#ThankASuper Spotlight Series: Ryan Howard

In honor of international “Thank a Golf Course Superintendent Day,” we’re highlighting some of the outstanding superintendents within the KemperSports family.

Ryan Howard

Director of Course and Grounds

Links at Perry Cabin (St. Michaels, Md.)

While less than two years into his role at the Links at Perry Cabin, Ryan Howard has spent 30 years in the golf maintenance industry. Starting at 5 years old, he grew up playing golf with his father, Lt. Col. Philip Howard Jr., and his military friends, which instilled a love for the game and helped launch his career in golf when he began working at Ruggles Military Golf Course as a laborer in 1991.

Later, Ryan moved to Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, Penn., where Superintendent Mark DelSantro informed him that he could go to college for turfgrass management. With that encouragement, Ryan signed up at the University of Maryland Institute of Applied Architecture the next week. According to him, “Dr. Kevin Mathias instilled the education and passion that carries me forward in my career today.”

Unable to keep his favorite part of the job to one single thing, Ryan loves catching the early sunrises and the beautiful sunsets while on the course. And through the years, it has brought him great joy to see the smiling faces of the members, hear the meaningful “thank yous” and witness the building and mentoring of teams to deliver a phenomenal golf course and playing conditions.

Above all, Ryan is most proud of the relationships and reputation he’s been able to build over the last three decades, including the turf management camaraderie and network of support that is shared by all. He is especially proud of the young men and women that have worked with him over the years that have prospered in the golf course management industry, as well as other career endeavors.

Links at Perry Cabin Grounds Crew

“The game of golf has blessed my family and I in so many ways,” he said. “I cherish most, the relationships I have built through this business. I have met so many wonderful people through the game of golf and have had so many wonderful experiences that I never thought would happen without my involvement in the game. It has taken me near and far to some of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the world.”

See below for the full series of #ThankASuper spotlights:

• Will Bell, Forest Creek Golf Club (Round Rock, Texas)
• Heather Schapals, Chambers Bay (University Place, Wash.)
• Nick Yackle, Deerpath Golf Couse (Lake Forest, Ill.)