Joseph Hadwick

Joseph Hadwick, the longtime course superintendent at the Country Club of Lincoln, is part of a history-making family.

Joe’s father Charlie was the course superintendent at the Jefferson City (MO) Country Club for 50 years. The family rarity was created when all four of Joseph’s sons became involved in the same profession — a three-generation family dating back to when golf course maintenance first began in the United States.

Joseph, who was affectionately called “The Sod Father” by the club members in Lincoln, worked for his father every summer from the time he was seven.

After college he served in the European Theater during WWII. Then Joe returned to Jefferson City as his father’s assistant until the fall of 1951 when he was named the superintendent of the Country Club of Lincoln.

When he retired in June of 1984, he was succeeded by his son Charles. Son Tom is one of Charles’ full-time crew members, while son John is the course superintendent at Grand Island Muni. Son Bob is the super at Dub’s Dread Golf Course in Lansing, Kansas. One of Joe’s three daughters, Jean Marie, is also involved in the same field. She is the landscape gardener at the Country Club of Lincoln