Anecdotes:
Eric's family raised corn, soybeans, and hay in addition to the dairy farm. Eric was a member of the Future Farmers of America and was involved in 4H. At the age of 16 he owned two Belgian draft horses.
Eric originally majored in Engineering at Michigan State University, he wanted to build marinas and harbors.
While at college, Eric worked for MSU professors testing herbicides in field crops.
In 2005 while attending the BIGGA Conference in England, Eric received a personal tour of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (home of Wimbledon) by the grounds director.
Anecdotes:
PJCC was founded in 1894. Originally a polo club, the golf course was designed by Donald Ross in the early 1900’s.
Around 1915, the turf for the first grass tennis courts was shipped over
from England in steel drums.
Eric visited and consulted with the All England Club when renovating the grass tennis courts at PJCC.
Not long after Eric’s arrival, PJCC landed on Golf Digest’s “Best in State” list.
Eric heads the RIDEM’s Golf Course Environmental Certification Program at PJCC.
Congressional Country Club was founded in 1921 as a social club for members of congress and businessmen. Herbert Hoover was the club’s founding president.
In 1943, Congressional Country Club was leased to the government as a training center for the Office of Strategic Services, who taught espionage, sabotage, parachuting and other skills.
Shortly after the renovation, the Gold Course was ranked fifth in state by Golf Digest.