Joel,
I think you get a yes and no from me on this. He was helped by about the best Grounds Chairman the club has ever seen, Dave Allard, who knows the membership cold and could tell Sam in specifics what their expectations were, who would squawk about what, etc. etc. However, in a way, Sam did at least help breed, feed and train the horse, by bringing in some of his own people, reorganizing the grounds department, treating people the right way, and putting those folks in a position where they could succeed. He was effective in educating the membership via repeated communication with the committee and the membership, and by always keeping his door open. He was able to convince the committee and the membership (with the help of a straight man or two
), on things like tree work and to buy into other stuff (there's more work to be done there). The club, and more important, Sam, well-recognizes the team work necessary to get anything done. And Sam's modesty and surprise at this whole turn of events are illustrated by his exclamation in the article "I'm baffled by this". He was happy that the committee and others thought enough of his work to take the time to nominate him, but never expected to win; he told his wife to go shopping.
One thing that doesn't get talked about much, but that I have learned about, is the management skills required in the job; it's more than just dirt. On his budgeting, Sam basically has every day of the season mapped out and knows exactly what his costs are. He (and probably every other superintendent on GCA) can tell you precisely how many man-hours it takes for each task in caring for the courses and how those costs could change depending on circumstances. If it rains so he doesn't mow rough one day, that goes into the budget figures. He has educated me on stuff like the optimal amount of overtime vs adding folks to eliminate overtime, costs associated with different mowing patterns, etc. etc. etc. Those skills are something that are not much discussed here, but seem critical in a big club that won't just throw money at tasks.