Nick Bauman, Director of Maintenance and Golf Course Superintendent of Belmont Hills Country Club in St. Clairsville, Ohio, was featured in his local newspaper for his contributions to coaching the high school’s golf teams. Bauman has been at Belmont Hills CC since 2002.
Growing up in Northwest Ohio, Nick Bauman was fascinated by engineering, The Times Leader of Martins Ferry, Ohio reported. He also reveled in his time on the golf course.
These days, The Times Leader reported, Bauman has found a way to merge his two loves—and for his work as Director of Maintenance and Golf Course Superintendent of Belmont Hills Country Club in St. Clairsville, Ohio, along with his help in coaching golf at Barnesville (Ohio) High School, he was recently profiled as an “Ohio Valley Unsung Hero” by the newspaper.
“I’d always played golf, then I had an interest in golf more long-term,” Bauman told The Times Leader in describing his career path. In his dual roles at Belmont Hills CC, he oversees all clubhouse maintenance and is the superintendent for the 18-hole golf course.
Combined with the coaching work he does at the high school, Bauman said, the jobs keep him immersed in the sport and enable him to give back.
“I actually started as the girls’ varsity coach at Barnesville,” Bauman explained. “Now, I just help with the boys when they need it.”
The Shamrocks have made it to the district tournament this fall, another feather in the cap of a program that’s achieved great success recently, The Times Leader reported. Bauman said he was just happy to play some type of a role.
“It’s been a wonderful thing to see,” he said. “Actually, our high school team is built from a start-up. It’s not a middle school program, but it’s a middle school-age program. It’s not sponsored by our middle school. We started allowing allowing fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders to play golf. We set them up to play middle school-aged kids around the area.”
That program has translated into current success, Bauman said. “That’s really what’s built the program into where we’re at now,” he said. “I’ve been able to watch these kids a long time. It’s been rewarding to see what’s happened.”
Bauman started on the links growing up in Oregon, Ohio, a suburb east of Toledo, The Times Leader reported. He attended Clay High School there and played golf for the Eagles.
After high school, he began working at nearby Chippewa Golf Club and while attending Owens Community College for engineering, decided he wanted to be on the golf course more and switched his course of study to landscape and turf management.
That led to a job at Toledo Country Club, The Times Leader reported, and in 2002, he accepted the position at Belmont CC.
“It’s always nice being outside,” Bauman said as to why he enjoys his job. “I just fell in love with this area.”
And with youth sports. He started coaching baseball, basketball and the like, and that led to mentoring young golfers.
“I’ve enjoyed coaching the youth sports just because I think it help builds you,” Bauman said. “They help promote leadership, teamwork and sportsmanship. They teach them to set and achieve goals.”
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