Look…on the course…it’s Environmental Superman!

The “Super Super” and his progeny: Pat, Samantha, and Zachary Blum.

Like many superintendents (myself included), Pat Blum literally grew up in golf course maintenance. In Pat’s case, he began at age eight helping his father, Paul Blum, while Paul was Superintendent at Wayne Hills CC in the Rochester, N.Y. area.

And like many of us “sons of supers,” Pat wasn’t sure at first that he wanted to follow in his Dad’s footsteps—but eventually found there was just too much “green” in his blood.

“The truth is, growing up was tough,” says Pat, now Superintendent at Colonial Acres Golf Club in Glenmont, N.Y. “As you know, when a family’s in this business, the course always comes first. In addition to how I helped my Dad from a young age, my mom and sister used to mow greens and do other work, too. My Dad had to maintain the course with a small budget, but his hard work paid off—[Wayne Hills] always held a number-two ranking in the area.

“I swore I would never go back to golf after I saw how hard my Dad worked,” Pat says, “but I did go on to Delhi State University, where I majored in turfgrass management, with a minor in landscape design.”

From there, Pat has certainly brought more honor to the family name—Colonial Acres GC has earned more environmental awards than perhaps any course in the U.S., and was the first to earn membership in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Performance Track program (www.epa.gov/performancetrack).

These accomplishments, Pat says, can all be traced to lessons learned from his father. “I would never give up my childhood for anything,” he says. “I may have missed ‘hang-out’ time with friends, but my Dad was the greatest teacher a turf man could ask for.”

To find out more about Colonial Acres’ environmental leadership, I recently had this chat with Pat:

Q Pat, let’s start by having you tell us a bit about Colonial Acres and the property you have to take care of. A Colonial Acres was built in 1964— it’s a nine-hole executive course on a very gentle, rolling terrain. The property is 33 1/2 acres, with 14 acres of maintained turf. The rest is natural areas, wetland, ponds, and woodland. The greens are Penncross bent, tees are blue and rye, and the fairways are bent, rye, and blue.

Q What caused you to get so involved with environmental efforts? A Working with my Dad at Wayne Hills, I saw that he was already doing a lot of environmental work. Even in the 1970s and ‘80s, he used milorganite fertilizers, established purple martin complexes, incorporated triploid carp for vegetation control in ponds, and worked on Japanese beetle grub research on two full fairways.

Q What are some specific projects you’ve started on your course? A We put together a resource advisory group, including our GM, President, and employees, along with specialized associates in tree, irrigation and wildlife management. We’ve maintained a 100 percent run-off irrigation source, meaning whatever Mother Nature gives us, we use. We’ve increased naturalized areas by eight acres, to reduce turf maintenance and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Also, we use 70 percent natural organic and biological controls, and 30 percent synthetic products.

Q What organizations have helped with your efforts? A Audubon International has always been our go-to organization. We could not have gotten this far without them. And that’s led to partnerships with New York Governor Pataki’s Pollution Prevention Unit and other state groups, like the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Committee, as well as the EPA Performance Track membership.

Q What’s involved in forming and maintaining these partnerships, and what does your course get out of them? A Forming them is usually a joint effort. Maintaining them is about doing the right thing and never backing away. Too many times groups back out because it gets too hard, or new ownership comes in and changes everything.

Colonial’s naturalized areas have been increased by eight acres.

Q What benefits do you get? A I am sure there are many beyond the education we receive, but we are in it primarily just to prove it can be done. We don’t look for extras, like discounts, inspection reductions, grants or tax breaks. We just want to help better our environment.

Q What have you noticed or documented since you’ve been doing the environmental work? A Our biggest documented reduction has been in EPAregistered, synthetic pesticide use. It has always been the knock on golf courses that they harm the environment by using these too much. We’ve found a way to reduce in this area. The year before I got to Colonial Acres, they were doing 22 synthetic applications per year. As of the last three years, we have maintained 12 or fewer applications.

Q How have you convinced your golfers that this is the way to go, and keep them captivated? A I never went subtle when I began our environmental movement. I told everyone I was going to make this a sanctuary and still provide a very good playing course. I haven’t heard too many complaints, but maybe it helps that I’m 6’4”, 230. Seriously, I know the one thing that keeps everyone captivated is all the wildlife sightings on our course. The deer, fox, rabbits, wild turkeys, hawks, and two very old turtles are our best “ambassadors.”

VOC emissions have been reduced.

Q I understand your course just went through its first EPA audit. Can you share with us exactly what this involved? A The audit measured our two-year progress toward our environmental goals and management system. It was similar to what Audubon does, but more data-intensive. A lot revolved around a course tour and our recordkeeping. We saw it as the tell-all for our work, to determine if we’re walking the walk or just talking the talk. The numbers do not lie, and the actual sight of the course says all that needs to be said. It was actually an honor to have them come and see what we’ve done.

Q Speaking of honors, what’s the biggest you’ve personally received? A Personally, the most memorable for me was in 2000 at a Pollution Prevention Conference in Syracuse, where I gave an awards speech to about 150 different environmental people. I was the only golf guy in the room. I let them know why we do what we do, and at the end, they gave me a huge ovation. After I was done, a lady from Governor Pataki’s group came up and said, ‘You know what you are? You’re the Superman of the environment.’ It’s a title that now drives me to never stop doing the right thing, so much so that I now have a big Superman emblem on my truck.

Q What else keeps you going? A Actually it’s not what, it’s who: my five-year-old son, Zachary, and 10- year-old daughter, Samantha. As you know, for most superintendents, it ain’t for the glory, or a better job, or money. It’s about your family and your niche in life. My golf course is what I know, and if I can make the environment better and help ensure a better future for my kids and every other child out there—and get others to follow— then I am doing the right thing.

Dan Dinelli is a member of the Club & Resort Business Ed
itorial Advisory Board and writes frequently for C&RB on course maintenance topics. Have a topic you’d like to see Dan address in a future issue? A question about a specific course and grounds challenge you’re facing at your club? Or would you just like to invite Dan to visit your club sometime to exchange ideas? Write to him at [email protected]