"Everyone talks about technology, and the players are hitting the ball longer and things like that. But the most significant change is the maintenance of the golf courses. With all the new equipment today, the golf courses are maintained and so much truer than when I started, like in the ’70s and ’80s. It makes a significant difference for roll on the fairways.

And also, the greens receive so much better. The golf course has been the big difference, and the equipment. I really feel with the maintenance… they know so much more about grasses today. And the way the superintendents have been trained, it’s made a remarkable difference in scoring. Look at the bunker sand. They just used to throw sand in a bunker!

Now it’s meticulously placed and has to be packed down and… this enhances the scoring, absolutely. When you’ve got fairways that are consistent day in and day out, and then the greens… the scoring has to get better.

I feel that people in general are much more knowledgeable about the game than they ever were, due to television. I think the average golfer is demanding better courses.

…When you think about it, with the machinery the way it is today, I think (superintendents) have a little easier job maintaining their courses than they did years ago. That equipment they used to have was hit-or-miss. Often times it was broken, so I’d have to say that the guys had a heck of a time back then.

You’ll find nine out of 10 times, the superintendent that’s a pretty good player, his golf course is just a little bit better. The club I belong to back in Florida (Hamlet Country Club in Del Ray Beach), the superintendent (Robin Goodell, a 27-year GCSAA member), is an excellent golfer. Robin’s been in the business a long time and he knows what it is to have good greens, and that’s huge. He’s been at our club for almost 18 years, and aesthetically, it’s really important to have a pretty golf course, but you need a playable golf course for the average public. A superintendent that’s getting a course ready for the U.S. Open has a totally different mentality than the local country club golfer. He has to warrant the playability for his members. The course I belong to is an elderly membership; they don’t like the fairways tight. They want some lushness underneath — and I don’t like them like that because I like to pinch the ball. But these are things you have to take into account, and that’s the sign of a good superintendent.

(Maintaining grass) is an art. It’s not only the education — it’s also the art."

— Sally Little