There is a lot to say about Wolf Creek Golf Club in Mesquite, Nev., but ask Superintendent Reuben Proper. He indicates that “it speaks for itself.” At Wolf Creek, “the terrain is like no other golf course I have ever seen. There are no homes built on the golf course, so the views are amazing,” Proper explains.

GETTING STARTED While in college, Proper had a part-time position at Scottsdale Country Club with the player services department. His uncle, Allen Ervine, was the superintendent and approached Proper with a possibility. “He asked me,” said Proper, “if I was interested in a maintenance job working for his son, Jay Ervine, at Dragon Ridge Golf and Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

Proper decided to take the job and received experience as 2nd assistant superintendent for about two years. “During those two years Jay inspired me to work hard and attend college to become a superintendent. He helped me get accepted to Penn State’s Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program,” he said.

In 2004, Proper received a Professional Certificate in Golf Course Turfgrass Management, graduating with honors. “I am very grateful for both Jay and Allen for pointing me in the right direction,” he said. “They are both my mentors for this business and I can still call either one of them today to get advice about any issue that I may be facing.”

COURSE WORK In addition to his position at Dragon Ridge, Proper has gained other valuable work experience as he has made his way to the superintendent post at Wolf Creek.

There was a six-month internship at Prescott Lakes Golf Club in Prescott, Ariz., and a year and a half as an assistant superintendent at Siena Golf Club in Las Vegas. For five months he was superintendent at Red Rock Country Club, also in Las Vegas.

Now, at home in Mesquite, Nev., he marked his second anniversary as superintendent at Wolf Creek in May. “My job would be very difficult, if not impossible, without my assistant superintendents, equipment manager and crew,” he said of those at Wolf Creek. “They are very knowledgeable and hard working.”

Proper continues, “Wolf Creek is maintained by a team and everyone on our team participates to get the job done. I could not do this alone, and I am very grateful for the people around me that help make my job a little easier.”

ON THE JOB With steep slopes, 98 bunkers, six lakes and numerous streams, Wolf Creek has plenty in store for guests and those taking care of the course. “We have some unique challenges at Wolf Creek. We have to perform many of our duties by hand because of the extreme terrain that we experience,” according to Proper. “Everyday during the growing season I have eight to10 employees weedeating and/or flymowing our slopes around the course.”

Manmade caves on No. 2 tee boxes, house walk-mowers that receive maintenance at the hands of a mechanic “a few times a year to have the reels and bed knives sharpened and adjusted.”

Greens are mowed each day, and tees, fairways and approaches are mowed three times per week. Overseeding occurs across the full course in September. Course aerifying begins in February, and greens are aerified two times each year.

Proper explains that “a lot of handwork” is part of caring for the course. “The areas that cannot be mowed we use weed eaters to finish. We also have to apply fertilizers with walk spreaders on these areas. We use 6-8 employees with walk spreaders every time we fertilize.”

Preventing disease is also part of Proper’s responsibility for the course. “We try to use the least amount of chemicals as possible to protect the environment as well as reduce the maintenance costs and treat disease on a spot-treatment basis. However, we do spray preventative fungicides on our greens when the conditions are favorable for disease,” he said.

“I enjoy every challenge and figuring out how to overcome them in the most efficient manner,” Proper said. “I also enjoy the few days when I don’t have any major issues to deal with and can take pleasure in the golf course and its surroundings.”

It’s the surroundings of desert rock that give a stark reddish contrast to the vibrant greens of the course. The local plant life also adds to the vistas of the course.

“We allow the native plants and flowers to grow, bloom and run their natural lifecycles, therefore allowing the plants and flowers to continue to bloom as in their natural environment every year,” he said.

AROUND THE AREA Other than the desert itself, the course’s closest neighbor is an airport. “We maintain a healthy stand of trees between us and them to minimize the noise for the golfers,” he said.

Mesquite is the hometown for Wolf Creek, and it’s a place Proper has reached out to with his know-how. “Mesquite is a small community with limited resources, so I like to get involved and help out when I can.

“During football season last year our Virgin Valley High School maintenance superintendent needed some help getting his field in top shape for the State competitions, so I helped out with some of the maintenance issues,” he said.

“I commonly get phone calls from the City of Mesquite Parks and Recreation Department asking for advice on maintenance issues at the city parks.” That’s one way Proper is enhancing southern Nevada. Another, of course, is with his work at Wolf Creek. It’s a place where, as he describes, “you can overlook the city and the Virgin River with mountains in the background; then you can turn around and overlook the desert floor across Arizona and Utah.” Like he said, “it speaks for itself.”