Not many lawns or golf courses in Wisconsin require mowing throughout the winter. On the other hand, there are plenty of opportunities for would-be greenkeepers to stay busy during the offseason on golf courses in the southern hemisphere.
Since 2019, Envoy Golf, a placement firm based in Sydney, Australia, has helped bring golf course maintenance workers from north of the equator to golf courses in Australia and New Zealand for the growing season in the southern hemisphere.
Nolan Ruffing, 23, is a 2023 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he majored in marketing. Today, Ruffing (right) moonlights as a part-time greenkeeper while also operating a landscape and lawn care business he owns in the Milwaukee area. A lifelong golfer, he is in the process of transitioning from a part-time gig at Milwaukee Country Club to new employment at Sand Valley Golf Resort.
While those jobs keep him busy during the summer in Wisconsin, Envoy gave him a chance to work through the winter months while experiencing another part of the world. He worked six months at Metropolitan Golf Club near Melbourne, and stayed a seventh month to tour the rest of Australia and New Zealand.
"I'm a big believer in their mission and what they offer greenkeepers in the northern hemisphere," Ruffing said.
"I have a landscaping business. I do it myself, and I've built a really good book of business, but I wanted a winter job, too. I love to travel and always wanted to live internationally."
The experience was so impactful he created a blog detailing the trip.
Started in 2019 by Ellington Savage search firm founders Mark Matehaere and Paul Hannaford, Envoy was established to connect skilled workers with "the needs in the golf industry," according to the company's website.
Interview requests to Envoy's management team went unanswered, but according to its website, the company specializes in finding temporary positions for greenkeepers, as well as jobs in hospitality and an executive search division.
Envoy connects job seekers in Europe and North America with employers in Australia and New Zealand through a series of Zoom interviews, and schedules travel once a connection is made. For greenkeepers, there is no charge for Envoy's services, but applicants must cover expenses for a work visa, travel and housing, though Ruffing said many of the clubs in the program can help set up housing for seasonal workers, like Metropolitan did for him and his housemates.
On the way to the airport I thought: 'What am I doing? Am I really going halfway across the world with no connections?' But those kinds of experiences shape who you are though. That's the way I look at it.
Ruffing was one of eight temporary workers from abroad spending the winter at Metropolitan. He did not get rich earning the equivalent of $20 U.S. per hour with overtime available, but he and three roommates from Canada and Sweden paid just $650 each per month for a four-bedroom house they shared.
Although the opportunity to work during the Australian summer provided a chance for Ruffing to work year-round, the real payoff was experiencing new cultures and meeting people from other parts of the world.
"This really came from a desire to push myself out of my comfort zone," Ruffing said. "I have a passion for golf and travel, and I forced myself to expand my horizons. I Googled 'international golf experience' and Envoy was what came up."
There was some trepidation as the date for departure to Australia drew near.
"On the way to the airport I thought: 'What am I doing? Am I really going halfway across the world with no connections?' " he said. "But those kinds of experiences shape who you are though. That's the way I look at it.
"I had to make myself uncomfortable and learn things about myself that I didn't know before."
He also learned a few things about turf management that he did not know before. He was able to work on turf species not found on golf courses in Wisconsin and how waste areas can take the place of rough turf.
"The style of golf and operational culture is very different there," he said. "Learning about their work culture was different."
Envoy's ability to bring workers from around the globe to New Zealand and Australia were stifled in 2020-21 by Covid restrictions, but the company, part of the much larger Ellington Savage firm that was founded in 1993, has flourished since lockdowns and restraints on travel were lifted. In fact, Ruffing plans to use the Envoy service again to find a temporary gig, probably in New Zealand this time.
"It was a life-changing experience," he said. "I believe in their mission and their message, and I want other people to be able to experience the same thing I did."
