| Bob and Emily Erickson have lived a life one usually expects from a well-written romance. But truth is better than fiction, they say, and the story of this North Carolina couple proves it. Their love story started at the equipment washstand at Blackhawk Country Club in Madison, Wis., my place of employment for 36 years. It is where they introduced themselves. It seems an unlikely meeting place – hardly the atmosphere of a classroom or a college bar or a thousand other places one could imagine. Bob and Emily (then Emily Buelow) were working on my crew in 1996. Both were hired because of their interest in a turf career and our long-standing policy of hiring turfgrass students at the UW – Madison. Emily came to Madison from Horicon, Wis., where her father was an engineer for at John Deere’s Horicon Works. A lot of turf equipment has been manufactured there, and her dad designed Deere’s Model 110 rotary mower, a classic machine on display at the Smithsonian. Emily’s interest in science and biology led her to pursue a horticulture degree with an emphasis on ornamentals. The class led to a part-time job working for a PhD student’s project. She graduated in late 1995 and immediately entered grad school as professor Frank Rossi’s grad student. Rossi left Wisconsin for Cornell in 1996, so she finished her M.S. degree with Dr. John Stier. Her research project was a combination of golf course fieldwork and lab work in the Biotron, studying the use of PGRs for increasing Poa annua’s winter tolerance. She completed her thesis in July 1997. Three weeks later she started work at North Carolina State University for the fall semester as a crop science lecturer. Today, Emily is the Turfgrass Environmental Research and Education’s associate director and she coordinates the two-year degree curriculum. She also teaches courses and advises students. Dr. Fred Yelverton, a colleague of Emily’s, was in Wisconsin in March. He told me “she is the glue that holds this program together. We are fortunate to have her on our staff.” Bob Erickson is even more lucky. Bob received an agronomy degree from UW – Madison and worked as a staff person in the soil science department for a couple of years before heading to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. He stayed there for 3½ years before joining our golf course crew. He was a superb plantsman and fell in love with golf turf and managing it. It was a smart move to hire Bob – he had a great capacity for work, was friendly, mature and very bright. Emily and Bob worked together that first summer, but it wasn’t until the second summer that he asked her for a date. That led to a second date – to see a play in Green Bay, a three-hour trip that gave them lots of time to get to know one another. Within a month Emily knew Bob “was the man I wanted to marry. Their romance blossomed, and when she moved to Raleigh, Bob started to look for a position there. He landed a job as the spray tech at Prestonwood CC in Raleigh, and six months later he was an assistant superintendent. They returned to Madison long enough to get married; the reception was held at our club. Bob was promoted to a superintendent position at Prestonwood, which he held for five or six years. Conversations among Bob, NC State’s athletic director and NC State’s crop science department led to an offer Bob couldn’t refuse: director of golf turf management. That was in 2004. His duties are split between the NC State Golf Short Game Practice Facility on campus and the Lake Wheeler Road Field Lab 15 minutes away. The unique practice facility gives players almost any short game situation. There are three greens – one for putting, one for chipping and a third for practice from bunkers and hollows. Open all year, they are always immaculate and in tournament condition. Turfgrass students staff the facility, giving them some excellent experience working with Bob and at providing top-notch conditions. Erickson’s influence over the research station is impressive. From a remodeled house that serves as outstanding offices and meeting areas to the wonderfully-equipped and clean maintenance building, he has positioned the LWRFL among the best in the country. Serving the same departments that cover the turfgrass sciences, the 30 acres of irrigated turf are adding greatly to the problem-solving resources available to NC State. A key part to his success has been the industry partner program he has assembled. As a result of this program, scientists and grad students have all the tools and material they need to meet research needs. Like so many people who live in North Carolina’a Piedmont region, the Ericksons have embraced their new home, the natural beauty of the area and now have a cottage on the Outer Banks. Their sons Nolen and Hayden, however, are confused when mom and dad put on red and white on football Saturdays – are they Badgers or the Wolfpack? Bob and Emily are now well established as North Carolina’s Mr. & Mrs. Turfgrass. And it all started on a golf course with a conversation while washing greensmowers. Now that’s romantic. GCI |
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