{"id":104584,"date":"2025-08-29T15:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T15:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/104584\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T15:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T15:51:08","slug":"herb-graffis-businessperson-of-the-year-arizona-golf-hall-of-fame-inductee-rob-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/104584\/","title":{"rendered":"Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year: Arizona Golf Hall of Fame inductee Rob Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PhotoPhoto by: David Huff Photography<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, Rob Collins was in fear of losing his job. <\/p>\n

Paradise Valley Country Club<\/a> in Paradise Valley, Ariz.<\/a>, is one of those premier private clubs that seeks no publicity \u2026 especially bad publicity. In 2006, Paradise Valley CC members and employees saw the name of their course in the news. The reason? The course, along with others, was cited by the Arizona Department of Water Resources for exceeding its allocated water amount.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey handed out a fine and put our name in the paper,\u201d Collins recalls. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to not take that personally. This is what you do. You spend hours every day working toward a goal. And then you\u2019re handed a citation, your name is in the paper and everybody\u2019s upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The immediate reaction was to turn the water off on 10 of the course\u2019s 122 acres. Turf died. Huge trees died.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d drive the course, and it was like there were scabs on the course,\u201d Collins says. \u201cYou can\u2019t ignore it or pretend it didn\u2019t happen. In the moment, it was a constant reminder that something was wrong. We screwed up, and we\u2019ve got to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his entire professional career \u2014 which started in 1983 with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Nimitz \u2014 Collins has been fixing things. After an honorable discharge from the Navy, he discovered golf course maintenance and \u201cit set the hook.\u201d Time at Ohio<\/a> State University, an internship at Muirfield Village, stops in Scottsdale and then St. Louis, followed by a return to Arizona and Paradise Valley CC in 1995.<\/p>\n

Forty years later, he was inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark (Woodward) called me to tell me, and he happened to be with Shawn Emerson at the time; they\u2019re both good friends of mine,\u201d Collins says. \u201cThey were driving in Texas and told me. It\u2019s a great honor. It\u2019s nice to be recognized. It\u2019s not until after you experience it and you look back and you realize \u2026 this is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone loves Rob<\/p>\n

For many reasons \u2014 among them that recent induction into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame \u2014 Collins is Golfdom\u2019s 2025 Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year<\/a>. Along with his business acumen, Collins is often referred to as an outstanding superintendent<\/a> and a kind man.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob Collins is a fantastic superintendent,\u201d says longtime Desert Mountain director of agronomy Shawn Emerson, now with GSI Executive Search, who nominated Collins for the Award. \u201cHe\u2019s just kept developing procedures in the business world of a golf course superintendent, in the sense that he\u2019s taken care of his golf course and focused on playability at the same time. Over time, he\u2019s become a leader in Arizona, working with city officials on water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AssistantAssistant Superintendents Oliver Clanin and Madison Rudsinski listen as Collins shares some wisdom. \u201cRob has some pretty unconventional tactics,\u201d Clanin says. (Photo by: David Huff Photography)<\/p>\n

Interestingly, it was Collins who replaced Emerson\u2019s father as superintendent at Paradise Valley CC. It was Emerson\u2019s \u201cdream job,\u201d but also a place he never got to work because bylaws forbid Emerson\u2019s father from hiring his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob treated my dad with so much respect,\u201d Emerson recalls. \u201cNo one could replace my legend (father) better than Rob, because he\u2019s so respectful and kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins was also nominated by Woodward, a former president of GCSAA<\/a> as well as the CEO of the association in the mid-2000s and the host superintendent of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Woodward calls Collins \u201cone of the best superintendents in the state of Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons I nominated him is because he\u2019s so active with our local association and the Arizona Water Association,\u201d Woodward says. \u201cAnd also, the way he approaches his own course \u2014 he does a lot of research there. He knows all the latest and greatest in turf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodward adds that Collins has, for a long time, served his fellow superintendents in Arizona as a spokesperson on behalf of the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about Rob is he\u2019s very calm, he never gets rattled when he\u2019s doing presentations,\u201d Woodward says. \u201cHe\u2019s very thoughtful. When he talks, people listen. He\u2019s done a lot of really cool interviews with our local media. There couldn\u2019t be a better proponent for our industry \u2014 everyone loves Rob.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will it sink, or will it float?<\/p>\n

Collins looks back at that citation in 2006 as one of his most memorable days as a superintendent. It set in motion a major irrigation renovation and turf reduction at Paradise Valley CC, and work continues to this day to study the course and how it can best maintain its status as a premier facility while also being a good steward of the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are tethered to our weather station and make a lot of decisions based on weather. We\u2019ve migrated to moisture meters. I know that\u2019s commonplace, but we\u2019re working with it to a degree that we\u2019re one of the courses working with Toro on a new software they\u2019re developing with turfRad,\u201d Collins says. \u201cOur goal is to get down to 90 acres of turf or less yet maintain our feel of a parkland course in a desert environment, which is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins has an assistant superintendent, Oliver Clanin, whose sole responsibility is moisture management and daily adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cRob has some pretty unconventional tactics that we like to use,\u201d Clanin says. \u201cI drive turfRad pretty much every day and then make adjustments. You can\u2019t get (irrigation) perfect \u2014 there are lots of adjustments, nozzle adjustments and sometimes things break.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water topic is profound for us,\u201d Collins says. \u201cIt\u2019s about evaluating how the course dries down differently and being able to put water where it\u2019s needed. I think (superintendents) have thrown out the DU (distribution uniformity) model, and they\u2019ve oriented themselves with what people are calling the MU model \u2014 moisture uniformity. Having a system to measure and evaluate the change in moisture is where we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the induction ceremony for the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, Brian Whitlark, USGA agronomist for the West region, called Collins \u201cthe Benjamin Franklin of water conservation forefront in Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins considers his course a laboratory and is thrilled when a company connects with him to test their new technology. A recent example: A company that has taken bomb detection technology used by New York City police and adapted it to agriculture as a way to detect neutrons and then volumetric water content.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have this gizmo \u2014 it\u2019s the size of my desk \u2014 and they came out and said, \u2018Rob, we hear you\u2019re doing a lot with moisture testing.\u2019 It\u2019s measuring cosmic rays as they hit the Earth based on soil moisture,\u201d Collins says. \u201cWe put it between our second and eighth holes, and the third and seventh, and we waited to see if this would sink, or would it float? And it worked. It was within .1 of what we measured it at. So, they asked me if they could install them in our driving range. It\u2019s measuring the change in soil moisture, which is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening doors<\/p>\n

Madison Rudsinski studied horticulture science and floral design at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Ill. During COVID<\/a>, she took an internship at a golf course and fell in love with the industry.<\/p>\n

She decided to try golf maintenance in the desert southwest and sent out r\u00e9sum\u00e9s to courses on her wish list. Collins was the only one to respond.<\/p>\n

\"AA snapshot of the \u201cfraternity\u201d of interns Collins worked with at Muirfield Village. (Photo courtesy of: Rob Collins)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe saw that I had a background in horticulture science and asked if I\u2019d like to come on as an assistant-in-training,\u201d Rudsinski says. \u201cNot many people would give somebody that\u2019s still training and going to school the opportunity to move up in the club, especially in a club like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since joining the staff at Paradise Valley, Rudsinski has volunteered on the crew for the 2021 U.S. Women\u2019s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco; the 2023 U.S. Women\u2019s Open at Pebble Beach; the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.; and was accepted into Nufarm\u2019s Excel Leadership program.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Collins) has been a great mentor. He\u2019s opened a lot of doors for me and helped me become who I am,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Collins\u2019 willingness to try \u201cunconventional tactics,\u201d as Clanin describes them, is one of the things Rudsinski appreciates most about her job as lead assistant superintendent at Paradise Valley CC.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, it\u2019s like its own little research facility,\u201d she says. \u201cWe work a lot with Pogo. We work a lot with turfRad. We have the turf reduction project. We\u2019re looking at zoysia and tracking how it conserves water differently than bermudagrass varieties. It keeps you on your toes, all of our projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunate at Paradise<\/p>\n

In May, Collins celebrated his 30th year as director of greens and grounds at Paradise Valley CC. He recently found a photo of the crew he worked with back at Muirfield in 1988 and marveled at how many of those people he still knows and the great things they\u2019ve accomplished in golf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking at Muirfield, it was such a fraternity,\u201d he says. \u201cJust deep friendships. Without dropping names, there\u2019s a core group and \u2026 those friendships \u2026 I look at where all those people are, 30 years later, we\u2019re all in these great positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins is still married to his high school sweetheart \u2014 Misty asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance when they were in the ninth grade. The couple has hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim six times and also likes to build homes. Someday, maybe, he\u2019ll retire to one of those homes.<\/p>\n

But he isn\u2019t thinking about retirement yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou turn 60, and people start asking you about retirement. I don\u2019t know what (retirement) looks like,\u201d he says. \u201cThe young folks I see, I guess maybe I can see myself in them. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m reliving my youth through them, but I see their ambition, and it\u2019s contagious. They want to learn more, and we\u2019re in a good position to help. I\u2019m fortunate that, here at Paradise Valley, we\u2019re comfortable with trying new technology, with trying things out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had good success in finding really good employees, including our two assistants who want to seek a path in turf. (Rudsinski) got to volunteer at The Olympic Club, and then she went to Brookline. She\u2019s killing it, the hook is set,\u201d Collins continues. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s exciting for me. Who doesn\u2019t want to be a part of that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by: David Huff Photography Twenty years ago, Rob Collins was in fear of losing his job. Paradise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-104584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}