Welcoming women

It all started just as a summer job for Paula Schmick.

“I started just on the grounds crew. It was never what I wanted to do,” Schmick says, now the superintendent at Carstairs Community Golf Club in Carstairs, Alberta. “I did that for a few years. In the winter you go and find something else to do and then you come back.”

Schmick worked on the ground crew at the course, but when it came time to choose a degree, she originally applied to be a part of the oil industry, and considered seismic study. But after talking with her superintendent and learning more about developing as a superintendent, she made her decision.

“I had a couple different directions I was going to go when I graduated,” she says. “I love working outdoors and I just never thought of golf to start with. But I switched last-minute into turf and haven’t ever really left since.”

Schmick was one of two women working on the golf course at the time, and when she went after her degree in agronomy, she was one of only four women in the graduating class. Out of those four, she’s the only one still in the turf industry, she says.

But Schmick has never left the course where she started that summer job, and she’s been the superintendent at Carstairs for the past 18 years. For her, the gap between men and women in turf management hasn’t been an issue, even when she was pursuing her degree. Once she had decided on her path, she started working closely with her superintendent to learn the more technical aspects of caring for turf – but also importantly, to connect with others in the industry.

“My superintendent was really good about that, and I met a lot of people, so I already knew a lot of people in the industry even before I went to school,” says Schmick. “I’m still friends with quite a few guys from my class.”

The people in the industry she’s connecting with are more often than not male, but she’s finding more women involved with the turf industry through groups like Women in Turf.

“There’s not a lot of us out there, but I’ve met some others through Andrea Li and her Twitter page,” says Schmick. “She’s kind of opened it up to the women in the golf industry with what she does, but there’s not a lot in Alberta.

“It’s probably more of a new thing that there are more women coming into the industry,” she says. “I see more, and people are starting to notice more around the country.”

She still doesn’t run into many women at conferences, but that’s not been a problem for her, she says.

“I know a lot of superintendents around here, and everyone’s good and welcoming and helpful when you need it,” says Schmick. “I could have spring problems and I know I could pick up the phone and call one of 20 people or more.”

As the industry shifts to welcome more women to be involved in growing turf, the issue is more that female agronomy students and staff aren’t aware of the potential for a full career on the golf course. For her part, Schmick tries to encourage the women working on her staff if they seem to have a real interest in the industry – the same as she’d teach any staff member who shows a passion for turf.

“I think if they take a liking to it and they’re on the crew, I try to help them along,” she says. “I give her my textbooks to look at from school. I try to show them stuff that I’ve learned – not just to go prune a tree or rake traps, but the stuff that normal staff wouldn’t see.

“It’s like anyone else. Just help them out and make them feel welcome if they’re nervous about your position or role or moving into it. People are good that way.”