Renee Geyer

After 13 years filling various roles at Firestone Country Club, Renee Geyer headed West in search of new challenges.

Today, she is in her third full season as the head superintendent at Canterwood Golf and Country Club in Gig Harbor, Washington.

Compared to her peers, Geyer came to the turf industry later in life. The Ohio native attended Ohio State University and was planning on a career in vocal music until she decided to enroll in the two-year program at the school’s Agricultural Technical Institute.

Upon graduation, she applied for a position at Firestone.

“That first summer there was one position left on the crew,” she recalls. “There was one slot left and I said, ‘I just want to work,’ and the rest is history. A promotion after that, a second promotion after that one, and 13 beautiful, beautiful years of my life on that property.”

Geyer reflected on her time at Firestone on the new episode of the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with host Rick Woelfel.

“So many fond memories,” she says, “and still, to this day, I talk to a lot of the guys and gals that I worked with and couldn’t be more grateful. They’re family — even though I’m 2,500 miles away.

“I count my blessings every day for everything I learned there, the people I met and the experience I was so fortunate to have.”

Recognizing that she came into the turf industry later than many of her peers and faced a more protracted learning curve as a result, Geyer wanted to be sure she was prepared before seeking a head superintendent’s position. She felt that moment had come when she was in charge of what is now the Fazio Course at Firestone and oversaw a renovation.

“That was a great learning experience,” she says. “I think after that, I had that feeling of ‘OK, I’m really ready now.’”

When she arrived at Canterwood in September of 2021, Geyer had to learn the agronomic nuances of her new environment. She found willing teachers on her new staff.

“Most of them have lived here their entire lives,” she points out, “so, there’s nothing new to them. A good example is something I call ‘the torrential mist,’ where the light switch gets turned on from mid-November and it rains almost every single day. It’s not like it was downpouring or thunderstorming like I was used to in Ohio. Just a torrential mist that just happens. And then about mid-May to the end of May, maybe the beginning of June, the light switch gets turned off and you don’t see a drop from the sky until the light-switch change. That in itself was quite a shocker.

“My entire golf course is all Poa. It’s in its happy place up here. Where I came from, my greens were all seeded bent, my fairways, my tees, everything was bent. The weather differences and the grass differences, and I’m realizing, ‘Hey, we’re maintaining greens all throughout the winter. We’re spraying greens all throughout the winter.’”

Geyer says learning about and understanding the area’s climate took time and required a concerted effort.

“You go through it and you learn,” she says. “You grow, and you research, and you talk to people who you trust, and you can get yourself together to try and deal with those agronomic challenges.

“It’s been a wild ride. But I’m so happy that I jumped at the opportunity.”

Geyer says the club staff made her transition easier.

“They welcomed me with open arms,” she says. “Not only my staff, but the staff in the clubhouse, and the golf shop, and the membership here. But my crew really has a lot of tenure. My foreman has been here since the grow in. The irrigation tech has been here for almost as long. My head equipment manager has at least 20 years under his belt on this property. So, there’s a lot of local knowledge.”