Lara Arias

Lara Arias is one of the most respected figures in the turf industry.

As superintendent at Marco Simone in Italy, she hosted three consecutive Italian Opens from 2021 to 2023 as well as the 2023 Ryder Cup — the latter while she was 32 weeks pregnant. Recently, she was part of the international corps of volunteers who supported the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.

She is also one of the busiest figures in her chosen profession. Now an agronomist and consultant for Turfgrass Agronomy & Services, which is headquartered in Spain, Arias spends plenty of time on the road. “I really like my job,” she says. “I find it very interesting to get to travel and work on different golf courses.”

This season saw Arias splitting time between Italy and France.

“This summer, we have converted cool-season fairways to Bermudagrass on a golf course in the south of France” she says, “and I was in charge of the process, so I’m working on different projects.”

Arias’s effort at the Solheim Cup was a homecoming of sorts. She spent part of 2016 at the club as an intern. She then completed internships at TPC Scottsdale and Quail Hollow, where she helped support the 2017 PGA Championship. All told, she spent 18 months in the United States.

Appearing on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with host Rick Woelfel, Arias describes the time she spent in the country as “the best experience of my life.”

“I really had a great time over there,” she says. “It was really important to be on a golf course with cool-season grasses and another golf course with warm-season grasses.”

Arias did have to adapt to different ways of doing things, though. One of those adjustments involved the length of her workday, which her family in Spain found difficult to fathom.

“My family didn’t understand why people in the United States work ‘too many hours,’” she recalls. She told them: “Everything is unbelievable. I am having a great time. I am learning a lot. We are working very hard and many hours, but this is very important for my career. I am learning many things. You go over to the United States, you want to learn.’”

Arias says traveling internationally has allowed her to grow personally as well as professionally.

“Every time I go to another country, I’m learning a new language,” she says, noting that she speaks four languages. “For me, this experience in the industry is also about language and different cultures. How we can grow up in the industry and how we can grow up as a person in the world?”

When Arias arrived at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club the Tuesday of Solheim Cup week, it was something of a homecoming and a chance to reunite with superintendent Scott Furlong.

“We had a great time, a great week,” she says. “Everyone was doing a great job. The golf course was in really good condition. I was glad I was there.”

Arias spent much of the week on bunker duty.

“I was taking care of the golf course like my own golf course, because I wanted to see the golf course in its best condition,” she says.

As hard as the crew worked during the week, it was also a time for them to celebrate the turf industry.

“Everyone had fun,” Arias says. “We had many people from the United States but also from Europe. Everyone, I think, enjoyed the week. I did.”

Now the mother of a daughter, Arias is committed to maintaining her career and inspiring other women in the industry.

“I love (my daughter),” she says, “but also I love my work, and I think for the industry it’s very important that I find a good balance between home and the baby and also keep working. I love my job, and I try to be better every day.”