University of Georgia fourth-year student Brendan Hoban is the second annual winner of the Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship presented by GCI.
The scholarship, an unrestricted $2,500 grant, supports a turf student with a passion for the game. Selection criteria include academic performance, advisor/superintendent recommendations and an essay about why the student is passionate about a career as a superintendent.
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Hoban, a turfgrass management major, carries a 3.13 GPA with a hectic schedule. He is also a member of Georgia’s Division I cross country and track field teams, and served as the vice president of the University of Georgia Turf Club in 2013-14.
He inherited his interest in agronomy from his father, Mark Hoban, the superintendent at Rivermont Country Club in Johns Creek, Ga. Hoban started working alongside his father at age 7 and received his first formal job on the Rivermont maintenance staff in 2007.
“Me and my brother started going to the golf course with my dad to work at 5:30 in the morning,” Hoban said. “We would play 18 holes of golf, and I just loved that. It progressed from there. There’s a little assignment and my dad would say, ‘Hey, do you want to get on the Sand Pro and brush some stuff in?’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this machine looks awesome.’ I would do some passes with that and get a few bucks. I just loved everything about it. It was awesome working with my dad outdoors. I really loved that. I just progressed from there.”
In addition to Rivermont, Hoban has interned at Peachtree Golf Club and Atlanta Athletic Club. His duties at Atlanta Athletic Club included assisting in preparations for the 2011 PGA Championship. Hoban is spending this summer as an intern at East Lake Golf Club.
Hoban is following the early career path of the scholarship’s namesake.
The award honors Stanley J. Zontek, the former director of the USGA Green Section’s Mid-Atlantic Region. Zontek died after suffering a heart attack at age 63 in 2012. Zontek, who joined the USGA in 1971, was the organization’s longest-tenured employee at the time of his death.
Zontek, a Penn State graduate, assisted in providing quality playing conditions at thousands of golf courses, participated in major-championship preparations, mentored numerous USGA agronomists and helped maintain the White House’s putting green. He was a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and British International Golf Greenkeepers Association. Zontek, whose father was a superintendent, started his career raking bunkers for $1.10 per hour.
“That’s what I find super interesting,” Hoban said. “We are following similar paths. His father was a superintendent, like my father is a superintendent. Reading his story, it’s kind of like this bonding experience. I feel like the passion he had for the industry is what I feel like I have. I definitely see exactly how he feels. It’s a people business."
Hoban has already experienced some long days. He decided to intern at Rivermont last year instead of other courses so he could complete a class while maintaining his fitness level for the cross country season. He would put his work clothes in his father’s car, run 10 miles to Rivermont and shower before beginning his work duties. The bond between future and veteran superintendent extends into the family’s Duluth, Ga., home, where Hoban and his father discuss the industry and perform turfgrass research.
“It’s a passion,” Hoban said. “I love everything about it. I love talking to my dad about it. I love the research side of it. That’s kind of where I’m at.”
Collin Harley won 2013 Zontek award.
Interview with 2014 Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship winner Brendan Hoban
Interview with 2013 Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship winner Collin Harley
