Pat Ingalls
From undeveloped land to lush fairways, and from self-proclaimed grass grower to award-winning, course-maintenance professional, Paul McGinnis has experienced and directed remarkable change, since hiring on as superintendent of Eagle’s Nest Golf Course in October of 1999. Now, after 17 years, PebbleCreek’s director of Golf-Course Maintenance is retiring, effective September 16.
“Watching the community grow and become a little city,” McGinnis said rates as his strongest memory. “When I came, there was nothing on the Tuscany Falls side – not even a house there. Robson Corporation built the golf course first,” he said, then added houses. “That’s been really interesting to watch us grow bigger and better.”
Under McGinnis’ leadership, the grow-better part included bunker-improvement projects on all five nines, building the Lakes nine and incorporating environmental stewardship into managerial decision-making.
He has served on the Governor’s Panel for Water Conservation and is currently a Grassroots Ambassador for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, connecting golf-course superintendents with members of the U.S. Congress to improve communication on behalf of the golf industry.
“In the industry, we’re really restricted and have to continue education in pesticides and insecticides to comply with state and federal requirements,” McGinnis said about industry changes he has seen during his career.
McGinnis’ many achievements and perseverance caught industry leaders’ attention. McGinnis, a GCSAA member for 38 years, served on GCSAA’s board of directors for nine years as its national president in 1997 and as three-time past president of its Arizona chapter. He was inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 1998 and is a nationally sought-after speaker on golf-course maintenance. In February, GCSAA presented McGinnis its 2016 Colonel John Morley Distinguished Service Award for “outstanding, substantive and enduring contributions to the advancement of the golf-course superintendent profession.”
The 65-year-old Peoria resident takes it all in stride. A native of Ajo, Arizona, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from Arizona State University. He oversaw golf-course maintenance at Union Hills, Moon Valley and Alta Mesa country clubs before joining PebbleCreek’s staff.
Now he looks forward to “kicking back and traveling to see parts of the U.S. we’ve never seen,” he said. He and his wife of 44 years, Kendra, who recently retired, have 14 grandchildren who “are going to keep us busy.” He plans to continue in leadership roles on several GCSAA committees and as a liaison to national golf-industry representatives with U.S. Representative Trent Franks, R-Arizona.
His co-workers bid him farewell with kind remarks.
“Paul’s been great to work with,” said Ronnie Decker, Eagle’s Nest Golf Pro Shop manager. “We’ve always communicated closely and worked together for our golfers’ benefit. He’s a good-hearted soul.”
Lena Godebu, who has worked in the Eagles Nest Golf Pro Shop since before McGinnis was hired, called him “wonderful; absolutely great.”
Bill Barnard, who began his employment at PebbleCreek as assistant golf pro several months after McGinnis began mused, ”We’ve grown in PebbleCreek together and he’s made my success here better. Many of Paul’s (golf-course) improvements have been forgotten, they happened so long ago. New residents here are unaware of how much he has done. We went from having nothing to where we are now. We’ll miss him tremendously – he’s such a good person.”