Ashley Kendall Sutton

When Ashley Kendall Sutton left NC State University with a degree in agricultural education, she planned on a teaching career. Her plans changed after a year in the classroom.

“I realized teaching was not my thing,” she says.

Kendall Sutton decided to enroll at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, where she pursued an associate degree in turfgrass management. She worked as an intern at TPC Piper Glen during her time at NC State. She also worked at the club part-time while pursuing her turfgrass degree. Her performance impressed senior director of agronomy Steffie Safrit enough that he hired her full-time following her graduation in December 2021.

Kendall Sutton is now one of two assistant superintendents at the club. Her role involves juggling numerous responsibilities, including assisting with setting up the job board each day.

“We assign the tasks for the guys,” she says. ‘They’ll go out there and do their tasks but we’re right there with them in the morning. We come in and eat lunch and then we already have second jobs lined up for after lunch. Then, after we get done with the day, we’ll sit down and plan for the next day so we’re both on the same page.”

Appearing on the Wonderful Women of Golf podcast with host Rick Woelfel, Kendall Sutton spoke to the importance of getting her hands dirty alongside the rest of the crew.

“It is very important for the assistant or anyone in an administrative role to be hands-on and in there with the guys, because they do notice that,” she says. “One thing we do a lot, our bunkers wash out with the little bit of rain we get. So, whenever it rains a little bit, we know we’re going to be out there fixing bunkers the next day. The other assistant and myself, we make sure we’re in the bunkers with them, pushing silt and pushing sand so they can see that we’re in there with them.”

Kendall Sutton stresses the importance of being able to adjust the schedule based on circumstances. Often, those circumstances are weather-related.

“Every day when we come into work we have a rain plan, a frost plan and our normal plan that we would go with,” she says. “We make that the day before, so when we come into work, we have three different plans lined up so that if it rains we do this plan, if there’s frost then we need to do something else before we go outside and get on the greens and whatnot, or we have our regular plan.”

There are so many things that happened — that I did not expect to happen — that made this transition even better than I thought it would be.”

Plans are also devised for occasions when the crew is shorthanded.

“If something happens, if three guys get sick and call out, then we’ve got be able to make sure we have another plan together,” Kendall Sutton says. “If the crew can’t make it or something happens, then we can still get the job done with a short staff. You definitely have to be sure there are multiple plans lined up just in case.”

Kendall Sutton joins assistant equipment manager Erin Miller as one of two women on the staff. She stresses the importance of carrying her share of the load.

“Being a female in a male-dominated industry (means) you have an expectation that you need to be pushed harder. You need to work harder just to make sure you’re not getting any special treatment,” she says. “Just because you’re a female, you have to be able to push yourself to know that you can do anything the guys can do.”

The decision Kendall Sutton made to leave teaching changed her life and has been deeply satisfying.

“Making that switch has definitely been more than I expected,” she concludes. “I’ve gotten to work many tournaments. I got to be a part of the women’s group that went to (the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles). There are so many things that happened — that I did not expect to happen — that made this transition even better than I thought it would be.”