The Summit’s new golf course superintendent on keeping greens green
The golf course industry is one of the comparatively few to experience moments of sunshine during the pandemic year of 2020 according to statistics gathered by the National Golf Foundation. While golfing was initially affected when the pandemic hit, last summer and fall saw solid drives toward solid scores in several areas.
The foundation reported that 2020 saw an 8% increase in the number of people taking part in some form of golfing activity compared with 2019. This included play on courses and outdoor driving ranges as well as indoor simulators. There were 36.9 million golfing participants in the U.S. in 2020, with 24.8 million playing on golf courses, an increase of 500,000 from 2019 representing the largest increase in 17 years.
The foundation calculated that the number of course rounds played was up 14% in 2020 over 2019 at approximately 500 million, an increase of about 60 million rounds from 2019.
It also reported that there were more than 14,000 golf courses operating in the U.S. in 2020, which is a lot of greenery to keep green and in good physical condition.
“Basically we”™re property managers,” Christopher Alonzi, the new golf course superintendent at The Summit Club in Armonk, told the Business Journal. “Every golf course is unique. Every golf course has its own host of challenges. What you don”™t see, underneath the grass, is a huge factor. The type of soil; some golf courses have flatter greens while some have undulating greens; the makeup of the land, even irrigation systems and drainage. Those all play a factor in the conditioning of the course. Is the surface firm; are there spongy conditions; is the ball rolling true?”
Course renovations continue at The Summit, which brought in golf course architect Rees Jones to develop a master plan for significant upgrades and new design features. These will be complemented by a new clubhouse, extensive recreational and fitness amenities and 73 condominium units. Jeffrey B. Mendell, managing partner of the Armonk project described the end result as “a 21st century lifestyle community with a focus on golf, tennis, fitness and wellness within a resort-like environment. Members will enjoy first-class hospitality and services similar to being on a great vacation without leaving home.”
The improved 6,700-yard par 71 course is to include: three new holes; rebuilding fairway and green-side bunkers; adjusting some bunker locations to give players additional shot options; reshaping of several greens to create green-side chipping areas; and reshaping landing zones on some holes to improve their playability.
“When you”™re talking about the species of grass and the mowing heights it”™s like a night and day comparison with a backyard lawn,” Alonzi said. “Certainly your fertility needs and watering practices are different.” He explained that while homeowners may deal with mowing two to four-inch grass heights, golf course maintenance crews need to trim to within eights-of-an-inch.
Alonzi pretty much substituted golf courses for his backyards while growing up. His father and other members of the Alonzi family have had long and distinguished careers as golf course superintendents. In 2006, the Alonzis were honored by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association as the Family of the Year at its National Golf Awards Dinner for “its contributions to the game and for representing the virtues and ideals of golf and family.”
“We were the first superintendent family to receive the award so it was a great honor,” Alonzi said. He”™s now 48 years old and traces the beginning of his formal superintendent career to 2002.
“I used to go for drives on the golf course as a little kid. I would be playing at the maintenance facility. As I got older, my father was the superintendent at Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale and at first I started caddying there and was watching the guys mowing the greens and things like that,” Alonzi said. “I wanted to be part of it and started working for him there. He left and went to Westchester Country Club and I stayed on at Fenway for a bit and decided to go to school.”
Before joining The Summit Club at Armonk this year, Christopher Alonzi was project manager and senior assistant at the Saint Andrew”™s Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson. Previously, he had been superintendent at the Elmwood Country Club in White Plains and assistant superintendent at the Westchester Country Club in Rye and the Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase.
“There have been mornings when I”™ve come in and found divots on greens and you don”™t know whether somebody snuck in on the course,” Alonzi said. “You”™re out there everyday in the elements and trying to combat Mother Nature. It”™s certainly disappointing anytime you come in and find any kind of damage to a golf course. If there was somebody who just doesn”™t know and is driving a golf cart on a green you can just go up to them and say, ”˜Please don”™t do that.”™”
Alonzi said that there are numerous factors that a superintendent needs to have plans to deal with.
“You try to prepare the golf course to be in the best possible position for whatever nature is going to throw at it,” Alonzi said. “You need to have the people and infrastructure in place. Everything is geared toward being more environmentally friendly and it”™s 10- to 14-hour days. There are no 40-hour weeks during the summer. In the winter you”™re lucky to get a few 40-hour weeks.”