Lifelong learner

Lee McLemore arrived at the Country Club of Birmingham as an assistant superintendent in March 1987. He landed the top job by May. Given his youthful appearance, you might wonder exactly how old he was during that first whirlwind season.

“I was 12,” McLemore says with a deadpan delivery. “I struggled with organic chemistry a little bit at that age, but I got through.”

In reality, McLemore was 23 and fresh from the loveliest village on the Plains, having just graduated from the turfgrass management program at Auburn University. He had landed internships at the club — which features 36 holes originally designed by Donald Ross — for both the 1985 and ’86 summers, and was hired as an assistant superintendent for the ’87 season. Shortly before he started, he learned that his predecessor would be heading south to work on a Florida course with Pete Dye and P.B. Dye. The club still wanted him to start as an assistant. They also wanted him to interview for the superintendent position. “They brought in some really big names,” McLemore says, “but they hired me. I was not ready for that position at that age, obviously.”

McLemore says he was blessed to be surrounded by excellent mentors. A recently retired construction company head. An Auburn turf professor still beloved in the industry. A host of Alabama superintendents happy to help the new kid. “You just have to surround yourself with good people, and you got to let the pride down and ask for help when you need it,” he says. “That was the key.” That and building up a staff with people who had a commitment to quality work.

Now the director of golf course operations, McLemore has managed to bring in or retain great people, and keep them for years or decades. Landscape superintendent Jeff Rainwater has worked at the club for more than 20 years. East Course superintendent Bobby Knight is at 29 years. West Course superintendent Tim Kocks is at 39 years. Seven of the 30 or so full-time maintenance team members are at 20 or more years.

The decades have been filled with projects and special moments: the 2013 U.S. Mid-Am Championship, a 2019 East Course renovation with architect John LaFoy, and regular visits from and work with Pete Dye throughout the 2000s following his 1980s West Course renovation. Lots of learning occurred along the way.

“You have to always be challenging yourself to get better,” McLemore says. “Can you do things better? Can you change the way you’ve done it? And there are lots of things we’re doing differently today than we did, five, 10 or 30 years ago.”

Including labor-intensive maintenance of the West Course, which is filled with fly- and hand-mow areas. The Country Club of Birmingham is among the first courses in the country to test a variety of products. McLemore long ago introduced plant growth regulators, including SePRO’s Legacy, on those hard-to-mow areas, as well as on fairways — normally 12 to 24 ounces per acre, depending on the time of year. Cutless Granular and QuickStop are used to manage landscape plant growth, and SeClear and Captain XTR are utilized to control algae in lakes.

He has also used Legacy in many of the club’s numerous shaded turf areas. “Typically in the South, you give Bermudagrass the least little bit of shade and it’s not going to grow,” he says. “You hold your hand over it and it doesn’t like it. We have almost 12 acres of cool-season turf in shady areas. Where we really started using some of the SePRO products was in those areas trying to control Poa annua. We knew that was going to be a challenge, so that’s where we started using Legacy, from really a seedhead suppression standpoint. We were finding there was so much Poa in there it was putting more seed pressure on all our Bermuda areas too. Once we started using Legacy in those areas, it really did a great job of controlling that seedhead. Now it’s hard to find the Poa and the bluegrass/fescue growth is much easier to manage.”

Managing people is, at times, far less challenging.

“This is just a special place,” McLemore says. “It’s a beautiful, unique piece of property that Donald Ross was able to craft 36 holes out of. And what makes this place special is the people. The members we work for are a very appreciative group who really treat you like family.” 