Golf Players

Teaching Turf: Sand Valley presented by Toro



Teaching Turf: Sand Valley focuses on one of the busiest golf resorts in America. We talk to the superintendents, greenkeepers, and this summer’s interns about managing a diverse and ever-growing property while maintaining some of the best conditions in golf.

Thanks to Michael Mageles for providing additional photos, info, and video of the Sand Valley turf team (and his rabbits!)

⛳️
00:00 Intro
01:06 Sand Valley Resort
03:00 Sand Valley Golf Course
13:01 Mammoth Dunes Golf Course
20:35 The Sandbox
25:44 Sedge Valley Golf Course
30:36 Seeding Greens at Sedge Valley
33:37 The Interns and the Future
37:36 Conclusion

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First time I arrived here it was just didn’t feel like Wisconsin at all just like completely different world it was actually kind of a quiet quiet place it was very peaceful it still is peaceful but there’s just a lot more going on around the behind the scenes I mean

We’re just incredibly busy like main challenges here is just the growth and all the things we have going the personalities the camaraderie um the stuff that we get to do here I think um is second to None well San Valley is a is a public Resort located in nusa Wisconsin which is about roughly right dead center in the middle of the state so we’re equidistant kind of to Green Bay Milwaukee Chicago Minneapolis the resort kind of consists of five golf courses now um we have

Three courses that were built in 2015 to 2017 um so Sand Valley was the first course cor crenchaw design um Mammoth Dunes was a second course uh David kid design and then obviously the sandbox our par three course which was a core cruncha design were kind of opened all

Along the same time and now we’re adding we’ve added two new courses to the portfolio of the resort um Theo which was built um in 2020 2021 which is the CB McDonald um Leo course and then we are currently building the Tom do um sedge Valley Golf Course to add to the

Resort side of the property so the property is rapidly expanding and getting bigger every year right now I think I looked on our ADP app for payroll and we have 115 employees across all the golf courses Joe Jensen superintendent of San Valley um oversee him Andy Brown L

Mammoth Dunes um Brandon Baron on the sandbox Sam Weber at sadra Valley and Jimmy humpston at the Leo so they kind of all directly report to me like you have to take things day by day like what do we have to accomplish just today and then what do we need to accomplish in

The next two weeks and then what’s sensitive for like the next like four months like that’s kind of how I look at things and and one hand you’re like so busy you can’t think about all the cool stuff that you’re doing but it’s also very exciting knowing that there’s

Always some new project on the horizon that you’re you’re dealing with so it’s really amazing what we’re doing here at Sand Valley well I’m I’m Joe Jensen and I’m the golf course Superintendent at Sand Valley Resort and I’m on the core khaw course the first one that they

Built well San Valley um the golf course was designed by Corin khaw in 2015 uh it’s amazing Bill and Ben have some pretty punish in Greens I they’re definitely you’ve got to hit good shots um a lot of the greens are a little bit

More um kind of set up on ridges and in high spots so obviously the wind comes into play on a lot of the holes it’s a really good Fair Golf Course um beautiful views great layout I mean the way they use the terrain out here is just incredible and the sound

When the ball hits the greens there’s there’s nothing like it so it’s it’s pretty incredible Could you introduce me to the Sand Valley Turf internship the Sand Valley Turf internship um you’re going to come here and and manage and learn about grass and and golf courses and again it’s it the architecture here is is Second To None the Sand Valley internship is the

Opportunity just to learn firman fast golf um the opportunity to grow Fescue which is a low input grass we’re very minimalistic here we don’t do anything preventatively really we are minimal on chemicals fertilizer trying to grow grasses in a way that’s the most environmentally sound way possible and

At the same time providing conditions that kind of root back to the origins of golf you know firm fast that’s our goal is firm fast and and consistent every day I would say that’s that’s the best thing about our golf courses here is you’re just going to learn a different

Style of golf course management that isn’t typical to the industry I’m Adam alusy and uh I’m an intern here at the S Valley course on the S Valley Golf Resort yeah uh I’m Michael melis this is my fourth season at San Valley um on the San Valley

Course and uh I am uh I’m not really what I do or what my job title is playing Sand Valley is a true Lynx golf experience the the architecture of it’s incredible and you can you just step on the tea of every single hole and you’re like how am I going to attack

This one there’s there’s a lot of thinking that goes into it if you’re into golf it is a golfer’s dream it there’s so much to it you know the attention to detail you know you can get so creative in the different ways that you can play the holes and you know the

More you play it and the more you look into it the more you can get out of it I’m from like oakair area I was uh born in Lake Triple Falls now um I’m studying at w Stout monomon I came here on a visit um Stout had a a visit down here

Uh with their golf program you know and they wanted to hire and I was under the impression uh that I was going to get a job and more of the pro shop like I signed up for golf operations Resort operations and the Agronomy team the

First person to reach out to me was the Agronomy team so I said hell with it you know it sounds like a good time so I actually grew up in Wisconsin originally and we uh raised animals had a dairy farm my mom did and uh her project

Growing up was always uh the rabbits so we uh we show breed all sorts stuff all over the country and so I’ve also got my judge’s license you didn’t think you this is where this was going that’s like Best in Show it’s like exactly exactly they actually just did a

A documentary called best and show on uh Nat Gio wild over the winter that I was in so just like showing dogs but rabbits I don’t know how I’m going to go back to talking about Turf now okay all right let’s get back on track uh this is your fourth summer here

Uh why do you keep coming back like it this seems like a lot of Summers to be here yeah um so the managers the people that run this place are the most friendliest people you’ll meet before I came here I was at the Los Angeles

Country Club and it was it was a great place to learn but I mean high-end as exclusive as it gets like lots of lots of expectations high expectations I came here kind of expecting the same kind of deal just because I mean it’s a beautiful Resort here and uh

It just it it’s so laidback it’s it’s awesome it’s a great work environment we get a lot of stuff done great people and so that’s that’s the main reason what’s Joe like as a boss um now or when I first started Joe is a character uhoh that’s in the

Sh what do you think paly stuck into the for all right and then went to their after hours party at This Little Greek restaurant in Hollywood it was freaking crazy don’t put that on camera that I snuck in I don’t want them to know that um he’s he he’s amazing um if you

Don’t if you don’t know Joe um and you do something that uh he doesn’t like okay where’s the intern he he could be the scariest guy to some people he’s very expressive he if he doesn’t like what you’re doing he’ll let you know but he’s he’s just a big teddy bear he’s awesome

Great guy to work for if you got any decent ideas uh that he thinks can be useful to the course he’ll he’ll let you loose on it he means the best you know for the course and for me he’s pretty pretty entertaining too his name was armat trudo and I was

Like I’m not calling him that what do interns learn during their course of experience here well I want to teach them everything that they want to learn that they you know I know everyone wants to learn how to spray everyone wants to be able to fertilize everyone wants to manage to

The crew everyone want and I want all that for them and I think it’s an individual basis on on where they are with that stuff you’re going to do Fairways before you do greens uh in terms of mowing I wasn’t even trying to get on of greens mower right away you

Know it’s like I don’t want to mess it up you know I like them to see how we manage this year I want Adam to run the crew on a weekend and I want Michael to run the crew on a weekend set up the tasks what they’re going to do how

They’re going to do it run the morning meeting and and get everybody going and be responsible for that I think it’s very important I know what I’m doing I’d say like 80 85% of the time but there’s always there’s always stuff to learn but like I’d say like the most learning I’m

Doing right now is probably more on the management side of things um as I keep coming back I kind of get a few more responsibilities every year and so it’s not necessarily the the turf stuff that I’m really learning right now it’s kind of the administrative and management

Type of things which is obviously vitally important if you uh want to continue to progress in the career so you know I don’t want someone to come here and think they’re just going to rake bunkers all summer so cuz I know that that’s definitely a stigma you get

To do something you know new almost every day every morning is something you know not all mornings are the same a lot of it’s satisfying in what you’re doing you either it’s the oddly satisfying or just the pride that you get from it and you can get uh kind of creative out

There you know you get a pin sheet and then you get a spot based off like Paces on the green that’ll tell you where you need to go but over time you know like what parts of the green are pinnable and then you can you bring some golf balls

Out there and you kind of throw it around the ridges and you kind of see where it funnels down into so you can create a fun experience for golfers and I I always thought that was really cool too like when I first cut cups and then

I was watching people play H I was like you know I put that there like it’s pretty cool you know but there is monotony in Golf Course Maintenance we have to mow greens every day we have to do course setup every day we have to rake bunkers we got to fill divots that

Stuff’s all got to get done and you just have to be part of the team and and do it when you’re asked to do it Grass Grass never wants to take a day off doesn’t care if it’s a weekend doesn’t care if you’ve got plans the turf is going to keep growing and

There’s going to be new uh new issues or different experiences every single morning when you wake up and so uh just kind of staying in that grind and uh I guess every year that I come back it just uh reassures that this this is what

I enjoy doing I I always have a great time um coming coming into work every day and uh tackling what uh Mother Nature gives us each day the mammoth Dunes was designed by David mcleay kid on construction took place in 2016 and was opened in 2018 I would say

If Sand Valley is Big you know Mammoth Dunes is bigger so really large huge Fairways big expanses of large greens so I’m Andy Brownlow I work at San Valley Golf Resort I’m the superintendent of Mammoth Dunes it’s uh a very large Golf Course very wide very playable very friendly uh very fun you

Can get into some trouble but you’re probably not going to lose a whole lot of balls The Contours um feed balls away from trouble um so a lot of people do shoot their lowest rounds ever out here um which is always fun to see I’m Jonah Nats and I’m an intern here at

Sand Valley working on Mammoth Dunes uh Mason Nats 19 years old uh I work on Mammoth Dunes what’s it like working with your brother um it’s it’s good we kind of get competitive with it he’s you know oh I’m going to austa or whatever I was fortunate enough to

Receive an offer for an internship at Augusta National so I’ll be going there in January and uh doing the work up for the Masters and then doing the renovations that come with that so I’m super excited for that and it’s kind of an honor to be able to be a part of their

Operation Mason’s been working here coming up on two months um he’s a very quiet kid um but respectful uh so he just takes it all in he’s a very good listener so Jonah May ‘s older brother uh interned for us last year you know we’ll we’ll be looking to

Get him assistant level type exposure this summer because he’s close I mean he’s he’s right there and ready they seem to get along very well uh it seems like Mason looks up to Jonah where are you from Sussex Wisconsin it’s about 20 minutes west of Milwaukee suburb of Milwaukee not a huge

Town like 15,000 people kind of me and my brother started chipping around in the backyard with my dad and then we kind of brought it to the golf course and really just kind of fell in love with the game I’ve played since I was a kid and I never really knew about that

You could have a career growing grass like a golf course maintaining it I started as a card kid Pro Shop guy at a local course and uh I it was okay and and uh then a buddy offered me a job at a Country Club uh kind of nearby for

Ground crew and so I tried it out and I just was kind of hooked I I loved it after high school I wasn’t a huge fan of school honestly and I thought you know uh the reservist Ral in the Navy kind of sounded like a good opportunity

To kind of get out and um just do something different I I did boot camp um in Great Lakes Illinois and then I was out in Virginia for about 6 months for uh additional training after that uh yeah I worked at a golf course doing carts cart boy

Which didn’t like it very much and then I worked at uh Menard’s which didn’t like that either I mean I guess I kind of got him into the turf industry I kind of like I I worked at that Country Club the Bristol col Pines for one season and

Then he needed a job I was like why don’t you come work here and then I ended up leaving he worked there last year and I was like you know you can come to Sam Valley so that was kind of cool to have them kind of follow just

Sounded like an awesome place to work and I came up last summer in golfed and it was just unbelievable here working outside free golf can’t beat it interns could be a little uh intimidated by the size of of everything um you know the shop is Big the the

Fleet is Big the the St sizes are large it’s it sits on a large property it’s a crazy CH just huge lives up to its name took me a couple weeks to find my way around the course all the trails and stuff I got turned around and stuck in

The sand a couple times it’s pretty easy to do that I could understand how it would be a little hard to find a sense of home while you’re at the workplace I mean I’ve never seen like a cold storage barn like that with that much equipment

In it so it was kind of over overwhelming to know if you got to take the right equipment or not if you’re stealing from somebody or you never really know but everybody here is very welcoming very genuine very like they took care of me very well

So I think that within an hour of being in our maintenance facility and being around our staff that they would feel comfortable and welcomed uh and kind of feel that sense of home and familiarity I’ve learned a lot since I’ve gotten here like a lot of stuff that I just

Never knew about it like the science part of it like Turf health and diseases and all that like just cuz I’ve never worked at a course coming out of winter and just seeing the process of starting everything up talking with Andy is just mindblowing the stuff that he knows like I’ll just

Run into him on the golf course and I’ll just learn something new every time like I’ll ask him a question about some turf grass disease and he’ll just explain to me just exactly what it is and it’s just wild I like problem solving I find pride in being efficient

Icient with our operation but I really enjoy when we do have a problem and then coming up with the best solution for that problem he’s willing to sit us down and kind of talk us through certain things and let us try certain things and kind

Of put it kind of throw us into the fire sometimes with learning tasks but I think that’s the best way for us to get comfortable and learn Them what are what are some of the big tasks that you’ve done this summer anything anything new uh I’ve been spraying greens more than and and just using the sprayer more uh which is challenging because there’s so much going on at once a lot of buttons a lot

Of uh lot to pay attention to so I think that they’re starting to trust all of us interns especially with like the hot weather we’ve had this summer just going out and checking greens and and knowing if the greens taking water or if it’s not taking water and what we should do

If it’s not slowly throughout the summer you can see that they have a little bit more trust in US to to know and and they they have us go out and do those things ourselves and learn through the process I like cutting cups mowing greens I like just the daily setup part

Of it in the mornings just watching the sunrise and everything just nice cool mornings it just feels very satisfying to me to do the work we do out here and we really make the course look good and that that makes me feel like I did my

Job and it’s kind of a really good closure for work I guess So my name is Aaron bodet uh I work on the uh sandbox course the little par three Here I’m Aurora a um I’m the grounds AIT on the sandbox at s Valley my name is Gage Jensen and I am the assistant on the sandbox yeah so this week my boss is gone for a vacation so I’m taking over for the week and actually pretty fun

Responsibility to have to be able to just kind of be the guy in charge so the sandbox is a 17 hole par three course it’s our party have fun course it’s where you go to relax you get your atom you take your shoes off you walk around

And you have fun my favorite aspect would probably be uh the green onul um they’re a lot different than the other Greens on property for example hole number three you got the two tier greens and it’s just very unique personally it’s the best course on the on the entire property and I’m a

Little biased because I work there but it’s the toughest little par three and I’ve heard people go this is the only par three I will ever play again because it’s so much of a challenge and it’s so much fun it is a little tricky it is you’d think

It’d be easy but it’s it’s a tricky course with some of those greens out there but what I like about the sbox is it’s laidback it’s not super serious it’s where you go to Just chillax and have have a good time with your pals how does a typical morning setting

Up the sandbox go uh so typical morning the people that are cutting cups and setting teas usually walk the course together to make sure everything’s at the correct yardage we will move the hole and pin on every hole and we will move the te’s as well uh we kind of

Stagger the yardage so every hole is playing a little different we mow greens most mornings our Fairways will mow twice a week we got to pick up all the divots um filling divots obviously and then we do a sweep of ball marks bunkers are a big thing we for rake bunkers

Every morning that’s about the basic setup really just making the course look good for the day tough part about maintaining the sandbox is it’s smaller than all the other courses so you would think it’s less work but because it’s smaller it’s kind of under a microscope a par three

Usually gets dinged on a lot because it’s not not pristin it gets more wear and tear most challenging part by far is keeping good grass on tea boxes it’s a par three course so our te’s get obliterated there lots of traffic on the te’s so we try our best to just move it

Around as best as possible so that’s probably the most challenging part we’re really on top of our ball marks just because like afternoon play gets so heavy making sure the greens don’t look super dimpled or ruined from the morning or day play and making sure that everything looks as pristine as

Possible we have another crew that comes in and sets up at Night clean up the bunkers clean up greens fill divots clean up tea boxes um so fix all the ball marks we have a group of probably four people per night that come back in

And they work from 2 to 7ish that makes my job a lot easier in the mornings so I very much so appreciate what our what our team does and maintaining a team that that wants to stay positive about what we do when players go out on the sandbo

What do you hope they experience Joy uh fun my hope that players just have the best time it’s all about fun on the golf course taking the beautiful scenery that we have to offer and all the native and the difference that we have versus other golf courses around Wisconsin or

Around the us with our primarily fast view Fairways and our B grass greens nobody ever sees what we do but it’s the most integral part of having a golf course I love it I the people make my job the best thing in the world and the people make the golf course the best

Thing in the world so I have a lot of respect for them getting up at 4:00 or 5 a.m. to come in and just mow and fill divots and do all of the stuff that people don’t see behind the scenes so when when I first got here it

Was just sandbox Mammoth and uh Sand Valley it was actually a pretty a simple day-to-day maintenance knew what you were doing now boy I mean there’s you have to change the route that you’re taking just to get out to the course every day there’s different construction vehicles

Different roads being paved I I mean it’s it’s it’s non-stop it it’s it’s kind of mindboggling um how uh how fast stuff’s blowing up but I think ownership is smart and the fact that let’s get as much of this done as we can now and then we can kind of we can kind

Of put this thing down and and and run with what we got uh so the last couple years have been very different um there’s a lot of projects currently ongoing um so we um completed the Leo and that opened this year in the spring for member play and

Then also open to Resort play in June um on this side of the road we’re building um sedge Village which is part of the development here and it contains a 37 acre lake so we’re currently working on that um San Valley also has tennis which

Is not as well known it’s in addition to our Golf and we’re rebuilding our Tennis Center also s Valley Golf course we’re actively constructing right now to and finishing up grassing so that’s uh that’s uh happening as we Speak I’m uh I’m Sam Weber I’m the golf course Superintendent at sge Valley Golf Course the the newest property at uh Sand Valley Golf Resort so right now um sge Valley has 12 holes completed we will be doing the final six probably by mid July we’ll be

Done with the seating process we are a Tom do design um Eric Iverson is the uh design associate um Parker Anderson is the the shaper and we’re at an a typical par we we’re a par 68 rather than chase that par 72 that that the uh the normal American golfer

Looks for um we’re just a little bit different so sge Valley is going to be a little bit different than the rest of them just based on the the the mammoth dunes and the Sand Valley have a lot of exposed sand and waste areas um it’s

Really not a design feature for sge I mean we do have a lot of bunkers there are a few waste areas but um a much more kind of Rolling Hill Parkland style Golf Course there’s a couple of prominent Rock outcroppings which are pretty unique to this area um those come into

Play on a couple holes uh and really that’s just kind of Rolling Hills and of of sge and sort of the Native uh Jack Pines and uh and black Oaks out there I think there’s a really amazing collection of par 3s out there um just

From a shorter 150 yard par three to a downhill 240 yard par three through the shoot um really just uh really test the uh the iron play of the the golfers that’ll be out there so once the uh the rough shaping is complete and the irrigation has been

Installed um we begin cleaning the sand it’s pretty much like going to the going to the beach we’re picking sticks out of it we’re picking rocks out of it and then once the Architects give us the okay we start seating everything on site here is hydro

Seated so the seed is added to a machine with Mulch and water and we pump it through the machine to seed the course supervising a growing is is definitely there are aspects of it that are are much more relaxed um the other courses here are you know starting at 5:

In the morning and they’re already out and gone and Mowing and we’re rolling in you know hour hour and a half later the coffee is already cold by the time we get here it’s just a different set of challenges rather than been worrying about playing conditions and traffic and

All of that we’re worried about you know fertility and how can we get equipment on these these juvenile holes sand is you know it’s the best it’s what we look for when we for playing conditions to but dry sand is very soft so as far as as this actual

Seating process it’s very difficult to move equipment around and without making kind of a big mess the growing process is going very well we’re we’re very happy with where we’re at we’re in the uh fine-tuning phase trying to get ready for for preview play we’ve done 13 greens at sge

Valley all of those have been seated by either assistants or interns they’re drop eeding the green they’re watering the green they’re they get the first mowing they’re fertilizing it I mean it’s their baby they’ll be able to say that they did the the fourth green at sge Valley it’s that’s their

Green I got to seed whole 3es green which was super cool um and then got to mow it for the first Mo that the green ever saw so that was really a really cool experience just to see that work play out if I remember correctly it’s

The biggest green on sge Valley and I think it’s the same square footage as the smallest green on mamunes which I thought was kind of funny I had just helped uh with the seating of a green process a couple weeks ago I think it was the second to last green

They’re seating so that was really cool to see I had a lot of fun doing that watching that happen well I mean you just see the sand and the slope and everything you see it slowly turn into what it’s supposed to look like yeah so so I specifically did the

16th green on sge and it’s it’s a pretty quick process it’s just uh couple different fertilizers that we used uh as a as a pre-plant to help that seed pop a bit more and then just drop seeders and then we take a uh a sand Pro and use the

Tires on it to Dimple it in kind of get as much seed to uh soil contact as possible and uh and you just water the water the heck out of it afterwards the green itself doesn’t have a whole lot of uh a whole lot of mess around it there’s

A bunker on the right side that you want to avoid a little slope to the to the left side a player left looking back from that the approach of that green uh you get to see uh the 16th Fairway you get to see a little bit of four there

Probably my favorite part of this entire property is that little little area back there it’s a it’s a good spot so last year here I got a chance to be able to seed this green we we drop seed it and I helped pre- fertilize and do the whole the whole process of it

Like match mentioned as well it’s a pretty interesting thing to be able to to see exact ly all that goes into it I never expect you know the whole process of getting on and dimpling it with the sand Pro and it was really cool just to

See uh to see it grow in and I mean now that I’m I’m playing it you get to see all the slopes in the the different little nuances in the green whereas when you first do it you don’t you don’t get to see the all the different little

Intricate slopes and such but it’s it’s cool being out here right now bang baby Bang yes oh boy let go let’s go I think the biggest takeaway from doing all this construction is that I don’t know what the future holds I don’t know if I will ever be on a construction

Project again but the fact that I was able to do a growin even though I’m not directly on sge or on Leo every single day I am seeing the progress I am stopping by driving through the courses once in a while being able to help out

Every every so often and so being able to see that whole process ask questions kind of pick their brain as to when they’re doing things why they’re doing things um is only going to help me in my in my future I mean I’m sure 10 years

From now if I’m at a course might need to construct a new tea and I feel very confident in being able to do that or maybe I’m taking over a course that’s struggling and they want to redo couple of the greens or they want to renovate

Like a front nine or something like that I feel quite confident that I can do that successfully and be an asset to whichever club or Resort or what I go to next next step will definitely be an actual assistance of prend and not the the pseudo kind of management thing that

I’m doing now I like the role I’m in I love working for Joe I like the crew that I’m with but yeah my next step will definitely be an assistant and go on from there I’d love to be a superintendent someday um particularly probably in the Wisconsin area but there’s a lot of

Great Golf out here so I think that it should be a pretty for a lot of options I have 20 credits left of college left after after this summer and I don’t really have anything tying me down in in life and once I’m done with

School I mean I kind of want to just go out and experience life and I think you know in the golf industry you get a good opportunity to be able to do that there’s a lot of cool courses all over the world and my eyes have been open

Into the the golf world and I’m excited to be able to just venture out into it uh I’m not sure what my plans for the future are yet but I mean I love it up here this place is awesome everyone up here is awesome so it’s a great place to

Work when that when that sun sunrise is is in its peak and you know when the fog rolls through and you’re just out in it and you know I don’t know if I can say this but but the golf porn with with the with the de and such I

Mean just it’s so pretty out there and you know to be able to be a part and see that you know your hard work come out and it just looks looks like it does I mean when I’m able to sit back and look at you know the work we’ve done and

Especially in those mornings it’s just it’s freaking amazing out there it’s so that’s probably anytime in the morning it’s I’d really cherish it and take it in I don’t know I mean it’s a great great Community around here I love being around here and um I’m glad to come to work every day

And work with some of the best people I’ve ever met what are the challenges of getting young people involved in turf or just to want to work and I don’t mean that as a Bad Thing against everybody but it’s very challenging I think that the work ethic has changed

Um we have to adapt to what they expect there’s other opportunities I I I think that’s a big challenge to to to get somebody to embrace the outdoors but I think once they they get a taste of it and they actually come outside put the phone down and and really just kind of

See it and smell it feel it and taste it and live it I think that that they’ll they’ll they’re in they’re they’re going to they’re going to love it I think but um it’s it’s hard it’s hard to get the word out there and and get them into the

Uh get them into the industry I always say an in like to become a superintendent you really got to be good at a lot of different things you know you need to be good at budgeting you need to be good at growing grass you need to be good at knowing the game of

Golf you need to be good at knowing equipment you have to know irrigation you have to know just a variable amount of things you have to be good at communication and you really just need someone to Mentor you and show you kind of all those things and something that

Just takes time to learn it’s just not something you can do in a six month a tenure at a golf course culture is everything our jobs are very difficult as Golf Course superintendents you know we have a lot of things like I said this is a fast moving growing property and like the

Stress and things can really get to you if you if you don’t have fun and the one thing that I want as part of our culture and our team is I want people to enjoy coming to work every day when they’re pulling up the sand valy I want them to

Get excited about the day obviously we have to hold everybody accountable and we have responsibilities we have to do and those have to get done every day but I think there’s a way that you can do it in a fun way to make it exciting and and

Still not have to you know be yelling and screaming at everybody to get the the day’s tasks accomplished we want to make the internship fun and exciting and we want people to enjoy coming to work and really get what they need for their experience and education to help them

Kind of move their career forward is kind of our goal here I mean I know that a lot of internships are based on you got to go to this big Club it’s a big name and it’s going to get you a big job and and and and I get

That I mean I know that’s part of the industry but you know if somebody wants to you know take a step out come to the middle of Wisconsin and manage some grass that you’re never really going to manage anywhere else probably unless you go to the UK or

Australia you know you should come to San Valley because uh we we got a hell of a family Here

7 Comments

  1. As a superintendent for over 35 years I can only applaud this video and appreciate all that this place provides for our next generation hats off .

  2. This video and series is not getting near enough love. This is amazing content that allows people to see golf from a different perspective.

    Hope you keep this going Andy and team!

  3. Absolute fantastic job on this one. As a former turf guy that got tired of the business really quickly I see these guys excited for their careers but it’s one tough gig. You really sacrifice lots of your free time and dignity to provide a good product especially at high end clubs.

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