Hello, Wisconsin!

Rare is the turf pro who works their whole career at just one golf course. Rarer still is the turf pro who does so within the borders of their hometown.

Craig Sondergaard is a part of that small group. A native of Racine, Wisconsin — a city of about 80,000 located 20 miles south of Milwaukee and 60 miles north of Chicago that was once rated the most affordable place to live in the world — he caddied as a teenager at Racine Country Club. After shifting over to course maintenance, he quickly climbed the ladder at the 114-year-old institution from intern, to assistant superintendent, to superintendent, landing the top job before he turned 26. “I was just in the right place at the right time,” he says with more than a modicum of Midwest modesty.

To be fair, Sondergaard has worked outside of the club, just not on another golf course. After his caddie loops, he baked pizzas for a while at a local Papa Murphy’s alongside his girlfriend, Meagan. But they were planning their wedding at the time — they’ll celebrate a decade of marriage later this year — and needed a little extra money. Sondergaard returned to the golf course for a dollar more per hour. Even factoring in the seasonal nature of his early work, it turned out to be a pretty good move.

His days in the pizza kitchen also provided Sondergaard with enough culinary capability to survive in America’s Dairyland. Food is everywhere in Wisconsin: ButterBurgers and cheese curds at Culver’s, Danish Kringle at Racine’s O&H Bakery, beer and brats at just about every tailgate and party. Racine Country Club is no different. Sondergaard normally budgets three or four cookouts every year for the 18-person team — with all funds collected from the maintenance building soda machine — deferring grillmaster duties to foreman Ruben Almaraz and his steak tacos. “If we’re grilling,” Sondergaard says, “it’s usually steak tacos.”

Sondergaard does tend regularly to his home grills; he has both a Weber propane and a Blackstone. He recently developed a recipe for grilled shrimp tacos, accented with jicama slaw and fresh Mexican crema that was published in the 2022 Turfheads Guide to Grilling, part of our December Turfheads Take Over issue. That recipe landed Sondergaard and the Racine Country Club maintenance team a #TurfheadsGrilling cookout earlier this month — with longtime #TurfheadsGrilling sponsor AQUA-AID Solutions and Golf Course Industry behind the Char-Broil propane grill.

Editor-in-chief Guy Cipriano applied his grilling skills to dozens of cheeseburgers and brats — he admits he was a little nervous about grilling brats for a bunch of Wisconsin natives — and the team filled up before heading home a little early thanks to a state event on the course.

Will Sondergaard land a spot in our third annual Turfheads Guide to Grilling? He has less than five months to create and submit another recipe — and so do you! The recipe guide will be printed in our December issue, and the deadline for submissions is Friday, November 3. Everybody in the industry — superintendents, assistants, equipment technicians, foremen like Almaraz, crew members, researchers, sales folks, and more — is encouraged to submit a recipe. Everybody who sends in a recipe and photo will receive #TurfheadsGrilling swag, and those selected for the guide will receive a #TurfheadsGrilling gift box — and a chance to have us come and grill for you and your team next year.

Oh, and some good news for whoever lands that 2024 cookout: After the pressure of grilling brats for a team of cheeseheads, Cipriano says he’s now more confident with a spatula in his hand.

Matt LaWell is Golf Course Industry’s managing editor.

Tartan Talks 84

David Johnson listens intently to superintendents when pursuing and beginning golf course renovations. On a Tartan Talks podcast appearance, Johnson enthusiastically lauds the superintendents involved in some of his recent work.

We won’t reveal the names in this space. You can hear them by downloading the episode from the Superintendent Radio Network page on popular podcast distribution platforms. But here’s how Johnson approaches the architect-superintendent relationship:

“In many cases as an architect, we enter a project with little history or familiarity of a course,” he says. “It’s essential for us to lean on the expertise of the superintendent to get us to speed. For a project to succeed, there must be a collaboration between the superintendent and architect.”

The Atlanta-based Johnson has been involved in successful collaborations since landing a position with Bob Cupp in 1989. Johnson established his own firm in 2000 and a mix of municipal, daily-fee and private facilities in the Southeast comprise his client list.

Johnson also coaches the boys and girls golf teams at Atlanta’s Midtown High School. The gig gives him an ideal spot to observe golf’s growth among younger generations. Midtown had just 10 boys on its roster when Johnson took over the program five years ago. The roster has swelled to 33 players. Midtown added a girls program in 2019 and nine players competed for the school in 2023.

“A lot of juniors were introduced to golf during the pandemic,” Johnson says. “I see evidence of this on our teams. A lot of players have told me they have only played for a couple of years. The opportunity to grow the game with youth exists here in Atlanta and other corners of the country.”

COURSE NEWS

Mesa Country Club in Arizona is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a significant Andy Staples renovation highlighted by rebuilt greens, renovated greenside bunkers and a new irrigation system designed to reduce water usage. … Andrew Green is leading the Pine Course renovation at Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Florida. The project includes new tees, improved bunkers, wider fairways and larger greens. … Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, is closed through late September for a four-month greens and bunker restoration. The new TifEagle Bermudagrass greens will be 48 percent larger than before. Nicklaus Design associate Troy Vincent will lead the project. … Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Ivins, Utah — Tom Weiskopf’s final design — opened for play in late May. Weiskopf laid out the course with architect Phil Smith, and superintendent Ken Yates and team tend to it. … The Dunas Course at Terras da Comporta, David McLay Kidd’s first mainland European course, recently opened for play about an hour south of Lisbon, Portugal. … The 36-hole Raintree Country Club in Charlotte; the 36-hole Highland Park Golf Course in Highland Hills, Ohio; Ocean Shores Golf Course in Ocean Shores, Washington; and the new T-36 at Baytown double-loop golf course in Baytown, Texas; all picked Troon for management needs. … In Virginia, Lexington Golf & Country Club picked Landscapes Golf Management to handle its operations.

PEOPLE NEWS

Parker Ferrin of Copperleaf Golf Club in Bonita Springs, Florida; Lydell Mack of Big Canoe Golf Club in Jasper, Georgia; and Steven Murphy of Ole Miss Golf Club in Oxford, Mississippi; were selected as GCSAA Grassroots Ambassador Leadership Award winners. … The GCSAA launched a workforce opportunities initiative to address the industry’s labor challenges, with Leann Cooper named senior manager of First Green and workforce development. … The association also named David Dettmer as its new field staff representative for the Southeast region. … Golf course architect Frank Jemsek is the 2023 recipient of the ASGCA’s Donald Ross Award. He will receive the award in October at the association’s annual meeting in Milwaukee. … Longtime golf course architecture and construction veteran Art Schaupeter is the new vice president for Casa Verde Golf. … Prime Source proprietary products manager Steve Jedrzejek recently retired after more than 40 years in the turf and ornamental industries. Matt Wilkinson steps into that role for the company. … PBI-Gordon hired Matt Steward as senior director of national accounts and Patrick Bastron as a sales representative for Illinois and Indiana. … Jason Schwartz is the new East Coast regional sales manager for Underhill. … SePRO hired Marc Snyder as its new turf and landscape technical specialist for the Western U.S. … David Busby and Samantha Butero are the new regional account managers for Munro in the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest, respectively.

INDUSTRY BUZZ

The average annual salary for golf course superintendents climbed to $109,621, according to the GCSAA’s most recent biennial Compensation and Benefits Report. That marks a 12.6 percent increase over 2021. … Six new countries participated in the weeklong Women’s Golf Day events, bringing the global count to 84. … Turf Materials is the exclusive distributor for all of Premier Sand and Stone LLC’s golf and sports field products. … Triangle Chemical Company joined United Turf Alliance as its newest owner. … SiteOne Landscape Supply partnered with Automated Outdoor Solutions to expand its robotic mower offerings and program. … Faulks Brothers Construction Inc., which includes SportZmix Solutions and Waupaca Sand and Solutions, acquired Kempker Greens Mix Blending. … Central Turf & Irrigation Supply acquired two Greenleaf Turf Solutions in Delaware and Pennsylvania. … The New York State Department of Labor approved the New York State Turfgrass Association’s Registered Apprenticeship Program.

From course to classroom

Carolinas veteran Jim Huntoon makes the transition from superintendent to teaching the next generation of turf managers.

By Jacob Hansen

Jim Huntoon spent most of his days for over two decades working on golf courses.

Huntoon started in the industry in 1998 as a greenkeeper at Ames Golf and Country Club after finishing his bachelor’s degree in community and regional planning from Iowa State University. He started there to keep himself busy. Previously, Huntoon had worked with turf students at Iowa State, where he realized he wanted to pursue a career in turf management.

His professional career started in May 2001 as an assistant superintendent at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. After nine years at Caledonia, he became the superintendent at nearby Heritage Club.

In January 2023, Huntoon started his new career path as an associate professor in the Golf and Sports Turf department at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, the same school where he earned his associate degree in golf course operation and grounds management.

Huntoon and Horry-Georgetown department chair/professor Charles Granger already had a good working relationship. Huntoon regularly employed Horry-Georgetown students on his Heritage Club crews.

“An opening came up and he reached out and basically just kind of went from there,” Huntoon says. “It’s something that I was interested in, and the opportunity arose, and I started investigating it and looking into it, and it seemed like a good opportunity for me.”

The skillset and qualities, including his ability to connect to students and comfort with social media, matched what Granger was seeking.

“You have to look out there and say, ‘Where do we see the future going?’” Granger says. “And if you see people that may have some sort of skillset, you better look and see what the talent is around you and what the talent pool is. And Jim is very charismatic, very involved with the industry.”

Huntoon had “big shoes to fill” as he was replacing Ashley Wilkinson, who had been at Horry-Georgetown for 13 years and now works at GT Irrigation. Huntoon’s expertise fits what Granger wantes.

“The biggest thing that any faculty member has to bring to our programs that we teach is do they have subject matter expertise?” Granger says. “And can they translate that subject matter expertise in applications-based learning to a student? Jim certainly has that.”

The decision to leave as superintendent was not easy, but the support Huntoon received made the decision easier. “I reached out and had a lot of consultation with people close to me, both personally and professionally,” he says, “and the overwhelming response that I got from consulting with scores of people about it was that I should do it. I really only had one person telling me that they didn't think it was a good idea. So that made the decision easier.”

The timing was right too. As a superintendent, Huntoon lived a mile and a half from the course. He could eat lunch at home with his wife, Molly, nearly every day, pick up his kids up from school, and go to award ceremonies.

Now with his daughter heading to college and his son starting high school, a 30-mile drive isn’t such a big deal. And although the transition was smooth, Huntoon did learn some things that he didn’t expect. He realized quickly what he didn’t know and what he forgot.

“There were other things that I really had to work hard on learning again, or relying on other experts to help me,” Huntoon says. “I reached out to a lot of different people to help me. A lot of the connections and networks that I already had, that I used as a superintendent, came in handy, and people were very gracious with their time and helping me. I really appreciated that.”

Being “fresh out of the industry,” Huntoon’s knowledge and experience from his years as a superintendent has helped him in the classroom. “I'm very familiar with turfgrass management and golf course management, what it’s all about,” he says. “I think it gives me a certain bit of credibility with the students that I’ve come right out and have a proven track record of success. I think that helps, just knowing what it takes, and knowing what things are maybe more relevant than others to success in the industry.”

Huntoon taught soils, grounds maintenance pesticides, and golf course construction and design during the spring semester. Granger says his first effort at teaching was “absolutely outstanding.”

“He’s come in and he’s taking the bull by the horns. He has absolutely related to our students in a wonderful fashion,” Granger adds. “Jim has hit the ground running and I absolutely could not be more pleased with the job he’s done for our students and for the college.”

Huntoon now has nine students working summer internships under him and will teach four classes in the fall. He loves working with young people and students who are “very passionate about the industry and about where they’re going and what they’re doing.”

After finishing his first semester, Huntoon realized how much work he put in.

“I’m working harder than ever,” he says. “A lot of people assume that making this switch from superintendent to academia to professor was that I wasn’t going to be working as hard and that’s far from the truth.

“It took almost every minute of every day, workwise, to prepare for my classes and I still don’t really feel like I was prepared as well as I would like to be. I guess I’m probably a little bit too hard on myself. But I know that’ll take time. It’s been a challenge for sure. I want to make that clear that it’s not been easy, but it’s been rewarding. And I will say my level of stresses has gone down for sure.”

Despite leaving his superintendent position, Huntoon says he feels more involved than ever in the industry. He is a part of the Carolinas GCSA and plans to continue helping the association. He remains active on social media and has been visiting schools and talking with students to expand the program’s reach.

Huntoon says he plans to stick with teaching and is excited to see where he and Granger take the program. He has enjoyed the experience and sees it as a route to thanking the industry.

“It was amazing to me to be able to give back to the industry and teach the next generation of turfgrass managers,” he says. “To be able to influence them in their careers and their journey was exciting to me.”

Jacob Hansen is a Kent State University senior participating in Golf Course Industry’s summer internship program.