
Dan Block
Golf Course Superintendent
Dan is a Hastings native and graduated from Hastings High School. He continued his education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Central Community College in Hastings where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and an associate degree in commercial horticulture.
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While attending UNK he worked for Dick Watson Golf Course Construction to help build Meadowlark Hills golf course. After the course was completed and open for play, he continued with the City of Kearney and the golf course maintenance staff until after graduation.
After learning the game of golf from his dad who is a PGA professional, Dan spent much of his youth playing golf at Southern Hills and welcomed the chance to return to his home course after the construction of the back nine. Dan saw the potential for Southern Hills to grow into a great asset to the city of Hastings and has worked to ensure that this golf course is a place that our members and golfers from across the state can enjoy.
Dan and his wife Vicki who is originally from Banner County Nebraska are empty nesters if you don’t count the very active in-home daycare that Vicki operates. Their two kids, Emily and Adam, are also Hastings High graduates. Emily is an interior designer for Burns and McDonnell in Kansas City and Adam is a machinist for Bruckman Rubber Company in Hastings. If you don’t see Dan at the golf course, he can be found spending time with family, on a lake somewhere, in a deer blind or following Husker sports.

Jim Havel
Golf Course Care
My name is Jim Havel. I’ve been with Southern Hills since I retired from H&H Distributing 9 years ago. Generally mow front nine fairways and whatever else I can do to help out on the course.

Jerry Barcelona
Golf Course Care
I was born and raised in Fairborn Ohio, just north of Dayton Ohio. My dad worked at Wright-Patterson AFB and mom was a stay-at-home mom raising 6 kids, I am the youngest boy.
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I graduated from high school in Fairborn and started working pipeline construction right out of school. At age 24, I moved to Colorado where i met my wife and married in 2004. In 2021 we both retired and moved to Hastings to be closer to our grandchildren. I went to work for Dan in August 2021. I couldn’t stand being retired, i guess! I enjoy playing and working at SHGC with a group of great guys and gals and members.

Fred Knapple
Golf Course Care
My family homesteaded south of Lexington on the Dawson-Gosper County line on land where a few years earlier Pony Express riders and Oregon Trail emigrants passed through.
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Our neighbors had historical markers located on their land that told stories of Indian massacres, and even one tells the story of a poor guy who lost his scalp. I went to a two-room country school until being bussed to Lexington for my secondary education. After college graduation, I worked on the family operation for approximately ten years, then back to college to earn my teaching endorsements. In 2020, I retired from teaching/coaching after 31 years at Clay Center and Hastings Middle School. In 1993, I married my best friend Jerri Bennett from Clay Center, who I met after moving to town to begin my career as an educator. Jerri, who at the time was employed at the hometown bank, opened my checking account. That same day she told her co-worker, “I’m going to marry that guy.” True story!
Anyways, because both of us love the area, and have made so many friendships throughout our time spent here, we have made Hastings our home. In 1998, our daughter, Libby Jeane, was born. Today, she is a college graduate, expecting mother, and soon to be married to Brayden Wills who is a first-year teacher and coach at Lincoln Southeast.

Don Lyons
Course Staff
Don was born in Granite City, Illinois. After moving to Grand Island, NE when he was in the 6th grade, Don graduated from GISH in 1977. He then attended and graduated from what was then, Kearney State College with a teaching/coaching degree.
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After 36 years, Don retired from teaching/coaching in 2018. Don is married to Deb Fish Lyons. They have two grown sons, along with 4 grandchildren. Don has worked at Southern Hills as a grounds crew worker for 15 plus years.

Bob Murphy
Course Staff
Hi, you probably know me from 40 years of being downtown Hastings, at Murphy’s Wagon Wheel. I’m mowing roughs now, in my second year. I enjoy the warm days being outside. Give me a wave.

Cole Trout
Assistant Superintendent
Cole is from Lawrence, NE. He graduated from Lawrence/Nelson then attended Southeast Community College and obtained a degree in Horticulture and Turfgrass Management. At the age of 12, Cole started taking care of lawns in his community. Throughout high school, he managed a total of 20 different lawns in the Lawrence area. This ultimately led him to fall in love with hard work and the satisfaction of a good-looking lawn.
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In 2022, he began working as a seasonal helper at Southern Hills during the summer. He then returned in the summer of 2023, where he did his internship to finish his degree. He was offered the Assistant Superintendent position after completing his internship in August. Cole is the oldest of Casey and Joni Troudt and has a younger sister Emily. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his dog Simba, fishing, hunting, and spending quality time with family and friends.