Westfield's Mark Jordan ends term as GCSAA president

Back in 1982, when Mark Jordan was about to graduate from Mapleton High School, he decided he wanted to carve out a career in the golf industry. When he told his plans to a golf nut uncle, he got some advice he's never forgotten: If you want to be the best, you have to work for the best. Now 58 and the natural resources leader at Westfield Country Club, where he has worked since Nov. 14, 1988 — he knows that date because he married high school sweetheart Melinda exactly one year earlier — Jordan has gone from student to teacher. "It's about growth and development and making an impact on lives," said Jordan, who in 2016 was project manager of Westfield's well-received course renovation and overseas all golf facilities. "Whatever your level is, you have to continue to be the best person you can be. "I despise complacency. If you're going to be a technician here, then be the best technician you can be. If you change holes on a golf course every day, make it the best ever. That's what I ask of my team. It's not in an overbearing way, but there's an expectation." A 12 handicap who plays about once a week — Mapleton didn't have a team until two years after he graduated — Jordan is a good mentor because he was an eager and willing student. After earning an associate's degree in turfgrass management from the Wooster branch of Ohio State University and a bachelor's in agronomy from Ohio State, Jordan took a job as assistant superintendent at Hyde Park Golf and Country Club in Cincinnati, where Melinda was working for Westfield Insurance. After 18 months, he took the same position at Winding Hollow Golf Club in New Albany, with the understanding he would be named superintendent when a new course was finished, but before that happened he moved to Westfield Country Club as assistant superintendent of the South Course. Eventually, Jordan was promoted to superintendent of the South Course, then to club manager in 2000. Due to the mentorship of John Spodnik, Westfield's vice president of real estate operations, he then served as general manager from 2002-07. Wanting to be outside more, Jordan accepted the newly created position of natural resources leader at Westfield, which puts him alongside current GM Amy McNutt at the top of the Westfield Country Club totem pole. "I love the people side of it," he said, giving special thanks to superintendent Kyle Smith and assistant superintendents Drew Reed, Todd Underwood and Bill Thomas. "I love the team we have. I feel blessed and fortunate to be in the position I am. "I don't think there's been one day since college that I've gotten up and dreaded going to work. I love what I do. I love to condition a golf course and see the property be the best it can be. I love being a leader. For me, through the entire chasm, I don't think there's anything I don't like." At the urging of Spodnik, Jordan became part of the Northern Ohio Golf Course Superintendents Association in 1996. In 2014, he was elected to the national board of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Due in large part to Westfield's willingness to align his full-time job demands with the travel required in his volunteer position, Jordan moved up the GCSAA ranks and in February completed a one-year term as its president. During that time, Jordan traveled to the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Solheim Cup as a representative of the GCSAA, which has 19,000 members across 79 countries. "The reason we go to these events is to promote and encourage the greens staff and our crew, because they are the backbones of these events," he said. Under Jordan's stewardship, the GCSAA also hosted a conference and trade show in San Diego and was involved in talks with the United States Golf Association that examined the increased distance golfers are driving the ball. Finally, Jordan is heavily involved in Westfield's diversity and equity inclusion program, which is supported by the GCSAA. When Golden State guard Steph Curry committed in 2020 to fund the Howard University (Washington, D.C.) golf team for six years so it could go from a club sport to Division I status, Westfield became involved with the school and Albion College (Mich.) the following year. This year, Wilberforce University (Ohio) and Livingstone College (N.C.) were added. Westfield gets recommendations from each school and then selects students to serve internships at the club, where they get experience working in maintenance, the pro shop, on the greens staff and in the cart barn while also attending The Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, and going on other golf industry related field trips. Those are just a few of the aspects of his job that are important to Jordan, the father of former Cloverleaf star golfer Mckenna and father-in-law of highly successful former Colts girls golf coach Adam Michel, who is now at Ashland University. "Make a difference. Make an impact," Jordan said, going back to the theme of his GCSAA presidential acceptance speech. "It's about being the best version of you that you can be. Whether that's playing golf or working in the pro shop or operating a mower on the course, be the best you can be. I like watching people be successful in what they do." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.