The 19th Hole: Jackson Reiswig

Meet Jackson Reiswig, superintendent, Coral Creek Club, Placida, Fla.

Jackson Reiswig

What are you drinking? A South American Malbec or a Spanish Rioja. I’m trying to class up my post-golf drinking.

What’s the one thing Coral Creek is known for? The purest-putting bermuda there is. During the season, we run a little faster than the PGA Tour, day-in, day-out. Most of our members, we’re their second or third club, and many come from premiere PGA venues. They’re all on bentgrass. They expect the same results here on bermuda, which up until a few years ago was impossible. But I like to think of myself as more of an artist than a scientist…

Reading anything good these days? Oh… well, every month, I get Golfdom (laughs). In-between that, I was just reading this Journal of Plant Nutrition article, “Uptake and Transport of Methylglucopyranoside Throughout Plants.”

Who are your teams? Boise State and North Dakota State, and anyone who plays against the SEC.

You’re a turf professional, and you’re OK with that awful looking blue turf? Because we were the first one. Anyone who has colored turf now, that is just silly. But since we were the original, that makes it OK.

Any products that you are really excited about right now? I’m absolutely thrilled with CourseVision. At the end of the week I’ll shut the course down for three months and during that time there is nothing more valuable than my gradens and aerifiers. Also, for the record, ReDox has quickly become the fertility standard out here.

Anything cool that you’re checking out online these days? My hobby is cooking, so I look for recipes. Right now I’m stuck on RickBayless.com. It’s Mexican food, he’s got a couple restaurants in Chicago.

You mentioned that you’ve broken your back. What’s that story? I was 17, at the local ski resort. Being the adrenaline junkie I am, I had to hit the biggest, baddest kicker (jump) they had up there. It started out real good, until I looked to my right and I looked down at the dude in the chair lift. He yelled, “Dude, sweet air!” That’s when I realized I was in big trouble. When I hit the ground, my chin hit my sternum, cracked my sternum, and I fractured two vertebrae in my back. That ended my snowboarding career.

Did the crash knock you out? I knew I wasn’t right, but I could still function. A little later I fell in-between a couple rocks and I broke my arm. They took me down the hill on the sled. At the hospital, they looked around and said, “You’ve got a lot more going on than a broken arm.”

Any lingering effects? Fortunately, I’m not very good at laying sod anymore. I count that as a blessing.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, July 2, 2013.