UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- If you get a chance to watch a game of the Little League World Series Aug. 20-30 -- on TV or in person -- you'll quickly notice the high-quality of the fields at both Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium, in South Williamsport, Pa.
Like many of the highest-profile sports playing surfaces around the world, they have been entrusted to a Penn State Turfgrass Science or Turfgrass Management graduate. New Little League International groundskeeper Rob Guthrie is a 2007 graduate of the turfgrass management program in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Guthrie's professional journey to South Williamsport, about 130 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is unique, to say the least. After graduating from Penn State, he worked as a spray technician at a Pennsylvania golf resort and conference center, followed by jobs as assistant golf course superintendent at two Pennsylvania country clubs.
Then, in April of this year, Guthrie -- currently a student in the Penn State turfgrass management master's program -- saw the opening for the head groundskeeper position for Little League International. Despite his background in the golf course side of turfgrass management, he applied and was subsequently hired.
"I had worked on two NCAA regulation baseball fields at Penn State," Guthrie said. "I was kicking back and forth whether or not I wanted to go into the sports turf or golf side. I ended up going into golf course management. But coming from that golf side, a lot of things I was doing on those golf courses translate to this job.
"It's been a great step for me," he added. "Coming from a golf course as assistant superintendent and now running my own grounds crew, it's a step in the right direction as far as my career in turfgrass management."
Guthrie is just another example of the top-notch professionals turned out by Penn State turfgrass programs, according to Andrew McNitt, professor of soil science-turfgrass, who is director of Penn State's Sports Surface Research Center and coordinator for the University's Turfgrass Science undergraduate program.
"Our graduates are responsible for the care of some of the best and most important golf courses and sports fields around the world," he said. "The Little League World Series venues are in good hands under Guthrie's guidance."