For the past several years, the TurfNet University "Jump start" webinar series has been presented with the hopes of giving career advice to accomplished superintendents as well as aspiring turf professionals.
Joshua Ziemba (shown at right) had no idea that sitting in on one of those webinars three years ago would actually be the catalyst that would launch his career in golf turf. But that is what happened when Ziemba sat in on "Jump start your career in 2021" presented by Anthony Williams.
At that time, both were working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Ziemba, a Florida native, was a greenkeeper at Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, Texas, and Williams was director of agronomy at what then was known as the Four Seasons Las Colinas.
Ziemba had no formal turf education or training and was soaking up as much knowledge as could access.
At the webinar's conclusion, Williams promised to mail a copy of his book "Noble Habits" to anyone who reached out by email. Ziemba, who had lived in Texas only for about six months at the time, asked if he could stop by the Four Seasons, now The Nelson Golf & Sports Club, and pick up the book in person.
What followed was an eventual job offer from Williams. Since then, Ziemba has been on the career fast track. Today, he is the superintendent of the Nelson's member course at Nelson for director of agronomy Landon Lindsay.
"I came across TurfNet and the GCSAA, and really dove into webinars trying to learn as much as I could," Ziemba said. "I had watched the recorded version of Jump start in 2020, then watched it live in 2021. It seemed like (the Four Seasons) was hitting on all cylinders, and it seemed like a place I would want to work."
After spending an afternoon with Williams touring the operation and discussing the latter's philosophy, Ziemba was sold.
"We talked about turf, life in general, and he asked for my resume. That was in January 2021," Ziemba said. "In May 2021, I came on board."
Williams was equally impressed by his soon-to-be protegé.
"No one else before or since has taken such impressive initiative," said Williams, now a regional agronomist for Invited Clubs. "He was working on a public local golf course and wanted to find a job at a private club.
"Josh sold me on his potential, and he certainly was a self starter that stood out from the crowd. I saw a win-win, I knew he would be great for the property and our team, and the property would be great for Josh."
Ziemba, 32, grew up in Stuart, Florida on the state's southeast coast about 30 minutes north of West Palm Beach, where he was a horticulturist with a landscape background.
He worked as an estate gardener on Jupiter Island, a posh gated barrier island community south of Stuart, before he and his wife, Devin, moved to Fort Worth in 2020. After Ziemba hooked on as a greenkeeper at Cowboys Golf Club, Dean Miller, the VP of agronomy at Arcis Golf which manages the property, suggested the new Texas transplant should go to turf school.
"We had to be at work at Cowboys at 3 a.m.," Ziemba said. "I'd come home, study for my turf certificate from UC Riverside online at night from 7 to 11 p.m., get up at 2 a.m., go to work, come home and repeat all over again. I didn't get a lot of sleep for a long time."
I already had some pretty lofty goals that included being an assistant in three years and a superintendent in five. Those were well beyond what I thought was possible, but I knew that is what I wanted to do. . . . I wrote down my goals and made an organizational chart. That was what was going to get me to those goals.
The hard work paid off for Ziemba.
"Initially I was hired as a greenkeeper-1 in May 2021, then in May 2022 I was promoted to assistant in training," Ziemba said. "In May 2023 I was made first assistant and just in December I was promoted to superintendent of the member course."
For Ziemba, among the most important lessons he learned from the Jump start series were goal setting and taking pen to paper to write them down.
"I liked how there was so much structure to setting goals," he said. "I already had some pretty lofty goals that included being an assistant in three years and a superintendent in five. Those were well beyond what I thought was possible, but I knew that is what I wanted to do.
"I wrote down my goals and made an organizational chart. That was what was going to get me to those goals."
Although he left the Nelson before Ziemba was able to realize his goal of being a superintendent, Williams was not surprised by the outcome.
"When I left Las Colinas, I was hopeful that I had filled the benches with the future leaders of the club and that they were ready to step up," Williams said. "I did not get to promote Josh into his first superintendent job, but Landon Lindsay did, and Landon and I worked together for nearly seven years. And during that time Landon moved from assistant to superintendent to assistant director of agronomy and upon my departure took the reins as director of agronomy at the Nelson. They say it takes a village to raise a golf course superintendent. I am proud that those young men who impacted me so much have continued to meet their goals and will certainly leave their mark on the industry for a long, long time."
And it all started with a webinar.
"Three years ago, I was on the outside looking in," Ziemba said. "Now, we get to tell this story. That's pretty cool."
