“It’s not just grass; it doesn’t just grow. This place looks great because of you.”
By Leon Gordon | Sponsored Content
A longtime member at Knollwood Club, Lake Forest, Ill., spots Drew Barnett, superintendent, as he’s parked at the turn. The member makes his own turn and motions for Barnett to keep his Gator in park.
Drew Barnett
“This is because of you,” the member says, extending his hand to shake Barnett’s. “It’s not just grass; it doesn’t just grow. This place looks great because of you.”
Barnett thanks the member and proceeds on to the back nine. “Knollwood is a great club — it’s a family club,” he says. “On beautiful days like today? We see a lot of action.”
Barnett has been the superintendent at Knollwood for six years. Previously the proud Penn State grad was at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Before that, he did a stint out on the Monterey Peninsula. Barnett is one of those guys who knew what he wanted to do from a young age and has pursued it ever since. “I love being outside, and I love golf. Growing up, I played a lot of golf,” Barnett says. “It’s great having this as an office — I love the cold, I love the hot, I love everything about it.”
A member of the Knollwood Club grounds crew uses a 220E-Cut Hybrid walk greens mowers. Photo: Golfdom Staff.
Austin Bowman, assistant superintendent at Knollwood Club, with the club’s favorite dog. Photo: Golfdom Staff.
There’s a lot to love about Knollwood, a classic Chicago course. Built in the 1920s, the course was designed by Charles Allison, who also designed Milwaukee CC. The course sits on 175 acres, a generous allocation of land for a golf course at the time. The course cost $10,000 per hole to construct … also a generous allocation of funds to construct a golf course. No expense was spared to make Knollwood a first class course in the Chicago market.
Led by Barnett, a crew of 22 maintains the club, a diverse team that includes Hispanics, retirees and high school kids. Half of the crew has been there for more than 10 years, with some of the crew working there 20- and 30-plus years.
“We have an awesome staff, a good mix of guys that keeps it interesting,” Barnett says. “We have a lot of great experience here, and the senior guys are good about training the new people and welcoming them to the team.”
Knollwood Club Superintendent Drew Barnett explains why he trusts John Deere products to keep this classic Chicago course in top shop for members.
Knollwood, Barnett and his crew rely on John Deere and their local distributor, JW Turf, for their equipment needs. The course uses 220E-Cut Hybrid walk greens mowers, 7500A fairway mowers, 2500B triplex mowers on tees and approaches and 9009A mowers on the rough.
Handling the rough with the 8800A mower. Photo: Golfdom Staff.
“John Deere is awesome, we’re on the second round of a Master Lease program here … the No. 1 thing is the service we get from our distributor, JW Turf, is top-notch,” Barnett says. “And the quality of cut we get from our greens mowers, our fairway mowers and our tee mowers … all the bentgrass surfaces that we’re mowing, the quality has been simply outstanding.”
Outstanding is the level of performance Barnett expects from his equipment and his crew. Moments like that exchange with the member at the turn don’t come easy, especially at a grand old club like Knollwood, where expectations are that everything is first class.
“Expectations here are high — the club has given us the resources to do the job to the best of our abilities,” Barnett says. “It’s up to us to give them the best product we can every day.”
To see what John Deere can do for your course, go to JohnDeere.com/Golf.
This page was produced by North Coast Media’s content marketing staff in collaboration with John Deere. NCM Content Marketing connects marketers to audiences and delivers industry trends, business tips and product information. The Golfdom editorial staff did not create this content.
Header photo: Golfdom Staff
