The other side of the aisle

It’s quite different being on the other side of the aisle.

When you’re going from being at the national show for 30 years as a Class A superintendent to going as a vendor, it’s a change, but I have really enjoyed it. That brotherhood of superintendents is just amazing. The golf world, while very large, is also very small. The contacts and the relationships from my 30-plus-year career as an agronomist are neat to experience now as a vendor. Being able to go in-person and see some of these awesome properties is just a treat.

It’s neat to see other high-end clubs because that’s the type of course I managed. The issues are the same. It doesn’t make a difference if it’s in Scottsdale, Arizona, or Jupiter, Florida, everybody deals with basically the same player- and member-driven issues, even if they are in totally different climates.

Dealing with the many talented people in the business is fun. There are so many different operations and maintenance facilities. Physically seeing operations in various parts of the country is eye-opening.

As a golf course superintendent, you’re showcasing overall agronomy as your talent. Now I’m just purely a bunker specialist, which is cool. At every club in the country and beyond, it’s basically sand. It can be different textures and consistencies and the quality of sand changes, but it’s all sand. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Italy, Costa Rica or California, it’s all just sand. What we are doing is so bunker specific, and everybody has the same issue. You can be in Scottsdale dealing with grasses that are totally different than the ones in South Florida, but bunkers are pretty much bunkers regardless of where you go.

I never thought I could make a post-retirement career in bunkers. The late 1990s were the infancy of bunker liners and who would have thought then that it would morph into the business that it is today? Now it’s an industry within the industry. That goes along with the expectations for bunker quality and play. Clubs are paying $275 per ton for bunker sand. When you’re spending that kind of money for bunker sand, you want to protect that investment and get as much longevity out of that investment as possible. Bunker liners are playing a huge role in that now.

When you’re at high-end private clubs, you are selling your abilities and yourself when each green committee changes. It’s just a non-stop presentation of your skills and what you want to achieve on your golf course. Being able to communicate with a vast array of professionals to get your point across as a golf course superintendent is just a perfect segue into doing the same thing with other superintendents in sales. You’re selling what you want to do on the golf course as a superintendent — yourself, your team and your programs — to the powers that be so they can give you what you need to be as much of a success as you can. You’re trying to get as much money and capital as you can to achieve the goals of the club and yourself. Those skills translate greatly into post-superintendent possibilities.

Not going to the golf course every day is different. It’s weird not being weather-dependent. You go from watching the forecast three times per day to going, it is what it is. The daily or even the weekly weather conditions don’t necessarily affect what I’m doing anymore. That was kind of different.

I absolutely love what I’m doing. It helps having been a tenured superintendent because other superintendents tend to appreciate your input or viewpoint a little bit more than if I was trying to do this having not been a superintendent. Being a superintendent at a high-end club has really helped, too.

I always respected the vendors who called on me who respected my time by making an appointment and showing up on time. Superintendents are so busy. Mondays are horrible for trying to make a sales call, because that’s when superintendents are the busiest. Fridays are second-worst, because they are trying to wrap things up for the week. It’s being very cognizant of a superintendent’s time. Now that I’m a vendor, I try to do the same.

My first sales call was certainly different. Fortunately, I had 15 years of experience with the product I’m selling. Confidence and knowledge in what you’re selling helps. Being the first one in the country to put in the Bunker Solution bunker lining system made me probably more knowledgeable about the product than anybody besides our company owner, Kevin Clark. I knew how the product performed, but I was a little nervous the first time I oversaw an installation.

The pressure is that you want customers to see your way of thinking. Some people have never heard of what you’re selling and it’s different trying to get superintendents to see the benefit of what I’m trying to provide. For me, particularly, as a vendor — and maybe it’s different for others — the pressures are not that extreme. That’s where I feel so fortunate. We’re getting more inquiries than I’m making cold calls. It’s like riding a wave. When I started with Kevin, it was like jumping on a surfboard at a small wave. Now the wave is really, really tall, and we’re rolling with it.

The future is bright in the golf market. Most contractors, especially in Florida, are already booked for 2024. If you want to do something, you better start locking up contractors for 2025 or you’re not going to be doing anything until 2026. That’s a wonderful thing. The golf boom that was reinvigorated during COVID is showing no signs of slowing down.

Superintendents must plan, research and talk with other superintendents who have been through recent renovations or projects, particularly in their region. They can give you the background. No matter how well-intentioned plans are, if you don’t have a good contractor and a way to get those plans executed, the project is not going to be executed the way everybody wants. Use your fellow superintendents as resources. Research, research, research.

My workday is quite different. I’m in my home office every morning at 7. It’s different than being in the office by 5:30 a.m. I was used to getting up so early. You’re now handling bids throughout the day. I travel around a week a month. Other than flying and the airport aspect of travel — I have had so many flights delayed and spent countless hours in airports — once you get to the clubs you want to get to and finally get to your appointments, it’s so worth it. Anybody who’s a golf aficionado and likes golf courses couldn’t ask for a better job.

I wasn’t handed this on a silver platter. I had 30 years of work as a Class A superintendent with 30 years of contacts and relationships. That has massively helped what I’m doing now.

The timing couldn’t have been better. It was during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and we were 18 months post-reopening from a massive Tom Fazio renovation that started in 2015. It massively changed the golf course from erosion along Buffalo Bayou. We had to bring the Fazio people back in, we had to move a green, we had to move cart paths and multiple bunkers.

I called Kevin and told him, I need 40,000 square feet more of the Bunkers Solution. I couldn’t get a hold of him for three or four days. It kept saying: VOICEMAIL BOX IS FULL. I finally got a hold of him, and I said, Kevin, you can’t sell this stuff if you don’t answer the phone. He said, Morris, I have gotten so busy. He broached the subject of me helping him at some point. I told him I wanted to finish the bayou restoration project. When that was completed, it was right at my 20-year tenure mark at River Oaks. I thought that just might work out perfectly. We started talking more and more, and I got more and more excited.

Having the ability to leave a club of that stature on your own terms with the golf course being in great shape, the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was just perfect. In hindsight, it was probably the smartest thing I have ever done. I gave the club six months’ notice right around my 20th anniversary. The club was so appreciative that I had given them so much notice to look for my replacement and there was an easy transition with the local knowledge of the golf course. They treated me incredibly well. They had retirement parties. It was a celebration of my time at River Oaks. I then transitioned to this job right after I left River Oaks. It has been awesome ever since. I feel very blessed with how things have worked out.

Morris Johnson is the national sales director for Bunker Solution. He previously spent 20 years as the superintendent at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. This is his second Turfheads Take Over contribution.