My friend Tom

I first met the late Tom Weiskopf in 1979 when I was an agronomist for the PGA Tour. He aspired to be a golf course architect and we had some nice conversations regarding the agronomy side of golf course design and construction. Tom and Jay Morrish became partners in 1985 and they designed more than 25 memorable courses over their 14 years together. Tom used to marvel at Jay’s many talents, especially how he could draw a topographical map of a new golf course design by hand without the aid of a CAD system.

In 1990, I was the first employee hired at the Double Eagle Club outside Columbus, Ohio. Jay had open heart surgery shortly after construction started, so Tom made site visits every seven to 10 days from his home in Phoenix. One day, Tom called me up and asked me to go to the sixth hole, a par 5. At exactly 11 a.m., he wanted me to stake a target bunker on the left side by placing wire flags at 275 yards from the back tees exactly where the tree shadows lied, which famously became The Shadow Bunker.

Tom was playing a practice round at Double Eagle prior to the grand opening and he sank a long putt on the fifth green and said to me, “Terry, sinking a long putt is better than having sex!” I said, “Are you sure about that, Tom?” He replied, “You better believe it,” and he started laughing hysterically, like he did quite often. His passion for golf course design was endless, and his most famous design feature was the drivable par 4, along with playable, enjoyable, risk-reward courses for all skill levels.

Tom and I ate lunch many times at a local restaurant when he was doing site visits at Double Eagle. His fans used to come up to our table to talk with him and he completely ignored them, as he did not like to be disturbed while eating meals or in the middle of our conversations. Once we were done with lunch, he would graciously sign autographs and talk with his legion of fans just like nothing happened.

Shortly after Tom and Jay went their separate ways, Tom partnered with Phil Smith, a very talented Jack Nicklaus protégé. When I started my agronomy consulting business after leaving Double Eagle in 1996, I worked with Tom on his projects with Jay and Phil. His enthusiasm and excitement for design was contagious. He did not like leaving each site visit because he was having so much fun.

Tom and I used to talk on the phone a lot during the past 30-plus years. He would call me and always ask what was new in the golf business, and then we would share stories about what he was up to. Tom had a mind like an elephant. He could recall any topic about his storied career. It always fun to listen to Tom laugh, so I really liked telling him funny human interest stories about our mutual friends in the golf business.

Tom famously did not like to use emails or texts, so I would email or text his wife, Laurie, to run something by him and I always would get a warm, quick response. When Tom did not feel like answering his cell phone, I would call Laurie and she would put him on the line.

When Tom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000, Laurie performed extensive research about where he should receive treatment, settling on MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, regarded as the best pancreatic cancer hospital in the world. Tom went through a 13-hour surgery where they rebuilt his entire digestive system. He subsequently lost more than 30 pounds and weighed the same as he did during his prime tournament days. He then went on a strict diet, which he followed religiously. Tom and Laurie went back to MD Anderson in 2021 for a follow-up visit and he was diagnosed 100 percent cancer-free. It was one of the most exciting and happy times that I have witnessed after being a friend of Tom for all these years.

I once asked Tom his thoughts about his possible future enshrinement into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He replied, “It is for the voters and committee to decide,” and he never said another word about it, even when I prodded him further. Tom had a reputation for having a temper during his prime tournament career, but I never saw that side of him. He quit drinking 22 years ago and he said his wild side from the 1960s through the 1980s was long over, and that he was never happier — especially after he married Laurie.

In spring 2021, Laurie ordered a new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter RV, customized for them to travel and to go dry camping during Tom’s passion for hunting. I volunteered to drive the RV from Reno to their home in Big Sky, Montana. Tom was very excited when I pulled into his driveway in July 2021. Their first road trip was to St. George, Utah, for a site visit to Black Desert, one of Tom’s and Phil’s new course designs. They had a great time. While I was in Big Sky, Tom, Laurie, Phil and I had dinner and spent quality time together. Tom told many of his great, entertaining golf stories and he let me hold and be photographed with his 1973 The Open Championship winner’s trophy, which he won at Royal Troon.

One of the saddest times in my life was when Tom’s pancreatic cancer rapidly and extensively returned in April 2022. Tom and I spoke over the next four months, and he never complained about the pain he was going through. He always remained positive, upbeat for his love of life, and we still had very nice conversations until the end on August 20, 2022. Tom was 79 when he died.

I miss Tom a lot and think about him every day. I miss his sense of humor, friendship, enthusiasm for life, laughter, insight, passion for golf course design, loyalty, family ties, friendship with Phil, love for Laurie, watching his fantastic golf swing and his friendly smile. Tom is in a better place. He surely is missed.

Terry Buchen, CGCS, MG, is Golf Course Industry’s senior contributing technical editor and author of the monthly “Travels with Terry” column.

In Memoriam

Kohler executive chairman and golf developer Herb Kohler, Jr. died Sept. 3, in Kohler, Wisconsin. He was 83. His bold ideas and hands-on leadership transformed the plumbing products manufacturer founded by his grandfather into a global and diverse family of businesses synonymous with unmatched quality, creativity, and bold innovation. Kohler devoted decades of time and effort to building golf in Wisconsin, helping launch Pete Dye’s Blackwolf Run in 1988 and Pete and Alice Dye’s Whistling Straits in 1998, among other courses. He received the GCSAA’s 2016 Old Tom Morris Award. … ASGCA past president and ASGCA Fellow Gerald (Jerry) Matthews died Sept. 15 in Mackinac Island, Michigan. He was 88. Part of multiple generations of Matthews who have positively impacted golf in Michigan — including his father, Bruce, and nephew, W. Bruce — Matthews designed or renovated more than 200 golf courses. He started in the golf industry when he was 12, working for his father on the maintenance crew at Green Ridge Country Club.

Tartan Talks No. 75

Brian Costello attended college to learn how to design outdoor landscapes in urban settings. His career has been defined by his ability to design outdoor spaces that help people escape the urban bustle.

Costello, a longtime partner of JMP Golf Design Group, joined the Tartan Talks podcast to discuss a 33-year (and counting) run as a golf course architect. His jump to golf followed a stint as a landscape architect in his native Bay Area.

Designing golf courses resulted in Costello becoming more well-traveled than he ever imagined. His firm has designed and renovated courses in Asia, South America, Europe and the United States. In fact, Costello says “he cut his teeth” as a golf course architect by working in Japan during the country’s golf boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“Even though sometimes there might be a language barrier, there’s a universal understanding of golf,” Costello says. “Birdie, bogey, par translate across a lot of different countries. One of the best experiences for me is to see how golf is appreciated across so many different cultures.”

Costello and his partner, Bob Moore, have worked in Asia more than any other continent. To learn more about Costello’s career and how he has helped introduce golf to new places, download the podcast on the Superintendent Radio Network page of any popular distribution platform.

Are students surging back to turf school?

Not necessarily, according to multiple professors. But the passion and industry job prospects continue to soar.

By Cassidy Gladieux

While the COVID-19 pandemic initially closed nearly everything, one thing it opened was people’s minds to golf. The National Golf Foundation reported a net increase of 800,000 golfers over the past two years, the largest surge in almost two decades. And with more golfers comes more responsibility.

For young job seekers hoping to jump into that responsibility, getting a certificate or degree may be their first step. With more than 60 schools offering turfgrass management programs, it seems like the options are wide, but they are, in fact, very limited.

“Turfgrass programs are an endangered species across the U.S.,” says Timothy Marten, an associate professor at SUNY Cobleskill. “They are one of the fastest-declining program areas in the broader bookshelf that is plant science. So, if you’re looking for species that are on the endangered list, turfgrass programs are sliding all the way over into the critically endangered.”

Low enrollment numbers and interest levels have caused some universities to adjust by adding their program as a minor or implementing a new certificate program.

“At Oregon State, we have started a certificate program that a person can accomplish in a year,” says associate professor Dr. Alec Kowalewski. “I think what that does for the current industry trend is you have a lot of people that are working in golf courses that don’t have formal education. Now there’s another way for them to get educated, continue working on that golf course and now have to go and get a degree.”

The certificate program at Oregon State currently has around 20 people.

Despite having to make new course and program accommodations, the danger of losing the program does nothing to thwart aspiring and current turfgrass management students’ attitudes toward the profession. They are still eager to enter the workforce toting the valuable experience and knowledge these programs provide.

“I think there’s a lot of excitement in turfgrass management because the golf courses have been so busy,” Kowalewski says. “It seems like for a long time, it was not a popular thing to do, but with all the golfing now there’s a lot more intense attention toward golf as a recreation event, which then I think draws more employees in because there’s just more energy going into it.”

It takes a special type of student to pursue turfgrass management.

“The ones that are coming in are the ones that are more diehard,” SUNY Cobleskill professor Dr. Alex Ellram says. “They are mainly students that have already worked on a golf course, or they have played golf, and so they have a stronger — it seems to me at this point, anyway — desire to stay in the industry.”

And they have plenty of reason to, with higher wages and more benefits.

“The job opportunities are obviously amazing, right?” Ellram says. “They are trying to make it more appealing by not making the hours quite as demanding. There’s more of a tendency to do that. And there’s also more of a tendency to try and recruit from within and really push the people that are already there to stay and maybe go on for education than maybe there used to be in the past.”

For professor Dr. Doug Linde, being successful involves making a conscious effort to promote the program at Delaware Valley College in suburban Philadelphia.

“Years ago, I used to make a brochure to print and send those out to students,” he says. “And now instead of that energy, I’ll take some pictures and put them on social media.”

Not only have professors and faculty had to change the way they recruit students, but once they get those students, they must keep them around and ensure their success. One way to do that is by adapting and appealing to the generational learning differences. “My teaching style has changed because you notice and get feedback like, ‘Well, that isn’t working’ and most of my colleagues have adjusted a little bit as well,” Linde says.

The future of turfgrass management programs nationwide remains precarious despite the golf surge. But those within the industry continue exuding passion about developing the next generation of turf managers.

“The ones that are coming in are strong,” Ellram says. “There’s just not as many of them.”

Cassidy Gladieux is a Kent State University senior and Golf Course Industry contributor.

Industry buzz

The GCSAA recently created the Larry Powell Scholarship, named for the longtime superintendent of Clearview Golf Course in Canton, Ohio. The scholarship is administered by the GCSAA Foundation and will focus on students in underserved populations seeking a career in golf course and turfgrass management. Clearview was established by Powell’s father, Bill Powell, in 1948, and remains the only course to be Black-designed, -constructed and -owned. The Powell family, including Larry’s sister, Renee Powell — the second African-American player in LPGA history — was awarded the GCSAA’s Old Tom Morris Award in 2019. … Kevin P. Sunderman, CGCS, is the new chief operating officer for the GCSAA. Sunderman has more than 19 years of experience in professional golf course management — including the last 17 as director of grounds at Isla Del Sol Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, Florida — as well as years of experience in the financial services sector. He has served on the GCSAA Board of Directors since 2017 and was elected vice president earlier this year. He succeeds 46-year GCSAA member Bob Randquist in the position. … Bryce Koch, CGCS at Cypress Lake Golf Club in Fort Myers, was elected as the Florida GCSA’s 21st president last month. … Elsewhere in Florida, the new Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens announced Steve Ehrbar as its first director of agronomy. He moved over from Old Marsh Golf Club along with director of golf Tom Dyer. Julie O’Neill is the club’s first director of membership. … Austin Marsteller recently joined Central Turf & Irrigation Supply as its new turf category director for chemicals. … Colin Ewart is the new key accounts manager for Profile Products, working mostly in the Western United States. … Private label manufacturer Hocking International recently promoted Scott Messer and Joe Enciso to director of the agriculture business unit and director of the turf and ornamentals business unit, respectively, and hired former superintendent Eric Skorich and Jeremy Buhl as area sales managers. … Audubon International recently partnered with the Diploma in Turfgrass Management program at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, to assist in training students in environmental sustainability, ethical land stewardship and stakeholder communications. … SePRO’s Cutless MEC and Legacy PGRs were recently approved by the EPA to be used on non-golf turf, including sports fields. … Prime Source announced the registration of its new Triad T Select herbicide.