Superintendent’s Guide to Surviving A Course Renovation, Part 1

Tim Moraghan

Back when I was in seminary school—during the persimmon and metal-spike era—my teachers regularly reminded me to know my Three Rs: readin’, ritin’ and rithmatic. In today’s struggling golf economy, with no new golf courses being built, we’re living by a new set of Three Rs: renovation, redesign and restoration.

Although I’m not quite sure about the differences among the three words, I do know that the person most likely to be affected is the superintendent. So if your club is bringing in an architect to make changes -- big or small -- I suggest you be a master of the Three Ps: prepared, proactive and participatory.  Here’s how. (Some of the suggestions are from golf historian Tommy Naccarato, formerly of Golf Club Atlas and founder of Max’s Lounge, who has worked with several golf courses in California.)

Ask “Why?” It’s likely that a group of club members, or the committees, have been talking for months about updating the golf course. You may or may not have been involved. But however the decision came to pass, make sure you understand the motivation for the work. Ask everyone involved why they made this choice and what it is they hope to achieve, and make sure you understand their reasoning. If there are meetings of the membership where the plans are being presented, be sure you are in attendance.

Covering your assets. Start with this simple premise and you can’t go wrong: If there’s a problem, the architect won’t get the blame—you will. Therefore, you need to work as closely as possible with the designer, understand what he/she is thinking and doing, and be willing and able to make suggestions—and criticisms—when appropriate. There are a number of ways to ensure this happens.

Choosing the architect. If you’re lucky, the club members in charge of the renovation process will ask your opinion on whom to hire. If not, try to have some say in the choice anyway. Volunteer to research the candidates with special attention paid to your areas of concern. 

In an ideal world, when the job is done the superintendent and the designer will be good friends. However, until then take the Don Corleone route and assume “It’s not personal, it’s business.”

What should the superintendent look for in a renovation plan? Make sure the plan is something that can be managed and maintained by you, your staff, your equipment and your budget. You’re the one responsible for carrying out the work and keeping it in shape, so you need the assets to make everything work.

Spend as much time as you can with the designer with your own set of plans in hand. This starts at the very beginning of the process when you want to help the architect learn everything he can about your course.

When talking with the architect about his ideas, be open-minded and positive, and listen. But stand firm on agronomic issues that you’ll have to live with after the architect is done and gone. Pay special attention to areas such as bunkers. Who do you think will be blamed when the bunker is too hard to rake or too hard for your members to hit out of? 

How can the superintendent make the work better and make the process go more smoothly? Become a student of golf course design, at least enough to have a basic understanding of what is happening. Don’t think because you play a lot or see a lot of different courses that you understand architecture. Get a copy of The Golf Course by Geoff Cornish and Ron Whitten. It’s a great primer on course design. 

Review the history of your club and consider how the project fits. How has the course changed over time? What features and history make it special? What do you know about the original architect(s)? What do you know about the designer about to blow up your world? Do enough homework that you have a good grasp of his past work and an understanding of his methods and objectives.

Here’s another Three Rs: Research, Research, Research. Check all the resources you can, from the National Archives to local libraries, for old newspapers and magazine articles about the original development of your course. Search the Internet.

Make yourself indispensible. Once your club has made a decision, you have two choices: Sign on or get lost. If you want to stay involved and keep your job, find a way to become the most help you can to all involved—the architect, the Green and Golf Committees, the Board and every member. You can have a huge impact on how the club spends its money and time: Make sure they know that.