The 19th Hole: Andy Bates

By |  September 24, 2014 0 Comments

Superintendent//  Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (Mystic Rock and The Links courses), Farmington, Pa.

andy_batesWhat are you drinking?

A draught beer… a Sam Adams is good.

Where did you go to school?

Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute. It’s the ag school in Wooster, Ohio. My degree is in turfgrass management, graduated in 2006.

Did you watch the NFL kickoff game yesterday?

I’m not huge into professional sports. My team is the Buckeyes. Being in Pennsylvania, I get a lot of slack for that.

Will the Buckeyes be OK with their quarterback being out for the season?

I think so. They recruit great. I remember when Braxton Miller was the freshman quarterback. There’s always a new stud. I hate that he got hurt, he was a Heisman candidate… but they’ll be OK if they can figure out the offense. They’re always in contention.

There is so much to do here at the resort. What do you enjoy the most?

The resort is so large, one of the things I like to do is hop in my golf cart and just drive around the property with my daughter Aubrey, look at the animals, check out the play areas. I love the golf courses, so golfing is at the top of my list, of course, but I’m biased. I also like the shooting academy; I try to do it once a year.

Hold old is Aubrey?

What’s her favorite part? She’ll be 2 ½ next month. She always wants to check on the lions. There are literally lions, tigers, bears and zebras here. She likes the birds, too.

Do you have big plans for the weekend?

I have to work Sunday. My parents are coming in tonight. We try to see each other once a month. Today is my dad’s birthday, so we’re going to Ligonier, a nice little town in the mountains outside Latrobe.

If you could sneak one more hour in your day everyday, how would you use it?

It would be extra family time with Aubrey and my wife Jessica. You really have to hold on to that time you get to spend with each other on weekends and after work. Being in the golf business, you do have to work weekends and that’s hard.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, September 5th, 2014.

Photo: Seth Jones

This is posted in People

About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 25-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of Golfdom magazine and Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.


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