The Island Golfer: Rahz has PTSD under control at Lemon Bay
Severe weather events are the scourge of golf course superintendents, causing bunker washouts, downed trees, and other adverse conditions rendering courses unplayable. Locally, it might present as Post Tropical Storm Disorder, not to be confused with its more serious medical malady.
Rather, it is the state of affairs left after severe storms leave the area.
Hurricanes Ian, Helene, and Milton are the most well-known of the recent PTSD-inducing weather events impacting area courses. Idalia and Debby were nuisance storms that brought their own set of challenges. Ian attacked structures from the air as a wind event. Helene and Milton hit on the ground, due to storm surge.
Eli Rahz is the director of agronomy at Lemon Bay Golf Club, which sits next to its namesake body of water along the Intracoastal Waterway. Previous stints included Avila Golf and Country Club (Tampa), The Club at Mediterra (Naples), and Cypress Creek Golf Club (Ruskin). All undertook some sort of renovation project while Rahz was employed. Of all the courses, Rahz has been most challenged at Lemon Bay, but he has kept his sense of humor throughout his brief tenure.
“This has been a new stress for me,” marvels Rahz. “I was joking with somebody recently that, you know, my first three years at Lemon Bay have been hurricane, renovation, hurricane, hurricane.”
Rahz grew up in Ohio, working summers on a golf course and studying to be a teacher. He realized that working outside with his hands in the dirt, growing grass, was better than being boxed in by a classroom. He ended up at Saucon Valley Country Club near Bethlehem, Penn., an 850-acre club. Saucon Valley has hosted numerous amateur and professional golf events, including the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open. That year was also the year that Rahz completed his education through the Rutgers Turf Grass Program, commuting to his classes from Bethlehem.
Once an aspiring educator, Rahz learned valuable lessons from his mentors that benefit him today. He cites two in particular: Chad Mark at Kirtland Country Club in Willoughby, Ohio, and Jim Roney from his time at Saucon Valley. Rahz says that the most important thing he learned from those guys has nothing to do with golf but is something he carries to work with him every day.
“It’s about engagement, getting your people on the same page as you are, fired up about what they’re doing, to the point that they care just as much as you do,” explained Rahz. “The best staffs aren’t a staff, they’re a team.”
The most recent storms wreaked havoc at Lemon Bay. The club lost its entire fleet of golf carts after Helene, and Milton’s storm surge flooded the course with an estimated two to three feet of salt water. The course was still maturing after extensive renovation had been completed the year prior.
The course recently reopened. According to Rahz, the turfgrass is still a little rough around the edges. Tree work overall has been an ongoing challenge since Ian blew through the area.
The best leaders are often at their best during crises. The most important hard asset on the balance sheet of every golf club is its golf course. The most valued soft asset is the quality of its staff. Lemon Bay’s mantra is “Love People. Love Golf.” Rahz saw it in action firsthand.
“The whole staff here is great. A lot of them, you know, didn’t even bother me to ask what to do. They just saw something they could do and grabbed some tools and started helping out,” marveled Rahz. “The servers and bartenders were raking up debris around the greens. The starters, rangers, all doing the same thing.”
Mother Nature pitched in, too, helping clean up the mess she caused. Saltwater intrusion into the ponds around the course resulted in a large fish kill that affected tilapia, along with bass and small catfish. Rahz and his crew benefitted from what they called the B-Team, B being short for “bird.”
“Toward the end of the cleanup there was one small pond that you could see fish dying, gasping for air. I told the staff not to bother with it because we were just going to have to come back to clean it up later,” explained Rahz. “Within a few days there were vultures everywhere. We never had to come back and clean that pond. They cleaned up all the fish themselves and all we needed to do was rake up a few skeletons here and there.”
Rahz, the former aspiring educator, learned new lessons courtesy of Helene and Milton. When it comes to adapting to storm damage, the best classroom is most certainly outdoors. Rahz is open about the most critical lesson he’s learned and how it will manifest the next time devastating storms hit our area.
“The number one thing is what we’ve managed to do with the crew here. That’s been a big focus of mine. The camaraderie with the team and trying to build a unit that works together, and people are still having fun,” explained Rahz. “I’ve worked under a lot of different management styles. Crack the whip works to an extent, but you are running into diminishing returns down here.”
Eli Rahz has a good handle on what it takes to ward off Post Tropical Storm Disorder when it next strikes. Let’s hope it is well off into the future, if at all.
Scott Cotherman writes about all things golf-related in and around the Cape Haze Peninsula. Contact him at the.island.golfer@gmail.com.
Photos submitted
