Super Solvers
Member Clubs
Superintendents from across Virginia discuss the challenges
they face in keeping your golf courses in great shape.
by ARTHUR UTLEY
T
he working life of a golf course
superintendent is filled with
challenges every day.
Weather, managing different
grasses, aeration schedules, maintaining
bunkers, maintaining equipment, labor
and staff shortages and limited budgets are
just some of the factors.
Superintendents are “problem solvers”
10
says Scott Mauldin, superintendent at
The Foundry Golf Club, a private club, in
Powhatan.
Shawn Gill, superintendent at Prince
William Golf Course, a daily fee facility in
Nokesville, says superintendents want to
know what golfers are thinking.
“Most superintendents are avid golfers
who share their love the game and would
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 6
love it if more of our guests would take
time to give us feedback on what they
thought of the course,” Gill says. “It would
be even better if they could find time for
a little one-on-one conversation once in
a while with the superintendent at the
course they play most often.”
Virginia Golfer asked five superintendents from across the commonwealth to
list the top three challenges they face on
a daily basis and how they deal with those
issues. In addition to Mauldin and Gill,
they are Pete Stephens of Indian Creek
Yacht and Country Club in Kilmarnock,
Scott Cornwell of Winchester Country
Club in Winchester and Sean Baskette
of Hidden Valley Country Club in Salem.
Each superintendent is an external vice
president on the board of directors and
represents one of the five local associations that make up the umbrella Virginia
Golf Course Superintendents Association.
Each is appointed by the local association.
According to David Norman, executive director of the VGCSA, superintendent organizations in Virginia have been
around since the 1950s. The Old Dominion
Golf Course Superintendents Association
is the oldest and until 1999, it was the only
one formally affiliated as a chapter of the
Golf Course Superintendents Association
of America.
The VGCSA was formed in 1999. The four
associations that comprise the VGCSA in
addition to the Old Dominion Association
are the Tidewater Turfgrass Association,
the Greater Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association, the Shenandoah Valley Turfgrass Association and the
Virginia Turfgrass Association. The Old
Dominion Association also has maintained
its own affiliation with the GCSAA.
Superintendents are a strong brotherhood, Gill says.
“Almost every superintendent I know
spends far too much time at [their] course.
For many, it is just the way we are built. …
The average number of hours per week
worked by superintendents is staggering
(I think it was around 60 in the last GCSAA
survey),” Gill says. “… We are a dedicated
breed. … I can only say that I hope all of
your readership will take a second to say
thank you once in a while to their superintendents. It really does make our days.”
The superintendents provided more
information and discussion than story
space allows. Here are some of their
thoughts on the challenges they face.
vsga.org
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES KLOIBER
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