Mike Gianopoulos, CGCS, superintendent at Kent Country Club in Grand Rapids, Mich., lifts the GCSAA National Championship trophy at Disney's Magnolia golf course. Photo by Montana Pritchard
Jack Nicklaus won here three times. Tiger Woods won at the same spot twice. Now you can add Mike Gianopoulos, CGCS, to those who triumphed at Walt Disney World’s Magnolia Golf Course in Buena Vista, Fla.
In fact, winning is becoming a habit for him among his peers.
Make it back-to-back GCSAA National Championships for Gianopoulos. On Monday afternoon in a two-day event that featured multiple delays due to frost, gusty winds and freezing temperatures at times, Gianopoulos is hot stuff on the GCSAA circuit. The 17-year GCSAA member from Kent Country Club in Grand Rapids, Mich., won the 76th GCSAA National Championship by defeating Shawn Westacott, GCSAA Class A director of agronomy at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., by two strokes. The Toro Company is the presenting partner for the championship.
“I’m really happy about it. The round started off really well but was off a little bit the last three holes,” says Gianopoulos, who at one point held a 5-stroke lead (buoyed in part by opening back-to-back birdies) before struggling down the stretch. He bogeyed four of the last five holes, including the final three, in his second-round 71 and overall ended up 2-over-par 146. Westacott, a 25-year association member and past champion, finished 4-over-par 148.
Gianopoulos is the first superintendent to win consecutive titles since Seth Strickland won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. Strickland, director of agronomy at Turnberry Resort & Club in Aventura, Fla., took third Monday with a 5-over-par 149. Now, Gianopulos is one more championship from matching the person who's won the most consecutive titles. Emil “Mashie” Masciocchi won three twice (1948-49-50) and (1940-41-46; during World War II, there were no championships from 1942-45).
This marked the 10th time the tournament was played in Orlando. The others were in 1982, 1990, 1996, 2005, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2023.
It’s the 18th time overall in Florida. The championship was conducted in Miami (1954, 1962); Tallahassee (1972); Pensacola (1975); Ponte Vedra Beach (1992); Tampa (1999); St. Augustine (2002); and Palm Beach Gardens (2011).
The last time it was at Disney’s Magnolia was 2014. Deron Zendt, then at Banyan Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., prevailed. It was his first of two GCSAA National Championships.
As for this week’s event, to say that Magnolia GC is historical might be an understatement. From 1971 to 2012, it hosted the PGA Tour’s Walt Disney World Golf Classic. Overseen by Arnold Palmer Golf Management, Disney’s Magnolia GC is a par 72, more than 7,500 yards from the tips and has TifEagle bermudagrass greens. Nicklaus won the first three titles there. From 1974 to 1981, it was a team championship until reverting to its old format in 1982 through its duration.
To celebrate Disney’s Magnolia GC’s 50th anniversary in 2021, each hole was named after a classic Disney storyline and paired with an inspirational quote spoken by Arnold Palmer or Walt Disney themselves, on opposing holes. In keeping with the Disney theme — not including the No. 6 hazard with the Mickey Mouse-inspired shape, otherwise known as “The Mouse Trap” — the most significant focus of the extensive renovation was the introduction of “Grumpy’s Gauntlet.” The demanding stretch of holes 14 through 17 will bring shot selection and strategy challenges to golfers of all skill levels.
Course designer Ken Baker created a unique experience from one hole to the next at each of those four holes at “Grumpy’s Gauntlet.” The 14th, “The Backside of Water,” has a green that slopes away from the center on each of its sides, leading to difficult approach shots. The par-5 15th, “The Dinglehopper,” is 560 yards (which once upon a time was a par-3), and No. 16, “An Element of Fun,” is a 454-yard par-4. It has two bodies of water along the left side, resulting in a true test. Hole No. 17 is a par-3 that also has water on both sides and a green that severely slopes in various directions. Enough to make you grumpy? We’ll see.
Also, a new 18-hole putting green was created. Rather than a largely flat surface area for the practice green, the 18-hole putting course has been graded to give the area new contours and elevation changes to provide a more realistic and challenging putting experience. The lush bermudagrass surface will require the right combination of skill and luck. The putting green pays homage to Disney’s “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” a movie that focuses on Francis Ouimet’s historical U.S. Open victory in 1913. The former caddie and amateur golfer took the title at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
Howard Richman is GCM’s associate editor.