Entering the Turfgrass World

The question is always asked, "How did you get your start in the industry"? After graduating high school everyone is suppose to go to college these days, or that's what everyone thinks now. So that's what I did, I took a basketball scholarship and moved from Wichita to Kansas City with intentions of playing basketball and becoming a school teacher because I loved the game and wanted to become a coach.

I soon realized that wasn't for me and came back home at the end of the first semester. The next possible thing was to get a job somewhere and go from there. After responding to a newspaper ad about a city golf course position that was hiring for summer help, I got the job! I worked at Sim Golf Course for four months before getting laid off because I was a seasonal employee. Now that I had a little bit of experience the doors opened a bit.

With having some experience, I responded to another ad in the paper about another course that was hiring for full-time position. I ended up getting the job at the Wichita Country Club supervised under Brian White (Superintendent). Brian was an assistant for three years at Southern Hills and taught excellent turfgrass practices. After being at WCC for a year I was able to go from a general laborer to an irrigation tech and a crew leader.

After two solid seasons at the Wichita Country Club, I decided to follow Stewart Hansen (assistant superintendent at WCC) to another Country club called Reflection Ridge Golf Club where he was hired as the superintendent. I was hired as the irrigation tech and worked there for three years until I realized that in this field is tough to advance without an education.

Selling irrigation for John Deere landscapes was the next job in-line for me. With a bit of experience in the field definitely helped me out. I was employed at John Deere for 14 months until I couldn't stand not being out on the course anymore. Soon I decided what I wanted to do, and that was getting an education in turfgrass management.

In the spring of 2009 I contacted Penn State about their two year Turfgrass Program. One week later, I visited and met up John Kaminski, Director of the program to get all the details. After talking with Dr. Kaminski, we both thought it would be good to get back to a golf course, so I moved to Connecticut to work at Wee Burn Country Club. I’m not going to lie, the move was tough at first and took me a few weeks to settle into life in the Northeast. The Superintendents name was Doug Drugo. Mr. Drugo was the Assistant Superintendent that came from Oakmont Country Club. The practices that he was taught at Oakmont are the same that he preached and practiced at Wee Burn, which was excellent. I can't tell you how much I learned in five months working there; you can’t replace the knowledge that I gained and overall was great experience.

Now a student at The Pennsylvania State University, I look forward to my internship in North Carolina at Eagle Point Golf Club that starts in March. I can’t wait to get back on the course and utilize what I have learned in the classroom in the field.