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Shawnee Hills Golf Course superintendent Brad Vecchio has been in the industry since high school. He graduated from Ohio State ATI, worked as an assistant at numerous courses and found his way to Shawnee Hills in Bedford, Ohio, as superintendent in 2020. Through his years on Ohio turf, Vecchio has experienced the golf industry through many challenges, including the crash of 2008, and the golf surge through the COVID-19 pandemic. Each year brings its own set of challenges. 2025 brought many, but the most difficult aspect for the Cleveland Metroparks course was keeping the employee schedule full.
Vecchio hired fewer seasonal maintenance team members. “Seasonal help will make or break the course,” he says. “It almost broke us this year.”
Vecchio struggled to attract staff, and even when he did, scheduling was difficult. Staff frequently requested time off and availability was limited. This isn’t just a battle at Shawnee Hills; it’s a challenge superintendents face everywhere.
Due to staffing shortages, Vecchio often had to change plans. Instead of mowing all greens, tees and fairways in one day, half the tees were saved for the next day. From a golfer’s perspective, the change was not noticeable. For Vecchio and the full-time staffers, it was frustrating. Limited staff means limited tasks completed each day.
To combat the scheduling issues, Vecchio plans to hire a few extra people in 2026. “I’m going to give myself a little more leeway,” he says. “Versus this year, I was already shorthanded.”
2025 was also a record-breaking revenue year for the facility. The number of golfers on the course has increased every year since the start of COVID-19. 2025 was the first year the numbers were even slightly down, but still not by much. Tee sheets were filled frequently through November.
Despite the challenges 2025 brought, the pressure on Vecchio hasn’t changed. “The pressure is what we put on ourselves,” he says. “The golfers are here. We’ve got to give them a great quality course, no matter what kind of budget we have.”
Having a strong agronomic plan in place is key for getting through unexpected events like weather and staff changes. Ohio endured a wet spring, a hot and humid summer, and playable weather through the fall. “When the unexpected comes up, we’re already kind of ready for it,” Vecchio says. “When big storms come up, we’ve been through it before. We know what to do. We’re ready. The biggest thing is just being prepared for it.”
The Cleveland area also faced several stretches without rainfall. Shawnee Hills operates with two ponds for irrigation and, at one point, those ponds were just about empty. “We didn’t run out completely,” Vecchio says, “but that was the biggest thing, was trying to adjust our watering, knowing that our lakes were running low.”
For superintendents and assistants facing pressures — agronomic or otherwise — Vecchio says the best thing to do is reach out to other industry pros. In the Cleveland area, most superintendents have each other’s phone numbers and will often ask questions and seek advice. “Don’t be afraid to reach out,” he says. “That’s the biggest thing.”
No matter what battle you’re facing, community can help you through.
— Kelsie Horner
Explore the January 2026 Issue
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