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The 19th Hole: Adam Hahn

By |  July 26, 2017 0 Comments

Adam Hahn
Superintendent // Woodside Golf Course, Lansing, Mich.

What would you like? I’ll stick with Miller Lite. Want a shot of Fireball?

Sure. So, tell me about yourself. I’m from Williamston, Mich., it’s in the Lansing area. I got married three years ago. I have a daughter, almost 3, Charlotte, and a step-daughter, almost 11, Kalyn.

What drew you to the business? I had a friend who worked on the grounds crew, he got me in there at a young age. I just loved it. My mom was an academic advisor at Michigan State, she set up a meeting for me. I decided then to pursue it. I didn’t even see any other options.

What can you tell me about Woodside? It’s a unique place. I was a little skeptical about going to a 12-hole course, but people love it, it’s busy all the time. Not only is it unique, but it’s time efficient. A lot of times, nine holes isn’t enough, getting those three extra holes in is really satisfying and you don’t have to spend the four to five hours on 18.

Any equipment you want to brag about, or maintenance practices you’re proud of? Unfortunately, we’re one of the little-guy courses. We get a lot of hand-me-down equipment. But I try to needle-tine the greens once a month and do it right before topdressing. We have a little bit of a thatch issue. I think that’s a great way to get the sand down into your profile.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen on a golf course? I was 16, I roll out with my boss, we’re looking for this party animal we work with. We go out to the third green. He’s laying there, on the green, three empty glasses next to him. My boss kicks him to wake him up, “Hey, you good to mow greens?” “Oh yeah, I’m good.” He gets up, and there’s a dew pattern outline of his body on the green.

How about the coolest thing you’ve ever seen? Of course, the birth of my child. I saw my buddy get a hole-in-one, but that really wasn’t that cool because I lost the skin. Two years ago, I saw a red-tailed hawk swoop down and snatch a snake out of the tall grass. The snake was all squirming around I just thought to myself: ’Merica.

Make a prediction for me. What can you guarantee will happen this summer when the course is at its busiest? Oh, I can guarantee that one of our old, rundown mowers is going to the equipment graveyard before the end of the season. We’ve got a lot of band-aided equipment. That’s a solid guarantee.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, June 8, 2017.
Main photo by: John Gates, PGA 

This is posted in 19th Hole, Featured

About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 18-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of Golfdom magazine and Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.


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