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A helping hand
Following in the footsteps of a valued mentor can offer plenty of benefits for superintendents.
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Superintendents live in a difficult world, populated by many taskmasters. Often that means dealing with exceptionally demanding and high-powered boards of directors who have little or no knowledge of turf maintenance. And perhaps because of this, these boards unrealistically expect perfection. In addition, changing weather conditions can destroy a course within a week. To make matters worse, there are the unrelenting images of professional tournament greens that roll at 12 or 13 on the Stimpmeter.
Into this world walks the wide-eyed and young superintendent, armed with a degree in agronomy, optimism and a love for the game. But before very long the young greenkeeper’s optimism is replaced by pressure, frustration and fear.
Welcome to the world of the professional superintendent.
The young superintendent will attempt to cope with the mounting pressure in various ways. He might begin to bury deep resentment for his bosses, fantasize about changing fields, visit his local bar or take up chain smoking — all obviously poor choices.
A more effective and productive choice is to find a trusted mentor who can help during difficult times. Mentoring is an increasingly popular concept that is now formally used by 60 percent of the country’s Fortune 100 Companies. Businesses like Cisco, IBM, Disney and NBC now use mentoring as a way to nurture and to protect young talent.
Mentoring has become popular because it provides the young prodigy with support, guidance, knowledge and solace that is so necessary for survival in any field. And as any graduate of agronomy school soon learns, book learning will only take you so far. Sooner or later you will also need to find some wisdom that can only be provided by an experienced mentor.
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Research has shown that without mentoring, young careers
stagnate. Find a good mentor, and your career will accelerate, your job
satisfaction will improve, and you will be more productive, earn more
money and find a better balance between work and family.
Finding your mentor
In George Lucas’ wildly popular “Star Wars” films, young Jedi warriors are placed under the care of Jedi Masters. You will recall how Luke Skywalker was mentored by Jedi Master Yoda. And if you remember the storyline of these films, you will remember how Skywalker’s shortcomings were due to his having failed to complete his training and how his mentor Yoda warned him not to leave him so soon.
And just look at any important sports figure, and you will see mentoring relationships. Red Holzman mentored Phil Jackson, who in turn mentored Michael Jordan. Earl Woods mentored Tiger Woods. The NBA’s Pat Riley mentored Jeff Van Gundy. The list goes on and on. A mentor is a role model, a friend, a challenger, a guide and a cheerleader. It is an informal relationship between a younger and an older professional whereby the young one seeks knowledge and guidance from the older one.
A good mentor is what Malcom Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point,” calls a “connector.” A connector is someone who is a people person, very persuasive, respected, a true expert but also someone who everyone knows and likes. And this is the kind of person who makes a perfect mentor because he or she can open many doors for you along the way.
Mentors in the golf industry
One superintendent who has benefited from the counsel of a mentor is Mark
Kuhns, CGCS, the director of grounds at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield,
N.J., and a member of
GCSAA’s board of directors. I met Kuhns years ago when he first
arrived at Baltusrol, and I called him up to find out if he ever had a
mentor.
“Of course I did,” the 27-year GCSAA member said. “Mine was Art Czarnecki of Laurel Valley. And when I got my first job at Ligonier Country Club right up the road, I would frequently call up Art to ask about turf, pesticides, aeration and watering.
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“A mentor supplements what you learned in school. Each year we have six to eight interns at Baltusrol, and often these relationships last a lifetime. And by the way, young interns bring valuable education to the mentor as well. What did I know about PowerPoint? Not much, I can say that. But all my interns seem to have been raised on computers, and I have learned plenty from them.”
I discovered an example of a great mentor in the golf course management business just by accident. On the north shore of Long Island, you will find Richard Spear, the Class A superintendent for the beautiful Piping Rock Club, a classic Charles Macdonald layout. Last year I had been playing golf at some area courses, including Garden City Golf Club, Bethpage Black and Seawane Golf and Country Club, and I remarked to a pro that these three courses were all amazingly well-conditioned. He asked me if I knew what they all had in common, and then told me that each of the three superintendents — Class A members David Pughe of Garden City (a 15-year GCSAA member), Craig Currier of Bethpage (also a 15-year member of the association) and Brian Benedict of Seawane (a 14-year GCSAA member) — had all been mentored by Spear.
When I heard all this, I knew what my next move would be. I called up these young superintendents and invited them to a lunch with their mentor. It is a testament to their gratitude toward the 32-year veteran of GCSAA that they all took time out of their busy schedules to come. It is also a testament to the confidence Spear instilled in them that they all had the courage to stare down the writer’s pen and be interviewed by me.
The first thing I noticed during that two-hour round table discussion was the feeling of good will and relaxation in this group. Spear instilled basic trust in them. This trust gave them the ability to follow Spear’s basic tenet: “Always protect the course.” These young superintendents were prepared to protect their courses by making tough decisions at times. They all knew that they would be the ones who must make unpopular decisions that could anger members and avid golfers, but that this was a key part of the job.
They all said they had learned subtleties from Spear such as the passion for golf, an aesthetic sensibility and keeping fun in the day. Spear had also been a remarkable connector for each of these young professionals by recommending them for great positions around the country. As an example, they had all been given internships at Augusta National in the winters.
But I think I learned the most about the mentoring quality of Spear when I interviewed his wife. When I asked her to describe Richard, she pointed out how generous he was. And all of his young prodigies benefited greatly from that generosity.
Interacting with legends
My research was almost complete, but I still wanted to interview another
young superintendent mentored by Spear, Garret Bodington. The 10-year
GCSAA member had worked for Spear and then landed the prestigious job
as superintendent of Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., a course
that at the time of our meeting was being designed and constructed by
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak on land purchased by course owner Michael Pascucci.
Sebonack’s initiation fee was set at $500,000, so one can assume that these will be demanding and discriminating members. To make matters worse, the course was being built adjacent to a pair of legendary tracts in their own right, Shinnecock Hills and National Golf Links, so there will be a natural tendency to compare layouts and conditioning.
As luck would have it, I arrived to see Bodington on the day he was meeting with Doak and Nicklaus to update the designers on the progress at Sebonack. That allowed me the opportunity to ask the two men about their views on mentoring. Doak said he has many interns each year and finds them fun to work with. “It can get to be a long, hard day, and it’s nice to have some youthful energy around you,” he said.
When I asked Nicklaus about mentors in his life, he said that unfortunately he never had one in the golf design business. It was interesting to size up the work Doak and Nicklaus were doing together and to determine which man was the mentor and which was the prodigy in this collaboration. Both admitted to learning from the other — Doak’s naturalness softened Nicklaus, while Nicklaus’ perfectionism rubbed off on Doak.
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And it’s a funny thing about professionals like Bodington. They always seem to associate with high-powered mentors. And who better to replace Spear than the team of Doak and Nicklaus?
Form a winning team
As I started out saying, the superintendent lives in difficult times.
He or she must deal with pressure from members, staff, weather, the Stimpmeter
and the media. It seems patently obvious that a wise way to deal with
all this pressure is to find a mentor to teach you, to guide you, to support
you.
Find someone you can trust. Someone with an easy way.
Someone who is respected by all.
Call him up and take him to lunch. Play golf with her. Have breakfast
with him. Bring her staff donuts in the morning. And do it on a regular
basis.
Find yourself someone like a Richard Spear who has years of experience and a generous spirit. These are the gatekeepers of the field. These are the ones who will be recommending you to better jobs. These are the ones who “have your back,” as they say. Bobby Jones had Clifford Roberts, and together they built Augusta National. Donald Trump had his dad as a trusted mentor. Tiger Woods had Earl Woods, then Mark O’Meara and then Butch Harmon.
And this is why in every acceptance speech when someone wins a major, the golfer thanks all those on his support team.
Isn’t it time you got yourself a small team behind you as well? If the idea of mentoring is good enough for folks like Woods and Jones, isn’t it good enough for you?
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