WORKING -- Frank Page

-- Story by Bryce Alderton, photo by

HE IS

The guy that makes the grass on the golf course look so green.

FOND OF FLEXIBILITY

If Frank Page wants to take a break from looking at a computer screen,

he can jump on a mower and mow the fairways and greens of Meadowlark Golf

Course in Huntington Beach, where he has worked for the past year and a

half as the course’s superintendent.

“Every day is different, that’s one of the things I like about the

job,” Page said. “I don’t have a set schedule. I take care of what needs

to be done.”

Some of Page’s many duties include changing hole positions on the

greens, mowing the greens, fairways, tee boxes and the rough, along with

special projects such as irrigation or drainage work. He has a crew of

seven and one mechanic to help him with the work.

He usually does paperwork when he arrives at the course at 5:30 a.m.,

then soon ventures out on the course.

“I see the sun rise every morning,” Page said. “It’s a nice

combination between office work and outdoor labor.”

AS SEASONS CHANGE

Page usually works from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 or 3 p.m., five to six days

per week, depending on the time of year and what preparations need to be

made on the course.

“There’s more course preparation and stress headaches in the summer,”

Page said. “There are types of fungus you have to keep a sharp eye out

for, and you have to find the right balance when you water the course.”

Maintaining a lawn that 110,000 golfers and 50,000 golf carts trample

on in a year is a challenge.

“You just have to keep it healthy,” Page said.

A HARD WORKING COURSE ARTIST

Page’s favorite piece of equipment is a trim mower, which he uses on

and around the greens to create checkerboard designs.

The trick is to mow in different directions.

“You mow east to west, turn around, and go west to east,” Page said.

“If the grass is facing away from you it will be dark, if it’s facing you

it will be light.”

These checkerboards can also be drawn on fairways.

Page hasn’t always sculpted lawns on Southern California courses. He

was an art major at Cypress College in 1975, and went on to work for the

James Lumber Co. and Lucky stores.

Then came 1990, the year Page was hired on at Lake Forest Golf and

Practice Center.

That’s when Page met Mike Orren, the course’s superintendent at the

time, and a mutual friend of he and brother Buck Page.

Orren was quickly impressed with Page’s work.

“I was working with [Orren] at the time and he was happy with the work

I was doing and encouraged me to pursue it,” Page said.

So Page soon began taking classes to get a license from the State

Department of Pesticide Regulation. He became a member of the Golf Course

Superintendent’s Assn. of America in 1993.

Page got his license from the pesticide regulation department in 1994

and became the superintendent at Lake Forest, Casta del Sol Golf Course

in Mission Viejo and Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course in Irvine before

settling in at Meadowlark.

ABOVE PAR WORK ETHIC

A sound work ethic is what Page attributes to where he is today.

“Being a hard worker in the industry for 15 to 20 years with a good

attitude and work ethic that my parents instilled in me made me stand out

from other employees at the time,” Page said. “With encouragement and

opportunity, the hard work paid off. Without a lot of experience or

education, I had to work harder and longer than other people do.”

The hard work continues.

Page currently takes correspondence courses on turf management through

Purdue University.

He is content at Meadowlark, with no plans for moving on in the near

future.

“I’ll be here for awhile,” Page said.

The 45-year-old lives in Laguna Niguel with wife Melody, and has two

children, Amy and David.