The Ford Plantation in Savannah, Ga., launched an innovative new internship program to educate the next generation of golf course architects and superintendents in the legendary techniques of golf course designer Pete Dye.
The members of The Ford Plantation recently chartered the scholarship program in honor of Dye, who designed the acclaimed 18-hole course at The Ford Plantation. Dye will help select scholarship recipients for the Pete Dye Agronomy and Architectural Scholarship Foundation.
"Golf course architecture has been my lifelong passion and I hope to inspire tomorrow's leaders with the same drive toward beauty, innovation and preservation,” Dye said.
The first two interns awarded the newly-created scholarship will begin a special week program this summer at The Ford Plantation, where they’ll learn the science behind golf course maintenance including soil types and grass varieties. Superintendent Nelson Caron will oversee the program.
"I want to thank the members for the generous donation that made this program possible," said Caron, a longtime protégée of Pete Dye. "Not only are we helping to boost the potential of the next generation of golf course professionals, but the influx of youthful, motivated interns will energize our own operations as well."
The internship will include a focus on environmentally-friendly golf course planning, which is a hallmark of Pete Dye's design philosophy. For example, interns will learn about The Ford Plantation's recent transition to precision agriculture, which requires the application of fertilizer based on GPS data.
"We are good stewards of the environment, only applying fertilizer on the course where it is needed and at variable rates," Caron said.
The Ford Plantation plans to expand the national scholarship program next year, allowing golf course management or architecture students and agronomy students to submit essays that will be reviewed by Dye and Caron. All scholarships will be performance-based.
"Today's interns are tomorrow's superintendents and assistant superintendents," Caron said. "We are delighted to have an important opportunity to shape the future of golf."
Dye most recently visited The Ford Plantation in November 2008 to walk the 18-hole course he originally designed in 1984 for Ghaith Pharaon, a Saudi Arabian millionaire.