Priddis Greens Hosts Turf Management Degree Students

Last Tuesday, September 27^th, Priddis Greens was host to a group of students from Olds College. The students are in the Turf Management degree program at the college. Olds College is one of two programs that are the primary places that aspiring superintendents in Western Canada attend to gain the educational background required to one day become Superintendents at private and public golf courses in Canada and abroad. It was part of a class in which they tour golf courses that have environmental practices and programs in place.  

Priddis Greens has long been a member of the Audobon Sanctuary program.  In fact, Priddis Greens was the first in Alberta and the 11^th in Canada to become a Certified Audobon Cooperative Sanctuary. As a member of this society we are encouraged to share our programs and practices within the “Education and Outreach” of the program. Highlights include our water conservation policy, our safe use of pesticides, and our wildlife habitat creation.   The 4 hour tour we gave the students highlighted our programs and practices and gave the aspiring Superintendents an opportunity to ask questions and hear about real world implementation and challenges of what they are learning in college. The students also toured other courses like the Banff Springs, and Country Hills.

In addition, it is a great way to recruit future staff for upcoming seasons. Currently, we have 7 Olds Golf Course Management graduates on staff. Included in the class, is our very own intern, Cam Champion who has worked at Priddis Greens for the past 2 years and is in the 3^rd year of the Turf Management program.