From brown to green: Growing in a course

It’s a blank slate, an empty canvas. Going from a natural piece of land to a beautiful golf course is a daunting task. When the going gets tough, the tough get growing.

On an ideal day, a superintendent’s job is challenging. Keeping a course healthy and vibrant, all while scheduling staff, completing projects, addressing members’ requests or concerns, along with countless day-to-day tasks, is more than a handful.

Grow-in superintendents manage all of the above, and a whole lot more. Why make a difficult job description even harder?

“Brown to green. Soil to turf,” Steve Merkel, director of agronomy at Landscapes Unlimited says. “It is unquestionably a big task, but very satisfying upon completion.”

Merkel, CGCS, oversees all grow-ins for the company and has Shadow Ridge Country Club in Omaha, Neb., and the Nevis Four Seasons (West Indies) on his resume.

Todd Draffen, superintendent at the TPC at Treviso Bay in Naples, Fla., takes the long view when explaining what draws him to the unique challenges of a grow-in.

“It’s going from a raw piece of land, moving dirt, digging lakes, shaping things out, planting plants and finally having things materialize into a final product that people enjoy coming out and playing,” he says.

In addition to Treviso Bay, Draffen also nursed Naples’ Old Collier Golf Club from start to finish.


Making the move
According to Merkel, basic agronomic skills – moisture management, nutrition, pest control and cultural practices – are just the tip of the iceberg as far as skills required to become a grow-in superintendent.

“Hard work, dedication and commitment,” he added as musts to succeed at this position. Multitasking and the ability to deal with a wide range of people also are important.

Prior to making the move to grow-in specialist, Merkel suggests concentrating on the completion of some small projects at an existing facility. This will go a long way toward prepping a superintendent for the challenges ahead.
“Have an understanding for all the systems required – soil, drainage, irrigation, trufgrasses, equipment, people and financial planning,” he says.

Utilize the knowledge gained by those who have gone before you, Draffen says.

“Talk with someone that has gone through a grow-in,” he says. “Have them come visit during the grow-in and ask lots of questions. Do not be afraid to ask questions.”

There may not be a better person to track down for questions than Terry Buchen, CGCS, president and consulting agronomist at Golf Agronomy International. He’s grown in 13 golf courses and consulted on more than 120.

“I wish every superintendent could go through a grow-in at least once,” Buchen says. “It’s a tremendous experience.”

Buchen enjoys the process, but says there’s a lot of pressure placed upon the superintendent to have the course ready sooner than should be expected. He estimates as many as 90 percent of courses open too early as the owners want to begin recouping some of the money that has gone into construction.

A 40-hour work week isn’t a part of the average superintendent’s job description, but Draffen says the willingness to work many long hours when growing in a course is paramount. Flexibility helps, too.

“It depends on a couple of things,” he says. “A new course grow-in is different than a re-grassing and growing things in that way. One skill that is needed on a new grow-in is thinking outside the box on how to get things done. When you have no cart paths, how to get equipment out to the holes that are the farthest distance from the shop?

“Another important skill is the ability to see the potential problems that will arise from constructing features in a way that make maintenance difficult,” he adds. “Along with that is the ability to work with the many people on a construction – architects and contractors.”


On the project
The roller coaster of emotions is as much a concern as making sure the grass grows, according to Draffen.

“In the beginning it is exciting to get things going, you start a new position and things are going well,” he says. “As time passes, things can start to drag on and it seems that it is taking forever to complete. This is the time that the long hours, daylight to sunset, are taking a toll on your mind and body. Not to mention the toll your family has to endure during the whole process.

“As the project nears completion, the excitement returns,” Draffen adds. “To be able to see what the final product can be is a good feeling.”

The basic order for construction stays fairly constant, Merkel says, but the time to complete a project differs greatly depending on the scope of work, so focus on the task at hand.

“You can’t judge the project on the time spent or count the hours worked,” he says. “You have to judge the project on daily, weekly, monthly completion.”

Often being the owner’s representative on site, the superintendent is routinely faced with decisions that can affect the budget.

“Time delays are critical in seasonal climates,” Merkel says. “Missing the growing window can delay a course opening for a year. Switching the grassing from seed to sod can be difficult, but necessary in a time crunch. Dollars spent can be overcome by getting the course open sooner.”

Budgeting can be difficult for both construction and maintenance, he says. Unseen issues like rock and a high water table can cause major changes in planning.

Draffen adds wildlife permits or presence of endangered species, natural buffer areas, noise restrictions, wind/dust restrictions, weather patterns, ability to get construction material (pipe, concrete, steel), and the ability to harvest sod/sprigs from the farm to the growing list of time drains.

“The hardest one to try and ‘fit’ into a schedule is Mother Nature,” he says.

Want a happy owner? Keep a watchful eye on the bottom line and make sure things are done correctly the first time.
“You have to protect the interest of the owner,” he says. “The superintendent is there for the long term ... the contractors are in and out in a short period of time. So things need to be done correctly to have the long term playability and functionality of the course correct. It is much easier to build, shape and move things during construction, compared to after things are done and you need to spend a lot of money to rebuild, reshape, or move things once the course is open.”

Decisions aren’t always black and white – often morphing into shades of gray. Draffen was once faced with the difficult question: Seed with reduced water and run the risk of the grass dying or put the project on hold, wait until water restrictions were lifted and restart the grow-in. Because not following the water restrictions could have led to disciplinary actions – up to and including having water-use permits pulled for the entire community – the team decided to stop grassing and postpone the final six holes for five months.

Water issues are very common, according to Buchen, who says erosion issues caused by storms – or faulty irrigation – is the toughest part of a grow-in. Obviously understanding all the good rain does for an existing course, he’s seen far too many storms waste a lot of hard work.

“I’d rather control the water any day of the week,” he says.


Superintendent input
Steve Merkel, Landscapes Unlimited: “Brown to green. Soil to turf. It is unquestionably a big task, but very satisfying upon completion.” Photo: Firekeeper GC and Landscapes UnlimitedIn Merkel’s opinion, it is critical that the superintendent has the opportunity to provide input on the turfgrass species and varieties, irrigation coverage, the drainage plan and all other potential maintenance practices.

Buchen says most grow-in superintendents are hired when the irrigation goes in, however, though it’s ideal to have the right person in place from Day 1. He’s been asked to consult on design elements outside turfgrass selection, but prefers to “let everyone do their thing.”

“Making a course easier to maintain often leads to a boring course,” he jokes.

While architects don’t always build with functional maintenance in mind, on both of Draffen’s projects, the designer listened in terms of practicality of maintenance of the course. “Bunker faces and bunker construction are huge potential problems,” he says “I was able to have my input on the slope of bunker faces, access points for equipment and mow-ability for our equipment.”

He also had a lot of say in sprinkler placement – providing input for the contractor on the course and driving range.

The maintenance facility was another area in which he could voice his opinion. During his first grow-in, the company allowed his team to design what they felt was needed. It took some time for them to buy into some of the ideas, but in the end he was able to build a fantastic facility.

For superintendents looking to try their hand at growing in a course, Buchen echoes Draffen’s advice to talk with those who’ve been through the experience. “Learn from their pitfalls,” he says. “Use your agronomy training, but use common sense, too.

“Hire the best people you can,” he adds. “Get as many turf students as you can. It’s a career experience. If you go through this, you can anything on any other course.”