The rain kept falling. The grass kept growing. The stress level kept rising.
That was the scene last week as the 11th annual Senior Cotton States Amateur Golf Tournament grew near.
Had there been one more outburst of rain - maybe even one more drop of moisture - the tournament was in jeopardy of delay or postponement because the course at Bayou DeSiard Country Club was totally drenched and virtually submerged.
Meet Michael Simpson - Bayou DeSiard's golf course superintendent - who was suddenly thrust into the mix and the consciousness of golfers here from 23 states along with everyone keeping tabs on this prestigious event.
Actually, Simpson was already in the mix as he has been with every golf event at Bayou DeSiard since March 1994 when he became "The Grass Man" for the club.
But never before had Simpson been shoved under the microscope to this degree.
"It was by far the toughest situation we've had during my tenure here," Simpson said. "This is one of our major events of the year and we had not been able to mow our fairways for the previous 10 days or the roughs for the previous 14 days.
"I can't ever remember another time when we had been 'cart path only' for 10 straight days."
But the young "course super" was clearly up to the task and each day during the tournament golfers continually heaped praise on the job he was doing to prepare the course.
"On Wednesday the course was pretty much unplayable," tournament runner-up Mike Hopson said. "But by Thursday morning, he somehow had it very playable. It was amazing."
Ron Kowalski of Bristol, Vt., who won the super senior division and has been coming to the tournament for the past decade, felt the same way.
"Your course superintendent deserves a tremendous amount of credit for what he did here this week," he said. "Just one day before we started, I didn't think we could play the tournament. I've never seen a better job by a course crew than this."
The "course recovery" method employed by Simpson was simple. First, thankfully the rains ended on Wednesday. The course crew began mowing fairways at 4 p.m. that day and worked until almost 9 that evening.
"We came back and were on the tractors by 5 a.m. Thursday to finish mowing the remainder of the fairways and to double cut and roll the greens," he said.
"It was Thursday before we could get our mowers into the rough and we also double cut the greens and rolled them again."
The early morning and late afternoon work schedule continued through Friday and then Saturday the crew was there at 4 a.m. because the entire course had to be ready for a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
"There was no daylight that early but every piece of equipment we have is equipped with lights. That's why we could mow so early," said the 41-year-old Simpson.
After the tournament ordeal was over, Simpson admitted that while this was "the most difficult situation we have faced" he actually enjoys the challenges his job brings - "especially gearing up for tournaments."
There are actually many things the Slidell native enjoys about his job -starting with the hours.
"I've always been an early-morning person," he said. "I even had a paper route as a boy and was up by 5 o'clock then. And, there is nothing more serene that being on a golf course very early in the morning."
Simpson also had another job as a teenager. "I began working at the golf course (Pinewood Country Club) in Slidell while I was in high school and continued all the way through college.
"I started in the clubhouse and eventually was needed on the course. I became the assistant superintendent by my junior year in college. I loved it then, so it was a natural to pursue this line of work later," he said.
Simpson earned a degree in business administration from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1985 and then took turf management courses from LSU in 1987-88.
Although right out of college he tested the restaurant business waters, he didn't hesitate to move into this line of work fulltime when the course superintendent position was offered to him at Pinewood in 1987.
After six years there, Simpson knew that to advance he needed to become "certified" in his line of work, a plateau only 10 percent of those in this field ever attain.
"It required a year of study and then passing a six-hour exam of 300 questions, followed by two interviews with certified superintendents," he said.
Simpson earned his certificate in November 1993 and in March 1994, he accepted his current slot at Bayou DeSiard.
Education remains a big part of his job today.
"I take 40 to 50 hours of education annually at seminars and go to our national association convention each February," he said. "We were at Torey Pines in San Diego this year and saw their operation."
Simpson is past president of the Louisiana-Mississippi Golf Course Superintendent's Association and now serves as secretary-treasurer.
He is also past president of the Louisiana Turf Grass Association and a member of the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America.
"I learn from my association with all those organizations. Our field has a very close knit fraternity," he said. "We help each other out often. There's no competition, just a family atmosphere.
"Also, I am proud that our national organization provides quite a few college scholarships annually through our endowment which is in excess of $5 million."
In addition to his passion for his work, Simpson also enjoys playing golf. "I grew up playing and was on my high school team. I wish I could get out for at least nine holes a week now but I just can't find the time.
"However, I always play when we go on vacation," said Simpson, who has a 3-year-old son, Luke, along with wife Mary Beth, who teaches fifth grade at Central Elementary in Calhoun.
Despite Simpson's passion for his work, he admits to one flaw when it comes to "course supervision."
"You would never know that my yard belongs to a golf course superintendent. I just can't seem to find the time to get out there and really fine tune it. I mow, but that's about it.
"I might not have gotten a passing grade if those visiting golfers had come by my house," he said with a laugh.
Source: The News-Star (Monroe, LA)