Meet Mapletøn's Director of Agronomy: Mike Nelson

Mike Nelson called it an accident. His friends called it crazy.

Last spring, the golf course superintendent was playing in his Sunday night hockey league (against guys half his age) when an opponent's stick got lodged in the boards and caught Nelson's side, pole vaulting him off the ice. Ouch.

The pain didn't go away. Weeks passed before his wife finally persuaded Nelson to see a doctor. The diagnosis: three fractured ribs.

"All healed up now," Nelson said. "I'll get back out there eventually."

At 56 years old — "going on 30," he jokes — Nelson isn't coasting toward retirement. Not on the ice. Not on the golf course. After 18 years as superintendent at Blue Top Ridge near Iowa City, this summer Nelson packed his bags (and skates) for Sioux Falls, where he will lead Mapletøn's agronomy team.

"They've got a good one," said Chris Hickman, a former colleague of Nelson and head superintendent at Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort. "He's a true professional. He will definitely give them a great return on their investment."

Nelson's extensive experience will be critical to Mapletøn's early success. In golf course agronomy, a superintendent might go an entire career without overseeing a new construction or "grow in" process. Nothing wrong with that, especially during an era when new courses are few and far between.

But Mapletøn will be Nelson's fourth grow-in. That's highly unusual.

"There's superintendents and then there's grow-in superintendents," Hickman said. "Grow-in superintendents are just a little bit nuttier than the rest.

"I think you have to be. It's one thing to take over a course that's already there and established. But it's a different thing to take a patch of dirt and turn it into a golf course. It takes a lot of mental fortitude."

Nelson, a native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, learned the game from his dad. He got down to a 3 handicap in high school. That's when he worked on his first grounds crew.

"It combined my love of golf with the maintenance aspects, which really intrigued me."

Nelson landed his first superintendent job in 1994 at brand-new Rush Creek in the Twin Cities; he was an assistant. Next stop: also-new Dacotah Ridge. Then another new project: Rees Jones' Blue Top Ridge in Iowa. Each provided lessons in perseverance.

"I've been in situations where you get everything perfect, you get three or four holes seeded and it's just right and you get that 3- or 4-inch rain that sets you back."

But for all their headaches, grow-ins are invigorating, too. The process of building a team and a culture. Watching golf holes come to life. "All that startup stuff is really energizing," Nelson said.

He enjoys people more than the grass. Some superintendents write daily tasks on a board or a screen. Nelson makes a point to bring his entire crew together, usually about 6 a.m. They drink coffee and talk about the day's challenges.

"There's a lot of easier ways to make money than working on a grounds staff," Nelson said. "It's hard work. It's a lot of sweat and grinding. Anything I can to keep the staff engaged, that's what I strive to do. I really try to keep a team feel."

Those relationships pay off during stormy times.

"You're not worried about getting yelled at, you just worry about disappointing him," Hickman said. "The way he carries himself, you just always want to do your best for him."

Nelson and his wife, Michelle, raised three boys. One is now an assistant superintendent on Nantucket Island. Via phone calls, father and son share the frustrations of the job. The joy of it, too.

"It's just something that just becomes part of you," Nelson said. "It gets in your system."

Golf course maintenance isn't the only thing. Nelson's hours will be extra long the next two years as Mapletøn matures and builds a national reputation. But once he finally unpacks boxes, Nelson does have a goal for winter.

Find a hockey league.