Title: Senior Assistant Superintendent
Job Description: Senior Assistant Superintendent with ownership of the spray program and fine turf agronomy program.
Club: The Institute Golf Club, Morgan Hill, California
Position Summary
The Institute Golf Club, an ultra-private club located in Morgan Hill, California is seeking a Senior Assistant Superintendent with a specialist focus on spray program ownership, fine turf agronomy, and the consistent execution of agreed agronomic programs.
This is a senior operational role within the golf course maintenance team. The successful candidate will support the Golf Course Superintendent in the daily management of the golf course, while taking full day-to-day ownership of spray technician duties, spray planning, programming, execution, record keeping, and communication with ION 54-Turfgrass®, who act as the consulting agronomist.
This role is especially important for the management of bentgrass putting greens, where consistency of nutrition, growth regulation, disease prevention, moisture management, and surface refinement are critical to achieving the premium conditioning expected at The Institute Golf Club.
This is not simply a spray technician position. It is a senior agronomic management role requiring technical expertise, discipline, accuracy, and strong communication.
Primary Purpose of the Role
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will be responsible for converting agreed agronomic programs into practical, accurate, and timely field applications.
ION 54-Turfgrass®, as consulting agronomist will help build the agronomic programs. The Senior Assistant Superintendent will be responsible for ensuring those programs are followed, documented, and communicated clearly with the Superintendent and ION 54-Turfgrass®.
The role is designed to improve consistency, accountability, and execution across the spray program and fine turf management practices, particularly on the bentgrass greens.
Reporting Structure
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will report directly to the General Manager and collaborate with the Golf Course Superintendent, Property Owners, and the Property Owners’ Representative.
For spray program planning, technical execution, and agronomic reporting, the Senior Assistant Superintendent will liaise closely with ION 54-Turfgrass® as the consulting agronomist.
The Superintendent remains responsible for the overall golf course operation. The Senior Assistant Superintendent is responsible for ensuring the spray program and fine turf agronomic detail are executed accurately, consistently, and on time.
Key Responsibilities
Spray Program Ownership
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will have full day-to-day ownership of the spray program.
Responsibilities include:
- Planning weekly, fortnightly, and monthly spray applications.
- Preparing spray schedules in line with agreed ION 54-Turfgrass® agronomic programs.
- Reviewing product labels, rates, tank mix compatibility, water volumes, weather conditions, and application timing.
- Ensuring all spray applications are made accurately, safely, and at the correct interval.
- Separating foliar and soil directed spray applications where required.
- Ensuring soil directed sprays are watered into the rootzone immediately when required.
- Maintaining complete spray records, including product, rate, treated area, water volume, weather, operator, and follow up irrigation.
- Monitoring chemical and fertilizer inventory.
- Preparing product orders in advance to avoid missed applications.
- Ensuring all spray equipment is clean, calibrated, serviced, and ready for use.
- Maintaining a high standard of safety, storage, handling, and compliance around all plant protection products and fertilizers.
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will be the key technical link between the golf course team and ION 54-Turfgrass®.
Responsibilities include:
- Liaising directly with ION 54-Turfgrass® on spray treatments, timing, product selection, application intervals, and program execution.
- Providing weekly updates on turf response, clipping volume, disease pressure, growth rate, stress, recovery, and general plant health.
- Flagging concerns early before they become larger turf issues.
- Sending photos, field notes, data, and observations to support decision making.
- Confirming any proposed changes to the agreed spray program before implementation.
- Communicating clearly with the Superintendent on all planned and completed applications.
Bentgrass Greens Management
A major focus of the role will be the management of bentgrass putting greens.
Responsibilities include:
- Executing the agreed greens nutrition program.
- Managing light and frequent liquid feeding programs.
- Avoiding unnecessary growth flushes.
- Managing growth regulation intervals accurately.
- Supporting consistent green speed, firmness, smoothness, trueness, and plant health.
- Tracking clipping volume and using this data to guide growth management.
- Monitoring rooting, turf density, disease activity, moisture stress, and mechanical stress.
- Help reduce grain, puffiness, scalping risk, and excessive topdressing demand.
- Supporting decisions around mowing, rolling, brushing, topdressing, wetting agents, fungicides, and growth regulation.
- Working with the leadership team to ensure the greens remain under steady, controlled growth.
- The current agronomic direction is to improve consistency by reducing excessive growth and tightening growth regulation.
Agronomic Program Execution
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will be responsible for helping implement the agreed agronomic strategy across key playing surfaces.
This includes:
- Putting greens
- Collars
- Approaches
- Bentgrass tees
- Fairways where spray inputs are required
- Nursery areas
- Targeted disease, weed, wetting agent, and growth regulation programs
The role requires the ability to follow an agreed program precisely, while also having the confidence to identify field conditions that may require discussion or adjustment.
Data Collection and Reporting
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will oversee the collection, organization, and reporting of key agronomic data.
This may include:
- Clipping volume
- Soil moisture readings
- Green speed
- Firmness
- Soil temperature
- Root depth
- Visual stress ratings
- Disease observations
- Spray dates
- Fertilizer inputs
- Growth regulator intervals
- Topdressing dates and rates
- Wetting agent applications
- Fungicide applications
- Weather conditions at time of application.
The objective is to create a simple weekly dashboard that allows the Superintendent, ownership, and ION 54-Turfgrass® to understand whether the program is being executed correctly and how the turf is responding.
Daily Course Management Support
In addition to spray program ownership, the Senior Assistant Superintendent will support the Superintendent with broader course operations.
Responsibilities may include:
- Daily course setup
- Staff supervision
- Mowing quality control
- Irrigation review
- Moisture management
- Hand watering coordination
- Topdressing operations
- Aeration and cultural practices
- Disease scouting
- Bunker and detail quality
- Project execution
- Staff training
- Safety compliance
- Equipment coordination
- Quality control of daily maintenance tasks
The role should reduce technical pressure on the Superintendent and allow the Superintendent to focus on wider leadership responsibilities, including people, machinery, budgets, projects, scheduling, member expectations, and overall course presentation.
Course Presentation and Detail Standards
The Institute Golf Club requires a high level of detail across the property.
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will be expected to support a culture of detail, consistency, and accountability. This includes identifying and helping correct issues such as:
- Overgrown sprinkler heads
- Irrigation leaks
- Unfinished project areas
- Weak bunker edges
- Exposed drip lines
- Poor detail around feature trees
- Inconsistent mowing quality
- Unrepaired turf damage
- Areas of mechanical stress
Required Skills and Experience
The ideal candidate should have:
- Strong experience in fine turf management, preferably with bentgrass putting greens.
- Proven spray application experience.
- Strong knowledge of fertilizers, fungicides, wetting agents, plant growth regulators, herbicides, and tank mixing principles.
- Ability to calibrate and operate spray equipment accurately.
- Understanding of foliar versus soil directed applications.
- Understanding of plant growth regulation and light frequent nutrition.
- Strong record keeping and reporting habits.
- High attention to detail.
- Ability to follow an agreed agronomic program precisely.
- Confidence communicating with a Superintendent, ownership, and consulting agronomist.
- Strong organizational skills.
- Calm decision making under pressure.
- A practical, hands-on work ethic.
- Ability to identify turf stress, disease activity, moisture issues, and mechanical damage.
- Ability to work independently while respecting the chain of command.
Preferred Qualifications
Preferred qualifications include:
- Degree, diploma, or certificate in turfgrass management, agronomy, horticulture, plant science, or a related field.
- Valid California pesticide applicator license, or ability to obtain one.
- Sprayer calibration and chemical handling certification.
- Experience at a high-end private club, championship venue, or tournament conditioned golf course.
- Experience managing creeping bentgrass greens in warm or stressful climates.
- Strong understanding of golf course playing quality, including green speed, firmness, smoothness, and consistency.
Personal Attributes
The successful candidate should be:
- Detail focused
- Reliable
- Organized
- Accountable
- Technically curious
- Calm under pressure
- Comfortable with data
- Clear in communication
- Respectful of leadership structure
- Confident enough to own the spray program
- Disciplined enough to follow the agreed agronomic direction
- Practical and hands on
- Able to spot small problems before they become large problems
Key Performance Indicators
Success in the role will be measured by:
- Spray applications completed accurately and on schedule
- Clean, accurate, and up to date spray records
- Consistent execution of the ION 54-Turfgrass® agronomic program
- Improved consistency of bentgrass greens
- Reduced growth flushes
- Reduced scalping risk
- Improved clipping volume control
- Better communication between the site team and ION 54-Turfgrass®
- Early identification of disease, stress, or turf decline
- Improved attention to detail across key playing surfaces
- Improved confidence that the agreed agronomic program is being followed
- Improved consistency in nutrition, growth regulation, and plant health management
Working Relationship with the Superintendent
This role is intended to support the Superintendent, not replace the Superintendent’s authority.
The Superintendent remains responsible for overall leadership of the golf course maintenance operation.
The Senior Assistant Superintendent will provide specialist support by owning the technical execution of the fine turf agronomic programme and its execution.
Applications: Please send your application and CV to: recruitment@turfgrass.golf
For the attention of Rachel Chiverton
Closing Date: by 5pm (Pacific time) September 11th, 2026