Young and ready to lead

If you ask any assistant superintendent or a turf management student planning to work on a course, their ultimate goal is likely the title of superintendent. Because the average age of a golf course superintendent hovers in the mid-40s, it could take years for some to get there. Others may reach that goal sooner than they could have ever anticipated. How do these young leaders navigate an industry with leaders decades older than them?

What it takes

For 28-year-old Farm Neck Golf Club (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts) superintendent Andrew Nisbet, the first step to taking his career to the next level was getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.

“I really try to seek out a good mentor, somebody who’s going to push you past your limits,” he says. “I think comfortability really hinders a lot of people. I really tried to find someone and find a management that would get me out of my comfort zone. I knew it would put my career on the fast track so in my extra time, I would visit other superintendents at other courses and just ask them questions, pick their brain for an hour. I was always trying to say, ‘How can I grow? How can I keep moving forward?’”

Another aspect of stepping out of your comfort zone comes from networking and accepting any and all opportunities. This is what led 27-year-old Wolf Creek Golf Club (Mesquite, Nevada) superintendent Tanner Schoenfelder to his position.

“How I got the job was because of my relationship with the director of golf and the owner before, when I was the assistant,” he says. “I know a lot of people don’t get the opportunity as an assistant to kind of make that connection. It just depends on how each club is run. But you never know who or what resource is going to help you out in the future.

“It’s very, very, very important to not miss opportunities. Just meet anybody and everybody, and network yourself extremely well. Obviously, try not to burn any bridges.”

It can take younger superintendents time to build confidence and gain respect. Amanda Fontaine, the 28-year-old superintendent at Ledges Golf Club (South Hadley, Massachusetts), uses her education and experience to defy any doubters. With two degrees on the wall and 11 seasons in the turf industry, she doesn’t let people questioning her position keep her up at night.

“Usually, people are pretty good about acknowledging that if that’s the job that you have, you probably know more than just the seasonal labor side and you have that job for a reason,” Fontaine says. “Between education through schooling and hard knocks, being out on the golf course, learning and doing, I’m pretty sure that if my day-to-day work doesn’t prove it enough, I have degrees up on the wall and if anyone questions my age, that’s the least of my worries. I have more of the, ‘Oh, you’re a girl doing this,’ than anything else.”

On top of being younger than most superintendents, Fontaine also deals with the challenge that women are far less prevalent in her part of the industry: fewer than 500 of the more than 18,000 GCSAA members are female.

How to command respect

When it comes to earning respect as one of the younger members on staff in a major leadership position, one should expect to earn it in the form of working harder than everyone else on the course.

“It didn’t take long for these guys to understand that I might be 27 or 28 years old but I’m going to outwork everybody on the staff,” says Terrance DiLoreto, superintendent at Crag Burn Golf Club (East Aurora, New York). “My predecessor was here for 43 years, so it was even more of an adjustment when you go from a guy who’s retiring to a guy who’s not even 30 yet. I think everyone was like, ‘What are we doing here?’”

Although it took time, DiLoreto was able to build a strong relationship and level of respect with his crew. Fontaine also adopted a similar approach.

“The way I look at it is, me being young, I can work circles around them,” she says. “Our retired guys work hard, but the harder I work, the more it’s to earn respect and get stuff done.”

On top of leading by example, attitude is everything. By building up morale and trust within, Schoenfelder used his people skills to his advantage.

“I think one of the most important things is I was always the first one to show up, the last to leave, but just coming in with a smile, being a positive leader, being out there with them, being very visual,” he says. “If that energy comes from the top, that becomes infectious, so I really thought that was an advantage at my age.”

Being open-minded

While those under 30 may have different obstacles than a more seasoned superintendent, there are some advantages to youth besides being more energetic and physically capable.

“There’s different technologies out in the field and different techniques that have come out in the past 10 years that supers who have been around in the industry for 30 years don’t use because their tried and tested ways have always worked,” Fontaine says. “It’s just one of those things that’s not better — it’s just different.”

Testing new limits and pushing the boundaries of what has always been done not only helps your course grow — literally — but also may benefit everyone in the long run.

“I’m definitely not afraid to try something and push the limits and see what we can do to save money, save water, that kind of thing,” Schoenfelder says. “It’s easy for me to communicate with different sales reps and different superintendents, because I’m so willing to open up and listen and learn and implement whatever I want out of my golf course.”

Advice for the next generation

With a number of turf management students preparing to enter the workforce and others hoping to find seasonal work, the golf industry is more than ready to welcome them.

“I think the advantage for me is I know how to recruit these guys and make the workplace fun,” DiLoreto says. “Before, no one really enjoyed coming to work and I think it’s the opposite now. I am young enough to know what the younger generation is looking for in work and I get that this isn’t their final stop in their career, so we try to make things a lot more fun and flexible here.”

For those hoping to get their foot in the door, Nisbet advises maintaining a student mindset by always being willing to learn and gain new experiences. Finding the balance between confident and humble will also strengthen your likelihood of success.

“I think all interview experience and getting in front of a board and a hiring committee and putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation is good,” he says. “Humility, especially with the age. I think sometimes a lot of success at a young age can lead to sometimes cockiness or certain pride in oneself and I think remaining humble and having humility at such young ages is vital to your success.”

Another aspect of being successful comes from knowing when to ask for help and when to take a step back. It’s important not to take on too much too quickly. Making drastic changes immediately may not be the best course of action when you can implement changes slowly and over time, according to Nisbet.

“Just stick with what you know,” he says. “I think at first, just when you’re young and you’re making that transition, stick to those cultural practices, what you’re used to, and then make the changes over time. Don’t try to take on too much or change too quickly. You know, every improvement you do doesn’t go unnoticed.”

What’s next?

Having reached an “end goal” quicker than originally anticipated, new goals and aspirations emerge for young superintendents — whether that’s taking on new roles and positions, relocating or furthering their education.

“It’s still not out of the equation for me to maybe be a general manager, but that would be kind of a walk down the hall,” Schoenfelder says. “I’m pretty happy being a superintendent right now.”

Fontaine is hoping to use her story and knowledge to help the industry in more ways than maintaining just one course.

“Women in the turf industry are being given a lot of different opportunities,” Fontaine says. “So, maybe, something along the lines of furthering education and maybe try to do more outreach in the industry and stuff like that. Yeah, I have no set goal of trying to achieve one job over another or trying to jump around to get different experiences.”

Despite the most obvious similarity — their age — the one thing all these young leaders can agree on is that they are doing what they love.

“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” DiLoreto says. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. I take everything day by day. I don’t think too far ahead.”

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