From turf school to retirement

My name is John Carlone, CGCS. Yes, when you include those initials after your name for 35 years, it becomes your identity.

Forty-two years ago, when I graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource development and a concentration in turf management, my only thoughts were learn, take seminars, network with peers, work crazy hours, play golf, attend the GCSAA golf tournament and conference, participate in local chapter events, and serve on chapter boards. All of this was being done with the goal of advancing my career.

Not until around nine years ago, at age 55, did I begin to realize I can’t — nor do I want to —be a golf course superintendent till the day I die. I needed to have an exit plan and a “post-superintendent plan.” Before I go there, let’s go back to the beginning.

Why did I choose a career as a golf course superintendent? I started playing golf at age 11 at Green Valley Country Club in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. I quickly became proficient at the game, breaking 80 by the time I turned 13. In 1977, as a 15-year-old, I won my age group at the Rhode Island State Insurance Youth Classic by shooting 45-35 for an 80.

I played four years on a high school golf team that went 44-0 in division matches. We advanced to four state finals, losing each time to Barrington, whose No. 1 player was future PGA Tour winner Brad Faxon. That explains that! Faxon was shooting 70 or 71 when we were shooting 78 or 79.

Following high school, I played Division I golf at the University of Rhode Island. I’ll never forget how proud Dr. Dick Skogley was that a turf major was on the golf team! That made him beam with pride. Dr. Noel Jackson felt the same. I’ll never be able to get Dr. Jackson’s common retort to a bad result, in his English accent, out of my head. “How can you shoot 85, you bloody Nig-Nog?!”

Let me just say this right now, and I know every URI Turf graduate from that era — Frank Rossi, Scott Niven, Scott Ramsay, Scott Ebdon, Randy Van Yahres and Dennis Petruzzelli, among others —would agree: Dr. Skogley and Dr. Jackson were not only influential individuals in all of our lives, they were simply two of the best men to ever walk the planet. When I was serving on the MetGCSA board in the 1990s, Dr. Skogley and Dr. Jackson both received our John Reid Lifetime Achievement Award. I was beyond honored to play a small part in recognizing these two giants in our industry.

While playing on the URI golf team, I started to notice a trend. And golf is all about trends. I had many rounds where I was 2 under after 13 holes but shot 6 over, and when I was 1 under after 15 and shot 4 over. I never learned how to “go low.” When I was 1 under after 15, my self-talk was, “don’t mess up this good round” and “play conservative.” I would then proceed to finish double, double, triple. It should have been, “Let’s try to birdie in and shoot 4 under.” I was never taught or learned how to do that. Any visions of being a PGA Tour player evaporated very quickly.

When I realized I wasn’t PGA Tour material, my next decision was, “How do I get to be on a golf course every day and play mostly free golf?” That’s when I discovered the world of turf management.

That occurred in 1981.

My first turf management class was PLS 101 with Dr. D. Thomas Duff. I vividly remember how he made it clear to all the aspiring turf managers: “Dead grass is like a dead kitty: It does not come back to life.” He was right!

I played rugby my freshman year at URI. After two broken noses and a concussion, I decided to try out for the golf team. Much safer. From my sophomore to senior year, I played on the golf team and worked on the “experimental turf plots.” URI’s first turfgrass trial plots were planted in 1890, marking the beginning of its turfgrass research program. I worked directly for Dr. Skogley. I was exposed to mowing, aerification, spraying, grass ID and many other aspects of turf management for the first time. I also spent many an hour sitting in his office, mostly listening, to “Doc” tell stories from his career.

Although an internship was not officially required in the program, I knew they were available almost anywhere in the country. I have to give credit to my classmate Dennis Petruzzelli. Dennis was from Westchester County, New York. He talked about the high-end private clubs in Westchester County and suggested that I look to intern in that area.

In the summer of 1982, between my junior and senior years at URI, I accepted an internship at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, working for Ted Horton, CGCS. Westchester Country Club had been the site of an annual PGA Tour event since 1963. In 1982, they were scheduled to host the Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic. As a kid from Rhode Island, going to New York for a summer was a big step. I remember being excited, not scared. I was a sponge ready to absorb all I could.

What a great experience! The highlight of the summer was having my dad come to New York for the PGA Tour event. We were behind the 18th green when eventual winner Bob Gilder knocked a 3 wood in the hole for a double eagle 2 on the par-5 18th hole. There’s a plaque in the fairway on that hole marking the spot where Gilder hit the shot. Many years later, when hosting a PGA Tour Champions event at Meadow Brook, I met Bob and told him my father and I saw his shot go in the hole.

I couldn’t have picked a better example of a professional golf course superintendent than Ted to work under for my first real full-time summer on a golf course. His career was legendary. He worked at Winged Foot, Westchester and Pebble Beach! He remains a friend and mentor to this day.

Following the summer at Westchester, my senior year at URI began in September 1982. In January 1983, while in my final semester, I was at the turf plots. Dr. Skogley said, “I received a phone call from a past graduate who just accepted a new position and is looking for an assistant. I think you would be a perfect fit.” That is the way things worked in those days with Dr. Skogley. Graduating students in the turf program usually did not have to send out résumés seeking positions. Doc pretty much placed you.

The past graduate Doc was speaking of was Scott Niven. Scott accepted the superintendent position at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, in January 1983 and was looking for an assistant. I traveled to Greenwich to interview during my last semester. I accepted the position and began working right after finishing finals in May.

Scott was another example of a professional superintendent. I was very fortunate to work for him at Stanwich. I was still a little green to accept an assistant position at such a high-end private club. But I learned from Scott and his experienced staff.

My first year at Stanwich coincided with the beginning of lightweight mowing and clipping removal on fairways. At the time, Toro had the Turf Pro 84. I had experience using the Turf Pro 84 as an intern at Westchester. Scott acquired a Turf Pro 84 and I was the only one with experience using the machine. Scott leaned on me to show the other staff members how mowing and striping were done. That was really the first time I experienced showing someone how to do something on a golf course. To that point, I had been the student, never the teacher. I relished the feeling!

Scott’s Stanwich career is legendary. He’s still there — 43 years and going strong. Scott loves research and experimenting with new products. He has always been committed to eradicating Poa and doing everything possible to promote bentgrass. He’s been very successful at achieving this feat.

Forty years after working for Scott, I still do some things in the fashion I learned while at Stanwich. Scott remains a good friend, mentor and occasional golfing buddy. A big portion of any success I achieved as a superintendent stemmed from working for Ted and Scott.

Onto Long Island

While working at Stanwich, I applied for several superintendent jobs in the Met Area. In October 1985, there was a message on the whiteboard at the Stanwich shop with a New York City phone number: “John, call Sherman Boxer.” I called him and learned he was the green chair at Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside on Long Island. How did Mr. Boxer get my name? He called a former golf pro at Middle Bay who went to work for the PGA Tour. Mr. Boxer told him Middle Bay was looking for a new superintendent. That golf pro knew Ted Horton from Westchester. He asked for the name of some young assistants in the area. Ted gave him my name. I went through the interview process and was offered the job. I started my career as a golf course superintendent on Nov. 13, 1985.

Two months earlier, in September 1985, Hurricane Gloria battered Long Island and the entire New York metropolitan area. I remember riding out Gloria in the clubhouse at Stanwich! Job No. 1 involved recovering from Hurricane Gloria.

I have great memories of Middle Bay. The course was right on the water, with four holes supported by marine bulkhead. It was a nice place to start a career as a head superintendent. It was relatively easy to grow grass because it rarely hit 90 degrees. There was always a good afternoon breeze. We did have to deal with saltwater intrusion a few times per year. We regularly applied gypsum, with 40 to 60 pallets per year being normal.

Middle Bay rendered some great success stories. In 1987, we embarked on a $400,000 renovation project. Adjusted for inflation, what we accomplished would cost $4 million today! We worked with a gentleman who was an operator for Pete Dye when he built TPC Sawgrass. He started his own design and construction firm. Dave Postlethwait brought in all the equipment and some of the staff needed to complete the project. Our staff at Middle Bay assisted as well. We created fill by digging a new pond and enlarging several other ponds. We realized quickly the fill we dug from the ponds was kind of mucky. We pushed all the sand around the greens into piles, dumped the mucky fill around the greens and shaped it into mounds. We then capped this mucky fill with the sand we had pushed into piles. Not only did we build mounds around greens, we rebuilt every bunker on the course and built several new tees.

The most important success story of any in my life occurred during my second year at Middle Bay. I met my wife, Leslie.

We met in January 1987 and had our first date in March 1987. We got married Nov. 15, 1987. True story: I asked her to marry me one week after our first date. Best decision I ever made. After nearly 38 years together, we are still best friends.

I’m not sure she knew what she was getting into when she became a superintendent’s wife. But she has always been there to take care of things when I was at work. (Read Leslie’s story on page 25. She has some thoughts!)

We have three children:

• Emily, 35, and her husband Lucas live in Rhode Island. They have three children, Savannah, Cassidy and Tyler.
• David, 33, graduated from Hofstra University on Long Island and served as an officer in the U.S. Army for four years. “Lieutenant Dave” is currently attending Northeastern University in Boston, seeking his MBA.
• Daniel, 30, and his wife Sydney live in Lisle, Illinois. Dan graduated from West Point in 2018 and served five years active duty reaching the rank of Captain.

Often, when our kids were young, I would go to the GCSAA golf tournament and conference. After being home alone with the kids for a week, Leslie would fly with the three of them to meet me for a week of vacation. Orlando was always the best location for those family trips.

Middle Bay was generous with its golf course. I hosted several chapter meetings for both the MetGCSA and the Long Island GCSA while there. They also hosted several qualifying rounds for local events for the LIGA and the MGA. After five years at Middle Bay, I got my game back in shape and actually qualified for two Met Opens, (1992 and ’93) and two Met Amateurs (1991 and ’95). I played in several Long Island Opens at Bethpage Red and qualified for match play in several Long Island Amateurs.

There are many clubs in the metropolitan area with a long history of hosting invitational tournaments. I was fortunate, due to my playing ability, meeting influential members at these clubs and being a superintendent, to be invited to participate. Most of them had a similar format: 18 holes of qualifying for 16 spots in a match-play field. Most of them had a senior flight for over-55 competitors. I always felt honored and thankful to be invited to these events. I relished the competition and the camaraderie, and I qualified numerous times for match play. I never won a title. I did make it to the finals of one event, losing 5 and 4 to an individual who turned pro the next day!

Speaking of pros, I have always got along with golf pros. I wanted to be one at one time! I quickly learned two things regarding golf pros. First, they were often the first person a member came in contact with after a round of golf. I wanted the pro and his staff to be allies to me and my staff. I also learned that I earned the respect of the head pro and his staff because of my playing ability. I found that to be the same with members as well. Once I understood this, I used it as an opportunity to help my ability to do my job.

Doug Steffen was Middle Bay’s PGA professional upon my arrival. He had been an assistant at Baltusrol before coming to Middle Bay. Doug and I became fast friends, as we played a lot of golf while also fishing together. Doug was in our wedding party. Doug worked as “my pro” for nine of my 11 years at Middle Bay.

When he left in 1994, Tim Shifflett, a young assistant pro from nearby Inwood Country Club, became the cub’s new head pro. Tim was from Florida and was a good player. I was 33 and had been at Middle Bay nine years. I felt sort of like a big brother to Tim. I enjoyed that role and spent a lot of time at the “back of the driving range” away from members, talking with Tim. I think he just needed a breather from the pro shop — and I was there to listen. Tim is still the head pro at the very prestigious Glen Oaks Club on Long Island.

Another passion I developed while at Stanwich Club was serving on boards of superintendent chapters, turf associations and GCSAA committees. Beginning in 1985, when I was the “assistant rep” on the Met board while at Stanwich, I was always on a board of directors for the next 40 years as a superintendent. This service led to being president of two GCSAA chapters and two turf associations: the MetGCSA 2000-01, Long Island GCSA 2005-08, Tri State Turf Research Association 2010-11 and the New York State Turfgrass Association 2020-21. I also served on 14 different GCSAA committees. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this service.

By serving on boards and committees, I met superintendents from across the country. Many are still close friends to this day. Without a doubt, I am a better superintendent from meeting the many individuals I served and shared ideas with.

During my tenure at Middle Bay from 1985 to ’96, turfgrass management was going through big advancements. Lightweight mowing and collecting clippings on fairways were becoming the norm. The old Jacobsen Blitzer gang units for cutting rough were large, heavy and difficult to maneuver and maintain. We began cutting rough with the Toro 72-inch rotary mower.

When large-area rotary mowers started getting produced, cutting heights were not where they are now. In fact, the Accu-Gauge wasn’t around yet. We were still setting heights in fractions. I remember lowering our greens heights from 5/32nds to 9/64ths was a big step. That is .156 to .140! Our fairway heights were lowered to ½ inch, or .500.

New fungicides, insecticides and herbicides were coming to the market regularly. Older chemistries were starting to be replaced with safer, lower-use rate chemistries. Student enrollment was rising in turf management programs at traditional turf schools. Many other universities added turf programs, and golf course construction was booming. For a period in the mid-1990s, around 300 new courses per year were opening in the United States.

An opportunity for a new challenge professionally and a really good situation for our family opened in September 1996. Meadow Brook Golf Club in Jericho, New York, about 18 miles north of Middle Bay, was seeking a superintendent. Meadow Brook was the site of a Senior PGA Tour event and it was a former Golf Digest Top 100 course in America. It was known for its large property, 270 acres, and big greens, with an average size of 7,600 square feet.

With our family growing — our third child, Daniel, was born in 1995 — we had outgrown where we were living, and Meadow Brook had a house on property for the superintendent. Plus, Jericho was the No. 1 school district in New York State and top 25 in the country. I viewed it as a career job.

I applied, went through the interview process and was offered the job in late October. I started at Meadow Brook on Dec. 1.

When I began my tenure at Meadow Brook, the club hosted 10 senior events involving former PGA Tour stalwarts. The first Senior event, won by Gary Player in 1987, was not an official Senior PGA Tour event. The tournament was an invitational and Player’s check represented the largest of his career to that point. This annual event was another of the attractions to the superintendents’ position at Meadow Brook.

The tournament became an official Senior PGA Tour event in 1988. It was known as the Northville Long Island Classic and occupied a part of the schedule that included a Northeast swing, with tournaments also conducted in New Jersey and Boston. The event was at the absolute worst possible time of year: late July or early August.

Meadow Brook Hunt Club, or MBH, was incorporated in 1881 in Westbury, Long Island. Fox hunting and polo were the early activities at the club. Theodore Roosevelt was once a member. The club added a 9-hole golf course in 1894. Meadow Brook became the 37th member of the USGA and a charter member of the Metropolitan Golf Association. The club hosted the first Women’s National Championship.

Devereux Emmet expanded the course to 18 holes in 1916. The original Meadow Brook course was short by today’s standards at about 6,400 yards. The club began its history of hosting professional events in the 1940s. Cary Middlecoff and Sam Snead were winners of early events.

Long Island developer Robert Moses informed the club in 1953 that a new parkway was going to be built through the current golf course. He informed the club that they would not start construction until they secured another site and built another golf course. Also, in honor of the club, the new parkway would be named the Meadow Brook Parkway.

The club selected a new location in Jericho, New York, and commissioned golf course architect Dick Wilson to design and construct the new course. The story of the original Meadow Brook can be found in the book, “Missing Links.” When the new Meadow Brook opened in 1955, Herbert Warren Wind, writing in Sports Illustrated, called the course a “born classic.”

In the 70 years since its relocation, the club has hosted several prominent events, including the LPGA Western Union International Classic from 1979 to ’82; and the Northville Classic, later called the Lightpath Long Island Classic, which was a nationally televised Senior PGA Tour event from 1987 to 2002. The club also has hosted numerous Metropolitan Golf Association, Metropolitan PGA and Long Island Golf Association events.

Lessons from Long Island

No one is more shocked than me at how fast my 29 years at Meadow Brook flew by. There are a lot of memories and highlights, including:

The green chairmen and presidents I worked under.

In my 29 years at Meadow Brook, I worked for four green chairs and six presidents. That type of club governance allows consistency, which was critical to the success of all departments.

The other members of the management staff I worked with.

General manager Dennis Harrington, CCM, is also retiring at the end of 2025 after 40 years at Meadow Brook. That is a legendary career in the golf industry in any management position. I congratulate Dennis and wish him well in retirement!!

For 22 of my 29 years, Rick Meskell, PGA, was the head pro. Rick had been at Meadow Brook for seven years when I arrived. He was an assistant at Century Country Club in Westchester before arriving at Meadow Brook. He turned pro in the mid-1970s and won several events on the old Space Coast Tour in Florida. He also won several local events while at Meadow Brook. He retired at the end of 2018.

For the last seven years, our pro has been Matt Dobyns, PGA. Matt is from Texas. The golf professional at Meadow Brook from 1964 to ’89 was Gil Cavanaugh, who was Matt’s great-uncle. Talk about coincidence! Before coming to Meadow Brook, Matt was the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club and an assistant at Deepdale Country Club. Matt is a very talented player. He is a two-time National Club Pro champion. He has played in several PGA Championships, U.S. Opens and PGA Tour events, and he has won just about every important local event in the Met area.

The individuals who have worked on our golf course maintenance staff

Our equipment manager, Steve Hawxhurst, came to Meadow Brook with me from Middle Bay. He worked for me for 36 of my 40 years as a superintendent. As all superintendents know, the hardest position to fill on our staff is that of the equipment manager. Steve is without a doubt a big reason for any success I achieved in my career. He retired with me at the end of 2025.

I’m proud to have had 10 former assistants become head superintendents. I won’t name them all, but each of them, while they were here at Meadow Brook, were, like Steve, a big part of any success I achieved. In addition to serving on chapter and turf association boards, I thoroughly enjoyed mentoring.

We have many long-tenured members on the maintenance staff at Meadow Brook. Two have been with me since Day 1 in 1996. Others have been here 15, 20 and even 25 years. I think that type of longevity is a two-way street. They were good employees, and I tried to treat them properly.

There were many events I will remember. Certainly, all the tournaments we hosted. Hosting an important event always puts a charge in my step. I wanted to put the club’s best foot forward, make the golf course shine and challenge the players.

And then there were hurricanes. I endured three at Meadow Brook: Irene in 2011, Sandy in 2012 and Isaias in 2020. As if COVID wasn’t enough that year!

Small in-house construction projects and major renovations were assignments I always relished. The most interesting and successful was the $2.9 million renovation we accomplished from August to October 2016. We worked with architect Brian Silva and MacCurrach Golf Construction. That project included four new greens constructed to USGA specs, nine holes of new tees, 85 bunkers reconstructed with Better Billy Bunker technology, irrigation changes and additions, fairway contouring and tree removal. With all teams working together, the project was completed on time and on budget. We closed on Aug. 8, 2016. We promised a reopening date of April 1, 2017. We opened on April 1, 2017!

Tree removal was a yearly event at Meadow Brook during my tenure. And the three hurricanes helped! I don’t know the exact number of trees removed, but I would estimate the number was approximately 2,000 to 2,500.

When we were closed in 2016, we constructed an 1,800-square-foot Environmental Center. The building provides storage for sprayers, turf protectants, our Carbtrol equipment wash water recycling equipment, and our PlantStar chemical mix and load equipment. Constructing this facility elevated our operation.

That was a long description of my career journey. As I reflect on these past 40 years, I think of what advice I would share with other superintendents, of any age, to have a long career and plan for retirement.

Golf course superintendents wear many hats — agronomist, engineer, plumber, electrician, personal manager, psychiatrist, counselor, among others — to be successful at their job. I believe success for many years as a golf course superintendent takes a similar approach. There is not “one and only” thing you must do to ensure a long career. Here is what I would offer as a road map for a long career.

At work

Be like a duck. Let stuff go, like water off the back of a duck. Never argue or speak harshly with a member. We all know members sometimes blame their poor golf game on the superintendent, but they know not what they speak of! Just smile, wave, acknowledge them and somehow move on. It is never worth it. I have lost count of the stories where a superintendent argued or spoke harshly with a member. At the time, the member had no position of power. Then, three, five or seven years down the road, that member became a board member or even club president. His or her first move was to fire the superintendent who argued with him. My old friend Armand LeSage gave a talk many years ago at the GCSAA conference titled “Hold Your Tongue, Hold Your Job.” Great title! Will always be true.

Always be a team player. I took a lot of pride in helping the other departments at our club. If the GM, pro, starter or accounting office personnel had a request, I tried to accommodate them as quickly as possible. I believed this was an investment in relationships with co-workers and in the future. If I ever needed a favor from a co-worker, I felt comfortable asking.

Treat your staff like family. Superintendents spend as much time — if not more — with their staff at work as they do with family at home. I had rules and policies for my staff that were enforced. Sure, I had to fire individuals over the years, but I also tried to be as understanding as possible. If an employee request could be accommodated, I tried to do it. We had barbecues. We bought them breakfast and lunch often. We had a tradition of Christmas lunch at On the Border every year to hand out holiday bonus checks. I have heard many ideas and stories of how superintendents give their staff special treats over the years. We cannot do this job alone. We need our staff. Treat them right and they will be better employees.

In your chapter or community

This is called “giving back.” It is a proven fact that you get more from giving than you do from receiving. I enjoyed serving on chapter and turf association boards. I was definitely a better superintendent from the relationships I made serving on these boards. The culmination of my board service was serving as president of four different associations.

Playing golf. Playing the game was the entire reason I became a superintendent. I don’t want to believe this, but there are some superintendents out there who don’t play golf. I will never be able to wrap my head around that one. I was and still am able to play to a single-digit handicap. That is not a requirement by any means. But as a superintendent, you should aspire to be somewhat proficient. High 80s to low 90s golf is acceptable.

Investing in relationships. For me, this is the single most important thing we can do. Not only as superintendents, but in life. As husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends. I would not have made it 40 years as a superintendent without my industry peers, which included superintendents, vendors, employees, family and friends who I spoke with almost daily. That would be my message to anyone reading this article. Invest in relationships. It will lead to happiness.

What am I going to do in retirement?

Well, I’m not sure yet. But I’m excited to have summer weekends off for the first time in 43 years. I will play more golf and try to get competitive again. Look out, senior club championship!

I will spend as much time as possible with my grandkids — and any more that arrive! I will help my son-in-law with his company, Coastline Electric, in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I’m also looking forward to things as simple as having a morning cup of coffee with my wife and then going for a walk.

During one meeting, my financial advisor, who happens to work with several golf course superintendents, said, “You guys between April and October work the equivalent of two full-time jobs.” I had never looked at my job like that before. From that point on, when I was asked the most popular question golf course superintendents in the Northeast are asked, “What do you do in the winter.” I began answering, “I get even. I work two full-time jobs from April to November, so I take time off to get even.”

Retirement will be more of the same. Getting even!

John Carlone was the longtime superintendent at Meadow Brook Golf Club in Jericho, New York. This is his first Turfheads Take Over contribution.