Former Venezuelan national golfer now hopeful Venezuelan superintendent

Ernesto Martinez is getting an invaluable lesson in golf maintenance this week at TPC Sawgrass, host of the Players Championship. It’s an ongoing education that he someday hopes to take back to his native Venezuela.

“The work they put into (the course), the culture they have over here, the hours they put into the place — it’s amazing what they do,” Martinez says. “They work at this prestigious place all year-round, having rounds every month, even the ones with overseeding. What a show they put on here. I actually told Lucas (Andrews, director of golf course maintenance operations) last year that I would pay to be here. He said, ‘I don’t want you to pay.’ I said, don’t get me wrong — I’m not going to pay. I’m just saying I would.”

A good time for change

Martinez won the 2025 Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award, presented at the recent GCSAA Conference and Trade Show. The award, funded by Alan MacCurrach III, is named after the PGA Tour’s first staff agronomist and winner of the 1994 GCSAA Distinguished Service Award. It is presented to an outstanding non-traditional student seeking a career in golf course maintenance.

Martinez is a former player for the Venezuelan national golf team. “It was a long time ago, I don’t want to mention the years,” he laughs. A lesion on his right eye caused him to lose some depth of vision and negatively affected his game.

After some careful thought, Martinez decided he wanted to pursue the golf course maintenance business. He reached out to John Kaminski, Ph.D., Penn State University, who advised him to complete an online course in Spain and then intern at Real Club Valderrama. From there, Martinez entered Penn State’s two-year program. He’s also interned at Cabot St. Lucia, “a place that is out of this world,” he says, thanking Damon Di Giorgio for the opportunity. Last summer he worked at The Alotian Club in Roland, Ark., learning from superintendents Justin Sims and Koji Mitchell.

It was not a hard decision to leave Venezuela when he did.

“Three or four years ago, things started going downstream for us in Venezuela,” he says. “So, I said, hey, it’s probably time to pursue this dream.”

Martinez adds that his family is all well, and that things are getting better in his homeland.

“Slowly but surely, we’re going to be a great country again, with help from the U.S. and our allies in the region,” he says.

In pursuit of perfection

Martinez knew what great golf course conditioning was like, because he saw it as a player in other countries. Playing for the Venezuela national team took him to pristine courses in Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia and Peru.

Now his career goal is to bring top-level course conditions back to his country. His next stop in his training is the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda. He thanks MacCurrach Golf Construction, the PGA Tour and John Deere for helping him pursue his dreams.

“I’ve always wanted to pursue that perfection in Venezuela,” Martinez says. “That’s what’s gotten me here. I’m actually the first one from Venezuela to graduate from a turf program. That’s what I want to pursue, this perfection, this kind of grass … if it’s possible down there, we are going to try to make it possible. My full circle is going to come when I go back to Venezuela. I’m gaining the knowledge and experience because we need to get this kind of maintenance over there.”

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