Meet the father and daughter team of the industry -  Amanda and Mike Fontaine from The Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, Massachusetts. These two golf course superintendents have enjoyed a lot of recognition recently after being featured in several industry publications. Mike has been on the property for 23 years and recently moved into the role of General Manager. This change presented him with the opportunity to offer his daughter the position of Golf Course Superintendent.

Amanda grew up on the golf course and remembers playing in the bunkers and then having to rake them when done! She talks about the challenges of being not only a young superintendent, but the daughter of the GM. She also gives us great insights into how she runs the show, her challenges agronomically, and makes a point of not being afraid to ask questions.

Mike and Amanda talk about the challenges of finding and maintaining labor in a market where golf rounds are up and wear and tear on the property is worse than ever. They work for IGM, a management company, on a course that is owned by the town of South Hadley, MA and discuss how that affects day to day operations. It is so refreshing to hear a father and daughter team talk with passion about the golf course and the industry.

This week we hear from Colin Engstrom, owner of Yard Guard in Bozeman, MT. Colin came to the industry somewhat by accident after moving from Boston to Bozeman to pursue a finance degree (with a bonus of world class skiing). By applying his finance background to the operation, he’s been able to approach running an LCO in a more logical, systems-based way.

We talked about fresh ideas in hiring great team members, scaling for profit, and why offering an organic based program to his customers as their preferred package is going to be a key to separating his company from the competition. There’s lots of great nuggets of info that’s applicable to any sector of the turf industry in this one. Enjoy this conversation with a rising star in the green industry.

As the golf course superintendent and a co-general manager at Llanerch Country Club in Philadelphia for the past 23 years,  Brendan Byrne has done some amazing things to change and improve the golf course, the physical property, and the entire golf experience. In this conversation with Joel Simmons, he offers a whole bunch of great advice for anyone growing grass.

This week we welcome a guest that clearly defines "breaking a glass ceiling”! Gwen Stahnke, PhD focused in Horticulture/Forestry, discusses her career from crew member to assistant superintendent in the '70s to Associate Professor Emeritus WSU-Puyallup.

Gwen’s passion for the industry is apparent throughout the conversation and, even though she says she’s retired, we think you’ll agree that she’ll be around for a long time.

Eric Harshman has one of the most diverse resumes in the turf industry. He spent 12 years in the National Guard, then earned degrees in both graphic design and sports marketing, until finally marrying into a family golf course where he got bitten by the turf bug. He went on to work for Walter Pritchett at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, KY.

He then found his way to LSU as an assistant sports turf manager. Being an avid baseball fan, with a sport marketing degree, he wanted to try a stint with the Lexington Legends, a professional minor league team. The work was great, but the hours were not very accommodating for a family man with children.

Eric has now found a home as the Head Grounds Manager at Transylvania University in Lexington KY. The life of a grounds manager at a major university is not an easy one, especially with a small staff, but it has been a very enjoyable one for Eric. The University no longer has a football team, but he is responsible for the entire campus and all the sports they do have. He shares with us what it takes to manage such a large operation and how the transition has been from golf to sports turf and finally to the manager of a large university.

Eric has a great reputation and his story is enjoyable for anyone who loves the turf industry.

Tim Zurybida employs a minimalist strategy at Bellewood Country Club, a private club about an hour northwest of Philadelphia. Being a golf member at Huntingdon Valley Country Club, a classic Philadelphia course known for its low input turf management, has given him a great perspective in greenkeeping. His love of golf and the golf course really shine through in this conversation with EW's Jack Higgins.

You’ll also enjoy hearing about the mating pair of bald eagles that take up residence every spring. Over the last 10 years over 20 eaglets have been born and raised at Bellewood!

In this Earthworks podcast, Chad Kuzawa is joined by Ryan Anderson, IPM Institute of America, and Alec McClennan, founder and operator of Good Nature Organic Lawn Care, to talk about organic lawn care. Alec operates several locations throughout the upper Midwest and they chat about utilizing integrated pest management and best management practices. They share how many municipalities and homeowners have taken the step towards pesticide free maintenance for their green spaces.

Jennifer Torres, Golf Course Superintendent at Westlake Golf & Country Club in Jackson New Jersey, used her GI Bill to go to the two year Rutgers Turf Program and has fallen in love with the turf industry. Jennifer is well known in the circles of New Jersey Golf Course Management professionals because of her involvement with the local association. She is the current treasurer and former secretary of her local chapter and aspires to run for the national board.

Her passion for the industry is very strong and she puts in the time to make it better for everyone. Jennifer has been a Grass Roots Ambassador and has traveled with industry groups to Washington DC to advocate for the turf industry. She has been very active in the Women in Golf group and was a volunteer at last year's US Women’s Open at Pine Needles. Donating her time to visit local schools to discuss the turf profession with young kids, she hopes to show them that this could be a career for many of them especially young girls who may not have known that turf management is a great career choice.

Jennifer recruited her son to join the staff and now he too is studying turf at the Rutgers Turf Program. Her excitement for the job is clear as she talks about her position at Westlake, an adult community with a large golfing client base. It is very refreshing to talk to a golf professional who is so willing to put themselves out for the improvement of the industry and Jennifer is certainly one who does that with gusto!

Jack Higgins with Olee Poole, Extreme Lawn DIYer.

Olee Poole calls himself an extreme DIYer. He shares his joy and reminds us that passion for turf and beautiful landscape is not reserved for the professionals. Olee grows a three acre stand of incredibly dense tall fescue. The landscape and lawn at his house resemble a country club's clubhouse, and his social media content is top tier! Listen for the part when he describes the physical changes he has made to his soil.

Happy Earth Day, we are the Earth's keepers.

Nothing in nature is uncontrolled, nothing is left to chance. Lawrence Mayhew, Earthworks chemist, shares the science behind the plant utilizing a lot more than the 16 essential nutrients considered an industry standard since the 1939 hydroponic research done by Arnon and Stout. Since then, much has been learned about the importance of trace elements, how plants bring nutrients out of the soil, and the physiological importance of those nutrients.

Today we still hear from “experts” that all turf needs is urea nitrogen but clearly that is not a healthy approach to plant science. Lawrence talks about how a soil and plant really work. He highlights scientific literature to make his case and ultimately shows us that nature really does not leave anything to chance. We discuss the importance of trace elements, especially the rare earth minerals, and their role in building enzymes, amino acids and ultimately proteins within the plant.

If all a plant used was a limited number of elements it would suffer physiological stresses, the construction of proteins would be incomplete, and the plant would more likely suffer from insect and disease stresses. This is a big conversation on a tough subject but as always when Lawrence talks with us a fascinating conversation.

This EW Podcast features Gary Deters, the Lawn Water Conservation Educator with the University of MN. Prior to taking on this new role, Gary managed the Turf Research Facility at the university and served as the Golf Course Superintendent at St Cloud CC in MN. 

We reviewed some of the research that’s underway at the university, why he made the career change, and how he’s been able to draw on his experience as a Superintendent to help educate homeowners and landowners about how to use their water resource more efficiently. It’s an interesting conversation that may reveal some misunderstandings about how homeowners view their role in conservation.

Gary has learned not to be afraid of change and wanted us to know that there’s a lot of opportunity for superintendents that may be thinking about using their knowledge and expertise to help their communities.

In an environment where it is very difficult to find staff, Tyler Bloom is helping turf managers build their “personal brand”. He then teaches them how to use it to recruit and retain employees.

Tyler started his recruiting business in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic when the industry was at a standstill and finding anyone to work was a challenge. Moving forward three years and he has built a strong business helping his clients not only find quality employees but more importantly helping the industry navigate this difficult labor environment.

One of the more rewarding aspects of his job has been helping turf managers build their “personal brand” and using that to help recruit needed employees. In an environment where it is very difficult to find staff it is very important to sell yourself as a manager and your facility as a place to work. Tyler shares his experience demonstrating that those that can build and sell a personal brand are much more successful at finding and retaining quality employees.

The labor market continues to be very different. Gone are the days when a job was posted and 200 plus resumes showed up. Today as everyone knows the labor market continues to be very limited and Tyler shares with us some tricks that are making a big difference.

Mike Keohan has been a friend of EarthWorks for close to thirty years and has built a few golf courses over his impressive career. He has recently taken the position of Golf Course Superintendent at the iconic Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton NY. Sebonack is on the east end of Long Island NY, arguably where the best golf courses in the world reside. His is walking neighbors with Shinnecock Hills and the National Golf Links.

As the club’s website reports “Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak, two designers with dramatically different styles, have used the natural contours and features of the land to create a unique look.” It is a very impressive property where the touch of both architects can be seen from the first tee and beyond.

Mike talks to us about the environmental sensitivity of the property with seven monitoring wells that record pesticide and fertilizer run off. His work experience spans the entire East Coast from Vermont to Florida! With his home now solidly set in Southampton, Mike is ready to finish his career strong. Just a great conversation with an old friend!

It’s a privilege to sit down with any seasoned veteran of the GCS world, but beyond that it’s a real good time to hang and talk with Ken Flisek! His stories about three grow-ins are awesome and build up to his fourth and final grow-in of The Club at Nevillewood.

Listen to the end for really great stuff about working with Jack Nicklaus, the designer of Nevillewood.

On this podcast, Dave Wilber and Kevin Hicks decided to go off script and riff about how to navigate club politics. They discuss how club communication has evolved over the years and how to effectively get your message out.

Ultimately, the superintendent should be in control of the narrative at their club. You were hired because you were the best candidate for the job. Use that position to insure that you control the message and do it on your time and on your “turf.”

Dave and Kevin took a deep dive into navigating the committee structure and how to head off the dreaded “you’re not the guy to take us to the next level” conversation. Following some pretty heavy subject matter, Dave contributed a couple of his own “fairway follies” stories to lighten the conversation at the end.

We want golf to be popular, that’s why we’re here, but 45,000 rounds in an 8 month season poses a lot of challenges! This talk with Brian O’Malley, at River Vale Country Club, gets into the specifics of how to manage for that amount of volume. It takes a superintendent that is willing be creative and employ new strategies.

This is a good ol’ fashioned greenskeeper's podcast, not for the casual listener, enjoy!

What a year the Texas Christian University football team had, making it all the way to the national championship game. Andrew Siegel manages the TCU Horned Frogs sports fields, and has a lot of great stories to share.

Andrew is a “soils” guy and gives us his tips on how he repairs the football field on Saturday afternoons after a game. TCU is a Division I school and plays their games at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Fort Worth, Texas is not the easiest place in the country to maintain a quality turf environment. In fact, as we were recording this podcast TCU was closed because of an extended ice storm that caused havoc in the area and Andrew was heading back to the stadium to check on possible damage to his fields. There is a lot to do as the Sports Field Manager of a major university and Andrew goes through what his days are like and how he keeps it all together. He also shares some of his agronomic secrets.

At this years GCSAA Conference & Show in Orlando we had the opportunity to share the show podcast stage and record a live EarthWorks Podcast. We had great support and were able to bring to the stage Todd Bohn and Woody Moriarty from Desert Mountain, Walter Pritchett from Hurstbourne CC, and our old friend Armen Suny.

We started off with Todd and Woody, the leadership team at Desert Mountain, and talked about changes going on at the club and about their water issues. Next up was Walter, a golf course superintendent at a classic old Louisville golf course. Finally, our old friend and veteran EW Podcaster, Armen Suny joined us and we were able to share some classic Armen stories and enjoy his sage advice.