Top Turf scholarship announced

Sean Purdy, from Kauri Cliffs Golf Course in Northland, has been awarded NZ Golf’s Top Turf scholarship.

The scholarship is fiercely contested by students working towards Otago Polytechnic’s New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Services (Sports Turf).

Based at our Cromwell campus, it is the only full-time Sports Turf programme on offer in New Zealand.

The programme provides a balance of theoretical and practical studies. Learners benefit from the close proximity to world renowned sports facilities, as well as an outdoor turf training facility that has been established specifically to cater for this qualification.

For example, Otago Polytechnic Horticulture lecturer John Prunnell and Year 1 students will head to Millbrook Resort, near Queenstown, on 27 February, when they will help prepare the course for the showpiece event on our national golf calendar – the ISPA Handa New Zealand Open, to will be held on 1-4 March. 

Meanwhile Year-2 students like Sean continue their internships at some of the country’s most prestigious turf venues.

For more information about our Sports Turf programme, visit