UMass Turf Program History: 100 Years of Turfgrass Science & Management

Over 7,000 students have been trained by notable pioneers and educators at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Stockbridge School of Agriculture

By: Dr. Scott Ebdon, Emeritus Professor

The nation’s first turfgrass course originated with Professor Lawrence S. Dickinson. His course was entitled “Winter School for Greenkeepers” at Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1927. Many consider Professor Dickinson as the father of turfgrass education, including legendary Golf Course Architect Geoffrey Cornish, who joined him as a young teaching assistant working for his Master’s degree in Agronomy in 1937. Seven men registered for the first 10-week course in 1927. The curriculum included landscape background, botany, soils and fertilizers, water systems, drainage, equipment, managerial problems, grasses and grass seeds, and cost keeping and analysis. The tuition for the term was $10 with a $5 registration fee and board may be obtained at the college dining hall for approximately $7.50 a week!

Turf Winter School was the first program of its kind and has run continuously with the exception of a three-year hiatus during World War II. The University of Massachusetts Winter School for Greenkeepers continues (but not at the same fee) as the University of Massachusetts Winter School for Turf Managers. From its establishment in 1927 until today over 5,000 students have gone through the winter school program. The University of Massachusetts was the first to recognize the need for this type of schooling for professional turf managers. Several other university sponsored programs of this type exist today.

In 1929, Professor Dickinson was one of the featured speakers at the National Greenkeepers Convention, known today as Golf Industry Show as part of the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America (GCSAA). In 1962, Professor Dickinson was the second recipient to be honored with the prestigious United States Golf Association (USGA) Green Section Award, followed by UMass Professors Joseph Troll (turf agronomy) in 1991 and Pat Vittum (turf entomology) in 2015. University of Massachusetts and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture (SSA) alumni including superintendents Sherwood Moore in 1987 and Ted Horton in 2008 were also honored recipients of the USGA Green Section Award. Dr. Troll in 1983 and Ted Horton in 2019 were also honored with the GCSAA Distinguished Service Award along with Professor Lawrence Dickinson in 1958, Geoffrey Cornish in 1981, Sherwood Moore in 1982, Professor Eliot Roberts in 1991, George Thompson in 2000, Donald Hearn in 2008, and Professor Pat Vittum in 2017. Alumni of UMass Turf Winter School and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture also include four GCSAA national presidents including Sherwood Moore (1962), Donald Hearn (1987), Michael Wallace (2002), and James Fitzroy (2010).

After World War II, in 1947, Professor Dickinson established the nation’s first associates degree in Turfgrass Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. The first class had humble beginnings with nine students graduating in what was then called the “Fine Turf” option.

On Professor Dickinson’s retirement in 1958, Professor Joseph Troll followed in coordinating and teaching Turf Winter School and Stockbridge School turf program courses. Since the establishment of the associates degree in 1947 over 1700 A.S. degrees have been conferred in Turfgrass Management. Many A.S. students have continued their turf education by pursuing B.S. degrees at UMass in Turfgrass Science & Management as well as graduate degrees. This trend continues to this day. The total number of B.S. degrees since the tenure years of Professor Troll to now exceeds over 500 B.S. degrees in Turfgrass Science & Management.

Professor Troll is credited with expanding the turf program and for establishing the annual Massachusetts Fine Turfgrass Conference and Industrial Show the forerunner of the New England Regional Turf Conference and Show as one of the largest turf conferences in the country. The New England Regional Turf Foundation (which has overseen the regional conference for over 25 years) raises millions of dollars for funding university turf research programs.

Professor Troll (and Dickinson) emphasized practical aspects of turfgrass management and developed placement training requirements for 2-year turfgrass management students that are still in practice today. Teaching and research continues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst including faculty working in all aspects of turfgrass science including agronomy, physiology, pathology, weed science, entomology, and nematology. A modern 17-acre research and education center equipped with working labs and maintenance equipment is named in honor of turf educator and pioneer Joe Troll and is used by faculty for research and training of graduate and undergraduate students. The original turf research facility was 9-acres and was established by Dr. Joe Troll and Dr. Robert Carrow. Other past notable UMass turf faculty and educators during Professor Troll’s tenure include Drs. Prasanta Bhowmik (weed science), Richard Cooper (agronomy), Kirk Hurto (agronomy), Eliot Roberts (agronomy), Gail Schumann (pathology), William Torello (physiology), Pat Vittum (entomology), Don Waddington (agronomy), and Robert Wick (pathology/nematology).

Turf experiments were started by Professor Dickinson as early as 1923 at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Current research conducted by turf faculty at the 17-acre Troll facility includes species-cultivar studies, management trials targeting pesticides and biological controls, drought survival, fertilizer and nutrient use, weed biology and control, and insect and disease biology and controls.