 |
 |
|
The natural
2005 GCSAA President Tim O'Neill thrives under pressure.
 |
| Tim O’Neill, CGCS, surveys the course where he’s worked for 24 years. Photos by Larry Lambrecht |
A small crowd assembles in the lobby at the Country Club of Darien on a blustery October day. It’s cold enough to keep most people indoors, but not cold enough to keep environmentally concerned citizens from coming to the course to get a good look at the Goodwives.
Goodwives River, that is. But calling this tiny stream a river is like calling a garden hose an irrigation system.
As any river should, the Goodwives River has a group of protectors, in this case the Friends of the Goodwives River.
Before Tim O’Neill, CGCS, and his crew at the CC of Darien in Darien, Conn., can make needed alterations to the stream, a public hearing must be held, replete with a guided tour of the changes O’Neill hopes to make.
“Jerry, say hello to Franca,” O’Neill says, his stock introduction, as he presents everyone in the group to each other. In attendance are the course attorney, the grounds committee chairman, the hearing judge and a few of “the Friends.”
What the Friends don’t realize is that the person hosting this meeting — O’Neill — is the biggest environmentalist of the group. O’Neill speaks their language, and then some.
O’Neill holds the door open as he directs the crowd to where the golf cars are stowed. He’s a natural when conversing with the strangers — a typical superintendent, not just a grass-grower, but also a spokesperson for turf.
O’Neill leads the tour, making various stops along the “river” while inviting questions. He handles each of them, from the obvious to the obscure, with ease. Sure, the same guy who can’t figure out how to get his golf car out of “park” wants answers about complicated drainage issues, but O’Neill isn’t fazed. Armed with a book as hefty as the Manhattan Yellow Pages, O’Neill holds court as the resident expert. He knows the 145-acre, 48-year-old course better than anyone — knows it inside and out.
He is Willy Wonka, and this is his Chocolate Factory.
“It’s a tricky process to go through this regulatory maze,” says then-grounds committee chairperson Bob Green. “The hearing examiner was there, but also a lot of people from the town were there. They’re on a different side of the fence, with a different perspective. But they all came away saying what an eye-opener that was, impressed with the complexities of managing a golf course. They came away with a much greater respect for what Tim does. These are people who live in this area. Tim’s ability to communicate is a benefit to us, as well as all the golf courses in the area.”
Following the open course tour, a December public hearing goes as well as it could. O’Neill serves as the course’s “expert witness,” and allays local residents’ fears. By the end of the meeting, the CC of Darien is allowed to proceed with their renovations exactly as they proposed.
It’s just the culmination of a three-year project on which O’Neill has kept a constant close eye. And as is the case with most projects O’Neill takes on — a river manipulation, a course redesign, an environmental task group, his son’s cross country season, the GCSAA presidency — he knows it down to the last detail.
Grandfather figure
The CC of Darien, founded in 1957, has had the same man caring for its fairways since 1981. O’Neill, only the third superintendent at Darien, arrived at the course at the youthful age of 22. He had previously worked for three years as the assistant superintendent at the Greenwich (Conn.) CC.
“Part of my strategy was growing a mustache so I would look older,” O’Neill laughs. “It was pretty intimidating when I first came here. Everyone was older than I. All these long-term guys were well set in their ways. In the early days I used to spend a lot of time on equipment, and that was part of the way that I won them over — I led by example.”
"He's so supportive of me — any time I need something he's there. There's a saying, 'Give a busy person something to do, and it gets done.' That's Tim. He still helps us out , the little guys , all the way up to the national. He's earned this position." — Anthony Girardi, CGCS, Rockrimmon CC Pound Ridge, N.Y. "Tim, as a boss, is very professional. He's excellent on the whole business end of things. In school you learn about the agronomic side, but you don't learn the business end. He's willing to teach us; he'll sit down and explain it to you." — Chad Anderson, assistant superintendent, CC of Darien "He's a true professional. He has an enormous amount of pride in his job, and he takes it very seriously. He've very hands-on. He's not a sit-in-the-office-all-day personality." — Ken Koch, general manager, CC of Darien "Tim is very intelligent, very very well spoken. He'll be a great image-maker for the association." — Rees Jones, architect |
When O’Neill interviewed for the position at Darien, he already had a few interviews under his belt. As he was leaving the interview with course owner Edgar Auchincloss, he felt that he hadn’t quite sold himself for the job yet.
“Before I left, I turned to him and I said, ‘Mr. Auchincloss, I really appreciated you having me here today, I’ve really enjoyed the golf course and the afternoon. But I’d really like to take the time to talk turf with you,’” O’Neill recalls. That last comment earned him another hour with the owner, who took him to the clubhouse so O’Neill could share his philosophy on growing grass: If you stick to the basics you’ll never be far from a solid stand of grass.
O’Neill believes it was that extra hour — and not the mustache — that earned him the job. “I think that parting shot, that ‘I’d like to talk turf with you sometime,’ was what made him call me back.”
Though area superintendents and salespeople warned him that working for Auchincloss was a tough task, O’Neill found it quite the opposite. Auchincloss, who died in 2000, became a grandfather figure to O’Neill.
“Once he decided to offer me the job, he asked me how much I wanted to make. I said $23,000. And he came right back and said, ‘No, that’s not enough, I’m going to pay you $27,000,’” O’Neill says. And O’Neill will never forget the time Auchincloss took him car shopping.
“He decided I needed an automobile, so he wanted to lease me a car. He wanted me to go to this Ford dealer, because he knew the owner,” O’Neill reflects. “But then he said I could make the decision; I didn’t have to get what he wanted me to get.”
So what did O’Neill do? He took Auchincloss to the Chevrolet dealership — to test drive a new Camaro.
O’Neill demonstrated the power of the Camaro as Auchincloss sat in the passenger seat, wondering what he had gotten himself into. But by the end of the day, O’Neill took his boss to the Ford dealership and got a car they could both agree on.
“I wanted to make him happy, and let’s face it — wheels are wheels.”
Super friendly
The CC of Darien had been a farm before Auchincloss transformed the property into a golf course. The first superintendent of the course was the original farm caretaker, Vernon Burnham. Suddenly, Burnham was thrust into the golf course superintendent business.
Vernon’s son, Phil, remained on the crew until just last year as the head mechanic.
O’Neill says, “When I first came here, the previous mechanic had just left. I really struck out with my first replacement when the new mechanic turned out to be a real lemon.
“By the time I decided I needed another mechanic, I realized Phil was the right guy for the job — he could fix anything. At the time, he was just on the crew, cutting greens, changing cups,” O’Neill continues. “We sent him to service schools and worked out a deal where he acquired all the necessary tools — it lasted for more than 20 years. That was just a love story.”
Though O’Neill was heartbroken to see his long-time mechanic go, he’s already found a solid replacement in Peter Grunert, whom he hired a year ago this month.
Darien treats employees as family, and that’s why the club has had such success at keeping workers happy. From the guesthouse where the assistants live near the 11th hole to the Hernandez family — a father and four sons employed by the grounds staff — Darien takes care of its own.
“When I first came here, I thought it would be a stepping stone, quite honestly,” O’Neill says. “That obviously never happened, and for a number of reasons. They’ve treated me extremely well. They’ve rewarded me and always supported me, including participation in all the association activities. They feel it’s been good for me but good for the club as well. Among other great benefits to working at Darien is a strong retirement package, which is not always the case in our industry — at this stage I pay much more attention to my retirement plan than I did 20 years ago. Over the years the course has changed considerably. The projects and course improvements we’ve undertaken here have always kept me motivated and satisfied.”
Ed Nicholson, PGA professional at the course, can vouch for the quality of life at Darien. After all, he’s been at the club longer than O’Neill.
“Tim and I are lucky to work for Darien,” Nicholson says. “They really support us. They back him 100 percent, and we back him 100 percent.”
Small town start
O’Neill, one of eight kids, started working as a caddie at Pawtucket (R.I.) Country Club at age 12.
His family had a long history at the course. His father, uncles and brothers had all worked as caddies on the course, and it was natural for O’Neill to do the same.
 |
| More than 20 years ago, O’Neill suggested that Phil Burnham (left) take over the reins as the course mechanic. Burnham, the son of Vernon Burnham, the original superintendent at CC of Darien, made a successful transition and only recently retired. Peter Grunert, (right) the new mechanic, has large shoes to fill, but O’Neill is confident in his new guy. |
Les Kennedy Sr., who was the golf pro and superintendent back then, told O’Neill to leave the pro shop behind to hit the course for some maintenance work. The only problem was that at age 15 O’Neill still wasn’t old enough to operate the equipment. Thus, he spent many hours watering and stuck in bunkers with a hand rake.
It was at Pawtucket that O’Neill befriended Les Kennedy Jr. O’Neill was the best man at Kennedy’s wedding back in 1981, and kismet has placed the two friends within 15 miles of each other, with the younger Kennedy now the CGCS at Blind Brook Club in Purchase, N.Y.
Kennedy became the assistant superintendent under his father while O’Neill went off to turf school at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. O’Neill would come back during summers to resume work at Pawtucket. Kennedy says he remembers O’Neill leaving for the big city and Greenwich CC — and the nerves that went with it — like it was yesterday.
“He was nervous, and I told him one thing,” Kennedy says, “‘If you don’t take this opportunity... give me the guy’s name and number, I’ll take that job!’”
It was Kennedy’s father, a well-known golfer in his time who led the 1946 U.S. Open after the first round, who turned both O’Neill and Kennedy to the golf course maintenance business. And if you look at the two swing a golf club, you’ll see it was also Kennedy Sr. who taught both of them how to play golf.
“When my Dad was inducted into the New England PGA Hall of Fame (in 1998), he said during his speech that his proudest accomplishment was the two guys he brought into the golf business — Tim and myself,” says Kennedy.
Political past
While some would argue that O’Neill was destined to be the president of the national association, O’Neill himself claims that it took time to grow into his leadership role.
“Twelve years ago, looking at the cover of GCM with Randy Nichols as the new president, I said to myself, ‘Man, that’s something I’ll never do.’ I never thought I’d ever get to a position where I’d be considered,” O’Neill says. “But as I got closer to it, it seemed like a less formidable post. Now as I look back on it, I think I have prepared well for the challenges ahead. I feel fortunate and humbled to have this opportunity.”
Though he says he never thought he’d be in this position, a look into his past reveals a characteristic that has definitely become one of his hallmarks — that of a desire to lead via elected office. Even back when O’Neill was a sophomore on the URI campus, the young Ram was overachieving as the head of the Interfraternity Council (IFC). As president of the IFC, O’Neill was charged with leading the entire fraternity community on campus.
So entrenched was O’Neill in his new position among the students that he constantly worked to try keep his end of the bargain, and that was improving the lives of the student body in return for their vote.
 |
| The A-Team: To keep things running smoothly at CC of Darien, the course has enlisted Ed Nicholson, PGA professional (left); O’Neill; and Ken Koch, general manager (right). The team has more than 50 years’ experience at the club. |
One of those crusades he took on could have cost him in the long run — a battle over policy with the URI alumni center. The problem? The past president of the URI Alumni Center was C. Richard Skogley, a giant in the turf industry, as well as O’Neill’s adviser.
“I was sticking my nose in something that wasn’t making him happy,” O’Neill recalls. “I was a little bit of a thorn in his side for a while.”
But despite O’Neill being a pest, Skogley still took the turf student under his wing, and even put in the phone call that helped get O’Neill his first job as an assistant at Greenwich CC.
Early into O’Neill’s assistant career, Bob Alonzi, then president of the Metropolitan GCSA, noticed O’Neill’s “go-get-’em” attitude.
“From early on he was very inquisitive and always wanting something better. He wanted to grow the association from an assistant’s point of view,” Alonzi, superintendent at Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., says. “He was always fighting for a position and had ideas, very positive ideas. Anyone can have an idea, but he also had the approach to get it to the goal line. He wasn’t afraid to get involved, wasn’t afraid to share ideas.
“His goals haven’t changed,” Alonzi continues. “They’ve just gotten bigger and broader, as has the size of the memberships.”
Balancing act
O’Neill is happiest when 10 things are going on at once. But he also fondly recalls a time when he could get on a mower and hit the rough. Those days are long gone.
 |
O'Neill with his wife of 17 years, Jennifer, and their two children, Justin and Kristen. |
“It would be nice to go out there and forget about everything for a while,” O’Neill says. “But quite frankly, I’m a pretty high-priced mower man. That’s not what the club is paying me for.
“I can’t wait to be president. I’m well-prepared to do this,” O’Neill says. “It’s going to be a challenge, no doubt; it’s a rigorous schedule. Tack on what I have to do around here, as well as caring for my family, and I’ve a lot of important things to juggle.”
The people at home — his wife, Jennifer; his son, Justin; and his daughter, Kristen — are ready to share their husband and father with GCSAA’s membership. As well, O’Neill’s family is ready to share of themselves with the association.
“As a family we want to be a part of the journey Tim has embarked upon with GCSAA,” says Jennifer O’Neill, who works as the director of development for the Mead School, a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade independent school. “After all, we’re his support system, so we’ve made it a priority to include our kids when we can. Justin and Kristen have met some influential people who provide great role models for them. I have had some life-expanding experiences as well — and by witnessing the level of Tim’s involvement, my admiration for him, and also for GCSAA, has deepened.”
“I think it’s great, we’re all excited for him, and I’m proud of him,” says Justin O’Neill, who turns 16 this month. Quiet at first, Justin is the kind of kid who waits for his moment, but when he gets it, he makes it count. After running a 5K high school cross country race in bitter-cold weather and clocking a season-best time, he still has time to shake hands and thank friends for coming.
And his little sister, Kristen, age 13, takes on more of her mom’s jubilant personality. After all, how many 13-year-old girls are already members of rock bands? Bright and cheerful, she is another part of the family crew who makes it a warm home, the place where O’Neill is happiest with his life. As far as O’Neill is concerned, this is the way the next 47 years of his life should be, and that would be just fine.
“My aspirations are to finish my work on the board of directors and then come back and focus my full attention on my family and the Country Club of Darien,” O’Neill says. “I see myself here for quite some time. There’s plenty of projects to do before I could ever think about leaving.”
And then?
“We have some favorite places we like to go. There’s a lake in Maine that’s been special to us for a very long time, and we like a spot in the Caribbean called Water Island. I’ll be spending time in both of those places, but not in the near future,” he says. “I’ve got too many things to do here, including spending as much time as I can with my kids. Before we know it they’ll be off to college.”
RELATED
articles
O'Neill's resume
RECENT issues
 |
 |
February |
January 2005 |