The Bernhard Academy has announced the appointment of Sami Strutt as its new Education Director.
Strutt joins the Bernhard Academy – based in Suffolk, at the Bernhard and Company production factory – with a wealth of experience, having performed numerous roles in a 30-year tenure at BIGGA (British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association), most recently as the organisation’s chief operating officer.
Steven Nixon, Managing Director at Bernhard and Company, commented: “We’re delighted to be appointing Sami as our new Director of Education, in what is a really exciting period for the Bernhard Academy. There is absolutely no doubt that Sami has the experience and tools required to take the Bernhard Academy to the next level, as we continue to roll out new programmes and workshop opportunities around the globe.”
Sami Strutt added: “This opportunity is one that I never imagined would be made available to me, so it is one that I couldn’t turn down. The Bernhard Academy is proof of Bernhard and Company’s commitment and investment into enhancing the careers of greenkeepers and sports turf professionals, from those with decades of experience, all the way to those who are just starting out. The Bernhard Academy is providing something really positive to the turf industry, so I’m really excited to be part of that.”
Strutt will take the reins at the Bernhard Academy in spring 2024. Current Director of Education for the Bernhard Academy, Craig Haldane, will be taking a step back from running day-to-day operations at the end of January.
Steven Nixon added: “We are very excited to welcome Sami to the team. She will bring an enormous amount of experience in developing educational programmes for the greenkeeping community from her many years at BIGGA.”
The Bernhard Academy is located at Bernhard and Company’s factory in Haverhill, with further satellite training facilities around the UK at Moortown Golf Club, Royal Norwich, and Gleneagles. Strutt and her team will continue to develop new training modules, to complement the fantastic range of existing programmes designed to help greenkeepers, equipment managers, and turf professionals take their performance to the next level.
The Bernhard Academy recently opened an all-new programme of educational courses, that are now available for booking at its three sites around the UK, via the new Bernhard Academy website: www.bernhardacademy.co.uk
The new courses offer valuable opportunities for attendees to take away real-world skills and solutions that can enhance performance of their turf maintenance facility on a daily basis. The new programme includes workshops that fall under two categories: Management or Technical. Both categories will cover a range of essential topics to help achieve success in turf maintenance.
The Bernhard Academy workshops – ‘Grinding Perfection and Cutting Unit Setup’ – available to book as part of BIGGA’s Continue to Learn programme at BTME 2024, were among the first to totally sell-out due to extremely high demand.
Bernhard Academy appoints new Education Director
