Morgan Taylor

Morgan Taylor missed out on the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open. She was determined to be on hand this time around.

Taylor, an assistant superintendent at the Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama, was part of the team of volunteers that supported the recent U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. She was tentatively scheduled to be part of the volunteer team that worked the 2022 Women’s Open at Pine Needles — but couldn’t get away from her job at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio. The wait meant she was more than ready to make the trip to California.

Appearing on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with Rick Woelfel, Taylor said she was particularly impressed with the dedication of Pebble Beach’s full-time crew under superintendent Bubba Wright.

“You can really tell how much work goes into the grounds at Pebble Beach,” she says. “The entire crew, everybody, is just 100 percent into what they’re doing there. They love that golf course.”

Taylor’s working partner from the Pebble Beach crew customarily spent his workdays mowing the celebrated par-3 seventh hole. He’s been doing it for 14 years. “He was like, ‘I get to do this,” Taylor recalls. “It was incredible to really see that reflected in the grounds crew at Pebble Beach.”

Taylor’s primary role during the Women’s Open involved raking greenside bunkers on holes 10, 12, 14, and 18.

“It is just incredible to (come off the course) at the last hole and know that something you’ve done is being seen, especially during the final round,” she says. “That’s the last thing (spectators) see. It’s just an amazing experience.”

Taylor entered the turf industry by way of Auburn University. She began her academic career as a pre-med student before switching majors at the suggestion of a friend. One of her first classes was with renowned professor Dr. Elizabeth Guertal, who retired from her position at Auburn in June 2022 after 30 years. Guertal is now at Kansas State. “She was such an amazing professor,” Taylor says. “She kind of set the hook and I never looked back from that class.”

Taylor eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and soils. She served an internship at the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and eventually accepted a job at the club as an assistant-in-training. Superintendent Jamey Davis mentored Taylor at a time when her knowledge of golf, to put it kindly, was minimal.

“(Davis) took me under his wing and kind of let me mess things up and get things right at the same time,” she says. “I didn’t even know what a fairway was or what was a pin location. I was so new to everything. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it.”

In addition to the Women’s Open, Taylor has volunteered at other events. She has worked the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three times and helped the crew at the Sentry Tournament of Champions earlier this year.

“Every experience is different,” she says. “And each one is very, very special in its own way. It gives you a huge opportunity to meet several different people and expand your network.”

Taylor embraces opportunities to network with other women in the industry.

“With ladies there it makes it easier to get to know not only them but the people around you,” she says. “I tend to be a little bit more of an introvert, so if I have someone there who kind of helps me meet other people, it really does help.

“If there’s a group of ladies, it’s a little bit easier for your presence to be a little bit more normal.”