Golf Course Maintenance Intern

Berkeley Hall Club, Inc.; Bluffton (SC); Hybrid; USD 17,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

Berkeley Hall Club, Inc. in Bluffton, SC seeks a Golf Course Maintenance Intern to support daily course setup, cultural practices, and turfgrass management across the North and South Courses.

This temporary, full-time internship offers hands-on experience with mowing, irrigation, and technology in a private golf community. The role involves early mornings, weekends, and holidays as needed, with exposure to pesticides, fertilizers, and data collection.

Qualifications

• Current or recent student pursuing turfgrass or golf course management.
• Previous golf course experience preferred but not required.
• Dependable, motivated, and detail-oriented.
• Able to communicate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Willing to work early mornings, weekends, and holidays as needed.

Responsibilities

• Course Maintenance & Setup: Perform daily course setup, including hole locations, tee setup, bunker preparation, and detail work, to club standards.
• Course Maintenance & Setup: Operate mowing equipment on greens, tees, fairways, approaches, roughs, and other maintained turf.
• Course Maintenance & Setup: Assist with cultural practices, including aeration, verticutting, topdressing, grooming, rolling, and cultivation.
• Course Maintenance & Setup: Support tournament and special event preparation.
• Turfgrass Management: Assist in managing greens varieties (Champion, TifEagle, Tif3D) and bermudagrass fairways; overseeded bermudagrass on South Course.
• Turfgrass Management: Participate in overseeding operations during fall season.
• Turfgrass Management: Scout for turfgrass diseases, weeds, and insects.
• Applications & Technology: Assist with pesticide, fertilizer, wetting-agent, and foliar applications following safety procedures.
• Applications & Technology: Operate and calibrate GPS sprayers, boom/walking sprayers, and spreaders.
• Applications & Technology: Use John Deere Operations Center to plan, track, and record applications.
• Applications & Technology: Set up, schedule, monitor, and troubleshoot autonomous mowers.
• Water Management & Data Collection: Collect soil moisture readings and perform hand watering to targets.
• Water Management & Data Collection: Measure green performance with USGA GS3; troubleshoot irrigation components.
• Water Management & Data Collection: Record moisture, weather, clipping yield, and application data.
• Projects, Equipment & Leadership: Assist with renovation and course improvement projects (bunker, drainage, irrigation, turf renovation).
• Projects, Equipment & Leadership: Work with the equipment team on reel setup, height-of-cut checks, and preventative maintenance.
• Projects, Equipment & Leadership: Assist with morning job assignments, crew communication, and quality-control checks.
• Projects, Equipment & Leadership: Follow safety policies and use PPE.
• Projects, Equipment & Leadership: Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Teamwork

Detail-oriented

Communication skills

Reliable

Early mornings weekends holidays

Education

Turfgrass or Golf Course Management student

Job description

Position: Golf Course Maintenance Intern

Department: Golf Course Maintenance (Agronomy)

Reports To: Golf Course Superintendent and Assistant Superintendents

Location: Bluffton, South Carolina (North and South Courses)

Status: Temporary, full-time, hourly (Non-Exempt)

Club Description:

Berkeley Hall Club, a distinctive private golf community edged on the banks of the pristine Okatie River in Bluffton, South Carolina - the heart of the coastal Lowcountry - a world with a casually inviting and active lifestyle that sets the standard for all private communities. Just minutes from Hilton Head Island, our 980-acre property is unique among top private golf communities. With two world-class Tom Fazio courses and a stunning Jeffersonian-style clubhouse that form the “Core of the Community,” our two walkable classic courses feel more like a golf retreat, with beautiful lagoons and majestic live oaks.

Honors

Platinum Clubs of America

Platinum Clubs of the World

Distinguished Club Award

Best Residential Courses-North & South Course - Golfweek

Top 100 Golf Communities - Travel + Leisure

Top 100 Premiere Properties - Links Magazine

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Course Maintenance & Setup

• Perform daily course setup, including hole locations, tee setup, bunker preparation, and detail work, to club standards
• Operate mowing equipment on greens, tees, fairways, approaches, roughs, and other maintained turf
• Assist with cultural practices, including aeration, verticutting, topdressing, grooming, rolling, and cultivation
• Support tournament and special event preparation

Turfgrass Management

• Assist in managing three ultradwarf bermudagrass greens varieties (Champion, TifEagle, and Tif3D), Tahoma 31 bermudagrass fairways on the North Course, and overseeded Celebration bermudagrass on the South Course
• Participate in overseeding operations when the internship term coincides with the fall season
• Scout for and help identify turfgrass diseases, weeds, and insects

Applications & Technology

• Assist with pesticide, fertilizer, wetting-agent, and foliar applications, following label directions and safety procedures
• Operate and calibrate GPS-equipped sprayers, boom and walking sprayers, and spreaders
• Use John Deere Operations Center to plan, track, and record applications
• Set up, schedule, monitor, and troubleshoot Kress autonomous mowers

Water Management & Data Collection

• Collect soil moisture readings with the USGA moisture meter and perform hand watering to daily targets
• Measure green performance with the USGA GS3
• Troubleshoot, adjust, and repair irrigation components
• Record moisture, weather, clipping yield, and application data

Projects, Equipment & Leadership

• Assist with renovation and course improvement projects, such as bunker, drainage, irrigation, and turf renovation
• Work with the equipment team on reel setup, height-of-cut checks, and preventative maintenance
• Assist with morning job assignments, crew communication, and quality-control checks as experience allows
• Follow all safety policies and use required personal protective equipment
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Current or recent student in, or strong interest in pursuing, turfgrass or golf course management
• Previous golf course experience preferred but not required
• Dependable, motivated, and detail-oriented, with pride in the finished product
• Able to work well with others and communicate effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Willing to work early mornings, weekends, and holidays as needed

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

• Work is performed outdoors in heat, humidity, and changing weather conditions
• Able to stand, walk, bend, kneel, and operate equipment for extended periods
• Able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds
• Regular exposure to machinery, noise, fertilizers, and pesticides with appropriate protective equipment

This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job when circumstances change; e.g., emergencies, rush jobs, changes in personnel, workload, technological developments, etc.