Shaffer talks Penn State Turf as US Open Looms

April 24, 2013 in 2-year, Alumni, events

Penn State turfgrass program turning out major-championship superintendents by Mark Wogenrich Matt Shaffer grew up working on farms but, as he said, “didn’t like milking cows.” He wanted to grow things.

So Shaffer left Martinsburg, a small town south of Altoona, for Penn State, where the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program had become a training ground for superintendents. Now at Merion Golf Club, site of this summer’s U.S. Open, Shaffer is in charge of making the fairways and greens playable for the game’s best players.

Or almost playable.

“I do this because I really think I produce an environment that’s conducive to releasing stress,” Shaffer said Monday, standing near the 11th green at Merion. “Though some people say I cause additional stress.”

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