During a recent trip to GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., Palmer Maples, CGCS Retired, visited this display of past association presidents — and quickly found himself. GCM file photo
Palmer Maples Jr., CGCS Retired, served 37 years as a golf course superintendent.
He was president of the Carolinas GCSA and president of GCSAA. Later, he served as GCSAA’s director of education and even acting executive director.
He was presented the association’s Distinguished Service Award (now the Col. John Morley Award) in 1999, and the following year he received the USGA’s Green Section Award, and he was enshrined in 2002 in the Georgia State Golf Association’s Hall of Fame.
So, yeah, when it comes to golf course management, he knows his stuff.
Though he retired nearly three decades ago, he never considered his education complete. So Maples, GCSAA’s oldest living past president and a 67-year association member, this year completed GCSAA’s Greenkeeper Certificate program, which is designed as education for entry-level golf course maintenance skills.
“You never know it all,” says Maples, association president in 1975. “There’s always something you could learn.”
Maples, who this past June turned 94, says he went through the program — six webinars, an exam and proficiency demonstration — in part to keep his mind sharp, as does his hobby of assembling 3D puzzles.
“I enjoyed going through it,” he says. “I always try to do something.”
The title of the program holds special meaning for Maples, who can trace his ancestors and their connections back to the likes of famed golf course architect Donald Ross and even Old Tom Morris, the “Father of Modern Golf” and pioneering greenkeeper.
Maples notes that Old Tom referred to himself as a “keeper of the green” and that GCSAA was founded, 100 years ago next month, as the National Association of Greenkeepers of America. When Maples retired, in 1997, as superintendent of Summit Chase Country Club in Snellville, Ga., he was honored with a party and an oil portrait of him that hung in the clubhouse, and a tree was planted with a stone at its base that read: “Dedicated to Palmer Maples Jr., CGCS, ‘Keeper of the Green,’ 1981-1997.”
“So ‘Keeper of the Green’ has meaning to me,” Maples says. “To have a certificate from GCSAA, in its 100th year, that says I’m a greenkeeper, I just treasure that, just for me, myself and I.”
Maples proudly shows off his certificate of completion for having gone through the Greenkeeper Certificate program. Photo by Pam Grysban
Obviously, the Greenkeeper Certificate program is a bit elementary for a man of Maples’ stature. But he admits he still learned from it, especially since much has changed in the industry since his retirement.
“It was a good refresher,” says Maples, who says he scored 88% on the exam, which took him less than 30 minutes. “Not too bad for an old man. Most of it was just a refresher on the basics — the fertilizer, the grasses. Of course, things have changed from when I started in ’43 and even the 70s, when I was president. The rolling of greens, brushing of greens … that’s something that’s a little bit new. We did a little of that, but the frequency of it being done is different now. That’s one of the little things I picked up.
“One of the things that was quite detailed was the safety part of golf course operations. All of that was pretty interesting. What they went over for the Greenkeeper Certificate I thought was pretty heavy for someone just coming into it. I thought the talk on the use of chemicals was a little long. It was good information. Nothing wrong with the information. It was just a little long. For an assistant, you should absolutely know that stuff.”
Maples said he appreciated the association’s ever-expanding efforts at continuing education. He says back when he was GCSAA’s director of education, 1976-1980, he envisioned a program like the recently introduced Video Training Series.
“I had a small video camera at home, and I thought about making a video about things like marking the cup,” he says. “I never had a chance to do that. But the association offers so much more now than what it did back when I first came on the board. I said at the past presidents’ dinner that each one of those presidents has added a sheet of paper to this big roll of things available to members. The education, best management practices, going to talk to Congress, National Golf Day, raising funds for scholarships — all these things have accumulated to build this base to stand on the past 100 years.”
Through June, the Greenkeeper Certificate program had 254 enrollments and 75 completions. And one overwhelming stamp of approval.
“It was very informative,” Maples says. “Everything I saw in it was correct as far as I could see.”
Andrew Hartsock (ahartsock@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s editor-in-chief.