What does a golf course superintendent do?
Golf course superintendents are skilled professionals who are responsible for providing care and maintenance to the golf courses they are working for. These superintendents must supervise a team of staff members to coordinate work schedules for landscaping and maintaining the golf course grounds. They are required to manage irrigation systems by providing reports on the retaining ponds and other water source usage. Gold course superintendents must also provide technical and safety training for their employees when operating machinery and power equipment.
Golf course superintendent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real golf course superintendent resumes:
- Manage nursery and landscape surrounding campus center, leading maintenance and management projects.
- Operate various equipment, including: riding and push mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws, bunker rakes, etc.
- Resolve customer complaints while maintaining budgets and staff payroll.
- Experience with marking and measuring of fields to NCAA regulations.
- Mow, weedeat and edge all turf areas as needed.
- Maintain time and attendance payroll records, and department records management.
- Perform seasonal work on the grounds crew; including mowing, raking, sod and turf upkeep, and landscape aesthetics.
- Reconstruct tees, greens and fairways as part of a tree removal project which improve turf quality and pace of play.
- Supervise in-house re-contouring of fairways.
- Design weekly mowing and irrigation schedules.
- Promote to increasingly responsible positions, culminating in a management role with oversight for multiple single family home developments.
- Generate RFI's in the required format when an issue is unclear on drawings.
- Complete renovation from demolition, finishes, HVAC, plumbing, electric, roofing, site work and EIFS installation.
- Provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, planters, and other grind features.
- Supervise daily activities in renovating and converting the existing HVAC systems for both office and laboratory facility spaces.
Golf course superintendent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Golf Course Superintendents are proficient in Mowing, GRASS, and Course Maintenance. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Leadership skills, and Management skills.
We break down the percentage of Golf Course Superintendents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Mowing, 13%
Golf Maintenance- Mowing, over seeding, irrigation, fertilization
- GRASS, 11%
Assisted Superintendent by contributing knowledge gained through northern turf management while acquiring improved methods for Bermuda grass maintenance.
- Course Maintenance, 10%
Golf course maintenance- Maintained and organized members' golf equipment- Collaborated with professional golfers
- Fairways, 9%
Supervised in-house re-contouring of fairways.
- Golf Courses, 5%
Experience running a course and managing a crew of men at one of the largest golf courses in Southwest Florida.
- Pro Shop, 4%
Executed all pro shop responsibilities including tee time bookings, inventory control, and point of sale transactions.
"mowing," "grass," and "course maintenance" are among the most common skills that golf course superintendents use at work. You can find even more golf course superintendent responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a golf course superintendent to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." Additionally, a golf course superintendent resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "establish better communication between director of golf, general manager and golf course maintenance administration. "
Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling golf course superintendent duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." According to a golf course superintendent resume, here's how golf course superintendents can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "oversee staff responsible for mowing weed whacking trimming provide guidance and leadership to manage maintenance"
Problem-solving skills. For certain golf course superintendent responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a golf course superintendent rely on this skill, as "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what golf course superintendents do: "recognized the need for better drainage systems at various areas of the golf course, created and installed approved solutions. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in golf course superintendent job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what golf course superintendents do. Golf course superintendent responsibilities rely on this skill because "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." You can also see how golf course superintendent duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "ensured adherence to quality standards, deadlines, proper procedures, and corrected errors or problems. "
The three companies that hire the most golf course superintendents are:
- BrightView Landscape Development Inc19 golf course superintendents jobs
- BrightView12 golf course superintendents jobs
- Troon10 golf course superintendents jobs
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Compare different golf course superintendents
Golf course superintendent vs. Landscape installation foreman
An irrigator manager handles the monitoring, inspection, and maintenance of irrigation systems. They are responsible for developing ways to manage and improve land. They take the lead and monitor the activity of the workers. Typically, they gather pertinent documents and necessary information for possible projects and the irrigation's current situation. They are also the one who evaluates the planning process on criteria of accessibility, efficiency, and usability among people.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, golf course superintendent responsibilities require skills like "grass," "course maintenance," "fairways," and "golf courses." Meanwhile a typical landscape installation foreman has skills in areas such as "hardscape," "plant material," "retaining walls," and "landscape maintenance." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Landscape installation foremen earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $39,496. On the other hand, golf course superintendents are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $36,864.landscape installation foremen tend to reach similar levels of education than golf course superintendents. In fact, landscape installation foremen are 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Golf course superintendent vs. Irrigation manager
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that golf course superintendent responsibilities requires skills like "grass," "course maintenance," "fairways," and "golf courses." But an irrigation manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "landscape maintenance," "harvest," "et," and "irrigation schedule."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Irrigation managers tend to reach similar levels of education than golf course superintendents. In fact, they're 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Golf course superintendent vs. Turf manager
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a golf course superintendent is likely to be skilled in "course maintenance," "fairways," "golf courses," and "pro shop," while a typical turf manager is skilled in "athletic fields," "ncaa," "routine maintenance," and "field maintenance."
Most turf managers achieve a similar degree level compared to golf course superintendents. For example, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Golf course superintendent vs. Sports field manager
Types of golf course superintendent
Updated January 8, 2025
