School's out for summer, but University of Nebraska-Lincoln turfgrass and landscape management students will be working hard learning more about their craft at internships across the country.
Three such students with options in turfgrass management – Robert Butler of Kearney, Jacob Royal of Eagle and Jeremy Johnson of Lincoln – have landed top internships. Butler is interning with the USGA Green Section for one week and then at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for the remainder of the summer. Royal will be interning with the Minnesota Vikings, while Johnson landed an internship with the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.
"It says a lot for our department," said UNL agronomy and horticulture professor Zach Reicher. "These are really good students that will do well in their internships and it doesn't take long for professionals to start talking and know that our students are very qualified."
Butler, who will graduate in December, was one of only 10 to 15 students chosen for the USGA internship each year.
During this internship, he'll be working with Bob Brame, director of North Central Green Section of the USGA. Butler will travel around Ohio with Brame making turf advisory service visits and offering recommendations to golf courses.
Reicher said the USGA internship will be beneficial for Butler, who will be traveling in a part of the country with a lot of turf disease problems.
After his week working for the USGA, Butler will intern at the legendary Oakland Hills golf course. He will do routine maintenance like spraying, working on bunkers and mowing.
Last year Butler interned near Seattle at The Plateau Club near Sammamish, Wash. His boss there helped him land this summer's internship at Oakland Hills.
Oakland Hills is consistently rated in the top 25 courses in the world by various golf magazines. It also is among the favorite courses of many golf legends. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Raymond Floyd all rank Oakland Hills in their top 10 courses in the U.S. It was recently selected as the site for the 2016 U.S. Amateur.
"This will do a lot for me and my career, having that name on my resume and the USGA, those will help out quite a bit in addition to how many years I've been working on golf courses," Butler said.
In Kearney, Butler worked at his hometown course, Meadowlark Hills.
Butler actually started at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, majoring in athletic training, but decided turfgrass management was more for him. His boss at Meadowlark put him in touch with Anne Streich, UNL assistant professor of practice in agronomy and horticulture, who helped him transfer from UNK to UNL.
Royal also switched majors halfway through his studies.
Royal started out as a music major, but switched to turfgrass management midway through his time at UNL. He said he worked for a friend's dad's business and enjoyed the work and decided turfgrass management was something he'd like to do.
Royal said Streich suggested he sign up for the Sports Turf Management Association. Through that, he applied for several jobs, got some calls, took some interviews and then landed the job.
Royal will attend all of the Vikings home games at the Mall of America Field at the H.H.H. Metrodome. He's doing an extended internship through the fall semester.
He'll work with the Vikings turfgrass manager, learning how to maintain a professional practice field and game field, so they are safe for the user and look good to the spectator. He'll get to work with the many intensive management tools including regular sod replacement to keep the field playable in spite of its repetitive use.
Royal also will get to work on painting the field before the games, making sure it "pops" and looks good. Ever wonder who raises and lowers the net behind the goalposts? That will be Royal's job, too.
"Hopefully this internship will help me make the decision if this is the career path I'd like to take," Royal said. "I am excited to get out there and use everything I've learned while gaining experience."
While interning with the Philadelphia Phillies for three months this summer, Johnson also will be working on game days with the team's head groundskeeper. It will be similar to the internship he had last summer at Lincoln's Haymarket Park, but on a much larger scale.
"With a major league ball club like the Phillies, there will be a lot more rules and guidelines that need to be followed compared to minor and college leagues that aren't as regulated," he said. "Seeing this at a professional level will allow me to pay more attention to detail."
Johnson said he also is looking to get more experience with maintaining machinery and fertilizing and spraying. In addition, the Phillies are trying something new this year, switching their field to Bermuda grass.
"I am looking forward to honing my skills at managing the clay infield and working with the Bermuda grass," he said.
After Johnson graduates next December, he'd like to continue to work with sports turf.
Internships are a requirement for turfgrass and landscape management majors, Streich said. Students are required to have at least two in two different locations before they can graduate.
"With that, a lot of our students will say, 'let's experience something totally different, let's go to a different growing environment or see a different part of the country'," she said. "In addition, this allows them to build their professional network and this looks good on their resume."
Students also share their experiences with other students in the major. Students are required to do an oral report and there is a scheduled class in the fall that helps other students learn from them and hear about their experiences.
Reicher said having the underclass students see what kind of internships these junior and seniors landed, will also help them to find future internships.
"It's really a win-win situation putting students in good positions," Reicher said.
He added students often don't realize the kind of opportunities that are out there for them.
"These are really just a sampling of the types of internships available if students start early in the fall and start pursuing it," he said. "There are so many opportunities available if they work for it."
There are 30 students in the major participating in internships this summer across the country, including Wyoming, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Connecticut, Arizona, Washington, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Colorado.