Lakeside Country Club located in Houston, Texas is seeking a Golf Course Superintendent to assist in a complete 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. The newly constructed course is set to reopen in November.

 

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 209 acres and we offer the following amenities: 18-hole golf course, 12 Har-tru tennis courts, 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 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 Golf Course Superintendent reports directly to the Director of Golf Course Maintenance (DGC). Under the DGC’s supervision, the 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 Golf Course Superintendent may serve in the DGC’s capacity during his/her absence.

 

The full construction and golf course grow in experience includes management of small teams with different construction processes, including:

• Putting green drainage and greens mix installation
• Tee drainage and sand cap installation
• Green surround drainage and sand cap installation
• 2” Fairway seepage drainage installation
• Bunker construction, including 4” pipe and Bunker Solutions liner installation
• RainBird 2-wire system installation and operation, including Rain Bird CirrusPRO
• HDPE pipe installation

SUCCESS TRAITS OF INDIVIDUAL:

• Professionalism, punctuality, dependability.
• Considerate, friendly, an exceptional ability to work within a team environment.
• Excellent communication skills is 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 grow-in 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, 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

• Communicates any needs or problems relating to 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, routine inspection and upkeep. 
• Inventory and ordering of all irrigation associated parts and products.
• Programming and operation of the Rain Bird IC system
• 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-loader, aerifiers, sprayers, small equipment.
• Ensures that the equipment cooling system is working at all times; refills fuel and oil 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.

Administrative/Communication

• Manages payroll information (including regular and overtime hours, sick time, vacation time, etc.) for the entire golf course maintenance staff.
• 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 contracted services accounts. This includes Dryject services, summer maintenance projects, soil sampling and any other work being completed on the golf course.
• Evaluates and completes all departmental employee annual reviews including 90 day reviews and the associated work in cooperation with club’s Human Resources Department.
• Leads all safety training delivered to the departmental employees required by the club.
• Attends all green committee meetings and acts as the secretary in coalition with the Green Committee Chairman for note taking.
• Leads and assists the DGC with the preparation of the operational and capital budgets.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• Requires a minimum of two years turfgrass experience as an assistant or a minimum of a 4 year turfgrass or related degree.
• Requires working knowledge of the maintenance of golf course tees, fairways, 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 ability to schedule and supervise maintenance work to achieve the most efficient utilization of workers and equipment; to prepare clear and concise reports; and to maintain effective employee and public relations.
• Requires valid driver’s license.
• Requires current state certification or licensing as a pesticide applicator.

Expected work schedule: During construction until the management team grows: 55 hours if not working the weekend. 75-80 hours if working the weekend. Managers will split every other weekend. Once the golf course opens the hours will be 50-70 hours depending on if the individual is working the weekend or not. 

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• Salary - $90,000+ dependent on experience
• Health, Dental, Vision and Voluntary Life Insurance available. Family coverage is available. Insurance plans are available 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 expense, 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 one week upon hire and one week after 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. 

ABOUT DANE ALEXANDER:

 

Dane has been the Director of Golf Course and Grounds at Lakeside Country Club since February 2023.  

 

Prior to joining Lakeside Country Club, Dane worked alongside Nelson Caron at Seminole Golf Club and The Ford Plantation as the Golf Course Superintendent.

 

Dane obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy from Purdue University.