2025 Numbers to Know: Adapting, updating and rolling with the times

What will 2035 look like for the average golf course superintendent? Hard to say. What will 2035 look like for longtime industry leader Paul B. Latshaw? Also, hard to say, but the Merion Golf Club director of grounds operations at least knows he wants to still be working in golf a decade from now “in some way, shape or form.”

Latshaw has worked in golf course maintenance for 36 years — the last 33 as a superintendent, manager or director — and his plan right now is to remain at Merion at least through the 2030 U.S. Open. “Past that, I don’t know,” he says. “Do I want to do the 2034 Women’s Open? I’ve never done a Women’s Open.

“I don’t know what retirement would look like. I just don’t know anything else. I’ve been doing this so long and I still love it. I’d like to go as long as I possibly can.”

Latshaw has remained not just relevant but revered for so long in part because of his ability to adapt, update and roll with the times. “When I got into the business, there was a lot of feel,” he says. “And there’s still a lot of feel, but the amount of data points and metrics you have just makes it easier.”

Latshaw rattles off a dozen various agronomic and weather apps on his phone, quickly adding that there are “probably a ton that I’m forgetting.” None of them existed when he was starting out. His cell phone didn’t exist when he was starting out.

“I think technology is going to continue to help make data-based decisions,” Latshaw says. “You look at the (USGA) GS3 (smart ball and Deacon app) and how that’s giving you quantitative data and allowing you to adjust your programs to make sure you get good playing surfaces. You start taking all that information with clipping yields, moisture meter readings, you continue to add information and data to your platform, you’re able to make data-based decisions.

“Obviously, agronomy is a blend of art and science, but the data and the information is really helping make risk/reward decisions.”

After Latshaw returned to Merion at the start of the 2017 season, the board chairman — who is now the board president — told Latshaw that he wanted the agronomy team to employ more quantitative measurements. “We determined course standards, and every month that gets submitted to the board of governors,” Latshaw says. The numbers might swing a bit near the end of summer, but documenting those standards has helped tremendously. “You look at the information, you look at your agronomic programs, and you make the best plan you can. It helps you get a big picture of all the data points.”

Latshaw remains high on autonomous mowers (“they’re going to be a part of the industry”) and social media (“it’s going to be critical”) and Zoom meetings (“it saves the people on the committee time”). He’s just as high on building a solid agronomic base, learning more about business, and teaching his young employees etiquette and life skills. Oh, and actual phone calls.

“Text messaging to me is not the most effective way of communication, because too much gets lost in translation and I think a lot of time people text instead of just picking up the phone and having a conversation,” he says. “Real effective communication is talking with someone on the phone or face to face.”

And he’s high on the industry in general.

“I don’t think there has ever been a better time to get into this side of the industry,” Latshaw says. “You look at how strong golf is, how many courses are being constructed, I think it’s a great opportunity for people to get into the industry. It’s demanding, but it’s a great way to make a living.”

Matt LaWell