In a greenkeeping career that spanned parts of five decades, Bill Anderson saw a lot of changes.
A graduate of Michigan State University, Anderson began working at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina as an assistant in 1973. By 1975, he was head superintendent, a job he viewed as a short-term stopover on his career path. He retired from Carmel 40 years later in 2013.
During that time, he saw demand for conditions escalate from hairy to fast and furious. He saw budgets and staff size increase and the job of superintendent transition from greenkeeper to management professional.
Anderson died Dec. 4 in Charlotte.
Anderson played a key role in the development of Carmel. The club's original 18 holes opened in 1950. A new nine-hole course, now known as the North Course, was launched in 1967 and expanded to 18 holes in 1998.
Upon the news of Anderson's death, the Carolinas Golf Association described him on social media as "a true southern gentleman and extremely knowledgeable about golf and the turf industry."
He is remembered by many as a mentor and leader who helped others in their own career development pursuits.
"I had the chance to work for Bill," Scott Mauldin, CGCS at Bayville Golf Club in Virginia, said on social media. "(H)e sure created the vision for professionalism and commodity for me as a turf student. He will surely be missed."
Anderson was a leader locally among superintendents in North and South Carolina. He was a former president and two-term board member of the Carolinas GCSA, was the 2008 recipient of the chapter's Distinguished Service Award and was a past president and vice president of the North South Turfgrass Association.
