HGTC professor Granger selected to work 41st Ryder Cup

Horry-Georgetown Technical College Golf & Turf Management Program professor Charles Granger will be putting his lessons into practice the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2 when he works the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

Granger has been selected to work on the agronomy staff of Hazeltine superintendent Chris Tritabaugh, whom he met while both were working the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky.

Granger, 43, is one of just 30 on the staff who reside outside Minnesota, and he and Frank Rossi of Cornell are the only two educators on the staff.

“It’s pretty neat. It’s a huge honor for me to go up there and be a part of Chris’ team and be able to represent the superintendents in this area,” Granger said. “It’s only once every four years in the United States, and it’s easy to argue it might be the best golf event in the world. For team play you can’t compare it.”

Granger hasn’t been assigned duties yet, but expects to handle data collection including green Stimpmeter, firmness and moisture readings.

He has taught at HGTC since January 2014 after teaching a couple years at Vincennes University in Indiana. Granger graduated from HGTC in 1994 and worked on the maintenance staffs at Wild Wing Plantation, Man O’War and Wizard before earning a bachelor’s degree at Tennessee Tech and master’s degree at Iowa State.

At the Ryder Cup, he’ll reunite with superintendents he knows from around the world, including Paul Jenkins of the United Kingdom.

“I get to run back into people internationally I’ve made relationships with at other tournaments, and isn’t that what the Ryder Cup’s all about?” Granger said. “That’s what makes the whole event great.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 10:08 PM with the headline "HGTC professor Granger selected to work 41st Ryder Cup."