Raquel Schwartz

Raquel Schwartz has a lot on her plate. As an assistant superintendent at Stone Harbor Golf Club in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, working under director of agronomy Jay Ewan, she’s responsible for everything from scheduling and overseeing the crew and spraying, to teaching crew members the ins and outs of applying fertilizers.

“I have a pretty big teaching role right now for the rest of the staff,” Schwartz says, “just to kind of free myself up to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”

A South Jersey native and a graduate of Rutgers University, Schwartz planned to make a career in microbiology. But the legendary Dr. Bruce Clarke convinced her to take his turfgrass pathology course. For Schwartz, it was a life-changing experience.

“He wasn’t my official advisor at Rutgers” she says, “but I always went to him with questions about what classes should I be taking, what should I be doing. My parents know him. He’s pushed me to apply for scholarships. He’s had a very big impact on my career.”

Busy as she is, Schwartz took time to join the corps of volunteers who supported the recent U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. Speaking with Rick Woelfel on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast, Schwartz recalled how she came to be part of the crew.

“The second that I heard the Women’s Open was going to be in Lancaster I was like, ‘I have to get here, I’m going to get here,’” she says. “And my boss was like, ‘I’ll make it happen, I’ll reach out to (director of agronomy Josh Saunders).”

Schwartz also was invited to work the event by Syngenta’s Madelyn Tappan, who was assembling a team of female volunteers for the event. She received permission to work the Women’s Open despite the fact she would be missing Stone Harbor’s member-guest event.

Once on the ground in Lancaster, Schwartz spent her early mornings mowing greens. Her afternoons and evenings were spent raking bunkers.

“I was mowing greens on the back nine every day,” she says, “starting on 18 and then kind of leapfrogging throughout the back. I don’t get to go out and just mow greens and rake bunkers too often (at Stone Harbor). I’m always out managing and making sure things are getting done, so it was nice to be able to focus on this skill and muscle memory for the most part. I was happy to be able to do it and meet all the other volunteers and get to socialize and network. It was an incredible week to say the least.”

I have a pretty big teaching role right now for the rest of the staff — just to kind of free myself up to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”

Schwartz noted the collaborative atmosphere that she said was evident throughout championship week.

“We were all looking at this like we were one big team,” she says. “It wasn’t the Lancaster crew and then the volunteers. I really got the feeling that we were all one big unit. Everyone took a lot of pride in what they were doing. So, we all kind of shared that together.”

On Thursday, the first day of the championship, Schwartz had a moment to take in the scope of what the team had accomplished.

“On Thursday, I think the only thing that was running through my head was, ‘It’s showtime,’” she says, “and thinking about all the work we had been putting in leading up to this critical moment.

“I could not have enough pride in the work this group had been doing. Not just our group but Lancaster’s crew in general” — which numbered just 18 — “taking care of not just (the championship course) but another nine that wasn’t getting played on. They really set the bar for us when we got in.”