Grounds professionals earn certification

Two grounds professionals have earned the Certified Grounds Manager (CGM) designation from the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS). Steve Morton of Cape Coral, Fla., and Beau Mastrine of Wooster, Ohio, have become the 127th and 128th grounds management professionals to successfully complete its Certified Grounds Manager (CGM) program, respectively.

Morton is the landscape manager at Shell Point Retirement Community in Cape Coral where he has been for five and a half years. When asked his advice for aspiring CGM’s he responded, “I would recommend to those interested in certification to understand that the CGM is a commitment to excellence and that they should be prepared to look very closely at their own skills and organization abilities.”

Mastrine currently serves as director of grounds at The College of Wooster and has been in that position for six of the 12 years he has been employed at the college. He decided to become a CGM to better educate himself as a professional in the green industry and he found the program to be very helpful especially in helping him to organize his responsibilities. “I used my submitted presentation for portions of my self-evaluation this spring.This program helps me tell ‘the story’ of what the responsibilities are for the director of grounds for The College of Wooster,” he said.

Those achieving the CGM professional designation must first have accomplished a certain level of education and on-the-job experience and then successfully completed a two-part examination process administered by PGMS.