Turfgrass Journey at KPU and Beyond

By Brett MacNeil

After 15 years of working in the petrochemical and construction industries I decided I needed to do something else, but I had no idea what that would be.

With a newborn baby at home, I knew I wanted to work close to home but also do something that challenged me, had a positive impact on the environment, and something I could be proud of that made me truly happy. As I was contemplating the next step in my life, I was playing a round of golf at one of my local courses and saw a grounds crewman mowing a fairway. Then it hit me; I want to work at a golf course.

Since childhood I have always enjoyed cutting grass, and as an adult I’ve always taken pride in taking care of my own lawn and yard. Working at a golf course seemed to combine all of the elements I was looking for: being close to home, new challenges, working outdoors, environmentally positive, endless amounts of things to learn, and my love for the game of golf. When I got home that night, I started looking for golf course grounds crew jobs and that is when I discovered the diploma program for Turf Management. Knowing very little about industry, I decided to take a chance on the program at Kwantlen. At the time I thought even if a career in turf management doesn’t work out, I will at least be able to make my own lawn look great! 

I had no idea what to expect starting a university program at 33 years old with the intention of entering an industry I didn’t really know anything about. But 2 years later, I wouldn’t change a thing. My experience at Kwantlen has been amazing. The skills and knowledge I’ve learned here has helped me tremendously through my first 18 months working in the industry, and it’s awesome being able to immediately put new learned skills to use at work. The classroom instruction coupled with the hands-on lab portions create a great learning environment. All of my instructors have been amazing and it's clear that they really care about us as students. They do everything they can to help us succeed, whether it's related to school or not. 

I have met some extraordinary people, made lifelong friends, attended some amazing events, and landed a great job all because of my decision to attend Kwantlen. When I graduate at the end of this year, I’m looking forward to a long career in the turfgrass industry, and I’m thrilled to see where this journey takes me!