Leadership on the Links

Welcome to Leadership on the Links, the essential podcast for golf course superintendents, general managers, and executives who are passionate about mastering the art of golf course management. Hosted by Tyler Bloom, this podcast brings you into the world of golf course leadership with insightful interviews, expert advice, and actionable strategies designed to help you excel in your role.Each episode features in-depth conversations with industry experts who share their knowledge on a wide range of topics, from turf management and sustainability to team leadership and operational efficiency. Tyler's engaging style ensures that every discussion is not only informative but also enjoyable, capturing the spirit of a casual yet insightful chat as if you're walking the course with a trusted mentor.

Leadership on the Links is a sports podcast hosted by Tyler Bloom, with 117 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Tyler Bloom hosts Leadership on the Links, a sports show with 117 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #113

  113 | Mitch Rupert: Superintendent Hiring and Interview Strategy

  Aug 11, 202644 minS1

  The Leadership on the Links Summit takes place October 12, 2026 at Toftrees Golf Resort in State College, Pennsylvania. The one day program runs from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM and is built for golf course superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of agronomy, equipment managers, and club leaders, with industry partners, vendors, and consultants also welcome. The day includes breakfast, lunch, education credits, and a mix of speakers, panel discussion, and attendee engagement, with an evening networking element under consideration. Registration is $197. The first twenty sign-ups pay $147 with code SUMMIT50 at checkout, and each attendee registers individually with their own email address. Lodging details and sponsorship opportunities are available on request. Full details are at https://bloomgolfpartners.com/our-events/ and registration is at https://bloom-golf-partners.circle.so/checkout/leadership-on-the-links-summit-2026 . Most conversations about hiring focus on the candidate, yet the outcome of a search is shaped just as much by how clearly a club defines what it actually needs. Mitch Rupert has spent five years on the other side of that table as Communications Manager at Bloom Golf Partners, conducting candidate interviews and due diligence for searches ranging from assistant superintendent roles to director of agronomy positions. He came to the work after two decades as an award winning sports journalist, and that outside vantage point shapes how he reads hiring committees that change direction midway through a search, strong candidates who withdraw late, and the difference between a prepared candidate and a rehearsed one. In this episode of Leadership on the Links, host Tyler Bloom speaks with Mitch Rupert about the mechanics of a superintendent search, the education gap between agronomy teams and club leadership, and the next phase of professional development at Bloom Golf Partners. What You'll Learn in This Episode ● Hiring committees frequently adjust their criteria partway through a search, and Rupert explains why communicating those shifts early prevents frustration for the club, the search firm, and the candidate. ● Candidates who withdraw after learning more about a role are making a defensible decision, and Rupert argues that taking the wrong job is far worse than not getting the job at all. ● Clubs generally understand the financial requirements of maintaining a golf course but often underestimate the human side of it, the staffing and leadership investment behind those conditions, a gap Bloom Golf Partners is working to close with general managers, hiring teams, and green committees. ● Rupert offers feedback to candidates who did not get the job, and roughly sixty to seventy percent take him up on it, conversations that help professionals identify skill gaps before their next opportunity. ● Authenticity outperforms rehearsal in an interview setting, and Rupert compares the process to poker, a process-oriented game rather than a results-oriented one, where sound decisions matter more than the outcome of any single hand. ● Bloom Golf Partners will launch a professional development platform following the Summit, offering monthly engagement and ongoing career and team development support in the months between annual industry gatherings. ● The firm's inaugural turfgrass management scholarship drew thirty to forty applicants from across the country and led to an introduction to The Outpost Foundation, which funds club employees pursuing turf management education such as online and advanced certificate programs. Links and Resources Mitch Rupert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchrupert/ Bloom Golf Partners: https://bloomgolfpartners.com Leadership on the Links Summit: https://bloomgolfpartners.com/our-events/ Summit Registration, code SUMMIT50 for the first twenty: https://bloom-golf-partners.circle.so/checkout/leadership-on-the-links-summit-2026 Bloom Golf Partners Turfgrass Management Scholarship: https://bloomgolfpartners.com/scholarship-program/ The Outpost Foundation: https://outpostfoundation.org Toftrees Golf Resort: https://www.toftrees.com

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  Episode #112

  112 | John Reilly: Data, Paspalum and Resort Course Leadership

  Jul 29, 202640 minS1

  Few voices in the agronomic community carry the credibility of John Reilly, a Director of Agronomy known throughout the industry as "Turf Monkey." John has built one of the more innovative data-driven programs in the country across 45 challenging holes of coastal Florida golf. On this episode of Leadership on the Links, Tyler sits down with John to explore the career path, the philosophy, and the relentless curiosity behind a benchmark approach to conditioning and member engagement. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How John's formative years at renowned Philadelphia-area clubs, including Rolling Green and Merion, shaped his standards and his approach to course conditioning. The career path that brought him from intern to Director of Agronomy, including pivotal stops at multi-course facilities and a Coore Crenshaw grow-in. Why he initially resisted Paspalum and what ultimately convinced him it was the right grass for a unique coastal Florida environment. How John built a data-driven agronomic program from the ground up, incorporating moisture monitoring, firmness readings, clipping yield, and Stimpmeter consistency. The value of transparent member communication, and how driving the narrative proactively builds trust with members and management alike. His perspective on information-sharing within the golf industry and why greater transparency could benefit facilities at every level. What he believes is the most underrated maintenance practice in the profession today. LINKS AND RESOURCES John Reilly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-reilly-057024225/

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  Episode #111

  111 | Joel Simmons: The Pioneer of Biological Soil Management

  Jul 14, 202652 min

  Leadership on the Links Summit Join us at the Leadership on the Links Summit on October 12, 2026 at Toftrees Golf Resort in State College, Pennsylvania. This one-day gathering brings together superintendents, directors of agronomy, club executives, and industry leaders for a day focused on personal branding, leadership development, and building high performing teams. Register here: https://bloomgolfpartners.com/our-events/ ------ In this episode of Leadership on the Links, we explore the science and philosophy of biological soil management with Joel Simmons, Founder and President of EarthWorks Natural Organic Products. Joel shares his journey from Penn State county extension agent to co-founding EarthWorks with the late Jerry Brunetti in 1988, pioneering a carbon based approach to soil health that was once dismissed by academics and is now standard practice across the turfgrass industry. Tyler and Joel discuss why soil testing functions like blood work for a golf course, what separates truly engaged superintendents from the rest, and how emerging technology, from autonomous mowers to AI driven agronomic programs, is reshaping the profession. Joel also reflects on his decade teaching soils at Rutgers University and how that work evolved into the GCSAA accredited Soil First Academy. If you care about agronomy fundamentals, superintendent development, or the future of soil health in golf, this is a conversation worth your time. What You'll Learn in this Episode How Joel's path from Penn State county extension agent and executive recruiter led to co-founding EarthWorks and establishing biological soil management in the turf industry. Why carbon based fertility was heavily criticized in the early 1990s and how it became a fixture in virtually every golf course maintenance facility today. Why Joel compares soil testing to a patient's blood work, and how roughly 15,000 annual soil tests anchor EarthWorks' agronomic recommendations. What has stayed constant in golf course maintenance, including superintendent intuition, and what is changing rapidly, from autonomous mowers to research on the rhizophagy cycle. How the Soil First Academy condenses Joel's ten years of Rutgers soils instruction into a GCSAA accredited seminar on soil chemistry, physics, and biology. How EarthWorks is developing an AI based program that tailors recommendations to each property's specific soil and water data. How Tyler and Joel evaluate genuine engagement and mastery of fundamentals when vetting superintendent candidates. Links and Resources Leadership on the Links Summit Registration: https://bloomgolfpartners.com/our-events/ Joel Simmons – LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-simmons-504b7241/ EarthWorks Natural Organic Products: https://www.earthworksturf.com/ Soil First Academy: https://www.earthworksturf.com/soil-first-academy/

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  Leadership on the Links

  110 | Golf Industry Sales, Legacy, and Turf Careers with Tom Valentine

  Jul 2, 202654 min

  Few names in the professional turfgrass industry carry the weight of the Valentine family, whose multigenerational connection to Merion Golf Club spans more than a century and helped shape the foundation of Penn State's nationally recognized turfgrass management program. Growing up on the grounds of one of the most storied clubs in American golf, Tom Valentine absorbed the rhythms of course management from his grandfather, Joseph Valentine, and his father, Richie Valentine, before charting his own path on the commercial side of the industry. Today, as Portfolio Manager at The Aquatrols Company, he brings that deep institutional knowledge to bear in support of superintendents and turf managers throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. In this episode of Leadership on the Links, host Tyler Bloom sits down with Tom Valentine for a candid conversation about industry legacy, the evolution of sales, career development in the green industry, and what it means to carry a family name that helped define turf management in America. What You'll Learn in This Episode The Valentine family's three-generation legacy at Merion Golf Club spans from the founding era of American turfgrass management through 1989, and includes the establishment of Penn State's Joseph E. Valentine Turfgrass Research Center in honor of Tom's grandfather. Richie Valentine led Merion's agronomy program by empowering his assistants with meaningful autonomy, a management philosophy that produced numerous professionals who went on to lead some of the most prestigious clubs and properties in the country. The golf industry experienced a defining compensation and budget inflection point in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when superintendent salaries and operational budgets increased dramatically as clubs transitioned from wholly in-house operations to a model that incorporated outside contractors and specialists. The rise of outside consultants in the 1990s, including those on the agronomic and architectural sides, fundamentally changed the way club memberships received and acted on course management recommendations. Sales methods in the green industry have evolved from relationship-driven, in-person territory management toward a hybrid model shaped by digital communication and accelerated by the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, while personal relationships remain a meaningful differentiator for high-performing sales professionals. Tom completed his Master of Professional Studies in Turfgrass Management at Penn State at age 50, a decision he credits with making him a significantly more effective resource for the superintendents he supports on the commercial side. Career paths in the turfgrass industry extend well beyond the superintendent role, and professionals who gain experience on the commercial side before returning to course management often bring a broader business perspective that benefits the clubs they serve. Links and Resources Tom Valentine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-valentine-70111926/ The Aquatrols Company: https://www.aquatrols.com Merion Golf Club: https://www.meriongolfclub.com Penn State Joseph E. Valentine Turfgrass Research Center: https://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf

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  Episode #109

  109 | Stephen Tucker: AI, Equipment Management, and Golf's Future

  Jun 25, 202653 min

  In this episode of Leadership on the Links, Tyler Bloom sits down with Stephen Tucker, Director of Equipment Operations at TPC Sawgrass and founder of Turf Addict, for a conversation spanning career development, team leadership, workforce challenges, and the growing role of technology in golf course maintenance. Stephen brings a rare perspective to the discussion, having spent his career on both sides of the equipment management relationship and now building his own software platform designed to modernize how golf facilities track, manage, and optimize their equipment operations. Stephen reflects on his path from player to industry professional, shares what shaped his leadership philosophy across two decades at Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton properties, and offers candid insight into the workforce pipeline challenges that have long defined the equipment management profession. The conversation closes with a detailed look at the AI-powered platform Stephen has been quietly developing, a system designed to give golf operations the data-driven tools they need to reduce reactive maintenance, improve equipment longevity, and better communicate the value of the equipment team to club leadership. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How Stephen's career evolved from equipment manager to director of agronomy, and what he observed from both sides of the superintendent-equipment manager relationship. Why the equipment management profession has grown increasingly demanding, and how compensation has shifted to reflect the expanded scope of the role. The workforce pipeline challenge facing the industry, and why career awareness remains one of the most underleveraged tools for attracting new talent. Practical strategies for superintendents to build stronger partnerships with their equipment teams, including the value of collaborative weekly meetings and visible recognition. The AI-powered operations platform Stephen has developed through Turf Addict, including predictive maintenance capabilities, real-time error code monitoring via John Deere's Operations Center, and cutting unit management tools. Why Stephen built the platform to be AI-agnostic, allowing facilities to integrate their preferred AI system regardless of corporate policy. The broader implications of technology adoption in golf course operations, and what superintendents and directors should be thinking about as these tools continue to evolve. Links and Resources Stephen Tucker | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrtucker/ Turf Addict | Website: https://www.stephentucker.net/ TPC Sawgrass | Website: https://tpc.com/sawgrass/ IGCEMA (International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association): https://www.igcema.org/ GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America): https://www.gcsaa.org/ BOOK A STRATEGY CALL

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