Welcome New President Keair Edwards

The Mississippi Turfgrass Association welcomes Keair Edwards as the new President for 2021. Keair was a student member while attending MSU where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy with a concentration in Golf and Sports Turf Management. He continued his membership when he became Superintendent at the Gulfport and Goldin Sports Complexes.

Keair has MTA in his blood! His mentor and Dad, Ken Edwards, has been a faithful member of MTA for many years and served MTA as President. Ken was the first President of the Deep South Turf Expo. A twin (he has a sister, Kendra), Keair is very familiar with having to share everything, and you will always find him happy and willing to assist you to the best of his ability.

When I asked Keair how he first got involved in the business, he said “I grew up around the industry. My dad was in the industry for over 20 years and when he would do contract maintenance jobs, he would hire me. By the time I was about to graduate high school, I needed to figure out what the next phase of my life would consist of, and it was a no brainer that I would go to college and learn about becoming a professional turf manager.”

When I asked Keair how he got to his current job, he answered, ”I started as an intern. We had a large tournament coming up, and while I was working the director over the department pulled me to the side and basically asked me if I would be interested in the position when it comes open.”

The daily challenges, whether large or small, are the things he enjoys most about his job. The greatest challenge he finds is trying to get users to understand that the turf needs to rest too. A ten-year goal is to move “up the ladder” and become a Director or something similar.

While not working, Keair enjoys working on his antique car, watching college football (Hail State!) and a few NBA games and a little fishing when he has the time.

Keair is a member of the Sports Turf Managers Association and has received the 2016 STMA Field of the Year (Parks & Recreation) and 2016–2019 STMA Environmental Certified Facility and the 2020–2023 Environmental Certified Facility.

As you can see, MTA is in good hands for 2021! •