Norwood Hills Country Club superintendent Mike Null is a longtime standout in the St. Louis area. Photos by Liz Rymarev
Whenever possible, Mike Null spends Saturday at Fairmount Park.
“I love horse racing,” says Null, who regularly attends the track in nearby Collinsville, Ill. Fairmount Park has been around for a century. Meanwhile, Null and his family have been thoroughbreds for several decades when it comes to agronomics in the St. Louis area.
For 45 years, a Null has overseen golf courses in these parts — and their presence is ongoing. Mike Null, his uncle Roger Null, and now Mike’s son, Mitch Null, have achieved superintendent status in their careers. At one time or another, all of them have worked at 36-hole Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis. This month, that place is in the spotlight. The PGA Tour Champions’ Stifel Charity Classic is there Sept. 5-7. Mike Null, 62 and a 42-year GCSAA member, presides over the facility. The West Course hosts the event.
What can the professionals expect? Call it the Null touch. “Best putting greens in town,” says retired superintendent John Briggs.
Flying high
Mike Null aimed high once.
“In high school, I wanted to be a pilot,” he says. The native of Rock Rapids, Iowa, wasn’t kidding. He enrolled in Air Force ROTC. The son of a football coach, Null was interested in golf. The sport was hard to ignore in his family; uncle, Roger Null, who is 19 years older than Mike, first was a superintendent in 1967 at Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club in Rock Island, Ill. He moved on to Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Country Club and left there in 1980 to be superintendent at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis.
There, Mike spent four summers under his uncle’s wing while turning his focus to golf. “I lived on the property. As a young boy, Mike came to live with me in summer and resided in a finished basement. I had a good library of golf books. He read all of it, gobbled it up,” says Roger, a 56-year GCSAA member who not only oozed golf knowledge but could play it at a high level.
As a student at Iowa State University, Mike continued working for his uncle. Roger knew by then that his nephew was gifted. “He understands the game from a lot of different perspectives — how the game should be played, how the golf course should be kept,” Roger says.
More than anything, Mike established a standard on the keeping part once he arrived at Norwood CC.
Null (standing) with assistant Jimmy Bucher.
A career in the making
The post-ISU years for Mike Null started in the South.
In 1986, his first job was as an assistant golf course superintendent at Valley Hills Country Club in Huntsville, Ala. He quickly climbed the ladder, accepting his first superintendent role at Lakewood Golf Club in Fenton, Mo. That preceded another sudden move. Something special, too. Mike went to work at Norwood Hills CC for his uncle Roger, who had come there after departing Old Warson CC. Roger assigned Mike as East Course superintendent at Norwood Hills CC. During his time there, Roger did renovations at the club.
Mike had a desire to do his own architect work. In 1994, he left Norwood Hills CC and led the build at The Falls Golf Club in O’Fallon, Mo. His nephew’s decision to give that a shot was no surprise to Roger. “He’s very artistic, has a great eye,” says Roger (Mike rebuilt seven holes at Norwood CC in 2005 and rebuilt some greens on the property). “He’s done some nice drawings and could’ve been an artist.”
Mike stayed at The Falls GC awhile. “I like doing that kind of stuff, seeing things evolve,” he says of the course construction. Twenty-three years ago, he chose to move on. He absolutely knew all about his landing point.
About those greens
Mike Null is OK with revealing why his greens are so highly regarded. “As far as greens go, a solid agronomic program of thatch control, weekly light topdressing, venting bi-weekly, fertilizer control, growth regulation, mowing, rolling, limit water as much as possible, staying on schedule and good, dedicated employees syringing greens is what makes the program,” he says.
Since returning to Norwood Hills CC in 2002, Null took over as director of agronomy after Roger semi-retired. A three-time GCSAA Golf Championships winner in 1983, 1990, 1991 and a participant in numerous national events, such as four U.S. Amateurs, Roger says, “He probably keeps it drier than any golf course in St. Louis, which is hard to do in St. Louis. People think the transition zone and clay soil don’t mix very well.”
Tim Burch understands what’s happening on those Norwood CC greens.
“They put us all to shame for how dry and firm they are,” says Burch, a retired 41-year GCSAA member who worked at Norwood CC and St. Louis Country Club among his jobs. “Mike has proven you can get away with some weird underground conditions. He worked on the surrounds, made them feel more old-fashioned from their original state. He’s made things there more interesting, a thousand percent more interesting. He’s taken grass growing to another level that we never ever can pull off.”
Briggs, a 32-year GCSAA member who worked at both Norwood CC courses before his 21 years at Fox Run Golf Club in Eureka, Mo., says, “Mike was easygoing. Still is, but to him you’ve got to get this (course conditions) right to make sure the challenge for the golfer is still there.”
Jimmy Bucher understands the mentality and the process. He’s been at Norwood CC for 18 years, including his current position as West Course superintendent for the last seven years. “We don’t overwater, just keep them lean. He (Null) has the ability, the knack, to let the greens stress out just enough and then recoup them. A lot of people probably get freaked out over water. We’re light on water. He’s been on those greens a long time,” says Bucher, a 13-year association member, “and he knows how they react. There are so many micronutrients you have from years of experience. He’s had a lot of experience.”
Oh, there’s also this: “No moisture meter. It’s more about feel,” Bucher says.
Simply put, Mike says, “Hit the driver. Get the ball to roll. That’s how golf is supposed to be played.”
Bucher appreciates how Null has helped guide him in his journey. “His ability to teach and educate is awesome,” says Bucher, who in college attended Southeast Missouri State. “He lets you do what you need to do, doesn’t hover over you. He’s a deep thinker. He watches and assesses everything. He really taught me a lot to be calm under pressure of the summer, do what you can and keep moving forward.”
Roger Null, who served as a superintendent in the St. Louis since the 1980s, is also a three-time GCSAA Golf Championships winner. Photo courtesy of Roger Null
A nod to the Nulls
The Null name resonates with a St. Louis area author and historian.
“They have created quite a legacy. They’re well respected, and they are among the best here,” says Jim Healey, whose books include “Golfing Before the Arch, a History of St. Louis Golf.” The longevity of the Nulls as superintendents is a factor in analyzing their success. “This area, if you know it at all, the life span of a superintendent in this area can be about six months if you’re not good at it, because the (transition) zone is so hard,” Healey says. “We have winterkill with the bermudagrass all the time, and the bermuda keeps coming back (nowadays, many of the area courses have changed to zoysiagrass, as has Norwood CC on its tees and fairways with Crenshaw bentgrass greens). With the amount of play, you’d expect the course to get torn up all the time, but it just isn’t.”
The most recent Null to be named superintendent is Mitch. He took that position last November at Algonquin Golf Club in St. Louis, coming over from serving as golf course manager at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club. A proud (and smart) father doesn’t take all the credit for Mitch’s rise. “At 16, he started working for me at Norwood. He worked for me six years and went to Iowa State. I loved having him on the crew. All my kids (Mitch and daughters Nichole and Allison) have a good work ethic. They got it from their mother (Kim),” Mike says.
Mike’s favorite spot at Norwood CC, which hosted the 1948 PGA Championship won by legend Ben Hogan, is a teeing ground where he has spent early mornings sipping coffee next to his Scottish terrier McDougal. The industry has changed throughout his career. Among the changes he has witnessed? “Irrigation. You can run it off your phone,” he says. Golfer demands, though, have increased, but he is a fan of his club’s demeanor toward him. “Good membership. They treat me well,” Null says.
His sustainability as a superintendent is applauded by one of his first bosses. “He contributed a lot to the crew, was one of the leaders we had,” says John Newton, CGCS Retired, a 43-year association member who received GCSAA’s Col. John Morley Award in 2023 and for 33 years oversaw Veenker Memorial Golf Course at Iowa State, where Null served in college for Newton.
For sure, the Nulls have led with a purpose, and the effort is still going strong in the St. Louis region. That makes Mike Null proud. “To have had a superintendent in our family for that many years is kind of wild to think about. It’s something to be proud of, pretty cool,” says Mike, who’s been a 5 handicap with the golf clubs. “The common denominator for us is love for the game of golf. Being a superintendent is kind of secondary.”
Howard Richman is GCM’s associate editor.