position are a burden at times, which can be a curse. Hopefully for you, the rewards of this career outweigh the sacrifices you make. The balancing act of managing all of this to provide playing conditions that meet everyone’s expectations is the “gig.” Who sets the expectations at your Club: the General Manager, owner, greens committee or you, the Superintendent? Do you have the resources to meet those expectations? Hopefully for your sake, the expectations are manageable and you have the opportunity to be in a healthy working environment. There are the variables that we do not have any control over such as weather and staff. Even though staff is trainable, they can be our greatest challenge if they are not managed properly. The good news is that staff can be replaced. Weather is the only factor we can’t fully manage but we do have the
ability to manipulate our environment and try to maintain consistent playing conditions through a variety of circumstances that change constantly. I was fortunate to intern at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where I was blessed to be surrounded by a wealth of knowledgeable turfgrass professionals. On my last day, the Superintendent from the Weyhill golf course, Bob Stiffler, offered this advice: “Don’t do everything like they did. Instead, take part of what I learned at Saucon Valley and other courses and put them together like a salad and use the parts that I liked and do it my way.” My brain is the bowl that holds all the ingredients (knowledge) and I can use whatever recipe that works for my facility. My point is that what works Page 63 Page 63