First impressions, second thoughts and the third degree

First Impressions

For years, I have heard that a ticket to the Masters is the toughest ticket in sports. But it is also one of the great bargains in sports. If you can get a badge with access to the four competitive rounds, it will only cost you $325. And if you are a GCSAA Class A or AA member, the club will give you a complimentary pass each day.

Wow! Imagine a large group (like GCSAA) getting a free pass to the Super Bowl or the World Series. It would never happen.

Now that I am retired, I go each year, and I am never anything less than impressed and overwhelmed by the golf course and the way the tournament operates. Everyone behaves and no one makes a scene or says anything inappropriate. There are no marshals or QUIET signs. There is no yelling or pushing or shoving, and if you park your portable chair at a green to sit in at a later hour, it will be there when you arrive back. It really is hallowed ground. If you ever get the chance to go, you will never regret it. And for all superintendents, a big “thank you” to Mr. Payne and all the club officials for their consideration and respect for golf course superintendents.
 

Second Thoughts

Dr. David Cookson received the USGA Joe Dey Award this year. No one could be more deserving than this guy. Over a half-century of passion, commitment and success didn’t go unnoticed by the USGA. He was a rules official at 90 USGA championships, including 25 U.S. Opens, served on three USGA committees, and was a force at the Evans Scholars chapter at Wisconsin. His gift of time and commitment to amateur golf in our state is unparalleled, all at a time when he was practicing medicine. In a video produced by the USGA, PGA Tour players Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly both chimed in to explain how important Dr. C was to their careers. If you get a chance to watch it, it would be worth your time.

I just wish the USGA had asked a superintendent about Dr. Cookson and how he had a role in our professional development. Dr. Cookson lived across the street from our 15th fairway on the shore of Lake Mendota, although he belonged to a golf club across town. I worked at that club one summer and watched closely how he operated as a green committee chair. He was organized, met early every Monday morning and had a pleasant way about him. It’s not that he wasn’t demanding – he was – but he worked to understand our profession and appreciated what was reasonable and what was not. He was a defender when he needed to be, and an advocate when it helped.

I got to know him better and better as the years went by, and asked him to write a column for our chapter publication when I first started as the editor. He agreed, and we called it “A Player’s Perspective.” His pieces were submitted handwritten, were bold, yet reasonable, and were fun to read.

One summer, when I was the WGCSA president, I asked him to speak at the meeting that was held in town. This was back when we had lunch, golf and a sit-down dinner. A coat and tie was required. He joined us for dinner, gave his talk and afterward offered praise for our professionalism. “I didn’t know if I was speaking before an audience of bankers or golf course superintendents,” he said. It was a high compliment.

I mention this only because of that excellent video of Dr. Cookson and his career outside of medicine. There wasn’t one word about golf turf, superintendents, green committees, course management or Dr. Cookson’s contributions in our corner of golf. I thought it was a significant oversight, one that would have enhanced his award.

Third Degree

Speaking of chapter meetings requiring a coat and tie to attend, not too long ago at a chapter meeting held at the same private club, we had a sit-down dinner and a speaker afterwards. I looked around and marveled at how the times have changed. No one was wearing gym shorts or work clothes or a shirt with holes in it, but all variations of jeans and shorts and golf shirts was the norm.

While I cannot argue against that, I finally had to get up from my table and ask a dozen guys,” Is your head cold?” or “Do you wear a hat at dinner at home with your family?” My questions received a few dirty looks, but the hats came off and a number of members were glad I did it. You can only get away with that if you are “an old guy!”

Monroe Miller retired after 36 years as superintendent at Blackhawk CC in Madison, Wis. He is a recipient of the 2004 USGA Green Section Award, the 2009 GCSAA Col. John Morley DSA Award,  and is the only superintendent in the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame. Reach him at groots@charter.net.