By: Greg and Beverly Wise
SunnilandSUPERSpotlight: Dustin Powell
It is October 2nd, 2018 a tropical depression has formed just South of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and is starting to build. The storm track predicts landfall in the panhandle of Florida, and the inevitable is only days away. You have planned for it… you have created scenarios of “What if.” But it is now a reality… the storm has intensified; it has a name - Hurricane Michael – and it is on the way. The only thing is… how much strength it will build, and where it will hit. Ground zero for us would be Panama City Beach, or somewhere else East or West of the city. In a recent visit to Panama City Beach, we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss… the harsh reality of saving a coastal golf course with Bay Point Golf Club, Superintendent, Dustin Powell. How did you get into the Golf Course Superintendent business? Not knowing exactly what I was going to do after high school a school counselor new how much I enjoyed sports and being outdoors suggested I talk to a previous high school attendee that was now working in the golf course management program and teaching classes in Lake City. I first started schooling in the golf course equipment maintenance side… but after the first year, I realized that was not for me, so I switch for the final 3-years to the agronomy side of the business. I did my first intern job with Tim, that had gotten me excited about this business… and then came to Bay Point in 2007 as a second assistant. 54
I had worked my way up the chain to
grass and that is what makes golfers hap-
take over Superintendent operations here at
pen. I am not a big people person. I would
Bay Point in 2016. So, thinking about what
just as soon be on my own, working the
we saw before the storm… when we were
ground.
able to come back to the golf course… over 3,500 trees were down, and the course had
What are the main things that help
to be saved.
keep this facility the way it is… and
We realized that the Nicklaus course was
keep people coming back to enjoy?
not damaged as much the Meadows. The
For me… it is having an entire program
Nicklaus course was built in a more open
from fertilizers, pre-emergence, taking care
part of the property, and only lost about
of the grass and soil conditions. Hav-
1,000 trees, but the Meadows course was
ing a solid trackable baseline, so you can
built in the old standing groves of Oaks
see things happening and if something is
and Pines and lost the most trees at nearly
changing, you can get ahead of the issue
3,000.
and get it resolved, before it becomes a problem.
What do you enjoy most about the Turf Industry? I enjoy being outside in nature. I am NOT
Okay… I admit it… asked the loaded question here.
and indoor guy. I am not a big Golf Guy. I
Is there anything that golfers do that
would rather be hunting and fishing… but
just drive you nuts?
my degree creates an ability to grow good
Everything! as he was laughing. The Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 2
