For Love Of The Same?

You know how when you land a job and, in your head, you think you most likely will keep the new job for about four or five years until you move on to the next phase in your career? I did that about four times, sticking to the four- or five-year plan on each occasion, before I landed the superintendent position here at Avalon Golf Club in western Washington. This job too, in my grand career plan, was to be about a five-year stop for me.

Well, I just started Year 22 here at Avalon. How in the heck this happened I am not quite sure. Those two decades went by pretty much in a blur.

I can say with complete honesty and certainty that I have never once found this job boring or routine. I have been challenged here since Day One and continue to be to this day. I have never lost the motivation to succeed at this job, and to help make the golf course as good as it can possibly be.

How have I stayed motivated for so long? As I said, it’s been a bit of a blur, so recently I took a few moments to reflect and see just what has kept me so interested in this particular job. How have I stayed motivated for 21 years?

There have been a few factors that have helped contribute to my sustained motivation here at Avalon:

First, who I work for. Having an owner (as in my case) or, for others, a green chairperson, or, for others still, a general manager, who understands and appreciates what we do and allows us to be creative is so vital. But also, just as important, someone who allows us to fail occasionally. No one is ever going to be perfect. And greatness, I believe, cannot be achieved without sometimes taking chances, pushing the envelope, or simply finding a new and better way to get something done.

I think I’ve done a pretty good job as the superintendent here over the years, but that isn’t to say I haven’t made some mistakes. Being able to fail and learn from those mistakes has been incredibly important in my success here, as well as keeping me motivated and invigorated to boldly go into the future.

Another motivational tool for me has been having the ability to change things up — from building new forward and back tees, to shrinking or eliminating bunkers, to clearing areas between holes for light and air movement, to completely reshaping the approaches around each hole, to creating acres of no-mow zones. Having the general acceptance from the owner to use my judgment for many of these course renovations and improvements has been incredibly important for my staff and me.

Motivation has also been easy for me. I’m pretty much a sucker for nature and being outside in said nature. Avalon is built on a beautiful 236-acre plot of land overlooking the Skagit Valley, with the Cascade mountain range in view to our east and the Olympic range to the west. It’s not hard to jump in the cart in the morning and get inspired as the sun rises over the Cascades.

Of all the regular struggles I may encounter on the golf course during any particular day, motivation is not usually (if ever) one of them.

I thought the topic of superintendents who have been at the same club for many years — and how they have stayed motivated — was worth pursuing. I spoke with veteran superintendents like myself, and compiled some pretty interesting feedback.

Ric Kehres has been in the business for 50 years, the last 32 as the superintendent at Louisville Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky. What has kept Ric going for five decades is a simple, yet exceedingly important factor vital to long-term contentment and success at one club: Love what you do.

“Loving what I do is my No. 1 motivation,” Ric tells me. “Providing great conditions on a daily basis to a really good membership that appreciates what we do is big plus also.”

“Seeing the rewards from the crew’s efforts at the end of the week is very satisfying as well,” Ric adds.

Ralph Kepple is director of agronomy at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and has been at the club since 1992. Although many factors have kept Ralph motivated throughout his years at the prestigious club, he credits the Tour Championship, which East Lake has hosted since 2004, as the top motivational tool.

“The tournament has created an opportunity to stay engaged in ways that many clubs don’t have the chance to provide,” Ralph says. “Hosting an annual event as large as the Tour Championship provides plenty of fresh engagement opportunities. The tournament, and all that it encompasses, prevents a degree of stagnation.”

Beyond just hosting the Tour Championship each year, Ralph lists some other motivating factors that have played into keeping his job fresh for so many years.

“I very much enjoy searching for new ways to improve our product,” Ralph says. “Whether it is through new fertility products, pesticides, equipment improvements, cultural practices, etc. I enjoy that challenge.”

East Lake converted their greens from bentgrass to Miniverde ultradwarf Bermudagrass in 2008. “We are constantly searching for ways to improve the putting surface,” Ralph says, “and that conversion in ’08 gave me a chance to learn and develop new programs (fertility, pesticide, cultural, moisture, topdressing, …) and learn how to push the ultradwarf during the summer instead of just trying to survive.”

Ralph says that East Lake is planning a full-scale renovation after this year’s tournament that will include rebuilding tees, fairways, greens and bunkers, as well as reshaping ponds and much more.

“We will be hosting the tournament again in 2024,” Ralph says, “so the project will be on an extremely tight timeframe, and that is a big challenge. But obviously this provides me with a great opportunity to stay engaged.”

John Chassard is the director of greens at Lehigh Country Club in Allentown, Pennsylvania. John has been at the club since 1987. For him, staying motivated and engaged is made easier by the relationships he forges as part of his job.

“This business is about relationships — with your crew, your peers and the people you work for,” John says. “Maximizing the opportunity to invest into those relationships goes a long way.”

John also mentioned the importance of adapting. Self-change, if you will. “Staying relevant and reinventing yourself,” he says. “A peer told me long ago, ‘You are only as good as you are today.’ That has stuck with me. I have tried to live by that. Don’t get too comfortable. Yesterday really doesn’t matter once it’s gone. Mick Jagger got that one right!”

Fred Gehrisch is director of golf course operations at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina. Fred recently transitioned into the general manager role at Highlands Falls after a long run as the club’s superintendent. He has been at the club in some capacity for around a quarter century.

Fred mentioned several things that have kept him motivated over the years, including staying engaged with the other managers at the club and everyone occasionally brainstorming everyone else’s issues together. He also mentioned how he has stayed curious — curious about why we do the things we do and seeing if there is a way to do some things even better.

But one thing Fred said I found particularly interesting: “I’ve always been very competitive,” Fred tells me. “I want to be the best. I just keep pushing myself to do better. Funny thing is, I never feel like I achieve anything. Only take another step closer.”

I think I share this last take of Fred’s. As a longtime golf course superintendent, I also feel like we never really get there. The course can be as good as it’s ever been, but it always seems like we are still striving to get to that perfect place — a place that, most likely, I now realize, may not actually exist for us. Perhaps that is a reason superintendents can stay motivated for many years at the same club, chasing that carrot that we never catch.

Fred also mentions the support of the golfers at Highlands Falls as motivational inspiration. “While there have been times I may have questioned if I wanted to stay at the club,” Fred confesses, “the membership has always been very supportive. The relationships I have been fortunate to have here at the club have been worth their weight in gold. … The grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.”

David Webner is the superintendent at Westwood Country Club in Rocky River, Ohio. He has been at the club since 2000. David summed up his motivation in one word: Pride.

“My pride pushes me,” he says. “The condition of the course is a reflection of my work and that of my team. Staying the same means moving backwards. This requires keeping up with new products, trends and technology.”

David says something else about his motivation that strikes true for me: “Although I know it’s the members’ club, I have always considered it my own course, and I treat it that way.”

That reminds me of an educational seminar I attended years ago at what was then still called the Golf Industry Show. I can’t remember exactly what the seminar was about, but I do remember a superintendent standing up during the class and saying that it was important to remember that the golf courses we work at are not our own courses. We are only employees. He thought a superintendent should never refer to the course they work at as “their course.”

I remember totally disagreeing with this. I’m not much of a public speaker, but I actually stood up after him and rebutted this. I always refer to Avalon as my course. I think that is one of the things that keeps me motivated. Having that investment. That ownership.

That ownership is exactly what keeps me motivated after all these years. Sure, I could lose my job tomorrow and it would no longer be my course. But until that day, the day I’m no longer walking these grounds and making daily and long-term maintenance decisions, this will be my course. And, because of that, I will never lose my desire, commitment and vigor to help make this golf course as great as I can.

That is my motivation.

Ron Furlong is the superintendent at Avalon Golf Club in Burlington, Washington, and a frequent Golf Course Industry contributor.