?

[Brad Klein]

Neil, I base my comments on well-documented proceedings at the following clubs:

Angina Hills Golf & Country Club, Kan.
The Raven at Poe's Corner, Md.
Sister Guido Sarducci CC, Mass.
The Hyperbole, Mich.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I agree that continuity has its place with supers. The super at our club is at 25 years and counting and was head pro before that. The good is just that, continuity and consistancy in our course. However, he has gotten where he uses the same vendors, tree men and architects as well as using the USGA rep to justify status quo anytime he does not want to do something. So costs are now close to twice what they should be to level a tee or do tree removal work or drainage work etc. He is a good man who does a good job. However things like long range planning will not happen because it will take day to day control away.

[Don_Mahaffey]

"...but how does one assess the work of a greenkeeper/course manager/superintendent".

Every club/course is different and I would love to hear from some here who have served on BOD or green committees to learn how they have evaluated their supts. I'm evaluated based on customer feedback about the course, our bottom line, and a 12 point evaluation from my owner. It's quite fair and I don't mind the process.
Where I've seen the evaluation process go bad is when there is no formal process for evaluating how a supt is performing. That, combined with new evaluators every couple of years and it becomes tough to survive for an extended period of years. I've worked in areas where supts. played musical chairs every couple of years.
Supts don't have a shelf life anymore then any other profession. My favorite college b-ball team is Arizona. Does Lute Olsen have a shelf life? How does a 70 year old guy continue to rack up 20-25 win seasons? Because he's damn good at what he does and I'll bet if you interviewed him he'd say he's better now then he was 10 years ago. If an individual has the talent, desire, education, and experience in his chosen field, he has no shelf life.

[jeffwarne]

If it's anything like being a head pro, 7 years-cause every year you piss off 15%.

[SL_Solow]

Its a tough job and everyone is an expert.  However if a club finds a good greenkeeper it pays to fight off those who seek change for change's sake.  Each year a greenkeeper stays, he learns more about the unique nature of his property.  He is able to build continuity in his crew because it is assumed he will stay and be in charge.  After a while, it is harder for a rogue committee chairman to undertake ill advised wholesale changes because the greenkeeper has a constituency built up over the years.  As noted above, our greenkeeper, Paul Voykin, has been at Briarwood for 43 years.  He does a remarkable job and is part of our family.  As greens chair and club President over the last 10 years I have learned to appreciate how valuable experience of this type is to a club.  Of course, you have to start with a talented professional who is also a good man.   He also has to be loyal as other clubs often try to entice established superintendents to leave.

[Brad Klein]

Shelly,

kudos to you and to your club for having the commitment to Paul Voykin - Golfweek Super News' "superintendent of the year" for 2003.

Such veterans are working against a certain age-bias in American corporate culture. Also, the assumption that they are out of touch with the newest turf science. And finally, do not underestimate the role of jealousy and cheapness. After 15 years, a super is probably making as much as, if not more than, the people on his committee - and by that time, they aren't the ones who hired him. So they have envy, as well as a desire to save money by going with their own cheaper, younger new face. It's real loss for the industry that this happens, especially for the club that can't recognize the value of experience.

[Joel_Stewart]

At Olympic in San Francisco, Pat Finlan has been there  4 years and has made major changes.  The previous superintendent was there 25 years.  The pace of change is starting to slow, but Pat brought fresh eyes and ideas to club that was stagnet and really shook things up.  He was named superintendent of the year by the Northern California region last year.

[Tags:]

Tags: