You always remember your first! For EarthWorks that’s Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem PA. It was the first place that EarthWorks fertilizer was ever spread. This took place before Rodger Zellner joined the team as golf course superintendent. When we first met Rodger, he had a pretty good idea of how to grow grass. After walking him through the EarthWorks program, that was being used on the property, we got the feeling that we may not hear from him again. As Rodger tells the story he would fertilize by sight – a technique that always worked for him. After starting his new job, he found himself very busy and realized that he hadn’t gotten to fertility - then he also realized that he didn’t need to! So, we heard from him again asking us what it was we had been doing. Today he is a biological soil management believer!
Rodger is a great success story in the golf course management business. He started at Green Pond CC 2 twenty-five years ago as the golf course superintendent. Green Pond is a busy, beloved public golf course in Bethlehem PA. It isn’t known for its big budget or Augusta type conditioning, yet it is always in great shape and has a very loyal clientele. As the years passed, Rodger moved up in the club first to General Manager and then to President and Chief Operating Officer. Now he runs the daily operations of the club. Rodger walked us through his career, an inspirational story of perseverance in an industry that can sometimes be tough on the strongest of us.