A Day in the Myrtle Beach Golf Life of Meadowlands Golf Club Superintendent Stephen Drews

Stephen Drews:

My name is Stephen Drews and I’m the golf course superintendent here at Meadowlands Golf Club in Calabash North Carolina.

What does your day-to-day operation look like?

Generally 7:30 is our start time, on 1 and 10 tees. We double tee here so usually 9:30 a.m. is the time I like to have my guys done with their morning tasks on the golf course. Usually takes about an hour and a half, two hours to mow greens, roll greens. Our day-to-day operation consists of getting here 6 a.m. getting the guys going mowing greens, raking bunkers, changing cups, rolling greens if we need to. We don’t mow greens every day but we do roll on the days we’re not mowing. During the winter, we’re not mowing as much but we are rolling and doing dew removal.

What is the favorite part of your job?

My favorite part would have to be waking up, coming in and watching the sunrise and just the natural beauty that comes with being on the golf course, interacting with the crew, making sure that things are in tip-top shape for the golfers when they’re ready to tee off. We try to provide a good product here at Meadowlands, and that starts with me and my assistant Alex being around and making sure that what needs to be done is getting done and that we’re doing it right, and the golfers don’t see us and we’re not bothering them very much.

Which part of your job is most time-consuming?

Time consuming, I’d probably say it takes four hours usually to mow fairways. It’s going to take about a day or two to mow the rough out, bunkers two hours each nine. Changing cups is about a two-hour job, mowing greens is about a two-hour job. Spraying the golf course is something that takes a little bit longer, that’s going to be more of a two- or three-day job if we’re doing everything or just the greens we can do in the morning ahead of play or in the afternoon after play. But usually I’d say spraying takes generally the longest.

What does it mean to you to have such a good crew around you?

It’s huge, it means a lot. I wouldn’t be the superintendent that I am without my crew and without the guys I have under me. They make me go just like I make them go. And I try to provide a good work experience for them and make sure they’re enjoying their job on a day-to-day basis and just making sure they’re not getting burned out on what we’re doing and making sure they’re still enjoying their job, doing things for them that build team learning experiences and stuff, cooking lunch or anything like that they might enjoy getting out and playing golf. We all pretty much enjoy playing golf so we’ll get out and enjoy the golf course when things slow down a little bit around here.

What business practices did you bring with you when you came to Meadowlands?

The leadership, being a good leader and having an eye for detail, seeing things that are wrong and making sure you fix them and get them right. The overseed process we brought over, they did that before here. I incorporated a little bit different overseed techniques, but they also had some different mowers here that we brought over, some of our newer mowers. We’re able to get the height of cut a little bit lower now. I like things nice and tight and fast, playability wise, just makes a huge difference in my eyes.

Why is it so important for you to play golf where you work?

I enjoy playing golf just to get the point of view of the golfer. Whether the tees are lined up wrong or the pins are on a bad slope or the grass might need mowing again that you don’t really realize when you’re running around in the mornings. Something might need blowing, divots might need filling, all those things you see when you’re actually out on the golf course playing and getting that point of view from the golfer.

What makes Meadowlands stand out?

The atmosphere. I’d say the atmosphere around here, we try to provide a great experience for the golfer, that’s what we’re all about here is you making sure that you’re going to enjoy yourself. If you’re here on vacation or you’re a local member, try to interact with those and make sure that they’re enjoying themselves.

Why does this job mean so much to you?

And the job means a lot to me because I have a deep passion for golf. I enjoy watching golf and I enjoy the brotherhood of being a golf course superintendent. A lot of us, we’re in the same boat together, we’re going through the same stuff, so we interact with each other, we feed off each other and we try to be a brotherhood to where if one of us is in trouble, we can lean on the other one. And that’s what it’s all about, we’re all in it together to provide a service to the golfers. But at the end of the day, it’s a golf course and it’s something, it’s a sport, so you’re supposed to have fun. You’re supposed to enjoy yourself around here, and that’s what we’re all about.