Heather Schapals

The nature of the profession is such that superintendents rarely make a career at a single location. Whether for a better compensation package, family considerations, perhaps a desire for change or sometimes out of necessity, turf professionals often move. (To read about some turf pros who have spent their whole career at one spot, read One and only, starting on page 18.) Such was the case for Heather Schapals who, at the start of 2025, left Seascape Golf Course in Aptos, California, near San Diego, where she’d been the head superintendent since 2023, and headed east to The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a 36-hole private facility that features two 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature designs.

Schapals serves as the superintendent in charge of the Sunset Course and reports to Tom Egelhoff, the director of agronomy. Her husband, Michael, who worked alongside her at Seascape as an equipment technician, has assumed a similar post at her new position.

Appearing on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with host Rick Woelfel, Schapals said she had some familiarity with Las Campanas before accepting the position. She applied for a job there several years ago.

“I first looked into the club for an assistant’s position,” she says. “I was excited to get the chance to try again as one of the superintendents.”

Schapals sees the position at Las Campanas as an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

“It’s a chance to learn something else unique again. It’s at 7,000 feet of elevation, it’s high desert, it’s all bentgrass. There are a lot of interesting things they’re doing with the state of New Mexico and the university on a moisture sensor study. There are a lot of things to learn.”

Schapals says she received an enthusiastic welcome into her new work environment.

“I have never been a co-superintendent under a director, so it’s a bigger crew and a bigger property,” she says. “It took a little bit of driving around, separating out the two golf courses and figuring out where it was on the property. The core crew, they have been absolutely wonderful to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better reception.”

Schapals will be dealing with some water issues that are unique to the area.

“The interesting thing is going to come from the water conservation aspect of it,” she says. “Controlling the water right up to the edges of the desert and seeing that interaction between those two different areas: the irrigated and unirrigated. I haven’t had much experience with that.

“I’ll be very interested to start understanding a little bit more about our water. Some of it does come from the Rio Grande and it does come from effluent water that we take in. We blend that and some of it I put out on certain holes of the golf course and other areas get more river water. There are some really unique differences that will be interesting to see how it affects the turf.”

Schapals wasted no time starting the process of building a good working relationship with her crew, which will likely number around 20.

“I’m very fortunate,” she says. “My assistant has put in over 15 years and this will be my foreman’s fifth season at Las Campanas. So, I’ve got a good amount of background knowledge from them to start with. And I’ve been out there working with them, doing some winter watering — that’s been a new thing. The irrigation system is blown out but there is a deep mainline with quick couplers for being able to put in irrigation cannons and being able to hand water tee surfaces.

“It’s been a fairly dry, open winter up here so getting out on the grounds, and getting my hands dirty and working with the guys is one of the things that not only do I love to do, but it’s very important for them to see me out there and be a part of what’s going on.”