Episode 157: Toby Christoun

Welcome to the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, Episode 157.

Today we’re talking to Toby Christoun, Equipment & Shop Manager at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts — a 27-hole private club spread across 236 acres. Toby leads a team of two assistants in the shop, part-time during the season and full-time through the winter months.

Toby shares his unconventional journey into the turf industry, starting in business management before finding his way to a friend’s golf course and eventually earning a turf degree. Along the way, he’s worn many hats — from sales to equipment management — and brings a perspective grounded in integrity, mentorship, and team culture. He talks about the lessons learned from every stop on his path, the importance of strong relationships, and a few funny stories from life in the shop. It’s an honest, engaging look at what it means to build a fulfilling career in turf and leadership.

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Transcript

Trent Manning: 0:56

Welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we'll learn tips and tricks. I'm your host, Trent. Manning let's have some this episode are real turf techs on golf course industries Superintendent radio network is presented by Foley county a strong supporter of equipment technicians and golf course maintenance departments everywhere Foley county offers a proven solution for above and below the turf for turf professionals To learn more about Foley company's line of real grinders bed knife grinders and the air to G2 family of products or to find a distributor visit www dot Foley C o.com Foley Ready for play Welcome to the Reel Turf techs Podcast, episode 1 57. Today we're talking to Toby Christine, equipment and shop manager at the Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The country club is a 27 hole private country club on 236 acres. Toby has two assistants in the shop, full-time in the winter, part-time, and seasoned. They're primarily a Toro barn with various other pieces of equipment. Let's talk to Toby.

Toby Christoun: 2:30

I'm ready man. Let's do it.

Trent Manning: 2:32

let's do it. Welcome Toby to the Real Turf Text podcast. Thanks for coming on.

Toby Christoun: 2:37

Thanks Trent. It's awesome being here. You're like a celebrity in our world. You like the Tom Cruise of turf? So this is pretty awesome.

Trent Manning: 2:44

Come on. I really appreciate you reaching out to me, and I would like to take a minute for anybody listening if you wanna be a guest. Just send me an email. I mean, that's all it took, right? You sent me an email and here you are. I'm always looking for guests and you know, I do think there is people that say I don't have anything to say or I don't have anything to talk about, but we all have our own story and to me, those stories are interesting. So, thank you for being here. Tell us how you got into the turf industry.

Toby Christoun: 3:21

so it was funny. I sat at Johnson Wales University after high school and didn't really know what I was gonna do. I was just in business management and left after a short stint there. For a high school sweetheart, kind of the wrong reasons and came back with really not knowing what I wanted to do. My father has always owned a really successful auto body mechanic shop and worked with him and just grew up in the shop doing that. But my parents always said, you're gonna go do something else. It's not healthy working for your father. It's my father didn't want me doing the auto body just for the health reasons, but I learned a lot from him along the way. Just the journey of being a small businessman and the integrity and a business and how all of that matters. So actually a really close friend of mine's like, why don't you come work on the golf course for me for a summer? And I got into that and I loved it. And from there I went to, graduated from UMass with a turf management degree. And yeah. And then ultimately there's a long story to it all, but this is where I am today.

Trent Manning: 4:18

Why don't we got, you know, an hour to fill. So, yeah. How did you get from turf school into the mechanic shop?

Toby Christoun: 4:26

So it was actually, it was kind of organic. It was one of those things where, you know, it I loved doing what I was doing. You know, I was outside all the time, just getting dirty and having a lot of fun, but always just staring in the shop, walking by the mechanic, just Hey, you know, I can do that. It's that, having that conversation. And ultimately after my second job, my first job out of college was a grow in, my second one was working for a municipality and great group of gr guys. But the drive there wasn't what didn't match the drive I had. And for something just clicked inside of me like, you know what, maybe the mechanics is my thing. So the Boston Golf Club at the time, which is now a top 100 it formed it actually reached top 100 when I when I was there. It was really cool. They were in their second phase of the growing on the back nine. I interviewed and it was it was from there, it was hook, line and Sinker got involved in that. And that place just, I learned so much there between the resources and the professionalism. It was like none other that I've ever had ever been exposed to Boston Base course. So it's the elite of the elite and brought behind the superintendent. He just had a really unique way about how he analyzed things and the what he expected outta me. Really just set my standards for what I expect outta myself. And yeah, that's it. You know, we just kind of climbed through the through the ranks. I was there for about, for a little over seven years. The club went under some hardships after one of the owners had passed, and I had to just make a decision. I, it was with my now wife I had just purchased the house within an area that WA was required at the time for me to live at the at the Boston Club. And I had to support that and not knowing what the Boston Club was gonna do. I'm like, well, I had another guy up the road wonderful guy, Tommy Arrington offered me a job. He's Hey, you know, we can do this for you. And it was awesome. And Tommy was a standup, just a wonderful guy to work for, work with. But there was something missing after I left the Boston Club and not taking anything from Marshfield. I was just, I had a void in my life and I didn't know what it was. So I went into sales. I took a shot in the dark,

Trent Manning: 6:35

Oh no. Tell me you didn't do it. You went the sales route. Oh.

Toby Christoun: 6:39

and no regrets at all. And this is why, and this is why I love telling this story. I went into sales and I was selling Jacobson, and there was no Jacobson in the area at all. If you're familiar with Massachusetts at all. It's the coastal area. My territory was Cape Cod and. There was 135 golf courses, you know, probably matching that few municipalities and I was green as hell. I didn't know what the heck I was getting into. I mean, I thought Hey, I know how to fix equipment. I know guys in this business, I know turf. I'm just gonna walk into the small amount of friends that I had sell equipment. And it just doesn't work like that. These guys are not your friends when it comes to business and it not off the rip anyways. So it was kind of funny. I got out there and I changed that territory around drastically within the three years that I was there. Went from no orange to a buttload of orange and it was awesome. It was so good that Toro actually a friend in the Business net bins who was selling in the Boston area got to know me well through the Boston Club and he's Hey, listen, like they would love to talk to you. The Rhode Island guys are retiring. Like this would be the perfect fit. So the owner of TPC Doug gave me a awesome opportunity and I killed it for them, but this is where it all kind of comes back. And I guess it's one of those things where like us mechanics at territorial, we like to have a home base and I never had that as many great relationships as I made as many great friends that I have because of those sales jobs. I never felt a hundred percent whole as far as having that home base. So, I was a one of the, one of the gentlemen, wonderful guy, John Kelly, the Caranza Club, another top 100 club. He's well known. A Arian guy, just a salt to the earth, a true gentleman. His mechanic was retiring after 43 years and we were just having lunch and it was kind of just one of those organic conversations and it worked out. It was just one of those things. I'm like, yeah, I think this is it. Went home, talked to my wife. We were trying to have a second baby and it was just one of those things with the sales world, you can be a little bit all over the map and, you know, it can get a little volatile at times. The one thing that I think the misconception is sales guys have it easy. Trent, I'd say it's 50 times higher than what we do for head stress. Physicality definitely not, but the clock the phone never shuts off. The mind never shuts down. especially when, you know, a, when sales depends on your wellbeing. So with that being the case, it was an awesome move to Catan and I really had it made there. It was one of those things. It was I think a 16 mile drive back roads, 20 minutes, you know, barely hit an idle on the truck. Seaside golf course. You go out, throw a line and catch a blue fish type of atmosphere, like quiet just, you know, members at that course and members at my course now. But it was probably one of those places where, it was one of their five courses they were members at. It was just low key. Awesome. And then my director called me and who I formed a great relationship with through Jacobson and then just kept that relationship going, which was so important. Who is, he's dear to me. And he called me up and let me know that he had an opportunity for me to come and wanted be, to be part of the US Open and this and that. His mechanic had left and I said, no. At first I'm like, dude, you're crazy. This is not like I got it. Meet let's not disrupt my life. I'm going from a, you know, a 20 minute drive to now an hour one way if I'm lucky. And on the way home, an hour and a half could be two with the Boston traffic. And we ended up meeting up and, you know, just just had a nice dinner and talking. I went and visit a couple times and something about the energy from that place just grabbed me and it's like a vortex there and it sucked me in. And I don't know. I'm blessed to be where I am now, but that's the long, that's the short of the long story.

Trent Manning: 10:20

Okay. That's awesome though. I mean, yeah, I love your passion that your exuding here for the industry. It really warms my heart, so I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean that's a seems everything just fell into place, right? I mean, it's kind of funny how things just work out, right? Sometimes.

Toby Christoun: 10:40

Yeah, it is funny, and I think one of the most important things like I learned in this lesson of how I got to where I am is one, you know, what you give to the world. You, I'm a big universe guy, a big believer in you know, like a higher being. And I believe what you give is what you're gonna get. And I also realize that in this business, like relationships mean everything. Everybody's got a, everybody has gotten to where they are with a different mode of action. But I think the secret of my success really was. Those relationships and just like putting yourself out there to a point that it's uncomfortable. I mean, I'm a small hick town kid, you know, like gun to and grew up in the woods type of guy, and all of a sudden now I'm thrown into this corporate world and scared. Just scared. Didn't know how to react. And the biggest thing I learned out of this was be myself. I mean, my old man would always tell me, my mom would always tell you that, grow up, just be yourself. Everybody will like you. And it doesn't work like that on the playground. But when we're all adults and you're kinda seeing everybody's just as afraid as you, they're afraid of failing at their jobs, they're afraid of whatever it is. Or maybe a guy doesn't have a great home life. Maybe a guy just needs you to be their therapist more than their salesman. But all of those relationships made me who I am, and it brought me into a whole new level of life and how I even. Spin a wrench to how I treat my peers at work from when I first started in this business to how I do now. It's amazing. It really

Trent Manning: 12:05

That's awesome. That is so good. That is, yeah. Yeah. Really good. And I do look forward to getting into that. A little bit more about how you got where you where you are now. But first, tell us what your favorite tool is.

Toby Christoun: 12:20

Oh geez. Yeah. That's I mean that's funny'cause I thought about that a little bit when you sent some of those questions and I mean there's nothing cooler when you have to adjust a redim and you got your three eights and your half in strive impact and you snap the batteries in, like it's a Caltech or something, or or you know, you got your heat induction that instead of having to break out a torch, you know, you can break a bolt like that. The bolt blaster, but honestly, if I have to say it,'cause it makes, it's what makes us look good every day is the Foley Grind is you get those things sharp and you got a nice cut. Like every superintendent, they want everything working, but as long as those cuts are primo, they're pretty much laying off you. And I

Trent Manning: 12:56

Oh

Toby Christoun: 12:56

my favorite tool. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 12:57

yeah. No that's a good one for sure. Yeah, I do want to hear more about I don't, I go all over. I get, I mean. I'm really I've said this before, a tool junkie with hoarding tendencies. You know, you can't have enough tools and if they make a tool for the job, I want the tool. But seriously, my favorite tool is my flashlight that I keep in my pocket at all times. This is a streamline. I used to carry a wedge. This is the wedge xt. It's a little bit smaller. USBC charged button on the back. I don't, it's just awesome

Toby Christoun: 13:35

I love it.

Trent Manning: 13:35

you know, you're in dark spots, right? And our I'm wearing glasses now'cause my vision's not as good. And if you put some light on the subject, that helps. And

Toby Christoun: 13:45

enough. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 13:46

I don't go anywhere without my flashlight.

Toby Christoun: 13:48

I

Trent Manning: 13:49

yeah, I'm traveling, what, you know, whatever it is. Going to the movies with the kids, you know, it doesn't matter. I got my flashlight.'cause you never know when you might need it. Okay, but tell me more about the heat induction. Something another

Toby Christoun: 14:04

Yeah it's a, it's, I think the brand name, I don't even know if it's a brand name, but the name that they call it by Kibble Midwest. It's a bolt blaster and basically it's just a heat induction tool with a coil with different sized coils that would fit around a bolt. And you're just gonna put it up around that bolt without actually touching the surface of it. Hit the button for 30 to a hundred a hundred seconds depending on what you need. Let it cool, break the bolt right out. But it gets cherry red separates obviously the two surfaces, one, one another. And it's absolutely amazing. I mean, I can't tell you, it's almost to the point like you want something to be seized up just to play with it.'cause it's one of those tools that every time you use, you're like, I can't believe this thing actually works. And who the hell came up with this? You're probably sitting on an island right now drinking a lot of

Trent Manning: 14:46

Yeah. Well, as soon as we get off here, I'm looking that up. Bolt blaster. I wrote it down here. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, that's what I love about doing this. Right? And you're not only educating the listeners. You're educating me too on the new tools that I probably shouldn't buy, but I'm going to anyway. That's what

Toby Christoun: 15:06

Why not?

Trent Manning: 15:07

Yeah. Yeah. Why

Toby Christoun: 15:07

live once, right?

Trent Manning: 15:09

Yeah, that's right. What do you do to relax or find your balance?

Toby Christoun: 15:13

My biggest balance I've you know. Besides my love of motocross, which I don't get to do too much anymore. My biggest balance is spending the one night a week with my wife on a date night. I mean, I don't know about for you, but you know, family's everything for me. I have two children, you know, my daughter Stella is nine Cooper's six, and they're just, you know, they're just full of life and energy. So between just the everyday monotony of, between work and just trying to make sure your kids are having a good life and anything else that comes your way, I look forward to that Thursday date night where I can just relax, have a good conversation. The kids they're at Gigi and Grampy sleeping over that night. So it's just us. And it's even come to the point where we don't even go out anymore. We just wanna stay home and just talk, have silence, get takeout, and just kind of pull back from the world. She's got a stressful job. She's an OR nurse, so, by the time the both of us are done, like that's, and that's. What we need for me to keep my balance for work and for home.'cause if one's off, they're both off. And I don't

Trent Manning: 16:14

Alright. Right, right.

Toby Christoun: 16:15

I've done that when I was younger, but you know, you know, as we get older, like you just, there's only so much you're gonna put up with and you

Trent Manning: 16:22

Right, right, right.

Toby Christoun: 16:23

work. So,

Trent Manning: 16:24

No, that is, that's really good. And I don't know how many, so I got two girls and I don't know how many people told me, you know, as when they were younger, you know, they grow up so fast, they grow up so fast. And I heard that and I believed that. But it happened so fast, you know? Yeah. So fast.

Toby Christoun: 16:46

How old are they?

Trent Manning: 16:47

so now they're 20 and 17 almost 21 and 18. We got about six weeks. They're both, both their birthdays is in December. I didn't plan that very well, but it's okay. And they're awesome. And you're talking about your date night? So I meet them every Thursday night too. My girls, we go to dinner somewhere and that's the highlight of my week every week.

Toby Christoun: 17:15

Oh my God.

Trent Manning: 17:15

It, you know, is spending time with them and hearing their stories. They're both working, both going to school, you know, all the things. It's just a lot of fun and yeah, for anybody listening, I mean just Yeah. Cherish your time with your family.

Toby Christoun: 17:30

Yeah. No days pro. No, tomorrow's not promised.

Trent Manning: 17:33

It is not promised for sure. So

Toby Christoun: 17:36

I can beat you one on the birthday thing if you want to talk about, but we did plan both babies for C-section, but anyways, both the same exact May 16th, so that's

Trent Manning: 17:45

No way. That is crazy.

Toby Christoun: 17:48

But yeah. Yeah. It's

Trent Manning: 17:49

Wow. That's

Toby Christoun: 17:50

fun to tell somebody that, they're like, there's no way. I'm like, no it is a way and it did happen, so, yeah.

Trent Manning: 17:55

that's, that is crazy. Yeah. How do they enjoy having the same birthday?

Toby Christoun: 18:00

they don't care. They, the they're the most lighthearted, like great, they're just, you know, you gonna be biased to kids, but they're just good kids. They Whatever comes their way they love it. So, yeah.

Trent Manning: 18:10

That's awesome.

Toby Christoun: 18:11

yeah. Yeah, the day that they do complain but not celebrate and I told them, so,

Trent Manning: 18:15

Oh yeah. There you go.

Toby Christoun: 18:17

Right.

Trent Manning: 18:18

What's what's one of the strangest things you've seen at work?

Toby Christoun: 18:21

oh

Trent Manning: 18:22

Any good stories?

Toby Christoun: 18:23

I think one of the things that, that I want, I wanna highlight, and it's not that I want to get into the really specific specifics of it but an individual died on a golf course. And it was one of those things, you know, it was earlier in my career, but it already, it always stuck in me. And it was something that wasn't necessarily his fault. It was a contractor's piece of equipment that wasn't that the rocks was taken off and, ultimately an embankment collapsed and the machine crumbled and crushed him. And it was one of those things where the gentleman was very close to all of us, and it really resonated with me because it was not only the loss of somebody that you looked up to and somebody that meant something significant in your life, but it just showed that how important safety is. And I think that was one of those things where. I'm not running scared, but I'm very cautious to this day of what people are doing and we'll be the one to speak up first about it. And, you know, when I got to TCC, it's such a beast there, you know, it's 36 guys when we got there, were even more up, up to the leading year. The open, you know, with 27 holes, there's a lot of machinery, a lot of open roads and people flying by misusing properly. And I made that point to the director right away of you know, like Dave you know, could you help me? Could we support this? And he, without a question, did not hesitate, went to Kristen, who is just such a badass. She is just she is a gangster when it, she is like the true gangster. Like she. Is just amazing in every way and how she gets it done. And when you put a case to her, she is gonna support you a hundred percent. With that being the the case, they you know, let us pull in a company called Golf Safety Outta Florida. They come up once a year, evaluate the facility. Vince goes over everything where they update you on

Trent Manning: 20:13

Vince, no way. He comes by my shot tooth. That's

Toby Christoun: 20:16

he's awesome. He's awesome. And and it's a two part thing. It it keeps us protected on a liability standpoint because we're allowed to do the training for both, you know, the seasonal, which is predominantly Spanish, and then then the more American English speaking crowd. And it keeps me on my toes and lets me kind of know what needs to be done. And it is just another tool in the arsenal that just makes us better. But you know, you talk about those strange things. Those strange things I think that we come across of I've tried to take instances like that and just learn from'em and hopefully, you know, not to the point where I beat the horse to death and people aren't turned off by it, but they're learning from that as well.

Trent Manning: 20:53

No, that's wonderful. It is. That's, yeah, that's good stuff. And I like it when Vince comes by and, I mean, most, all our stuff, you know, is in order. But he does find some stuff here and there and points it out, and he does his report and we take care of it. And I don't know how many other people do that because he always brags on us. He's I really, you know, I enjoy coming here because if I make a recommendation, y'all follow through and get it done. I don't know that everybody's doing that, but, you know, I mean, it makes the club better, safer for all of us. So a really good service. And you were talking about the training videos being in Spanish. It was raining yesterday, so Latino crew was watching videos by golf safety in Spanish. I mean, it's just awesome,

Toby Christoun: 21:43

yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 21:44

you know, it's good stuff. Do you have a mentor in the industry?

Toby Christoun: 21:48

Yeah, I do, I really have two. I, because you your career evolves so much where, the mindset has changed and the relationship obviously just because of, you know, how you're working together. But my first one was my first golf course that I worked at Keith Krueger. I mean, he is the salt of the earth. He's there to my heart. He's the guy that I never could understand. You know, we're there at 5, 5 30 in the morning. You're at a teenager. And why the hell is he smiling at this time about, Hey guys, you know, just happy to the world and never really got upset about anything, which amazes me. I would get more upset. And I think a lot of it was about more passion to the simple things. And he's relax. We got this. And always kind of brought it back. But when he, when, and this was in that transition, that was my first golf course job, and he saw the light in me. He's you know, yeah, you have you just have those mechanics and that aptitude to, you know, the eye, the for details, stuff like that, which I think was helped be in an auto body. And you know, like all those little things matter. So he kind of took me under his wing and by the end of that summer I'm like, you know, I'm gonna, it's a last minute. I'm gonna look into, you know, go into UMass and would you write a letter of recommendation? And I did it and awesome. It was awesome. I'm really happy I did all that. And yeah. And then, you know, it all evolves and I met some wonderful guys through the way, great friends that have given me great advice. But Dave Johnson he was that guy. You know, like when you meet somebody, like you want them in your life forever. He's on the same plane as Keith, and they both have this common thread that I'll mention in the end. But when I first met him and sat across him when I was in sales at Jacobson, he has this way I call him like I say he has like the eagle, like he's just like at the stare through you. He is like just staring like staring you down. And he gives you like this well, you better man up or you better cow it down. And I'm like, all right. What do you got buddy? And we are just two of the same people. We're both goal aligned and we just jelled, we shared all the same values of family work, business, just like the world in general of where, of, where it is and how do you make it better. And he has pushed me to the limits. As a leader at the country club my home life, just just relationships with my family, my wife, my kids. he gets that work life balance. And a lot of people miss that in this industry, as you've seen, I'm sure. And, you know, they lose something and by that time it's too late. And he doesn't allow that for me, for anybody. And he does it for himself too. So he is not just preaching to the choir. But I think what I have to say, the best advice outta both of them, and it's pretty much both of it been said out of the words and pretty much verbatim, is that there's a person behind everybody. You know, we gotta get a job done, but it's about the person first. Unless you can you know, get them to buy into what you are by setting that good example and listening to'em. Not just hearing'em, but listen to'em and growing with them like you. You're just as much of a fake as anybody else. And he has done that and shown me how to do that to another level that I've never done before. And it's awesome. And Keith, you know, like there is, it doesn't matter. There is there nobody is at any level, any different level. I mean, anything that he would ask the lowest guy on the totem pole he'd do Keith included. And it's, that's, yeah. So those are my mentors and those are the guys that that I look up to and value more than that they probably would ever even understand.

Trent Manning: 25:05

No, that's awesome. That's, yeah. Really good stuff. Yeah. Because where would we be without other people in our lives? Right. I mean, yeah. You know. What would be your dream job or opportunity?

Toby Christoun: 25:18

Do you know what Jim Netton is?

Trent Manning: 25:20

Yes, I

Toby Christoun: 25:21

So I've always loved Jim when I met Jim when I worked for Toro TPC selling Toro. And he came in, introduced himself and he was just teaching us sales guys you know, how to sell and a little bit of equipment. And then, you know, seeing him out there in the field just teaching sprayers or this and that. And his relationships, I think is what I envy the most is that he's got relationships with John Deere top secret stuff, Toro with all these dealerships just getting out there. And I think what I like about it is that, his educating just, you know, just what he's doing. Would I do it my way? Of course everybody wants to do it a little bit their way. But I could definitely take a page outta Jim's book. I could definitely see myself loving something like that. I mean, I have a great capacity and to teach where I am now. You know, the club being as strong as it is and as prestigious as it is, I get a lot of local phone calls from superintendents and techs, which is really cool. You know, but I think, you know, like you always want to grow. And if I think if there was a dream job, if I didn't have family and I could just get on a plane and Hey, let's go to Scotland and teach some people you know, let's go down and see Trent, what he's got and

Trent Manning: 26:28

Yeah.

Toby Christoun: 26:28

Him and then take it to the guys next door. Yeah, that would be it. But I mean, other than that, yeah, I'm happy where I am, so

Trent Manning: 26:35

yeah. I got an episode. The next episode coming out is Jim Ned.

Toby Christoun: 26:40

get outta here.

Trent Manning: 26:41

yeah. And we're we were trying to talk about Procore 6 48 but we ended up talking about cutting units again a little bit. You know, I had him on I don't know if you heard that episode, but.

Toby Christoun: 26:52

Yeah, I have.

Trent Manning: 26:53

yeah, episode 1 36 back in March, I think. Anyway yeah. Awesome guy. And he's so passionate about what he's doing and he loves teaching and I actually talked to him and I gotta follow through and get it set up. But I want to do, I hadn't decided if I'm gonna do YouTube live. I've kind of thought about that. But he's got, you know, PowerPoints for sprayers and six 40 eights and, you know, all this stuff. And I would like for him to do a class. And we'll put it on YouTube, on our YouTube channel, you know, for everybody to see. Because he has a ton of knowledge and just like you're talking about,'cause he knows the engineers at Toro and he knows engineers at John Deere and he knows Jacobson stuff and he can rattle all that stuff off the top of his head, which is amazing. You know what the real, you know, the real diameter is and the real shaft diameter. I mean, got all that stuff stored away somewhere. Impressive. Every time you talk to him,

Toby Christoun: 27:53

that's It.

Trent Manning: 27:54

do you have a technician you wanna work with for a day?

Toby Christoun: 27:57

Ah, you know, I've worked with so many great technicians, especially too after the open, like I felt you know, and I'm sure you've done the open as well, right? But you feel like you got your All-Star team and you in your area, so. But there's one guy that I could work with every day. It's his name's Nick Sama. When I was at the Catan Club right before I left, and he's got kind of a unique story and you would probably really even enjoy talking to him, but his wife was a traveler nurse and during COVID they really took advantage and reaped the benefits of her being a traveler nurse. And with that being the Casey originally started out of I think it was Ledge Rock out of Pennsylvania for Allen, and then ultimately kind of scooted around and, was it Chambers Bay and a few other golf courses doing the traveling thing. And then came to Catan and I got to meet him for maybe a month. He was working in the shop a little bit, working out there, but he wanted to be in the shop. But he was just doing anything he could. But before I left you know, he knew going to the country club, we were doing the open for the following year, and he's Hey, you know, if I could come and volunteer, I'm like, Hey, I'll keep you in mind. I didn't really know him from a hole in the wall. And I'm I'm kind of territorial. I'm like, all right, buddy. Relax. We'll figure it out. And I ended up just reaching out to him and he came he came early. He ended up doing a few months ahead of time. And I'll tell you if there's not a guy that's could be any more dear to my heart he's just one of the most amazing people. We worked so good together, we had so much fun together, Trent. My, I had the best six pack at the end of that stint of nine months of him, the, and therefore just laughing so hard because every day was like that. But we got the job done, and especially during the open we had a bunch of machines that were delivered in spectrum, the clutches on all these walkers, and we had to get'em done. Just, it was just one of those things where, and it's as goofy as it sounds, it was just so systematic in how we done it. And we just shoved them all out in an hour and a half and alright, what's next? What's next? What's next? And it was just like that. And the day that he left. I, it was like my dog died. I just, I was outta air, I was outta gas. And to this day though, I end up convincing him. He went, he did a couple more. He went out to az, worked out there I wanna say he went out to maybe Oregon and Washington, and I convinced him to come back. The GM at the Boston Club called me and said, Hey, do you know of anybody? And I'm like, I got one guy. You gotta talk to him. to Nick and Nick's now right up the road from me at the Boston Golf Club.

Trent Manning: 30:15

That's awesome then.

Toby Christoun: 30:17

So, yeah. And you could tell I get excited talking about Nick, but Oh, it was awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have that one guy too? Or

Trent Manning: 30:25

I don't know, I mean, I've met so many good people in this industry. Yeah. And I don't know if I could narrow it down to one guy, honestly,

Toby Christoun: 30:34

it's tough, right?

Trent Manning: 30:35

yeah. It would be tough. But the first guy that comes to mind because he called me today is Austin Wright. So he is the equipment manager at Hazelton National in Minnesota. Yeah, really nice. Of course, before there he was at Sand Valley and before there, I don't remember the name of the course, but he was in Kansas City. But the way I met him is he and I and Corey Phelps, which is another guy I've met through the industry that became friends with volunteered another guy too, Patrick Drinker. We volunteered for advance Week for the 100th PGA championship at Bell Reef. And the equipment manager up there at the time was Chris Rapp. Awesome guy. And we ground every reel. I've told this story several times, but we ground every reel on property. You know, I don't know how many it was, but it was a lot of reels. Replaced every bed knife. Advance week, so they didn't have to do anything. Tournament week we were all joking that's the B team coming in tournament week'cause we're the A team and got it done. But anyway, back to Austin. I mean, we really, you know, formed a friendship and that was 2018 and for the last, I think five years, we've taught a class together at GCSA at the show. We're teaching one this year. That's why he called me today. It's kind of funny. He's the organized one out of me and him so he keeps everything straight. Like I'll throw all the information in the PowerPoint and he's let me clean this up for you. I'm like, all right man, I appreciate you. You know, and I mean, he throws stuff in there too. But it's been a lot of fun and, you know, get just catching up. He just his youngest kid is 11 months old, you know, I mean, it's just. I dunno, good to see a younger person younger than me anyway. Really making strides in the industry and to call him a friend.

Toby Christoun: 32:37

I love it. Love it.

Trent Manning: 32:38

Yeah, it was, yeah. Good stuff. You got me so sidetracked. Tell, telling my Austin story,

Toby Christoun: 32:44

I love

Trent Manning: 32:45

Yeah, no, it was good. It was, yeah. Really good stuff. And like Corey Phillips that I've mentioned, so we worked together at the Toro distributor, Jerry Pate, turf and Irrigation. And see I met him probably like 2008 and he lives not too far from me, maybe 30 minutes down the road. The course he's at is about 30 minutes. And, you know, we don't get to see each other as much as we want, but he's got three boys and they're all playing sports, so he's, you know, wide open, busy. But it's just really nice to have a friend that you can pick the phone up and man, you've seen this, you know, or what, whatever it is. Or, Hey, listen to what happened here today. You know, the, you know, that, that's just good stuff. Yeah. Another guy Kent, Carson I met him through the turf industry and yeah, I mean, we've been friends for, I mean, probably going on 20 years, you know, I mean, it's, it is just crazy. And I was at his house last night talking some business stuff with him, you know, I mean, it's, I don't know, it's a really good industry that I've been very blessed all the people I've met and can call a friend,

Toby Christoun: 34:02

Yeah.

Trent Manning: 34:02

It's, yeah, it's something. Get ready for tips and tricks Well, let's hear some tips and tricks. What kind of

Toby Christoun: 34:11

Tips and tricks, you know, that,

Trent Manning: 34:13

would like to share?

Toby Christoun: 34:15

I mean, it's gonna be tough to give you any tips or tricks, a guy of a young nature, but I think you got, this is always funny. So with the open, and I kind of picked this up over over my sales years. Everybody adjust rails, I think a little bit different. You know, you think about the specs on a rail, like somewhere, you know, whisper, contact two thousands, clearance on a Jake, or you know, full con contact, old school, new school. It doesn't matter what it is. All the grind is grind different, you know, from the the dual express to the Foley, to the simplex. But I always look at it like this. You know, I try to keep it simple with whatever I do. Always make sure any piece of machinery, especially of my assistants that have come through, or anybody that I'm teaching new it's like the body. If you're tense, it's not gonna work good. Same thing with a rail. Keep it relaxed when you're tightening up adjusting heights. Don't overtighten don't tweak on one side or push on something when you know, tighten on one side and trying to compensate, you know, just holding it still. When you're adjusting those rails, the bed knife, I use business cards and everybody's what the hell is this? During the open, all the guys you know, the eight techs in the shop were all laughing, all they're all friends. So we're very vocal. We went out dude, what the hell is this? I'm like, this is what we're doing. Trust me. And to this day I love it. And the reason I love it is this, it gives me enough clearance. I, I'm not a big fan of back lap and I don't even have a back lap machine at at TCC, you know, we have two, two bed knife grinders, two rail grinders. We got a generator if we have to run'em, if electricity goes out, we are good.

Trent Manning: 35:42

Nice.

Toby Christoun: 35:42

we have backup to backup of reels. So if it's not shop, if it's not cutting, it's gonna get thrown on it and it's gonna be a real cut. It's gonna be a shop cut. With a shop cut, you can pretty much cut anything. I feel that when I use a business card, I'm keeping enough clearance where I know I'm gonna get a cut, enough cut to go through the type of card that I that I purchase, that I like. If feel, if the reels are a little wet and I have a lot, we have a lot to go through in the shop. It's not gonna fail the paper kind of would and fold over and get a little mushy and keep on having to grab new papers, kind of mimics, what a blade of grass is. If you hold a piece of paper, even fold it over to what a a, you know, what grass looks like. The width of a credit card kind of, I'm sorry. A business card gives that mimics that a little bit better. And to this day I have had no complaints. If you put it under a microscope or you look on a prism, everything is beautiful. Nothing's torn. Everything is super healthy. I think that has been a big. Big help in my success in the later years is something as simple as that sounds, but it works. And yeah. So that's my don't tell everybody trick, but it, I like it. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 36:49

No, I mean, I love it and the reason I love it is it just proves something that some of us know, but I think there's a lot of people that think you have to do it a certain way. You know, this is the correct way and if you're not doing it this way, you're not as good as me. And I'm on my soapbox here a little bit. But I've never agreed with that. And it's something that, I mean, it kind of bugs me that, you know, people think that way because, and just for instance, you said you don't lap, which I totally respect that, but I know other people that lap every time the mower goes out and I would put their cuts up to anybody else's. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's whatever works for you. If it's working for you, don't, you know, don't, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Right. I am curious, how thick is the business card? Are we talking 10 thousandths or is it more like an index card? That's six thousandths.

Toby Christoun: 37:56

I was gonna say, if you say an index card, I think you'd be fair. Yeah, I buy'em off of Amazon. They're not, you know, they're not a shiny gloss with a little extra reinforcement. They got a little snap to it. But yeah, I would probably say six thousands to be fair.

Trent Manning: 38:08

Okay. I was just, yeah, just curious. Yeah.

Toby Christoun: 38:10

yeah. One other thing to highlight on that, and like what you said, you know, everybody, we all do a different, you know, we all have our own ways, but I also in, you see too, you know, everybody's turf is different, you know, from what super one, what one superintendent did to another, to get to where they are is. Is a totally different method. Some people don't have the means and their fairway's Hitachi, so you're gonna adjust a fairway machine to compensate different, to go through that fats to not shadow. Versus a guy that's mowing at 300 top dresses, you know, once a month and they, you know, doesn't even pull a different, it pulls a splash. So yeah, it's all adapting. I mean, it's no different than our bo than our bodies. Like you what one, what you may be able to eat. I may not. It's the same thing for what we're doing. What you, what I do to did at one call, of course might not work for the next. So yeah, the cuts and all of that are huge part of it. How I address those machines and I and I think more guys I, you know, in the conversation. They're using prisms. They're getting out there and actually seeing, you know, what's a bench cut? What's a field cut? They're getting educated and thank God for guys like you doing social media and these videos especially these young bucks that aren't really bred or taught, don't have the, don't have those resources where someone like you getting on there and they're really feeding into it. But I think it's important for also for a guy like you to say you know, listen, it's okay, not to do it the way I'm saying it, just try to get there, but maybe use a little something of what I'm doing to do it.

Trent Manning: 39:33

Why don't, so the one video that you made me think of about, you know, the. Video. I don't remember exactly what the title was, but it is basically how I grind a reel with a six Foley 6 53. This is just the way I do it. This isn't the end all, be all. This is my method, you know? And just like we could do a video on how you set up a reel using your business card, you know, this is the way you do it. This is what works for you. And I do think people need to see that, that it's, you know, it's not just my way or the highway. There's all kind of different ways. And I mean, my way is a way that I developed through every interaction I've had. You know, I mean that honestly it's not,'cause what I was taught when I got into the industry in the late nineties we used newspaper on our, you know, I mean super thin, right? Newspaper. On our greens mowers, we only lapped. I never ground a greens mower

Toby Christoun: 40:42

No kidding.

Trent Manning: 40:43

in the late nineties. We had, we didn't own a bed knife grinder, but we did own a real grinder. But the real grinder, it was, I mean, an old machine. And it was not conducive to putting a walk mower on that machine. You could put a reel up there, but not a whole walk mower just wasn't heavy duty enough.

Toby Christoun: 41:03

Was it all Neary or something or?

Trent Manning: 41:06

no, it was a Foley. It was similar to the Foley 600, but it predated the 600 and I don't remember the numbers of 1365 or something. And I don't remember what the numbers was. But I mean, it was not rigid enough. So if you propped your arm on it while it was grinding, the grind would change. Like it would start grinding harder'cause you propped on it. So that, that was a long time ago, but yeah, so totally different right than what I'm doing now.

Toby Christoun: 41:37

Sure.

Trent Manning: 41:37

And I do still lap, but I lap fairway mowers on Bermuda grass and now we just went through renovation zoia and at one. So I got the two courses. One course is already zoia and I found out there I couldn't get away with lapping in between grinds. So, that course we only grind our fairway mowers. We'll still allow green mowers and stuff, but fairway mowers we only grind.

Toby Christoun: 42:11

Wow.

Trent Manning: 42:11

Yeah. You know, so, I mean, my method has changed over the years due to the grass. Not what the way I was doing it, it just didn't work with that

Toby Christoun: 42:22

how to adapt.

Trent Manning: 42:23

Yeah. We had to adapt and overcome. Right. That's what we do.

Toby Christoun: 42:26

That's it.

Trent Manning: 42:27

you know, and that's what makes it fun too, right?

Toby Christoun: 42:30

Yeah. I mean, not that we have to reinvent the wheel, but it's definitely there's always something coming at you, and I think that's the coolest part about this job. As much as you, you think your days already planned out, just something that comes at you sideways and something you may have never seen, or you maybe even you did see and you're like, man, I know exactly what this is. And it all paid off like it was, you know, it could have been 12 years ago. Yeah,

Trent Manning: 42:53

Well, yeah. I worked for a superintendent and he's, he told me one time, and it's something that's always stuck with me. He says, 90% of your day comes to you. And it's so true. You know, I mean,'cause just like you're saying, we could plan out whatever we want to do, but that all goes out the window, you know, 10 minutes after start time.

Toby Christoun: 43:12

I always,

Trent Manning: 43:13

whatever broke, or, you know.

Toby Christoun: 43:15

oh God. Yeah. I, it's a, it's funny. So my, my, my boss Dave, he's the king of audibles, you know, we'll discuss it and he'll get out there no, nope. This is how it, we're gonna, we're gonna totally switch it. And it was even just funny yesterday. It was, we had talked to, we have our morning meetings and then we have our Friday meeting just to kind of highlight what's coming up for the next week and make sure everybody's on the same page, everything's, you know, ready to go. And for the past couple weeks, you know, we just got done with that big verification and Dave's noticed the Sandman, if he could put more sand down and there's a reason to do it, he did it, he's gonna do it. So he went to Vertica and in the morning he's we'll probably gonna Vertica. I'm like, okay, buddy. Yeah, if I put the Verico's on now I know we're not gonna Vertica'cause it's just Murphy's Law, like it's just not gonna happen. So I'm like, just gimme a call when it's ready to go, and I promise you we'll be on in 10 minutes. And it's just that run of joke between us and it's all white hearted, just good fun, which makes the environment so fun. But. I was to get those red cuts on for two weeks, they'd sit on for two weeks and then we'd have to take'em off and put a set of rails on. It's just, and would've never used them, you know? So yeah, it's just like you, just, as much as you plan it doesn't matter. It's just something coming at you different.

Trent Manning: 44:25

Yep. Always something coming at us. Well, yeah, let's talk about your career and kind of how you ended up where you ended up.

Toby Christoun: 44:34

Yeah. So at the beginning, I don't wanna sound redundant, but you know, I think the, you know, just going through the golf courses, through sales and then ultimately getting back at the golf courses, which was like, you know, my meant to be my destiny, if you want to call it whatever. It was how I got there and, you know, you see the timeline and all the years that have gone by 20 something years, which is, it's been such a great run, but it's the connections that were so important that I made in the meantime, in the relationships, but. Most importantly with that, the professionalism. The one thing that I've learned over this career that I wish I knew more when I was, when I was started in the beginning, was to throw yourself out there. Get to know everybody in anybody. You can walk in a room as comfortable as it is, force yourself to be in a conversation with somebody you don't know. Try to meet three new people a day. As corny as it sounds, when you go to a show, Hand. All of that has such merit and such weight to it because in the end, everybody is just as afraid to meet somebody else as you. I mean, there's those, there's the 10% outta those guys that can walk in any room and dazzle, but the other 90% are just afraid, are just as nervous to do it. Especially the younger guys where if you can get through that. You're gonna build this tolerance up to that first part, to get through the next part, to now feel comfortable with yourself and build your build your craft. Learn how to become a professional feeling free to, to really just embrace the people around you because you're not afraid of what they're gonna think to ask questions and all of that stuff. And that is really why I am where I am today in my career, is that I I threw it all under the line, you know, after, you know, seeing what I wanted from the Boston Club and going through, you know, the ranks and through the sales of learning. There's a bigger picture out there than just golf courses. There's, you know, what they call the FSG, the Sports Field and Grounds Market. There's estates, there's all walks of life. There's guys that went from golf to that because it was a better balance. There's guys that got out of it and went back to golf because it's just such a, like a passion for us guys that do it. Hearing those, you automatically have that common thread with'em. So now they've already wow, this guy's like me. And then they start sharing family stories and putting the hats on the sleeve. And those relationships are the relationships. If I said that I still keep in touch, not keep in touch, but still have relationships with 200 guys outta all of those, that would probably be fair. Like I can walk through and I'm gonna get a hug because we shared special moments. And all of those special moments are why I am where I am today, including Dave. Where he knew the type of person I was. I didn't hold anything back. I wore the hat on the sleeve. I promised him when I sold him something, whether it was Jacobson or not, it is gonna be 100% you buy'em from me. And he knew that word was true. And that's how I built the brand on my word. And I think getting where I am today of how I built it on my integrity, which is the number one thing. Which I wish every young generation guy coming in would understand that integrity, your word is your bond. If you can live by your word, show some professionalism and take that risk of throwing yourself out there. Sky's the limit, man. There is no job that you can't have, and I really believe that you,

Trent Manning: 47:43

I I'm with you a hundred percent. I couldn't say it any better. That was great. I mean, that's really good. The one thing that I did think of is the common saying of get comfortable being uncomfortable. You know, and I mean, I've been preaching that ever since I've, I got a microphone here. You know, get outta your comfort zone. And how, that's the only reason I'm sitting here talking to you today is I got outta my comfort zone. Was it comfortable starting a podcast? Did I know how to start a podcast? I'd listen to a podcast. Does that make me an expert? No, it didn't. You know, but I did some research and bought some equipment and here we are. And it's been what this is, yeah. Going on four years, which I mean, it's just crazy. Four years later because I decided to get outta my comfort zone

Toby Christoun: 48:35

Love it.

Trent Manning: 48:36

and you know, I put my pants on just like everybody else, you know, and when we first got on, you're like, Ooh, it's celebrity. But, you know, I'm just a normal Joe just like anybody else.

Toby Christoun: 48:45

That's why you're so successful, though. You're humble. You know, you appreciate what you're doing. You appreciate the industry, the people that are in it, and I think that's why people adhere to you too. I think that's a huge part. I mean, we're not gonna adhere to the pompous, you know, fool that's got everything to say and not willing to listen. You're a guy that is, clearly from watching your videos and listening to your podcast, that you're genuine. You appreciate what everybody's got to say. And I think that's what this industry needs more of. Unfortunately, I think of there's a lot of guys that are afraid to do it, and then there's a lot of guys that are just too busy, but. You are generous enough to give back to us, so, and that's why we appreciate you.

Trent Manning: 49:18

Well, thank you. Thank you very much. You ready to do some rapid fire

Toby Christoun: 49:22

Yeah, you bet.

Trent Manning: 49:24

or did you have anything else you wanna talk about?

Toby Christoun: 49:27

There's one other thing and I think it's

Trent Manning: 49:28

we got plenty of time. Plenty of

Toby Christoun: 49:29

I love the story and I'm hoping even like going into the national, and I'm gonna meet a couple guys just out of this and I know I'll get some phone calls, but I think we all do it different. We all come from big clubs. You come from a machine yourself and I know a lot of guys that, all have a different way of doing it. And I think what's unique about us at the country club is our culture. And I know a lot of guys preach culture and I know a guy, a lot of guys that preach the culture and the guys that work for the guys that preach the culture. And it's not what it is. But I can honestly say with my heart that where I work, it's something special and it's like this, it comes from the top. You know, I'm gonna, I have to give obviously our gm, Kristen, a lot of credit because she is the one, and you can see it no matter where you walk on the campus with any department, how much she appreciates all us and what she gives us is super important. But internally in our big dog director Dave Johnson, he is the salt of the earth. And like I said earlier, he's just a good man, but he's got such. such a gift for what he does, it's comes so natural, the way that he can make decisions so effortlessly in all. The way that he can read a person, the way that he can handle a person that might not be in a good state. The way that he drives his team, the way that he directs us with such determination and without such hesitation blows all of us away. We all talk about on the side, but it starts with Dave and he has made a point in before I was hired that I would be part of the leadership team. So I hold a lot of weight in as far as decisions of what goes on in the everyday, and I really appreciate that. And I wish that more equipment managers had that opportunity on their teams and more superintendents or directors and even a couple might listen to this and give it a chance because it really gives, gives, I think the team more of an edge. And it's as simple as communication, right? In the morning we'll start off where we all gather in Dave's office we shoot, you know, we bs a little bit and we just have some fun conversation. But then we get to, we open up teams and we look at what's going on. And we might have already talked about it the night before, but there's a recap, there's an audible, there's something that's gotta go on. And, you know, we got Dave, we got a superintendent a O Sullivan, a senior assistant Sean Mitchell, which both run the crew. Crew. They alternate week to week. They, you watch two guys that work together. I could not like, it is just amazing. They just balance each other out. Sean's the big time planner. Aiden is like very laid back and like, all right, let's pull it back and look at this a little different. And those two are like, it's amazing, you know? And then we hold one other assistant there. Tommy, who is gonna actually gonna be leaving us this week. He's he's leaving on for a new venture, but he's just one that is, was designed to kind of watch what we do in the office and take over once, you know, the ladder moves, if Aidan was to move on to another position and Shava to climb the ladder. But what I really want to get to Trent was just give, after giving just a little description of how it sits, is that. How we do a couple things by example. We all value each other's opinion. A hundred percent. There is never a bad never any animosity or any bad vibe from us. We're very open and very honest with each other. We're all kind of a second family. So with that being the case when something does arise, we, you know, we handle it like gentlemen and even if we don't agree with each other, we just laugh it off and go. But I like to use the examples as top dressing as one of'em. You know, you fell down. I can't tell you how many guys are out there grinding away and there's no communication and this poor em just has no lower back for the next few days.'cause he just threw out 25 reels inside of a day and a half off of fairway by himself. And now they're gonna go top dress and he's gonna have to mow through that sand and redo it all over or try to get the life. And when I got there, that was kind of, not intentionally, it was just, oh, let anybody can of a new, and I said to Dave, I'm like, you know, da Dave's great about. You know, well, what can we do? And he's you know, we can keep it regulated for 10 days and not move for 10 days. So we work together Hey, you know what? I'm gonna be top dressing fairways, I'm gonna be top dressing greens. I know you might have a most a grind schedule coming up. I'm like, yeah, I do. Thanks for letting me know. I'm gonna hold off a week. You know, we're gonna prolong the cuts. Instead of maybe using the walkers, we'll go to tri fly triplexes for a clean cut instead of using walkers, which we primarily use during the summer. We'll get through that, that period of of sand. And then, you know, we'll put the crap the less the rails that aren't a shop on there and kind of go through instead of just blasting through all the rails. My theory is this, and being a turf guy too, when you're cutting sand, you're bruising tissue at the same time you, especially in the ends of the season where the spring, it's not fully growing yet in the end of the season up here in the fall where it's going dormant, I'm gonna have bruised tissue that's gonna take three weeks to hail versus, you know, it could take three days to ha if you just let the sand get in the ground and kind of do what it has to do, maybe cut a little higher cut just to get above that canopy where it's sitting in and kind of work with the super and all that and kind of show and show that case. And those are just little things that we do. and it's not trying to preach, but it's just so important that we all listen to each other and we're all hearing what each other is saying because. I might not be a superintendent, but I was fortunate enough to be on the road and see what a lot of guys did and didn't do and what was successful and what wasn't. And and Dave and all of us will be the first to admit that we don't know it all. So let's learn from one, one another. I mean, just the other day, Dave and I we know what we want for tractors and this and that, but we're gonna still do their research and go to other guys and talk to them and get the feedback just to reassure and make sure that we're protecting the club's money and making the right decision. So we don't let Eagles come and play. But I think that's what's so unique about TCC is that we're known as the squirrel squad because our logo, other than the TCC here is we have a squirrel but I think it's just a unique name that we are a squad. We are all together. We all bring ourselves together. And it doesn't matter what department you are, we all. Just really embrace each other when we walk by. There's a lot of people I don't even know there. And it's funny, like I, and I'll stop after this story about how unique we are as a group. But there's a lady, Jackie Singleton, and she is the director of communications and she's just another badass girl. She is just one of those people, she's a philanthropist. She's big into just getting information out there, promoting the people from within really exposing the club. Communication with the members is huge, which she has been the. The force behind that reckoning with over the years of just, you know, like what is the club doing, getting the members notified, getting edu educated informational videos that Dave or Aiden or one of our old superintendents, Anthony Howard, which is just another awesome guy, God bless him is at Pine Brook Club. He they all did vid, they've done videos over the years to educate, and Jackie's been the promoter of that. And that's just another unique thing that we all do at the country club that just, and maybe you do too, but I don't see it as much that I would hope that maybe people would, because communication is so important and you know, when you're doing some phase mowing, you're trying to kill bent grass that's creeping out into the roughs and they see dead rough out there. They automatically, oh, this guy doesn't know how to grow progress. No, we're making the golf course better for you. So what's better than an educational video? And getting that stuff out there. But you know, things like that. You know, Jackie, who I've been at the club now for over four years. I got to go to an inaugurational ceremony a couple weeks ago, and I got to sit next to her and I'm like, I didn't know this much about you. And it's just so neat. We just we just have that comfortable atmosphere that we've, that Kristen is set, and even Mr. Shag above and all the directors, you know, just the just all, some of the best, the coolest people. You know, Brendan Walsh, who's retiring after this year, who I bet you the world knows who he is. These people treat you like you're one of theirs. There is no level of hierarchy there. And I, and that's something I just want to talk about, you know, within our greens department and how it just stems throughout the whole entire club of 325 employees. And it is cool. It's

Trent Manning: 57:49

No, that's awesome. And then it goes so far you know, to for everything yeah.'cause who wants to go to work at a place that is not fun or there is a lot of. Emotions or negative vibes or whatever it is, you know, I mean, it's not conducive to having a good work environment. So communication is key. And a lot of us drop the ball on communication,

Toby Christoun: 58:20

it's tough. It's tough

Trent Manning: 58:21

It can be tough, you know, but that's part it, part of it. Right. It's a challenge, but you have to make an effort to make it better.

Toby Christoun: 58:30

definitely.

Trent Manning: 58:31

Yeah, for

Toby Christoun: 58:32

It helps you grow as a professional, helps you grow, it helps you grow in every way. I mean, it's tough. It, I think, and as guys just inherently, like with dudes, we don't want to talk about a problem. So we don't

Trent Manning: 58:42

Oh

Toby Christoun: 58:42

It's easy just to get pissed and do it yourself, but. It goes a long way where you can just say, Hey, listen, you know, I mean, you had a good question that was like, how do you deal with that guy? And Yeah I mean, sometimes you just have to embrace it and just okay, like this is the reason to talk to him, gain a relationship with him, and hopefully we can build off of that. But I don't know. Yeah. Everybody's got a different way of doing it. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 59:03

No that's good though. Thank you so much for sharing all that. That was really good.

Toby Christoun: 59:07

Yeah. Sorry it was a long story, but

Trent Manning: 59:09

no, it was awesome. It was good. It was good. Let's do some rapid fire.

Toby Christoun: 59:17

All right. What do you got?

Trent Manning: 59:19

What are you, what's your favorite movie?

Toby Christoun: 59:21

Oh man, nobody's not gonna know this. When is Take all, it's a 1986 motocross movie. It's about as cheesy as it gets, but it just throws me back. If I could move to the eighties, I'd do it. You know?

Trent Manning: 59:31

I, I wanna say I think I've seen that. It was a long time ago, but I think I've

Toby Christoun: 59:35

Rick Mellon bed, Billy Robinson. Judy McCormick, those are the characters. I mean, I can recite the lines. So my wife, she's oh God, please not again. But if I

Trent Manning: 59:43

Yeah,

Toby Christoun: 59:44

not lying 200 times, that's probably a low number.

Trent Manning: 59:46

yeah. Yeah. That's funny. What would be your last meal?

Toby Christoun: 59:50

Oh boy. I honestly, I think lasagna, I just

Trent Manning: 59:53

Okay.

Toby Christoun: 59:54

yeah. How about you? Oh, yeah. Homemade. Yeah. Yeah.

Trent Manning: 59:57

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I'm more of a barbecue.

Toby Christoun: 1:00:01

There you go.

Trent Manning: 1:00:02

yeah, some ribs,

Toby Christoun: 1:00:04

Can't go wrong with that man.

Trent Manning: 1:00:05

Yeah, I can't decide which kind. You know, Kansas City's really good, but we got good barbecue down here in the south, so I don't, yeah, I don't know. What are you most proud of besides your family?

Toby Christoun: 1:00:17

Ah, see, you already. Most proud of, besides my family, that's a tough one for me, but, you know, I wanna say Korea because we've talked so much about it, but I'm gonna say this. I think I'm most proud of or the way that I've learned to grow relationships with people and to value a person a lot different. I mean, I always grew up where my parents are the south. I love them. They're the most wonderful people and they're very generous and very kind. But I think I've just made more of a point in my later years to really keep in touch and keep relationships with people. So if I can't say my family and work I'm proud of, I would say yeah, just to learn how to maintain relationships because, you know, when you're younger you just, you're always on the go. And maybe that isn't the highlight of your life and the most important thing. But I think the older I get now at 49, I just think man, there, there's no tomorrow's not promised. And I know I said I made that remark earlier, but like those good people that are in your life, like embrace'em. Even if it's just a simple text like, Hey dude, thinking of you miss you. Do it because it is so, so important. So yeah, I'm proud'cause I've come a long way. I was always too busy and not too cool for school. But yeah, I mean, it definitely finally caught on.

Trent Manning: 1:01:27

No, I mean, I get in my own way all the time, you know, just overthinking things or thinking about this, thinking about that, and don't reach out to people as much as I should. And the guy I mentioned before, Kent Carson, that I'm good friends with, he is really good. It. I mean, we can go maybe a month without talking and he's gonna reach out and just, Hey man how you doing? You know, what's been going on, you know, every month like clockwork,

Toby Christoun: 1:01:57

And it's you ha it's like you never dropped a beat either, right? It just picks

Trent Manning: 1:02:00

yeah. I yeah, for sure. And I always say, man, I need to be more like Kent and, you know, call other people. And I don't, but I try. I've got better, I've got better over the years than I used to be living in my own little world and making up problems that don't exist. Thank you so much, Toby, for

Toby Christoun: 1:02:23

Thank you.

Trent Manning: 1:02:24

really great PR yeah. It was so much fun. And this is for me, I mean, this is the fun part the interview now, the work begins after this. But no, thank you for reaching out too. So again, to anybody listening, send me an email, real turf text@gmail.com and we'll get you lined up to be on the podcast. Because you just heard it from Toby. It's a lot of fun,

Toby Christoun: 1:02:48

it is. You know it.

Trent Manning: 1:02:49

No, yeah. Thank you so much for being on.

Toby Christoun: 1:02:52

you. Yeah. Thank you as well. God bless.

Trent Manning: 1:03:00

thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don't forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you'd like to discuss, or you'd like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at Reel turf techs.