Thom Charters Leaves Bayview, Joins Coppinwood

Coppinwood #11

In interesting — if somewhat inside baseball — news, longtime Bayview super Thom Charters has accepted a position at Coppinwood near Uxbridge. Scott Pratt had been the super at Coppinwood since Sean DeSilva’s departure a couple of years ago. It is, in some ways, the conclusion of a complete overhaul of the team at Coppinwood following Kevin Thistle’s hiring last year as general manager.

Charters, who is also a panelist on SCOREGolf’s Top 100, is well-known as a superintendent who elevated Bayview. The club — a Robbie Robinson design — is solid, if unspectacular, but was known for its fine conditioning. Coppinwood, on the other hand, seemed to struggle for the last two years despite glowing reviews early on about its conditions. Some of that has to be blamed on sunlight and tree issues — and it is hard to say why architect Tom Fazio would have allowed trees along the 17th hole, for example, to stay considering they blocked sunlight to the green, which always seemed a bit thin.

Anyway, here’s the skinny on Charters:

Charters’ previous experience included running Weston Golf and Country Club’s turf operation for nine years ending in 1995, and previously worked at Islington Golf Club for a decade.  He’s one of the most recognized superintendents in the Canadian golf industry, having won the 1992 SCOREGolf award as Superintendent of the Year. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University’s prestigious Turfgrass Management Program, Charters currently sits as the Chair of the Guelph Turfgrass Institute Advisory Board and was past President of both the Ontario Turfgrass Research Foundation and Ontario Golf Superintendents  Association.