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Program Structure
Comprised of two (2) ten-week classroom sessions sandwiched around a 9-month break (during which you must complete a paid 200 hour required internship), our Two-Year Certificate Program minimizes your time away from work and home.
Upcoming Session Dates
The Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management Program offers the Two-Year Certificate Program every Fall (October through mid-December) and Winter (January through mid-March).
If you attend your first ten-week session during the fall, you will return for your second ten-week session the following fall season. Likewise, if you attend your first ten-week session during the winter, you will return for your second ten-week session the following winter season. You cannot attend a Winter session directly after attending a Fall session because you must complete a 200+ hour turf management internship before starting the second session.
Fall Session
Fall 2024: October 2 – December 13, 2024
Fall 2025: October 1 – December 12, 2025
Winter Session
Winter 2025: January 6 – March 19, 2025
Winter 2026: January 5 – March 18, 2026
Classes are held Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus, with occasional field trips. In addition, students should plan to spend approximately 20 hours per work on homework and studying.
Program Timeline for Fall Students
Step 1
October to Mid-December
Attend your first 10-week class session at Rutgers.
Step 2
LATE December to September
Complete your 200-hour turf management internship during the 9-month break between sessions.
Step 3
October to Mid-December
Return to Rutgers to attend your second 10-week session and graduate!
Program Timeline for Winter Students
Step 1
January to Mid-March
Attend your first 10-week class session at Rutgers.
Step 2
LATE March to December
Complete your 200-hour turf management internship during the 9-month break between sessions.
Step 3
January to Mid-March
Return to Rutgers to attend your second 10-week session and graduate!
Mike Mohn, Superintendent, Ridges at Sand Creek
"I highly recommend the program. You go for ten weeks at a time and it's hard when you're here, but it's all worth it when you get back.
"It's a tight-knit community within your class. You make some really good friends - better friends than I thought I would make in ten weeks."
Rutgers Turf Classroom Locations
The Professional Golf Turf Management Program is located on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus in New Brunswick, NJ. Turf students attend class at the Ralph Geiger Turfgrass Education Center, located adjacent to our turfgrass research complex, and at the Holly House, nestled within a world-renowned collection of American hollies in the Rutgers Gardens. In this way, both the research complex and the display gardens become an extension of your classroom and the perfect setting to apply classroom lessons to real-world scenarios.
Keith Wood, Director of Green and Grounds, Quail Hollow Club
"The Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management School gave me the educational foundation to build a solid career in the golf turf industry. The schedule, instructors, and classroom setting put me in a position to learn what I would be experiencing on the golf course."
Golf Course and USGA Field Trips
New Jersey is home to many of the world’s most highly-rated golf courses. During the Two-Year Program, students have the opportunity to take field trips to many of these highly-acclaimed courses, including Pine Valley Golf Club, Baltusrol Golf Club, and others. New Jersey is also home to “Golf House,” the headquarters of the United States Golf Association (USGA). Students not only tour the USGA golf museum, which is is home to the world’s most extensive collections of golf memorabilia and literature, but also go “behind the scenes” and meet the engineers in the testing laboratory where the USGA tests golf equipment.
Alumni Profile: Ryan Hanlen
2015 Two-Year Certificate Program Graduate
Ryan was studying sports management in college when he first started working at a golf course. Working on the grounds crew, Ryan realized that he had a passion for experiencing the natural beauty of a golf course every morning. After seeing how the Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management Program helped advance his coworker’s career, Ryan decided to attend our Two-Year Certificate Program himself.
Now the golf course superintendent at Woods Fort Golf Club in Troy, MO, Ryan reflects on how his time at Rutgers benefited his career.
“I can’t tell you how much this school has done for me in all aspects of golf course management. I never expected to have learned as much as I have in this short amount of time.” – Ryan Hanlen