Why do you retire?

A few years back I asked a superintendent about my age, “Why did you retire?” I couldn’t understand it. He was likely the best paid among us in the state, operated with a formidable budget and was employed by one of the finest private country clubs in the country.

His reply? “Because I can.” A dozen years later, I can understand what he was saying.

I’ve been asked the same question plenty of times, most recently in an email from a GCI reader. He expressed frustration many superintendents feel – some insecurity about his employer and golf’s future, an age that could keep him from making even a lateral move, and an inadequate retirement fund. Since I wasn’t confronted with those specific problems when I hung up my cup cutter, he asked me, “Why did you retire?”

Where do I begin? I guess at some point you begin to realize you’re on life’s back nine. At the age of 60, with an expectation (and hope) of living until 90, you’re on the 13th tee. An awareness of one’s mortality really sets in at that age, and you start realizing you only have one life and a single chance to do all the things you want to do. It gets to be high time to get started on those things.

It’s only natural that as you age, your energy level is likely to diminish. And golf course management requires a lot of energy. Frankly, I tired of getting to work at 5 a.m. every day, the only way I knew how to operate. Further, I had been working hard most of my life, a former farm kid who was up helping with milking and chores from the age of 10. Add in college and golf course work, Army service in Vietnam, and 36 years as a superintendent. No wonder I was tired!

Health can be an issue. In my case, it was skin cancer, high blood pressure and eyesight. For my wife, it was cancer. I absolutely did not want to crash and burn while I was working well into my 60s.

I often thought about BB King, who was a philosopher as much as a musician. His advice: “Hey everybody let’s have some fun! You only live but once, and when you’re dead, you’re done. So let the good times roll!”

What BB was really talking about to me was a bucket list. If you have one, at some point you have to get going on it. We love to travel, are completely taken with our six grandchildren and have 30 years of genealogical material to synthesize.

Retirement has allowed me to finally say I have visited all 50 states. We are ready to make our second trip to Europe to wrap up the research on both our families. Then comes the task of putting all that information and all those photos into a story that will make a sizeable book. It will take a lot of time, but time is what I now have. I also have time to go to antique tractor shows, state fairs around the Midwest, Broadway plays once in a while, sports games, church and community activities, and read books. I’ll stop there.

Of course, there is no sense in even thinking about retiring unless you are financially able. The amount of money you’ll need is elusive and different for each of us, depending on what you want to do in retirement. Cheryl and I were careful spenders and good savers. My profession made owning a boat or a cabin “up nort” difficult. I didn’t really care for skiing, snowmobiling or hunting. Money we might have spent in these ways was put into the retirement sock. Once we owned our house and paid for three kids’ undergraduate educations, our nest egg grew more quickly than even I would have thought possible. So when I was eligible for Medicare at 62, I retired.

I lucked out and was given a great part-time job (something I never even considered), and that job made our financial situation even better. I am giving that up at the end of the year, to devote full-time to retirement!

All in all, as I have age 70 in my sights, I couldn’t be happier. A friend of mine, who is my age, told me recently he is becoming adept at doing very little . . . slowly! George Carlin, another modern day philosopher, saw life through a set of eyes more in line with what I feel and try to do when he said: “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy Sh*t . . . what a ride!”

What more can I say than that?

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.