Look in the dictionary, or any other reference book, and the phrase "Nicklaus ready" does not appear. But ask anyone at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, what those two words mean, and they know.
Actually, it's a three-word phrase, because around Muirfield, home to the PGA Tour's annual Memorial Tournament, no one calls the property's owner, Jack Nicklaus, by his last name. Here, it's always "Mr. Nicklaus" and the goal is to make sure the place is ready for a surprise visit any day of the year. Mr. Nicklaus, who lives full time in North Palm Beach, Florida, also has a home at Muirfield and pops in from time to time to entertain guests or attend an Ohio State football game."Muirfield is such a special place, we want this place to be perfect every day," said Chad Mark, the property's director of grounds. "Our mantra is we want to be 'Mr. Nicklaus-ready' at the drop of a hat, if he decides to come here tomorrow, you can't fake that. We have to be ready.
"If he decides to come in for a Buckeyes game and we find out two days prior, I don't want our staff to worry about Mr. Nicklaus coming here, I want the place to be ready, and I want Mr. Nicklaus to be proud of this golf course every day, whether he is here or not."
As a student at Ohio State and during the early stages of his career, Mark, 39, always viewed Muirfield as his dream job, but he never for a second entertained the idea that he might one day land a job there.
"I grew up about an hour from here and I'm right here by Ohio State," said Mark, the 2013 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year. "If you would have asked me when I was at Ohio State if I could go anywhere in the U.S. and be a superintendent, I would have said here."
If you would have asked me when I was at Ohio State if I could go anywhere in the U.S. and be a superintendent, I would have said here."
Low and behold, when Paul B. Latshaw, CGCS, left Muirfield in February after 14 years for the job at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, Mark's dream job suddenly was available. Even better, Mark had connections, serious connections, at Muirfield. He has been friends with Latshaw, and Muirfield general manager Nicholas LaRocca for years. Not to mention LaRocca's uncle, Richard LaRocca, then the general manager at The Kirtland Country Club, hired Mark at the Cleveland-area club almost 15 years ago.
"After I'd been at Kirtland about seven or eight years, a friend told me I was going to have to start making some decisions, because people would start calling me. I never thought that would happen, but it started to happen," Mark said. "I never thought I'd leave Kirtland, but once people contact you some of these offers do become attractive.
"I knew I was on Paul's list (at Muirfield) and I'd see Nicholas (LaRocca) every year at the Golf Industry Show. You never know who you're going to meet who is going to have an impact on your career."
Timing, however, was not on Mark's side. About a year before Latshaw left Muirfield for his second turn at Merion, Mark had accepted the head superintendent job at the Inverness Club in Toledo.
For many, Inverness, a 1919 Donald Ross design, would be a career destination. And under normal circumstances, Mark never would have thought about leaving, especially after only a year there. But, for Mark, Muirfield is anything but normal.
"This is the No. 1 job for me, I just never thought it would be open," he said. "Paul is a friend of mine, and I thought he would be here for a long time, and maybe retire from here. So, when it happened, it hurt me to have to leave the people at Inverness and put them through the process of hiring someone again in one year. If I knew this was going to happen like this, I never would have put my family through the move and I never would have put the people at Inverness through this after a year."We decided to take a leap and move. I wouldn't change anything: I'm at a place where I've always wanted to be and I'm looking forward to being here for a long time, and raise my family here. Everything worked out for a reason. I always have to believe that there is a reason for everything."
Indeed.
Of course, Inverness fared well in the process too, eventually luring John Zimmers away after 19 years at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, where he was the host superintendent of the 2007 and 2016 U.S. Open Championships.
The revival of Inverness that started under Mark is well under way now under Zimmers.
"When I first told the people at Inverness that I was leaving, they were like, "aww, I'm sorry you're leaving,' " Mark said with a chuckle. "But when they found out they were getting John, it became, now when are you leaving?' "
Oddly enough, Mark learned under Zimmers when the latter was superintendent at Sand Ridge in Chardon, Ohio. That club has since merged with classic-era Mayfield Country Club and operates under the name The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club.
When Zimmers left Sand Ridge for Oakmont, Mark stayed behind and became the assistant at Sand Ridge under Zimmers' successor, Jim Roney, who now is at Saucon Valley in Pennsylvania.Roney became what Mark described as the most influential mentor and influencer throughout his career.
In turn, Roney said it was only a matter of time before places like Inverness and ultimately Muirfield scooped up Mark.
"Chad is most deserving of his latest appointment," Roney said. "It's a perfect fit."
So what's next for Mark and Muirfield?
"We don't have any big projects coming up any time soon," Mark said. "Frankly, we don't need to do anything major because Paul did such a great job here, and we're going to continue to manage what we have," Mark said.
"He left me a great foundation. Obviously, this place is in great shape. He's done things right for a very long time, and we're continuing a lot of the programs Paul had in place and we're going to fine tune some things to my personality, because there a few thing I do differently than Paul did."
Being the host superintendent for a regular PGA Tour stop was never on Mark's career bucket list, but now that he's been through one, he admits maybe it should have been.
"I always said 'no' that wasn't important, but now that I've done it. Now that I know what it's like, I can't imagine not doing it," Mark said. "It's so much fun to work with the Tour and Paul Vermeulen, our USGA agronomist. It's been a case of the right thing at right time throughout my career. I've worked for great people and tremendous opportunities have always presented themselves. Of course, I give this job everything I have every day."
And that hasn't hurt either.