UMN Field Day Pages 54

The MGCSA and University of Minnesota, partners in success.

In Bounds

by Jack MacKenzie, CGCS

Recently, I had the pleasure of engaging high school students in discussions about careers in the turf industry, more specifically, golf course turf management. The first, a career fair where the industry net was cast upon a large audience of Forest Lake High School students, between the ages of 16 and 18, and their parents. And the second, while on an MGCSA organized field trip for Career Launch participants to the UMN’s TROE Center, followed by a private tour of the TPC Twin Cities turf management center. Both opportunities provided me access to some very engaged students.

As a representative of your industry, I went to the College and Career Fair armed with University of Minnesota education options and materials about the University of Wisconsin short programs. Upon my laptop I ran the GCSAA video, “Welcome to My Office”. The presentation I shared included brief stories about the job of golf course superintendent, the challenges of the position, how one can pursue the career and the benefits of growing fine turf for a living.

Although not as popular as Famous Dave’s, they were giving out food, my booth was active with interested young men and women stopping by to hear my pitch. It was rewarding to see their mind “gears” working as they considered the options of limited college, immediate placement, and the potential for a long and rewarding career. The parents of the youth were also interested to know their kids could begin work on a golf course, develop a low cost fast-track into management and begin a real career just a few years after graduating high

Back in the “old days”, one needed to fall into the position accidently. There are career software programs tracking high school students today. Unfortunately, the turf management industry is severely underrepresented. Although I could expand on the flaws of the system, it won’t fix the problem. Only you can do that through participating in local school career fairs. I did and the impact on the TROE Center/TPC Field Trip a few days later reflected a registration spike from 13 to 20 individuals immediately following the fair.

It seemed surreal to realize no one in my limited audience really considered the golf course turf manager a viable job. Talk about a flash-back to the late 1970’s when I first considered a career as a superintendent. Simply put, where are the promoters of our industry? Are they stuck complaining in their pity-pots about lack of quality and/ or interested employees? I suppose my words are threatening to many who are reading this column, but come on, if you don’t promote your

We couldn’t have asked for a better day to check out the turf plots at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Eric Watkins and Maggie Reiter were

on hand to “talk turf”, research, career opportunities and, of course, the UMN horticultural program. The presentation was fun! Most of the kids were interested. And some even approached me asking about the industry.

The group then moved on for a visit with Superintendent Mark Michalski at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine and a brief tour of his course and turf management center. Mark’s fine articulation of the industry inspired even more interest in the career. Beside turf agronomist positions, Mark hammered home the demand for equipment managers too. This caught the attention of the Career Launch Counselor who indicated that the Ag Industry instructors would be excited to hear about that career option. The bulk of the captive audience was literally captivated and several asked about summer jobs on golf courses.

The take home message of this brief recap following two great experiences is that there really are high school youth interested in your business. Some are interested in

the game and others are focused on working outside. But how are YOU going get them through your doors to apply for a job?

I boldly suggest you go to your local high school(s) and offer a vocational field trip to the career counselors. They are obligated to share viable venues with their students, especially when the career track is so obvious. Summer job, short or long course college level programing, apprentice, or internships at a variety of courses, and then onto management full time. Career Fairs must also be on your radar. For every dozen kids that just walked by, I had one stop by to hear about the turf management industry. They appreciated the opportunity to learn about a never considered outside career. If I were still a superintendent, I bet I could have positioned half of my summer crew and likely at least one future intern or assistant just by hanging out for a couple hours in the high school gymnasium.

They are out there; you just need to know where to look!

Special thanks to Dr. Eric Watkins and Maggie Rieter at the University of Minnesota and TPC Superintendent Mark Michalski for making this first ever Career Launch opportunity take place. It was a fantastic introduction to our industry!