Defying stigma: The Path Less

In Zimbabwe, greenkeeping — more formally known as grounds facilities maintenance — carries a stigma that has long burdened those who choose it. It’s a profession often dismissed as menial, reserved for the uneducated or the poor, and shunned by dreamers who aspire to more prestigious roles. I once counted myself among those dreamers. As a child, my ambitions soared toward becoming a pilot or a medical doctor. Never did I picture myself walking the dew-laden fairways before sunrise — not with a golf club in hand, but with a vision to transform the world beneath my feet.

The love for golf

My professional life began far from the greens and fairways. For much of my early adulthood, I worked in the banking sector with Barclays Bank Zimbabwe. Later, I explored various business ventures and held roles in the community, serving as secretary for the Manicaland Motoring Club and as a committee member for the Mutare Hillside Golf Club. It was here my passion for golf flourished. I competed in major amateur tournaments, relishing the beauty and prestige of the sport and its courses. Yet I remained blissfully unaware of what it took to keep those courses so immaculate.

A chance encounter

In 2012, my focus shifted toward agriculture, leading me to pursue a BSc Honors in Agriculture Sciences—Crop Science. After graduating in 2016, I faced a crossroads: how best to apply my new knowledge. It soon became clear there was a dire shortage of qualified turfgrass specialists in Zimbabwe and across Africa. The field was wide open, precisely because so few dared enter it.

But it was a shanked shot in 2017 at Chapman Golf Course, Harare, that changed everything. My ball landed near the course’s maintenance facility, where I witnessed the harsh working conditions endured by those who maintained these beautiful landscapes — workers bathing outdoors in thick brush, their facilities unfit for human use. The experience jarred me. Moved to act, I spoke with the staff and arranged to return — not as a golfer, but as a learner.

Finding purpose in turf

A meeting with Chapman’s greenkeeper introduced me to the world of golf course maintenance. This connection led me to Fibion Chikwaya at Royal Harare Golf Course, who was then advancing his studies through the R&A Greenkeepers Scholarship Program. Inspired, I applied and, in 2018 received my own scholarship to study turfgrass management through Scotland’s Rural University College, Elmwood Campus. I began a rigorous journey of online study, interspersed with hands-on internships at Chapman and Royal Harare Golf Clubs.

The road was not easy. The deeply entrenched stigma caught up with my personal life — my wife at the time, unable to accept my new direction, ultimately left. The heartbreak was real, but it did not stop me.

On the international stage

In 2019, I volunteered at the NedBank Golf Challenge in South Africa and attended the South Africa Turf Academy Annual Conference. Here, fate intervened again: I met Mike O’Keefe from Ohio State University, organizer of the Ohio International Internship Program. Seizing the moment, I shared my aspirations to revolutionize the turf industry in Africa. My passion paid off: I was awarded a one-year internship in the United States for the 2020–21 year.

At that time, I realized how few people of color were represented in the turf industry. Rather than deter me, this imbalance fueled my resolve. I worked at Hyde Park Golf & Country Club in Ohio and Lake Nona Golf Estate in Orlando, gaining invaluable skills and exposure at world-class tournaments such as The Players and the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican in 2021, and the Valero Texas Open earlier this year.

Leading and inspiring

Following my U.S. internship, I served as project manager and greenkeeper in Botswana, overseeing sports fields at Debswana Mine Company for golf, softball, bowling, soccer, rugby and cricket. When I received my visa to return to the U.S., I chose to cut my contract short, determined to further my career on a global stage.

Today, I am an assistant superintendent in the United States, always striving for greater heights. My dream is to become academically a professor in turfgrass management and professionally a director of agronomy at a top golf course. I am currently enrolled in the PSU Masters in Turfgrass Science program, though financial constraints have placed my studies on hold — a temporary setback, not a defeat.

Mentoring the future

Through social media and personal outreach, I have mentored many young people to pursue careers in turfgrass maintenance. Watching their success and gratitude is one of my greatest rewards. The industry, once seen as a dead end, is now an exciting frontier for those I have inspired.

The road ahead

I recently attended the 2025 Green Start Academy for assistant superintendents and will present at the GCSAA Conference in Florida in February. The journey continues and I am excited for what lies ahead. I am a go-getter — never afraid to ask, to knock on doors, or to shatter expectations. I intend to leave no room for regrets, determined to seize every opportunity the industry has to offer.

Tizayi Tundu Sithole is an assistant superintendent at The Country Club of New Canaan in New Canaan, Connecticut. This is his first Turfheads Take Over contribution.