FIELD SCIENCE
8 SportsTurf | January 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com
J
ohn Turnour, who played base-
ball in Little League and sports
through high school, found
his affinity for team sports
continued into college—this
time as a student volunteer for the
sports turf management team while
studying turfgrass management and
horticulture at North Carolina State
University.
"Ray Brincefield and his staff were
more than welcoming and allowed me
to shadow them. They paved the way for
me and provided a great introduction to
sports turf management," Turnour says.
"During football season, it was exciting
prepping the field and painting it. Ray
and his staff were very helpful to me.
They really were the ones who inspired
me to pursue this as a career."
Upon graduation, Turnour found a
job as an assistant groundskeeper for
the Durham Bulls, (AAA affiliate of
the Tampa Bay Rays), and then went
back to NC State for 2 years as a sports
turf employee.
When he felt he was ready for the
"Big Leagues," he sent his resume to
every MLB club in the nation.
"I had one team in mind that I
wanted to work for and they were the
one team that called me and offered
me a job. Completely luck," Turnour, a
member of the Sports Turf Managers
Association, says.
The Baltimore Orioles hired him
HERE FOR THE PLAYERS:
JOHN TURNOUR OF THE
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
■ BY STACIE ZINN ROBERTS
This was from the MLB Field Maintenance
Clinic that the Washington Nationals hosted at
Nationals Park in 2014. John Turnour instructed area
coaches and field care volunteers a variety of ways to
care for and maintain infield edges.
