DID YOU KNOW: The average Golf Superintendent salary in Oregon is $74,850 (according to Salary.com)
The career possibilities of turfgrass management are endless.
Whether you work for a lawn care company, manage an athletic field, landscape at a city park, work at a golf course or just want the best lawn on your block, our turfgrass management program can help you succeed.
This online turf management certificate program is also great for anyone interested in a profession that deals with lawn care. If you work for a hardware or lawn care store and field customer questions or consult with landscape architects, this course will give you the language, knowledge and skills needed to succeed.
This series of courses provides specialized training in three areas: turfgrass management, golf course management and integrated pest management. Throughout these courses, you will learn about:
Together, these courses will provide a comprehensive introduction to turfgrass management that can help you enter or advance in this industry.
This series includes the following component courses, which may be taken together or individually:
COMPLETE IN TWO MONTHS: It's possible to finish the entire program in two months (taking all seven courses together). If you take three courses at a time, you can complete the program in six months. All courses begin in October, January and February annually.
Please note: This course is designed for those working in northern climates such as Oregon and Washington, Europe, Scandinavia and parts of Canada. By focusing on these climates, you'll gain detailed information you can apply to your own park, field or lawn.
If you're looking to become GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) certified, you can take this online program and get GCSAA credit toward your certification. This program is designed to be a cost-effective way of getting those points for the GCSAA golf course superintendent credits.
Course Title | Course Hours | GCSAA Class A Credits |
Introduction to Turfgrass Management | 30 | 3 |
Introduction to Golf Course Management | 36 | 3.6 |
Pesticide Applicator Education and Safety | 18 | 1.8 |
Irrigation and Drainage | 21 | 2.1 |
Cool-Season Turfgrass Diseases and Suppression Using Fungicides | 30 | 3 |
Turfgrass Mathematics | 36 | 3.6 |
Turfgrass Insects and Weed Management | 36 | 3.6 |
This program is designed and led by Oregon State University experts in turfgrass management with experience and connections throughout the industry. From golf courses in Europe to Disney theme parks and more, our instructors bring a wide range of knowledge into the classroom. You will benefit from their experience through weekly video lectures and discussion boards.
Dr. Clint Mattox graduated from Purdue University with a turfgrass science degree in 2000 and has been involved in the turfgrass industry since that time. From 2000 until 2012, Clint worked overseas, primarily in Europe, where he was an assistant superintendent in Berlin, head greenkeeper at Paris Disneyland, and finally grow-in and maintenance superintendent at the Arnold Palmer designed Vignoly golf course near Paris. In 2013, he began graduate studies at Oregon State University focusing on managing turfgrass diseases in the absence of fungicides. He finished a doctorate degree in March 2020, majoring in Horticulture with a minor in Botany and Plant Pathology where he focused on managing the turfgrass disease Microdochium patch in the Pacific Northwest using alternatives to traditional fungicides.
Alec has over 17 years of research experience and multiple publications on various cool-season and warm-season turfgrass species obtained while employed at Michigan State University, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, the University of Georgia and Oregon State University. Alec is an Associate Professor at Oregon State University and teaches several undergraduate classes in the Department of Horticulture. Alec also provides Extension material for stakeholders in turfgrass and landscape management.
Alyssa has a master's degree from Oregon State University in horticulture with a focus in turfgrass maintenance. Her research as a master's student was to assess annual bluegrass herbicide resistance in the state of Oregon and find alternative control methods for this weed. Alyssa's undergraduate degree, also from Oregon State University, in Bioresource Research led her to research conventional farming's impacts on insect biodiversity on Christmas tree farms. Alyssa has spoken at several university-hosted integrated pest management seminars, educated school IPM coordinators and assisted in teaching OSU turfgrass courses.