‘Big shoes to fill’

After 30 years on the turf side of the golf course maintenance industry, Tim Busek turns to administration next month as the new executive director of the Georgia GCSA. Busek, 51, who spent the past five years as golf course superintendent at St Ives Country Club in Johns Creek, follows Tenia Workman, who steered the Georgia GCSA since 2002.

Prior to his time at St Ives, Busek spent 15 years as superintendent at The Manor Golf and Country Club in Milton, and 10 years before that as an assistant superintendent at Atlanta Country Club. He is currently closing out a second term as Georgia GCSA president. His first term was in 2020-21.

“Tim stood out among a high-caliber list of applicants because he already commands a heart and soul affinity with our membership,” said Georgia GCSA vice president Brandon Hayes, who helped steer a search team comprised of current and former association leaders.

“Tenia spent more than 20 years demonstrating how valuable that can be for an association like ours," Hayes said. "We count ourselves extremely fortunate that Tim is so well qualified to extend that legacy. He is absolutely the best person for the job ahead.”

To smooth the leadership transition, Workman will continue to work with the association through her official retirement date on Dec. 31. Hayes, from Reynolds Lake Oconee – Great Waters in Greensboro, said Busek has “big shoes to fill.”

“Tenia has done more for golf course superintendents in Georgia than anyone ever has and, quite honestly, probably every will,” Hayes said. “She not only grew our association, she galvanized the golf course maintenance community from all four corners of the state. She was just as much at home speaking to legislators at the Capitol as she was hugging an assistant superintendent attending their first meeting. She didn’t just lead us, she loved us, and we are eternally grateful.”

Workman’s regard for golf course superintendents predated her role as executive director. Her husband of 42 years, Buck Workman, CGCS, was a career superintendent and a past president of the Georgia GCSA. Their son, J.B. Workman, is the golf course superintendent at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club in Jacksonville, Florida.

When she took over the Georgia GCSA, membership hovered around the 400. The number now exceeds 750. Earlier this year, Tenia received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the GCSAA.

One of Busek’s priorities in his new role will be promoting awareness of career opportunities in golf course maintenance. He wants to engage more schools in GCSAA’s First Green program, a science, technology, engineering, arts and math environmental outreach program that uses the golf course as a living laboratory.

“We need to do better at making young people aware of the incredible opportunities that are open to them in our profession,” he said. “If we want to ensure a future supply of talent we have to sow the seeds early. This outreach won’t solve the labor challenges that the industry is dealing with today but I’m hopeful it will contribute a long-term solution.”