Dan Dinelli is the golf superintendent of North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Illinois. He gives a tour of the course in a golf cart, pointing out features like manicured sand traps and describing how the grounds crew prepares the course. As a third-generation superintendent, Dinelli has worked at the club all his life, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, uncle, and father. He discusses the challenges of balancing the environmental health of the course with maintaining a playable surface for golfers.

1. 16 | lifestyle & arts
■ by david sweet
If one interviews a chef, a
kitchen would be a perfect
setting. An artist would
probably feel most com-
fortable talking in his
or her studio.
A golf superinten-
dent? Jumping as a
passenger into a
green golf cart and
touring his place of
work is the most
sensible way to go.
“This a flat piece
of property, but
doesn’t that look beau-
tiful?” asks Dan Dinelli,
cart pointed toward
the sixth green at
North Shore Country
Club in Glenview,
where the putting sur-
face is elevated and
framed by three meticu-
lously raked sand traps.
On a windy day in May, few
golfers are out in the
55-degree weather
(and fewer still
would find
the sixth
hole entic-
ing if they
ended up
in one of
the bun-
kers).
But
plenty of
small red
trucks roll
around the 170-acre course, as groundskeepers and
greenskeepers prepare it for the short Chicago golf
season — and especially for the Encompass
Championship, a PGA event that will make its
second trip to North Shore Country Club in June.
No one in sports oversees a larger playing area
than a golf superintendent. Club members rarely
see them on the expanse — their work is often done
away from drives and putts. In fact, their success
is achieved by how little they’re thought of — when
they come to mind, it’s usually because the fairways
are splotchy or greens inconsistent.
As a third-generation superintendent, Dinelli
knows this better than most. His grandfather Frank
started the tradition, overseeing the course at
Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park. He
was succeeded there by Dan’s uncle, Jerry Dinelli,
who unveiled the first computerized controlled irri-
gation system in the land — back when a computer
filled an entire golf shop.
Dan’s father, Joe, started at North Shore Country
Club in 1960 — the year Dan was born. Their two-
story house sat just off the 15th hole. Joe served as
superintendent for more than 30 years.
“Basically, I’ve been here all of my life. It’s kind
of frightening,” says Dinelli. “I have two daughters
(Carrie and Jessie) trying to figure out what they
want to do for careers. I never had that problem.”
Dinelli worked at North Shore during high school
and afterward. Once he attended Harper College,
“I fell in love with school,” he says, and graduated
with a horticulture degree. He followed up by tak-
ing agronomy and turf management at Michigan
State.
Though North Shore’s history is splendid — it has
hosted a U.S. Open, among other top events — the
course had been off the pro circuit for awhile until
the Champions Tour arrived there last summer.
Dinelli knew the televised event would put
the club on a big stage.
“It was pretty intense and stressful
leading up to it. You wonder about
the what-ifs,” says Dinelli, who
eventually contended with an
onslaught of rain. “But it was fun
during the event once you fig-
ured, ‘We’ve done the best we
can.’ “
An unusually cold and
lengthy winter just afflicted
local courses. Clubs such as
Bob O’ Link in Highland
Park lost a number of greens
— ones often ready for play
in April were not opened
until this month. Dinelli’s
club fared much better,
in part because his crew
started taking turf sam-
ples in early February.
Only one green — the 14th,
which also suffered from sitting
in the shade — needed work.
The 53-year-old is proud of the
course’s environmental stew-
ardship. Driving down
one fairway,
Dinelli
points to a nest. Two baby owls are up there now,
he explains, while last year it housed a red-tail
hawk — a type of bird Dinelli breeds in his spare
time.
“These birds are at the top of the food chain — if
the environment was polluted, they wouldn’t be here
thriving,” he says. “Those ponds there; my Dad built
them. Rainbow trout are in there, and they don’t
tolerate poor water.”
In fact, the bushy-haired superintendent says
the toughest challenge he faces is balancing the
health of nature’s gifts and playability.
“The goal is to use only just enough water, fertil-
izer and plant protectants to keep plants functioning
— and yet offer a fast, firm and smooth playing sur-
face,” says Dinelli, adding he hasn’t played golf beyond
practicing putting for about four years.
In his father’s day, it was tougher to keep the course
in shape. Crew members turned on each sprinkler
by hand at night. Today, a computer takes care of it
— and jets of water are regulated down to the
second.
“I remember the guys knocking on my Dad’s door
at 1 in the morning and yelling, ‘Joe! Joe! We’ve got
a leak,” Dinelli recalls. “He’d have to go turn the
valve off.”
As Dinelli looks forward to the club’s second
Encompass Championship June 16-22 — with play-
ers such as defending champion Craig Stadler and
Lake Forest’s Chip Beck gearing up to capture the
trophy — he says its importance extends beyond
the event.
“It’s all about raising money to donate to chari-
ties,” says Dinelli (Junior Achievement of Chicago
and The First Tee of Greater Chicago are among
the beneficiaries). “At the end of the day, the club
is supporting several important efforts. That’s what
it’s all about.” ■
Life as superintendent is par for the course
Dan Dinelli
illustration by barry blitt
Congratulations to the Class of 2014