Provided by: Rain Bird
The turf maintenance industry has traditionally been male dominated. According to GCSAA, only 2% of their members are women. The industry is not easy for women to get into, but we have seen improvements. Yet there is much progress still to be made to increase the number of women in the industry.Meet three women that have made a career in turf. Combined they have 49 years of experience in the golf industry. The three of them recently volunteered with a group of 27 women at the U.S. Women’s Open. This was the second year in a row that an all-women maintenance group volunteered for the USWO.
Tonya Anderson
Thoughts on getting more women in the golf industry: “I would love to see more women in the industry. There is no good reason there shouldn’t be more women involved. The best thing that can happen is for more people (men) to take a chance on us. Consider us in your hiring process, consider us when it comes to solving staffing problems, consider us when you’re tired of the same old unskilled labor force you continue to struggle with year in and year out. We’re putting ourselves out there and we just ask for the same thing in return. You won’t be disappointed.”
Jill Seymour
Best ways to increase women’s presence in golf: “Presence, visibility, and action! We need to be there…insert ourselves…don’t wait to be invited. Once we are in…we need to prove just how passionate and capable we are! We need to continue this tradition of working the Women’s US Open. It is arguably the best platform for us to reach young women and girls interested in this as a profession.”
Jennifer Torres
Challenges in Her Professional Career: “I knew I needed to be a mom first in my career, so I was limited to courses that allowed me the ability to do both. Now as I meet more people, I think that may not actually have been true, many of the bigger operations do have a work life balance, which I never thought was available.”For more information on Rain Bird, you can visit RainBird.com