Kevin Scott Mercer

I remember working in the garden or mowing and trimming around my grandparents’ house alongside my grandfather, who was teaching me about attention to detail at the early age of nine. He taught me so much and always told me to be proud of my work and never leave a job unfinished. I remember being in my early twenties, in and out of jobs, when I applied for a groundskeeper job on a nine-hole golf course in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in March 1995 as summer help. During the first month on the job, I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After taking some college courses in landscape management, I landed my first assistant golf course superintendent job at Andrews Air Force Base. A few years later, I earned my first grounds manager job at St Mary’s College of Maryland for almost ten years. Then, I moved to New York, where I accepted a job at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. After a few years, I eventually found what I was looking for at Denison University and found the best grounds team in the country.

When I look back at my career and all the years working in the liberal arts arena, I have to admit the students have taught me so much about our planted earth and all the environmental issues we face. I want to thank all of them and give them a shoutout. To this day, I still focus my ground management program on stormwater runoff, protecting wetlands, promoting wildlife, native plantings, and pollinators, and reducing greenhouse gas.

Through my years of professional grounds management, I’ve found my strategic philosophy has been to stay the course for business but implement a strategy that showcases our environmental stewardship programs while providing a return on investments without altering the aesthetics and function of the landscape. I have managed golf courses, sports fields, and college and university grounds.

Inclusion and transparency are cornerstones for successfully adopting new strategies that result in more sustainable practices with acceptable returns on investment and utilizing more environmentally friendly practices (if feasible). I have learned the best approach to building relationships with team members and the community is fostering relationships with follow-through communication and your actions by being yourself with concern for others.