BOOK
A tee
tiMe
Meet the teAM
T
ony Spannaus may be the
new Director of Agronomy
at Classic Club, but he's no
stranger to golf in the
Coachella Valley.
For the past three years, the Palm
Desert resident has worked in the
same capacity at another Troon Golf-
managed property in the area, The
Westin Mission Hills, before joining
Classic Club in August.
We talked to Tony to find out
about his new position and what he's
looking forward to at Classic Club:.
u u u
What does your job entail? I am
responsible for hiring and training
new employees, all agronomic
programs and practices, irrigation
and fertility schemes, pesticide
applications and record-keeping,
budgeting, maintaining lakes and
water features, and overseeding the
course.
u u u
What are you looking forward to
most at classic club? I'm really
looking forward to making Classic
Club realize it's full potential and
bring the best possible playing
conditions here.
u u u
One thing you like about classic
club? The people! Everyone has been
very welcoming and inviting and it
has made my transition perhaps the
easiest one ever.
u u u
how did you first become
interested in becoming a golf course
superintendent? I was applying to
several medical/dental schools after
I graduated from the University of
Oregon and my wife and I were
getting set to move to either Omaha
or Cleveland when a golf course
superintendent friend of mine called
and asked me to work for her at
Pronghorn. I had always loved golf
and had often wondered how people
get into that line of work. So it was a
perfect fun summer job for me before
we started our next adventure in life.
After a couple of months on the
course, I asked the Director of
Agronomy, "How can I make this my
career?" He instructed me to go and
get my pesticide license and we
could talk seriously about it. So I hit
the books (this time about insects
and fungus instead of molecular
genetics and vector calculus!) and
got my pesticide license. He then
made me an assistant superin-
tendent, and I was able to acquire
my turfgrass degree while working
there.
u u u
What interests you the most about
working on a golf course? The level
of commitment and dedication
required to accomplish the desired
results. Before I got into this, I
naively thought that you just throw
some water and fertilizer out there
and voila, you have a golf course.
There is a lot of science involved and
there is an art to managing a course.
When I was at Pronghorn, for
example, we mowed our greens at
sixty five thousandths of an inch!
This isn't natural by any means and
the amount of work required to keep
turf alive at that height is incredible.
tAlKinG
turf
Classic Club's new
Director of Agronomy
Tony Spannaus shares his
thoughts on the course
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