Captains seeking shelter often park their ships safely in the harbor, while those who yearn for a more stimulating experience don't hesitate to take to the high seas during the stormiest weather.
So says Steve Cook, the longtime superintendent at Oakland Hills Country Club.
Cook has never been one to go through life in dry dock, so when he thought he might be getting to point in his career in which he was closer to being more like a dingy than a destroyer, he decided it was a good time to weigh anchor and . After 20 years at Oakland Hills, the 58-year-old Cook recently left the Donald Ross classic outside Detroit to become the head superintendent at Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago."Safe ships stay in the harbor. Sitting on the deck and drinking margaritas is fun, but that's not me," Cook said. "Battleships should be sailing the oceans."
That's the same philosophy that helped Cook navigate through a successful 2004 Ryder Cup and 19 other prosperous seasons at Oakland Hills.
Cook spent some of the early days of his career at Medinah under then-superintendent Danny Quast. The challenges associated with size and scope of the property - three golf courses, 600 acres and 600 members - made Medinah one of the few places that would lead Cook to consider leaving Oakland Hills.
"I wasn't looking for a new job at all. In fact, this is the only job I've applied for in 20 years," Cook said. "I wasn't stagnating, but I thought I needed a change. I could have stayed at Oakland Hills. The club was happy, I was happy. But if there was an opportunity to move to a club where I could make a difference; where it was a step up; where it would be more difficult and offer a chance for professional growth, then I needed to try for it."
The only reason the Medinah position was available in the first place was because Curtis Tyrrell left there earlier this year for many of the same reasons Cook was seeking a change. After a 10-year run that included the 2012 Ryder Cup and a complete makeover of the of the massive multi-course facility, Tyrrell exited Medinah for a similar challenge at the Bonita Bay Club in Naples, Florida.
"I just completed my 10th year at Medinah," Tyrrell said. "In that time, we've rebuilt three courses, built a new maintenance facility and a new practice facility, all for $15 million. And we had the Ryder Cup. It's been an incredible decade."
His mission at five-course Bonita Bay is to replicate the same kind of success he enjoyed at Medinah in the ultra competitive southwest Florida golf market. Never mind that he managed all cool-season turf at Medinah. Tyrrell learned Bermudagrass management under Shawn Emerson at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale and Virgil Robinson at PGA West in the Coachella Valley.
I wasn't looking for a new job at all. In fact, this is the only job I've applied for in 20 years. I wasn't stagnating, but I thought I needed a change."
"The goal when I got to Medinah was to rebuild the club into a uniform structure, and it took 10 years to complete," Tyrrell said.
"This club has made a lot of investment in a fitness center and clubhouse, and now they're ready to begin investing in the golf courses. I'm here to organize, develop and execute projects for the golf courses. It's everything that would entice me to leave Medinah."
While Tyrrell was prompted to leave Medinah by the promise of things to come, Cook said he probably would never have left Oakland Hills if not for some of the life-altering moments from his past.
Throughout his career in golf, Cook, 58, has climbed nearly every rock and mountain in his path, often as a way to cut through the stress that comes with managing a Top 100 classic-era golf course.
Eventually, those excursions took Cook to the Himalayas in 2015 where he climbed Ama Dablam, a 22,349-foot summit in Nepal. Taking on a mountain like Aba Dablam, where one mistake literally can be the difference between life and death, Cook trained for months, exercising, following a special diet and perfecting his climbing skills.
Once the experience was over, it created a vacuum that resulted in a host of personal issues and challenges. In fact, Cook has never climbed so much as a tree since he stepped off Ama Dablam, Cook nearly three years ago.Still, the experience has helped him confront other challenges, including a move to Medinah.
"I thought about that a lot when I first heard about the opening at Medinah," Cook said. "Going on that climb gave me courage in other parts of my life that I don't know that I'd have if I didn't make the climb."
The team-first culture instilled by Medinah general manager Robert Sereci hasn't hurt, either.
"In 20 years at Oakland Hills, we had two U.S. Amateurs, a Ryder Cup and a PGA Championship. It was a great experience. That's a lot of activity in 20 years," Cook said. "I like tournaments, activity, building teams, goal setting. I don't know if I'm any good at it.
"One of the things that turned me on and interested me in this job was that the general manager has been successful at changing the culture throughout the club. That was attractive to me."
Both Cook and Tyrrell are hoping they can put away their resume for a long time to come.
"I'm 47, and this is my last stop - I hope. I'm here to do what I do, and that's improve facilities structurally and build teams. I always thought it would be nice to go to an 18-hole course and tone it down a bit, but this was an exciting opportunity. It's the world I've been operating in. This was the right move at the right time."