Penn State Knows Grass
June 12, 2013 in 2-year, 4-year, Alumni
Penn State can add another accomplishment to its winning traditions by becoming the first university ever to have alumni overseeing the course facilities for all three U.S. major golf tournaments; the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and the Masters.
The U.S. Open will take place at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia from June 13th until June 16th with alumnus Matt Shaffer managing the course. Current Penn State students will also be on staff at Merion Golf Club to assist with the event and gain the unique experience of working on a championship level course.
The PGA Championship will be held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY where alumnus Jeff Corcoran is the superintendent.
Two Penn Staters were in charge of the Masters held at Augusta’s National Golf Club with Marsh Benson as senior director of golf course operations and Brad Owen serving as superintendent of the course.
“We have graduates at top courses all over the world, many as superintendents… [and] several turfgrass varieties developed at Penn State are grown on courses around the world. We like to say that the sun never sets on Penn State turfgrass or Penn State turfgrass graduates,” said John Kaminski who is the current director of the Turfgrass Management Program.
