The 19th Hole: Dan Grogan

Photo: Lou Ferraro, Park South Photography

Dan Grogan

Superintendent // The Sagamore Club, Noblesville, Ind.

Dan, what are you having? I’ll go with an All Day IPA.

Tell me about your family. I’ve been married to Andrea for three years. My oldest, Grayson, turned 2 in November. Kennedy was born in July, the Monday after the member/guest … I appreciated her waiting.

What do I need to know about the Sagamore Club? It’s a Signature Jack Nicklaus Design that opened in 2003. It’s in a suburb of Indianapolis. They like to play golf out here, we usually push about 20,000 rounds of golf through the course. It’s a great place to work.

And you come from a superintendent family, right? My dad (Duke) has been a superintendent since before I was born. He’s been at the same club for 25 years; he’s pushing 40 years in the industry. And my Uncle Paul retired from TPC Deere Run about five years ago. He and my dad started taking care of golf courses in Michigan together way back when.

What’s one thing I should do if I’m ever in Noblesville? We have an amphitheatre — Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center — that’s a big staple of our community. It’s only about 2 miles from the course. On a calm day, you can hear the show, depending on the wind and where you are on the course.

What’s the best show you’ve seen there? Darius Rucker, because of what happened. We have an agreement with the venue so that their performers can come play here at the course. Darius Rucker was playing golf the day of the show and I ran into him so I said hi. I was at the concert that night and I thought to myself, ‘it’d be cool if we got a shoutout.’ Then, only about three songs in, he says, ‘Shoutout to the Sagamore Club, those were some of the best greens I’ve ever putted!’ That’s hard to beat.

What’s your favorite tool in the shop? I love cutting cups, so it’s the (Par Aide) HiO hole cutter. We freehand paint the edges of the cup every morning. I like to make sure every single cup is as perfect as possible. And it gives me a chance to see the course, look for disease and run the dog.

What teams do you root for? The Colts, the Boilermakers and the Pacers. But I also root for the Saints because of Drew Brees — his senior year at Purdue was my freshman year.

Fill in the blank: I know it’s going to be a long day when __________. … probably when I wake up in the morning, check my phone and I’ve got text messages from my employees. ‘What’s it going to be today?’ ‘Hey Dan, my car broke down …’ The second I open that text, I know I’m going to be a few bodies light at work that day.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, Jan. 18, 2019.