Dan Schuknecht had no trouble handling the multiple tasks needed so the Talons of Tuscany Golf Club could open for the current season. And in the off months, the assistant superintendent of the Ankeny, Iowa, golf course leads his maintenance crew in upgrading equipment, making repairs, preparing to hire seasonal staff and even starting to build a back nine.

These are no small tasks, especially when building a new course, but Schuknecht remains unfazed. And if you ask him about the source of his efficiency, he'll attribute it to being an Eagle Scout.

Schuknecht wanted to be a golf course superintendent ever since he stepped foot onto the green of his local course in his hometown of Greene, Iowa, during the summer after eighth grade. As a seasonal maintenance worker, he fell in love not just with the sport, but with being outdoors as well.

Schuknecht says his scouting years were invaluable in developing communication skills, discipline and time management.

"A lot of those skills I use every day on the golf course," says the 25-year-old Schuknecht, who has worked as an assistant superintendent since graduating from Waverly, Iowa's Wartburg College in 2003.

Dan Schuknecht says his scouting years were invaluable in helping him develop the skills he uses as a golf course superintendent.

The Eagle Scout award is the highest advancement rank in Boy Scouting. To receive an Eagle, a Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills, according to the Boy Scouts of America. A Scout must earn 21 self-selected merit badges within 119 different specialties, 12 of which are required in areas like first aid, citizenship in the community and the nation, and environmental science. Elective merit badge specialties range from astronomy to communications to forestry and, yes, even golf. In addition, a Scout must complete a community service project, all before turning 18.

Schuknecht's success as a superintendent can be attributed to his scouting background and his acquired affinity for the outdoors, says Renee Fairrer, associate director of marketing for the Boy Scouts of America.

"These are people who are leaders who know how to work with people," Fairrer says. "These are people who have learned how to approach a problem or an issue and then talk to people and do whatever's necessary to accomplish a final end result."

It doesn't hurt, either, that one of the underlying tenets of the Boy Scout philosophy is respect for the environment.

"What we call 'leave no trace' is taught from the youngest Cub Scouts on up," Fairrer says. It goes beyond not littering, to the point of instilling the wisdom that "what they do to the land will affect other generations to come."

Love of the outdoors also lured Bruce Williams to the Boy Scouts when he was a youngster. Growing up in the south side of Chicago, where his father was superintendent of Beverly Country Club, Williams longed for more than his urban environs could provide.

"It's hard to gain an appreciation for nature when you're in the city," recalls Williams, who is now the director of golf courses and grounds for the Los Angeles Country Club. "Scouting was a bridge to enable me to do that."

Bruce Williams, Certified Superintendent Los Angeles Country Club

Moving to the north suburbs of Chicago when he was 9 years old, Williams became a model Scout, receiving his Eagle by age 13 in 1963.

"When I go back to my developmental years, scouting was very important to me," Williams says. "I rank my Eagle award on my wall as every bit as valuable as my college diploma because of what it did for me preparing me for life."