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CHAPTER 1

CAREERS IN THE TURFGRASS INDUSTRY

Professional careers in the turfgrass industry go back to the early days of golf coursemanagement. Men like Tom Morris—who worked as the greenskeeper at the OldCourse in St. Andrews, Scotland, before the turn of the century—and the earlygreenskeepers in the United States were the pioneers of the field long before formaltraining in turfgrass management became available.

Today, formal training to prepare students for careers in the turfgrass industry isavailable from a wide variety of schools and universities in the United States,Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, and severalother countries around the world. In addition, advanced degrees at the Master ofScience (MS) and/or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) levels in turfgrass science andrelated fields are available from more than 40 major agricultural universities. TheGolf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) has a web sitelocated at http://www.gcsaa.org/students/pursuing/schools.asp that lists many of theseschools from around the world. The GCSAA also has a wide variety of links con-cerning careers in the golf industry at http://www.gcsaa.org, including current infor-mation on available positions and summer internships.

THE GOLF INDUSTRYThe golf industry has traditionally been the career choice of most students in turf-grass management programs. This is still true today, and the majority of studentsentering programs in the United States generally declare golf course management astheir primary interest (Figure 1.1).

The golf industry has grown rapidly around the world in the past few years, andthere are presently more than 31,000 golf courses in the world according to GolfDigest (Barton, 2005). Estimates of the number of courses in the United States varywidely among sources. WorldGolf.com currently lists information on 23,000 U.S.courses (Anonymous, 2006). While new course construction has slowed from therapid rates of construction in the 1990s and early 2000s when as many as 500 newgolf courses opened each year, new course construction remains strong, and many

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new courses open each year. The opportunities for employment in the golf industryremain excellent. There are golf courses in every major city in the United States, andpeople who have training in golf course management have a great deal of flexibilityin choosing a place to live.

The golf industry is highly organized at both local and national levels. TheGCSAA, which is located in Lawrence, Kansas, presently has more than 21,000 mem-bers and 104 affiliated chapters. The national organization has a well-organized cer-tification program and an educational division that provides national and regionalseminars on a wide variety of topics related to turfgrass management. Its web site islocated at http://www.gcsaa.org/.

SPORTS FIELD MANAGEMENTSports field management is a profession that has undergone a rapid increase in inter-est among students in recent years. This field did not receive much attention in the1960s and 1970s because of the use of artificial turf on most college and professionalsports fields during that time. Conversion to natural turf in the 1990s and 2000s hasopened many new opportunities for professional turfgrass managers in the sports turfindustry. These are generally fields that have modified rootzones, special drainagesystems, and complex irrigation systems that require a well-trained manager. Sportsturf management is likely to be one of the fastest-growing areas of the turf industryin the next few years (Figure 1.2).

There is now a national Sports Turf Managers Association, located in Lawrence,Kansas, which has more than 2400 national and international members, and 26 affil-iated chapters provide education and services to sports field managers. The organiza-tion’s current web site is http://www.sportsturfmanager.org.

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FIGURE 1.1 Golf course maintenance is one of the most popular areas ofturfgrass management.

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LAWN CAREProfessional lawn care is another field that employs students trained in turfgrassmanagement (Figure 1.3). Golf course and sports field management appear to bemore exciting to many students, and few declare lawn care as their career goal whenthey enter the program. However, the ready availability of jobs in every region of thecountry and the competitive starting salaries that the lawn care industry offersattract many students after they graduate. Lawn care also provides good opportuni-ties for advancement in larger companies that have division supervisors and regionalmanagers.

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FIGURE 1.2 Sports turf management is a field that is attracting more stu-dents every year. (Courtesy of Jeff Salmond.)

FIGURE 1.3 Lawn care is an area of turfgrass management that continuesto attract many students each year. (Courtesy of Dr. David Minner.)

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Professional lawn care also offers the chance for entrepreneurs who would like tostart their own businesses. While the boom period of lawn care that occurred in the1970s and 1980s has leveled off, there are still many opportunities for those with agood work ethic and the skills required to manage a business.

Lawn care is a highly organized profession, with both national and local organi-zations serving thousands of member companies. The Professional Lawn Care Asso-ciation of America (PLCAA) and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America(ALCA) merged in 2005 to become the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET),which is located in Herndon, Virginia. PLANET has an active education program forits 4300 member companies and holds a national conference each year that isattended by green industry professionals from every region of the country. The cur-rent web site for PLANET is http://www.landcarenetwork.org/cms/home.html/.

SOD PRODUCTIONSod production has traditionally not employed large numbers of turfgrass manage-ment students after they graduate. However, there are regions, such as Florida, Cali-fornia, the Midwest, and parts of the Northeast, where a thriving sod industry doesprovide a significant number of professional positions (Figure 1.4).

Like lawn care, the sod industry is a field that appeals to the entrepreneur. Manyof the students with an expressed interest in sod production are those who plan tostart their own businesses or who plan to add sod production to an already existingnursery or landscape operation. The sod market is highly dependent on the con-struction industry, which varies with the economy. Sod production can be very prof-itable in regions where there is consistent expansion.

The sod producers, like the professionals in the other areas of turf management,are very well organized. The Turfgrass Producers International (TPI), located in East

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FIGURE 1.4 Sod production offers professional jobs to turf students andprovides them the opportunity to start their own businesses.

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Dundee, Illinois, presently has around 1200 members in 41 countries. Its currentweb site is http://www.turfgrasssod.org/.

GROUNDS MAINTENANCEGeneral grounds maintenance of turf areas around industrial areas, large apartmentcomplexes, corporate headquarters, and similar businesses is often overlooked byturfgrass management students (Figure 1.5). There are, however, some excellentopportunities in this field. Benefit and pay packages are often consistent with otherprofessional positions offered by these companies, and these jobs are generally verycompetitive with those available in other segments of the turf industry.

SALESThe sale of chemicals, equipment, and other products used in the turf industry is a pro-fessional area that requires individuals with technical training in turfgrass managment.These jobs also require good communication skills and knowledge of the business world.These positions offer the opportunity for relatively high income to the right people.

In past years, it has been rare to find a turfgrass management student with a spe-cific goal of pursuing a career in sales. This seems to be changing, however, and it isnow common to find students who plan their curriculum to meet the requirementsfor a sales career.

OTHER FIELDSA number of other areas related to the turf industry provide careers for those with theright technical background, talent, and training. One of these is the field of technical

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FIGURE 1.5 Grounds maintenance provides students the opportunity towork with turf and to gain experience with a wide variety of landscapeplants. (Courtesy of Dr. Wayne Hefley.)

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writing for the publications that serve the industry. There are several magazines andnewsletters directed at the turf industry that have positions for those with good tech-nical knowledge of the field.

The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), located in NewPrague, Minnesota, is the professional organization for editors, writers, photogra-phers, public relations practitioners, and others involved in publishing informationfor the industry. This group has a competitive scholarship program that is open to allstudents interested in writing for the green industry. For more information on TOCA,see http://www.toca.org/.

ADVANCED DEGREESFor those who wish to pursue their education beyond the Bachelor of Science (B.S.)degree, Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees are avail-able at many of the major agricultural universities (Figure 1.6). The M.S. degree gen-erally takes two years beyond the four-year B.S. degree, and the Ph.D. generally takesanother three to four years beyond the M.S. degree (Figure 1.7).

The M.S. degree provides expanded job opportunities in research and develop-ment. Fertilizer and pesticide companies often hire individuals with M.S. degrees forproduct development and regional sales positions. Community colleges and othertwo-year institutions provide teaching jobs for students with M.S. degrees, and manyhigh-quality two-year turfgrass management programs in the United States are han-dled by teachers with an M.S. degree.

The Ph.D. degree can lead to a career in university teaching, research, or exten-sion. There are also a variety of research and development positions in the turf indus-try that employ individuals with Ph.D. degrees. Employment prospects for students

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FIGURE 1.6 Graduate students studying grass identification.

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completing Ph.D. degrees with a specialization in turfgrass science have been excel-lent in recent years, and the outlook for the future appears to be very good.

INTERNSHIPSThe internship is a critical part of the undergraduate education. There is no substi-tute for hands-on learning through actual experience in the student’s chosen field ofstudy. Internships in the turfgrass industry are generally paid internships, meaningthat the students work as hourly employees on golf courses, in sports facilities, or insome other business related to the turf industry. These jobs are generally for the sum-mer months, but they may last as long as six months and cover the spring or fallsemesters as well. Internships generally carry college credit and are part of the cur-riculum in most turfgrass management programs.

It is important for the student’s instructor to develop a formal contract withthe student’s supervisor. The contract should ensure that the student is providedwith a varied experience in as many aspects of the business as possible. A writtenreport should also be required of the student to separate an internship from a sim-ple summer job. These reports are generally 15 to 30 pages long and include anumber of color pictures of the facility. A daily log that consists of brief descrip-tions of each workday can also provide useful information to the adviser and tofuture employers.

Internships range from minimum-wage jobs to well-paying experiences thatmay include housing and even meals at some facilities. The internship providesprofessional contacts for the student and often leads to full-time jobs followinggraduation.

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FIGURE 1.7 Graduate students are often given the opportunity to speakto professional groups about their research.

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LITERATURE CITED

Anonymous. 2002a. Career center—Pursuing a career: Turfgrass management educa-tion programs. Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, http://www.gcsaa.org/career/pursuing/schools.html.

Anonymous. 2006. Golf Courses of the United States. WorldGolf.com http://www.worldgolf.com/courses/unitedstates/usa.html.

Barton, J. 2005. Spanning the Globe. Golf Digest. May issue.

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