Addressing Golf’s Labor Challenge

Among the benefits of the USGA establishing a second home in Pinehurst, N.C., is the founding of the Greenkeeper Apprenticeship Program (GAP)– an innovative effort to address the maintenance industry’s chronic labor shortage.

Now, thanks to a five-year collaboration among Sandhills Community College, Ewing Outdoor Supply, the Dedman Foundation, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club and the Carolinas Golf Association, the USGA is doubling down on cultivating skilled, educated and motivated personnel on area golf courses. Pinehurst is among the beneficiaries, and with it, the 2024 U.S. Open Championship. But it’s not just top-tier courses that are utilizing the program. For those facilities with modest budgets that previously had trouble retaining staff, the workforce development project could help make the difference between merely getting by and thriving.

The apprenticeship program is the brainchild of Jordan Booth, Ph.D., and Chris Hartwiger of the USGA, in addition to two Pinehurst Resort veterans, Golf Course Maintenance Operations Manager Kevin Robinson and Director of Golf Course Maintenance Bob Farren. If the idea didn’t exactly fall out of a tree and hit them like Newton’s apple, it did arise as they were standing under a pine tree while perusing Pinehurst’s No. 10 Course in its early stages of construction. They were bemoaning the difficulty of attracting and keeping skilled labor to their crew when they realized they had an opportunity to do something about it. A few phone calls with Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst and some further meetings with the Sandhills Golf Course Superintendents Association (GCSA) and the USGA Green Section secured funding to cover the costs of instructors, resources and equipment.

Thus was born an apprenticeship program that would encourage crew members and entry-level laborers to further their education and become invested emotionally and professionally in a continuing career, not just a seasonal job. Bill Patton, retired superintendent and former instructor at Sandhills Community College, counts himself as ‘hopeful that the program brings people into the industry, encourages them to stay and bolsters the work force.” To that end, the Sandhills GCSA, which Patton founded two decades ago and is now president of, provided additional financial support to the undertaking.

Among the participants benefiting from the program is Heather Davis, 46, who has six children, three grandchildren, and now a new career. For years she taught arts, gym and music in elementary school, occasionally supplementing her teaching income with summer side work at Knollwood Fairways in Southern Pines. Her husband worked full-time on the agronomy staff at nearby Midland Country Club, so crew work was familiar enough to her, as was everyday gardening. But the more time she spent spraying, rolling, mowing and weeding, the more questions she had about her work and the principles behind it. As Davis tells it, “That’s when my supervisor finally said to me, ‘You love this stuff, we need to get you into something bigger.’”

GAP has been key to helping Heather Davis go from part-time work on a local maintenance crew to a full-time second career. (USGA)

That something bigger was already up and running through Sandhills Community College. The initial apprenticeship class of 20 began in January 2023 and graduated last December. Enrollees combined a standard 2,000-hour apprenticeship at a golf course with afternoon classes at school. The key to the program is a work schedule that begins early – between 5 and 6 a.m. – and ends by 2 p.m. That leaves just enough time for students to get to the college campus in time for classes that generally run from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Class time in 2023 came to 96 hours in the fall and another 96 hours in the spring. Most of the 13 participating golf courses that sent apprentices to the program arranged to compensate their employees for their class time, at least partially.

Nineteen of the original 20 enrollees completed the one-year program and continued with their employment. Davis, who is now enrolled in the program’s second year of operation as a member of Cohort 2, is the only woman to have signed on thus far. She’s now working on the crew of Pinehurst No. 4 and is earning considerably more per hour, enough to have left behind her teaching job and make a go of it full-time – including plans to become an assistant superintendent. Having studied chemistry, biology and soil, she considers herself capable of pursuing research questions involving moisture sensors and the effect of greens drying out from accumulated sand splashed from greenside bunkers.

Carson Letot, Ph.D., runs the educational component at Sandhills Community College through Workforce Continuing Education. Students attend tuition-free, thanks to a grant from the USGA. The Carolinas GCSA has waived fees to its large annual regional conference and trade show for those participating in the apprenticeship program. Participants also receive free membership into the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Graduates also secure an industry-recognized Golf Course Technician credential and a Journey Worker Card acknowledged by the U.S. Department Labor.

Future plans for the program, according to Letot, include expansion to include a hybrid online component so that a wider network of facilities beyond the immediate Pinehurst-Southern Pines area can participate. Far more ambitious are plans to implement a parallel apprenticeship program in the Myrtle Beach area through South Carolina Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

In furtherance of this expanded program, the USGA, Ewing Outdoor Supply, the Dedman Foundation and Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, along with the Carolinas Golf Association, have combined to pledge $1 million over a five-year period – enough for 200 apprentices to participate.

Industry surveys today of both private and public sector golf courses indicate that when it comes to the challenges facing superintendents, finding and retaining labor far exceeds issue such as aging infrastructure, cost containment, unrealistic expectations for conditioning, turf disease management and water cost and availability. There is good reason to believe that the newly created USGA Greenkeeper Apprenticeship Program can begin to resolve the issue of labor retention.