Kohler Co. executive chairman helped transform his native Wisconsin into a golf mecca.
Kohler Co. executive chairman and golf developer Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. passed away on Sept. 3, 2022, in Kohler, Wisconsin. He was 83. His bold ideas and hands-on leadership transformed the plumbing products manufacturer founded by his grandfather into a global and diverse family of businesses synonymous with unmatched quality, creativity, and bold innovation. He literally put his beloved home state of Wisconsin on the map as a global golf destination culminating with the Ryder Cup in 2021.
“His zest for life, adventure and impact inspires all of us. We traveled together, celebrated together, and worked together,” his family said in a statement. “He was all in, all the time, leaving an indelible mark on how we live our lives today and carry on his legacy.”
Kohler, who received the GCSAA’s 2016 Old Tom Morris Award, was admired by many as an accomplished, dynamic leader; independent-minded entrepreneur; courageous innovator; and passionate creative. He was a big personality who was steadfast in guiding Kohler associates in the relentless pursuit of the company mission, and he took immense joy in witnessing his customers’ delight firsthand.
“If I sell you a bathtub, there has to be something about it that gives you pleasure not only at the time of the transaction. Years later, we want you to think this is one of the best buys of your life,” Kohler once said in an interview. “The same applies with everything we provide – an engine, generator, toilet, table, hotel room, spa service, golf course, you name it. If you think about it five years later and, inwardly or outwardly, it makes you smile and we can do this consistently, then we’re living up to our mission.”
Herb Kohler – who preferred to use his first name but was so respected by Kohler Co. associates who addressed him as “HVK” or “Mr. Kohler” – was born in Chicago on Feb. 20, 1939. His father Herbert V. Kohler, Sr., son of Kohler Co. founder John Michael Kohler, served as board chairman and CEO of Kohler Co. from 1940 until his death in 1968. His mother Ruth De Young Kohler was a historian and former women’s editor of the Chicago Tribune.
Kohler was educated at the Kohler schools in Kohler, Wisconsin, and at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. As a young man, he spent many summers as a laborer on the Kohler farms and in most of the manufacturing divisions of Kohler Co. After serving with the U.S. Army Reserve, studying at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and launching a brief acting career at Knox College in Illinois, he completed his education at Yale University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in industrial administration in 1965.
He rejoined Kohler Co. full-time as an R&D technician shortly after graduation. He became a director of the company in 1967, and when his father died a year later, he became vice president of operations. He was named executive vice president in 1971, was elected chairman of the board and CEO in 1972, and President of the Company in 1974 – at the age of 35. In 2015, he became the company’s executive chairman, with son David taking the helm as President and CEO. He served Kohler Co. for 61 years.
During his 43-year span as CEO, he also transformed his family-owned company into a world leader, with more than 40,000 associates and dozens of manufacturing facilities on six continents.
The National Kitchen and Bath Hall of Fame inducted him in its founding year of 1989, followed by the National Housing Hall of Fame in 1993. Ernst & Young named him National Entrepreneur of the Year in Manufacturing in 2002, and Junior Achievement inducted him into its U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2006.
He invested in new designs, products, manufacturing facilities, and distribution strategies. Realizing the opportunity to compete in the changing world marketplace, he gave the company and the KOHLER brand new global perspective and greater presence by adding production, distribution and marketing in Mexico, United Kingdom and Continental Europe, North Africa, India, Middle East, Latin America, Brazil, and the greater Asia Pacific region, including China, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
He took the company into new businesses with more than 48 acquisitions over his tenure. This began with Sterling Faucet Co. that joined the Kohler family of businesses in 1984, followed by French plumbing company Jacob Delafon in 1986, and U.K. shower manufacturer Mira in 2001. He formed the Kohler Interiors Group acquiring premium luxury brands Baker Furniture, McGuire Furniture Company, Ann Sacks Tile and Stone, Kallista plumbing, and Robern mirrored cabinets.
Kohler invested beyond plumbing products to strengthen the company’s other core business – Power – and expanded the portfolio with a series of acquisitions including Italian diesel engine manufacturer Lombardini in 2007 and France-based generator company SDMO in 2005. Today, Kohler Co. is the third largest global power systems organization in the world.
In the late 1970s, Kohler convinced skeptical colleagues to develop The American Club – originally built as an immigrant workers’ dormitory in 1918 – into a luxury spa and resort. The board of directors twice rejected the idea, but he persisted. Today, The American Club is the Midwest’s only AAA Five Diamond Resort Hotel, a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America program, and among a handful globally to have both the AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five-Star designations.
With The American Club serving as the anchor property, Destination Kohler was formed and today includes the 500-acre wilderness preserve River Wildlife; a second hotel, Inn on Woodlake; the Kohler Waters Spa; multiple casual and fine dining restaurants and pubs; Sports Core health and racquet club; Yoga on the Lake; Bold Cycle; Riverbend private membership club; Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates; the Kohler Design Center and a host of home furnishing and specialty shops. Destination Kohler paved the way for the Hospitality & Real Estate Group. Another hotel called LODGE KOHLER opened in 2017 and is an anchor property within the Green Bay Packers’ Titletown entertainment destination.
But it was another of Kohler’s bold moves that garnered infinitely more international acclaim for the company and opened the floodgates to a new and prosperous expansion of Kohler Co.’s impact – golf.
During The American Club’s early years, guests asked Kohler why the resort offered transportation to local golf courses, but no golf course itself. The question ultimately inspired first a partnership and then deep friendship with hall-of-fame golf course designer Pete Dye, and a vision that brought forth what some have called the most spectacular 72 holes of championship golf in America.
Blackwolf Run, the first piece of Destination Kohler’s golf portfolio, opened in 1988. Whistling Straits came 10 years later, transforming a polluted, abandoned airfield site into a world-class golf experience evoking the seaside links courses of the British Isles – right down to the flock of Scottish Blackface sheep Kohler acquired that still roam the grounds today.
Kohler next golf adventure took him to the game’s birthplace in St Andrews, Scotland, where he bought a hotel alongside the legendary Old Course and turned it into the Old Course Hotel Golf Resort and Spa and added The Duke’s – a heathland golf course outside of town. His most recent projects are closer to home, including the Straits Chapel, serving as the co-designer of the enjoyable 10-hole, par-3 Baths of Blackwolf Run golf course that debuted in June 2021, as well as plans to build an 18-hole public golf course on company property along more than a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline in southern Sheboygan County.
The Kohler courses have hosted six major golf championships to date, including one of the most exciting PGA Championships on record at Whistling Straits in 2015. In 2021, in perhaps the culmination of his legacy and passion for golf was hosting the 43rd Ryder Cup.
In 2016, Herb earned the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America; the award recognized his “indelible mark on golf and focus on the importance of environmental stewardship.” Then in 2019, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame enshrined Kohler as part of its 69th class for transforming Wisconsin into a worldwide golfing destination and bringing six golf Major Championships to Wisconsin and the 43rd Ryder Cup in 2021.
The business of golf sparked a passion within Kohler for the sport itself, and he became a serious student of the game in his 50s. He spoke fondly of the values associated with golf and the friendships he made – particularly with his beloved “Gnarly Balls” gang of friends, who played courses all over the world, usually in harsh weather, and always with a friendly wager. Kohler recorded his only hole-in-one on the 11th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews in 2007. It was a “postcard moment” he laughingly remembered not only for the achievement, but also for the fact that his golfing companions celebrated by downing expensive shots of scotch – and presenting him with the bill.
Kohler found strong inspiration in the life of his uncle, Walter J. Kohler Sr., who led Kohler Co. from 1905 until his death in 1940. The elder Kohler often quoted a business principle coined by 19th century English critic John Ruskin: “Life without labor is guilt, labor without art is brutality.” The quotation resonated with Kohler, who saw business as a process that thrived on creativity, provided constant challenges, and offered a means by which to help others. He worked diligently to be a positive influence in his community and was an ardent supporter of the arts, the environment and historic preservation.
Working closely with his sister Ruth and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Herb helped establish an innovative Arts/Industry residency program that invites artists into the Kohler factories to work alongside production associates turning out stunning works of handcrafted sculptures of art made from plumbing product materials, such as vitreous china, cast iron and brass. To date, more than 500 artists have participated in this unique residency that intersects art and manufacturing.
Walter’s influence was also evident in Kohler’s community services. In the early 1900s, Walter hired the pre-eminent landscape architecture firm of the Olmsted Brothers – whose portfolio included New York’s Central Park and the U.S. Capitol – to create a 50-year plan for the Village’s green spaces. In 1977, Herb worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to put together a second 50-year plan for the Village, paving the way for additional development of residential and company properties including the Sports Core, Shops at Woodlake, and the Woodlake Market.
Kohler established and chaired the Kohler Trust for the Arts and Education, the Kohler Trust for Preservation, passing the chair role to his daughter Laura in 2015. Herb also established the Kohler Trust for Clean Water in 2019, of which Laura is also chair. Among the beneficiaries of the Trusts are the Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and recently a major conservation project in the Sheboygan River Watershed.
He served as President of the Kohler Foundation that provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships annually, sponsors a Distinguished Guest Series that brings internationally recognized performers to Sheboygan County and manages the Waelderhaus – a replica of the Austrian home of John Michael Kohler that is open to the public.
The Foundation and Trusts have funded the preservation of significant art environments and collections, as well as the re-creation of a working sawmill and millpond at Wade House State Park in Greenbush, Wisconsin, a state historical site initially preserved by the Kohler Foundation under the leadership of Herb's mother. Herb also served as co-chairman of the successful fundraising effort in support of the creation of Old World Wisconsin, a living ethnic museum built by the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Eagle, Wisconsin.
Kohler’s interest in the outdoors and environmental preservation led to the creation of River Wildlife, a 500-acre nature preserve along the banks of the Sheboygan River; and the preservation of Eagle Valley, a 1,440-acre eagle preserve along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, which earned a Wisconsin Wildlife Habitat Development Award. Additionally, Kohler developed Kohler Co.’s 12 Environmental Principles, allowing the company to meld environmental stewardship with industrial manufacturing. And in September 2022, the KOHLER Center for Marsh Education was opened at the Sheboygan Marsh Wildlife Area to promote the environment, conservation, and stewardship through education, hands-on activities, and advocacy.
In 2012, Kohler helped finance and led the design and construction of the Kohler Environmental Center at Choate Rosemary Hall, his alma mater. This LEED-Platinum environmental research and education center is outfitted with three working laboratories, two classrooms, and a greenhouse. It is home to the Environmental Immersion Program, a year-long residential and interdisciplinary program.
As part of his commitment to education, Kohler established the Kohler Scholarship Endowment in Drama at Duke University. He also endowed the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration at Marquette University, creating a program putting Marquette students in regular contact with established business leaders to study entrepreneurial success. In 2018, the UW-Madison College of Engineering was a benefactor when the Kohler Innovation Visualization Studio was opened, and in 2014 Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin, was a benefactor when the KOHLER Center for Manufacturing Excellence was unveiled.
In 1997, Herb earned the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “exemplifying American ideals and preserving an Austrian heritage.” In 2018, the University of St Andrews presented Herb with an Honorary degree, Doctor of Laws for demonstrating a lasting commitment to the town and people of St Andrews.
Kohler is survived by his wife, Natalie; two daughters, Laura Kohler (Steve Proudman), and Rachel Kohler (Mark Hoplamazian); and one son, David Kohler (Nina). He is further survived by 10 grandchildren, Lily, Hannah, and Rachel Proudman; Mara, Lena, and Leo Hoplamazian; Ashley, Samuel, Jack, and Tait Kohler; and three great grandchildren, Ophelia, Herbert, and Uma Cartwright.
Obituary courtesy of the Kohler Co.
Kansas City turf pro Bill Irving treats his team at Wolf Creek with deserved respect.
Bill Irving considers himself the turf pro equivalent of a player’s coach.
Now in his seventh season as the director of agronomy at Wolf Creek in Olathe, Kansas, about 30 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City, Irving (top, middle) provides his superintendent, assistants, mechanics and dozen fulltime crew members with as much freedom and respect as possible. Have scrap wood at home that needs to be pitched? Bring it in for the burn pile. Need equipment from the maintenance facility for some yardwork? Take it with you after your shift — “just know,” he says, “that you’re responsible for it when it leaves.” Celebrating a wedding or an anniversary? Or a birthday? Perhaps a big one like a quinceañera or a sweet 16? Go ahead and treat it like the big deal that it is.
Treating people like adults — like human beings, with full lives outside their professional work — seems like a simple and straightforward idea. But it remains an idea worth sharing because so many work environments still seem to think of the people they trumpet as their most important resource as unable to think and act for themselves. Culture is key and developing that culture can spark incredible results.
At Wolf Creek, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a significant clubhouse expansion project, those results include the sort of work environment where superintendent Sean Berger (top, left) assistants Clayton Schwarz (bottom, second from left), Nick Reedy (bottom, second from right) and Austin Banzet (bottom, middle), and longtime crew members like Mike McClelland (top, right) Edwin Carillo (bottom, far right) and Antonio Calva (bottom, far left) are provided with the freedom and trust that everything the course needs will be accomplished.
“It’s big, whether people want to think it is or not,” says Irving, whose player’s coach ethos extended to renting a mechanical bull for a recent holiday party. “Resources like that are few and far between, and we’re lucky to have them.”
For as fun as Irving can be, Wolf Creek can tend to feel like a serious place. Tom Watson lives just minutes away and considers it to be his home course, and Irving estimates that more than half of the 260 members carry single-digit handicaps. Irving weighs every potential shot whenever walking or driving the course — before ever-so-slightly altering it. He removed hundreds of trees over six years in an effort to open the corridors between holes. He purchased 150 ball pit balls to better determine how wind was blowing in certain areas, then presented his findings to the board.
“It’s interesting to see the evolution through the years — projects here, projects there — but for the longest time, they didn’t do much,” he says. “In our region, from St. Louis to Kansas City on down, if you got asked to play Wolf Creek, it was a treat. You were out in the middle of nowhere, widely regarded as the best greens in the region. A lot of that was because of Marvin Ferguson” — a soil scientist who designed course in the late 1960s and early ’70s and carried encyclopedic knowledge of turf.
On an overcast Monday morning earlier this year, a quintet of crew members was hours into hunching over that same turf, fitting sod cut from the 12-acre Meyer zoysiagrass farm on site. This is one of so many jobs this day, this week, this month, this season that Irving trusts them to do, do well, and do on time. He doesn’t micromanage because he doesn’t need to.
The player’s coach trusts his incredibly talented team.
Matt LaWell is Golf Course Industry’s managing editor.
Courses highlight increased profitability, positive golfer feedback with aluminum bottles.
Golf courses across Virginia and the mid-Atlantic are finding new ways to innovate when it comes to sustainability practices on the course thanks in part to aluminum bottles. While most courses focus on water going into the ground, Virginia Artesian is helping golf courses think about water that goes into golfers.
Located in Hanover, Virginia, the father-and-son team behind the bottled water company is providing aluminum bottles to golf courses across the region. The aluminum bottles, which can be made with custom labels, are helping golf courses meet their environmental goals and boosting their bottom line.
“It’s great to hear that our aluminum bottles are helping courses meet their sustainability goals,” Virginia Artesian president Nick Brown (below, left) aid. “We love the impact it’s having on courses and events throughout the mid-Atlantic and we fully embrace the golf community’s support.”
The company recently supplied water to the BMW Pro-Am tournament in South Carolina, and their aluminum bottles are helping some golf courses with revenue as they are able to sell the aluminum bottles at a higher price point than traditional plastic bottles.
“We love the impact the bottles have had on our course,” said Vince Zangardi of Kiskiack Golf Club in Williamsburg. “Switching to aluminum provided a great way to meet our sustainability goals, as well as provide our guests with a unique way to hydrate.”
Zangardi says Kiskiack has made major leaps in recent years to be more environmentally friendly in ways that touch every aspect of the customer experience and go far beyond how the course is maintained. Along with the switch to aluminum bottles, they’ve made efforts to reduce their plastic use by switching to compostable food containers and replacing the traditional plastic bag and ice for beer with reusable coolers. The hardest switch to make though, was to aluminum bottles.
Zangardi says he conducted a long and extensive search to find an aluminum bottled water supplier for their course. That search proved to be mostly futile until he found Virginia Artesian as none of Zangardi’s other suppliers could provide what the course was looking for. Frustration turned to joy on discovering the company’s aluminum bottles and custom labels.
According to Virginia Artesian co-owner Steve Brown (below, right), the custom labels are popular among their clients.
“The custom labels help our clients with branding and marketing,” Brown said. “It’s wonderful that our clients can turn around and offer a custom, high-end experience to their own clients and guests.”
As golf courses become increasingly concerned about sustainability, water use and environmental impact, companies like Virginia Artesian will be bubbling up to fill the market demand.
Fazio’s centennial course to play firmer, faster with new TifEagle greens.
Pinehurst No. 8 will reopen September 2 following agronomic and infrastructure enhancements highlighted by new TifEagle greens, fully restored bunkers with fresh sand, improved drainage throughout the course, and the removal of invasive trees limiting views and inhibiting sunlight.
Additionally, the existing Bermudagrass turf on tees and fairways was fraise mowed to remove thatch throughout the course, tighten up lies and foster more rollout on tee shots.
“No. 8 now appears crisper to the eye and plays firmer and faster the way Tom Fazio originally intended it,” Pinehurst Resort director of agronomy Bob Farren said. “Fazio, (Pinehurst Resort owner) Bob Dedman and (Pinehurst Resort president) Tom Pashley all agreed that No. 8 should retain its original, commemorative design. As such, these changes are aesthetic and agronomic with no alterations to the course’s architecture.”
Opened in 1996 to celebrate the resort’s centennial, No. 8 seamlessly synthesizes the North Carolina Sandhills aesthetic with Fazio’s timeless design elements. The layout gently spills over 450 acres of rolling terrain dotted with natural wetlands and native grasses. It’s located five minutes from the main clubhouse and courses 1 through 5 with its own clubhouse and practice facilities. The new state-of-the-art Golf Pride Retail Lab opened in late June and is located near No. 8’s entry.
EPA approval allows for Cutless MEC and Legacy to be used on sports fields, residential and commercial.
SePRO announced the expansion of two of its industry-leading plant growth regulators for use on non-golf turf, including sports, residential, commercial and other managed turf areas.
Cutless MEC and Legacy were recently approved by the EPA to be used on non-golf turf, including sports fields. These PGRs join another SePRO product, Cutless 50W, in the non-golf turf space.
“SePRO is excited to bring the benefits of our plant growth regulators to the sports turf market, with Legacy and Cutless MEC,” SePRO T&O portfolio leader Casey Zeller said. “Sports field managers continue to look for solutions to regulate and enhance their turf, while saving time, money and labor.”
Cutless MEC is recognized in the golf market as a top growth regulator for turf quality enhancement and Poa annua conversion. Cutless MEC can be used as a standalone option or tank mixed with other PGRs for enhanced growth suppression. Legacy is designed to provide consistent growth regulation, while reducing the “rebound effect.” The all-in-one PGR also provides enhanced growth control, resulting in fewer treatments throughout the season.
“Fewer mowings and clippings can reduce labor by up to 50 percent, which is important in today’s labor market,” SePRO technical specialist Joe Lynch said.
The two products are currently being submitted for registration in individual states. Cutless MEC and Legacy are available in 64-ounce and 2.5-gallon package sizes.