Most of the superintendents that I have known over the last 30 years are solution specialists. Many of these guys border on perfectionism. A typical day for a superintendent involves juggling many tasks throughout the day and their brains continue to solve tasks well into the evening so that they are prepared to take on the tasks of the next day. All of us know that this is almost a never-ending cycle during the life of a superintendent.
Last month, I joined several of my longtime friends of our industry to say goodbye to a 30-year member and great golf course superintendent that decided to take his own life. This event has caused me to reflect on my own career as a superintendent and how many of my friends live their lives as well. Allow me the opportunity to dumb down our profession. We tend a course for a living. We hire and train people to do a good job at work. We interact with other professionals to make our facility the best it can be. Our job can be extremely stressful at times and we need to have outlets to relieve this stress.
Set up a golf game with friends, have dinner with them and discuss fun times and stressful times. We are not in this profession alone. Make sure the big rocks in your bucket are family and friends. There are many things in our lives that are way more important than the job. We are fortunate that our profession has a brotherhood attached to it and I encourage all of you to be a part of this brotherhood as often as you can. Stress will come and stress will go only to return another day. If it the going gets too tough, rely on your faith, family or this great connection of friends to help you. I will end with a saying that has helped me through the years, “I work to live and not live to work.”
