Working in or working for the industry?

A New Year often means new resolutions, so what about a speech that help you to plan your career and set goals and objectives for the upcoming months? Once again, The Penn State Turf Club received wisdom from a top leader in our industry, Mark Kuhns.

The current Director of Grounds of Baltusrol Golf Club and past President of GCSAA opened his speech in a most humble and clear tone, loud enough to be audibly hear, yet soft enough to portray the total commitment he’s offering our industry for the past decades. He explained that he is not sure how he made it to his current position but he would do his best to help us get there. For this reason, he challenged the audience to find a mentor whom would help them throughout their way.

Reaching a superintendent position will require us to better ourselves by learning from the people around us and furthering our education. Mr. Kuhns is a member of eight different associations that allow him to share and learn from others. Learning from his experience was really exciting and we had the opportunity to ask ourselves the right questions. As he was speaking, he would look every person in the audience with devotion as if to say, “you can do it.”

Along with Mr. Kuhns, we had the pleasure to received comments from Kenneth Kubik. The CEO of Grass Roots completed his speech emphasizing the importance of developing relationships that allow for information sharing and building trust.

Mr. Kuhns and Mr. Kubik opened our eyes and we realized that there is no shortcut possible to become a good superintendent, only shorter roads. I think we will all take their advice moving forward.

– Nathan Wattier, Penn State Turf Club Vice President.