45 years ago today, as a young man I was anxiously awaiting sun-up to see the block long line waiting to tee it up at the golf course that we were about to open! We had spent two years working diligently building 18 beautiful holes of golf. Well, we opened but the line was not a block long only spotted 4-somes for the first two hours then fairly solid for the rest of the day. Lots of fun and certainly exciting for us!
Today you could not open a golf course as rough condition as ours was in the first few weeks, no one would ever come back if a course was like it today. But we hung in there and even did it again with a second 18; only it was in much better condition from the start! We had a misapplication of a fungicide that made stripes on the greens one year after we opened the new course and also an application of roundup to about 5 acres before a big tournament when the wrong chemical was poured into the tank but we have survived the trauma. Those mistakes do stay with you for a long time causing tens of thousands of lost income. As an owner, those are the worst of worries, knowing that as the story is told the conditions tend to be magnified 10-fold.
As a young man, I was very excited to begin my life in the golf business, the one thing that I did not ever think about was growing old in the golf business. 45 years at the helm of any ship is a long time but it does not seem that way. Like dad always said, do something you like and your work will not seem like work; So true!
As I continued through Purdue my experience gave me good stead in Turf Management, Agronomy and Landscape Architecture. I could only get a major in Agronomy/Turf Management because I was in the generation of 4 years and done, but the landscape courses gave me a good background aiding me in the design of the second course.
Talking to someone today gave me a little more insight into the Joy of owning a golf course…… When it is in good shape and compliments come in it is fun but when it is in not so good shape it is not a lot of fun. Over the years we have had a few of those not so fun days, but we have been pretty lucky to mostly have days where people are happy with the course. There were a couple of years 8 or 9 years ago that I spent too much time inside and not watching our product outside and it came back to bite me. So I do spend time every day outside on the course making sure that I am proud of what we have to sell. This weekend has been a very fun weekend, great people, great course and great memories! I am always reminded of a couple of amazing things. One of my high school classmates that helped me build Walnut Creek is still working with us today! Great guy! Also, one of my former student interns is now head agronomist at a 5 course complex. Arguably one of the best jobs in the country! As I said, great people, great memories!