Former golf course architecture student, Kyle Harrigan, shares how he went from designing courses to maintaining them

By many measures, Kyle Harrigan, golf course superintendent at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif., is an up-and-comer in the industry.

Graphic: Golfdom Staff

Now in his third year at Silverado, Harrigan has two PGA Tour events under his belt. Now, he’s preparing for his third, the Fortinet Championship.

The tournament turns 17 in 2023 and welcomes more than 400 professional and amateur players, countless spectators and a week’s worth of hospitality at the resort — which boasts two championship courses in the heart of Northern California’s wine country.

Trial by fire

Harrigan’s current post is only his third since beginning his career in golf course maintenance. His most recent, before taking the reins at Silverado, was just 30 miles from Napa at Marin Country Club in Novato, Calif., where he served as assistant superintendent.

Harrigan is a former golf course architecture student but says he found more interest in the science behind turf.

“Every property is different and the challenges you face are always different,” he says. “A lot of times, as a superintendent, you have to be creative. A lot of the problems you face, you aren’t necessarily coming up with a solution at first glance.”

Harrigan’s tenure as superintendent began in April 2021, which meant he had to quickly ingratiate himself with the course, the crew and the institutional knowledge that comes with hosting a major tournament.

“I just got thrown into the fire,” he says. “When I came into Silverado, we had just started our spring aerification process. That was tough because every place does it a little bit differently. I hit the ground running; I knew that we didn’t have that much time.”

Kyle Harrigan is a relative newcomer to the golf course maintenance world, as he begins his third year as director of golf course maintenance at Silverado Resort and Spa. (Photo: Kyle Harrigan)

A friend indeed

Harrigan doesn’t take his career thus far for granted. Rather, he acknowledges those who have helped him get to where he is today.

One of those people is Mat Dunmyer, former Silverado director of agronomy. Dunmyer not only recruited Harrigan to Silverado, but he also served as his mentor as they prepared together for the (at the time) October tournament.

Dunmyer provided Harrigan with detailed checklists that included tasks such as paying extra attention to tree wells and mulch areas, cleaning out the bank on No. 8, so it looks better on television and even an irrigation head overhaul.

“When I was brought on, we had started switching over the heads to individual head control,” he says. “The focus was getting all of the fairways individual head control so we could control the water and the shortcut areas better.”

Harrigan explains that the water in the Napa area is high in bicarbonates. Therefore, with a lack of rain, the water doesn’t move through the soil. Harrigan says he and his crew must maintain a delicate balance of keeping the grass alive and managing moisture.

Irrigation at Silverado Resort and Spa is a challenge for Kyle Harrigan and his crew as the soil is high in bicarbonates. Harrigan says this means his team has to track water closely as it doesn’t move through the soil easily. (Photo: Kyle Harrigan)

Climb the mountain

The turf is just one challenge that a superintendent faces, however. The other is knowing the kind of leader a crew will follow.

Again, Harrigan says Dunmyer shared plenty of ideas to motivate his team. One that sticks out to Harrigan also doubles as a way to keep the course clean.

Harrigan hides a business card somewhere on the course, and the crew member who finds it gets a cash reward.

“The thought behind it was being at a resort, you can have a million trash cans out there, and people still love to throw their trash on the course,” says Harrigan. “It was an incentive for these guys to pick up trash as they saw it and were driving around.”

Harrigan says his top priority with his crew is for them to be proud of their work and enjoy the process.

“The hours are so long for three months leading up to the tournament, sometimes even longer,” he says. “What I like the most is seeing the satisfaction of the guys on the crew, knowing that they had worked all these long hours and gotten the course ready. They really enjoy seeing their hard work on television.”