The USGA Green Section has been fortunate to support an education and outreach campaign with The Warrior Alliance. The Warrior Alliance is a nonprofit, career development organization that is focused on supporting military personnel before, during and after retirement from active duty. Operation Double Eagle provides veteran and active-duty service members with classroom education and on-the-job training in golf course maintenance. Operation Double Eagle, highlighted in a recent Golf Digest article, works with Augusta Technical College’s Turfgrass Team and the Augusta Municipal Golf Course in Georgia to provide an intensive nine-week education and training course to prepare selected participants for careers in the golf course maintenance industry.
On August 23, Chris Hartwiger, director of the USGA Course Consulting Service, and I joined the current class of Operation Double Eagle in Augusta to experience the learning process. Jeremy Tindell, Operation Double Eagle’s program manager, planned and organized the day into classroom and field education. In the classroom, Scott Smith and Alan Manley of Augusta Technical College led an intensive lecture on turfgrass management that focused on soils and cultural practices. Employment partners including Scott Griffith, golf course superintendent at the University of Georgia’s golf course, provided information on current and future opportunities for veterans in the golf business.
Following the classroom portion of the day’s education, the real work began. Led by Tindell and Griffith, the topics of the day were core aeration and bunker renovation. The class core aerated and sand topdressed a putting green at Augusta Municipal Golf Course and rebuilt an existing bunker. I felt very fortunate to be in the presence of this great organization and to work alongside these great men and women. I look forward to seeing their progress and expansion into new regions. Operation Double Eagle will continue to recruit and educate and is actively looking for industry partners. Please reach out to them if you have opportunities to support, partner with, or sponsor this program.
Southeast Region Agronomists:
Chris Hartwiger, director, USGA Course Consulting Service – chartwiger@usga.org
Steve Kammerer, Ph.D., senior consulting agronomist – skammerer@usga.org
Jordan Booth, agronomist – jbooth@usga.org