On a day when many along the Eastern Seaboard were busy digging out from one of the biggest snowstorms in recent years, Craig Currier was doing some digging of his own, plowing through more than 12 years of memories and mementos as he packed up his office and prepared for his final day as the superintendent at Bethpage (N.Y.) State Park.
Currier, an 18-year GCSAA member who is in a select group of superintendents who have hosted multiple U.S. Opens at the same facility, is leaving Bethpage, taking on the position of superintendent at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., a private 27-hole facility just a short drive down the Long Island Expressway from the public facility he's tended to since 1997. His new position officially begins Jan. 1.
In his first interview since news of his move broke in the pages of Newsday in late November, Currier says the opening at Glen Oaks was a "once-in-a-lifetime deal.
"It's definitely a new chapter in my career," he says. "I've been at Bethpage for 12 1/2 years, and I've loved it and all of the people I've worked with. But as I considered the offer, I just thought it was now or never. It's a good move for my family and kids — I'm still on Long Island, and my wife can keep her job, which is great. The timing was right."
Currier says he had not been looking for greener pastures when he first began talking with officials at Glen Oaks, several of whom he'd known for many years. "They just asked if I would have any interest in the position, so I went over for lunch with the president and the head pro, really just as a courtesy to them. We talked about the club, the job, what they were looking for."
One of the most difficult parts of his decision, Currier admitted, was the realization that the move would likely spell the end of his days preparing courses for major championships. Largely because they probably have no desire to do so, Glen Oaks is unlikely to ever play host to a major. And even though Bethpage's Black Course currently has not been awarded a third U.S. Open, the chances were good that the event would return to the vaunted public facility before the end of Currier's career. And had that happened, he would have one of just two superintendents (according to our admittedly thin records) to have hosted three U.S. Opens at the same course.
"That gave me a lot to think about," Currier says. "I can tell you there has been no bigger thrill in my career than hosting those U.S. Opens, and I feel really, really lucky that I was able to be involved in two of them. I was aware that there are very few guys out there who have been involved in hosting three Opens at the same course and that eventually, I could have done that. But I hosted two, they were great, and I'm really comfortable with that and that part of my career."
One of Currier's first tasks at Glen Oaks will be an overhaul of the club's short-game practice area. He's also eying a renovation of the facility's bunkers — he was heavily involved in bunker work at Bethpage, most notably on the Black Course — and has tree work all around the property on his list of things to do.
"It's certainly a well-known facility around these parts, and the membership just wants it to be the best it can be," Currier says. "It'll be a different challenge, obviously, going from a public facility to private. But I'm looking forward to it."
What he wasn't anticipating with his job change was the amount of media attention it would attract. Even though this was his first official interview since the announcement, he'd seen his name in the pages of everything from the previously mentioned Newsday to the Wall Street Journal to Internet postings from golf course management industry publications.
"I've really been a little blown away by it, to be honest. I really thought there would be a little bigger news going on for them to cover than me changing jobs," he laughs.
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