Cover Story
A BITTERSWEET CHANGING of the
GUARDS at the Virginia Tech Research Short Course of Independence Golf Club By David McCall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Turfgrass Pathology
T
hose keeping watch from afar of the transformation at Independence Golf Club’s (IGC) short course into a hustling and bustling living research lab have likely been impressed with progress made in just a few years. For those of us watching from “inside the ropes”, it has been nothing short of amazing. What started as an interesting concept and loads of sprigs from around the country in May 2017 has turned into a robust outpost for the VT Turf Team. While many have played vitally important roles in the successes of the facility, none come close to matching the efforts of Jordan Booth. It is bittersweet to say that Jordan has accepted a position with the United States Golf Association (USGA) as a Southeastern Regional Agronomist, which has long been a career aspiration of his. His last official day as a member of the VT Turf Team was May 9, 2021. However, Jordan will continue to work toward completing his dissertation research with support from the USGA, while juggling his new responsibilities. Jordan has accomplished a lot with the VT Turf Team in a relatively short amount of time.
16 | VIRGINIA TURFGRASS JOURNAL May/June 2021 www.vaturf.org
Congratulations to Jordan Booth on his new position.
