Bon Voyage

As I write this in late August, Mike Pock is dying. He may live to read these words or he may not. And he’s okay with that. He has made his peace with his family, his friends the many who know him and love him.

Nearly everyone in Arizona and around the Southwest knows Mike (or at least of him) and will immediately relate to this. But, I’ll bet anything that the rest of you also know someone just like Mike in your neck of the woods. Here’s his resume:

• Grandson and son of superintendents and father to two superintendents;
• Mentor to dozens of other successful superintendents, all of whom he also treated like sons;
• Old school grass grower, but always learning something new;
• Worked for the love of it, not for a paycheck;
• Always willing to pitch in and help others;
• Deeply humble and sincerely amazed when anyone suggested he was special.

I talked with Mike’s son Ernie, the now superintendent at Grayhawk GC (he succeeded his dad in the job) about Mike and what his legacy will be. Ernie occasionally choked up as he talked about his dad and what he’s meant to the profession and the lives of so many people in it. I’ll let him tell this story:

“My dad got into this business through my great-grandfather. For him, it was never about the money. He always worked for owners and people where it was fun to come to work and do your best. He had the same attitude toward his staff. You didn’t work for the golf course… you worked for Mike Pock. They (employees) are family, too. From the guy who just started raking bunkers to an assistant who’d been with him for 10 years… you could always come to him and talk to him about anything. That’s what he loved most about the profession: developing young guys into men, not just superintendents, but men.

“My dad would tell you everything he knew… he’d never hide anything or keep some trick secret. He would talk for hours with anyone about turf. He felt like there are so many variables in turf, sharing ideas and information was critical.

“He was always hard on us… but because he just wanted us to be as good as we could be.”
Five years ago, doctors found a tumor in Mike’s chest so they took it out along with his sternum, his pericardium (the lining around the heart) and several spots on his lungs. They didn’t think he’d make it, but he surprised everyone.