Superintendent Jorge Mendoza welcomes 90 students from Highland Elementary

Green River Golf Club hosted their inaugural First Green field trip on Thursday, April 11. The CourseCo-managed facility, located in Corona, Calif., played host to 90 2nd-grade students from nearby Highland Elementary School. 

Under the guidance of host superintendent, Jorge Mendoza, the students had the opportunity to learn about golf course maintenance, the environment and science on the course as well as participate in some fun activities that introduced them to the game of golf. 

Numerous superintendents from Southern California area courses and Green River staff volunteered their time to assist with the field trip.  Learning stations included the following:

• Bird Box Construction station: Students assembled bird boxes and painted them with unique designs.
• Coloring station: Students colored pictures of local wildlife on and surrounding the golf course.
• Soil and Seed station: Aliso Viejo superintendent Dan Pollack demonstrated how to plant grass and each student got to take a pot of planted seed back to the classroom.    
• Putting station: Students learned to putt and were introduced to the game of golf by Reidy Creek superintendent Trevor Larsen and teaching professional Jim Spooner.
• Equipment station: Students had the chance to view numerous pieces of maintenance equipment and see a turf aerator demonstration by Green River staff members. 
• Irrigation station: High Tech Irrigation’s Nick Lindsay demonstrated how the irrigation system operates and allowed each student to hand water a portion of the driving range. 
• Gary’s Magic Water station: Students were treated to CourseCo director of environmental management Gary Ingram's Magic Water station which highlights water cohesion and adhesion. 

Following the conclusion of the field trip, students were treated to a lunch of chicken fingers and fries in the Green River restaurant and received First Green swag bags from GCSAA.

A big thank you to Jorge, Gary and CourseCo for hosting the field trip. CourseCo is a major supporter of the First Green initiative and hosts numerous field trips throughout the western United States.

If you are interested in hosting a field trip, please contact Leann Cooper, senior manager of First Green and workforce development or your local field representative.