Mike Nowicki on Agronomy at One of Golf’s Toughest Courses
By Peter McCormick • The EW Podcast • November 14, 2024
If you have the pleasure of playing Victoria National, bring a dozen balls.
Ranked as the number 1 course in Indiana by Golfweek and consistently listed among golf’s toughest courses in America, this course is not for the faint of heart. Built in 1998, the property is defined by its deep freshwater lakes, adding both beauty and challenge to the layout. Maintaining the course’s playing surfaces requires tremendous care and expertise. The person in charge of this demanding task? Mike Nowicki, Director of Agronomy. He recently shared insights on the complexities of agronomy during a conversation with Joel Simmons on The EarthWorks podcast.
Mike Nowicki is the Director of Agronomy at a famously tough golf course to play and to manage: Victoria National Golf Club outside of Evansville, Indiana. The property was designed by Tom Fazio and built in the late 1990s, with the mandate to make one of the toughest golf courses to play in the world. Most would agree that he accomplished that task.
Victoria National was built on an old coal mine and much of the property's soil came from deep in the ground. As Mike describes in the podcast, it was not easy to work with. Because the soils were so bad the course started an aggressive topdressing program on fairways, ultimately building a 10-12 inch sand cap which brought its own set of agronomic challenges.
Mike has worked on golf courses in “transition zones” like Evansville, Indiana and Richmond, Virginia for most of his career and enjoys the challenge. One of the more interesting points of our conversation was when he shared his stories about how he has had to become creative when it came to building a staff. He has a large contingent of crew from Middle Eastern countries that have proven to be wonderful, although the language barriers were a bit challenging!
When listening to Mike, you will get the feeling that he is a “soils” guy and is very intuitive when it comes to getting things done on the course.
Hole #9
Mike Nowicki’s trusty helper
Victoria National’s iconic hole #5
