The first Turf Club meeting of the semester will be held on Tuesday January 25th. The meeting will take place in 101 ASI Building at 7PM. On schedule for the meeting is an introduction to the new officers, plans for future trips and fund raising efforts, election of a new Turf Club Secretary, and a guest speaker.
Speaking at the Turf Club will be Penn State Alumnus Ian Hoffman of Rolling Rock Club. Mr. Hoffman will be speaking about what it takes to be successful in this competitive job market and also hopes to generate a lot of discussion among the students.
Penn State Turfgrass Science Students take first in both 4-yr and 2-yr division in the Sixth annual STMA Student Challenge in Orlando FL in January 2010.
Click here to read Dr. Andrew McNitt´s report from STMA 2010 and more about our winning teams.
At 7pm on Tuesday the 26th of January Mr. Curtis Tyrrell, Director of Golf Course Operation at the Medinah Country Club, will be visiting PSUturfclub.
Medinah Country Club in Chicago, IL will be hosting the 2012 Ryder Cup and Mr. Tyrrell will be speaking about how they are preparing their facility for one of the biggest events in sports.
Mr. Tyrrell, a Certified Golf Course Superintendent, is a graduate of the Penn State 2 year program.
He went straight in to the position of assistant at PGA West, Palm Springs CA after graduation. His career has taken him via superintendent positions at Desert Mountain, Scottsdale, AZ, Anthem Golf Club, Las Vegas, NV and Lake of Isles, CT to his current position as Director of Golf Course Operation at Medinah Country Club
At Lake of Isles, Mr. Tyrrell was in charge of the simultaneuos construction and the grow-in of two 18 hole golf courses.
After opening in 2005 ( South Course in April and North Course in May) Lake of Isles has received numerous prestigiuos distinctions.
In his position at Medinah CC he is working with his 3 superintendents to build a strong team atmosphere among the maintenance staff, instead of having 3 seperate courses.
The Turf Club held its annual luncheon during the Golf Course Turf Conference at the Nittany Lion Inn. This year's event drew superintendents from around the country for an update from the faculty and students in the turfgrass programs.
(Photo) Dean Graves, superintendent at Chevy Chase Country Club, Max Schlossberg (Associate Professor of Turfgrass Nutrition), and several students watch on as Andy McNitt gives the program update.
After a great lunch, the group was given an update on the turf program from Dr. McNitt, an update on the past year's events from Turf Club President Neils Dokkuma (2-year class of 2010) and a look at what's in store for the upcoming year from new Club President James Seisun (2-year class of 2011).
The highlight of the annual event continues to be the introductions of everyone in attendance. Each person stood up and introduced themselves and gave a little bit of background on their career and what Penn State means to them. Matt Shaffer, Director of Agronomy at Merion Golf Club, told the group how important Penn State was to him and promised any students looking for an internship three things:
...to teach them everything he knows about being a superintendent,
...to overwork them,
...and to undercompensate them!
Matt finished by saying, "and I never break this promise."
The Turf Club Luncheon had one of the highest attendances on record with nearly 200 people. They look to expand upon this next year to draw in even more superintendents interested in sharing their thoughts on the program and finding out more about what the Turf Club is doing to prepare students for a career in the turfgrass industry!
Check out pictures from the luncheon and the Golf Course Turf Conference below.
For the third year in a row, Ohio was the middle ground for turfgrass students from Penn State (PSU) and Michigan State (MSU) to test their skills of golf against one another in a match play format. The Sharon Golf Club was the immaculate venue for the 2009 Cutter Cup. The 18th anniversary of the competition fell under the care of General Manager and Superintendent Frank Dobie. Following a first rate tour of the grounds maintenance facilities, the group headed to the clubhouse for lunch prior to the match.
The five players from each university had the luxury of caddies, a welcome treat from having to carry their own clubs. The weather was indeed kind and the slight bite to the late morning air was soon lost with the walk down the first hole. The Sharon Golf Club has two nines different from one another. The front nine had tree-lined fairways, while the back nine offered several water hazards to test the skills of all. With smooth, slick, undulating greens the matches were challenging.
The first group was led by professors from both PSU and MSU. Their match was taken to the 17th hole before MSU took the opportunity to finish the match 2 and 1. The turfgrass students were fighting their own battles with matches finishing on various holes. As the final group putted out on the 18th green it was announced the final score was PSU 4 to MSU 1. Penn State defended their victory in 2008 and brought the mighty Cutter Cup back home to University Park. The record now stands at PSU 7 and MSU 6, with matches ending in a draw on five occasions.
A special thanks to The Sharon Golf Club, Mr. Frank Dobie, and the PSU and MSU teams for making it all happen. We would also like to give a warm thanks to Mr. Dobie and Mr. Bruce Williams for treating PSU and MSU to lunch, respectively. Congratulations to all the players and caddies for participating in such a great day of golf and networking.
Last week's Turf Club meeting was highlighted by 1969 alumni of the 2-year Turfgrass Management Program, Mr. Schoellner. During his talk he gave an interesting insight from a different perspective than just the superintendent's one, and that it is not all about growing grass. His generous support of the Turf Club and 2-year program in general was highly appreciated by attending students.
The next Turf Club meeting will be highlighted by guest speaker John Schoellner, alumni from the 2-year program in 1969. He will give us some very interesting insights into his career, which he started cutting greens at the age of 9 for $1,- an hour. He is currently the General Manager at a golf course in Florida. During an interactive presentation he hopes to give us some examples of situations he has encountered during his career.
Nominations for the officers election on Tuesday October 27 will also be held during the meeting. So if you are interested in serving as an officer for the Turf Club over the next year, please stand up during the meeting!
For this fall semester we don't have many speakers, so your attendance is a great way for showing your support for our alumni!
