Ryan Stonaker, assistant superintendent at Shadowmoss Plantation in Charleston, S.C., briefly took over as acting superintendent at the facility last summer. Photos courtesy of Ryan Stonaker
Last summer, the Superintendent at my course — Shadowmoss Plantation in Charleston, S.C. — was involved in a major accident. He was out for over three months and slowly worked his way back to full time over the following three months. This happened right as the growing season was beginning.
One day, I was an assistant, just going about my day-to-day operations. The next, I was suddenly making every decision on the course. Additionally, I was managing billing, payroll, and budgeting. The experience was a crash course on what being a superintendent entails. Here are five of the most important things I learned:
As an Assistant, treat each day like you are the Superintendent of your course. Observe what your superintendent does day to day. There is a lot more to the job than just growing grass. Create relationships with other employees, learn how to manage a staff and set expectations. Take notes on what works and does not. Take time to learn the business side of golf.
Related: Webinar — Becoming an Effective Manager: …if only your job was about growing grass
Call on your resources and contacts. You will be surprised at how many industry colleagues are willing to help you out and give constructive feedback. Golf course superintendents are a community. Turfgrass professionals want to see others succeed because it’s good for the game of golf and good for the industry. There are also unlimited resources out there (online, magazine articles, textbooks, webinars). Do not be afraid to research different turf management techniques and ask others what’s working at their courses.
Related: Reflections of a veteran golf course superintendent
Ryan Stonaker
Be decisive. It is great to draw all the information and ideas together but at some point, an actionable decision must be made. Decide what you are going to do and execute that plan with confidence. Always be ready explain the “why” to your staff. It creates buy in, especially if you are making some changes to how things were done in the past.
Related: Webinar — Leading from the turf UP
Teach. Teach your staff how to do everything from changing holes to mowing. You never know when a staff member will call in sick, come in late, or just not show up. When everyone knows how to do the tasks needed, it is easier to adjust on the fly.
Related: Training employees for success
Be creative with time management. Golf is booming and there is more play on the course than ever before. Get creative in your agronomic schedule to help meet the increased needs. Can you aerify tees three at a time, or verticut nine holes one day and nine holes the next? The golf course may be busy, but there are still plenty of ways to get major agronomic tasks done with minimal disruption of play.
Related: Cultivating healthy time-management habits
Ryan Stonaker is an assistant golf course superintendent at Shadowmoss Plantation Country Club in Charleston, S.C.