Turf

26 www.westernturfmag.com SUPER SPOTLIGHT SUPER SPOTLIGHT and the humidity that time of year, and it can really make for four rounds of challenging golf." It's a type of club for which McPherson is suited. "I've only worked in the private industry," McPherson said. "I've never been at a resort or a public course. The level of con- ditioning that we present on a daily basis is what the expecta- tion is here. When this club compares itself to other clubs usual- ly it's not in this market. It's some of the finer clubs in the country. So our level of detail is fairly high. They like to be a first-class experi- ence for themselves and their guests." Hosting the 2013 U.S. Senior Open was a memorable experience. "I had always wanted to host a major and the Omaha market couldn't have been a bet- ter place to do so." McPherson said. "The support we received from the Omaha com- munity was incredible. The Senior Open was a really big deal for OCC and there was a lot of pressure to make sure it was a success. There were a lot of challenges and a lot of long hours along the way in those three years leading up to the event. But it was all worth it in the end. OCC put on a great championship and my staff and I were very proud to be a part of it." McPherson earned his certification with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) in 2004. This voluntary program is widely known within the industry and is the highest distinction a superintendent can receive. Less than 25 percent of eligible superintendents achieve certification. "I think certification helps," McPherson said. "It's an identifier that carries a lot of weight. The people that I work for know that they have a professional who is taking care of their property— who is looking after their golf course. I know a lot of guys who aren't certified who are great grass growers. And I'm sure there are some who are certified who have some bumps in the road from time to time. I don't think it's the end all but it certainly helps separate. It adds a level of professionalism. It denotes that this is a career for me. This is something I take very seriously. I take a lot of pride in the work that we do." Partners McPherson's wife, Stephanie, works alongside him as do their two Brittanys, Lily and Ella. "Usually she's at work with me every day," he said. "She takes care of everything inside the office." Working together makes sense for them. "It's the only way we get to see each other and it offers us some flexibility in the offseason," he said. "I had worked for Mr. Latshaw at Congressional and his wife worked with him. I spent some time around that model and it worked." Stephanie's background includes a bachelor's degree in advertising. "She worked in that field for eight years and we just never saw each other," he said. "She had long hours. She worked till 10, 11, 12 at night. So we'd miss each other a lot. It was when we left Washington, D.C., and moved to Rhode Island when we started to work together. It's been good ever since." Stephanie does all of the invoicing, payroll and ordering supplies. She also helps proof the club's website and monthly newsletter. "Nothing leaves our department unless she's had a chance to look at it," he said. "She's always the last set of eyes on every- thing. "It works for us. We get along great." Course work "We try to avoid doing any kind of sodding in the spring," McPherson said. "We want to make sure before we go to bed in the winter that all of our seeding is done. All of the sod work is done. The playing surfaces are exactly where we want them. So that if we come out of the winter with a late spring like we did this year, we are ready to go. "We also try to get any spring project work taken care of in the fall. We prefer to get those jobs out of the way so we can fine tune come spring. Our fall aeration is in August. That helps us recover quicker and we can head into September focusing on winter prep. Winter here can come early November or it can be late, late December. "Last winter it was very dry and very cold but we hardly had any snow at all. That allowed us to get a lot of work done out- side all winter long. We were able to get a lot of tree work done. A couple winters ago we had a bunch of snow and staff spent a lot of time inside. It's always a better winter season when you can vary the tasks a bit." Greens are left uncovered in winter. "We're fairly open, and it's usually quite windy during the winter," McPherson said. "Trying to hold the covers in place has been difficult. We usually do a fairly heavy topdressing of sand to help seal the greens in before we get some snow. Then if we have the opportunity we'll topdress throughout the winter just to provide that layer of protection down on the plant." Any concern about damage from freezing is minimal. "If we keep that sand down, we'll protect the crown," McPherson said. "Usually we are in pretty good shape. However, this winter we certainly had some damage from the dry, windy conditions all winter. We had 33 days below 5 degrees. But that's fairly atypical. McPherson is keeping an eye out for the emerald ash borer. The invasive Asian beetle has to date not been identified in the Omaha market. But it's moving toward Omaha. "People are aware of it," he said. "It's in neighboring markets. We don't have a lot of ash trees on the golf course, but we have some. And that could present a problem down the road. That's really on our watch list right now. Making sure people know what the symptoms look like, what the insect looks like. We want to catch it early if we can." Staff emphasis McPherson puts a precedent on helping staff members advance. The club employs about 30 workers for the course, part-time employees included. "We like to bring people in and then help them build a real strong foundation," McPherson said. "I tell these young men the taller you want to build your house the wider the founda- tion needs to be. Don't be in a rush to move up. Make sure you have a real firm grasp on everything, on all the fundamentals. Rolling Terrain This view of No. 9 shows the undulations at the country club. Photo by Stonehouse Golf

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