DENVER (KDVR) – Barry Kendall begins his workday before dawn, but you won’t catch him complaining about the long hours he puts in as the Director of Agronomy at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

“You’re not stuck in a square cubicle, which wouldn’t be for me, but coming to [the] 105 acres of [the Green Valley Ranch] golf course every day is pretty rewarding,” Kendall said.

If you’ve ever teed it up at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, odds are good you’ve never seen Kendall. However, his footprints are literally all over the property. 

Each day begins with Barry driving the entire golf course while taking time on each hole to walk the fairways and greens.

“Not a moment goes by where I’m not constantly nitpicking everything we’re doing, just trying to make things better,” Kendall admitted. “I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to that kind of thing.”

Kendall and his grounds crew of eighteen perform the golf course maintenance. That means they handle the “-ings” – mowing, trimming, edging, watering, spraying, fertilizing, and raking.

“On a good day, if things are going right, equipment is working, people show up on time and Mother Nature’s cooperating, that’s usually when things are clicking,” Kendall said.

That clicking is the reason why Green Valley Ranch Golf Club gets consistently recognized as one of Denver’s top public golf courses, according to several local publications.

For Barry, his job is a double-edged sword. He loves the game of golf but doesn’t have a lot of time to play it.

“It’s true, I put in a lot of time and hours here and I have a family at home,” Barry explained. “[They’re] a priority, so golf is a little farther down the list now.”

Unless, of course, we’re talking about your golf experience.