Who knows whether it was fate, luck or divine intervention that brought Chenchen Gu and Steve Agin together at The Club at Ruby Hill in Pleasanton, California? What is important is that each recognized a golden opportunity when they saw it.
A native of Yibin City in China's Sichuan province, Chenchen, or Gail as she's known by her American friends, has been Agin's second assistant at Ruby Hill since graduating from Ohio State with a master's in turfgrass management last May. During her time at Ruby Hill, she also has become an extended addition to Agin's family. The superintendent at Ruby Hill for the past 16 years, Agin spent several years early in his career in Asia. His wife, Sylvia, is from China, and the couple's knowledge of eastern culture has helped 24-year-old Gail acclimate to life in America outside the academic bubble.
"(America) still is a new environment, and it's better to have friends here," said Gail, 24, who speaks English like a native. "If I have problems, I know I can talk to Steve. He understands the Chinese culture."The two first met at the 2015 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio when Gail was helping translate for another Chinese national who Agin was interviewing for an assistant's position. That candidate didn't get the job, but Agin and Gail stayed in touch when he returned to California and she went back to Columbus, Ohio.
It was her professional drive and determination that caught Agin's attention.
More than once, Gail expressed to colleagues, instructors and professors her goal to be the first woman from China to become a head golf course superintendent in the United States. It is a goal that Matt Williams, program coordinator at the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Research and Education Center at Ohio State, believes is within reach.
"I know that she misses her family, but realizes that the opportunity to achieve this professional goal is here in the United States," Williams said.
"She was involved in all aspects of our operation, from mowing, fertilizer and pesticide applications, to irrigation repair and equipment maintenance. She has a very scientific and analytical mind. She would look at every situation as a problem that had a solution, and that it was her job to solve that problem. It didn't matter if it was fertilizer calculation or properly installing parking blocks at the facility."
As a student at China's Sichuan Agricultural University, Gail came to the United States in 2012 as part of the Michigan State China Program, and earned a bachelor's degree in East Lansing two years later. Graduate school was a natural path for Gail, whose parents both are college administrators in China.
"I think it's more about Chinese culture than anything," she said. "There you are always told that a higher degree means more opportunities after you graduate. My parents were always very supportive of me going to graduate school."
By all accounts, Gail was a shining star at Ohio State.
"Her whole focus and what she liked to talk about was golf course management," said OSU professor Karl Danneberger, Ph.D. "I think she really loves the profession."
As Gail's time there was winding down, naturally she began to think about "what's next?"
Like so many other superintendents, Agin has struggled to find enough help, so he thought he'd try something different. He recalled Gail was nearing graduation, so he offered her a job at Ruby Hill, the Arcis Golf property about 30 miles east of Oakland where he has been superintendent for the past 16 years.
"I spent 10 years overseas, and in that time I developed an affinity for Asian culture. If I didn't have that experience, our paths probably never would have crossed," Agin said. "I was impressed by her enthusiasm for the industry. I was drawn to that. That is what we try to foster, that spark. I saw that in her."
During an in-person interview in California, Agin pulled out all the stops in trying to convince Gail to leave Ohio in the rearview mirror.
"I told her there is better Chinese food here than there is in Columbus," he said. "When she came out here for a visit, we swung by a Chinese grocery store. I think that sealed the deal."
"I told her there is better Chinese food here than there is in Columbus," he said. "When she came out here for a visit, we swung by a Chinese grocery store. I think that sealed the deal."
All kidding aside, hiring a female assistant - let alone one from the other side of the planet - is not something Agin took lightly.
When Gail moved from Ohio to the West Coast, her parents came from China to make the cross-country trip with her - by car.
"I don't know if it was translated perfectly for them, but I assured them that I would keep an eye on her," Agin said. "She is their only child. "I promised them that I would keep an eye on her.
"When you meet parents of someone in your charge, you want to reassure them that everything is going to be and that we will take care of her."
Obviously close to her parents, Gail talks with her parents by phone just about every day and visits China for several weeks each year. And when she goes Agin holds his breath until she returns, hoping that the pull to move home does not win out over her goal to revolutionize the golf turf management world.
After all, Gail isn't just an employee. She's now part of Agin's family.
"It's been a journey, striking a relationship and finding some commonality," Agin said. "I was an ex-pat in China, she is an ex-pat here. To me this is a little deeper than just hiring a college graduate from out of state."