Golf Course Maintenance Intern

Spend the summer working alongside Laurel Creek’s grounds team and learn how a private club maintains playing conditions through the busiest part of the golf season.  You will take part in the full range of golf course maintenance operations, help train employees in our Registered Greenskeeper Apprenticeship Program, and see how the department prepares for a major irrigation and fairway drainage renovation.

About Laurel Creek:

Laurel Creek Country Club is a private club in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, just east of Philadelphia. Its 18-hole championship course, designed by Arnold Palmer, has a links-style character, with rolling fairways, large greens, and stands of fescue framing the holes.  The golf course putting greens are USGA specification and feature a mosaic of bentgrass and Poa annua.  In 2022, Laurel Creek completed a series of renovations as part of a Master Plan which included redesigns of the golf course’s bunkering and select tee complexes by architect Andrew Green. The club also has a full driving range, a short-game area (designed by Andrew Green), and two practice putting greens.  The practice putting green located next to Laurel Creek’s clubhouse, referred to as the “Club Putt”, was seeded during Dr. David Huff’s 2023 PennPoa test trials.

What you will do:

• Daily Maintenance and Course Setup: Mow and roll greens, mow tees and fairways, rake and repair bunkers, change hole locations, set tee markers, and maintain the practice facilities. Help prepare the course for daily member play, outings, and club tournaments.
• Water Management, Irrigation, and Drainage: Take soil moisture readings, hand-water greens, check sprinkler performance, help troubleshoot irrigation issues, and observe how the team evaluates drainage and responds to weather.
• Turf Health and Cultivation: Scout for weeds, insects, disease, moisture, and heat stress. Assist with fertilizer and pesticide program activities as appropriate under supervision. Participate in seasonal work such as aeration, topdressing, seeding, and sod repair as scheduled.
• Equipment and Grounds Care: Learn safe equipment operation, perform daily checks and cleaning, and work alongside the equipment team to understand preventive maintenance and mower setup. Help maintain landscaped and native areas.
• Crew Planning and Apprentice Training: Take part in morning assignments and learn how supervisors adjust priorities around weather, staffing, and play. Under the guidance of grounds supervisors, demonstrate maintenance tasks to employees enrolled in Laurel Creek’s Registered Greenskeeper Apprenticeship, coach them during hands-on practice, and give feedback using the program’s competency standards.

Irrigation and Drainage Renovation:

Laurel Creek’s irrigation system was installed between 1988 and 1991. A Toro Lynx Smart Module 2-wire irrigation system with HDPE mainlines and laterals has been designed, and construction is scheduled to begin in late 2027. The 2027 season will provide interns experience working with nearly every Toro sprinkler model available over the past three decades. 

Schedule:

Expect 44–50 hours per week, with eight-hour shifts Monday through Friday and four-hour shifts on Saturday, Sunday, or both. Shifts may begin as early as 5 am. Weekly hours can vary with course needs and the event schedule.