How To Become A Golf Course Superintendent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a golf course superintendent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A Golf Course Superintendent is responsible for maintaining and ensuring the improvement of a golf course's landscape and turfgrass. They are thus responsible for creating and using a certain budget, timelines, and projects and are often tasked with the management of the employees who work on the environmental health and physical features of the golf course.

Obviously, they are in charge of making annual landscaping plans, directing, assisting, and mentoring personnel on the upkeep of plants, turf, wetlands, and other environmental elements of the course. They also supervise payrolls and buy various supplies and even machinery, schedule repairs and maintenance of said machinery, and always be on the lookout for where there might be room for improvement.

A Golf Course Superintendent may need to have a diploma or a certificate in Turf Management or a subject similarly applicable here, such as soil or plant science. Prior management experience or experience as a 1st Assistant might be necessary. Interpersonal and project management skills are very important here, as well as knowledge of chemistry, biology, and, naturally, golf. On average, a Golf Course Superintendent earns $17.2 an hour.

ScoreGolf Course SuperintendentUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,861

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.9

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 1.28%

Black or African American 7.96%

Hispanic or Latino 16.76%

Unknown 4.65%

White 68.49%

Gender

female 6.80%

male 93.20%

Age - 45.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45.5

Stress Level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.2

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.4

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a golf course superintendent

Explore golf course superintendent education requirements

Most common golf course superintendent degrees

Bachelor's

44.1 %

Associate

27.3 %

High School Diploma

20.7 %

Start to develop specific golf course superintendent skills

Skills	Percentages
Mowing	13.03%
GRASS	10.89%
Course Maintenance	10.43%
Fairways	9.13%
Golf Courses	4.68%

Complete relevant golf course superintendent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New golf course superintendents learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a golf course superintendent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real golf course superintendent resumes.

Research golf course superintendent duties and responsibilities

Manage nursery and landscape surrounding campus center, leading maintenance and management projects.
Operate various equipment, including: riding and push mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws, bunker rakes, etc.
Resolve customer complaints while maintaining budgets and staff payroll.
Experience with marking and measuring of fields to NCAA regulations.

Prepare your golf course superintendent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your golf course superintendent resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a golf course superintendent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Golf Course Superintendent Resume templates

Build a professional Golf Course Superintendent resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Golf Course Superintendent resume.

Apply for golf course superintendent jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a golf course superintendent job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do golf course superintendents rate their job?