Thirteen participants in the first Women’s Leadership Academy reunited on the volunteer grounds crew at the U.S. Open in June at Pinehurst’s No. 2 course, and 12 of them gathered for this group photo at the famed Putter Boy statue. Pictured are, front row from left: Kimberly Gard; Kelly Lynch; Nancy Cienfuegos; Jessica Lenihan; Vanja Drasler; Renee Geyer, CGCS; and Alex Hills; back row, from left: Tonya Anderson; Amanda Fontaine; Nina Oldenkamp; Kate Phillips; Sun Roesslein; and Kayla Kipp, CTEM. Lynch did not participate in the WLA. The 13th WLA grad who worked at Pinehurst — Jill Seymour, CGCS — was out on the course cutting cups and unable to participate in this group photo. Photo by Matt Gibson
In the immediate aftermath of the first Women’s Leadership Academy at GCSAA headquarters in November 2023, participants time and again talked about how the two-plus-day event was “life-changing.”
While that might be a bit difficult to ascertain so close to its conclusion, there’s little doubt the leadership-development initiative for women in the turfgrass industry made an impression on the 40-member class that attended the event in Lawrence, Kan. The agenda for the education and networking academy was packed with sessions on self-discovery, understanding others, effective communication and inspiring others.
The Women’s Leadership Academy is hosted and paid for by GCSAA based on the support of industry benefactors, including The Toro Co. and Yamaha, who support this event as Trailblazer benefactors; and Club Car, PBI-Gordon, Simplot, Syngenta and Target Specialty Products as Pathfinder benefactors. The event is endorsed by the Sports Field Managers Association (SFMA).
As this year’s event nears — it will run Nov. 12-14, again at GCSAA HQ — GCM caught up with three members of the inaugural WLA to see what lessons resonated.
The first Women’s Leadership Academy attendees gathered for a group photo around the Old Tom Morris statue at GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan. Photo by Tyler Stover
Amanda Fontaine
GCSAA Class A Superintendent
Ledges Golf Club
South Hadley, Mass.
Amanda Fontaine knew from the get-go that she was in for an intense time at the first Women’s Leadership Academy.
“It was amazing right from the start,” says Fontaine, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass., and a three-year association member. “It started with Suzy Whaley. That was right after we got off the planes. That’s a hard room to capture, and she had us hanging on every word.”
Whaley, who again will headline the event when it returns this year, is a PGA Master Professional and first woman to serve as president of the PGA of America.
Fontaine, who was selected to be among the 40 participants picked for the WLA’s sophomore session, says the pace of the two-plus-day event was almost too much — emotionally, at least.
“It was super overwhelming,” Fontaine says. “It was my first time at GCSAA headquarters, and I didn’t know anyone. Well, I knew people. I had one friend. But it was overwhelming. Every day, you were learning more and more about yourself. You kept having these ‘A-ha’ moments, and they just keep coming. It was an emotional experience. You’re learning about yourself: ‘Oh, shoot, this is really how people see me — the good, the bad and the ugly, honestly.’
“It was a lot for me to take in the first time. That whole thing about how people view you. You stick with the negatives: Oh, I’m an awful person. Then you read the good: That’s what I’m trying to get across. It’s a reality check. It’s only three days, and they throw a lot at you. But now I know what’s coming. I sat with it for a year now and can almost anticipate what they’re going to tell me. Hopefully I can get even more out of it this time.”
Before falling into the Women in Turf movement, Fontaine wondered if she even wanted to try to find her place in the industry. After starting a turf career, she “took a step back for a little while” and started coaching college ice hockey. When the COVID pandemic hit, she returned to the turfgrass industry but wasn’t sure if she wanted to stick around.
“I went back to working outside, but I was back and forth,” she says. “Do I go to ice hockey, or do I stay here?”
An invitation to volunteer on the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open crew at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., turned the tide.
“I got a DM (direct message) asking, did I want to go to Pebble Beach,” Fontaine says. “That’s when I really got sucked in.”
Fontaine makes a point about the WLA that might not be obvious to those who haven’t gone through it.
“There’s never been something like this structured for women but not about being a woman,” she says. “There’s nothing about, ‘Because you’re a woman, this,’ or, ‘Because you’re a woman, that.’ It’s the same leadership academy as for anyone else.”
Kayla Kipp, at the CTEM recognition breakfast at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Phoenix. GCM file photo
Kayla Kipp, CTEM
Equipment manager
Nemacolin Woodlands Resor
Farmington, Pa.
Kayla Kipp’s time in the military didn’t include a lot of time spent on personal or professional introspection.
“We didn’t do a lot of that in the military,” says Kipp, an Air Force veteran and the first female Certified Turf Equipment Manager. “In the military, it was all, ‘Here are the standards, and here’s how you’re going to do it.’”
Her time spent at the first WLA was eye opening in that regard.
“Learning about different leadership styles was very helpful,” says Kipp, an eight-year GCSAA member who serves as the Certified Turf Equipment Manager at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa. “I learned my leadership style doesn’t always match everybody’s learning style. To have that self-reflection, to have a window into my personal thought process, was very enlightening. It was absolutely life-changing.”
The inaugural WLA was timed well for Kipp.
“I was going through a hard time last year personally,” she says. “It was almost like the universe conspired in my favor. I was having a lot of troubles in my personal life, and I needed to hear a lot of that stuff. That was very helpful to me. Sometimes it’s almost uncomfortable to unpack those things, but sometimes that’s what you need as a human to move forward.”
Kipp will be back for the second WLA. She’s already looking forward to it.
“Absolutely,” she says. “There’s a lot of new faces. I know what it meant to me when I went last year, and I can’t wait to hear their stories. There are a lot of students, a lot of young ladies. I want to see them build and grow. A lot of us didn’t have that coming in. We just figured it out or struggled our way through. To have them start with a solid base, that’s super helpful to them.”
Jill Seymour, CGCS, cutting cups at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club. Photo courtesy of Jill Seymour
Jill Seymour, CGCS
Superintendent
Charleston Springs Golf Course
Lincroft, N.J.
Jill Seymour, CGCS, went halfway across the country to make new connections from inside her own state.
“I’m from New Jersey, and there were three other girls from New Jersey who I didn’t even know were in the state,” says Seymour, a 15-year association member who serves as the superintendent at Charleston Springs Golf Course in Lincroft, N.J.
Not all of the connections she made were so geographically close — “One of my best friends from there is in the upper corner of Washington State,” Seymour says — but she’s forging deeper connections with those nearby. Seymour says she’s mentoring a WLA grad in South Jersey, and a group of turf industry women in her neck of the Garden State have begun organizing lunches, dinners and happy hours.
“Just whenever we can get together,” says Seymour. “It’s not just for those who attended the academy, and it’s not just superintendents and assistants. It’s just females in New Jersey, females in sales and education, too, where we can get together and talk turf.”
Seymour, who served on the GCSAA Women’s Task Group that helped plan the WLA, says the networking was only a small part of the intensive academy program.
“The idea that the GCSAA pulled together an event for women to promote our education, the way we work on golf course,” Seymour says, “was extremely intriguing.”
Seymour was especially intrigued by the session on the Predictive Index, an assessment that measures behavioral drives and cognitive ability in the workplace.
“My biggest takeaway was when we did that and had a look at ourselves and how we function and how others read us,” Seymour says. “We were able to dive in deep and see how others perceive me and get a bigger look at myself. It was absolutely crazy. A really good friend of mine in Indiana had it done, and we compared: ‘That’s why you’re that way.’”
Seymour will be making a return trip to the WLA this November.
“I think the most life-changing aspect of it was the community and support of it,” she says. “We make up such a small percentage of this industry. To have that many females, that many women, in the same room together was impressive.”
Learn more about the first Women's Leadership Academy and its outcomes in this GCSAA Webinar.
Andrew Hartsock (ahartsock@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s editor-in-chief.