Scott Bower helped build Martis Camp Club, now he maintains and protects it

Photo: Chantel Elder

It’s 2013, and Scott Bower, superintendent, is about to receive an honor. His name, on a plaque, was being placed on the back of the No. 16 tee of Martis Camp Club, the course he helped build and has been working on since its groundbreaking in 2006. He was being honored but maybe at the same time also chided, he says.

“This wasn’t completely a compliment,” Bower laughs as he kicks at the grass around the plaque. “That area to the left of the tee boxes is a very large water quality sediment basin and it wasn’t too pretty in the beginning. When we finally got it right, they honored me with this plaque.”

Truckee, Calif., isn’t the easiest place to ‘get it right’ when it comes to maintaining a high-end private golf club. It’s not the short season or the weather that are the biggest hurdles to clear, it’s the rules, regulations and restrictions that come with the area. A watchful eye on water quality is omnipresent. Concerns over wildfires are constant.

Troy Flanagan, CGCS, director of golf maintenance at the Olympic Club, says that for the construction of Martis Camp Club to be successful, it needed a loyal, dedicated superintendent like Scott Bower.

“Scott was essentially employee No. 1 at Martis Camp. He was hired when they were trying to go through the permitting process. And if you know anything about Truckee, Calif., then you know that is a really difficult permitting process there,” Flanagan says, “And he worked there for … I don’t know how long before they even got approval. I don’t know what it was like for him, but he was all in on making that project great. And they really did, it’s a special facility.

“If Scott believes in something, he’s all in,” Flanagan continues. “He definitely deserves the Graffis Award. I know he would never put his name up for this, but we all think the world of him — he’s a great choice.”

Along with being responsible for the golf course, Scott Bower’s team maintains 26 miles of trails and 21 miles of roadway. (Photo: Chantel Elder)

California dreamin’

A native of New Hampshire, Bower fell in love with golf at an early age. He worked as a caddie at age 13 at Nashua CC, then moved to Amherst CC at age 15 to work on the grounds crew. By the time he left for Michigan State, he had already achieved the role of assistant superintendent. His path was set.

“I was throwing quick couplers in the ground, night watering and doing all that,” Bower recalls. “It was the second-most played golf course in New Hampshire, but it was family-owned. The owners of the golf course went to my wedding, and the superintendent (Mike Bryant) was my first mentor; that’s how close (everyone) was. And that’s what I fell in love with. I felt like I was part of their team … I owned it with them.”

While still in school, Bower interned at Spyglass Hill GC and lived in dorms provided by the Pebble Beach Co. It was at this time he invited his then-girlfriend, Susan, to come see all that California had to offer.

“I took a week off and we toured California from north to south, got all the way to the top of Mount Whitney in one week, and just had a blast and kind of said, ‘Geez, California has a lot to offer,’” Bower remembers. “After college, I was looking for positions and landed on working for Neil Hladik building a golf course outside of Sacramento. That was the beginning of us never wanting to leave California.”

Bower later relocated to Truckee to work with Mike Kosak and Kevin Breen at Lahontan GC. While he was working at Lahontan, the same developers he worked for started making bold plans for Martis Camp Club: the ultimate place to relax with the family. On 2,100 acres, Martis Camp would offer members a private community for their families that would include a championship golf course along with a bevy of parks, world-class fishing and skiing and fine dining in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains.

Bower wanted to contribute to the team as construction superintendent, but the developer didn’t want Bower.

Scott Bower (left) and California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara at a town hall meeting in Lake Tahoe. (Photo: Scott Bower)

“Rightfully so — I was young, and this was a risk. This was a massive property. Are we going to let this kid work on a $30 million property? I don’t think so,” Bower says. “They started flying some of the big boy (superintendents) from around the country in. I’d say, ‘Oh, he’s coming here? Nice!’ But I kept asking, and finally, they said yes — they got me for about $2, but I didn’t care. I just wanted the experience.”

Bower adds that they put some safety nets up around him “so I wouldn’t drive the ship into the shore,” and it was time to get to work building a Tom Fazio-designed golf course … or so he thought.

That was when Bower learned that before you can cut greens, you must cut red tape.

“We were delayed for a couple years until ligations and entitlements were completed. It was unbelievable. It was one of the only two years of my life that I wasn’t on a golf course; I wasn’t getting up cutting greens,” Bower says, answering Flanagan’s earlier question. “We worked a ton. Martis Camp had a relatively small development team that worked nonstop. It was an honor to join the team in many litigation meetings. I never thought I would be in a high-rise law office in San Francisco doing that.”

More red tape

Finally, the golf course was built with more restrictions to face. Builders can only move dirt in Truckee from May 1 through Oct. 15. Bower describes it as a “rock job,” moving, crushing and blasting rock to create the roads and the layout of the course.

“We tried to create a golf course that had the feel that it’s been here for a hundred years, and that takes a little time,” he says. “We’re there now with the vegetation growing back.”

The course opened for play in 2008 to critical acclaim. Tom Fazio told Golf Digest it was one of the finest natural pieces of property where he’s ever created a golf course. Martis Camp was chosen as the host of the 2013 U.S. Junior Championship (won by Scottie Scheffler) and, more recently, the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur (won by Todd White).

But despite the success of the course over the years, the club has had to overcome some challenges and curveballs, leading Bower to shift from superintendent to overall problem solver. Consider the following:

• Wastewater is strictly regulated in this area of Tahoe, which means the golf course’s use of irrigation and any runoff is strictly monitored. “We have a creek running through the property, and it’s something we cherish and test,” Bower says.

“He puts the human back in the business,” says Jaime Haddad, director of sustainability (right). (Photo: Chantel Elder)

“We have state-of-the-art, cutting-edge water quality testing. Over the years, through the way we’ve managed the sediment basin, through the way we control our drainage, the creek has only gotten better. They didn’t believe us, but the data doesn’t lie.”

• With more than 2,100 acres of forest, the threat of wildfires is always on Bower’s mind. Bower has partnered with agencies to secure grants to assist in forestry management, most recently a $1.8 million grant from Cal-Fire. Bower expresses his gratitude to so many people for helping him learn about land management, something that was foreign to him a few years back.

“Some of it comes by feel, some of it is standard. It takes constant training with contractors, constant training for myself and constant training for my team,” he says.

• Homeowners insurance policies, especially in forested areas of Northern California, have become hard to acquire, leading Bower to take on the insurance industry on behalf of his members. “Part of our job is to maintain the asset and the value of Martis Camp,” Bower says. “It’s difficult to get insurance here. So let’s knock on some doors and tell people about the great work we’re doing to keep the area safe. We’re now at the point where we’re right in the middle of potentially developing an insurance product for our members here.”

Just do it

Jaime Haddad has worked for Martis Camp Club for five years. She started there as the communications manager and was promoted to assistant general manager and director of sustainability. Haddad nominated Bower for the Graffis Award. She says she felt compelled to put his name in for the honor because he has a “just do it” attitude combined with a willingness to think outside the box.

When she approached Bower about her concern with homeowners insurance policies for their members, he asked her what she wanted to do for a solution. She thought out loud that she wished they had a contact at the state level.

Jonathan Moulton, superintendent, Bower and Evan McFadden, assistant. “They’re the next generation,” Bower says. (Photo: Chantel Elder)

“And he said, ‘Well, let’s do it. Just reach out.’ And that was my first real Scott Bower example where I was like, ‘Just reach out? You can’t just reach out to the government!’” she says. “And we did. And sure enough, three months later, we had the insurance commissioner on property talking to our members about insurance problems.”

“To be a golf course superintendent and build a golf course and then transition into trying to insure multi-multi-million-dollar homes, it’s a pretty amazing feat,” says Evan McFadden, assistant superintendent. “That’s just one example. All the tree work and the fire mitigation that he and our team have done to make this property safe for the members and safe for the employees is amazing. I joke that he’s the busiest man in Truckee because he always is on the phone or in a meeting with someone because the scope of his work is vast, but the detail at which he’s able to accomplish things is equally impressive.”

“You always have an ear to bend with Scott,” says Jonathan Moulton, superintendent. (Photo: Chantel Elder)

Bower has taken on so much responsibility over the years, and in 2018, he was promoted to community general manager and director of grounds. Bower laughs when asked if he thought his job would one day evolve beyond taking care of a golf course.

“When you’re young and you get on the golf course, your career goal is to be a superintendent and grow some grass and work hard,” he says. “I think the furthest I ever thought about advancement was, maybe someday I’ll be at a multi-course property. That was probably the furthest I ever thought about being away from just a normal superintendent. (My job has) evolved, and I think that’s wonderful.”

“Even though he has 10,000 things he does every day, you never feel like you’re inconveniencing him or making his day more difficult. He’s here to truly help me and make my life easier,” says Jonathan Moulton, superintendent of Martis Camp Club. “I think after all these years, I truly understand what he’s involved in. It seems like hyperbole, but every week, I find out something else that he’s into, and it’s pretty neat to be on the outside edge of it. We have a close relationship, and we share things, and it’s fun to hear the stories of all the crazy stuff he’s involved in.”

Thomas Bastis, CGCS, director of agronomy for the PGA Tour, has observed his friend grapple with those many curveballs over the years. What makes Bower so good at navigating these challenges, Bastis says, is a combination of an endearing smile and a fearlessness in talking with anyone.

“He’ll go right up and introduce himself to anyone. He’s got a great smile, he’ll start a conversation and he gets the ball rolling. He has no problem talking to a CEO. He will know who you are and who you travel in the same circles with, and he follows through,” Bastis says. “Water quality and Tahoe is a pretty strict area to do business in, especially when you build something from the ground up. You have to prove to the community that golf courses can help the environment, not hurt the environment. It’s the same game plan with the fires up there and the homeowners not being able to get fire insurance. Well, there’s got to be a better way to get things accomplished, and Scott is not afraid to talk to anybody in order to get it done.”

Rick Mooney, vice president of maintenance and development at Shore Lodge in McCall, Idaho, has been friends with Bower since they met at Michigan State. Mooney recalls traveling with Bower to attend their first-ever GCSAA Conference and Show in Dallas.

The Bower family, including Scott (center), Zac and Ben will forever be a part of Martis Camp thanks to this plaque on the 16th tee. (Photo: Scott Bower)

“I saw then that Scott had a great sense for networking and speaking with people,” Mooney says. “I knew then that he was going to go places — that he was going to do well.”

That thought was confirmed when Mooney (who coincidentally won the Graffis Award in 2020) traveled to Martis Camp to pick up a Mercedes passenger van his club purchased.

“I saw the expanse of his operation, and knowing that he was basically there from the start … and seeing the maintenance facilities, the construction management, the clubhouse and the golf course was just amazing … it was one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Man, this kid — my buddy — has done well.’”

Worth the effort

Bower looks back to those early years at Martis Camp and shudders when he thinks of all the hours he worked — the fight for the course to be built, then the work it took to build it. He had a young family at the time — Zac was three years old and the twins, Ian and Ben, were newborns when the ground was broken. But the club supported him then and the club supports him now.

And Bower, no longer just the superintendent, but more than general manager — perhaps Martis Camp’s counselor — continues to support his club and its members in any way he can.

“I’m not going to lie. It was a lot of head down and long days,” Bower says. “I’m happy to say I had my 28th wedding anniversary last Saturday. Martis Camp was a partnership … Mark Johnson and Jim Bartlett and Nick Hackstock, they were so good to us, and they knew there were a few of us that, ‘Hey, you guys are going to have to put your life on hold.’ And they did right by that with my family. They supported Susan and me, and I would not change any of it. I’m still here with those guys, and that’s pretty cool stuff.”

About the Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year Award

The Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year Award, given annually since 2012, is named in honor of Golfdom’s founder, World Golf Hall of Fame member Herb Graffis. Graffis was one of the first people to think of golf as a business when he and his brother Joe founded Golfdom in 1927. With his vision, Graffis helped advance the game in numerous ways, from founding the National Golf Foundation and the Club Managers Association of America to his work advocating on behalf of superintendents and elevating their profile. It is with all due respect that we present this award in Mr. Graffis’ honor.

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