Greenskeeper Pathway Program Celebrates Second Season
Posted on Oct. 16, 2026 / Subscribe 0
Last night, I had the opportunity to speak at the Super-Scratch Foundation opening reception about the Greenskeeper Pathway Program, which just finished its second season with First Tee — Greater Philadelphia. The idea for the program came from Scott Bordner and Andrew Mason, CPCU, who wanted to give students already interested in golf the chance to work in a greens department, with the hope that they would pursue careers in the turf industry. This past season, the program grew to 10 students who put in over 2,000 hours working at seven different clubs in the Philadelphia area. All of this came together through the efforts of William Hyndman V, Jennifer Wilson McAleese, Jake Norton, Joe Alvare, Dave Shields of First Tee — Greater Philadelphia.
As I prepared my speech, it became clear that there was a foundation of a great partnership that started back in 2014 between First Tee — Greater Philadelphia and the Philly Assoc, with volunteer days, tree work, equipment, seed, fertilizer, and chemicals all being donated. The estimated value is close to $2 Million of in-kind donations! Then, in 2019, we were lucky enough to add support from The Union League of Philadelphia in the effort to improve John F. Byrne Golf Club. The impact has been incredible! Walnut Lane Golf Club posted a total of 12,500 rounds of golf in 2014. In 2025, Walnut Lane posted over 40,000 rounds of golf! In 2018, John F. Byrne had fewer than 10,000 rounds of golf, and in 2025, it had over 44,000 rounds! Truly incredible numbers!
Hopefully, we will see other First Tee programs across the USA replicate the Greenskeeper Pathway Program. In the near future, we hope that we will be announcing students from the Greenskeeper Pathway Program who are attending turf school as Super-Scratch Foundation Scholarship Award winners!
#firsttee #turfindustry
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