This column features recollections of the author’s 38 years as a golf writer. These installments stem from his many travels and experiences, which led to a gradual understanding that the game has many intriguing components, especially its people.
First Green has soared to new heights since merging with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in 2018. In 2024 alone, 110 total First Green trips reached 6,789 students across 44 states and Ontario, Canada. It has also made headway in other parts of the world.
The nonprofit was founded in 1995 by superintendent Jeff Gullikson at Overlake CC, in Bellevue, Wash. Now at Kalispel G&CC in Spokane, Gullikson continues his work there with the program – hosting hundreds of students each year – while often serving as a First Green instructor at the GCSAA’s annual turf show. Bellevue-based superintendent Steve Kealy at Glendale CC has been a key figure as well, teaching thousands of local students and working alongside Gullikson at the shows. (Kealy’s maintenance facility was First Green’s very modest “world headquarters” for 17 years.)
Helping oversee the local organization’s ascendancy to the GCSAA was executive director Karen Armstrong, Ph.D. Gullikson, Kealy and Armstrong – with help from a handful of dedicated volunteers – firmly believed First Green’s educational principles would translate anywhere on the planet. Northwest amateur golf associations, as well as the USGA’s Green Section led by Kimberly Erusha and NW agronomist Larry Gilhuly, both now retired, were early supporters and helped secure key funding to help grow the nonprofit.
The GCSAA is ensuring the program continues to blossom. Many more superintendents now enjoy the face-to-face opportunity to teach kids the principles of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) they employ every day on their golf courses.
After a field trip, students, teachers and parents are invigorated by these uplifting experiences. After all, what’s not to like? Excited kids getting out of a stuffy classroom and visiting a beautifully maintained outdoor space is a welcome break from their daily routines. While there to learn, attendees also have fun. Participating club members are also edified by the scholarship and dedication of their superintendents and maintenance crews.
As for the hosting superintendents, it’s an opportunity to show eager young kids – over 90 percent of whom have never stepped foot on a golf course – how responsibly their jobs are performed and proving that golf courses aren’t the bad places they’re sometimes depicted to be. Beyond that, students learn how their classroom lessons can work in actual practice.
Kudos all Around
Here is are samples of First Green rave reviews.
Manchester Country Club, Vermont, mid-October 2025:
First Green made its debut in the Green Mountain State when The Dorset School fifth graders arrived at this century-old private club for a field trip. “The operation of a golf course can double as a learning laboratory,” MCC host superintendent Sean Monahan explained to Bennington Banner reporter Robert Niles (see full story below). “It’s a real-world experience in managing nature, engineering, data management, and more. Teeing up a hands-on structure for the kids is the key to success.”
“I love getting the kids off campus,” added TDS science teacher Karli Love. “Our first science assignment this fall was on energy and dynamics in ecosystems. Our time at the golf course takes what we’ve been studying in the classroom to the outdoors where they are really in the driver’s seat of their learning.”
Winchester National GC, Carroll County, Maryland, May 2023:
Eighty fifth graders from William Winchester Elementary School attended a field trip at this 18-hole daily-fee facility. They came away impressed. “We learned about the soil and how they keep the grass alive and the water system,” student Savannah Bacelka told reporter Ashley McDowell of Baltimore’s ABC affiliate, WMAR News.
Added Ryan Kraushofer, Westminster National’s golf course superintendent and general manager: “Kids are going to have a fantastic experience and learn more by using a trundle wheel, learning that golf is measured in yards and doing the yards to feet conversion.”
The course has hosted First Green field trips for eight years, bringing in students from throughout Carroll and Baltimore counties. “They might be sitting in a classroom thinking, well why is this important to me,” Kraushofer mused. “Now they get to see firsthand how science is used out in the real world, how people are using it for their jobs.”
Hop Meadow Country Club, Simsbury, Connecticut, January 2025:
Five-year GCSAA member Mark Petrie was introduced to First Green after participating in a “facility learning tour” at the 2024 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Phoenix. (These annual expos offer First Green seminars for interested superintendents from all over the U.S., Canada and Asia.)
“I loved it,” Petrie told GCM Magazine reporter Andrew Hartsock. “I think it’s really good for golf. I never did anything like that as a kid. I got lucky and fell into this.”
After returning from Phoenix, Petrie immediately started planning a First Green field trip at Hop Meadow. “That was one of the first things I did; I had been here four months. We had over 300 kids, 10 stations, 10 different teachers. A lot of the members in the club were involved. My staff was into it. That was really cool. That was probably my biggest learning takeaway from the show, something I might not have done otherwise.”
TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois, July 2025:
Three GCSAA superintendents hosted “dozens of students” in the “First Green Experience” at TPC Deere Run on the day before the course hosted the John Deere Classic, a regular PGA Tour stop since 1972. This event was a bit different than a typical First Green field trip – using only three STEM-learning “stations.
This field trip covered golf course design, turf and bunkers. A GCSAA mission with First Green is to pique the students’ interest in a possible turf-management career. Brian Hickey, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Palmer Hills Golf Course in Bettendorf, Iowa, is pleased with that effort. “I tell them, ‘When you turn 16, you can come work for me,’ ” he told GCM reporter Andrew Hartsock. “I’ve had quite a few show up later [and say]: ‘You said I could get a job.’ ”
Earlier in May, Tim Gravert, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport, Iowa, hosted a group of about a dozen high schoolers from Central DeWitt High School in DeWitt, Iowa. They were members of a horticulture class that routinely visits various horticulture/agriculture sites. “They said ours was the best field trip by far,” Gravert said. “I had them do everything – walk-mowing, rolling.”
Sand Point Country Club, Seattle, May 2025:
Hosted by superintendent Marcus Harness, students from nearby Assumption-St. Bridget School visited this private course. Harness was assisted by Dave Phipps, the GCSAA’s Northwest field staff rep, a native Oregonian and strong proponent of First Green since 2012, serving on its board of directors right up until the merger with his parent organization.
“I’ve seen firsthand where parents or chaperones come in with one perceived idea of golf and they leave with a totally different mindset,” Phipps told Logan Groeneveld-Meijer of WAGolf. “[They realize] how beneficial golf courses are to their local community.”
The former superintendent at Creek Golf Club in Oregon City, Oregon, knows the importance of mentorship. “It’s kind of like a badge of honor,” he said. “The more people you can get engaged in this industry helps them succeed in a career. It’s a pretty good feeling.”
Cooper Takes Reins of First Green Program
In late October 2025, Leann Cooper was promoted to Senior Director – Member Programs, of the GCSAA. She replaces Shelia Finney, who is retiring in spring 2026. Finney – along with executive director Rhett Evans and Cooper – were instrumental in embracing and integrating First Green under its umbrella of services.
“Leann has built deep trusted connections with our members and chapters throughout her 25 years at GCSAA, and that experience uniquely positions her to lead this next chapter of our member programs,” Evans said in a press release. “We’re deeply grateful to Shelia for her remarkable leadership and lasting impact she’s had in serving and supporting our members. Leann will continue that momentum with passion, purpose, and a strong vision for the future.”
To learn more about hosting a First Green field trip, please visit https://www.thefirstgreen.org/. For other stories about First Green in Golf Course Trade’s archives, visit: https://www.golfcoursetrades.com/first-green-merges-golf-with-stem-learning/ and http://golfcoursetrades.com/first-green-merging-with-gcsaa.
Jeff Shelley has written and published 12 books as well as numerous articles for print and online media since 1987. Among his titles are three editions of the book, “Golf Courses of the Pacific Northwest.” The Whidbey Island resident was editorial director of Cybergolf.com from 2000-15, co-founder of the Northwest Golf Media Association and president of the nonprofit First Green (https://www.thefirstgreen.org/). To contact Jeff: fairgreens@seanet.com.
