The 19th Hole: Steve Rabideau CGCS
CGCS // Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y.
After 18 holes, what’s your drink of choice?
A seltzer water and a cigar.
What’s one thing you make sure is always stocked in the breakroom fridge?
Ice cream, any kind.
What are your teams?
All Boston. “Title Town.” We call it that because we win all the time. I’m from Massachusetts. I have season tickets for the Patriots. When football season rolls around, that’s the time of the year you can get the time off, so I go to most of the games.
So what’s your take on Tom Brady and “deflategate?”
He’s innocent! I think so many people don’t like the Patriots because they win… and (Roger) Goodell thinks if he didn’t do something they would have accused him of playing favorites. If it was really such a big deal, the NFL, with all their money, they would have thought about that a long time ago and given everyone the same football, you know?
You and your crew have been busy lately with a big renovation, right?
We just finished completely rebuilding the East Course. We rebuilt all the greens on the East, USGA spec, put SubAir on them. We put the greens back exactly the same way. To get them back exact was the most (time-consuming) process… that took a six-man crew 12 to 30 hours to get it back perfect. There were a lot of long days in this project.
Winged Foot will play host to the 2020 U.S. Open. Does that seem like forever away, or is time going by fast?
It’s going by fast here. When we started doing the restoration, that went fast; (next we’ll) rebuild the West Course, that’ll go by fast, before you know, it’ll be two years away. I’ve been here four years already and that went by like nothing. We’re busy here day in, day out, it goes by fast. I guess it’s a part of getting older, eh?
What’s the ideal week off?
I’m planning a golf trip right now for this fall. We’re going to Scotland. Since we’ve been here we’ve been doing nothing but construction, for three and a half years. This is the first year I don’t have it, so I’m going on a golf trip.
What’s the key to being successful in this business?
You got to be a babystitter. That’s what I tell my guys. You’ve just got to be here. The grass doesn’t know what day it is.
As interviewed by Seth Jones, June 29th, 2015.
Photo by: Seth Jones