Women are going green by keeping golf courses in order.
While the rest of the city sleeps, at Kooringal Golf Club in Melbourne’s west, the birds are slowly awakening with a morning song. The grass is glistening with undisturbed dew and there’s no one else on the entire golf course as the dawn breaks.
It sounds like heaven, and you don’t even need to be a golfer to appreciate the beauty of the enchanting surroundings. For Olivia Cowan, in these moments she stops for a quiet minute to take it all in. The serenity ends only when the rumble of a mower coming to life breaks the silence, and sitting in the driver’s seat is the 18-year-old who is the only person on the entire golf course.
Occasions like this are frequent when you’re a greenkeeper and that’s why Cowan loves her job, despite the ungodly hour her alarm goes off. She doesn’t play golf but has always been close to the greens growing up.
“Dad does a lot of volunteer work at one of our local courses,” she says. “It’s just him and one of his mates, and it’s a whole course maintained by volunteers. It’s insane. I would go out with dad as a kid and just follow him around.”
At 15, Cowan skipped school to help her dad cut the greens one day. And since then the teenager hasn’t minded taking the time to tend to the surfaces, surprising herself by enjoying the work. Fast forward a few years to when it came time to decide what to do after graduating from high school, and the thought of being confined made Cowan’s toes curl.
“I hate being inside, I cannot stand it,” she says. “It’s so good being outside and soaking in the fresh air. It sounds corny, but everything in the job is satisfying.”
So going green as a career ticked the most boxes.
The career choice is fitting for a perfectionist, someone who doesn’t settle for mediocre or just good enough. As golfers know, the little details make all the difference when playing. When a bunker is raked to perfection, even the laziest golfers will put in the extra effort to ensure it’s left in pristine condition. Or at least they should.
Every golfer can appreciate that the greenkeepers are the artists that create beautiful playing conditions and are architects of the love/hate relationship of the game. They can also put even the coolest and most composed players under pressure while they stop their mower, awaiting the shot to be played. It’s something all players are sure they take great privilege in. But the biggest challenge the young apprentice has faced so far hasn’t been mastering any machinery or cutting a straight edge on
a bunker with a whipper snipper, it’s been finding herself as the only woman on the team.
“I’m literally the only girl at work,” she says. And Cowan isn’t alone in that challenge. In Australia, females make up 4 percent of the turf industry. That’s one woman for every 25 greenkeepers in the country. “There’s not many challenges, but I am a minority in the industry,” Cowan says.
Despite lacking female leadership, the team at Kooringal and their members have their full support behind their newest recruit. “All the guys are so supportive. They know what I’m capable of and they know I’m there and I’m willing to learn.”
And Cowan knows she’s not alone in facing the challenge of a male-dominated industry. Taking part in John Deere’s Women in Turf Program in 2025, she has met other women in her line of work. The program provides valuable work experience and the opportunity to make connections. Cowan has met other women in the industry and is being mentored by Geraldine O’Callaghan, the superintendent across town at Sandringham Golf Links.
“Geraldine has been such a great mentor and she’s been helping me with small things these past few months, which has been really good,” Cowan says.
A CUT ABOVE
Also participating in the program is Emma Lewis, who is in the third year of her apprenticeship at Settlers Run Golf & Country Club in south-eastern Melbourne. Having made the switch from hairdressing after the COVID-19 lockdowns, Lewis is not looking back.
“It was hard, but I just eased myself into it and now I love it,” she says. “It’s so much better than hairdressing. Being outside is amazing and I prefer the hours, too.
“I’m just loving it all. I love hopping on different machinery, it’s something you don’t see every day. I’m so glad I made that big jump and tried something new. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
At this year’s Webex Players Series tournament at Cobram Barooga, six women in the program provided a much-needed helping hand throughout the week. It’s the third straight year that participants in the program have combined learning new skills with assisting superintendent Terry Vogel and his staff to prepare the course for its showpiece competition. The partnership is proving beneficial for all experience levels.
“We really look forward to this week each year because the volunteers bring a big uplift in energy around the shed,” Vogel said. “They’ve each got their own unique set of skills and experiences, so we try to pair them up with our guys based on that and make sure everyone gets a chance to experience the different jobs – whether it’s greens mowing, changing holes, raking bunkers, etc.”
Vogel believes promoting women in the workforce is essential as the industry struggles with staff shortages.
“Labour is a big issue in the golf industry, so recruiting more people into the industry is crucial. The problem is the career is often not promoted to females, so we’re missing out on a big opportunity. This program is a huge positive in promoting greenkeeping and encouraging more women to join.”
And the connections made at the event remain strong. The Melbourne-based participants often head back to visit Vogel and the team. Like any career, networking strengthens all aspects of the industry.
While there’s still much to learn, Cowan is eager to continue to improve her skills. Seeing a pathway in the industry and having role models, she has her sights set on one day being a superintendent or foreman at a course. Maybe then she will be allowed to help her dad with the lawn at home.
“To be honest, I’ve never actually mowed a lawn because my dad doesn’t let me touch the lawn,” she says. “So I’ve never pushed a walk-behind mower in my life, but that’s OK – I’ll just let Dad
do that.”
Does Cowan have any words of advice for other women who might be considering a career change?
“If you love the outdoors and you don’t know what you want to do, then definitely look into greenkeeping,” she says. “The sunrises are the best part, especially in the summer.”
Working in nature everyday definitely has its perks, and despite the 4:30am alarm and a schedule unlike any of her friends, Cowan wouldn’t have it any other way.
For women in the workforce, the push now is to keep talented individuals in the turf industry, and to encourage more to join. Green is good, and some would say even better than gold.
