AUGUST 2023 • VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 2
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Talking Ocean Organics with Steve Thys, Superintendent of Warwick Country Club, Warwick, RI
The 2nd edition of our 2023 “Talking Ocean Organics” Newsletter takes us to Warwick CC in Warwick, RI. Our article will focus on Steve Thys who is starting his third season as Warwick’s superintendent.
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We’ll talk about Steve’s personnel and professional journey, the iconic property he looks after, and how he’s incorporated Ocean Organics products into his agronomic programs.
About Steve
Steve was born in Reading, MA on the North Shore in 1965. Steve was the third of five children born to Bill and Karen Thys. When Steve was 10 years old, Bill moved to family down to live in Bourne, MA on Cape Cod.
“My dad was the 2nd highest ranked civilian at the Otis Air National Guard Base in Mashpee,” Steve remembered, “He was the operations manager/controller of the base’s annex, gas station, golf course, and a lot of the day to day operations.”
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Steve was introduced to the game at the young age of 10.
“but golf was really secondary to me....
Baseball was my true love.”
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Bill liked to play golf and Steve was introduced to the game at the young age of 10.
“My dad played every Sunday. I would play with my older brother Eric at Blue Rock GC in Yarmouth,” Steve said, “but golf was really secondary to me. In high school I played football, baseball, and was on the track team. Baseball was my true love.”
“After high school, I had a myriad of jobs,” Steve laughed, “I used to work in a video store that rented television sets on the Cape. I’d load a Dodge van with TV’s and rabbit ear antennas and spend 12-14 hours a day delivering them. I’d also have to go back to repossess a few of them if a customer didn’t pay the rent. One day I had to repossess a TV from three guys who failed to pay the rental fee. One of those miscreants, a young man named Steve, eventually married my sister Vicki. Small world.”
Around this time, Steve also began work on the crew at Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, MA.
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"I was a Mechanical Engineering major and had hopes of designing, building, and racing my own cars. I love muscle cars and own a 1965 Mustang and a 1970 Buick Skylark." |
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“I did well at Oyster Harbors. I fly-mowed slopes, raked bunkers, and helped spray with a proportioner. Around that time, I enrolled at Northeastern University in Boston for two trimesters. I was a Mechanical Engineering major and had hopes of designing, building, and racing my own cars. I love muscle cars and own a 1965 Mustang and a 1970 Buick Skylark. At Northeastern I played baseball as pitcher and an outfielder. I transferred to SE Mass University (now UMass-Dartmouth) for two semesters and majored simultaneously in Mechanical Engineering, Finance, and Psychology. I still worked at Oyster Harbors spring and summer. I still had the itch to play baseball so I transferred to Cape Cod Community College. I had a winning record on the mound. Unfortunately, our team was on the wrong side of the win-loss column,” Steve laughed.
Steve’s next stop was UMass-Boston. He spent the year going to school and working for FedEx.
“I had been working the spring and summers at Oyster Harbors since I was 17. In 1990, the long-time superintendent at Oyster Harbors, Charley Gardner, suggested I go to UMass-Stockbridge, which was a turf school. There was a waiting list but with some finagling, I got in for the September term. I spent two years there. There were 42 turf students. Every weekend I would come home and work 20 hours at FedEx,” Steve recalled, “I graduated in 1992. I sent an email blast out to every golf course superintendent in Massachusetts seeking employment. I didn’t get many replies but heard from Steve Carr from Pocasset GC who hired me as an assistant. I rode my bike to work on the days when my truck didn’t run. And I didn’t live that close to the course so it wasn’t an easy bike ride. During this time, I got married. That first winter at Pocasset I did nothing but prune trees. I was only making a little over $23,000 there so, in 1993, I applied to Cummaquid Golf Club, right down the street from my house. They offered me $31,000 so I jumped at it. I spent two years there working for Al Comeau and I loved it.”
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"That first winter at Pocasset I did nothing but prune trees." |
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In 1995, Steve went back to Oyster Harbors as the 1st assistant when Jack Nunges took over for Charlie Gardner, who had just retired. He stayed till the beginning of the 1999 season. “My dream, always, was to be the superintendent at Oyster Harbors”, Steve lamented, “it just wasn’t meant to be.”
In March of 1999, Steve was hired by Worcester CC in Worcester, MA to be their new superintendent.
“I had looked at and applied to a lot of clubs and always seemed to come in second (at least in my mind I was second),” Steve laughed, “I had spent seven years as an assistant. But, it was my time. My first day on the job, the club’s president, Bill Abodeely, asked me to preside over an awards ceremony at the club since none of the club officers could make the event. Here I was, handing out awards to people I had never met. It was bizarre. That was a Sunday and I started work on Monday.”
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Worcester is a Donald Ross gem. It hosted the US Open in 1925, the inaugural Ryder Cup in 1927, and the Women’s US Open in 1960. It was, at the time, the only club that had hosted those three iconic tournaments. |
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Worcester is a Donald Ross gem. It hosted the US Open in 1925, the inaugural Ryder Cup in 1927, and the Women’s US Open in 1960. It was, at the time, the only club that had hosted those three iconic tournaments. Over the years, Worcester has hosted many other New England amateur and professional tournaments.
“I spent 13 years at Worcester,” said Steve, “We did a massive renovation while I was there. We removed over 4000 trees, some necessitated by the destructive tree-killing Asian Long-horned Beetle. Worcester was the only known golf course in the world, at that time, to have the Asian Long-horned Beetle.”
After Worcester, it was on to Rhode Island CC in Barrington, RI, another Donald Ross masterpiece.
“Rhode Island CC is a great course. It had a PGA tour event every year, the CVS Charity Classic, hosted by Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade (PGA Touring Pros), who are honorary members. Annika Sorenstam and Rory McIlroy would play in the event,” Steve commented, “It was a good run at RICC.”
After seven years, Steve moved on. Steve had a brief stop working for MTE, an equipment distributor, and two years at Metacomet GC in East Providence. In 2019, Brad Faxon and a group of investors purchased the property. Brad called Steve, whom he knew from the Rhode Island CC, to see if he’d be interested in bringing the course back to prosperity. Faxon’s group decided to sell after a year. Marshall Development bought the property in anticipation of commercially developing it. Marshall ran the course for Steve’s second year.
Next stop was Warwick CC. The club president found Steve on the website LinkedIn and hired him on the spot. Warwick CC is another Donald Ross design with great bones.
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Next stop was Warwick CC. The club president found Steve on the website LinkedIn and hired him on the spot. Warwick CC is another Donald Ross design with great bones. |
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Steve has been struggling to keep the irrigation system from imploding. There are plans to replace it in the next couple years. The rest of his time has been spent, with an assist from a very solid crew, fine tuning this unique layout. |
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In Steve's words: This aerial reflects a uniformity of turf during the worst drought on record in RI especially considering the irrigation is single row in age from 30-70 years old. Ocean organics is a huge part of that. |
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“Warwick is a fun golf course... The real defense of the course are the greens. They set you up with diverse options on your approach shots, pitches, and chips.”
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“Warwick is a fun golf course,” Steve commented, “you can see the water of Greenwich Bay on every hole. It’s wide open so you can spray it around and still be in play. The real defense of the course are the greens. They set you up with diverse options on your approach shots, pitches, and chips.” |
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The 9th and 18th green with a view of Greenwich Bay |
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Steve lives in Barrington, RI with his wife Kay. Steve has two children, son Spencer, 20 and daughter Lily, 18. Spencer is currently enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Lily is enrolled to begin her freshman year at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. Lily also works part time on the crew at Warwick CC with her dad. Steve also has a stepson, Kevin, 26, who just got married. Kevin has a Master’s degree in Psychology and is working in his field. |
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Warwick CC
In December of 1924, fifty prominent Rhode Island residents purchased the estate and mansion of Colonel George L. Shepley, believing that this beautiful Warwick Neck property would be an ideal location for a yacht club.
In its first season, the club elected yachting officers and held its first annual regatta. The inception of Warwick Country and Yacht Club officially began on July 4th, 1925. During that same year, two tennis courts were added to the two that were already on the grounds and legendary golf course architect Donald Ross was hired to design a golf course. Even though Ross drew up blueprints for a full 18 holes, only 9 were built.
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The club struggled through the Depression. In 1938, as the club was recovering gradually and getting back on its feet, disaster struck when a hurricane tore through the state and destroyed the yachting area. By 1940, prosperity returned and yachts were once again gracing the front of the club.
In 1944, another hurricane struck and destroyed the club’s dock, slips, and boathouse. This effectively ended the yachting phase of the club’s history.
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Despite the setbacks, the club gradually prospered in the next decade. Noted golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish was bought in for the design and construction of a second nine holes. In 1954, the day after the dedication of the new nine, Hurricane Carol roared through the area and laid waste to the property. But, once again, the membership of the club cleaned up and rebuilt.
In 1997, the club hired architect Ron Pritchard to restore the golf course to its original Donald Ross design.
Warwick CC plays 6500 yards from the tips to a par of 69. There are 13 par 4’s, 4 par 3’s, and one par 5.
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Ocean Organics
In his own words, Steve will describe how he’s incorporated Ocean products into his agronomic programs:
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“I use Windjammer on my greens, Topsail on my fairways, and Privateer on my tees. We have very clean, light water at the property. Sometimes it has issues penetrating into the soils.
The surfactants have eliminated that problem and the LDS that would plague the course. The moisture levels in the soils have been very consistent. I water less which is a blessing with this problematic irrigation system that I have to deal with.”
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“I use Stress RX on my greens. It’s so important to build strong roots and soils and, of course, to maintain healthy turf. This product does that for us.”
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“Coming out of this past winter the approaches were in bad shape. We tried to nurse them back to health but eventually made the decision to re-sod them. I used SeaBlend 12-4-5 to get the sod established and accelerate rooting. I am very pleased with the results.”
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Thank you, Steve, for your time in putting this article together. I did enjoy doing the interview at the Dublin Rose in Seekonk. The only drawback was I could barely read or follow my notes when it came time to write the article. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing.
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Visit our website for more about our products |
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SeaBlend®
Granular Fertilizer
Stress Rx® Foliar Fertilizer
XP® Foliar Fertilizer
NuRelease®
Soil and Fertilizer Additive
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Ocean Organics high-performance surfactants optimize nutrient and water use efficiency while helping boost plant fitness. Each formulation contains a surfactant, an infiltration agent, and a biostimulant.
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“Thanks for Making Me Look Good.”
– Al Choiniere
“From May through Labor Day, I can sleep at night.”
– Matt Kowal
“The color is fantastic.”
– Ethan Haveman
“The recovery was great. The greens filled in and
the color was unbelievable. We were able to weather
the storm and open the course on time."
– Rob Dorsch
“I like the color, the resiliency it gives the turf, how it gives
to turf the ability to fight back, and how both products give
you great rooting. You need to hold on to those roots as
long as you can. It all works.”
– Steven McGlone
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Superior Strategic Stress Management
Ocean Organics, The Industry Leader
45 Years in the Golf Industry
Best Seaweed Processor — The Mother Ship
All products manufactured in Waldoboro, ME
Superior Surfactants:
Mariner® Privateer® Nautilus® Windjammer®
Superior Liquids:
XP Extra Protection® Stress Rx® Guarantee®
Superior Granular Fertility:
SeaBlend®
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Need information? Want to chat?
Email or call your local distributor
or Kevin Collins
914-621-1151
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Plant Strengthening and Fitness Materials for Growth, Protection, Stress Tolerance and Recovery
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