Pioneer on and off the course dies

Robert (Bob) Williams, former GCSAA president, consultant and father of Bruce Williams, CGCS, passed away March 7 after a brief illness. He was 93.

Bob introduced an executive management style to course management and the GCSAA board, says Brad Anderson, superintendent at Birmingham Country Club in Michigan. Anderson, formerly of the Chicago area, met Bob while he was researching the history of Chicago golf course superintendents. They became good friends.

Bob got his start in the profession at age 14, working at a summer resort his dad helped to develop near Wauconda, Ill. He wrote about it a few years ago in an autobiography.

“My dad put me in charge when I graduated from high school at age 17,” he said. “It was very hard work with few motorized units for mowing; it was all hand-power. Labor was plentiful at the rate of a dollar a day plus board and room. I had a crew of six men.”

Determined to become a full-fledged superintendent, Bob hitchhiked his way to the University of Massachusetts, which at the time had the only turfgrass program in the country. He then worked at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, first in the office and eventually as an assistant to Norman Johnson on the three courses. He met his wife, Roberta, working at the toboggan slide on the 13^th green.

His career was put on hold three years while he served in the army, starting in 1942. He was accepted into officers’ schooling in the combat engineers. He spent a year abroad, serving in Normandy and Brittany, and was later discharged as a captain.

“My three years in the service was a very worthwhile education,” he wrote.

In 1947, Bob was hired as superintendent at Beverly Country Club. He became president of the GCSAA during the annual conference in 1958.

“Bob’s passing truly represents the end of an era,” Anderson said. “He was our only living link to the original founders of the GCSAA and its affiliated chapters.”

Not only did was he connected to the founders, Bob left his own imprint on the association, starting with his time on the board of directors.

“He showed up for the board meetings with a briefcase, and when it was time for his committee report, he opened up the briefcase and pulled out a typed report,” Anderson said. “He got the nickname ‘the young lawyer.’”

During the GCSAA conference that started his term as president, Bob-O-Link Golf Club in Highland Park, Ill., offered him a job as superintendent. He accepted and worked there for 21 years.

Bob’s executive manner was present at the course, where he typed daily status updates. From this management style came a new type of superintendent-assistant relationship, where the superintendent handles more of the executive duties and delegates daily operations to the assistant.

Another innovation was the drainage system he installed at Bob-O-Link. Overall, he maintained the course at a new standard that had only been seen at the top courses, such as Augusta National, Anderson said.

Other innovations include attaching a boom to the front of a tractor to apply fungicides to fairways and using landscaping to mark the transition between a green and the subsequent tee.

After he retired, Bob spent about 15 years as a consultant, mostly in the Midwest. He worked with many courses to help them hire turf managers.

Bob is known for developing a training program for university interns during his time as a superintendent. He has personally mentored at least 70 young men. He founded the Chicagoland chapter of golf course superintendents. His honors include the USGA Green Section Award, the Illinois Turfgrass Association’s Man of the Year award and induction into the Illinois PGA’s Hall of Fame.

An avid golfer, Bob did more than just care for the playing surface. He could shoot his age at 69.

Roberta, or Bobbie, his wife of 64 years, passed away two years ago. Besides Bruce, Bob is survived by his older son, Robert Jr.

“My dad and I had a very special bond over the years,” said Bruce, director of courses and grounds at The Los Angeles Country Club, in an e-mail. “We talked shop right up until the end, and he always had a twinkle in his eye when we talked about golf and turf. I owe everything to my dad when it comes to teaching me the business and the lessons of life.”

Bob could garner respect and have close friends at the same time, Anderson said.

“Even with his intensity, he was endearing people to himself because of his loyalty,” he said. “In the history of the profession, I doubt there was anyone more generous and more innovative, and while doing all these innovations and raising the bar, he was serving with a tremendous amount of generosity and kindness.”

These impressions of Bob will live on with those who knew him.

“I will always remember his greatness and so many things he did for so many people,” Bruce said. “He inspired me and taught me to give of myself.”

The family is respecting Bob’s wishes and not holding a wake or funeral. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made The Williams Leadership Endowment, c/o The Environmental Institute for Golf, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-3859. The endowment recognizes Bob Williams and his son, Bruce, CGCS, for their contributions and commitment to mentoring golf course superintendents.