The EW Podcast - Joel Simmons with Zac Ramey

Biological soil management isn’t just theory—it’s real, and every now and then, we meet someone who proves it in remarkable ways. At a recent EarthWorks Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, we had the pleasure of meeting Zac Ramey, a young golf course superintendent with a powerful success story.

Zac introduced himself to Joel Simmons and shared how he transformed the soil profile at the Country Club of Spartanburg, where he serves as Director of Agronomy. When he took the role seven years ago, he inherited what we call a "thatch cake"—a soil profile with ten compacted layers of thatch, each topped with topdressing. It's the kind of photo that draws laughs or groans in our classes, but for Zac, it was all too familiar.

Determined to restore his greens, Zac implemented aggressive aerification combined with a carbon-based fertility program. “When I got there, I was applying over six pounds of nitrogen per year on my greens,” he recalled. He also described the frustratingly slow recovery of aerification holes and the initial pushback from club members. But Zac held his ground, and over two years, he began to see real change. The layers broke up, the soil profile improved, and the playing surface became firmer and more resilient.

This episode is one of our favorites—an inspiring conversation about the transformative power of soil biology and the persistence of a superintendent committed to doing things right. Thank you, Zac, for sharing your journey. This is a story every turf manager should hear.


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