After decades of managing golf courses, Rob Ross had anything but a clean lie this winter.
In his first six months as Perrysburg Schools’ maintenance director, Ross has fought fires both literal
and figurative, overseeing the most challenging season in years.
But after leaving a job catering to golfers who paid as much as $75,000 in yearly dues, Ross says he’s
enjoying slightly lower expectations.
When members pay that much, they expect everything from landscaping to customer service to be top notch.
"They pay for exclusivity," Ross said.
"Now my customers are kids. They don’t complain."
Still, there are similar eyes on the school district’s standards, with building conditions and
appearances being the most visible sign to taxpayers of whether their money is well spent.
"Curb appeal was where it all started," he said of the golf industry, and similarly of his new
position. "If people pulled up to our clubs and it wasn’t neat, tidy and clean, they didn’t think
they were spending their money wisely. I think it’s the same thing here.
The son of a golf professional, Ross was a baseball player first, and a golfer second. He played the
former at Defiance College, and after graduating, got a start of his own in golf managing Detweiler Park
in Toledo.
Going on to work many years for American Golf, a large company operating up to 300 courses during his
tenure, Ross traveled the country managing courses from Baltimore to California. His successes earned
him promotions and opportunities such as a day playing Augusta National, the immaculate private course
known for hosting the Masters Golf Tournament each April in Georgia.
The company endured growing pains when it went public in the early 2000s, and Ross "saw the writing
on the wall." A job already requiring travel and long hours would become even more demanding, and
rather than uproot his family, Ross chose to change jobs and stay local.
He managed Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green for a year or so and worked other golf jobs as well as
several years with Holland Incorporated, a building services company where he managed as many as 250
people.
Still searching for an opportunity somewhere he could retire, Ross took a substantial pay cut in October
and joined the school district in Perrysburg, where he has lived for more than 25 years.
Already serving as an assistant basketball coach for several years, and as a volunteer before that, Ross
said he saw the maintenance job as a way to stay in Perrysburg and provide stability for his family
while giving something back, too.
"I wanted to be a part of something that was great," he said, referring several times to
Perrysburg Schools as a "brand," one that’s built on excellent academics, facilities and
extracurriculars.
"It’s a great brand – you feel good being part of something that’s special."
While his experience didn’t perfectly align with the position, Ross said his current job is still based
on managing people and crafting the right environment for them to be productive.
That’s not to say Ross’ golf experience hasn’t been helpful. In the same way he used to time tasks to see
how long it took to mow a green or a fairway, he’s surveyed operations here to look for further
opportunities for efficiency. Ross is also the point man for a $4 million effort to make energy upgrades
across the district, switching out controls and replacing toilets, light fixtures and other objects that
will create net savings.
His school training has been on the fly – Ross has dealt with just about every weather-related problem
imaginable this year and met challenges during a time of record snowfalls and intense cold that’s rarely
loosened its grip.
There have been repeated dumpings of snow, matched by a salt shortage that’s required Ross to alter
operations, focusing on sidewalks and student drop-off areas rather than entire parking lots.
"We’re a seven-day-a-week operation. People think schools are in session five days a week, nine
months of the year. That’s not the case. We have activities in our buildings, we open up to the public
as much as possible."
Ross made clear that maintenance is far from a one-man effort, particularly when those he manages on his
staff of about 40 have some practical experience he doesn’t yet share.
"Their commitment and dedication to the job is incredible," he said of those people, whose days
sometimes start at 3 a.m. when preparing roadways for buses.
Ross said he’s happy to have a job that doesn’t tug on his Perrysburg ties – his family remains in the
area, and one of his two daughters is putting down roots of her own as basketball coach at Eastwood.
"My whole world now is in a five-mile radius," he said.
"Everybody knows everybody, and you kind of feel like if you’re not contributing to this community
in some way, you’re letting everybody down."