Prairie Ridge golf welcomes Cumberland

On September 30, Kevin Cumberland became the new golf clubhouse manager at Prairie Ridge golf course in Janesville; Cumberland taught for the last decade at St. Clair and has been a teacher and coach for 14 years. Cumberland stated when he saw the position advertised, he thought it was a unique opportunity and just “had to” apply.

 

“About 15 years ago I actually did look into going back to school for golf course management,” he shared.

 

He added that the timing wasn’t right back then since he had two young children to take care of, so that was another reason why this opportunity excited him.

 

“Being an educator, you do lot of the same things here,” Cumberland stated. “I may not be teaching, but I’m definitely taking care of people. Passion for people is a big part of education.”

 

His first week on his own began the second week in November after working the previous week with Scott Allen who had worked at Prairie Ridge as a golf pro and general manager for 26 years.

 

“He did a fine job of laying the groundwork for me,” Cumberland said of Allen.

 

Not only does Cumberland see golf as a lifetime sport where any age, from a kid to a ninety-year-old can play, he also sees how golf can relate to real life and who you are, especially with who you’re going to be when no one else is around.

 

“A lot of times you’re competing against yourself. Golf builds that character where you call your own penalties. No one is looking so you can do what you want with the ball.”

 

Golf also provides quality time with family or friends, Cumberland added.

 

As soon as he clocks in for the day, he said members usually come in, ready to play golf.

 

While Cumberland has worked at Prairie Ridge Golf Course only a few weeks, he says he is already wearing numerous hats as the merchandiser, ordering materials and food, bartender, cook, and maintaining health and sanitary regulations. Along with all that, he has been learning about the new computer system.

 

Cumberland grew up in Elysian and Waterville before he attended Minnesota State University (MSU) in Mankato and acquired a bachelor’s degree in social studies. After he graduated, he moved to South Dakota where he lived for three years. He mentioned he applied to about 70 schools in the Midwest region before he landed the job in Sioux Falls.

 

While there he also met his future wife Liz, who was just finishing her nursing degree at Augustana University. They both needed to try something different, so they moved to Tennessee for seven years but have lived in the area again for about 13 years, he added. Cumberland’s dad and stepmom also moved to Knoxville, so it became an incentive to move there and it’s where their two children, JJ and Kendal, were born. Liz also went back to school to become a nurse practitioner at King University while he became a stay-at-home dad for that time since they realized his income essentially paid for day care.

 

“At the time, I was working for the University of Knoxville as a nutrition educator, so I was traveling through Knox County and working with elementary schools, nursing homes and health fairs,” Cumberland said and added while he enjoyed the job, and it had good benefits it didn’t pay very well.

 

One of the most unique features Cumberland has noted about the nine-hole golf course is its reversibility. Every Sunday night, Cumberland shared he prepares to change the direction club members will play for the following week.

 

“It plays like it has 18 holes even though it has nine,” he explained. “For tournaments we can actually turn it into an 18-hole event. We’ll have them play one direction in the morning for lunch and then I’ll send the crew out to reverse all the holes and so it’s set up to play the other way.”

 

Cumberland said he doesn’t expect to make many changes for a while. Instead he hopes he will build repertoire with clients as much as he has with the veteran staff he has interacted with, including Allen and Jakob Lehrke. Cumberland expressed how impressed he’s been with the increase of memberships over the last decade and remarked he has a really good framework to work with.

 

“What I want to do is keep learning that framework and keep the status quo with what’s been working and make little fine-tuned adjustments so the course keeps growing,” Cumberland stated.

 

Since settling into his new position, Cumberland made it clear how much the Janesville community has touched him.

 

“They’re very friendly and I look forward to serving them for many years to come,” Cumberland stated.