Ask Thad: What’s your favorite part of opening the golf course every spring?

(Graphic: Golfdom Staff)

What’s your favorite part of opening the golf course every spring?

Bringing on a limited staff early in the season gives me the opportunity to do numerous jobs that I don’t get to do as the superintendent throughout the golf season. Some tasks are physically easier than others while others require some heavy lifting.

I love getting back to the reason I fell in love with the golf course maintenance business in the first place: hard work and a daily sense of accomplishment.

I love being on a mower. It doesn’t matter if it’s greens, tees, fairways or rough. This is the time I get to think about life and about planning my day. I can literally look in front of me and see all I must do, but still get to glance behind me and see all that I’ve accomplished. It’s the best metaphor for life I can possibly think of.

I still love cutting cups. Strategically laying out fair but challenging pin placements is a thinking person’s job. I enjoy the challenge and the continuity that comes from setting up a golf course. I plan easy, hard and “middle of the green” pin placements that are designed to make a golfer think their way around the golf course, kind of like a pitcher throwing different pitches that a batter must anticipate.

This is why I get so pissed off when a golfer takes a divot on a green. It’s disrespectful to the golf course and disrespectful to my daily planning.

My favorite part of the spring is when I get my full crew back. We have around 20 employees for our 27 holes. Returning crew members, new hires and full-timers that have worked all winter intermingling, getting to know each other and working toward a common goal is truly inspirational.

We work together like a family and all that entails, good and bad. Communication, teamwork and clear goals keep the maintenance machine running as smooth as possible. Here’s to the 2024 season, cheers!