A rarity in the world of golf. Female course leader

This is because the entire track was practically one big pile of dirt.

It was June 2020, in the midst of a heat wave, and Marco Simone was undertaking a $12 million renovation project, which meant there were more bulldozers than lawnmowers on the rolling hills.

The situation was complicated by the fact that Italy was still trying to regain its position after becoming the first Western country to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic. A month after Arias arrives, the Ryder Cup will be moved from 2022 to 2023, adding another year to her tenure.

But Arias, a rare female superintendent in a male-dominated industry, was undeterred. As soon as the restyling was completed and the grass was planted, she began the growing process and by December 2020 had opened a full course.

“Those first six months were really hard work,” Arias said.

Now, after three Italian Opens, Marco Simone is in perfect shape for golf’s biggest team tournament, with 33-year-old Spain’s Arias a trailblazer for women in the industry.

Superintendents are responsible for the maintenance, management, budget and safety of a golf course.

“It’s an honor and a huge responsibility,” Arias said. “I saw this golf course from the ground up. … We don’t prepare the Ryder Cup in just one week. It’s been three years and I’m very proud of the team.”

Arias is also proud to have broken the gender barrier.

Women make up only 2% of superintendents registered with the American Golf Course Superintendents Association.

In Europe, according to Dean Cleaver, chief executive of the Federation of European Golf Associations, Scandinavia, “particularly Finland and Sweden,” as well as Spain, have a number of female superintendents.

“I know it has had an impact on the landscaping world,” Arias said. “I hope this will cause many golf clubs who are still hesitant about hiring a female superintendent to take a step back and think. I know a lot of other really great women who can do this job.”

Marco Simone will become the third venue in continental Europe to host the Ryder Cup after Valderrama in Spain in 1997 and Le Golf National outside Paris in 2018.

After earning a degree in agricultural engineering, Arias first worked at a nursery in Spain that grows grass for Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium and greens at Valderrama.

She then spent 18 months in the US working on three different courses through a program run by The Ohio State University. She started at the Robert Trent Jones Club in Gainesville, Virginia, moved to TPC Scottsdale in Arizona and finished at the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“The first week (of the PGA) I worked 90 hours, and when I called my family, they asked if it was legal,” Arias said. “I was happy to do it, though, because I learned a lot. I wanted to continue.”

At the 2018 Ryder Cup in France, Arias was assistant superintendent under Alejandro Reyes.

Fashion designer Lavinia Biagiotti Signa, who owns the Marco Simone club and hired Arias after seeking Reyes’ advice, said she was looking for a leader and believes “leaders have no gender.”

Biagiotti Signa chose Arias ahead of two men also suggested by Reyes. Arias’ resume and skills helped her get the job, not her relationship with Reyes, who is now her fiancé.

“She has earned this place,” Biagiotti Signa said. “She was as good as Alejandro.”

Reyes also works at Marco Simone as a consultant and director of agronomy. But Arias is in charge.

“I’m the superintendent this time, but clearly I need him as a consultant,” Arias said. “So we are a team.”

The rest of Marco Simone’s greens team is all-male, and Arias’s gender has never been an issue for her multicultural staff, which includes workers from all over the world: El Salvador, Ecuador, Italy, France, Britain and Sweden.

“There are 20 guys,” she said, “and they are like sons to me. We speak to each other in English, French, Italian and Spanish: a little bit of everything.”

During Ryder Cup week, Arias’ team will be joined by 100 experienced volunteers, most of whom are familiar with Marco Simone after helping out during the Italian Open.

Superintendents can have a big impact on Ryder Cup results by tilting the field in favor of the home team.

Arias, for example, narrowed the fairways at Marco Simone at the request of European captain Luke Donald because the Europeans are known for more accurate tee shots than the big-hitting Americans.

The change of direction first began under the leadership of Henrik Stenson, who was removed as Europe captain after joining the breakaway LIV Golf tour last year.

“The course is like a 13th player,” Arias said. “We have 12 players and the field can also help you win.”

Susie Whaley, the PGA of America’s first female president, said that while there is always a global focus on course conditions during the Ryder Cup, “the pressure is more significant in this case.”

“The world is accustomed to male figures in top positions on courses and venues, and to see a woman in charge of a Ryder Cup venue is a celebration for everyone involved in the game,” Whaley wrote in an email to the AP. . “Lara will inspire young girls who watch the show to know that agronomy is an option for them in golf too.”

The European team’s mascot will be Arias and Reyes’ dog, a black and white Australian shepherd aptly named Ryder.

As Arias wanders Marco Simone day after day, Ryder accompanies her, running alongside the golf cart or hopping aboard for a ride. Ryder also enjoys swimming in ponds.

“But she knows she can’t go out onto the greens or into the bunkers,” Arias said, adding with a laugh that she’s “the most important member of the team.”

Arias and Reyes met when they both assisted on the 2016 Ryder Cup course at Hazeltine National in Minnesota.

“Our story revolves around the Ryder Cup because I met him in Hazeltine, then we worked together again in 2018, we named our dog Ryder, and now we’re here in Rome doing another Ryder Cup,” Arias said.

Arias is currently pregnant with the couple’s child and is due to give birth to a girl named Alejandra in December.

Despite her growing belly, she still rushes down the track every day.

“If you had told me, ‘Lara, you’re going to have to go mow the greens,’ then yeah, I would have had a hard time,” Arias explained. “But my work is more organizational. I have to organize everything so that the Ryder Cup is as good as possible.”

Arias and Reyes plan to get married next year.

Before her family expands, Arias wants to inspire other women to become superintendents.

“I hope that my experience, my position,” she said, “can be an example and help other women in this industry.”