Whether of intention or happenstance, Wendy O'Brien has used many of the time-tested, tried-and-true strategies to propel her turf management career from casual summer job in North West England through the Ohio Program to a course manager position in Latvia... with various stops, twists and turns along the way. Oh, and volunteering at The Masters 18 times as well.
Follow your heart. Listen to your gut. Step outside the comfort zone. Meet people, learn from all. Establish relationships. Find
Rather than a conscious decision to pursue a career in turf management, for Natasha Repinskaja it was luck that landed her from her native Estonia onto the hallowed turf of the Home of Golf: St Andrews Links. One can almost hear the collective sigh of the golf world: “If only I could be so lucky…”
“It wasn't my decision. It basically was luck,” she said in a Skype interview recently.
After finishing secondary schooling in Estonia, in 2006 Natasha applied for a visa to work out of the
Women are receiving a concerted push from BIGGA and the R&A to boost the numbers of women working in golf in the UK and Ireland, Europe and beyond. According to Tracey Maddison, head of membership at BIGGA (British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association), it's an uphill battle of long-ingrained culture.
"There are massive challenges over here," she said recently in an interview for this article and a podcast (player below). "A lot of members' clubs tend to be run by the older m
When her playing days at Ohio State were over more than 30 years ago, Sherri Brogan left the Columbus campus with dreams of becoming a professional golfer, but things did not work out that way. In this Women in Turf video segment, Brogan, superintendent at Champions Golf Course in Columbus, talks about her career path and how she ended up on the golf course instead of inside golf shop. As a woman in turf, she also talks about how her career path has been both challenging and rewarding.
Lianne Larson has been superintendent at White Cliffs Country Club in Plymouth, Massachusetts for 23 years. In this first podcast episode for Women in Turf, she talks about her career change from financial services to the golf business, how she got started and who helped her develop her career along the way.
Lianne also discusses what the business was like for women more than two decades ago and how it has changed during that time. Finally, she offers advice for other women in the industry
Not only is Jennifer Torres unusual in being a female golf course superintendent in an overly male industry, but chances are she stands alone as having pursued her current career after a post-high school stint in the US Army and GI Bill-funded enrollment in the Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management certificate program... while also a 30-something mother of three at the time.
It was hardly a passion for golf or turf management that led Torres to her position as superintendent at Makefiel
Not all teachers are found in classrooms, and not all classrooms have four walls.
When Laurie Frutchey attended Florida State University in the 1980s, the Tallahassee institution was known primarily for producing teachers - more specifically, female teachers. At the same time, the golf industry, specifically the turf maintenance side of the business, was dominated by men.
It didn't take Frutchey long to knock down stereotypes in both fields.
A native of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, Fr
Even with the recent uptick in awareness of women working in turf, the number of female superintendents and assistants remains staggeringly low: a few tenths either side of 1 percent. Flipping that around simply underscores the obvious: golf course maintenance has historically been and remains 99 percent (or so) male.
Current statistics (as of July 30) from GCSAA indicate that of 18, 116 total members, only 285 are female (1.57 percent). Of the 8,778 superintendent members, 69 are female (0
