Course of action
A Day (really just a morning) in the Life of ...
By Megan Malugani
“I’m still waiting for truly a bad day,” says Minske while giving a visitor a tour of the course on a clear July morning. “This is my office,” he says with a smile, sweeping his arms across the rolling hills and pretty views of one of the city’s grandest courses.
5:30 a.m.: Since the sun rises early in July, so does Minske. He is in the maintenance building by 5:30 a.m., making coffee for his assistant superintendent and the groundskeeping staff (four college kids who are home for the summer and another part-timer or two) and strategizing about what needs to get done.
6 a.m.: The staff arrive and Minske holds a quick meeting, directing the workers to move tee markers, pick up trash, and mow certain areas. Greens get mowed every day, tees and fairways three times a week, he explains. The college guys go tearing out of the shed on Gators and riding lawn mowers at 6:04 a.m.
6:15 a.m.: Minske transfers his coffee to a travel mug and leaves for a tour of the course himself. “Technology has changed this job a lot,” he says, reminiscing about the old days at Soldiers Field when he would water the fairways by hand every night. Now, he uses a handheld device that looks like a walkie-talkie to control the automatic sprinkler heads that pop up all over the course.
6:20 a.m.: As he whizzes around the course, he explains another big change: conservation. “It used to be ‘use all the water you want,’” Minske says. “But we’ve realized we have to be better stewards of the environment. And it’s a big misconception that golf courses are chemical wastelands.”
6:25 a.m.: Minske stops at hole #13. “Every time I come by here, I just pick a few more weeds,” he says. At another hole nearby, he stops to describe how 42 bluebirds hatched and flew away on the back 9 earlier in the summer.
6:30 a.m.: Minske uses a probe (an approximately 12-inch stick that pulls up the sand beneath the green) to make sure enough moisture is reaching the roots on the greens. He carefully replaces the displaced sand and roots when he’s finished.
6:32 a.m.: Hole #15 is “one of the prettiest holes in Rochester,” Minske says. It’s one of the highest points of the course, and the view from the top is breathtaking at “sunup and about 30 minutes before sundown.”
6:36 a.m.: Minske spots and greets the first golfer of the day. Many golfers put in nine holes before work, he notes. Minske is always on the alert for less-than-perfect features on the course, and one breath after greeting the golfer he’s back to business. “I gotta come down and trim those hibiscus,” he relates. Whether he’s trimming trees, moving sand around, or taking other action to improve the course, Minske (and the other grounds crew members) halt all activity when a golfer is in the vicinity. “When a golfer shows up, we shut our equipment off and let them do their thing. We have to remember that they’re the reason we’re here and show them the respect they deserve.”
6:45 a.m.: Minske is often on the course 10 to 12 hours a day during golf season, he says, so he doesn’t get much chance to golf himself anymore. That’s okay, though, because “if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about golfers, it’s that the better they get, the less fun they have.”
7 a.m.: The day is in full swing and there are lots of golfers on the course now. They all get a wave from Minske, who stops by the pro shop for a chat with golf pro Jeff Gorman before getting down to business and “getting my fingernails dirty” for the rest of the day. Minske’s plan for the next several hours, he says, is to start pushing sand back up into the bunkers that were washed out by a recent storm, and to sharpen his mower blades, a time-consuming task.
7:15 a.m.: Minske returns to the storage shed, where country music is blaring, to gather equipment and to trouble shoot with any staffer that needs his assistance. He’ll probably work until around 4:30 or 5:30 p.m., but he may stay as late as 7 p.m. before heading to his home right over the ridge. Tending the grounds at Eastwood is “totally never-ending, but then again every day is a little different,” he says. “I’m one of those fortunate people who really love coming to work every day.”