Spring in New England is an unpredictable thing. Jack Frost is usuallly slow to relinquish his grip. In February, occasional days of spring-like temperatures send hopes soaring. But it's only a tease. Snow nearly always follows.

However, once snow is finally gone, an army of professionals in landscaping and golf course management emerges in full force.

Many of these experts knowledgeable in how to turn landscapes lush after the thaw, and keep the fairways and greens challenging, are graduates of the turfgrass science program in UConn's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

By mid-April, Matt Bagshaw, '03 (RHSA), accounts manager at E. A. Quinn Landscape Gardening, in Glastonbury, Conn., is upon the land in earnest, setting things right in the aftermath of the glacier's retreat, redirecting his crews from snow removal to landscape installation, mulch blowing, lawn maintenance and the construction of walls and patios.

Things are no less busy for Dan Gilbert, '00 (CANR), an assistant superintendent at the Ellington Ridge Country Club, in Ellington, Conn. All but the most relentless golf enthusiasts pack it in once the snow starts to fly, but turf maintenance is a year-round job at golf courses. All winter he supervises equipment maintenance and by mid-March, his crews are starting to prune trees, put the sand traps in order, edge the traps and mow the greens for the first time.

A student uses a meter to measure the amount of chlorophyll to determine the quality of the color in samples of grass in the greenhouse at the Turfgrass Science Complex.

It may come as a surprise that UConn has an entire program devoted to the management of grass. But the turfgrass program is one of UConn's most successful, growing consistently over the last two decades and finding that it cannot provide enough graduates annually to meet marketplace demands. Every turfgrass graduate is highly sought after for a variety of positions.

"Within the field of agronomy, UConn has always had programs devoted to plants and soil science," says Karl Guillard, professor of agronomy "The focus was on economically important crops."

It still is, but as economies have changed, so have the crops. When UConn was much closer to its agricultural roots, plant and soil science students focused mostly on the staples of traditional farms: corn, grasses, forage and silage. By the 1970s, though, as Connecticut's population became increasingly urban and suburban and the role of farming in the state's economy declined, the College began adding classes on turfgrass — the grasses used for lawns, parks, golf courses, athletic fields and other managed landscapes.

More and more students lost interest in traditional farming, but interest in horticulture and the emerging field of turfgrass management grew, especially as it became clear that there was likely to be a growing demand for professionals equipped to service this new, "recreational" form of agriculture.

In 1998, for the first time, turfgrass was offered as a degree program at UConn. Two years later, Guillard was joined on the faculty by Steven Rackliffe, extension instructor turfgrass science, who brought with him years of on-the-job experience in golf course management. The program's trajectory has been onward and upward ever since.

"This program is an enormous source of pride," says Mary Musgrave, head of the department of plant science, who joined the UConn faculty in January 2003. "The demand for professionals in the turfgrass field has grown significantly over the last quarter of the 20th century, and I'm very impressed with the foresight the agronomy program demonstrated in adapting to offer the education needed to prepare students for this burgeoning new agricultural economy."

Students check a color chart to determine the quality of grass on a field at the Turfgrass Science Complex.

By way of demonstrating how significant turfgrass management is, she points to the fact that Connecticut currently has more than 180 golf courses, and more are being planned all the time. "It's a huge value to the state," she says, "and we're playing an important role preparing the workforce needed."

Some 60 percent of the program's graduates end up working in the golf industry. Another 30 percent take jobs in grounds-keeping, recreation field maintenance and other sports-related field management. A few are employed in sod production, conservation and natural resources. But the program doesn't come close to meeting demand, says Guillard. Requests for graduates to fill jobs and undergraduates to work in internships outstrip available students by four to five times.

Although people who are unfamiliar with the industry may have a mistaken view of turfgrass as simple, the propagation and successful management of turfgrasses is, in fact, an extremely complex process. Courses offered at UConn cover such diverse issues as soils and soil fertility, plant diseases, integrated pest management, landscape design, environmental law, pesticide safety, business management and golf course design and management. And the University maintains greenhouses, a teaching nursery and a 150-acre teaching and research field facility to support the program.

"My education has been really useful," says Bagshaw. "I had a small landscaping business while I was in high school, so I went to UConn with an interest in this field. I had a lot to learn, though, as I found out in the turfgrass program. On the job, I use what I learned at UConn all the time."

Gilbert echoes that sentiment. "I grew up as a golfer, loved the game, played on UConn's golf team," he says, "but I didn't think there was a way I could have a career in golf." Then he signed up for the golf course management class and, he says, it changed his life.

The range of courses offered, Gilbert says, accurately reflects the variety of skills he needs to be successful on the job, wearing several hats. He manages a crew of 20 who are constantly at work.

He is an agronomist, keeping grasses and accent plants rich and robust throughout the summer. Additionally, he needs to know about plumbing, mechanics and electricity.

"It's an exciting career but a very complex and demanding one," he says. "There's not a day when my UConn education doesn't pay off."

The quality of the program and its students is impressing experienced professionals such as Greg Wojick '78 (CANR), course superintendent for the Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, Conn., who earned a degree in agro-

nomy, and Cindy Johnson, '78 (CANR), course superintendent at Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield, Conn., who earned a degree in horticulture.

Johnson has hosted UConn students from Rackliffe's classes in turfgrass irrigation at Tumble Brook's 27-hole course, which is undergoing renovations. "The students ask good questions and are interested in what I show them," she says. "I think it's wonderful that UConn has this program. It's what the state of Connecticut has needed."

Wojick hired one of the program's early graduates, Josh Satin '01 (CANR), as one of his assistant superintendents and for the second consecutive year has a UConn student, Justin Barry '05 (CANR), doing an internship in Greenwich. He says the requirements for success in golf course management demand a broad educational background as well as the hands-on science for turfgrass management.

"Because of the high standards for entry into UConn, you receive a well-rounded education. The demands of the job require good communications skills, good management skills, technical knowledge, plus interpersonal skills when you meet the captains of industry at social functions," Wojick says. "I think that's what UConn offers. We've hit home runs on all of our UConn students. Why not have the epicenter for learning in turfgrass and landscaping at UConn?"