Zach Bauer, CGCS, moved from Colorado to Idaho last year for a new turf job. Fortunately, the giving spirit emanating from his @ZBTurf411 X account didn’t change with the new surroundings.
Bauer is the director of agronomy at CDA National Reserve, a secluded residential community in Coeur d’Alene, a rapidly trending community in northwest Idaho. Bauer’s job includes overseeing the maintenance of the club’s Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course.
He moved to the Gem State after 17 years in Colorado. Consider it the rare occasion where somebody left Colorado for a place with equally photogenic golf and natural landscapes.
“There’s a lot of high-quality golf up here that I don’t think is on a lot of people’s radar,” Bauer says, “and I think people like it that way.”
Turf pros and golf enthusiasts who follow Bauer on X or Instagram — his combined following on the platforms has reached 6,000 — receive thoughtful course beauty, agronomy, wildlife, fishing and personal posts mixed with occasional turf commentary. If Bauer follows you, he might occasionally pop into your mentions. His desire to honestly share the joys and tussles of turf life earned him a 2024 Super Social Media Award.
Bauer and other award winners will be honored Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the Social Media Celebration at Aquatrols booth #2747 during the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Phoenix. The event begins at 2:30 p.m., with winners being honored around 3 p.m. The event is open to all and free drinks will be served.
Where does social media fit into your communication strategies?
I started Twitter with the thought process of communicating a little bit with membership. I was at The Broadmoor, but no members were following me, so I started communicating the stuff we were doing. I found at the time I was learning as much as anyone on Twitter by what people were putting out there. I was getting ideas, and it was like, ‘Holy cow, I’m getting so many ideas from Twitter and I’m learning stuff. And I’m going to put out stuff that I’m doing, and people can ask questions on what they want to learn.’ When I left The Broadmoor, it evolved into more communication with members. I had 40, maybe 45 members who followed me at Valley Country Club. I was able to get some more information out there. It transitioned to why we are doing the stuff that we are doing. I was still learning from other people. I think it has evolved in the past couple of years. Everybody has seen Twitter, X, whatever it is now, evolve, too. Some of the people who I really enjoyed seeing their tweets and social media posts aren’t even on social media anymore. It has changed again.
How does what you share on Instagram compare to what you share on X?
I use Instagram to almost get away from the golf stuff. I post a lot of Stories on work on Instagram, but a lot of my actual posts aren’t typically a lot of work stuff. It’s stuff like fishing or skiing. I feel like it’s a little bit different. What I like about Instagram the most are the Stories. They’re quick-hitting and get to the point. It’s like what Twitter almost used to be. It used to be 140 characters; it was quick, fast and to the point. That’s what I see with the Stories on Instagram. I follow a lot of turf accounts on Instagram. I don’t have as many followers on Instagram. I don’t think there’s as many people in our industry on Instagram as Twitter. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a little bit different with the different formats.
What guidance would you give somebody who’s a little uneasy about using social media for work?
I would say be authentic and it’s OK to post good and bad. I have posted plenty of bad. Try not to be shady. If you’re dealing with an issue, you can put it out there. I have a lot of respect for people who put that stuff out there. One of the things I have a problem with on social media is that you can go to any Instagram or Facebook page, and everybody has all perfect pictures. You never see bad pictures. They are all perfect and everything is cropped. This is totally philosophical, but we’re almost becoming a society where everything has to be perfect. I’m as guilty as anyone. If I take a picture of a fish, I want it to be perfect. I don’t want the fish to hit me in the face as it’s coming out of my hand. Hopefully it’s OK to be vulnerable and put that stuff out there as long as you’re authentic about it and as long as you have plans in place to fix it. We all go through the crap. Everybody has killed grass. If you have any detractors, you know those people aren’t in your court. If they aren’t going to be in your court, it’s not somebody you want in your life anyway.
Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.