Charles Aubry, director of agronomy at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, is the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association’s Superintendent of the retirYear. Aubry was honored in front of nearly 250 people at the association’s annual awards banquet at The King & Prince Resort and Club on St. Simons Island on December 9.
Aubry started at East Lake, home of the PGA TOUR Championship, as a senior assistant superintendent in 2015. He became golf course superintendent in 2018 and in 2023 took over as director of agronomy after Ralph Kepple, CGCS.
Soon after, Aubry helped orchestrate a $30-million renovation of the historic Donald Ross design on a compressed timeline in time for the 2024 Tour Championship. A year later, he steered schoolchildren through a First Green field trip at East Lake – in the week of the Tour Championship itself.
The fact that he did so as he simultaneously hosted the world’s best golfers made a major impression on colleagues. Joe Hollis, golf course superintendent at nearby Druid Hills Golf Club, who nominated Aubry for the award, wrote: “I can only imagine how stressful it is to showcase your work to the world … His willingness to [host the First Green outing] during this high stressful time shows his commitment to promoting our profession to the next generation of leaders.”
The Superintendent of the Year award is presented in partnership with Corbin Turf & Ornamental Supply.
Also at the annual awards banquet, the association inducted former executive director Tenia Workman to the Georgia GCSA Hall of Fame. Workman served in the role from 2002 to 2024, steering the association through a significant period of growth and influence. She joins husband Buck, a retired certified golf course superintendent who served as association president in 2001, as the only husband and wife duo in the Hall of Fame, which is presented in partnership with Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation.
In other news from the association’s three-day end-of year event:
- Chuck Moore, from The King & Prince Golf Club on St. Simons Island, received the Distinguished Service Award.
- Kyle Worthy, director of golf course maintenance at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, received the Environmental Leader in Golf Award, presented in partnership with the Georgia Golf Environmental Foundation.
- Nash Rolfes, from Idle Hour Club in Macon won his first Georgia GCSA golf championship, presented in partnership with Beard Equipment Company, and contested at Ocean Forest Golf Club and Frederica Golf Club.
- Cooper Thornton, from Savannah Golf Club in Savannah, was named Assistant Superintendent of the Year. As such, he becomes the first winner of the Tenia and Buck Workman Assistant Superintendent Award, presented in partnership with J. K. Morro, which includes a trip to the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Show.
- Members elected three new directors to the board – Kent Cantrell from Achasta Golf Club in Dahlonega; Ken Lee, CGCS from Cherokee Town & Country Club in Atlanta; and Brandon Smith, CGCS from Laurel Springs Golf Club in Suwanee. President Brandon Hayes, from Reynold Lake Oconee – Great Waters; vice president Brad Tremmier, from RiverPines Golf in Alpharetta; and secretary-treasurer Scott Slemp, from Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta; will serve the second year of their terms in 2026.
- Hall of Fame member Frank Siple, CGCS retired, was the featured speaker at the annual prayer breakfast presented in partnership with Corbin Turf and Ornamental Supply.
- Heath Allen, from Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, won a Traeger Grill in an end-of-night raffle presented in partnership with Bulloch Fertilizer.
- Jud James, from Whitewater Creek Country Club in Fayetteville, and James Rauhuff, from Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, each won $1,000 in the last chance giveaway, presented in partnership with Beard Equipment Company.
