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Greenskeeper to Director of Golf
Shawnee Inn today announced that Steve Taggart, the Greenskeeper three floods that inundated Shawnee’s 27 hole PGA golf course, has been promoted to Director of Golf for the entire resort. In his somewhat unusual move, Steve was put in charge of all aspects of golf including the golf professionals, the golf shop, the Tillinghast Golf Academy and Shawnee’s Nike Golf Camps.
Taggart, 35, joined Shawnee on October 2, 1995 just in time for the huge flood which devastated the course and closed the Inn for 10 weeks. The experience he gained restoring the golf course then came in handy in the last 12 months when 2 floods – one in September 2004 and one in April 2005 – again devastated the golf course. These two floods were both “50 year floods”, Taggart joked, “We should be good for the next 100 years now…”.
In the first flood ice floes as big as school buses gouged the fairways and silt covered all of the greens; worse it occurred in January when it was very difficult to do any restoration. With the help of agronomist, Pete Landschoot, from Penn State, Taggart and his crew had the golf course open by May. This year, a flood which covered 24 of the 27 greens and over 80 sand traps was an even greater concern because the course was about to open. USGA Agronomist, Darin Bevard, in a recent letter to Taggart states, “The repair and grow-in of the golf course since our April 13th visit is excellent.” Miraculously, 18 holes were opened on May 14th and the full 27 holes were opened on June 3rd.
Taggart has received several awards on the golf course during his time here:
- Pocono Mountain Chamber of Commerce “Save our Planet Award”, January 2005
- 4 Stars “Best Places to Play” Award by Golf Digest, 2004 Season
- Voted #1 in “The Top Ten Most Influential Tillinghast Courses” by The Golfer magazine, 2004
- "Wildlife and Habitat Management" certification from Audubon International, February 2001
- "Environmental Planning" certification from Audubon International, May 2000
Shawnee Inn is finishing completion of a 9-hole “short course” with greens designed by Tom Doaks, a protégé of C. W. Tillinghast, America’s first golf course architect who designed Shawnee Inn’s course. In fact, Shawnee was Tillinghast’s first course and Shawnee is the home of the Tillinghast Society. The new short-course will cater to teaching and is for players who wish to polish their game from 100 yards into the green. Taggart will also supervise the new golf shop, which has been greatly expanded and will continue to supervise Lance Heil, whom recently was appointed as Greenskeeper for Shawnee’s 27 holes.
Steve lives with his wife, Beth, and two boys in Pohatcong, New Jersey; has an Associates Degree in Applied Science and a Degree in Turf Management from Rutgers University. He commented, “Our course is now in quite good shape considering the damage that was done and I am confident it will continue to be the premier course in the Poconos”.
Shawnee has a lengthy golf history. In addition to the legendary golf figures like Walter Hagan, Arnold Palmer, Jackie Gleason, and Dwight Eisenhower, Sam Snead lost the 1938 PGA in the final round at Shawnee. In 1967, Hale Irwin won the NCAA at Shawnee and a host of Shawnee players have gone onto golf professional accomplishments.
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