Many people might associate Gary Grigg, CGCS, with the foliar fertilizer business he owns with his brother, Mark. As Grigg, 72, eyes retirement, the superintendent-turned-entrepreneur knows how he wants to be remembered, and he tells the story of a ridealong with a Grigg Brothers distributor to make his point.The distributor told Grigg he wasn't much of a salesman, but he still had a profound impact on the buying decisions of superintendents because they trusted him.
"It's because (superintendents) saw me as one of them," Grigg said. "I'm not a salesman. I have salesmen who work for me; I'm an agronomist and a superintendent."
Whether it is has been as a golf course superintendent, turf consultant, educator, association president or board member, or as the face of a fertilizer company that serves the golf and sports turf markets, Grigg has been synonymous with turf management for 45 years.
"Gary Grigg has meant so much to the turfgrass industry, primarily by devoting his career to the education of future golf course superintendents, whether doing so directly as a lecturer or through his investment in energy and resources toward that goal," said Grigg Brothers agronomist Gordon Kauffman III, Ph.D.
"No doubt, Gary will continue to maintain those relationships he has made over the years and always be available should anyone request advice, one of the many traits that has made him a giant in our industry."
But how does one really retire when he is part-owner of the company.
"I don't know what you call it," Grigg said. "I don't know if it's cutting back, or what, but I call it retirement."
As a consultant or superintendent, Grigg's footprint has been felt at dozens of courses around the globe. As the face and co-founder of a foliar fertilizer company that bears his name, Grigg's impact reaches thousands of courses and sports fields around the world.
"Gary has been a leader in this industry in so many ways," said golf course architect Jerry Lemons.
"Gary was so instrumental in instilling in our members that being a golf course superintendent was not just a grass grower, but a professional role in the management of clubs."
With an eye on continuing the family legacy of farming potatoes, Grigg earned a bachelor's degree in agronomy and entomology from Utah State. It was during his days at Michigan State, where he earned a master's degree in agronomy, that he fell in with the school's turf crowd.
"I hadn't thought of turf until then," he said.
He reluctantly took his first job as superintendent at the urging of golf course architect Bruce Matthews, who was building Lake Isabella (now The Pines) in Michigan.
"I didn't know anything about growing grass on a golf course," Grigg said. "Bruce told me it couldn't be harder than growing potatoes."
Since then, Grigg's list of career accomplishments reads like the resumes of two men.
He's been the construction superintendent on several golf course projects and consulted on dozens of others. He was among the first to use fertigation on golf courses when he built his own system and is credited with being the first to use a fully computerized irrigation system when he was superintendent at Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Ariz. He even experimented with flyover fertilizer applications.
It was while building Naples National in Florida that he met Darren Davis, CGCS, who was working nearby during construction of Olde Florida Golf Club. Although they were competing for members, they forged a lasting friendship.
"Gary and I developed a relationship and strived to help each other," Davis said. Gary not only provided me with agronomic counsel when needed, but we formed a strong, lasting personal friendship."
Throughout his career, Grigg has achieved certification through several associations. He has been a certified golf course superintendent since 1977 and earned Master Greenkeeper status 1997 from the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. He also has been active in more than a dozen regional chapters and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including: GCSAA Distinguished Service Award (2000) and the Florida GCSA Distinguished Service Award (1997). He has been involved in several GCSA chapters, served on the GCSAA board of directors from 1989 to 1997 and was the association's president in 1995.
"Gary has had a long and influential career in the golf turf industry as a superintendent, president of GCSAA and businessman," said Grigg Brothers agronomist Matt Nelson. "He has mentored
countless turfgrass professionals, given an extraordinary amount of his personal time to the profession of golf course superintendents, and worked tirelessly toward the advancement of the skills, techniques and science required of golf and sports turf management."
Although he is retiring, Grigg still plans to play a minor role in the Albion, Idaho-based family business and will continue one of his other passions, fishing, spending time with his family and speaking at industry events to help promote the careers of his colleagues.
"To Gary, it is never about him," said Jon Scott, CGCS, agronomist for Nicklaus Golf. "On the contrary, the first question is how can I help you?' and he means it. Gary has given of himself time and time again to further our profession and the success of the people he meets. He has always been there when something needed to be done and never left before it was finished. He has been a terrific role model for countless turf managers to follow and I count myself as one of them."