Do you know what it’s like working behind the scenes on a golf course? How everything looks perfect before that first tee time? On a golf course, there is a lot that happens and so much going on before the sun even comes up. My name is Jon Kasner and as a part of the University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), I did an internship that potentially changed my life.
For my internship, I worked at Bayside Golf Course, located in Selbyville, Delaware, where I was a greenskeeper. As a greenskeeper, it was my responsibility to listen to what I was told and work efficiently to make the course the best it possibly could. Because of all of the golf played throughout the day, it is very hard to get anything done when you are waiting on golfers the whole day. So, we would start at 5:30 a.m. every day so we could all get our tasks and jobs done before golfers were even on the course. As an intern, I was obligated to do anything and everything, such as sodding grass, watering, raking bunkers, push mowing greens, putting down fertilizer and compost, and lots of weed whacking and trimming. So, as you can see, there were definitely some highs and lows while working as an intern.
My favorite part while working as a greenskeeper was getting to work with everyone as they became great friends to me. I loved certain jobs like watering fairways and putting down fertilizer and compost as it was very satisfying and fun to learn. Although there was a lot I liked, there were certain things I disliked, the main task being push mowing. It was very hard to learn and I had to be super precise and could not mess up because it would be very noticeable. I also am not the biggest morning person, making it difficult some days to wake up.
At any job worked at, there will always be some funny and unusual things that happen while working on the job site. There weren't a whole lot of unusual things, but one main one was how many foxes were on the course. There were at least three foxes on the majority of the holes, and surprisingly, they loved the golfers and the greens crew.
During my internship, I learned a myriad of skills that can be utilized as I progress in my career. For example, I learned how to drive stick shifts and even tractors, how to push mow and the precision that goes into it, and how to attach a hose into the ground that pumps water out of it. Through these three months, I learned so many life skills and life lessons I never thought I would learn. “Be yourself and don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith,” is what my boss told me on my last day, and it made me reconsider my career goals. It made me realize that I actually enjoy this and could be a superintendent of my own course one day. Yes, it sounds like a long shot, but if I learned that much in three months, I can’t imagine what I could learn in a couple of years.
