The "Fab Four"
As we all know, the University of Maryland has the number one turf program in the country and 2014 was our year to shine. As a result of winning this year’s Collegiate Turf Bowl Competition in Orlando, FL, the UMD team—dubbed the Fab Four—Brent Waite, Ryan Higgins, Matt Park and I got the chance to work at TPC Sawgrass for a week.
John Deere, a leader in turf equipment and a major sponsor of the Turf Bowl, started a volunteer program in which the winning Turf Bowl team travels to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and be part of the grounds crew for the week of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
This was an excellent opportunity to see firsthand how an event the size of the Players Championship is run. Nearly 100 volunteers from all over the world joined the 75 full-time TPC Sawgrass staff members. The organization and communication required to make a crew of 175 people run smoothly was incredible. The crew was divided into three groups: front nine, back nine and practice facility.
Waite, Higgins and I were assigned to the back nine, while Park was assigned to the practice facility crew. The work detail consisted of mowing greens, maintaining bunkers, repairing divots, and irrigating fairways. The camaraderie of everyone working together made the long, hard days enjoyable.
There were some memorable moments such as meeting professional golfer Zach Johnson, who is sponsored by John Deere. On Tuesday afternoon he spoke to the grounds crew in the volunteer tent. Between the morning and afternoon work shifts, we were able to walk out on the course to watch play. We saw many of the big name golfers including Phil Mickelson, Ricky Fowler and Bubba Watson. On Monday morning after the tournament, we headed to the famous #17 to hit balls onto the island green, or at least we tried to hit the island green.
The weather was fantastic all week, which helped improve some minor issues with the greens. By Sunday the course was dry and firm and played up to everyone’s expectations. This was a great experience for the four of us. We were able to make valuable contacts with people in the golf industry, people that could one day become an employer or perhaps an employee.
