Ernesto Martinez, student at Penn State University and one-year GCSAA member, is the winner of the 2025 Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award of $10,000 from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) through the GCSAA Foundation. Martinez will be honored at the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Orlando.
Martinez, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, began playing golf at an early age. He became a member of the Venezuelan National Golf Team in 2014, earned Player of the Year honors in 2015 and continued playing until 2021, when a lesion on his right eye compromised his depth perception.
Martinez then began researching schools where he could study turfgrass management, but he was hesitant to pursue a career in a field that receives so little attention in Venezuela. He and his wife opened a restaurant in Caracas, but political instability soon forced them to close. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to finally pursue his passion for golf course management and gain the knowledge necessary to make a real impact.
Now, at age 45, Martinez is a student in the Penn State Golf Course Turf Management Program. Prior to attending Penn State, Martinez completed a one-year online course offered at a university in Malaga, Spain, and he traveled there to fulfill internships at Real Club Valderrama after being encouraged by John Kaminski, Ph.D., a 28-year GCSAA member, to build a foundation in golf course maintenance before applying to Penn State’s two-year program.
“Golf has provided me with numerous opportunities, lasting friendships and valuable experiences. Now, it is my turn to give back to the game,” Martinez said. “It is a great honor to be selected for the Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award. Coming from a small country and leaving everything behind at 45-years-old to pursue this career, this award is a tremendous validation.”
Previously part of the GCSAA Scholars Competition, the Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award was revamped in 2021 as a stand-alone award to recognize an outstanding non-traditional student seeking a career in the field of golf course and turfgrass management. Applicants need to be majoring in a field related to golf course management, planning a career as a superintendent or related profession, be 23 years of age or older and be a GCSAA member to be eligible.
The Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award is funded by Allan MacCurrach III and the PGA TOUR. It is named in honor of the late Allan MacCurrach Jr., who became the PGA TOUR’s first staff agronomist in 1974 and was the GCSAA Distinguished Service Award winner in 1994. He was a member of GCSAA for 31 years and was one of the first to become a certified golf course superintendent.
MacCurrach Jr. found his passion for turf after he had a wife, a child and another degree in accounting, and he lived the struggle of trying to obtain a second degree with a full plate of existing responsibilities. His unconventional professional path ultimately became the driving force behind establishing the Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award to help others on similar career paths.