by Clifford Cowley
Occupation: General Manager/Superintendent-Palouse Ridge Golf Club
Location: Pullman, Washington
Pro Status: Certified Golf Course Superintendent with the GCSAA
Destiny
Todd Lupkes grew up in the small town of Centralia, just south of Olympia, Washington. His dad was a cabinet maker. One day after work, his dad was at the Elks club when two older guys were talking about the local golf course. He overheard them ask, “Who’s going to run the golf course?”
“I’ll do it,” his dad replied.
A few months later, the family moved into an apartment attached to the clubhouse on the nine hole golf course in Centralia. “That’s when my golf career officially started,” says Todd. “I was 11 and my brother was 8. We ran it as a family until my brother and I went off to college.”
Living on a golf course has its benefits. The advantage is you can play or practice at any given moment. Todd got in a lot of practice and playing time. He also got in a lot of working time. “By the time I was 13, I was mowing, changing cups and working the pro shop. I couldn’t use the biggest tractor until the next year, because I wasn’t heavy enough to push the clutch all the way down,” laughs Todd. “Not only that, but we had to start it by rolling it down a hill and popping the clutch because we couldn’t afford a starter!” A benefit to growing up and working on a course is you learn by doing. The disadvantage is you have to do it all the time. “Nature doesn’t take a vacation,” says Todd. Every season has priorities. If you neglect something in the winter, you pay for it in the spring. The business side of a golf course is equally important. I learned a lot during those years about how to maintain a course and how to treat the public.” Todd learned that he was most comfortable when he was outdoors as opposed to being in the club house. Growing turf was easier for me than the people side of the business,” says Todd.
Broken Path–Briefly
In school, golf and soccer were Todd’s two favorite sports. “I didn’t play golf in college. I had dreams of becoming an oceanographer.” However, after a couple of years of not playing any golf, he transferred to Washington State to do what knew he was best at. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy and Turf Management in 1992.
Making a Path–Steadily
After college, Todd found a job at Gig Harbor Golf Club spending an impressive nine years at the course, and a six year tenure at Overlake Country Club. He has always been involved with the Western Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. From 1992 until 2007, he served in all of the officer positions, and as their President for two years. He has also served the National GCSAA on six different committees and helped with moderating various forums at the GIS show.
Finding a Home
In 2006, construction began on Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington. Palouse is owned by Washington State University and is managed by the Business Affairs office. CourseCo, Inc. was chosen to oversee the operations of the course. In 2007, CourseCo asked Todd to work as the grow in Superintendent. In 2011, the General Manager was called to another position, and Todd was asked to fill in as the GM. In 2013, the title became official. Since then, he has performed the duties of both the GM and Course Superintendent. “The variety of duties keeps me active every day. Growing up exposed to everything that had to do with running a golf course has made the transition easy for me,” says Todd.
Since the course is owned by the university, many of the employees are WSU students who gain work experience while working toward their degrees. Todd, Mike Bednar, and Jeremy Wexler, make up the operations management team. Currently, the staff consists of nine students and three turf majors. “So far it’s working well,” says Todd. “I enjoy being a part of helping students grow and learn. There is a lot of satisfaction in watching someone you trained get a job when they graduate. There are a lot of busy days, but the effort and hard work is worth it, especially when you call another golf course and one of your former interns answers the phone!” Todd also enjoys lecturing at the University and giving tours to students who are entering the work experience program.
Longevity
Today, Todd is enjoying the harvest of his life-long experience in the world of golf along with his wife, Dawn, and his two girls. “Life is a little different now,” Todd admits. “I’m lucky to not only be where I am now, but also to be able to use the experience I gained from being involved in the golf industry during those first days of living on a golf course. I still enjoy what I do, and I’m glad to be able to give back to the golf industry by being in the position that I’m in.”
Indeed, the virtually unheard of job title of GM and Superintendent can only come from unique skills gained from a life time of experience.
Carry on, Todd.
What’s in Todd’s Golf Bag?
Todd’s clubs are Callaway X14′s and an Odyssey putter, although he says he doesn’t get out that much.
What’s in Todd’s Course Cart?
Irrigation tools for fixing leaks.
A tennis ball and racket for his border collie/lab Daisy.
Daisy.
——–
“The latter being the most important,” he says smiling.
“Woof,” agrees Daisy
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