TTA Member Spotlight on Chris Sykes

We sat down with TTA’s Secretary/Treasurer Chris Sykes to learn about his path to success as a Golf Course Superintendent, his volunteer work in the community, and one unusual talent.

Title: Head Golf Course Superintendent, Toqua Golf Club at Tellico Village since 2011. Tellico Village is a retirement community with over 9,000 residents and 2,500 golfers. Tellico Village features three championship golf courses.

Waterfront view from Tellico Village’s 14th hole

Background: B.S. in Crop and Soil Environmental Science, Concentration in Turf Management from Virginia Tech; The Honors Course (Ooltewah, Tennessee); Cherokee Country Club (Knoxville, Tennessee); Orange Lake Resort and Country Club (Kissimmee, Florida); John Deere Golf; Toqua Golf Club (Loudon, Tennessee)

Chris Sykes

Community Involvement: Chris volunteers his expertise to maintain numerous sports fields in the Greater Knoxville area, including at Christian Academy of Knoxville, which was awarded High School Sports Field of the Year in 2016. Chris coaches golf at CAK and also created a golf program at Tate’s School of Discovery. He has volunteered for many youth sports as a coach, manager, and umpire.

Chris (Center) with two of his youth golf teams

Personal: Chris and his wife, Necole, have three children: 20- year-old twins Mary Grace and Lucas are both sophomores in college, and 13-year-old Palmer is a seventh grader at Webb School of Knoxville.

Chris also has a unique talent: paintgun art? He creates colorful, detailed logos on the course freehand with a simple paintgun. We’re not exactly sure how he discovered this talent, but we are very impressed!

Chris’s paintgun logo art

Q: What is a career lesson you’ve learned the hard way?

A: Mother Nature always wins… and it will humble you! I’ve experienced everything from three direct hits by major hurricanes while in Florida, a microburst, with winds over 120 miles per hour, to an electrical storm that took out everything with wires. Of course I’ve seen record rainfall, droughts, heat and winterkill. With things like that, you do your best to manage. You can’t control what happens, but you can influence the response.

Q: What has been your greatest challenge as a Golf Course Superintendent?

A: Staffing. It’s been a struggle across the industry, but landscaping and hospitality jobs are hard to keep filled. There’s some political elements there, but the bottom line is it’s hard to compete with some of the other jobs out there that don’t require as much hard, physical work.

Q: How do you see the industry responding to that issue?

A: One change that’s coming is equipment. As the workforce gets smaller, GPS-driven, autonomous machines will become more common. The technology is out there now, it’s just too expensive to be practical for most courses. But as time passes, and hopefully those prices change, that might be the best option.

Q: What has been the best part of your job?

A: I’ve been blessed to have some great Assistants. I have been able to help train and mentor seven of my former assistants and help them grow and move on to head superintendent positions, five of which have courses in the state of Tennessee. It’s been great to watch those guys develop their management skills and earn those opportunities. I’m proud to have been a positive influence in their careers as they sure made me look good.

Q: How do you handle the rising expectations of members?

A: Since the 2008 recession, resources have gone down while expectations have gone up. You just have to get creative with how to do better. We work hard on Continuous Improvement (CI) Initiatives to solve those problems and use the resources we do have wisely.

Q: What has surprised you in your career?

A: Without really meaning to, I became the guy who comes in to turn around a course that has struggled. I’ve done that three times now, and it’s rewarding when you do it right, but the process can be tough at times.

TTA thanks Chris for his work as Secretary/Treasurer and his commitment to the association.