Green Start Academy returns to Pinehurst for a second year

The annual Green Start Academy, now in its 17th year — co-hosted by John Deere, Rain Bird and Envu Professional Golf Management — made its return to Pinehurst Resort for the second year in a row. The event hosted 50 assistant superintendents.

131 assistant superintendents applied to attend the 2022 Green Start Academy. Only 50 are accepted each year. (Photo: John Deere and Hygge Production House)

Lectures included, “What I wish I knew when I was an assistant superintendent,” “Basics of building a budget,” and “How to build a successful team.” Nine top superintendents from around the country traveled to Pinehurst to support the program and deliver the presentations, including Lukus Harvey, Atlanta Athletic Club; Todd Bohn, Desert Mountain Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Robert Hertzing, Lakeside GC, Burbank, Calif., among others.

“Make sure you have monthly communication with your board, your committees and your members. Put information in your newsletters. We do a weekly report for every course,” Bohn told the group. “I do turf talks with my pro every two weeks. And don’t just show all the good, be up-front, or they’ll see right through it.”

Kolton Dickinson, assistant superintendent at Prairie Dunes CC, Hutchinson, Kan., told Golfdom he’s attended many conferences, but Green Start was different.

“There’s nothing like the Green Start Academy. To be completely disconnected from the agronomy aspect was huge,” Dickinson says. “Being able to hear insider information about taking the next step in your career, being able to hear from people in the industry who have taken the next step, as well as talking to people at the same stage as me and putting your heads together about what makes someone special. ”