2012 Summer Interns

Brendan Davis and Steven Tyler were selected for the three month internship at The Ford Plantation and the Pete Dye Scholarship. Brendan is a sophomore from PurdueUniversity and Steven is a junior from the University of Georgia.

For the last three years, The Ford Plantation Golf Maintenance Department has been operating The Pete Dye Agronomic Scholarship program. This is a developmental internship program for young professionals with a passion for golf course maintenance. 

 This program has been met with enthusiastic support from the members of our club and universities.  Dr. Bill Thompson, Green Committee Chair, has graciously allowed interns to stay in his guest house, free of rent, during their three month internship. 

“The financial support we get for this program from our members is astounding. Without their help this program would not exist.” says Director of Golf Course Maintenance Nelson Caron.

Interns take part in all facets of golf course maintenance from daily course preparation (Photo 1) to spending time in the equipment area learning how mowers and equipment are set up (Photo 2). Along with learning the green side of our industry they also see what goes into managing the business side of our department (Photo 3). However, the capstone of the internship program is when each intern will get the opportunity to run the golf maintenance crew at the end of the summer.
 



Picture 1. Interns that come to the Ford Plantation are trained on a variety of equipment while they are here.



Picture 2. Interns take a hands on approach sharpening reels with Alan Bussey, the Head Equipment Manager.

Picture 3. Along with learning how to grow grass and operate equipment, they also learn what it takes to run the business side of golf course maintenance. 

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the scholarship fund please contact CW Canfield (cwcanfield@fordplantation.com) or Nelson Caron (ncaron@fordplantation.com).