Go West, young man

In the 2022 edition of Turfheads Take Over, I wrote about my experiences as a high school senior working for both the Wichita Wind Surge — the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins — and Flint Hills National Golf Club. I was fresh off a wild summer grinding through a lot of 17-hour days, going on college visits and visiting with as many Major League Baseball grounds crews as possible. But so much has changed in so little time.

The seed that led me to where I am today was planted last March when my family took a spring break vacation to Phoenix for MLB spring training. I reached out to all the sports field managers at the venues we visited that week. I met with multiple crews in the Valley, including one of them at Surprise Sports Complex. Following my high school graduation in May, I had a plan in place to stay in Wichita for my first two years of college at the university where my father works before transferring to Kansas State University for turf classes. After being told by the university I would not be able to live at home to save money like I had planned, I frantically began searching for other options. Weeks with so much uncertainty about where I would be this fall dragged on until the end of June.

I stumbled upon Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona, less than a mile from the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers spring training complex. And the best part, I would be on tuition remission, because Ottawa is a partner school with the university where my father is employed. Putting the pieces together, I texted Eric Roberts, the baseball superintendent at the Surprise complex, and asked to join his crew during the school year. Because of the rapport I built with him during our conversations the previous spring, he was all ears when I asked to join. The appeal of getting hands-on experience in what would be the winter, a dead period in Wichita, was too much to pass up.

The day had dreadfully come to wrap up my internship on Ben Hartman’s crew with the Wind Surge. I left my family and friends behind to start a new journey multiple states away. Doubt began to set in while I was pulling out of the driveway and saw my mom and brother crying. I thought to myself, “Is this really what I want to do?” Although I only knew four people prior to moving, I was certain I would enjoy my time in Arizona, but the fear of the unknown was ever present.

A life principle I abide by is: If you want to be a unique person, you must do unique things. If you want to have an uncommon life, you must do uncommon things. If you act the way that 99 percent of people do, you will be in that 99 percent. You must do rare things to live a rare life. Nothing will change if you do nothing to change. Although moving so far from home was way out of my comfort zone, not taking this opportunity would have invalidated that principle.

I knew God had and has a plan for me, even though I couldn’t see what was in store at the time. His plan is never what you had expected for your life, but always the best. It is amazing to take a step back and see how God works. One spring break trip and one email changed the trajectory of my life.

I began classes in August and work at the Surprise complex in September. The first few weeks on the job felt so familiar to what I was used to in Wichita, but so foreign at the same time. It was an adjustment going from caring for one field to now splitting time between 15 fields. Considering that aspect, it resembled more of a golf course maintenance mindset. Learning infield skin and clay moisture management in the arid Arizona climate has been an adjustment as well. In early October, I read that Andy Levy with the Arizona Cardinals was hiring game-week field painting help. I had reached out previously to connect and had gotten no response, but that didn’t deter me from reaching out again, this time about the job opening. I got the job and spent my 19th birthday working at an NFL stadium. Talk about one heck of a birthday present.

What should you take away from my story?

First, make an extended effort to connect with anyone, regardless of age, gender, job title and even what realm of the turf industry they’re in. If I didn’t make connections with industry professionals here in Phoenix, would I have ended up moving here? Probably not. You never know who you might run into or who you could potentially work alongside someday. Don’t be afraid to reach out two and three times. If they don’t respond after a third time, it might be best to give it a rest, but if I didn’t reach out a third time to work for the Cardinals, I would have missed out on an incredible opportunity that will open many doors for my career endeavors.

Second, one of our biggest issues in the turf industry is that the public really has no idea all that goes into being a successful turf manager. Inviting local FFA chapters, high school golf teams or elementary schools for site visits or field trips for an educational day at the golf course would not only shed light to what we do daily, it could expand the game of golf and potentially spark someone’s passion to pursue a career in the turf industry. Our collective goal should be to leave the industry better than we found it, and increasing awareness and the number of incoming turf pros is how we accomplish that.

Third, do not pigeonhole yourself to one specific realm of this industry. I admit this is easy to say as a young professional with no full-time job obligation to fill, but I implore anyone to go to that conference, go on that site visit, go volunteer for a PGA tournament. Doing so will provide educational opportunities to learn how other facilities accomplish tasks, improve relationships with industry professionals and provide fulfilling experiences.

No one really knows what the future has in store. It is excellent to have a five- or 10-year plan both professionally and personally, but it should only be treated as a soft guideline. New opportunities will arise that you never thought would be possible. Constantly re-evaluating options and making sure that you are in the right position to achieve your aspirations is crucial.

I’ll be searching for summer internships in MLB and the NFL the next few years, in addition to transferring to Kansas State after completing general education and elective courses at Ottawa. From there, the sky’s the limit.

Enjoy the journey, because before you know it, it will be all said and done.

Jakob “Bobber” Scales is a first-year student at Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona. He has tended to turf for an elite golf course, a Double-A baseball team, two MLB teams and an NFL team. This is his second Turfheads Take Over contribution.