Many people enjoy going to play a leisurely game of golf on Sunday afternoons on a beautiful course. Many of those people, however, don't think about how much work really goes into each day to keep that beautiful course, well, beautiful. Payton O’Connor is one of those hard-working individuals who works to make it an enjoyable experience for those who visit his course. O'Connor is a Golf Course Management student here at the Institute of Applied Agriculture. For his internship this past summer he chose to work for Laurel Valley Golf club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The golf club is located just south of Pittsburgh and since its opening in 1959, they have hosted two major tournaments, such as the 1965 PGA Championship and the 1975 Ryder Cup. O'Connor worked just about every weekday from May 19th to August 28th. O'Connor initially took this internship because he was offered housing and a $1000 bonus to be an intern for the summer.
His hours varied but he consistently worked the 4:30 am to 3:30 pm hours. Furthermore, O'Connor completed many different jobs on one of the top private golf courses in the PA area. These jobs included mowing and spraying greens, tees, fairways, rough, and approaches. He also fulfilled tasks like hand-watering fairways and changing pins. O'Connor learned a lot during his time at Laurel Valley, he observed how large crews ran and how much organization is needed to ensure that everyone is completing the tasks at hand as efficiently and effectively as possible.
He learned how important budgeting is and how it can make or break a business, especially one as large as a golf course. Another lesson was how powerful manpower can really be. O'Connor states “I had a strong team at Laurel Valley but without everyone working together we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as we did each day.” O'Connor took away many lessons and ideas from his internship this summer. Still, two major takeaways were the importance of a good crew/team and how responsibility really makes the team as successful or unsuccessful as they are. To conclude the summer, O'Connor says “I was offered and accepted a full-time position at the golf course.” He plans to return to Laurel Valley this spring and start his position as Assistant Superintendent. There is no doubt he will thrive and find success at Laurel valley in the future.
