Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf
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Application Curriculum Code 2025
Application Curriculum Code 2025
Overview
SUNY Cobleskill offers a two-year degree (Associate in Applied Science) and a four year degree (Bachelor of Technology) in Turfgrass Management. The SUNY Cobleskill Turfgrass Management program is highly respected by industry employers with graduates working as golf course superintendents at many top courses throughout the United States.
Notable Alumni
Craig Currier, Superintendent, Bethpage State Park, site of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open.
Mark Michaud, Golf Course Superintendent at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, site of the 1995 and 2004 U.S. Opens.
Dr. Frank Rossi, a SUNY Cobleskill Turf graduate now works as an Associate Professor of Turfgrass Management at Cornell University.
Russ Myers, Golf Course Superintendent at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK., host of the 2007 PGA Championship
Jeff Kent, Golf Course Superintendent at Quail Hollow Country Club, site of Wachovia Championship.
Jeff Corcoran Golf Course Superintendent at Oak Hill Country Club, site of the 2008 Senior PGA Championship and 2013 PGA Championship.
Matt Falvo Golf Course Superintendent at Atunyote site of the Turning Stone Resort Golf Championship.
Superb Facilities
The college has excellent turfgrass facilities including fairway turf plots composed of creeping bentgrass and of low mow Kentucky bluegrass that are used for research and student projects. There are also two USGA greens adjacent to the Plant Science building that are used extensively for turfgrass management labs. Students gain additional practical experience on the college's athletic fields and lawn areas and at the Cobleskill Country Club, which is located only a few minutes from the campus. Moreover, the Plant Science Department offers more than 75 supporting courses enabling students to gain knowledge in many areas of horticulture. Low student to teacher ratios and campus mission that focuses on teaching creates a student friendly environment at SUNY Cobleskill.
SUNY Cobleskill also has an outstanding Agricultural Engineering Department offering a wide assortment of courses to improve the mechanical skills of students with an interest in this area.
Expert Faculty
Members of the turfgrass faculty include Dr. Alex Ellram and. Dr. Zhongchun Jiang. Dr. Ellram has been teaching turfgrass management at the college level since 1999. Prior to teaching, he worked in the turfgrass field for 17 years managing golf courses, athletic fields and turfgrass research plots. Dr. Ellram applies this real life experience in many hands on, practical turfgrass labs. His education includes a Master of Science degree in horticultural science (turfgrass) from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota. Ellram recently published articles on turfgrass disease control in Golf Course Management, the USGA Green Section Record, and Crop Science. Dr. Ellram focuses on managing turfgrass with fewer pesticides, and has just completed a two year study on cultural practices to reduce dollar spot. He is a member of the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society, American Phytopathological Society, the American Society of Agronomy, and the Golf Course Superintendents’ Association of America.
Dr. Jiang has received a Ph.D. degree in turfgrass from University of Rhode Island, an M.S. degree from Chiba University, Japan, and a B.S. degree from Central China Agricultural University. He is recipient of three excellence awards from Crop Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy - Northeast Branch, and Soil Science Society of America - Northeast Branch. He is also a member of International Turfgrass Society, New York State Turfgrass Association, and many golf course superintendents associations. He has published articles in Golf Course Management, Grounds Maintenance, and Turfgrass Trends, along with over 65 turfgrass papers.
The Bachelor of Technology Degree in Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf Management will require the following course work:
Students should check with their advisors to make sure courses are taken in proper sequence and any prerequisites have been met. Some flexibility is available as to when courses must be taken. Students should consult with their advisors during the scheduling process.
Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf Management
Degree Requirements
To receive the B. Tech. degree in Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf Management, the candidate must
complete 126 credit hours with a minimum of 58 credit hours of major field requirements, 20 credit hours of technical electives, 24 credit hours of SUNY General Education requirements (3 credit hours in each of eight General Education categories), 12 credit hours of additional liberal arts and sciences courses (6 credit hours of lower-division and 6 credit hours of upper-division liberal arts and sciences courses), and 12 credit hours of general electives, with a GPA of not less than 2.00.
A. MAJOR FIELD REQUIREMENTS - (58 credits)
A-1. Required Lower-Division Major Field Courses - (16 credits)
The following courses or acceptable equivalents must be completed
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| AGSC 111 | Introduction to Soil Science | 3 |
| AGSC 186 | Entomology | 3 |
| AGSC 281 | Plant Pathology | 3 |
| RECM 115 | Introduction to Recreational Services | 3 |
| RECM 222 | Turfgrass Management | 3 |
| RECM 256 | Sports Field Management | 2 |
The following courses must be completed at SUNY Cobleskill:
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| AGRN 338 | Weed Identification and Control | 3 |
| AGRN 362 | Applied plant Physiology | 3 |
| ORHT 335 | Irrigation | 3 |
| ORHT 377 | Integrated Pest Management | 3 |
| RECM 390 | Independent Study (Sports Turf) | 3 |
| RECM 450 | Internship (Sports Turf) | 12 |
| Recm 451 | Internship Reporting (Sports Turf) | 3 |
Four courses from the following list must be completed at SUNY Cobleskill:
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| AGRN 335 | Agricultural Chemicals | 3 |
| AGRN 350 | Plant Nutrition | 3 |
| AGRN 424 | Water Resources | 3 |
| AGRN 494 | Plant and Soil Diagnostics | 3 |
| ORHT 321 | Herbaceous Plant Materials | 3 |
| ORHT 356 | Plant Propagation | 3 |
| ORHT 421 | Landscape Plants: Association and Uses | 3 |
| ORHT 444 | Landcadd | 3 |
B-1. Recommended Lower-Division Technical Electives- 11 credits Selection from the following list is recommended. Any other lower-division courses are acceptable
if the prefixes are AGBU, AGEN, AGRN, AGSC, BADM, BIOL, CHEM, CITA, ORHT, RECM, or acceptable equivalents.
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| AGEN 121 | Horticultural Machinery | 3 |
| CITA 110 | Microcomputer Applications | 3 |
| CHEM 111 | General Chemistry I | 4 |
| GIST 130 | Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| GIST 210 | Global Positioning Systems | 3 |
| GIST 250 | Global Information Systems Applications | 3 |
| ORHT 121 | Woody Plant Materials | 3 |
| ORHT 282 | Arboriculture | 3 |
| PERS 214 | Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries | 3 |
| PERS 225 | Recreational Leadership | 2 |
| RECM 225 | Recreational Land Management and Policy | 3 |
B-2. Required Upper-Division Technical Electives - (9 credits) Three courses from the following list or acceptable equivalents are required. Any courses from A-3 above are also acceptable if not used to satisfy A-3 credit requirements.
| Course Number | Class Name | Credits |
| AGRN 313 | Soil Fertility | 3 |
| BADM 310 | Human Resources Management | 3 |
| BADM 349 | Total Quality Management | 3 |
| ENGL 304 | Writing in the Disciplines | 3 |
| FWLD 350 | Wetland Delineation | 3 |
| ORHT 317 | Wildflower Culture and Propagation | 3 |
| ORHT 329 | Hydroponics | 3 |
Eight of the SUNY Board of Trustees-mandated General Education categories must be selected by any B. Tech. student and 3 credits from each of the eight selected categories must be earned.
C-1. Highly recommended categories and courses -(12 credits)
| ENGLISH | ||
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| ENGL 101 | Composition | 3 |
| ENGL 111 | Fundamentals of Speech | 3 |
| FORIEGN LANGUAGE | ||
| Course Numbeer | Class Name | Credit |
| SPAN 101 | Beginning Spanish I | 3 |
| SPAN 102 | Beginning Spanish II | 3 |
| MATHEMETICS | ||
| Course Number | Class Number | Credit |
| MATH 111 | Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 112 | Trigonometry | 3 |
| MATH 125 | Statistics | 3 |
| MATH 131 | Precalculus | 3 |
| MaTH 231 | Calculus | 3 |
| NATURAL SCIENCES | ||
| Course Number | Class Name | Credit |
| BIOL 116 | Botany | 3 |
| CHEM 101 | Introductory Chemistry | 3 |
C-2. Four additional General Education categories and earn 3 credits from each - (12 credits)
D. ADDITIONAL LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES CREDITS - (12 credits)
Any course with a prefix found on the list of SUNY Trustees' 10 General Education categories is a Liberal Arts and Sciences course and can be used here only if not used to satisfy the General Education Requirements
D-1. Lower-division Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements - 6 credits from any 299 or lower (not including 099) Liberal Arts and Sciences courses. Courses on C-1 list above are recommended.
D-2. Upper-division Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements - 6 credits from any 300-level or higher Liberal Arts and Sciences courses with different prefixes.
E. GENERAL ELECTIVES - (12 credits)
(Grand total of 126 credits)
For more specific information on degree requirements for Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf Management Bachelor of Technology Degree go to the Registrar's Page.
To view the college course catalog go to course catalog.
For more information about the Turfgrass Management: Sports Turf Management degree program contact:
Dr. Alex Ellram
ELLRAMAR@Cobleskill.edu
518-255-5644
-or-
Dr. Zhongchun Jiang
JiangZ@Cobleskill.edu
518-255-5617
