Turf trip of a lifetime

Part agronomy study, part self-exploration, a pair of young men endeavored the turf trip of a lifetime via the inaugural “Turf Across America” internship program.

Conceived by Bryan Stromme, vice president of agronomy at Century Golf Partners, and Scott Bordner, director of agronomy at the Union League of Philadelphia, the debut program provided a coast-to-coast opportunity for selected participants Will Bolin and Alex Loesch.

In the spring through fall months of 2023, the pair of future superintendent hopefuls interned at Union League National in Swainton, New Jersey. In November, they arrived at PGA WEST in La Quinta, California, for the second part of their year-long internship.

The tandem linked locales with a 3,200-mile, cross-country drive that included scheduled tour stops at some of the nation’s most celebrated clubs.

From right to left coast, the pair has learned about grass, themselves and high-end agronomy working environments.

Amid their time at PGA WEST, Bolin and Loesch took a moment away from helping to prep for the PGA Tour’s annual American Express desert stop to discuss their journey.

“I think they’re completely different,” the 22-year-old Bolin, a native Texan, says of the program’s inverse host property turfgrasses. “The East Coast: high humidity, stays wet, lot of disease. Here, they don’t really spray fungicides; it’s mainly just wetting agents because of little rain. And then, there’s not really any Bermudagrass up there; little bit of zoysia, but really not on the course.”

Along with turf differences, the intern pair also found dichotomy in coastal cultures.

“The people are definitely different,” says Bolin, adding that he’d been gently ribbed for his joven Spanish. “This (desert) reminds me more of home. Up there in New Jersey, there were no tamales. Being from Texas, with so many Californians moving there, and now my being here, I can see a lot of the stuff that people brought with them to Texas.”

Adds Loesch, a 19-year-old New Jersey native: “The language barrier has been a learning experience, with most of the team speaking Spanish. I got a heads-up on that from my boss in Jersey, Scott Bordner. I probably should have paid a bit more attention (during Spanish class) in school. But I’ve adapted out here a little bit.”

Such workplace malleability has been as much of a lesson for the two as the wealth of knowledge they’ve gained about turf management practices.

“The guys when we got here said this, and I’ve heard other people at our other stops say pretty much the same, is that this business is 50 percent about people,” Bolin says. “It’s really about organizing people, knowing and finding people’s strengths, being on the same page and that your team is only as strong as the weakest link.”

His fellow intern concurred.

“What I learned most is about working with people, the importance of a strong boss and how to get along with everybody,” Loesch says. “I mean, people are gonna butt heads sometimes.”

Of course, for a pair of young men finding their respective ways in the world, the journey had as much impact as the destinations.

En route from Jersey to La Quinta, the six-stop tour included: The Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois; Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, Nebraska; Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado; Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada; and Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nevada. Along the way, the two had time for pit stops at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and a stroll down the Vegas Strip. They also visited the Golf Course Industry headquarters in northeast Ohio.

While Bolin and Loesch drove in separate cars (Bolin in his Ford F-150; Loesch in his Chevy Colorado), the two appreciated having one another close along the dusty trail.

“It was definitely easier with another person, and there was a reassurance (on the road), just going place to place and having our talks about, ‘Should we call ‘em first, text them first?’” Loesch says. “Like, in Chicago, it was 6 o’clock at night, and they had to come to the shop to let us in. They were all prepared for us, but it was just kinda funny. And I think we pulled into two gas stations along the trip, where we didn’t even know each other was there. Will pulled past me and called, and was like, ‘Did you even know I was there?’ I was like, ‘Where are you?’ and he says, ‘Um, right behind you.’”

After months in tandem — and sharing an apartment in California — the two have learned how to lean on each other, when need be. Spending such ample time around each other on- and off-course, they’ve reached the familiarity stage of occasionally finishing each other’s sentences.

“Voice the frustrations, talk about what we liked, decompress from the day,” Bolin says of being intern roommates. “Just like a lot of people do when they get home after work and catch their breath.”

While mapping more than 3,000 miles, the interns further learned the golf world can oftentimes be a small place.

“All the courses we’ve been to, they all know each other, it’s all intertwined,” Bolin says. “They all either worked for the same somebody, or somebody hired their brother or guys talk on the phone with questions all the time. It’s been cool to see how small the industry is, even stretched out across America.”

As the debut program turns toward its back nine and applications are fielded for Turf Across America’s sophomore season, Bolin and Loesch are hitting the home stretch with a bang. The American Express, hosted by PGA WEST Jan. 18-21, proved a proper exclamation to the experience (as did, perhaps ironically, the fact that Nick Dunlap, the event’s eventual winner, is a mere year Loesch’s senior and two years younger than Bolin).

“We’ve both volunteered for tournaments before, but that’s just coming in (at the last minute) and being, like, ‘Whoa,’ and then leaving,” Loesch said in the weeks preceding the AmEx. “You don’t see it all come together, come up and come down. This has been so cool to see, to be a part of how all this comes together.”

Under the respective directions of Brian Sullivan, director of agronomy at PGA WEST, and Denver Hart, head superintendent of resort courses at PGA WEST, the interns worked all facets of tourney prep.

“I think it’s an important thing to see and a great addition to the Turf Across America program, because it’s something a lot of guys haven’t been a part of,” Bolin says. “I think I speak for Alex when saying that we both have a real sense of pride when it comes to this tournament. We’re not just here as volunteers. We’ve been here for all the months of prep leading up to it, meeting with the supers all the time and getting things done every day and making suggestions. It feels good to be prepping for something so important.”

Judd Spicer is a Palm Desert, California-based writer and senior Golf Course Industry contributor.