Guy Cipriano
Rising through the industry at demanding New York Metropolitan area private clubs confirmed why Anthony Minniti must spend large parts of his day intently staring down. The past 21 months reaffirmed why it’s OK to occasionally look up and around.
Minniti’s life and perspective started to change in December 2023, when he accepted the golf course superintendent position at Windham Mountain Club, a gateway spot in New York’s Catskill Mountains for outdoor enthusiasts seeking reprieves from the urban and suburban hustle.
“I look down a lot,” Minniti admits. “That’s what I’m trained to do. The settings here are exceptional. The mountains are great. It provides a solid backdrop. The sunrises and sunsets are exceptional.”
The best sunrises, in Minniti’s view, emanate east from the 10th hole, a short uphill par 4 where Windham Mountain Club’s ski slopes, which boast a summit elevation exceeding 3,000 feet, become visible from the green. Idyllic sunsets emerge when looking west toward the quaint town of Windham from the 14th hole, a downhill par 3 over a pond.
A sign entering Windham (population: 1,708) proclaims the town as “The Gem of the Catskills.” The Catskills are where Minniti and his wife, Rebecca, welcomed their first child earlier this year. The views, methodical pace and small-town appeal attract visitors to the Catskills. Thanks to the work of Minniti and his six-person crew, pleasant turf is elevating Windham Mountain Club.
Golf Course Industry and AQUA-AID Solutions visited Windham Mountain Club in late July for the fourth annual Turfheads Grilling cookout. Burgers and Italian sausage represented the main fare, with salads, chips and cookies purchased from Wegmans, a gem of a New York-based grocery chain, helping fill plates and stomachs.
Windham Mountain Club became the scenic site of a cookout because Minniti submitted a modified mesquite beer can chicken recipe that appeared in the 2024 Turfheads Guide to Grilling. “Mesquite is a good thing,” Minniti says. “It’s an easy recipe to make. Chicken tends to come out dry a lot of times but adding that beer and having that water underneath helps the chicken stay juicy and moist.”
We strongly encourage grilling enthusiasts to add the recipe — along with the other eight published in last year’s guide — into their late summer and football season rotations. We also strongly encourage turf-loving grillers to submit recipes for the 2025 guide.
The Golf Course Industry and AQUA-AID Solutions teams will visit one of our published grillers in 2026 for a crew cookout. If your recipe makes the 2025 guide, you’ll receive a swag package that includes a metal Turfheads Grilling sign designed by our creative director Jim Blayney and a prep bucket with a built-in cutting board. Email recipes with applicable images to gcipriano@gie.net, mlawell@gie.net or khorner@gie.net. The submission deadline is Monday, Nov. 3, which coincides with an annual weather transition in many regions.
Maintaining turf in the Catskills means handling four distinct seasons. The first time Minniti toured Windham Mountain Club in November 2023, he could only see tips of grass blades because snow blanketed the course. Winters bring thousands of skiers to the region, springs can be soggy and summers include subtle sizzle. Temperatures approached the 90s as the propane-powered grill outside the maintenance facility heated to 500 degrees for the cookout.
“The winters are long here, they are cold here, and you can have frost in May,” Minniti says. “And summers can be hot. You never know what you’re going to get with the weather up here.”
And what about the fall? Consider the region a leaf peeper’s delight. “Fall is beautiful with the leaf changes,” Minniti adds.
With his two-year Windham Mountain Club anniversary approaching, Minniti’s appreciation for the elevated surroundings and his team’s ability to withstand four seasons to produce firm and fun playing conditions expands. Leading a small crew means demonstrating essentialism, with greens, tees and fairways taking priority over peripheral features. Minniti handles spraying and moisture management. He’s also incorporating data-driven philosophies into Windham Mountain Club’s program, with the GS3 Ball and a digital job board among the emerging tools added since his arrival.
“People are coming here now and noticing improved fine-turf playing surfaces,” Minniti says. “They are noticing how good the greens are and how well the course plays.”
Minniti’s days remain packed, especially with a young son at home. In grilling, Minniti has found a tasty escape. He also enjoys playing the piano (he worked on Long Island for nearly a decade, so Billy Joel tunes top his playlist) and studying golf course architecture.
“Grilling is a release for me,” he says. “And I’m a big music junkie. It’s important to have those releases to center yourself and understand who you are.”
Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s publisher + editor-in-chief.
