Moving on

A newborn son and less stress led John Martin away from the rigors of being a golf course superintendent. Like Bruce Cadnelli and Bill Roberts, Martin left his superintendent’s job and is now on the outside, looking in.

Martin, most recently the superintendent at Eagle Ranch Golf Club in Eagle, Colo., worked on golf courses for 17 years and says he has mixed emotions about leaving the profession.

Having an office inside and outside is what Martin says he misses most about his former profession.

“You miss the golf course, but at the same time you don’t miss it,” he says.
An agronomist and technical sales manager at BlueYellow, Martin says unrealistic member expectations weighed heavily on him – as he suspects they do on may superintendents.

“They want tournament conditions every day of the week,” he says of the uneducated members who were often more vocal than their educated counterparts. “You can have the course peak several times a year, but you can’t keep it there 365 days a year.”

Cadnelli, a superintendent for 34 years, is now a consultant. He works with Growing Solutions, Hydroseeding Pro and Alternative H2O Solutions, as well as several golf courses. His last superintendent’s position was a grow-in at Shadow Isle Golf Club in Colts Neck, N.J. He left there in July 2004 and hasn’t looked back.

“I don’t miss it,” he says. “I never disliked it. I just wanted a change – chart my own course and work for myself.”

The schedule, which can be brutal through the season, wasn’t a concern of Cadnelli’s.

“Working weekends and holidays never bothered me,” he says. “I have a wonderful wife. Early on, she learned what the business was all about. That’s huge.”

Martin and Cadnelli still have some contact with the industry from the outside. Roberts is a little more involved – running the Red Fox Run Golf Course in Marquette, Mich., with a partner. They acquired Red Fox Run during the mid-90s when many military bases were closing and the affiliated courses were available. He also works with the PGA of America as an adjunct faculty member.

Roberts, a past president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, left the Lochmoor Club in Gross Point Woods, Mich., and is now an assistant state’s attorney in DuPage County, Ill., which leaves less time to manage his course. Serving with the GCSAA was his fondest memory as a superintendent.

“It was great,” he says. “I got to work with a lot of really great people. I have nothing but respect for them. It takes a lot of time and effort.”
It wasn’t the day-to-day strain that led Roberts to leave his position – it was just time for a change.

“It was more me than anything else,” he says. “I was in my early 40s and wasn’t having a lot of fun doing what I was doing.”

More than 10 years removed from Lochmoor Club, he says he’s busier now than he ever was as a superintendent. It was intense during the season, but now he’s always busy, whether it’s 80 degrees and sunny or 30 degrees with snow.

Those temperature variations were always top of mind for Martin. He says he doesn’t miss worrying about his greens drying out on a warm, windy day or dealing with the ice damage that’s so common in the Rockies and throughout the North through the winter.

Freeing his mind of potential turfgrass hazards has had a pleasant affect on his golf game.

“I actually enjoy it,” he says about playing. “I’m not constantly critiquing the course.

“It’s a business trip for a superintendent,” he adds about playing a round. “It’s just not enjoyable.”

Martin says he would constantly be scribbling notes to himself on the scorecard during a round. If he wasn’t correcting something he found, Martin says he was continually addressing concerns of members or neighboring residents.

“You’re always getting phone calls,” he says. “At least once a week I was getting called back to the course.”

Getting up every morning at 4 a.m. and being on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week is a lot to deal with, but Martin refused to rule out a return if the right position came calling.

“I’d never close the door,” he says. “But at this time, I can’t imagine going back.”

Having to write “mow tees, mow greens, rake bunkers, etc…” on the task board one more time would have driven him crazy, but he liked big projects such as course construction and grow-ins.

Cadnelli gets enough of a taste of his former career while consulting with area courses. He wouldn’t return, but thinks a lot about the industry.

“I still think it’s a wonderful way to make a living,” he says. “My concern is the superintendent still does not get his rightful notice and praise. It’s the nature of the business since the superintendent doesn’t interact with the public. People don’t understand the hard work that goes into a course.”

Taking a broader look at the industry as a whole, Cadnelli believes there are three things going against the game of golf at present: It’s a hard sport to learn, it takes a lot of time, and it’s expensive.

Like Cadnelli, Roberts doesn’t see a return to the daily grind of a superintendent, but he does miss the people.

“The intimacy and camaraderie that goes on,” he says about all the people he’d worked with. “It’s not an easy job, but by and large the folks that fill those jobs are quality individuals.”

For the men and women maintaining golf courses in his absence, Roberts offers some advice.

“On a day-to-day basis, do the best job you can do with what you’re given,” he says. “Most pressure superintendents feel is self imposed. They’re their own worst enemies.”