Editor’s notebook: Green Start Academy 2024

Observant drivers notice a bevy of quaint courses and golf-focused resorts once they exit Route 1 and curl onto Route 501. A few courses adjacent to the road cost less than $30 to walk; a few require room stays and three figures to experience.

Finally, after 1 hour, 20 minutes of anticipation, visitors enter the Village of Pinehurst. If a golfer or somebody who works in the industry doesn’t experience chills on the waning stages of the trek, they might want to reconsider their hobby or career. Pinehurst and the surrounding areas tastefully blend golf nostalgia with the game’s prosperous present condition.

Pinehurst Resort served as the host site of the 19^th Green Start Academy, an annual training program for assistant superintendents sponsored by Envu, John Deere and Rain Bird. Getting selected for the event represents one of the greatest opportunities in a rising turf manager’s career.

Thanks to the sponsoring company’s desire to spread the value of Green Start Academy, Golf Course Industry received a terrific opportunity to observe 50 assistant superintendents and their inspirational mentors. Here’s what we learned during our 48 hours in Pinehurst.  

People skills travel

The most personable people in the room were the ones holding jobs attendees are hoping to eventually land. The mentor group included Oakland Hills Country Club’s Phil Cuffare, Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Chris Dalhamer, The Olympic Club’s Troy Flanagan, Troon’s Brian Hampson, Pinehurst Resort’s John Jeffreys, Saucon Valley Country Club’s Jim Roney, Wilmington Country Club’s Jon Urbanski, Big Cedar Lodge’s Bubba Wright and Inverness Club’s John Zimmers.

The octet graciously answered questions and offered candid guidance —during and between official Green Start Academy sessions. Approaching them with eye contact, friendliness and a firm handshake earned their immediate respect. Expressing gratitude for their willingness to share knowledge and listening intently to their words further placed somebody into their 48-hour — and likely beyond — circle.

Green Start Academy confirmed what our Golf Course Industry team frequently learns in our interactions with superintendents at all levels. People whom you think might be the busiest or most challenging to approach are among the easiest to connect with, thus the reason they land and keep desirable and demanding jobs. 

“I don’t ever recall somebody saying to me they don’t have time,” Zimmers said. “Go out and seek a mentor. Everybody needs a mentor or a friend.”

Hit reply

Mentors tossed a few haymakers toward attendees during the initial Green Start Academy panel discussion. “You won’t get the job if you can’t communicate,” Cuffare said. “You won’t even get the interview.”

Zimmers was even more blunt, telling the room he received no replies on a welcome email he sent to his mentoring group. Zimmers has hosted multiple major championships. His network is vast and incredibly influential. Other mentors also mentioned their welcome emails generated few replies.

The superintendents and directors who participated in Green Start Academy don’t need active social media feeds to be influencers. They boast large networks and news of extraordinary efforts and professional flubs spread among these networks. Failing to respond to one of their emails with “thanks,” “can’t wait to meet you,” or “Happy Thanksgiving” can have long-term ramifications. Think before you hit delete.

The digital silence extends to job interviews. Hampson, Troon’s vice president of science and agronomy, told attendees he receives around two thank-you emails for every 30 job interviews he conducts.  

Respect the place

Zimmers scanned The Carolina Hotel meeting room and noticed a few attendees wearing hats. “Want to learn and take the next step?” Zimmers told the group. “It’s really about fundamental things. Hats are not acceptable indoors.”

Yes, societal and business norms are changing. But places such as Pinehurst are revered. The risk of wearing a hat and being spotted by somebody influential who might view that as a sign of disrespect outweighs the benefits of keeping the hat on while inside the resort’s structures. That thinking isn’t snobbish. It’s common business sense. 

Despite a career that has included hosting multiple major championships, Zimmers still greets every member he encounters as Mr. or Mrs. “Err on the side of professionalism all the time,” Cuffare added.

The USGA + Pinehurst

The Green Start Academy whirlwind included a quick visit to the new USGA Experience and World Golf Hall of Fame. Adding the attractions further solidifies Pinehurst’s reputation as a dreamy spot for golf junkies to spend a few days. The sleek ode to the past, present and future of golf should become supplemental stops to Pinehurst golf trips.

The first room in the USGA Experience honors the game’s science and technology. Agronomy is one of the focal points of the interactive exhibit. Guess which exhibit many Green Start Academy attendees entered first?

Descriptive pollinator plots between buildings and an Old Tom Morris statue dot the exterior landscape between buildings. Despite the move from St. Augustine, Florida, to Pinehurst, the World Golf Hall of Fame still features a big miss: an inductee who impacted the game exclusively as a superintendent.

The Pinehurst flex

Consider the 2024 Pinehurst experienced. The community hosted an epic U.S. Open, Pinehurst Resort debuted its 10^th course, and the USGA Experience and World Golf Hall of Fame opened to the public.

Green Start Academy attendees received a glimpse of Pinehurst Resort’s brisk business when they spent 90 minutes playing The Cradle Short Course. The Cradle was exclusively reserved on a late Wednesday afternoon for Green Start Academy groups, which temporarily slowed business on a comfortable, sunny mid-December afternoon.

Gen X and Z golfers on buddy trips filled the surrounding Thistle Dhu Putting Course, many of them clutching drinks and jovially reacting to one, two, three and four putts on the 15,000-square-foot Bermudagrass surface. Had The Cradle been available, they would have been flipping wedges and purchasing multiple drinks on the popular course beneath Thistle Dhu.

The Cradle supports more than 65,000 annual “documented” rounds, according to Jeffreys, who was flanked by assistants Andrea Salzman, David Chrobak and Eric Mabie as he described to Green Start Academy attendees what the short course means to the resort. The Cradle might be the 10 most lucrative acres in American golf.  

Judging by the December scene in and around The Cradle, it’s a good time to be working in Pinehurst. It’s also a good time to be an assistant superintendent. 

“The opportunity in front of you is unlimited,” Zimmers said. “The business of golf has changed. If you make the effort, it will change your life.”

Still need more convincing to hit reply and remove hats indoors?

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s publisher + editor-in-chief.