Tell us a little bit about your background – where you were born, raised, etc.
I was born in San Diego. We lived there for a short time then settled in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. I attended Illinois State University as a Music major then switched to Horticulture.
How did you get started in golf industry?
While in College a friend’s Dad bought a nine-hole golf course in northeast Texas. We worked at the course for a summer, and I had a blast. That's when I came back to school and changed majors.
Why did you get involved with the CIGCSA?
My first job out of college was as Assistant Superintendent at Mt. Hawley Country Club. My mentor was Steve Eisele who was very active in CIGCSA. I also became a good friend with Dave Fearis, who at the time was at Country Club of Peoria. Dave was very active on the local, state and national level. I learned from Steve and Dave how important CIGCSA is to the local superintendent.
As an assistant and young superintendent I realized how much knowledge and information was available from others in the industry. It was through CIGCSA and its members that I could become a better superintendent. There came a time when I thought I should become more involved. I was extremely happy when I was asked to run for director. Since then I have gone through the rotation twice. My second term as President expires in just a few days. I encourage everyone in the chapter to become involved because it has meant so much to me.
What is the CIGCSA proud of?
There are numerous things that we are proud of, but probably the most important is that we are a close nit group of friends and professionals. There is not a member that would not go out of his way to help another member. That is why CIGCSA was formed in the first place.
Several years ago we started a scholarship fund in honor of past GCSAA President James Brandt. This fund is now self supportive so this allows us to channel money into other services. This is a nice benefit for our members and a small way for us to remember Jim.
We also started what we call our Cornerstone Partners. This is for our suppliers and vendors. For a fee they receive tremendous recognition and advertising at our monthly meetings and through our newsletter. This helps us keep dues down and to continue to make research donations. The cost of doing business keeps going up.
Not everyone in CIGCSA is able to attend the GIS because of financial constraints. Therefore it can be difficult to accumulate points toward attaining and maintaining their Class A status. We, as a chapter, provide all the educational resources needed for our members to keep up on a local level.
Our latest endeavor is the OSHA alliance we have just signed. It is our goal not only to provide a safer working environment, but also to create a model that other chapters may be able to use. We feel it is better to be proactive in employee safety than reactive. Through our OSHA representative we plan to provide training sessions to our members so they may be able to take this back to their employees. These sessions will be specifically geared towards real golf course situations.
Share your stories by emailing them to Leann Cooper.
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