Mitch Leininger joins USGA Green Section as new East Region agronomist
Mitch Leininger joins the USGA Green Section as an East Region agronomist, where he will work closely with courses in Florida and the Southeast. A native Floridian with extensive golf maintenance experience, Leininger understands the unique dynamics of the Florida golf scene and is looking forward to serving the area.
After a career in logistics management, Leininger found a love of agronomy and a passion for golf course maintenance in 2008 when he started working at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club. While there, he had the opportunity to work and set up the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was influenced by PGA Tour agronomist Bland Cooper to pursue a career in turf maintenance. He obtained his Turfgrass Management Certificate from Penn State in 2011 and continued working his way up the ladder from assistant to senior assistant and then superintendent at the Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando.
Most recently, Leininger was the director of Executive golf maintenance for five years for the world’s largest golf-centric 55+ community, The Villages. While there, he oversaw the maintenance and agronomy of 36 executive golf courses that accommodate more than 2.5 million rounds of golf per year. Attributing much of his success to his friend and mentor Rickey Craig, Leininger notes that he has planned, budgeted and managed over a dozen full-course renovations. According to the USGA, Leininger’s agronomic and leadership experience, combined with his work ethic, will make him a great addition to the Green Section team.
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