Mentoring our Class C members

Most all of us have been there. We know how hard we worked, and looking back at those we worked for, we now realize that they were incredible mentors. Of course, I’m talking about our time as an assistant superintendent. Ranking right up there with our equipment manager, the assistant superintendent in one of the most vital positions on the crew. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life on the course, I think we can lose track of our role as mentors. Sometimes it’s just taking that extra time to check in and ask how things are going. Most of all, we should make sure that we are setting a clear career path for our assistants and ensuring their success of becoming a superintendent.

Over lunch, he told me that someday he would like to even have my job!

Part of that success is making sure your assistants are connected to the local superintendent’s association as well as GCSAA. It’s not necessarily about creating chances for them to be away from the course by attending meetings with you, but it’s more about creating networking opportunities. There are many opportunities within the local chapter to become involved as a Class C member. Whether it’s just serving on a committee or even as a board liaison, the time involved can weigh heavily on determining the success of your legacy.

I would like to recognize a few individuals within the Northwest region who, as Class C members, have taken on an impactful role. Not only for their local chapter but for the GCSAA as well. These are Grassroots Ambassadors, Jeffrey Jensen, Mitch Savage, and Seth Swanson.

Senator Barrasso and Jeffrey Jensen

Jeffrey recently attended National Golf Day in Washington D.C., but just a few days prior he informed me that he became the superintendent at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis! I was able to accompany him while meeting Wyoming Senators Enzi and Barrasso. Jeffrey happened to major in political science and he was right at home talking the talk.

I met Mitch Savage of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club at Colorado’s Golf Day in April and was able to spend some time with him at the event as well as on a couple site visits in the area. Mitch struck me as an individual that had a plan for his career and advocacy was a large part of it. Over lunch, he told me that someday he would like to even have my job! After getting to know him, I don’t doubt that he could.

Seth Swanson and Mitch are close friends and were college roommates. Seth is the assistant at Littleton Golf and Tennis Club. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet Seth yet but from his correspondences, I can tell that he will be a future leader.

In my opinion, behind each of these assistants is a great superintendent that see’s the value of their involvement and I would like to commend each of them for their support. I know one thing is for sure, and that is Gary Leaper, RMGCSA’s executive director, couldn’t be more pleased to see his future leaders taking shape.

Remembering Walter Mattison, CGCS

There have been just a few that have come into my life and have had a significant impact on the direction of my career and have left this world way before their time. One in particular was Walter Mattison, CGCS. Walter moved to Central Oregon with his wife Nancy, and his two sons Brent and Sean. Previous to the move, he was the superintendent of Makena Beach and Golf Resort on the island of Maui. His new job was the construction and grow-in of what is now called Widgi Creek Golf Course in Bend, Oregon. The construction was complete in 1991. It didn’t take Walter long to fit into the Oregon GCSA. He became active in the chapter and was the chapter president by 1997. Shortly thereafter, Walter’s life was cut short by cancer, and he passed in December 2000 at the age of 44.

..."if he were still alive today, he would have been President of GCSAA well before me."

My first run-in with Walter was when I was working for Farwest Turf Equipment as a supply truck driver and salesperson. My route would take me through Central Oregon. Walter always told me to make his stop the last of the day so we could play nine holes. Looking back at those times I spent with him, it made me look forward to the day that I could become a superintendent and manage a construction project such as his. Little did I know that I would eventually be hired to be the construction manager at Stone Creek Golf Club and I would be able to tell Walter the great news just before his passing.

Walter was a man of great ambitions. His foremost was to serve his Lord, and by doing so, be the best father that he could be. This spilled over into his professional life. He garnered so much respect and adoration by the way he interacted with his employees and his peers. Past President Sean Hoolehan, CGCS, was one of Walter’s closest friends. Sean said that if he were still alive today, he would have been president of GCSAA well before him.

Another one of Walter’s ambitions was to create a giant flag assembled out of golf flags from golf courses around the world. It would be called the Brotherhood Flag. Walter would eventually accumulate 750 flags from around the world, all to support his brave battle against cancer. This was his way to show his appreciation and commemorate 75 years of GCSAA’s brotherhood. He worked on this adventure clear through to his last days. Below is a picture of a poster of the flag which can only give you the relative size of it.

The flag was displayed at the Dallas Golf Industry Show and now resides with his wife Nancy. Nancy would love to find a permanent home for the flag, where it could be displayed every once in a while and people could appreciate who Walter was and what he meant to our industry.

In May, at the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association’s annual meeting, Walter was inducted into the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Hall of Fame. Nancy and her boys were able to attend and receive the award. Now in their 30’s, Brent and Sean have grown into outstanding men and spoke eloquently of their time with their father. Since Walter’s passing, Nancy had been unable to even consider playing golf again. She's now met a wonderful new husband who has brought her back to the game, which is exactly what Walter would have wanted. Also in attendance at the ceremony was Bill Dierdorff, Walter’s assistant who is now the superintendent at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash., and Russell Dooge, CGCS from Kahului, Hawaii. Russell and Walter were very close and once it was known that Walter was to be inducted, Sean Hoolehan, CGCS, called him and he immediately booked his plane ticket. Nancy was taken by the outpouring of support from the association and his close friends which lead to not a dry eye in the room.