Heeeere's Johnny!

Chuck Green, director of golf operations at Sage Valley Country Club, briefs the future turf managers.

We'd like to welcome John Micklas, a fresh-faced 22-year-old and new graduate of the University of Massachusetts, to the wonderful world of golf course maintenance. Here's a toast to you John — and all the recent turf graduates — in hopes of your success.

But, as you know, the turfgrass industry isn't exactly on easy street. Considering that golf course closings exceeded openings the past two years, there's not a bunch of jobs waiting for you.

This theme was a hot topic of discussion recently at the three-day Future Turf Managers Seminar hosted by Jacobsen in mid-May. Jacobsen invited 14 college students, including Micklas, from top turf schools around the country to participate in the event, which included a variety of activities, from seminars and plant tours to go-kart racing and grilling out. More than 600 turf students have participated in the Future Turf Managers Seminar since its inception in the 1970s.

Recent graduate John Micklas says he has the personality for sales.

The guys and gals who get to go through the program should be proud. Every year, Jacobsen contacts the country's top turf schools and asks the department heads to nominate their top students to attend the event. Jacobsen officials select a fortunate few to attend the event from the pool of nominees.

"We started this to get our arms around the up-and-coming superintendents," says Dan Wilkinson, Jacobsen's president. "It gives us some good insight into what these young folks are thinking about the industry as they come into it."

The attendees toured Jacobsen's manufacturing facility in Charlotte and tested some of the company's latest equipment at the nearby Tega Cay Golf Club on the first day of the three-day event. On the second day, the group traveled to Graniteville, S.C., for a tour of Sage Valley Country Club with Director of Golf Course Operations Chuck Green; a tour of E-Z-GO in Augusta, Ga., the golf car manufacturer that is Jacobsen's sister company; and a tour of Lake Olmstead Stadium, the minor league ball park of the Augusta Green Jackets.

On the third day of the event, the group heard talks from several turf industry experts, including Mark Wilson, the certified superintendent of Valhalla Golf Club; M.C. Engelke, associate center director of AgriLife Research at Texas A&M University; and Teri Harris, the managing director of development for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

J. Landon Messal and Sammy Elfstrom realize they might have to go where the jobs are if they want to move up the career ladder.

There was also a lot of talk about the future, as the name of the event suggests. What does the future hold for the future turf managers of this country?

"It's a tough industry," Wilkinson says. "There are not 1,000 new courses being built in the next five years. The top students are the ones who will be the future leaders in this industry. But it won't be an easy road."

Micklas has a job as assistant superintendent at Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg, Mass. But he eventually wants to go into sales and sell equipment, such as Jacobsen mowers.

"I have a plan," the ever-smiling Micklas says. "I have the personality for sales."