The 2025 class of the Syngenta Business Institute at the Graylyn Conference Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. Photos by Andrew Hartsock
It’s quite a hike from paradise to Winston-Salem, N.C.
In the case of Chris Parde, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Princeville Makai Golf Club in Princeville, Hawaii, and 10-year GCSAA member, the trip took the better part of a day, entailing first a short island-hopping flight over to Maui, followed by an 8½-hour flight to Atlanta, then a quick commuter flight to nearby Greensboro, N.C.
But the trek — and the additional night’s stay on either end that it required — to attend last week’s Syngenta Business Institute at the historic Graylyn Conference Center, for Parde, at least, was more than worth it.
“I’d recommend that anybody should go do it,” Parde says. “It gets you thinking outside of what you’re normally thinking about. It’s good to have reflection: How did I react? How should I act? This is designed to get you thinking about things through a different lens, more methodically.”
The three-day SBI, held essentially annually since 2009, is an intensive educational session for golf course superintendents to help them gain skills in leadership, work-life balance, management, negotiations and executive decision-making. It is led by faculty from Wake Forest University.
“It is a lot in such a short amount of time,” Parde says. “I wish it was kind of spread out a bit. I almost wish it was another full day.”
Indeed, it’s a lot.
The 25 attendees at the Graylyn attended classroom sessions from 8-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and another morning session on Friday. The evenings featured a reception, an off-site “social activity” (in this case, boutique bowling in downtown Winston-Salem) and a lengthy series of roundtable discussions.
Parde was most drawn into the sessions on work-life balance. “That’s been a big part of my career the last few years,” he says. “I try to make sure I take time away from work. I think I’m in a good spot. I can’t really complain about where you live when you live here.” He was also drawn to the Friday morning session, “Executive Decision-Making for Leaders.”
Chris Parde, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Princeville Makai Golf Club in Princeville, Hawaii, and 10-year GCSAA member, was among the participants at this year's Syngenta Business Institute.
The latter, presented by Sherry Moss, Ph.D., was a beast. Participants completed a lengthy pre-session exercise, during which they analyzed 30 example cases and were asked to determine one of five decision-making styles they felt was best for each case. Their responses were sent to Yale for analysis, and the superintendents were given the results for immediate consumption.
“It was cool to see where you line up,” says Parde, a native of Nebraska. “You don’t really think about those things day to day at work. I think every single superintendent out there can be guilty of just controlling everything. It’s a good idea to keep in the back of your mind when a decision comes up, ‘Is this something I need to decide right now, or is this something I can give to my assistants?’”
Jordan Caplan, CGCS, superintendent at Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix, Mich., and nine-year association member, had to travel a couple thousand fewer miles to get to Graylyn than Parde, but he did suffer travel delays that affected about half of the attendees.
He, too, left SBI with his head spinning.
“I sat with it a couple of days,” he said. “Really, I left there feeling awesome. It was a great experience. A couple of days afterwards, I still have those feels.”
Caplan said his favorite session was the Wednesday afternoon session, “Leading Across Cultures and Generations” by Amy Wallis, Ph.D.
“They were all so good, it’s hard to choose a favorite,” Caplan said, “but probably the one about leading across cultures and generations. I learned a lot of new information from that. I realized I do manage this way, but maybe I should consider managing this way. There’s no one-size-fits-all management style.”
The three-plus-day Syngenta Business Institute, held since 2009, provides turfgrass professionals with leadership training and business education from faculty at Wake Forest University.
Caplan says that, while he has had extensive job-specific education in areas like agronomy, he understands how sometimes training dealing with topics like leadership and decision-making can be neglected. He says he’s drawn to those topics when available, especially during the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, and that interest — coupled with testimonials from previous SBI attendees — drove him to apply for SBI. He wasn’t accepted last year, but his follow-up application this year was selected.
“Absolutely it was worth it,” he said. “It’s still sitting with me afterward. That’s kind of a testament to what they were able to present. I haven’t always felt the same way after a topdressing seminar. But we weren’t just listening. We were learning, practicing it. That will help it stick with us. Everything, right down to the accommodations, were just outstanding.”
Caplan was so impressed, he’s considering going to great lengths to return.
“I might need to change my name and my appearance,” he says with a laugh, “so I can take it again.”
Andrew Hartsock (ahartsock@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s editor-in-chief.