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Creating the drive to succeed photo by Jim Craven John Fox mows the rough at the Veterans Affairs Domiciliary's golf course, where veterans are being trained in turf management. Golf course management puts veterans on firm ground By Jim Davis of the Mail Tribune WHITE CITY -- Andrew Favors has never played golf, but the game could hold a key to his future. The 48-year-old resident at the Veterans Affairs Domiciliary is taking a "turf maintenance program," learning how to take care of golf course greens in the hopes of eventually starting his own landscaping business. "I want to learn the whole nine yards," Favors said. "So I know exactly what I'm doing when I get my own business." Working on the nine-hole golf course at the facility, Favors is one of a handful of Dom residents in the program offered jointly by the VA and Rogue Community College. The five-year-old program has placed all 36 of its graduates in jobs on golf courses, cemeteries and other landscaping businesses from the Rogue Valley to Florida. "Our goal is for all these gentlemen and women to get a job," said George Andries Jr., the Dom's director. The unique turf maintenance program is not only helping people like Favors find jobs, but it is also keeping the course open for veterans. Veterans at the Domiciliary pay $1 to golf and veterans in the area pay $5 to play. There were about 30 golf courses at VA medical facilities around the country, most of them just nine-hole courses. They were built after World War II to provide patients with physical exercise. In 1996, the Department of Veterans Affairs cut off taxpayer financing for all of the VA golf courses. "Some (golf courses) shut down," said Michael J. O'Malley, coordinator of substance-abuse and vocational rehabilitation services at the Dom. "Some others had nonprofit organizations take them over." At three golf courses -- one in Ohio, one in California and the one in White City -- the golf courses continued with the facilities incorporating the courses' maintenance into employment skills training. While the veterans are recovering from substance abuse or mental disabilities or trying to get on their feet after being homeless, they can take work training programs including turf maintenance. RCC took part in the maintenance program, offering night classes for 18 hours worth of credits on subjects from irrigation to plant health. The program lasts for nine months. After the program is completed, the participants get a certificate from RCC. They also will have earned a state license to use pesticides. And they get invaluable on-the-job experience. Troy Bowker works at the Dom as a gardener and supervises the golf course crew, most of whom start in July. "I get a new group of people every year and most of them have never set foot on a golf course," Bowker said. By the time they leave, Bowker said, they will have learned how to take care of the different lawns of a golf course, fix sprinkler heads and use equipment such as mowers and backhoes. Favors, who came to the Dom from Sacramento, said he originally came to the facility to recover from a substance abuse problem. That's when he found out about the program. "I'm learning a lot, and the people that I work with, they're teaching us everything we need to learn," Favors said. Ernest E. Jackson, 51, who came from Seattle, wants to take the skills he's learning on the golf course and get a job working at either the city of Seattle or with King County. "It's a good program," Jackson said. "I'm glad it's here. I'm hoping things come up, because of what I'm learning here." Richard Henderson, 43, who came from Carson City, Nev., said he has worked in farm labor most of his life. "I want to get on the other end of the shovel," Henderson said. "I thought it would be great if I could be a manager instead of the laborer." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA