GCSAA announces second winner of Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award

Connor McBride of Michigan State University is the second winner of the Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award of $10,000 from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) through the GCSAA Foundation.

The award recognizes a non-traditional student seeking a career in the field of golf course and turfgrass management. Applicants must be majoring in a field related to golf course management, planning a career as a superintendent or related profession, be 23 years of age or older and be a GCSAA member to be eligible.

Allan MacCurrach III and the PGA Tour fund the award — named in honor of the late Allan MacCurrach Jr., the PGA Tour’s first staff agronomist in 1974 and the GCSAA Distinguished Service Award winner in 1994. MacCurrach Jr. was a member of GCSAA for 31 years and was one of the first to become a certified golf course superintendent.

“I hope to be an example for people who might follow a similarly unconventional path toward a career in turf management. I want others to know that it is possible to change careers,” said McBride, president of Michigan State University’s Turfgrass Club. “I have a passion for this industry, and I plan on being a leader in it for many years to come. What it has given me so far only furthers my motivation to grow and improve it in the future—for myself, for those currently in it and for those who, like me, discover it later in life.”

McBride joined the grounds crew at Bloomfield Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., in spring 2021. He enrolled in Michigan State’s two-year turfgrass management program later that year.