Maryland Golf & Country Club Internship
Employment on a golf course can have both ups and downs. Extremely early mornings and long hours aren’t exactly great qualities that would attract a ton of eager candidates. However, through my experience working as an intern at Maryland Golf & Country Club, a private course located in Bel Air, Maryland, I was able to find out that even through the long, physical days that greens keeping is an incredibly rewarding and fun experience that many should consider when pursuing a career in an industry regarding agriculture.
Over the entirety of the summer, I was able to learn and hone some of the skills that could make me an effective golf course superintendent, including mowing greens and fairways, fertilizing, applying fungicides, irrigation repair/management, and disease management. However, I believe one of the most valuable skills that I learned as a superintendent intern was how to effectively manage and supervise a golf course maintenance crew. This skill includes the ability to motivate employees through rotating tasks between employees and encouraging comradery, which also creates an enjoyable working environment.
In terms of the things that I enjoyed working on in the turf industry the most, I cannot possibly pick a favorite task or activity. I enjoyed the outdoor and physical work like removing tree stumps or repairing a pipe leak just as much as the “easy jobs”, such as mowing and rolling greens or applying fertilizer. I have always enjoyed working outdoors in any capacity. However, tasks completed in a group setting, such as sand bunker repair, stood out as being the most fun due to the bonds formed with the team. However, a project that stands out to me is the re-leveling and re-grassing of a tee box since I was left with enough responsibility to perform a good portion of it on my own.
Aside from learning and practicing some new tasks, I found that constant feedback from my supervisors was extremely beneficial. This made me more confident in my abilities. This experience became extremely helpful in times of miscommunication or mistake. And even the mistakes I made on the job were utilized as a learning experience, which I’m extremely grateful for.
The most challenging part of my internship was preparing for various weather conditions. Within the months of June and July, the maintenance crew had to deal with extremely dry and droughty conditions, which was incredibly detrimental to the acreage of turf. Dead spots and stressed areas were a constant issue. At times, every member of the maintenance crew was tasked with managing dead spots. Knowing nearly every day that precipitation was not likely was difficult to deal with and manage other tasks not associated with irrigation. This changed in the month of August when we received more rain in the first week than in the previous month and a half combined. We now had to be concerned with overwatering and disease from extended periods of wetness. “Being a superintendent is a grind”, is what my supervisor warned me. Weather is an ever-changing process that can affect a plant’s health and making adjustments in that quick of a time period was difficult, to say the least.
However, I have concluded that the benefits far outweigh the challenges in my time as an intern at Maryland Golf & Country Club. I was able to learn effective leadership strategies, gain skills in heavy machinery use and turf maintenance, and most importantly make important connections between my work and classes within the Institute of Applied Agriculture. I learned valuable skills that I plan on applying and building upon in my future career as an assistant and eventually a head superintendent. I would strongly recommend anyone who has interest in outdoor work to take a look into the turf or golf course maintenance industry.
