You may have read that my first internship visit started last week with a trip to visit David Serra in Germany. After that long trip, I now have a series of trips that take me on a much more local journey to visit a group of students in various cities. This week’s 2-day trip took me over to Pittsburgh to visit Todd Dilla at Oakmont Country Club and then down to the Washington, D.C. region to visit Corey Landon at Congressional Country Club.

It’s always a great day when I get to tour Oakmont. The course is probably one of my favorites in the entire world. Todd, a native to the region, decided that he would complete his internship under the direction of John Zimmers at the famed course. Sending students to John is always an easy decision as he is one of the best mentors for young turfgrass professionals around. During our trip around the course, Todd showed me the things that he was responsible for.

The third visit of the season took me to the “Congo” where I completed my internship in 1997. This is a great year since it’s the first time the US Open is coming back to the course since Ernie Els won it while I was interning there. Corey’s excitement about his role at Congressional and the upcoming US Open was clear. Interning at the Blue Course at Congressional with 2-Year Alum Mike Giuffre has been a great learning experience for him thus far (Read about the US Open’s preparation in this months GCM). He is going to see many things leading up to and following the US Open that most never experience. During the Open Corey will be rolling the approaches. Although generally not popular with the maintenance staff at most golf courses, Corey is hoping that Tiger Woods competes in and wins this year’s Major.

Next week I’m off to Atlantic City and Northeastern PA for another 3 visits. So far everyone’s internship is going well and the students are learning a lot and contributing to the club. It’s during these visits that I realize the importance of the internship for both the student and the golf course!

View photos from Round #2 of the internship visits below.