Zach Flink is a recent graduate in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is headed to graduate school at MSU in the fall.
I first learned about MSU’s turf program through the Country Club of Lansing, where I caddied for Trey Rogers, who introduced himself as a professor at Michigan State University. Naturally, I asked about his area of study: turfgrass management.
I cannot recall our first conversation, but the overlap between golf and science continued to foster questions. I probably talked more than most caddies, but Rogers did not seem to mind as I kept finding myself on his bag that spring. After expressing interest in the program, Rogers helped me get a job with the grounds crew at CCL.
That summer, turfgrass management became tangible, and I decided it was a career worth pursuing.
My first-year classes were typical: prerequisites and general requirements. They were important courses, but I remember struggling to see how they all fit together. So, I sought out a clearer picture of the industry.
Through a classmate, I learned about Oakland Hills, a golf course that holds some of the game’s greatest events. I was fortunate to spend a summer experiencing turf at a different level, being part of the agronomic program that upholds the standards of a world-class championship venue.
That fall, I took my first turf-specific courses like CSS 232, quite literally titled “Turfgrass Management.” Toward the end of the semester, graduate students presented their FIFA World Cup 2026 research in preparation for winter conferences. It was clear that the upcoming World Cup would be unlike any other sporting event, with 16 venues across various climates, infrastructure and field conditions, all expected to live up to a paragon of field performance.
I remember sitting there captivated, yet it was not the headline that captured my attention. They discussed sod on plastic to quickly establish playable turfgrass for the temporary pitches and plant growth regulators like trinexepac-ethyl combined with supplemental light systems used to combat the low light levels of a domed stadium. Concepts that could have lived as esoteric jargon were carried like tools, moving from questions to solutions.
The World Cup was the backdrop, but what held me was how deliberately everything connected. The tangibility of the work sat alongside an innate curiosity, the urge to keep pulling on a question until it gives you something back. That was the first time I saw where that instinct could go. Soon, I siezed an opportunity to join this project as a student research assistant.
I was thrown right into the fire as Michigan State’s FWC pitch research team looked to expand a couple of field plots to a dozen plots with a centralized research zone over a 23,000-square-foot asphalt pad. We set up the modular subbases with a hydrophilic textile layer, built the plot surrounds, prepared sand profiles at various heights and worked with sod crews as we laid turf over our new research plots.
After finishing construction, intensive periods of experimentation became the norm. I began working closely with research technicians and graduate students. We tested methods for converting synthetic turf venues into natural pitches and hybrid turf systems that increase the stability of natural sod using artificial fibers.
Somewhere in that shift, I stopped counting days by what got done and started counting them by what was learned, a mindset that cultivated an affinity for turfgrass research. The members of our team welcomed my research interests and helped me design an independent study, which I displayed at the 2026 Sports Field Managers Association Conference.
It has been formative to watch those around me grow, master’s students landing dream jobs, doctoral candidates becoming professors, and fellow students developing into consummate turfgrass professionals. For me, this project has been instrumental, introducing me to mentors who have helped me grow professionally and personally. It has allowed me to interact with some of the most respected and vetted members of the turfgrass industry, yet they are still willing to explain, challenge, and make space for a student to grow. It has been humbling, indelible and it has made giant steps feel less like leaps of faith and more like a continuation.
