Ron Sawyer (left) receives award from PCHOA President John Kiekbusch.
Vickie Hamilton
Ron Sawyer, PebbleCreek’s Landscape Supervisor, is the August Employee of the Month. Ron and the four employees who work for him make up the Hot Shot Team that respond to green card and other requests for service in common areas. This allows DLC crews to remain on their normal rotating cycles of the common area maintenance schedule. The Hot Shot Team began work in November of 2013 and “have proven to be invaluable” according to Paul McGinnis, director of Golf Course and Common Area Maintenance. The Hot Shot Team, in addition to responding to customer service requests, also maintain all the sports courts, clean up around the clubhouses’ exterior and roadsides and have been rebuilding the horseshoe pits at Sunrise Park in Eagle’s Nest.
Ron, who is originally from Maine, grew up on a small farm appreciating the outdoors and learning the meaning of hard work. He has worked on golf courses, turf and ornamental plant management for 30 years. Ron was educated in a Turf and Ornamental School for landscape professionals and met Paul about 20 years ago at a Golf Course Superintendent’s Association of America Conference at which Paul was one of the featured speakers. Ron has helped build two golf courses from the ground up and has served as an assistant superintendent and superintendent of golf courses.
Ron takes pride in his customer service skills stating he’s happy when he is able to make residents happy. “Putting yourself in their shoes and trying to understand how the customer feels,” is the best way to provide good customer service, according to Ron. Paul agrees and adds that Ron has “gone above and beyond the call of duty to please homeowners. The work of Ron and his staff have improved the overall look of the community.” Ron and the Hot Shot Team have “reduced the response time to green card submissions and have received many positive comments from residents on their work,” states Paul.
In addition to enjoying working with the residents and staff in PebbleCreek, Ron’s other favorite part of his job is being outside and “preserving what Mother Nature has given us.” “I work with her, not against her,” states Ron. “The residents take pride in this beautiful community and rightfully so.” Sitting on the Tuscany Falls Clubhouse patio enjoying the view and spreading his arms wide, Ron asks, “This is my office; I have all of Eagle’s Nest and Tuscany Falls to enjoy every day; can it get any better than this?”