Following in the footsteps of former Green Start attendees

Headshot: Brady Forshey

Brady Forshey of Champions GC was recently promoted to superintendent after two years of serving as assistant superintendent. He’s also one of the attendees at this year’s Green Start Academy, a leadership and development program co-hosted by John Deere and Bayer.

“I’ve had several mentors go through it who got a lot from it,” Forshey says, referencing his former supervisor at Pinehurst, Rodney Robbins, as well as the current director of agronomy at Champions GC, Chris Ortmeier.

Champions GC is a 36-hole facility with about 650 members (350 of whom boast a single-digit handicap or less).

His experiences at the Houston-based club have helped formed a base for his acceptance into the Green Start Academy.

For example, when Hurricane Harvey barreled into Houston in August 2017, Forshey and the rest of the Champions GC team swiftly dealt with the disaster, despite being left with a mess: 90 acres of golf course submerged underwater for almost six days, complete with silt and sand debris.

Champions GC (Photo provided by Brady Forshey)

Drawing on past experiences of flooding on the course, Forshey and his team were quick to act. They stocked up on squeegees and shovels a week before the storm made landfall.

“I feel like we were more prepared and knew what we needed the week before Harvey hit,” he says.

In addition to knowing how to deal with natural disasters, Forshey is also in the midst of preparing for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020.

Working at different PGA tournaments has somewhat helped prepare him for what is to come, he says.

At the Green Start Academy, Forshey is looking forward to networking with peers and hopes to bolster his resume and glean career advice from the experience.

“I enjoy meeting new people, seeing what others are doing differently and doing things outside the box,” he says. “I’m more excited to learn from other people.”

Although, with all his hurricane and tournament know-how, he may have a few techniques of his own to pass on to his peers.