Hannah Orr

When Hannah Orr applied for the superintendent’s position at Shadow Ridge Country Club in Omaha, Nebraska, she was on familiar ground. She had been an assistant at the club for 18 months and had a broad range of responsibilities. But she was hesitant about taking on the top job at the private, family-owned club until the crew convinced her it would be a good fit.

“When I was hesitant about taking the job, the crew was very supportive,” she recalls. “They were like, ‘You’ve been doing the job, and you’ve been doing your job and the head job for the last two years. You might as well get paid for it.’”

That was in October 2023. Sixteen months later, Orr is comfortable in her role.

“I feel pretty good,” she says. “I have a very good, supportive team. Everybody kind of filled the pieces of the puzzle that we needed to make my life easy. We have great horticulturalists, great irrigation, I have a great assistant and mechanic. Everybody says the course is the best it’s ever been. That’s really good to hear. It makes my job easy when everybody’s happy. I’m glad I did it. It was very much a leap of faith.”

Orr has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Concordia University in Wisconsin and an undergraduate certificate in turfgrass science and management from Penn State. Over the course of her career, she has worked not only in golf but also in baseball for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and Omaha Storm Chasers. Appearing on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with host Rick Woelfel, Orr explains why she decided to focus on golf.

“I feel like ballfields are so repetitive,” she says. “You’re doing the exact thing every day. There’s not a lot of variety. A small crew, a small area. And I feel like with golf courses you never have the same day twice. A large crew, a large area, always. It’s much more enjoyable for me.”

They’ve never seen it and they’re going to push back a little bit. In my younger years, that really bothered me. Now that I’m older, I’ve got some thick skin. And, if you don’t like it, you can go.”

At Shadow Ridge, Orr leads a crew of 22 during the peak season — nine of them full-timers. She is very much a hands-on leader.

“That is what I enjoy,” she says. “I love running equipment. And that is kind of why being the head super I prefer to be on the scene. I bring my office on my cart with me and my notebook is always with me, because I don’t enjoy being in my office. I want to be out with the crew. I love mowing fairways. I try to get on every piece of equipment as much as I can. Because if you’re not doing it, you’re not seeing it.

“I think it’s very important to get out with the crew. Because you need to see everything from every angle, every point of view.”

Orr attended the GCSAA’s Women’s Leadership Academy this past November.

“I forget they actually exist,” she says about other women working in the industry. “When someone introduces themselves and says, ‘I’m a female superintendent out in California,’ and it’s a female, my age, I almost can’t believe it.

“It was mind-blowing to me to walk into a room and have 30 other women who are also in the industry with the same feelings as you, who have had the same experiences as you. It was awesome. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I hope I can go every year.”

Orr is looking forward to volunteering at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. In the meantime, she has plenty to keep her busy at Shadow Ridge. She notes how the industry has evolved. She thinks back to earlier in her career when some of the men she supervised were uncomfortable working under a woman.

“They’ve never seen it and they’re going to push back a little bit,” she says. “In my younger years, that really bothered me. Now that I’m older, I’ve got some thick skin. And, if you don’t like it, you can go.”