A Look Inside the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program at The Pennsylvania State University

Whistling Straits

Pennsylvania State University student Josh Haugh was recently interviewed regarding the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program. Josh came to the two year certificate program after graduating with a degree in biology then working on several local golf courses. His plan was first to attend graduate school for plant pathology, however, when funding was not available he contemplated attending the Turfgrass Management Program at Penn State in hopes of combining his love of biology and the outdoors with his passion for the game of golf. As Josh gets closer to his graduation from the program, he sat down with me to reflect on some of the memorable moments he experienced both here on campus and at Whistling Straits where he did his internship. Josh came to Penn State simply because it offers the best turfgrass science education in the country. Penn State’s Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program is known around the world as being a leader in educating the best and brightest turfgrass managers. Having the largest turfgrass science alumni base in the world provides a wonderful support system as well as networking opportunities that no other school can match. Classes are taught by world class teachers and researchers, many of whom have practical golf course experiences, in areas that include: turfgrass pathology, soils, botany, weed and insect management as well as business, communication, accounting, and human resource management. The program also requires each student to spend six months doing an internship where they receive real world experience. Combining the knowledge from the classroom with the practical day-to-day responsibilities and challenges encountered on the golf course is the perfect turfgrass science education. Brimming with confidence, Josh only sees good things in his future and the future of the turfgrass industry. He will never forget that it all started at Penn State University.

Effective Communication is Essential for the Turfgrass Manager

2009 U.S. Women's Open - Saucon Valley Country Club

As with most relationships, both personal and professional, good communication between individuals is the key to a successful relationship and quite possibly a successful career. Working at a private golf club is no different; there are many important relationships for the golf course superintendent to maintain. They might include a relationship with all the following individuals: employees, greens committee, membership, colleagues, and industry representatives. As both an employer and an employee, it is your responsibility to develop and foster a good working relationship with many different groups of people. Let's focus for now on the club members and the green committee members at your private club. The green committee is the group of individuals that is your link between you and the membership. They are your advocates among the membership. Often the leadership at a private club changes from year to year. Just as you become comfortable working with one group of individuals, their term on the green committee is ending and another group is coming on board. If you are lucky, your committee chairman will serve multiple years of service which will hopefully enable the club to experience some sense of uniformity and consistency in the leadership structure. Your relationship with your green committee and the membership needs to be built on trust and a sense of a common goal. As the superintendent of an important asset, you need to make sure that the membership understands the scope of your position including the agronomic programs on the golf course, landscape management of all clubhouse grounds, irrigation management, renovation and special projects, as well as human resource issues and employee training programs. Superintendents today need to be both an agronomist and a business manager if they want to be successful. The trust factor is not something that is automatically given; it is something that must be earned. As an employee, it is your responsibility to spend the time to nurture this relationship. You should be willing to spend time with your committee and membership; discuss your needs but also listen to the concerns of the group. Be organized, punctual, and professional at all times. Make sure to follow through on all promises and do not over commit yourself. It is better to do fewer things great than to promise the world and fall short on everything. Since your membership is not familiar with the green industry, communicate in a language that will be easy to understand. In particular, the green committee will most likely be the first to have to field concerns and questions from the majority of the membership. The better they understand an issue, the better it will be explained to the general membership making your job so much easier.
Make sure that you provide accurate information in a timely manner and in language that the average individual will understand. Educate the membership by providing current reading material on relevant turf research, pesticides, drainage, agronomics, water management, bunker care, equipment maintenance and a whole host of other issues. Sharing that common goal of providing the membership with the best possible playing conditions can be accomplished through a newsletter, internet blog, monthly green committee meetings, general membership meetings, as well as one-on-one conversations with staff and individual members. As the property manager, the superintendent must effectively communicate all matters, both positive and negative, to the membership. Spend time touring the golf course and maintenance facilities as often as time will allow. Keep an open door policy for the green chairman as well as the membership. Be understanding, friendly, and make certain that you are always thought to be an approachable individual. The individual with a positive, open relationship who communicates effectively and efficiently with the green chair and membership should have a successful career as a golf course superintendent.

The Merion Golf Club Experience

Merion Golf Club Clubhouse

As part of the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program we are required to spend six months interning at a club between the 2nd and 3rd term. During my first meeting with Dr. Kaminski about one year ago, we sat down and discussed his "5 year plan" to achieving a superintendent's position. We also discussed goals and objectives that I wanted to attain. Since my goal was to ultimately be a superintendent hosting a major United States championship, our plan was for me to become associated with a championship golf club, a top superintendent, and the United States Golf Association. The decision came easy. I focused my sights on working for Matt Shaffer at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Merion Golf Club has hosted more national championships than any other club including most recently the 2009 Walker Cup. The 2013 United States Open will be the 19th USGA Championship marking 12 consecutive decades that Merion Golf Club has hosted a USGA Championship event.
Opened in 1912, Merion (East Course) was designed by Hugh Wilson, an amateur/sportsman architect of the day and a member of Merion Cricket Club (MCC). Wilson was a member of an elite group of amateur/sportsman architects of the day that included C.B. Macdonald (National Golf Links of American); Herbert Leeds (Myopia Hunt Club); H.C. and W.C. Fownes (Oakmont Golf Club); and George A. Crump (Pine Valley Golf Club). These men devoted many years and in some cases decades to developing their respective golf courses. They were each members of their club and were not paid to oversee construction of their project. It is difficult to imagine anyone today being as dedicated as they were to the construction of a new golf course. The results are some of the most classic golf courses in the United States which have all stood the test of time.
Before construction of the East Course began, Wilson travelled to England and Scotland for seven months studying some of the great courses in the Old Country. Merion also enlisted the advice of Charles Blair Macdonald who met with Wilson, William Flynn (the first greenkeeper of the East Course) and the Merion committee to discuss his concepts of classic golf course architecture.
Wilson and Flynn would spend the next thirteen years perfecting the course until Wilson's death in 1925. Flynn worked to continuously improve the East Course until 1934.
Interning at Merion Golf Club will certainly prove to be full of great experiences. I look forward to being part of all the great golf traditions that are truly Merion. Working under the direction of Mr. Shaffer will increase my knowledge and understanding of turfgrass management at a championship golf course and provide me with a solid foundation to grow and develop in the turfgrass industry.
With all the changes including the new maintenance facilities and the upcoming renovations to prepare for the 2013 United States Open Championship, it should be a very busy summer.

Merion Golf Club East Course #18

My name is Gary Nolan and I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At the age of 13, I began working on a public golf course in the area. My father was friends with the owner and thought that it would be a good idea for me to learn the added responsibility of working in order to develop and build a strong work ethic.
The job was so much fun that I continued to work there through high school and college. While in my senior year at Lebanon Valley College, I visited Virginia Tech and decided to pursue a graduate degree in agronomy with an emphasis in turfgrass science. Upon completion of my course work, I took a position with American Golf Corporation at Hershey Country Club and then later at a private club outside Baltimore, Maryland.
I left the golf industry for many years to pursue other interests then finally decided last February that I needed to get back into the business. I made contact with Dr. John Kaminski at Penn State University to discuss my options with the goal of some day being a superintendent at a championship golf course. There are probably many ways to achieve this goal, however, after reviewing my options I decided that way was to attend Penn State's two-year Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program and intern at a top club. The Penn State program and the relationships that I develop while I am here will open many doors which would otherwise be closed. I look forward to these years with an eagerness to learn, the drive to be successful, and a solid work ethic. Hopefully my many life experiences as well as insight into all aspects of a business operation will help me to be a positive force among my classmates. This program will be the beginning of many new and exciting experiences that will benefit me professionally and provide for the successful pursuit of my goal to become a superintendent at a championship golf course and a leader in the golf industry.