Carol Turner

As the superintendent at Bigwin Island Golf Club, Carol Turner faces some unique challenges.

Open to members and resort guests, the club is located in Baysville, Ontario, roughly a three-hour drive north from Toronto. Consequently, its golf season typically doesn’t begin until mid-May and might extend until mid-November. Turner, who is now in her third season as the head superintendent after two years as an assistant, points out that when the golf course is ready each spring, her members will be waiting.

“It’s a condensed season,” she tells Rick Woelfel on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast. “I would say it’s more intense. Normally, you have to hit the ground running. As soon as the snow is gone, you just try and get everything done. The members would want us to open earlier, but usually, because of our location, they kind of understand.

“But the thing is, when they do get there, because it is such a short season, the expectations are quite high.”

Turner notes that many of her members are also members at other clubs closer to Toronto.

“They’re used to easing into it (at their other clubs),” she says. “For us, they kind of want the big show when they get there, so we want to work really hard leading up and hopefully the weather allows that most years. And then on the flipside, in the fall it could snow basically any time. It’s not uncommon to have a snowstorm on Halloween so it’s getting your final sprays done, and irrigation, trying to get the course as clean as possible in case we have a late spring.” The club is located on an island and is accessible only by boat.

“There is a little bit more of a challenge just to get things over to the island — including ourselves,” Turner says. “I’m limited to who we can fit in our airboat. Think of an Everglades sand boat. That’s what we have to use when the ice is coming out of the lake. We might be spraying or fertilizing at that time, but the ice might be sticking around later. We have very limited staffing when other people might be ramping up.”

Turner’s crew peaks at around 30 during the season, including herself.

“I have my own boat,” she says. “My assistant has his own boat, so we can kind of come and go as we please. There is staff housing on the island for nine, so they’re over there, but then they have to go get their groceries and use our shuttle boats. The majority of the staff come over on the shuttle boat in the morning, so coordinating and relationships with other departments is important. I want everybody there for the morning meetings (at 5 a.m.). Other golf course superintendents don’t even have to think about that.

“And the boat drivers are amazing, but every once in a while, they get the hiccups and I’m missing 50 percent of my staff and you have to send out the other staff and they’re calling me and telling me, ‘Something’s wrong with the boat and we can’t get over.’ It’s always interesting how you have to shift, but I know all superintendents have to shift at times. Jobs may be switched as to who is doing what just to get things going until they can get people over.”

Turner stresses the importance of being on the golf course with her crew and working alongside them when and where she’s needed.

“Obviously, the administrative stuff has to be done,” she says, “but I do my best to communicate the importance of my eyes being on the golf course. If I’m not getting around the full golf course at least once a day — really looking at the golf course, not just driving around at full speed — I’m a little disappointed in myself.

“I’ve got a great team. I couldn’t do it without them and I feel like I should be out there with them.”