Jordon Bowling found his calling into turfgrass management a little later than most, at 22 with a six-month old son to boot. His brother-in-law, Chad Kuzawa, was an NC State turf grad making the rounds of some clubs in the southeast and convinced Jordon to visit from his home in Michigan and shadow him for a couple of days. That set things in motion.
He enrolled in the turf management program at Wayne Community College in NC and worked at Wedgewood GC, then Country Club of Virginia, Carolin
Chad Allen, finishing up his first year as golf course superintendent at the Club at Chatham Hills near Indianapolis, IN, has a unique background and training as a substance abuse and addiction counselor prior to shifting to turf management. A recent attendee of both Green Start and the Syngenta Business Institute programs, Chad employs a "bottom up" management style that centers on listening to and engaging his staff in the processes of managing the golf course.
A fascinating conversation
Jim Surico, senior assistant superintendent at North Jersey Country Club in Wayne, NJ, is admittedly a "glass half full" kind of guy. As such, when asked to name something he doesn't like to do on the golf course, he came up blank. "Ooh, I don't know, tough question... There really isn't anything I don't like to do, even dealing with members..."
Now THERE is a guy who is going to have a successful career as a superintendent.
Surico talks us through his career from Rutgers University to
Our latest Rising Star of Turf is J. Richard Brown, newly minted golf course superintendent at Florence (SC) Country Club. Richard got the nod for the Florence job after ten years "apprenticeship" in the South Carolina golf market, starting with five years at various courses in Myrtle Beach before becoming the senior assistant at Orangeburg Country Club, where he remained for the ensuing five years.
Richard participated in one of our Assistant Situation roundtable conversations earlier this
Nate Jordan first came on our radar as an active user of the TurfNet Forum during his first gig as head superintendent, then at Saratoga Lake Golf Club in upstate New York. He created a stir when pondering whether his resume and career trajectory would be enhanced by stepping back into an assistant role at a Top 100 club, which he did for a year before finding that not completely suited to his personality and demeanor. He then went on to five years as superintendent at Mount Hawley CC in Peoria,
The big question on the turf industry's mind after the epic 2016 Ryder Cup Matches at Hazeltine National Golf Club (Chaska, MN) was, "Where's (senior assistant superintendent) Ryan Moy gonna go?" Turns out the answer was one just about nobody expected: Head Groundskeeper for the Minnesota United Football Club at the still under-construction Allianz Field in St. Paul and their training grounds in Blaine, MN.
Once Ryan settled in there he was followed by former Hazeltine interns Mitch Ronnin
To say Nate McKinniss is on the career fast track would be an understatement of almost immeasurable proportions.
McKinniss, 27, is the golf course superintendent at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, where Job 1 is keeping the course what he called “Golden Bear ready.” That's a nod to Jack Nicklaus, who designed the course, has a home there and is the host of its biggest event, the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament. McKinniss has worked at the club in suburban Columbus since he gradu
We are thrilled to recognize Luke Kringler, assistant superintendent at Laurel Creek Country Club in Moorestown, NJ, as our first Rising Star of Turf.
"Nominated" (unbeknownst to him at the time) by John Slade, superintendent at Laurel Creek and a Charter TurfNet Member, the email exchange with Peter McCormick back in November went like this:
John: I'm looking to get one of my techey young guys to work on some job postings. Over the years, I've had five employees become Supers -- but
