Some people call him Dynamite. Others call him by his last name – Etienne – because his first name – Dieumerite – can be a bit tricky to pronounce. There are those who simply call him ET. But the name that has the most ring for the Florida golf course employee is superintendent.
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In 1986, Etienne came to the U.S. from Haiti at age 17, staying at first with his brother in law. After working briefly for a landscaping company in Florida, he was hired as a laborer at the Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla.
“I did little things here and there for about $5 or $6 per hour,” he says.
He became a landscaping foreman soon after and added irrigation tech to his job description in 1990. While he was performing both duties at once, he also attended school in the evening to broaden his skills.
When Joe Hubbard interviewed at Broken Sound in 2004 for the director of golf maintenance position, he saw that Etienne was often the guy people looked to for leadership on the course. Hubbard saw it fitting to promote him to the role of assistant superintendent of the Club Course.
“He didn’t have a degree, but if someone is out there doing work who has a longstanding history with the golf course, why not promote him?” Hubbard says. “I have seen more men with degrees and book smarts kill grass quicker than overwatered bentgrass on a 105-degree day,” he says.
Etienne agrees his history with the course comes in handy. If he’s away from the course (which is rare, because he works seven days a week), and someone calls him with a question, he recalls his mental map of the facility and is able to help remotely.
He does his best to lead the crew, finding ways to gain their trust and speaking their language so they can understand what he’s asking. He acts as a translator for other Haitian employees, and he taught himself Spanish by learning words from the Spanish-speaking workers.
“I’m not afraid to talk Spanish to those workers,” he says. If I say something wrong, they tell me how to say it right. I take notes, and then when I go home I put words together. I have a book to translate words into Spanish.”
Etienne proved so capable he was promoted again this month – this time to golf course superintendent.
“When we announced it to the crew, they all jumped around him and hugged him,” Hubbard says.
Etienne says he puts himself out there and works hard to earn his peers’ respect.
“I try to know people,” he says. “I learn how to earn the crew’s trust by putting myself in their shoes. I try to be out in the heat, working with them. When you do that for the crew, you can lead them out there to do whatever you want them to do.”
Letting the crew members know they’re appreciated is also key, he says.
“If the golf course looks good, it’s because of them, and I try to compliment them for that,” he says.
After his promotion, Etienne is working with more people than before. While he’s meeting many for the first time, he finds that some of them have already heard of him.
Hubbard sees courage in Etienne, which he figured would help him when he faces tough meetings with the greens committee.
“I told him, don’t back down if you know what’s right,” Hubbard says.
The committee and the rest of the membership, which consists largely of older New York natives, have been receptive and welcoming, Etienne says.
Etienne briefly thought about what role his ethnicity might play in people’s perceptions of him, but he hasn’t run into any issues, so he doesn’t think it’s a factor. As is the case with any employee, it’s the hard work that leads to success, even if it does take 20 years to become superintendent.
“I’m so patient,” he says. “I just care that I’m here today, still standing. I went through so many superintendents and golf directors. I worked with them from the first day they were hired, and I’ve been comfortable enough to show them around the place. When it was time to get promoted, they didn’t promote me, but that’s OK. I didn’t care. I’m just looking for a way to feed my family and get by.”
Now that he’s reached this position, he faces a baptism by fire. The course is without an irrigation tech and assistant superintendent, so he’s doing the work of at least three people and overseeing a practice range area renovation project.
Plus, there are new duties that come with the title that Etienne has to learn, including computer programs, personnel management and the fine points of agronomy.
“There will be a training process, but I will never set him up for failure,” Hubbard says.
As Etienne works through it all, he says he will still make time for his four boys ranging in age from 4 to 13, to help them with homework and raise them with the values of hard work and respect that he lives.
“It took me a long time to get here, but anybody else can get here, too,” he says. “If they respect themselves, respect what they do and like what they do, they will get where I got.”
