Simply put...maybe the best job in the world! But, do you know how many times I get the following questions... Not really from members but people I see in town.
What do you even do in the winter? Do you work year round?
Aren't you glad the season is slowing down? Hopefully you will get a break!
I smile every time I hear those and I certainly don't expect anyone to understand my job just as I don't understand other jobs. But the perception that we simply roll up the course and put it away for the winter is false. In fact, far from it. I just read an article written by a fellow super in Washington state, Ron Furlong. It nailed my job perfectly.
Being the superintendent at Highlands CC is a lot like being an airplane pilot. While I am not a pilot, I've always heard that the most intense times of flight are take off and landing. During the flight, pilots work, but the plane is on auto pilot and things are routine. That is exactly like my job... where the summer (what is the busiest for all other departments) is more routine. We are pretty good at providing great conditions and we are always seeking to get better. We constantly fine tune the operation with in season tweaks like more rolling here, extra sand topdressing there, improving a bunker, tweaking a fungicide program due to weather changes...the list goes on and you get the idea. A good superintendent is always in tune with their surroundings and is constantly planning accordingly in their head...always anticipating the next move. Now the most stressful times are spring (Feb-May) and then fall (October-January). This is when we are busy doing all of the things that make the course better. Projects, renovation work, irrigation shutdown/start up, sodding and aerifying to name a few. Staff is limited and time is even more limited because now Mother nature is like a ticking time bomb! Heavy freezes and snow are just around the corner and we may be forced to be inside (we also have an intense repair list to keep us busy inside from everything like equipment to trash boxes). In spring, we do more aerifying and then have to get the course cleaned up for the season. After a winter's worth of strong winds and heavy snows, the course is a mess! Even in the dead of winter we are pushing through an intense work load of in-house projects that I or the green committee identified and discussed the season before. There have been numerous times in the past where we needed to work and were held back by snow. We took a 20lb propane tank and a blowtorch and melted snow just so we could work. We had to if our list were to be completed. I can say you won't find many other maintenance staffs out there with that kind of determination to deliver! Before you know it we are back in the middle of the season. Double cutting greens is back to the norm. Topdressing every 14 days is the norm. We mow fairways 4 days a week. Tees are mowed 3 days a week. We roll greens 3 times a week, roughs mowed 2x a week. You can set your watch to everything we do and the staff knows what is expected of them. Every so many years, Mother Nature throws a nasty curve ball in the form of a violent storm. At that point, we take a step back, regroup, clean up and then get back to the daily routine like nothing ever happened. The work load is intense but routine and most days we know what to expect. The work week ranges from as low as 55 hours to as much as 80 hours a week with the average around 65-70 hours per week. The hourly staff is much different as I try to keep overtime to a minimum.
When it comes to vacation time, I am more likely to support a staff member taking time off in the summer as opposed to winter. We go from a staff of 21 to 12. Of the 12 in the winter, 2 are mechanics with an intense work load of equipment R&M. Another 3 are tied up with aerification of fairways or some similar fixed project. Now we are down to 7 people (including me) that can be used for different projects. With a small staff we aren't productive. Again, in summer, we know it takes 5 people to mow tees and approaches, 2 to mow fairways, 2 on rough, 4 to mow greens. It is quite simple.
The change of seasons and switching gears is what makes this job so fun. I am not sure how I would do in a year round operation that is routine 365 day per year. I like being busier than that and the stress of working under the gun. Just because we are closed for golf doesn't mean we aren't busy. It's that challenge that keeps me motivated. The idea of the same routine everyday isn't something that excites me. In some aspects it is an easier job because you never switch gears, essentially refocusing your job responsibilities. For example, when an irrigation system is drained and sits idle for 4 months, there are always issue when you start it back up. Leaks, broken heads, a clogged filter or something else that requires a lot of time and attention to get up and running. If it were pressurized all year long, those aren't issues.
Hopefully this gives you some insight into what the job is like! You have to have a passion for it in order to make a living doing it. A super who doesn't love it, won't last long. It is a competitive industry but a great one! I am sure this is true with most jobs. A strong, supportive green committee like we have always helps as well!
