Steve Moulton already had 36 holes of fairways to deal with, and a lot fewer than 150 bunkers to rake every day. Ryan Huntington attended to some of the best greens in the state and had soil that made growing grass easy, but he also had hundreds of owners to please.
So here they are, working as golf course superintendents under the demanding conditions that only a start-up operation can provide.
Finding enough water, enough help and the right fertilizer are just a few of the challenges they have faced -- and that was before the golfers started showing up.
"It is overwhelming, but we're making it happen," said Moulton, who moved to Soldier Hollow Golf Course, another 36-hole facility at Wasatch Mountain State Park.
Moulton left the Wasatch course in June 2002, becoming involved with Soldier Hollow's construction. He was thrilled with Landscapes Unlimited's installation of the irrigation system, which he labels "as close to automatic as you can get."
Still, water restrictions later this summer will force Moulton and his staff to be creative, focusing on fairways that need the most growth.
"It's not just our park hurting for money, it's the entire division," said Moulton, who has one full-time assistant superintendent, a mechanic and a seasonal staff of 26. "This golf course has the potential to be one of the best in the state. With the limited resources money-wise, we can only go to a certain point."
All of those bunkers make for a striking design element and will give golfers something to think about on every hole. Properly raking them will tax Moulton's crew. "It ties up 12 guys on a full-time basis every day -- that's half my staff," he said.
Moulton, 47, grew up in the Heber Valley and became a seasonal worker at Wasatch when he was 16. He later was promoted to superintendent and spent 12 years in that role before moving to Soldier Hollow.
Huntington, 37, has a similar story -- and a much longer commute. He still lives in Ogden, where he spent 17 years working at the Ogden Golf & Country Club, including nine as superintendent.
He was attracted to TalonsCove at Saratoga Springs as "something different from the same old routine," he said. "It's been a lot of fun to be involved with something from an early stage."
Huntington feels rejuvenated, free from what he describes as considerable stress in a country club setting, answering to the membership. Not that his life is easy now.
"You don't really realize how much is involved with starting a golf course," he said. "There's always something you need to fix -- drainage, irrigation, just one thing after another."
Huntington had to have his owner obtain more water shares, after hand-watering the greens from a truck last summer. The soil on the west side of Utah Lake was also challenging, with the high sodium content requiring experimentation with fertilizers.
It's working, as most of the fairways are becoming thick and only a few holes on the back nine need more growth.
TalonsCove's greens are smooth, if a little slow. Huntington is not sure golfers appreciate how difficult it is to maintain fast greens, especially during the summer. But he's promising to have "the best greens in the state" eventually.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)