Mark Schulze is an assistant superintendent at Lochinvar Golf Club in Houston, Texas. Photo courtesy of Mark Schulze
Mark Schulze was at a crossroads. For the moment, though, he was in a parking lot.
Here he was in his mid-20s, pushing shopping carts at a grocery store parking lot in the Texas summer heat. Schulze wasn’t living up to his own expectations, or — in his own mind — those of his father (engineer) and mother (teacher).
“They are big on education. They wanted the best for me,” Schulze says.
After high school he tried community college, but it wasn’t a match. In his own words, Schulze says, “I kind of gave up.” He bounced around, working in retail. “A lot of years being in jobs I didn’t have a lot of passion
for,” Schulze says.
Back to that grocery store job, where that parking lot that may have paved Schulze’s future. Or, rather, the person who drove into that lot with business cards in hand and a specific mission that would set the stage for a life-changing experience
for Schulze.
Tim Huber, CGCS, director of agronomy at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, scours his community people who may be interested in working at the course. When he saw Schulze, Huber asked Schulze to come in for an interview. When Schulze
got off work that day, he headed straight to The Club at Carlton Woods.
“He had graduated high school, but he hadn’t found his calling. You could tell he was ready to go,” says Huber, a 19-year GCSAA member. “He was just trying to make money and find something he liked. I could tell he was going to
be a good one.”
Schulze figured it was worth a try to work at the club. “I thought if I could work on blacktop, I can do it on the grass,” Schulze says.
These days, Schulze is an assistant at Lochinvar Golf Club in Houston, but before that, he left quite an impression over the nearly seven years he worked for Huber.
“The work ethic was always there,” says Huber, who started Schulze on the crew before eventually promoting him to an assistant role. In time, he suggested to Schulze that he could benefit from an educational foundation to stand on. The club
paid for Schulze to attend Rutgers University.
It didn’t hurt that Schulze, a 3-year association member, was familiar with golf. He played in high school and caddied at The Club at Carlton Woods, practically next door to the maintenance shop at the club’s Tom Fazio Championship Course.
In his time at the club’s Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, Schulze participated in two course renovations and was on the team for two LPGA Chevron Championships. All the while, he did whatever it took to be significant. “My motto was to always
be there, do more jobs. The more you ask, the more jobs they gave me,” he says. “I never turned down a shift.”
When he was named an assistant in 2022, Schulze says, “It felt surreal. I was grateful, proud of myself. That was something I didn’t know if I would ever feel.”
At The Club at Carlton Woods, Schulze worked with Heath Wisdom, a 17-year GCSAA member, who oversaw the Nicklaus course until he departed for Lochinvar. Schulze, meanwhile, remained at The Club at Carlton Woods through the championship this past April.
Schulze exited to explore other possibilities and challenge himself, eventually moving over to Lochinvar to work with Wisdom again. “I loved working for Tim (Huber). He remains a friend,” Schulze says. “I think it’s a positive
move. I need to prove to myself that I could make it work at another place.”
Wisdom applauds Schulze’s determination to succeed. “This job isn’t for everyone. What it really takes is a lot of hard work, common sense, dedication. He’s dedicated,” Wisdom says. “He’s hard-working. Loyal.
The main thing is his dedication, knowing what it takes to make a good golf course. There’re no shortcuts.”
At 35, Schulze would like to be a superintendent someday, but isn’t in a rush to make that climb. For now, he’s happy with the journey.
“When I was 20-something, I thought I may have missed the boat on this whole career thing,” Schulze says. “I found out, and this may be cliché, but it’s never too late. I really had to bust my butt to make it happen. If
you find something you enjoy, do it. It’s kind of in your own hands to make it work. I kind of saved my life in a way.”
Howard Richman is GCM's associate editor.