Growing the game and promoting the role of the superintendent are two of the biggest challenges facing the golf industry. Well, that's the case at most places, anyway, except at Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills golf course in Arizona.
Grass Clippings is an 18-hole executive course in Tempe that is a living, breathing testament to the work of golf greenkeepers, and since Dec. 1 has been lighted and open for nighttime play.
"'Stay grassy and thank your greenskeeper.' That's our mantra, and it's on the front of every golf cart here," said Grass Clippings superintendent Scott Hebert. "We want to let people know that what we do is an art form."
Opened in 1955, Rolling Hills began the transformation from humble 9-hole muni to Grass Clippings, an 18-hole executive course focused on the turf and those who maintain it, in 2018. The company entered into a 30-year lease with the city early this year, opened in November and last week became Arizona's only fully lit golf course open for night play.The course is played as an 18-hole executive course during the day and a par-3 course from dark until midnight when the lights are turned off.
In just a week, golfers have been showing up in droves to play morning, noon and night at Grass Clippings.
"In a full day, we can get 320-plus tee times," Hebert said.
"Right now, this is like drinking from a fire hose."
In the midst of a $15 million makeover, Grass Clippings is due for an updated clubhouse, outdoor bar area and an open space for events and live music, all designed to appeal to a new clientele.
"I grew up in the East and learned all about golf etiquette," Hebert said. "It's a different culture here in the West. People want to listen to music when they play, they want to play barefoot, they want to have fun. We want to be what everyone wants out of golf. We are welcoming to all people."
When Hebert made the move to Grass Clippings from TPC Scottsdale last year, he immediately set about the task of assembling his team that includes five salaried employees and eight hourly workers.
"Initially, I was budgeted for 14 hourly staff, but I was able to tweak my budget and get more salaried workers," Hebert said. "I wanted to pay them and pay them well, because we had a lot of work to do."
By the time Hebert came aboard, the course had fallen into disrepair and was defined by weeds and rock-hard ground. Grass Clippings sits on 95 acres in an urban area that is adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo and within minutes of Sky Harbor International Airport and Arizona State University. Hebert has reduced the amount of maintained turf from 45 to 32 acres. With a week of intense play in the books at Grass Clippings, the staff has already worked into a routine despite the amount of play and shorter windows for maintenance.
"There were no cultural practices being done, and they don't have a proper irrigation," he said.
The course also did not have the best in equipment, and Hebert had to borrow what he needed to get started from other Phoenix-area courses with help from Troon.
"We put down a lot of sand and seed. We spend a lot of time hand watering and fixing divots. We've had a good overseed. We didn't overseed the roughs so we can attack weeds over the winter. Agronomically we're in pretty good shape now."
Hebert says it would be impossible to keep up with this pace of play without his staff that is labeled on the Grass Clippings Web site as "one of the best grounds crew in Arizona."
Stay grassy and thank your greenskeeper. That's our mantra.
"Our mechanics will jump on a mower when we need them to. Everyone knows this is a team game, we can't do it solo," Hebert said. "We have a lot of pride in what we have put together."
Besides amenities like the patio bar and live music, future plans include updates to the golf course, including new teeing areas and moving a green, future plans also include hosting high-profile amateur events and a party atmosphere that hopefully will be reminiscent of another golf event in Arizona, all with the idea of making the game and the property more appealing to golfers of all skill levels, ages and backgrounds.
"We want to make it fun like the Tucson Open," Hebert said.
"We think this place drives that home in a way that can't help but get people involved in golf."
