TurfLifeSUPERSpotlight: Tonya Anderson
Golf Course Superintendent, Old Memorial Golf Club Tony: Where were you born, Tonya? Tonya:
I was born in Brooklyn, Ohio, which is a little town right outside of Cleveland. I lived there my entire life up until I moved away to college at 18 to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Tony:
What was your major in school and what was your motivation to go to Tennessee?
Tonya: I Majored in Plant Sciences with a concentration in Turfgrass Management. When growing up as a kid my family would always take vacations to Tennessee, and I had fallen in love with the Smokies and during my time visiting, I became a sports fan of the University of Tennessee, and I said to myself I’ve got to go down there. I’ve got to go be on that campus, immerse myself in the culture and be at all the sporting events. I was a huge, Pat Summitt and Lady Vols basketball fan.
Tony: Did you play any sports? Tonya: Yes, growing up. I had the same group of girlfriends since elementary school, we grew up playing sports together, we played basketball, soccer and softball all through middle school and high school, we played a sport every season year-round.
Tony:
What got you interested in turfgrass enough to go to university to study it, did you deal with any turfgrass where you were in Ohio?
Tonya: Growing up I was taught to have a job at a young age. So, I started with a paper route and then I went to mowing yards in the neighborhood, and I just enjoyed being outside, I didn’t even really know that you could major in turf grass. I thought that I was going to study business in college and during orientation I went to some business classes, and I said, I can’t do this, I was not comprehending the material all the way, or it wasn’t interesting to me. Therefore, I realized was that 50
By Tony Taylor, CGCS Noble Turf business wasn’t what I wanted to do. I went to our Career Services department on campus, and I was talking to one of the ladies there, did an aptitude test and just talking about my common interests, you know, sports, being outside, I enjoy physical labor, and she’s the one who brought to my attention that the agriculture campus had a degree of turfgrass science and management. And she gave me a brochure on it. I met with some of the professors, Dr. John Sorochan and Dr. Horvath, I thought that this sounds like something I’d enjoy doing and could make a career out of.
Tony: How did golf come into play? Tonya:
I did grow up playing a little bit of golf just casually, with my grandparents, golf was something we enjoyed doing together, they would take us to the driving ranges. We would get out and play golf here and there, golf was a big part of their life. And it was just something that kind of created that bond initially. I don’t watch golf every weekend, but I enjoy being out here and working on the golf course.
Tony:
How did you get your first job on the golf course?
Tonya: Throughout college, I had gone home the first two summers and worked at Avon Oaks CC and Chagrin Valley CC. I completed my final internship at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania. During my senior year of college, I worked at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville part time while attending classes. Then after I graduated in May 2014, I was pretty much open to working anywhere. I knew that moving down here to Florida growing grass was a 365 day year-round operation and I was okay with that. So, my first job after college I applied for a second assistant superintendent position at Vasari Country Club in Bonita Springs, Florida, with the current director of agronomy here, Sam Mueller. And Sam gave me a shot and I am very, very appreciative that he did, and we’ve had a long history working together since then.
Tony
: What makes your course here at Old Memorial outstanding?
Tonya: Personally, I feel like you’d really have to see it in person, to really appreciate Old Memorial, as both the golf Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 8
