Le 1er salon de l - Association des Surintendants de Golf du Québec

Prix Roger Baccichet 2010Richard LarochelleSuperintendent of the Year, 2010Last February 22, Richard Larochelle, Superintendent at Club de golf de Cap-Rouge in Quebec City’s westernsuburbs, received the Roger Baccichet Award, which recognizes a golf superintendent’s outstanding professionalaccomplishments, devotion to the industry and contribution to the Quebec Golf Superintendents Association and hisor her own golf club. The Award was created as a means of honouring superintendents and promoting their work in thegolf industry. I met with this year’s winner in March to ask him a few questions about his award, but Richard seemed alittle preoccupied—with good reason, as it turns out, since tens of millimetres of rain were falling on the greater QuebecCity region, following episodes of freezing rain and abundant snow. Once a superintendent, always a superintendent, itwould seem!By Pierre GingrasA pleasant surpriseAt first, Richard Larochelle was surprised tolearn that he had won the 2010 Roger BaccichetAward. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it at all. I neverreally got directly involved in the QGSA, eventhough I said ‘yes’ every time I was asked for helpwith activities, presentations and the Cap-Rougetournament, so it was a pleasant surprise to receivethis prestigious award. On the other hand,news of my nomination spread quickly among myfriends and colleagues, who were very proud andhappy for me.” Mentioning that he has always takenhis responsibilities as a superintendent veryseriously, Richard feels that he has put in a greatdeal of time and hard work to justify his bosses’choices, whether at Club de golf Alpin, in Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval,or at Cap-Rouge, where he is celebrating20 years of professional life in the samespot this year. Richard also feels that he is partlyresponsible, along with the other members of themanagement team, for the success that both organizationshave enjoyed.Several detoursAlthough the shortest path between two points isa straight line, it seems that Richard Larochelletook a few detours before settling into a full-timeposition as a golf club assistant or superintendent.As an Arts student at CEGEP Limoilou in thelate 1960s, Richard got his first taste of the golfworld when a friend, Gilles Bouffard, asked him tojoin him at Club de golf Orléans, in Sainte-Pétronilleon Île d’Orléans, in the company of Pro AndréGingras. Richard accepted the offer and workedthere for two summers as a pro shop clerk. Was itenough to give him the golf bug? More or less…read on to see how the story continues.From health to agronomyIn the early 1970s, André Gingras headed a groupof businessmen who were beginning constructionon an 18-hole golf course on the highest point ofÎle d’Orléans. The course was located in Saint-Laurent, the municipality where, as it turns out, RichardLarochelle was born on July 14, 1951. Thechallenge caught the attention of our award winner,who had recently switched to a health sciencesconcentration at CEGEP. Let’s let Richarddescribe his experience and work as a labourer,which is how he started out, at the St. LawrenceGolf Club. “I worked for five summers under MarcHuot, who had been named Superintendent at theage of 22, even before he finished his AssociateDegree in Turf Management at University of MassachusettsAmherst. We took advantage of theopportunity to build greens to USGA standards.As a Quebec pioneer in top dressing with sand,Marc also had the privilege of supervising the installationof the Toro company’s first automated irrigationsystem in Quebec. During my time there,I learned the basics of golf course maintenancethrough hands-on experience with the many differenttasks involved. From early in the morning tolate in the afternoon, I was laying the foundationfor my future occupation, without really realizingit. In 1978, when the St. Lawrence Golf Club wassold, Marcel Huot, Marc Huot’s brother, who hadtaken over as Superintendent, told me that theywere looking for a superintendent at Club de golfAlpin, in Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval. I applied and gotthe job that I held for nine seasons. Marcel, for hispart, headed off to St-Georges de Beauce, wherehe is still Superintendent 32 years later.” At thesame time, Richard Larochelle quietly completedhis studies at Laval University. Surprisingly, hedidn’t get his degree in Health, but in Agronomy.An inspirationIn answer to my question about who had thegreatest influence on his choice of career, RichardLarochelle doesn’t hesitate, naming Marc Huotimmediately. “Marc was the first superintendentI worked for. He was passionate about his workand never hesitated to share his observations onthe weather or any other challenges we faced. Nodoubt about it, he was an inspiration for me. Itwas Marc who influenced me to change my fieldof study to Agronomy. There weren’t any courseson golf course management at the time, so I focusedon golf course maintenance and I neverregretted following in his footsteps. If it was to doall over again, I would do exactly the same thing.”A two-year breakAnd so, over nine seasons at Alpin golf club, RichardLarochelle learned the ins and outs of hiswork as a superintendent, resolving problemsone by one, familiarizing himself with staff managementtechniques, and doing what he couldto please the board of directors and, in turn, theclub’s members. One day, in 1989, Bernard Paquet,representing the company OJ, the undisputedleader in distributing golf products in Quebec,offered him a sales rep position for the QuebecCity, Beauce, Gaspé, Saguenay, Lac-St-Jean andNorth shore regions. The temptation was strong,and it was time for a new challenge. Richard Larochellesaid “yes.” “In all honesty, the break wasgood for me. I loved the human contact with thesuperintendents that I got to know in my travelsaround the Quebec City region and eastern Quebec.But when I learned in 1991 that a superintendent’sposition was available at Club de golf Cap-Rouge, I was interested right away. I discussedthe opportunity with the outgoing superintendent,Printemps 2011 29