Turf

18 www.westernturfmag.com Choosing a career "I didn't really know that there was a profession like this when I started college at Oregon State University," Field said. "I got about two years into school and didn't really have any idea what I would end up doing. So I checked out all the available majors. One of them was golf management. "I wasn't really an avid golfer," he said. "I played with my buddies about 10 to 20 times per year. I decided I might as well give it a try. So I signed up for classes the next semester. I got a part-time job at the local course in Corvallis and started doing it." Field quickly knew he made the right choice. "Once I started working the part-time job I knew," he said. "Doing the maintenance stuff—cutting greens and raking bunkers. I always liked working outside. I figured I'd give it a try and see how it went. "Luckily at that time in the late 90s, construction was going crazy," Field said. "So there were always 10 to 20 job listings outside the department head's office. It looked like there was a lot of opportunity, so that's why I pursued it." Field earned a horticulture degree with an emphasis in turfgrass management in 1998. While working on the maintenance crew at the Oregon Golf Club in Portland, Ore., Field looked for an assistant superintendent's job and sent resumes out across the coun- try and found one near Victorville, Calif. He worked at five courses, including three as a superintendent, before landing at Sand Hollow. Learning the course "The whole course is on pure sand," Field said. "It drains like a dream. There's not a single drain line on this whole golf course. Not on the greens, tees, anywhere. I was freak- DESERT COURSE tSPARKLES SPARKLES Wade Field reflects on uniqueness of Sand Hollow Sand Hollow Golf Course literally took shape right before Wade Field's eyes. Not every superintendent can say as much about their own course. Field had a choice of staying in the Salt Lake City area or taking the challenge of helping guide the course designed by John Fought to completion. "I wanted to come down here and get the experience of doing a construction and grow-in," Field, 39, said. "I've been here since the beginning." He arrived in Hurricane, Utah, two years before the course opened in the fall of 2008. "I kind of learned by hard knocks," Field said. "Luckily my boss let me do it. It was a ton of work and tons of hours. But I loved it. It was cool seeing a great chunk of a couple hundred acres of desert turn into a golf course. It was fun." Much time was spent identifying the golf holes, clearing the brush and putting it into piles and burning it. "We did much of the shaping of the golf course with bun- ker rakes and excavators," Field said. Sand Hollow incorporates steep ridge lines, deep canyons and expansive elevations for a unique layout. It includes 18 holes of championship golf as well as a nine-hole links course designed after the early traditions of the game. The championship par-72 course stretches to more than 7,000 yards but with five tees on each hole, golfers of all abilities are welcome to play. Red sand, green grass and eye-catching rock formations compete for golfers' attention. "This is definitely a different look," Field said. SUPER SPOTLIGHT By Allen Thayer Wade Field reflects on uniqueness of Sand Hollow Deep bunkers are a big factor on the course. Photo by Clayton Ward Wade Field

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