Working all over the country at some of the biggest sporting events in America is nothing new to members of Iowa State’s Turf Grass Club.

Some of the club’s members have worked as interns at facilities such as Jack Trice Stadium, Invesco Field and Coors Field in Denver, and Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Turf Club member Joel Vint, junior in horticulture, worked in Southampton, N.Y., at Shinnecock Hills, site of this year’s 104th U.S. Open.

Vint also said that since Iowa State’s turf program and turf club is one of the top in the nation, job security in the turf grass business is very good.

“A lot of superintendents want [to hire] Iowa State kids,” Vint said. “After graduation, students in the club are pretty much guaranteed a job. [Employers] want kids from Iowa State because of the importance of the Iowa work ethic. I just got hired at the Chicago golf course when I graduate.”

Club president Jim Osborne, senior in horticulture, said being in the club is just as important as class work.

“Growing grass is not rocket science,” Osborne said.

“Being in this club gives you the people skills to get people to work if you want to be a superintendent someday.”

Osborne, along with two other members, will be interning at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., for the Masters Golf Tournament.

“Class work is important if you are going to be a doctor,” Osborne said. “This job needs the class work and the relationships you build with others. The friendships that you make with other people in the club can help lead you to a job.”

Getting connected within the club and getting involved is important in this field, Osborne said.

“[The Turf Club] is for people who are driven about what they do and about the profession,” he said. “Our industry is something where you are helping each other out in a real close—knit industry. It is all about making connections.”

Along with Shinnecock and Augusta, two members of the club went to Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., for the 86th PGA Championship.

The main activity for the turf club is the annual National Turf Quiz Bowl, which will take place in February in Orlando, Fla.

It is held by the national trade show for Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

ISU club members have won it six times in the last 10 years. Vint said the GCSAA is important to members of the turf club.

“We go to trade shows [down there] to see what businesses and companies in the industry are offering,” Vint said.

“The main thing is competing against other turf schools across the nation, usually around 70 other teams. We won the last two years, and we take a lot of pride in the preparation and winning [the competition].”

Vint said the turf club does a lot of fund-raising to pay for airfare and hotels in Orlando. He said they are going to have a raffle at one of this year’s home football games.