Type the phrase "golf courses are . . . " into Google and the Internet search engine will suggest such verbiage as ". . . a waste of space" and ". . . bad for the environment" to complete the sentence. One can try all day, and it is a lead-pipe cinch the words ". . . a good neighbor" never will automatically fill in, although, in the case of Findlay Country Club, it would be accurate if they did.
For Dan Koops, Findlay's director of grounds, making a positive contribution to the community is as important as producing greens worthy of next month's Ohio Amateur Championship. And a former employee has been only too happy to oblige him.For the past three years, the club has turned to a local school for those with developmental disabilities to grow and plant annual flowers around the clubhouse, the front entrance and in some key areas around the golf course. This ongoing relationship serves a dual purpose: The flowers help beautify the club's grounds each spring, but more importantly, helps give purpose to those who plant them.
"It gives them some experience getting their hands dirty, allows them to get outside and helps us get other things done around the course," said Koops, superintendent at Findlay since 2012. "It's a win-win."
The Blanchard Valley Center serves more than 400 resident and non-resident "clients" with varying levels of developmental disabilities by providing them with recreational opportunities and vocational training. Part of that training includes growing flowers, plants and vegetables in a 1,500-square-foot on-campus greenhouse that is managed by former FCC horticulturist Tim Stumpp.
Each spring, Stumpp and as many as a dozen Blanchard Valley clients make the short journey - a 3-wood as the crow flies, or 2 miles by car - to the 1928 Thomas Bendelow design where they plant hundreds of flowers around the property.
"The plan for us is to be able to employ all of our clients in the community. That's our goal; they come to us for vocational training, and hopefully the community embraces that," Stumpp said.
"This is vocational training for our clients. For me personally, this is about seeing our clients learning a skill from start to finish.
Although flowers around the clubhouse might fall pretty far down on the to-do list for many golf course superintendents, especially those preparing for one of the state's largest events, they are a big deal for Koops, who embraces his relationship with Blanchard Valley and its clients. He also believes similar projects elsewhere could go a long way in dispelling some of the negative stereotypes associated with golf, particularly the notion that private clubs are enclaves secluded from their local communities.
"It's not that way here at all. The club wants to give back and be involved," Koops said.
"We want to be part of the community."
Stumpp, who earned a two-year horticulture degree from Ohio State in 1984, had worked at FCC for 13 years when he felt a need to do something else with his life. By then, he already had returned to school and earned a bachelor's degree in advanced technological education in 2006 from nearby Bowling Green State University with hopes of one day teaching at the community college level. That dream withered on the vine as a sluggish economy hit local two-year schools especially hard. Eventually, he turned his attention toward Blanchard Valley Center, where his late mother, Ethelann Stumpp, once taught.
"I needed to do something in my life that was making a difference," Stumpp said.
"I can't say there was a life-changing event that led to this. It was just a feeling I had at the time. I saw an ad in the paper for a greenhouse technician, and it sounded like the right thing to do."
It was during his first year operating the center's 30-foot-by-50-foot greenhouse when he thought about his former employer.Initially, Stumpp figured a relationship with the country club might simply be a way for Blanchard Valley to sell some flowers and for its clients to get some practical training as well as a little fresh air. It has become much more because of the way the club has embraced the program and those working in it.
"I knew they needed someone after I left, and I thought it would be a great opportunity for the people here to grow flowers for the country club," Stumpp said. "We grow the flowers and plant them, and we've built a great relationship the past three years. Dan has been great with our clients. They're always asking 'How's Dan?' 'Tell Dan I said hi.' It has turned into much more of a beautiful thing than I ever imagined it would."
Each of the past three years, members tell Koops how much they appreciate reaching out to the community on the club's behalf.
"The flowers look good, the clients are happy, we're happy and our members are thrilled," Koops said. "It's good for everyeone."
In the end, Blanchard Valley provides about half the annual flowers planted each year at FCC. That is no small effort and includes 50-70 flats per year, enough to cover about 5,000 square feet of bed space.
About a dozen adult clients from Blanchard Valley are involved in the program that has morphed into policing the course for loose debris in the spring as well. Clients confined to wheelchairs are able to plant flowers in pots that are placed around the clubhouse entrance. Koops and his crew express their gratitude each year by staging a cookout for the clients.
The project wouldn't be possible without support from inside the clubhouse.
"This is about being a good partner in the community," said Chad Bain, the club's director of golf, membership and marketing.
"We are in the relationship business internally and externally, and this is a relationship that is very important to us."