Richard Milko III

@through_the_keepers_eye on IG

Career Change Advisor

TGC Note: For our first team advisor introduction we are heading to Massachusetts to meet our man Richard. You've read how Kyle rose the ranks through his younger years. Now, Richard is here to tell you that there is more than one way to come into this industry and start succeeding with a bang. Ask around and see if you know anyone who started somewhere else. If you are hungry for accomplishment, your line if work will undoubtedly be demanding. Why not put your energy into something that you truly care about?

Alright, first one on the tee….

My name is Richard Milko III and I am currently the Second Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at The Woods Hole Golf Club. We are a 6,230 Yard, Par 71 course, climbing the ranks in one of the most passionate, diverse and competitive golf states in America. Our Cape Cod course has views of both Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound, dramatic elevation changes, glacial exposed boulders, and rolling hills of fescue. WHGC is known to have the ability to humble greatest of golfers on a given day, due to our impeccable and notoriously fast greens.

I'm lucky to call this place home and grateful to take in postcard-worthy views while keeping the course in elite playing condition. I can say without hesitation that I love what I do for a living! ...But dialing in the self-proclaimed "Best Approaches on Cape Cod" wasn't always exactly what I wanted to do for a living. My golf course turf journey started in 2019, but I feel like we should probably start a bit further back than that…

My first job that wasn't (oddly enough) mowing lawns in my neighborhood in New Jersey, was washing dishes at a restaurant called The Clam Hut, just two towns away from home. It was a waterfront, dock & dine type of place where you'd get the best old school baked seafood dinner on one of those hotter than hell steel plates with the wooden holders. It was 1998 and I figured it was a great way to make some extra cash. Little did I know that this would be the first step of a nearly 20-year career in Culinary Arts.

Between my freshman and sophomore years of high-school, my family took a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit some family friends, which somewhere along the way, unveiled a job offer that my dad couldn't refuse. So my entire family loaded up and settled in a town called Westwego. I got a job at the local Outback Steakhouse and the culinary route marched onward. I had previously considered and entertained the idea of possibly becoming a lawyer, since I enjoyed being on my high school mock trial team. Upon realizing how incredibly complex and competitive law school was, however, I decided culinary was my route. My family moved back to New Jersey in 2002, and I enrolled in my local university culinary program not long after.

Culinary School was simply awesome. Outside of recipes, our chefs would teach us dedication to the craft, discipline to consistency, and respect for not only what we are preparing, but also who we are preparing it for. These lessons would quickly become the values I brought into the workplace. I continued my climb until 2016 when the burn out set in. The restaurant industry is a “chew you up and spit you out” style industry and it was my turn to exit. I bounced around for a few years doing different jobs but that's all they were: jobs. None lit my internal fire the way culinary had.

In the winter of 2019, I answered an ad for a groundskeeper gig at a golf course about 30 minutes south of where I was living in Manasquan, New Jersey. I had been landscaping with my father-in-law for a few seasons at the time and enjoyed doing the tasks. The design element and precision of residential landscaping reminded me of plating and executing dishes.

The next season, I was able to begin working at Manasquan River Golf Club and my turf career was officially underway! By the winter of 2021 I was enrolled in the Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management School, diving head first into Turf Science and all the careers it had to offer. I was intrigued about where turf could take me. My wife, Morgan, and I knew that we didn't necessarily have to stay in New Jersey for the rest of our lives, so exploring different stadiums and golf clubs became a bit of a nightly hobby for us. I'd show her different listings on TurfNet and say “After Rutgers, a job like this is 100% attainable.”

In May of 2022, we received some unexpected news. Our landlord was not going to renew our lease and we only had a few more months left in our current home. Bummer, yes, tragedy, perhaps not... Since we had been considering a change like this, after the initial shock wore off, I began to apply to job ads and one actually reached back out: Woods Hole. In September '22, we moved into our rental home on Cape Cod as my Massachusetts golf journey began! One "Golf Course Master Plan Project" (Winter ‘23-‘24) and a UMASS Winter School later, we're pretty much caught up to present day.

Now that we've got most of the backstory out of the way I'm excited to advise on a topic like Career Change. I appreciate the opportunity to carry this flag with the TGC Team, but here's the thing….I'm no expert. And I think that's EXACTLY why I have so much to offer on this issue.

As the Career Change Advisor, my hope is to provide information, stories and real life experiences to assist you as you find a way into your career, be it your first or most recent one. I want to show you the snags I ran into and answer the insurmountable questions I wish I would have known to ask. I will also touch on topics like mentorship, what might make a career in turf best for you, and what it takes to bring your career to a new state.

If you are considering entering into the world of turf, congratulations. It is an incredible industry that has many different avenues to offer you and a network of people that is both close-knit and top-notch. If you are reading this and looking to leave Turf, I hope some of the lessons I share are able to help you on your journey.

I know that changing careers can be challenging. But I also know that its something that can be done!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. My social media page is @through_the_keepers_eye on Instagram, I can also be reached through the contact us page, and I invite you to reach out with any questions or comments before season 1 of the TGC Advisors comes to a close!

Until Next Time,

Richard Milko III