So, You Like Your Superintendent Until

In some circles, the course superintendent is a hero. You’ve may have seen TV ads thanking supers for doing a thankless job or heard golf broadcasters singling out the grounds crews at Tour courses for their work above and beyond.

Perhaps you’ve received e-mails from golf’s national associations and governing bodies giving credit where it has long been due. Or maybe your club’s owners and/or members have gone out of their way to acknowledge the great job your super has done this summer in the hot, humid conditions that have affected most of the country.

In my opinion, such accolades are long overdue. No one works harder, or has a harder task, than a superintendent.

However, it seems that for every kind word said someone else has taken a shot, placed blame unfairly, or fired a super for a really stupid reason. In the past few months-again, during one of the worst summers for golf-course maintenance in years-a number of good, hard-working people have been let go for differences in personality or perception rather than fact and reason.All of the following are actual “justifiable causes” for firings I’ve heard about the last few months:

-The super was unable to produce firm, fast, “brown is the new green” playing conditions. This in extreme heat and humidity and while facing water restrictions and budget cuts.

-“We like our superintendent to play golf regularly.” That is until someone says, “All our superintendent does is play golf and the course looks terrible!”

-The primary rough was dying due to an inefficient irrigation system (which the board wouldn’t pay to replace). But the center of the fairways and the greens were fine. Isn’t the rough supposed to be penal?

-“My carpet putts better than our greens!” I wonder if this member keeps his house at 100 degrees all summer?

-This is my favorite: A super was dismissed because the divots were dying. I thought divots were supposed to be removed and then the scars replaced with sand, soil, and seed? Who cares if a torn-up piece of grass doesn’t grow?

-The course couldn’t promise tournament conditions every day for a membership primarily composed of 20 handicappers.

-One super was let go because it was thought he wanted someone else’s job and then run the club. Trust me, even if he just wanted to get in out of the hot outdoors, no super wants to trade jobs with the general manager who faces even more heat indoors, especially when Mr. Jones gets more chicken on his Caesar Salad than Mr. Smith.

I’m not saying there aren’t valid reasons to replace your superintendent. But please separate fiction from fact and consider the conditions he or she has to work under-financial as well as meteorological. Think at least twice before rushing to judgment: You might realize that rather than wanting to fire your super you really should be saying,“thank you.”