"Jon Scott - what a talented guy and a great friend." - Jack Nicklaus
Jon Scott was one of the most accomplished agronomists of his generation. A superintendent at a long list of golf properties, Scott rose to the top of his profession, growing in Valhalla and serving as vice president of agronomy for both the PGA Tour and Jack Nicklaus before finally starting his own consulting firm.
A graduate of Michigan State and a lifelong learner and teacher, Scott died Sunday after battling pancreatic cancer for almost two years. He was 72. Survivors include wife Anne; daughter Brenda (Brian); stepsons Joel and Tom Krause; and sisters Jan (Ed) and Jyl (Jim).
Upon news of his passing, the outpouring of remorse and respect from colleagues and peers across the turf industry was evidence of the regard people had for him not only as an agronomist, but also as a person.
"Jon Scott - what a talented guy and what a great friend," Jack Nicklaus said. "Jon worked with us and the Tour and back with us for parts of 40 years. He was as talented an agronomist as there ever was. Not only was he talented, but he knew how to deliver his message to make everybody happy. Including me."
Scott was remembered as an accomplished agronomist; proficient communicator; dedicated husband, father and friend; and skilled pilot who saw in his Cessna a portal into a world of escape from the stress of everyday life.
Scott worked with a lot of superintendents during his time with the Tour and Nicklaus, including Paul B. Latshaw, CGCS.
The director of golf course operations at Merion since 2017, Latshaw spent nearly 14 years as director of grounds operations at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, home of The Memorial Tournament. Latshaw's tenure at Muirfield intersected with Scott's time both with Nicklaus and the PGA Tour, so the pair have worked side by side for many years and developed a very close relationship.
"This is just really tough for me," Latshaw said. "He was a wonderful person and extremely passionate about everything he did. Everything he did was about the greater good and producing the best conditions on the golf course and the betterment of the superintendent. He could be hard on you, but he was hard on you because he cared. He was a straight shooter, and you always knew where you stood with him."
Scott worked as a superintendent at six golf courses over a 14-year span before he was hired in 1986 to grow in Valhalla Golf Club, a Nicklaus design in Louisville, Kentucky. He was at Valhalla for about a year when Nicklaus hired him to head the agronomy team for his North Palm Beach, Florida-based golf course design firm.
Although he was at Valhalla only a short time, Scott set the table for a property that has been the site of the 2008 Ryder Cup Matches and three PGA Championships (1996, 2000, 2014). The PGA is scheduled to return to Valhalla in 2024. Scott eventually spent a total of 19 years as VP of agronomy for Nicklaus Design, succeeding Steve Batten and the late Ed Etchells, in two phases that were sandwiched around nine years with the Tour. In 2014, he returned to his native Michigan, where he set up shop with his own consulting service, and continued to work with Nicklaus on select projects until his death.
His writing skills were unbelievable. He'd write these five- and six-page emails to me. It would take me an hour-and-a-half to respond to him. They were very technical. I learned a lot from that man.
For all of Scott's accomplishments, his career in golf almost never made it to the first tee.
Fresh out of Michigan State with a degree in park management in 1972, Scott had accepted a position with Miami-Dade County Department of Parks and Recreation, but the job he had been promised was given to someone else before he could start. As the saying goes, "when one door closes, another opens." In this case, that open door was at Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne.
"They told him they didn't have a job in parks, but they had a golf course that needed a superintendent," said Scott's stepson, Joel Krause, the superintendent at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan. "So, if he wanted to work there he would have to take that job, so he did, and the rest is history." (Finally, a government snafu that worked out!)
Scott had been working for Nicklaus for about 10 years when he was offered the opportunity to head up the Tour's agronomy division.
"I told Jon, 'you need to take that job, it's the best thing for your career,' " Nicklaus said. "He took the job and worked for the Tour for nine or 10 years, and one day I saw Jon and said 'if you're ever tired of this, we'd love to have you back one day.' I got a call the next Monday morning - 'I'd love to come back.' "
His career with the Tour and Nicklaus allowed him to help superintendents meet the demands imposed by some very insistent people. And when he showed up at your golf course, there was no question about whose word was final come decision time, said Phil Shoemaker, who spent nearly his entire career on Nicklaus-designed courses before retiring in 2019, including the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, Muirfield Village, TPC Scottsdale and 24 years at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale.
"Once or twice a year he would pop in at all the Nicklaus courses to make sure they were up to Nicklaus' standards," Shoemaker said. "He was stern but respectful, and I admired that about the man. When Jack would visit, it was more about design than agronomy, so he built a team to make sure the agronomy was up to his standards. And that standard was perfection - all the time."
As he rose to his profession's highest level and helped superintendents around the country produce the best playing conditions possible under what often were extreme and difficult circumstances, Scott never stopped learning.
Throughout his career, Scott was a speaker as well as an attendee at regional and national conferences, enjoyed attending the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition and soaked up as much knowledge as he could through outlets for non-traditional education such as TurfNet webinars and this year's virtual Golf Industry Show.
"He was committed to continuous education and learning," Latshaw said. "He wanted to bring information to anyone and everyone he worked with. The only way to do that was to stay cutting-edge. He knew there wasn't just one way, that there might always be a better way to do things. His concerns were producing the best possible conditions and using the best construction techniques. That's why he was always learning.
"He made you think about different ways of doing things: soil, water, construction techniques. He always questioned the process in a way that made everyone question whether the way they were doing something was the right way of doing it. He always made you think. His stance was to build something that was sustainable after the construction was finished."
When Desert Mountain and Desert Highlands brought in help from academia to speak with city officials in Scottsdale about water issues 20 years ago, Scott, who then was with the Tour, showed up just to listen - and learn.
"He wasn't there to take over," Shoemaker said. "He respected the process in place with the scientists. He just wanted to learn how to deal with water problems."
Once or twice a year he would pop in at all the Nicklaus courses to make sure they were up to Nicklaus' standards. . . . And that standard was perfection - all the time.
Scott also excelled at communicating what he learned to others.
"One of his greatest skill sets was his people skills. He could talk to anyone," Latshaw said. "He could communicate with CEOs of companies and turn around and talk to the person running irrigation. Not a lot of people have that skill, but Jon truly cared about people he worked with. When doing a tournament, you always get stressed out. Jon always was good at keeping things in perspective.
"His writing skills were unbelievable. He'd write these five- and six-page emails to me. It would take me an hour-and-a-half to respond to him. They were very technical. I learned a lot from that man."
As accomplished as Scott was an agronomist, he is remembered as an even better person. There is the side of Scott who was a great agronomist, mentor and teacher, and the side who made enough of an impact on a 10-year-old stepson that eventually he, too, became a golf course superintendent.
"At work, he could be tough on you, but if you made a mistake, he would pull you aside and explain to you what you did wrong. He never berated you in front of others," said Krause, who crewed for his stepdad. "At home, he was much more relaxed. He let me make mistakes and figure them out on my own. It was like two different people. He was a great superintendent and manager, and he was very kind and understanding as a dad."
Then there was the gregarious side that was not always so serious, Nicklaus said.
When the Nicklaus Design contingent was in India on a construction project, the locals warned them to be careful about what they ate. One evening, the group dined at an outdoor buffet where the food had been out for quite some time when they arrived.
"They had a buffet and had about 14 dishes. We all sort of looked at it and said 'we're in a foreign country, be careful what you're eating,' " Nicklaus said laughing. "Not that the food was bad, but we all were careful. I think I ate some lamb chops, and that was it. Jon ate all 14 dishes, and went back for more. We all got the greatest kick out of that. He had a cast-iron stomach."
In the end, Scott was very private about his fight with cancer. Even many of his close friends had no idea how serious it was, or even that he was sick at all. Scott found escape and solace in piloting his 1965 Cessna 172F. He sold the plane on Feb. 2, which was an indicator that his days were numbered.
"I just spoke to him a few months ago, and he didn't say anything," Latshaw said.
"He was just a remarkable individual. He was a mentor to me and almost like a second father figure. We didn't just work together; we were friends. When you spend that much time together, it's impossible not to be. This really hurts. I can't believe he's gone."
