Akoni Ganir – Cypress Point Club, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent

Background & Short Bio

First off let me clarify my name as people are always curious why it’s so different. My first name, “Akoni” (Uh-coe-nee) is of Hawaiian origin, which translates to Anthony or Tony in English. My last name, “Ganir”(Gun-ear) is of Filipino origin, which is my grandparent’s native land. My father was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, which is how I got my first name. Put them both together and you have Akoni Ganir, two names I’m sure none of you reading this have ever heard before.
So to clarify even further I am half Filipino with a Hawaiian first name. I was born and raised just outside of Portland, Oregon in the town of Oregon City.

My background in this industry goes back 20+ years to a small family owned landscaping business called “Mowtime Yard Service”. My father, two brothers, and
– along with a truck, two lawnmowers, a weed-eater, and a hand-held blower.
When I left home at the ripe age of 18, I told myself I’d never push a mower for money again. About 6 years later, I graduated from Oregon State with a Turf & Landscape degree.

NCGA Intern

When I finished school, I went to work at Cypress Point Club as an NCGA Intern. I’ve been very fortunate to move up since being here and am now entering my fourth season as Assistant Superintendent under the mentoring of one of our industry’s finest: Mr. Jeff Markow, CGCS.

Bunkering at Cypress Point

One of my favorite things about Cypress Point is the design of Mackenzie’s camouflage bunkering. From tee to green, his bunkering masterfully shapes the holes and disguises the perception of landing areas. When you look back from green to tee those same bunkers play a disappearing act and blend into the terrain of the golf course. They are so well hidden, that if you’re not paying close attention you could easily drive into one when driving from green to tee. Every once in awhile, I’m suddenly forced to do a brake check to keep from accidently rolling my cart into a bunker.

A funny story

To illustrate – not quite so funny at the moment, but fun to talk about 3 years later. We had just bought a brand new buffalo blower – zero hours/never been used. The same day it was delivered we had one of our more seasoned crew members take it out to blow rough clippings. The only thing I remember is looking over from the next hole and seeing a giant white cloud of dust, or what I thought at the time was smoke. This crewmember had driven his cart and buffalo blower into a bunker while trying to quickly get out of the way of some golfers. Needless to say, the blower tipped over on its side and was blowing an enormous cloud of white bunker sand/dust into the air. Oops!!!