New podcast tells women in turf story

In a special episode of the Syngenta Growing Golf podcast, Pebble Beach Superintendent, Bubba Wright, joins Kimberly Gard to talk about the 33-strong all-female volunteer turf crew readying the course for this week’s US Women’s Open (July 6-9).

The tournament, which gets underway this Thursday (July 6), is the third time leading females from across the country have been invited to volunteer, the first being at The Olympic Club, San Francisco in 2021.

Ahead of the event, Bubba Wright, and Kimberly Gard, Territory Manager at Syngenta, who helped bring about the initiative, tell host Gary Firkins what the volunteer crew will bring to the week and the significance of the platform the US Women’s Open offers in helping open up the profession to more women.

“This is our first US Women’s Open at the greatest meeting of land and sea,” Wright says.

“We’re incredibly excited to host the all-female turf team and work side-by-side preparing the golf course.”

Women make up around 2% of turf professionals across North America and Gard hopes the increased visibility from the event will encourage others to consider a turf career.

“The women are very passionate and love what they do, therefore I know other women would too,” Gard says.

“It’s just a case of getting that word out there that this is a profession they could possibly pursue.”

Last year the women in turf team were featured on The Golf Channel and were also the subject of a YouTube docuseries, ‘Breaking the Turfgrass Ceiling’.

The team of volunteers take to the course alongside Bubba Wright and his staff throughout the tournament week and will also benefit from education seminars as part of their experience.

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