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From St. Louis in the east to Kansas City in the west, Missouri is famous for its hot and oppressively humid summers. Conditions there can be so severe that Jon Miller, the late baseball announcer, once quipped during a Royals broadcast that visiting Missouri in summer was the world's most effective way to lose weight fast. To that end, it did not take Joe Wachter (right) long to recount the most challenging weather years during his long career as a golf course superintendent in the St. Louis area. Those memories are seared into his memory like a sun-baked green. "Yeah, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2022," said Wachter, with a laugh. "Those are the six big ones. I won't say they were the worst, but they were difficult. "You remember those years before you remember the good ones." Wachter's career as a head superintendent spanned 35 years at four courses — New Melle Lakes in Wentzville, Missouri, Eagle Springs in St. Louis, Spencer T. Olin across the Mississippi River in Alton, Illinois and Glen Echo in St. Louis, from which he retired in 2024. During that time, he encountered challenges like greens plagued by flooding rain, drought conditions and a host of diseases. Despite those many weather-related challenges, Wachter has a bit of advice for his younger self that would serve his colleagues today. "Be more patient," Wachter said. "Understand that sometimes there's nothing you could do." He pointed to the summer of 1995 at New Melle Lakes as an example. "We were having trouble at the end of July. Then from August first through 10th, we had high heat and heavy rains, and I'm talking really heavy rains. Then we got basal rot anthracnose. "The greens were already wet, and I watched the 13th green slowly die. Luckily, it was a little here and there, and not the whole green. It got to about 30 percent turf loss. It was a slow death. You didn't just snap your fingers and it was dead. And you were kind of dying along with it. You just couldn't get it to stop because you couldn't get the green to dry out, and the humidity and temperatures were so high at night." He learned a valuable lesson that summer. "I was only five years in, and I was only two years being on my own as a superintendent," he said. "You have to realize that you're not going to know it all. I reached out to Ed, my brother (and superintendent). He worked 15, 20 miles from me at that time, and I know I reached out to him and a couple other people." Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, (right) who also retired last year, recalls similar experiences during his career. He was in his first year as superintendent of the North Course at Des Moines Golf and Country Club when he had his first devastating season. Each time he encountered challenges of an exceptional nature, he managed to turn a negative into a positive, which also serves as a learning lesson for working superintendents. "The summer of 1983 was my first year at Des Moines. That was a tough one," said Tegtmeier. "It was hot and wet, and we lost a lot of grass that year. But you know what? We ended up changing varieties back then. It was all old Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass fairways, and we ended up overseeding and going to bentgrass, and they've performed well ever since." Tegtmeier spent nearly 25 years in two stints at DMGCC, including the past 18 as director of grounds, 17 years at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids and a year at Hinsdale Golf Club in Clarendon Hills, Illinois. "I came back to Des Moines in 2006. In the summer of 2007 it was very wet again, and we lost a lot of grass. We had patches of a lot of low areas that ended up being burned up because there was no root system because it was so wet. I used that experience to sell a major drainage project to the club." Turf loss is nothing new in golf, but how golfers respond to it is. "Back in '83 at Des Moines, we had the same issues on both (courses). And it wasn't just us. It was happening all over the state," Tegtmeier said. "Back then, summer burnout of turf was a pretty normal thing. It happened to everybody. It was just an accepted practice that you lost grass. That's kind of when the transition to better cultivars happened and people were able to manage turf in a more professional way." Summer issues also are common in the St. Louis area. Joe Wachter, front row center, during his retirement celebration last year at Glen Echo Country Club. Glen Echo CC photo via Instagram Wachter was hit with back-to-back challenging summers in 2011 and 2012 on Glen Echo's Cato-Crenshaw greens. Cato and Crenshaw bentgrasses were developed in 1993, and by 2011 the greens at Glen Echo exhibited various biotypes, some of which had turned shades of brown and black. As new cultivars began emerging with greater regularity, golfer expectations rapidly increased which manifested in lower heights of cut, which in turn resulted in more disease challenges. Wachter realized it was time to enlist expert help. "You could literally see those circles on the greens dying," Wachter said. "We tried everything. We were spraying and cleaning equipment with every mow, and we were walk mowing and raising heights, aerating, venting and doing everything possible." He needed answers as quickly as possible and drove the soil samples from St. Louis to Columbia to pathologist Lee Miller, Ph.D., then at the University of Missouri. "They're only two hours away. So instead of mailing them, I drove them there," he said. "I wanted to get them there as fast as possible." The following year was on the other end of the weather spectrum, but equally as challenging. "We were desert-like. That was the summer we had hundred-degree temperatures until 7 or 8 o'clock at night for about six weeks," Wachter said. "The zoysia in our fairways was literally brown. And we had some Bermuda contamination in the fairways. That was the greenest grass we had. "We usually stopped hand watering at 4 o'clock. During that drought, we were out there until 7 o'clock at night. That was essentially a six-week drought. Then, when it started raining, everything that was brown was green within a week. Sometimes, you just need a break in the weather. "It was ultimately Lee Miller (now at Purdue University) who taught me and reminded me that sometimes there's nothing you can do until the weather changes. It kind of set me on a path the last 13 to 14 years to realize you can do everything right and do the things you need to do to make things better with sprays and aeration, but unless the weather changes you're not going to turn the corner." Tegtmeier agreed that new grasses, as well as other new tools at the superintendent's disposal, such as better mechanized equipment and new and improved chemistries to battle diseases, brought new challenges in the way of heightened expectations and hurdles never before seen by many agronomists. Rick Tegtmeier, left, with wife Sherry and fellow Iowa Golf Hall of Famer Zach Johnson during their induction in 2019. "Expecations went higher with new grasses, which made it harder," he said. "Losing turf used to be accepted, and now it's not accepted as much. Golfers like it brown and firm, but providing that can get difficult." When Tegtmeier's career began, there were a few common diseases, but it wasn't long before new players soon entered the game. "With the advent of new cultivars, you also get new diseases, or we started learning what these diseases were," Tegtmeier said. "When I first started, you had snow mold, you had dollar spot, you had brown patch. All of a sudden we had Rhizoctonia and large brown patch." By the turn of the century, things had changed. "Once we went to bentgrass fairways, I would say in the late '90s or early 2000s, is when expectations had become really high," Tegtmeier said. "That's when you started pushing things to the edge. Of course, they gave you better budgets, better equipment, better chemistries, and the expectation was higher." Like Wachter, Tegtmeier, the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year and a 2019 inductee into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, also knew he needed expert help as the world of professional agronomy was changing. That was especially true when it came to communicating issues to members. "Well, that's why I always used a USGA agronomist," he said. "I always brought them in to help manage expectations. I used that to my benefit to help me sell a larger budget, help us buy new machinery and manage expectations. Without them, it was tough." As much as superintendents rely on science now more than ever, it never hurts to be lucky once in a while. "You do what you can, but realize that no matter what you know sometimes you just have to get a change in the weather," Wachter said. "It will come back."

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In this special dual podcast, Kevin Hicks and Brent Downs, CGCS MG, dive into their journeys in golf course management, career transitions, and a current course renovation project. They also explore woodworking as a creative outlet beyond the turf, sharing stories of tools, safety lessons, and the value of mentorship throughout their careers. Hear insights from two voices in the golf industry as they discuss turf management, superintendent life, and the connections that shape their work. Featured on both the EarthWorks Podcast and The Low Downs.

Michigan State student Dan Miller was named the winner of the Mendenhall Award scholarship. The $6,000 award is part of the GCSAA Scholars Competition that provides financial assistance ranging from $500 to $6,000 to recognize "outstanding students working toward careers in golf course management or other related areas of the golf course industry" according to the GCSAA. The competition is funded by the Robert Trent Jones Endowment and administered by the GCSAA Foundation. Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized undergraduate program in a major field related to turf management, have completed at least 24 credit hours or the equivalent of one year of full-time study of the appropriate major and be a GCSAA member. Miller, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Michigan State, began working on a golf course during his fifth year of undergraduate studies. After five declared majors, he began working on the crew at Mystic Creek Golf Course and Banquet Center in Milford, Michigan under superintendent Tyler Cooper, who also is a Michigan State alumnus. He suggested the university's two-year turfgrass management program to Miller. Miller entered the two-year program in 2024 and recently completed an internship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Miller has one year remaining in the two-year certificate program and is scheduled to graduate next spring. "Winning the Mendenhall Scholarship solidifies the confidence I have in myself that I have found my path in life, and it gives me even more confidence and drive to be the best student and future professional I can be in this industry," Miller said. "I look forward to meeting and networking with as many people as I can at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show." Other award winners: Scholars Award $2,500 Ernesto Martinez, Pennsylvania State University Christopher Kelly, SUNY Delhi Otto Hoehl, Purdue University Scholars Award $1,000 Bryce Thompson, Purdue University Gavin Trout, Clemson University Scholars Award $750 Seth Knutson, Michigan State University John Monnin, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Gabriel Schneider, Michigan State University Isobelle Brasher, Michigan State University Merit Award $500 Gavin Kenning, Purdue University James Cowden, Pennsylvania State University Owen Dodge, Michigan State University Maxum Verleye, Michigan State University Brendan Phillips, Michigan State University Tristan Carrier, Pennsylvania State University Tyler Kregel, Pennsylvania State University Evan Kluwe, Michigan State University James Anderson, Rutgers University Patrick Neustadt, Michigan State University Salman Bo Drees, Pennsylvania State University Robert Knapp, Michigan State University Jackson Reimer, Pennsylvania State World Campus The top award of the GCSAA Scholars Competition is named for the late Chet Mendenhall, who was a charter member of GCSAA, a past president (1948) and recipient of the association's Distinguished Service Award (1986). Along with this award, Miller will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, Feb. 2-5, in Orlando.

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