Women In Turfgrass: Breaking The Grass Ceiling
“You can’t be what you can’t see.” That motto helps inspire the growing Women in Turf program, established in 2021 as an informal networking group for women supporting women in the male-dominated agronomy industry. Members include 46-year-old Tracey Cattelino, assistant superintendent at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She was introduced to the group (www.womeninturfgrass.com) while volunteering on the grounds crew for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open in North Carolina.
“I really liked the camaraderie that I picked up from them there,” she recalled. “That’s really what I’ve found to be the most productive part of the group. You meet other women who share the same ideals and want to better the game.”
Cattelino was thrilled to meet other women who share her passion for agronomy. “I think if you don’t have passion, you don’t succeed in this line of work,” she said. “It’s hard work, but we really care about the product we are producing.”
Sharing that passion is 23-year-old Kassidy Powell, an assistant superintendent at Contra Costa Country Club and Troon scholarship graduate from Penn State University’s Turfgrass program. After volunteering on the grounds crew during the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, she and some fellow Women in Turf participants started the first women-run turf discussion podcast called “On Our Turf” last November (episodes are posted Tuesdays on Apple Podcasts; check out @onourturfpod on Twitter).
“We all experience things in life a little differently, but you do hear the same type of stories being told by women, even if it’s not the exact same way you have experienced something,” said Powell. “We kind of soundboard off each other about situations with management positions, turfgrass issues, etc.,” said Cattelino. “I lean on them and they lean on me.”
Earlier this year, Powell and other Women in Turf members volunteered on the agronomy team at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Maui during The Sentry, a PGA Tour event. Spending the week at another Troon property – her role was maintaining bunkers – gave Powell a new perspective on the company as a whole. “Being there really made me feel part of the family,” she said. “I got a better understanding of how the agronomy side of Troon works, and I got to meet volunteers in different departments who came from other Troon courses around the country. That was nice to see the opportunity for Troon associates to get the chance to do other things.”
She also met Dave Nicholls, executive vice president of Science & Agronomy, and Jeff Spangler, senior vice president of Science & Agronomy, during the tournament. “They really made me feel included,” said Powell. “The whole time at Kapalua I was learning and getting insights into where I could be going next within the company.”
As the lone female on the agronomy team at Contra Costa Country Club, Powell has worked hard to prove her worth. “I came in, got my hands dirty from day one, and got a lot of respect for that,” she said. “I think I’ve shown my colleagues I can do the work just as well as they can.”
“I think the goal is to not be a minority in this industry,” said Cattelino. “I would love to see our numbers keep increasing like they seem to be, so with recruiting and showing our faces out there getting things done, it’s exciting to see the growth of women in the industry.”
The Turn Podcast Episode 74: Women In Turf – Behind The Scenes At Kapalua: Listen Here
The first episode of the “Breaking the Turfgrass Ceiling” mini-series can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOhdbd9REGw.
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