COVER STORY
Member Spotlight on
BEN ELLIS Golf Course Superintendent at Fort Belvoir Golf Club and MTC President
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ow in the second year of his term as MTC President, Ben Ellis has led the association through one of the most challenging years in recent memory. Despite unexpected hurdles due to COVID-19, Ben, along with the MTC Board, has helped keep turfgrass professionals across the state connected and growing. We sat down with Ben to talk about his work and future plans for MTC.
What is your work history and what path led you to your current position? My turf industry story is a little interesting. Currently I’m the golf course super here at Fort Belvoir, and we run the 36-hole property with a crew of six at the moment. For those who know about golf, that is an unheard-of, low number. It’s a lot of work for sure. I’ve worked in Maryland for the last 10 years. I was at the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base. When I was at Paint Branch Golf Course, a little over a year ago, and was told that I would be reassigned to doing either sports turf or lawn and landscaping, that wasn’t my passion. Anybody who has even talked to me briefly, knows that I’m a golf course guy. So for me, I had to make the choice to leave.
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MTC TURF NEWS
Fortunately, I landed here at Fort Belvoir, which is actually the golf course I grew up on. My first grounds crew turf job was on this golf course back in 2003. Some of our guys who are here are the ones who trained me how to mow greens, how to change cups, and I came back several years later as their boss. It’s been a very good welcome home. How did you decide on a career in turfgrass? When I was in high school, I got hired here at Fort Belvoir, and I thought I wanted to be a golf pro. I wanted to play golf, I wanted to give lessons, I wanted to run a pro shop. I never knew what a golf course superintendent was. Even though I
