Former superintendents find peace on the other side

 

It's not the same as when Blair, now 44, entered the turf business fresh out of Auburn University some two decades ago. Superintendents are the same as they always were - eager and willing to help each other. But the business side of golf is not so friendly, say a group of former superintendents. And now as industry vendors, each says he sees those problems more clearly from the outside when talking with friends and customers who still are superintendents.

 

"The business has changed. There is no loyalty any more," Blair said. "The camaraderie between superintendents is still there, but everyone is job-scared.

 

"In the last 10 years, there has been such a glut of young guys that if you are a super making a good salary, then you have a bullseye on your back."

 

Since he was fired in 2007 when he was in charge of multiple properties for the now-defunct Rarity Communities in eastern Tennessee, Blair has found his comfort zone first as a sales rep and now as golf irrigation manager with Stovall & Co., an Atlanta-based irrigation supply company and Rain Bird distributor. His experience as a superintendent not only shortened the learning curve with Rain Bird products, but gave him much-needed credibility with customers.

 

Many superintendents are cynical by nature, Blair said. Breaking down that barrier was easier for him as a former superintendent than it might be for a professional salesman, he said. And knowing what it is like to be a superintendent fending off salesmen has helped him approach his job as someone who wants to provide long-term solutions for a colleague, not pressure a faceless customer into a sale for short-term gain.

 

"When they see someone new in sales, they put a wall up. You have to earn their trust," he said. "I had instant credibility. When a guy calls you stressed out on a Friday saying 'I need this' or 'I need that' because of a mainline break, as a former superintendent I know what that's like because I've been that guy."

 

Anthony Williams, CGCS, another former superintendent-turned-salesman, had hoped to lock down another job as a superintendent after his position at Stone Mountain Golf Club was eliminated late last year. But after 30 years with Marriott Golf, high-level jobs for a 50-something superintendent were not exactly growing on trees.

 

"I went aggressively after another superintendent job, but the cupboard was pretty bare," Williams said. "Apparently, when you turn 50, not that many people are interested in hiring you."

 

Dealing with job loss was particularly hard for Williams since news of his dismissal came a year after a series of tragic events changed his life. Within a nine-week period in 2014, his stepbrother died in a one-car accident, wife Phyllis suffered a heart attack and Williams underwent open-heart surgery.

 

Immediately after his position was eliminated, he worked with Bruce Williams, CGCS, also a former superintendent now serving the industry as a consultant and head hunter.

 

"He told me that they fire you for the same reason they hire you," Anthony Williams said.

 

In other words, he built a system that ran so smoothly, he no longer was needed to manage it.

 

Williams, now 52, has won several awards throughout his career, including TurfNet Superintendent of the Year in 2009 and the J.W. Marriott Award of Excellence, and has been a regular speaker at industry conferences. In 2005, he won the GCSAA Environmental Leader in Golf Award in the resort division at the Pine Isle Resort near Atlanta. The following year, he was the public and overall winner at Stone Mountain. Because of his high-profile career, he caught one golf course administrator off guard during a recent interview.

 

"He looked up at me and said 'I know you. What are you doing here?' " Williams said.

 

His break came when he received a call from Amir Varshovi, Ph.D., founder of Florida-based Green Technologies, a maker of organic nutrient products, after someone from the company read Williams' LinkedIn bio.

 

Hired as the company's director of sales and marketing, Williams also prefers the soft-sell method. It's the sort of approach he appreciated from sales professionals during his 30 years as a superintendent, and figures other superintendents probably feel the same way.

 

"When I was a superintendent, the best kind of salesmen weren't salesmen. They were people who wanted a partner and were interested in building relationships," he said. "That's me. I'm a farmer, and if you sow your seeds hopefully there will be a good harvest at the end of the road.

 

"I'm sympathetic to guys on the other side of the desk. For 30 years, I was that guy."

 

Williams too has noticed a difference in the business since he entered it more than three decades ago. The difference appears to be tied to generational lines and economics, which seem to go hand-in-hand.

 

"I've been in 30 (superintendents') offices in the last month, and I've yet to find one where the mood is positive," he said. "Either it's an older guy terrified and trying to hang on, or a younger guy who is terrified that his bosses are going to find out he's not as knowledgeable as he pretends to be."

 

That is exactly the kind of atmosphere that has prevented Blair from getting back in the saddle over the past 8-plus years.

 

"It would have to be a single owner who is into golf, not a real estate developer. Even then, I don't know," Blair said.

 

"With a $100,000 job comes $100,000 stress."

 

For Blair, his time servicing golf courses rather than working at one has resulted in a whole new level of expertise in other fields.

 

"My skill set has changed," he said. "I'm a better manager now than I was then - on the fiscal side of the business. But my agronomic skills have probably dropped off a little. It's like anything else; if you don't use it you lose it."

 

Larry Balko has taken an entirely different approach to life after being a superintendent.

 

After working Florida's grinding 12-month golf season at Park Ridge Golf Course in Lake Worth from 2006-2011 followed by two years at Presidential Country Club in Miami, Balko felt the need to try something different. He jumped headfirst into sales and in January 2015 started his own business Biff Inc. that distributes products for a host of companies serving the golf course maintenance business.

 

Among the products in his portfolio are Turf Dietitian, which is a BMP implementation program, and Playbooks. He even attended the 2015 GIS in San Antonio with the Playbooks folks to learn the product and work their booth. Sales came naturally to him.

 

"I can talk to a telephone poll, so talking to people is no problem," said Balko, also an Auburn grad.

 

"I immediately sold 10 to people I know. Connections in this business are everything."

 

He too calls upon his years of experience as a superintendent when constructing his own sales techniques.

 

"I know how I wanted to be treated by vendors, and I used that to sell," Balko said. "You know the guys who you can pop in on, and you know the guys who you better call first. In Florida, it's a gate game. With some guys, if you don't call ahead and make an appointment, you're not getting in the gate. But I know how guys wanted to be treated, and that's how I treat them. I don't pressure them. Still, I have girls in college, and I need to make money."