A commander prepares for the Solheim Cup

Scott Furlong, CGCS, is all about Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, which will host the Solheim Cup this month. Photo by Janine Bonner

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Scott Furlong, CGCS, coached football while taking turfgrass classes and working at the golf course.

That sounds about right for him. Where he ended up turned out to be just plain right. 

When Furlong stepped onto Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., he quickly developed an affinity for the place — so much so, in fact, that he combined two of his passions. As an assistant superintendent, Furlong earned a turfgrass degree from the University of Maryland while still guiding youths on the gridiron.

As football heats up this month, Furlong will oversee what amounts to the Super Bowl for women’s golf — the 19th playing of the Solheim Cup that will be contended between the top U.S. players against the best from Europe from Sept. 10 to 15 at Robert Trent Jones GC.

“It’s a worldwide event. I heard we may have 150,000 people here for the week,” says Furlong, a 27-year GCSAA member. “I really believe it will be the biggest televised event we’ve had here, the place I fell in love with the first time I saw her.”

Three decades later, that love affair continues. 

John Miller, CGCS, views it as a two-way street regarding Furlong, a staple at Robert Trent Jones GC since 1994.

“Scott’s fantastic to work with. He has a together, well-oiled machine,” says Miller, an LPGA agronomist, former golf superintendent, ex-field staff representative for GCSAA and a 42-year member of the association. “He has a great rapport with his members. They feel the same way about him.”

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club didn’t waste time making its mark in golf. In 1994, the club hosted the first Presidents Cup. Photo by Evan Schiller

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From the beginning

Furlong has been stationed at Robert Trent Jones GC almost as long as the facility has existed. How it happened … well, let him tell it.

“Dumb luck,” he says.

Before fate played a hand in his future, Furlong harbored other plans. He was ready to depart Cedar Crest Country Club in northern Virginia to go work at Bristow Manor Golf Club in Bristow, Va. In fact, he was more than ready. One reason why is because the club was just up the street from his parents’ home. “I was pumped up about it,” Furlong says.

A timely yet unplanned encounter on a basketball court at Old Dominion University with his friend John Coleman threw what ended up being quite a curveball in Furlong’s journey. “He told me about RTJ, that a spot had just opened up there,” Furlong says, “and he told me to go see Glenn Smickley.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Smickley started at Robert Trent Jones GC from the beginning. He was on site for construction and served as grow-in superintendent, leading up to the formal club opening in 1991. Three years later, Smickley interviewed Furlong, who was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Long Island, N.Y., before landing in Virginia in 1979. 

“When I met him, he was trying to make ends meet,” says Smickley, a 45-year GCSAA member and currently general manager at California Golf Club in San Francisco. “We hit it off. Even when Scott was on the crew, we played pickup basketball together. We shared philosophies: work hard, play hard. He’s a very talented guy, down to earth. He respects the things we put in place at the club, and he’s somebody who can have the respect for what got us there.”

When Furlong ascended to superintendent in December 1999, Smickley switched to general manager. He knew the course was in good hands. “I pride myself on my rapport with staff. How he (Furlong) related to his staff, his consideration of them, relationships, caring skill, he has all of that,” Smickley says. “He just cares. He excels at it. He knows everyone by name, where they’re from, what’s important to them. I thought I was good at that. He’s better than I am. I’m proud of what he’s become.”

Getting things done at Robert Trent Jones GC, from left, Whit Coggin, Chiara Ferrari (on roller), Michael Murphy and Tyler Holmes (with cup cutter). Photos by Janine Bonner

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The main event(s)

This month’s Solheim Cup will be the first of its kind for Furlong at Robert Trent Jones GC, but it isn’t the inaugural international event for him and the club, situated 35 miles from the White House in Washington, D.C.

The biennial Presidents Cup that pits a team of U.S. men against a team of international players minus Europe was launched in 1994 during Furlong’s first year at the club. Former President Gerald Ford served as chairman for the inaugural Presidents Cup, one of four of them at Robert Trent Jones GC.

For the past 2½ months, Furlong and his team tackled extreme heat in the climate-challenged Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. “On July 24, we had already had 32 days over 90 degrees (and five over 100). For the year, we averaged 38 days over 90. And we had no rain,” says Furlong — a past recipient of the Virginia GCSA’s President’s Award — who is doing what he can to fend off dollar spot and brown patch. “We babysit and babysit, try to stop disease. We hit the hot spots, but you can’t flood it. We watch and water. We’ve been relentless in making sure nothing hits us.”

Besides the Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup, Robert Trent Jones GC hosted the PGA Tour’s Quicken Loans National in 2015. That’s about the time Furlong worked with Kyle Phillips Course Design before that event and again in 2022. Furlong says, “He’s helped keep the character of RTJ while putting his own soft touches on it. There is not one hole or area Kyle hasn’t touched, and everything he touches turns to gold.”

Phillips and his team have rebunkered the course, rebuilt the first hole — made the place “softly better” in his words. When he speaks about Furlong, his sentiments come through loud and clear. “He rolls up his sleeves every day. He’s all for his guys, really invested in his team,” Phillips says. “He’s a guy who really loves people.”

Robert Trent Jones GC assistant superintendent Chase Garvey sees it on a daily basis. It’s clear to him how Furlong operates.

“Working for Scott Furlong has been a great opportunity for me. He has taught me many things, not only about how to succeed in this industry, but also how to balance having a life outside of work,” says Garvey, a five-year GCSAA member who works alongside assistants Cooper Derks and Michael Cook. “Scott never ceases to impress me. Obviously, you can talk about his extensive turf knowledge or his business acumen, but where he is truly masterful is his ability to understand people. Whether it be navigating the sometimes-complicated relationship between the maintenance crew and the membership or how he handles the crew, he always seems to know the right way to motivate and get people on the same page. I think his ability to connect with people is a big reason why the crew here at RTJ feels like a family.”

The first Solheim Cup ever at Robert Trent Jones GC is drawing near.

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Burgers and fries

England native David McGregor, MG, quickly latched onto a slice of Americana.

Soon after he arrived in the U.S. for his first trip across the pond 18 years ago, McGregor got a taste of this country. As an intern for Furlong at Robert Trent Jones GC, McGregor shared a room with another intern. Seeking American cuisine, they jumped on their bicycles and strapped on their backpacks and pedaled to Checkers to try out the fast-food chain. “We drove there, got our burgers and fries and went back to our room and ate. Your burgers and fries are my fish and chips back home,” McGregor says.

Furlong has done his best to make those interns who traveled hundreds and even thousands of miles to feel at home and enjoy the amenities. For the Solheim Cup, Furlong will have, besides his staff of 38 people, roughly 72 volunteers from far and wide, including a dozen from foreign countries. 

Several years ago, Furlong connected with Ohio State University Global Program Manager Michael O’Keeffe to bring interns to the club, starting in 2000. A 28-year GCSAA Education member, O’Keeffe has sent dozens of interns to Furlong. There’s a reason why it is an ongoing experience.

“He’d do anything for those kids, and he’s so grateful for them. He’s blown away how some of them keep coming back. It’s the appreciation he’s shown for them. He’s bought into going above and beyond to get the best,” O’Keeffe says.

GCSAA Class A superintendent Andrew Robertson, a 17-year association member, gets it. A former intern from Australia, he now oversees Washington Golf & Country Club in Arlington, Va. “He (Furlong) is supportive, would do anything for you. He gave me an opportunity for where I am now,” says Robertson, who spent 2007-2013 as a Furlong assistant. “What did I learn from him? To treat people right, make sure people are looked after, make sure we’re doing OK. He’s a boss. A friend.”

O’Keeffe says when Furlong goes overseas, such as when he mowed greens during the 2023 Solheim Cup in Spain, Furlong identifies with the superintendent/greenkeeper crowd based on his devotion to the internship program he has spawned. “The key to the modern-day superintendent is get the word out and social media. When he was in Rome for the (2023) Ryder Cup, they all knew him. He’s like royalty over there,” O’Keeffe says.

Furlong, meanwhile, sees O’Keeffe as the ringleader. 

“I 100% couldn’t do it without him,” says Furlong, adding, “I want this (Solheim Cup) to be something for them (interns and volunteers) to talk about when they go back home.”

Now director of grounds at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Va., McGregor understands the hoopla over Furlong and his devotion to interns. “I always felt he had our back,” says McGregor, a 19-year association member.

Twenty-four years ago, Stephen Britton, CGCS, was the first intern O’Keeffe sent to Furlong. An Australian who now is director of agronomy at Chevy Chase Club in Chevy Chase, Md., Britton went on to join Furlong’s crew for more than three years. Britton’s life changed in the process.

“If he hadn’t hired me, I probably would be in Australia, never met my wife here and had a family. I don’t know where my career would’ve headed,” says Britton, a 21-year GCSAA member. “The thing with Scott is how much he is invested in your future, and it’s not about coming to work for him three or four years. He cares about where you’re headed to. Where you end up … he’s almost more excited about your next step than you are.”

The senior maintenance team at Robert Trent Jones GC, from left: Michael Cook, Chase Garvey, Furlong and Cooper Derks.

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Bring them on

The Solheim Cup appears to be right up Furlong’s alley.

 “Who doesn’t love women’s sports? Look at (basketball standout) Caitlin Clark, with what she’s doing,” Furlong says. Scott and wife Kathy have two daughters (Morgan and Hailey) and two sons (Gavin and Hayden, who is headed for the industry and at Penn State University now). He coached all his children in sports. That includes leading a high school football team to an undefeated season.

Better yet, Furlong is winning when it comes to an objective he has lived by since even before he made Robert Trent Jones GC the venue he knows as well as anybody, the club where he has sent nearly two dozen assistants on to become superintendents. 

And, importantly to him, Furlong’s tenure and loyalty to the club in which he is a fixture and simply adores is the perfect spot to have kept his promise.

“I’m doing what I promised I said I was going to do — coaching every one of my four kids in every sport they play and teaching a maintenance team,” Furlong says. “I’ve been here 30 years. It still feels great. And it doesn’t get old.”

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Howard Richman (hrichman@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s associate editor.

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