Assistant Superintendent

Lakeside Country Club located in Houston, Texas is seeking an Assistant Superintendent. Lakeside Country Club has recently completed a successful transformation with architect Jay Blasi. With the new design, the rerouting of a new layout, and the creation of a new 5-hole short course, the goal of Lakeside is to be best in class in the Houston area and in the state of Texas. 

ABOUT LAKESIDE COUNTRY CLUB:

Lakeside Country Club was founded in 1951 as a Private Country Club, and we currently have approximately 1000 members. Club acreage is approximately 200 acres and we offer the following amenities: an 18-hole golf course, 12 Har-Tru tennis courts, a fitness center, swimming pools, and a 90,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Club Mission statement: To provide an environment where employees are treated with dignity and respect, to inspire a passion for service, and to encourage professional development that will enable employees to create value and make a difference.

Club highlights: 

• Maintenance budget: $3.2 million
• Capital budget: 2024 Capital: $700,000. 2025 Capital: 1.5 million (new shop renovation)
• Staff size - 25+ Full Time on Golf Course Maintenance Team.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Assistant Golf Course Superintendent reports directly to the Director of Golf Course Maintenance (DGC). Under the DGC’s supervision, the Assistant Golf Course Superintendent directs and participates in the maintenance of the golf course tees, greens, fairways, and cart paths; supervises the maintenance and repair of motorized and other mechanical equipment; and does related work as required. The Assistant Golf Course Superintendent may serve in the DGC’s capacity during his/her absence.

SUCCESS TRAITS OF INDIVIDUAL:

• Professionalism, punctuality, dependability.
• Considerate, friendly, an exceptional ability to work within a team environment. 
• Excellent communication skills are a must.
• Positive attitude and desire to be a part of close-knit club community including long tenured staff members ranging from 10-40 years of experience. 
• Dedicated to advancing within the industry, and eager to gain experience in all facets of golf course maintenance and construction. 

INITIAL PRIORITIES OF POSITION:

• Assist in the golf course construction and growth to help Lakeside Country Club achieve world-class playing conditions on a daily basis.
• Assists in planning and supervising the agronomic inputs and maintenance of greens, tees, and fairways; schedules work and supervises the employees and the use of the equipment.
• Leads instruction to equipment operators on the operation and care of mowing and other equipment; supervises pesticide applications and/or operates and calibrates pesticide application equipment; supervises and participates in the operation and maintenance of pumps, and in the maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems.
• Leads in personnel management and evaluation, employee safety, personnel discipline and may also modify the daily work schedule based on professional interpretation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES, SKILLS, APTITUDE AND OTHER TRAITS: 

Agronomic

• Must be able to develop and implement basic agronomic programs using primary and secondary cultural practices with regard to drainage, soil structure, irrigation, fertility, pest control, height of cut and traffic wear.
• Strong technical and analytical focus to ensure optimal agronomic, water, soil and environmental management programs. 
• Consistently seeks out best-in-class conditioning methodology including tools and practices. 
• Understands regulatory, construction, surface and stormwater planning. 
• Successful experience in similar or more challenging climates. 
• Results-oriented cultural, fertility, and pesticide programming. 
• Establishes and maintains golf course maintenance operations and facilities to help create a safe, productive, and enjoyable environment for employees, as well as golfers and onsite visitors. 

Leadership

• Humble, trustworthy, strong character, and impeccable integrity. 
• Demonstrates creativity, flexibility, and outside-the-box thinking and assures consistent achievement of goals. 
• Lead by example approach to setting standards of operation. 
• Develop a workplace culture reflective of top performing organizations and ensure consistent focus on motivating and retaining employees, and promoting ethics and values. 
• Collaborative in nature, and ability to work effectively with various constituents. 

Equipment Management

• Communicate any needs or problems relating to the maintenance or repair of equipment with the Equipment Manager.
• Prioritizes equipment repair and maintenance work with the Equipment Manager.
• Keeps maintenance equipment fueled and inspected; and performs related tasks as
  required.

Irrigation/Water Management

• Daily inspection of the pump house to ensure proper operation.
• Monthly recording of water use.
• Inventory and ordering of all irrigation associated parts and products.
• Programming and operation of the Rain Bird Modular 2-Wire Decoder control system.
• Scheduling and organization of annual preventative maintenance to pumping station.
• Routine inspection and upkeep of pump station water filter. Manage Buffalo Bayou wells and submit monthly groundwater withdrawal reports.
• Assists the DGC in the maintenance of and associated work of the practice facilities, event lawn, salt water bodies, fresh water bodies, irrigation lake, storm water pumping systems, comfort stations, wash pads and all other associated golf course building.

Chemical and Fertility

• Performs routine safety inspections on all spraying and fertilizer equipment.
• Maintains chemical and fertilizer storage and mixing/filling areas in compliance with county, state, and federal regulations and is responsible for the safety and direction of chemical/fertilizer handlers and/or helpers.
• Responsible for properly mixing and applying herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides to associated turf grasses, trees, and shrubs.
• Manages all spray and fertilizer applications on a daily to weekly basis and reports to the DGC.

Equipment Operation & Care

• Strong understanding of golf course equipment from mowers, skid-loaders, aerifiers, sprayers, and small equipment.
• Ensures that the equipment cooling system is working at all times; refills fuel daily, cleans equipment daily, and reports equipment problems or failures to the DGC and Equipment Manager.
• Provides basic preventative maintenance on equipment as directed by the DGC and for returning equipment to the designated location at the maintenance facility.
• Responsible for training and safety 

Administrative/Communication

• Manages yearly agronomic calendar for chemical and fertilizer applications.
• Communicates with the golf shop daily. This includes closures, frost delays, cover deployment and any range maintenance that needs to be completed.
• Manages all SDS files.

PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS:

• Requires a minimum of two years of turfgrass experience as an intern or post-graduate.
• Requires working knowledge of the maintenance of golf course tees, fairways, and greens; the seeding and maintenance practices for golf course turf; the planting, cultivation, pruning, and caring for plants, shrubs, and trees; the characteristics and proper use of various fertilizers and soil conditioners; herbicides and pest control methods and materials; drainage control methods; and irrigation system, including wells, pumps, and automatic controls.
• Requires valid driver’s license.
• Requires current state certification or licensing as a pesticide applicator within 90 days of employment.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• Salary - $60,000-$75,000+ dependent on experience
• Health, Dental, Vision, and Voluntary Life Insurance are available. Family coverage is available. Insurance plans are available on the first of the month following employment. 
• Life Insurance
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability- Provided for you after one year of employment.
• 401k Plan- Eligible to participate after one year of employment. The club provides 3% contribution to all eligible employees. Employees are 100% vested as soon as they become eligible. 
• Meals- Employee meals are provided.
• Golfing privileges, uniforms provided, association dues paid to GCSAA and state/local chapter, regional and national educational/seminar travel expenses, relocation assistance.
• Vacation: 2 weeks paid vacation for the first two years and increase as per Club Policy thereafter. The first year of vacation will be split into one week upon hire and one week after the completion of six months of employment. 
• Sick Pay: The club shall provide 1 week after one year of service and two weeks per year thereafter. 

Expected work schedule: 50 hours a week if not working the weekend. If working the weekend, around 65-70 hours are expected for the week. We are looking to build our professional team to eventually structure and develop more work/life balance.

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