The 19th Hole: Alan Easter

By |  January 22, 2014

Superintendent //  Southpointe Golf Club, Canonsburg, Pa.

Easter_AlanWhat can I get you, Alan?
I’m partial to an Arnold Palmer.

Lemonade and iced tea?
No, sweet tea vodka with lemonade. We call it an Arnold Palmer in the Pittsburgh area. I highly recommend it.

Being a Steelers fan, how mad were you when my Chiefs missed that field goal against San Diego?
You know, I was watching it, and not without angst… but if you can’t control your own destiny, you can’t get upset. But what’s more disappointing is the complete collapse your Chiefs had against Indianapolis! That’s the legacy of Andy Reid.

Ouch! I should have known better than to bring up the Chiefs… Actually, I’m a bigger collegiate sports fan, so I was more angry when my Mountaineers lost to Kansas. My wife and I met at West Virginia, my son goes to West Virginia, I think I’m wearing WVU underwear right now. I’m a regular participant in the Mountaineers call-in shows — (head football coach) Dana Holgorsen knows who I am.

english_setter

Photo: Alan Easter

You’re a hunter, right? What do you hunt?
I like to pheasant hunt with my son. I don’t enjoy killing anything, but I have an English Setter (pictured) and I do enjoy watching the dogs work, and how instinctive they are.

How many Setters do you have?
Just the one. My wife would divorce me if I got another one! Annie is the dog’s name, she’s 8, and enamored with our irrigation system.

Who will be the PGA Tour’s best player this year?
[RELATED LINK: Golfdom TV asks more supers their pick]
Brandt Snedeker. I think he could win two majors, if not the Masters, Pinehurst and Royal Liverpool set up for him. I’m partial to him because of his pace of play. I’ve been around him and he seems like a true gentlemen.

 

How did you get into this industry?
It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do. My father was a scratch handicap. Golf was the only game in town, and we lived near the course. At an early age I had a superintendent mentor — in fact, he knew H. Burton Musser… I have an autographed book of his. I’ve been fortunate, living this dream.

Fill in the blank: 2014 will be…?
Challenging. But professionally rewarding.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, January 9th, 2014.

This is posted in People

About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 25-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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