Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is one of the largest community colleges in California. The campus sits on 420 rolling acres in Walnut, California, located on the eastern edge of the greater Los Angeles area. Mt. SAC offers both an associate degree in Park and Sports Turf Management, as well as a Sports Turf Management certificate option
The Park and Sports Turf Management degree is part of Mt. SAC’s comprehensive Agricultural Sciences Program. Students learn how to design, install and manage irrigation systems; set up and implement fertilizer and pest management programs; design and properly install a complete landscape; and properly identify and maintain trees, shrubs and turfgrasses. In addition, students learn about personnel management, budgeting and other management topics.
This Sports Turf Management certificate program is designed to provide skills required for students interested in employment at golf courses, racetracks, athletic fields and stadiums, and other high-use turf areas. All courses are applicable for degree requirements in Ornamental Horticulture, Park and Sports Turf Management, Equipment Technology, and Integrated Pest Management.
“What’s unique to our community college is that we have a real ag department. We have a nursery that’s for production, wholesale, commercial with students and a couple full-time staff,” said Chaz Perea, Ph.D., professor of Horticultural Science, and co-chair of Agriculture Science. “That acts as the living laboratory for our horticulture program. We have a nursery, demonstration garden, equine, livestock, sheep, cattle.”
According to Perea, within the Ag Science department, Mt. SAC has registered vet technology, animal science and horticulture – all of which are career technical education (CTE) programs focused on job skills, industry connections, and building community.
“People assume we have a large turf program within our within our horticulture department, but we don’t,” said Perea. “Brian [Scott] teaches AGOR 39 Turfgrass Production and Management, and I teach AGOR 40 Sports Turf Management. That’s it. We have eight or nine turf plots and we have a small Wiffle ball field that we use as our lab space. Then we go out onto campus to get our hands on with the grounds crew at Mount SAC.”
Dr. Kent W. Kurtz Memorial Stadium is the Wiffle ball field and living laboratory at Mt. SAC. The field’s namesake was an industry pioneer, professor at Cal Poly Pomona, and mentor to Mt. SAC’s Brian Scott.
“It’s very small field, but we use the heck out of it,” said Perea.
“Most of our classes in our horticulture department have a lab and a lecture component,” he added. “So you’ll be in class for two hours, and the lab is approximately three hours. If we go short on lecture, we’ll go long our lab and vice versa, but we try for 50/50. We want students to touch the tools, use them, break them; misapply things, apply things correctly – all of the above. We want them to do that in class, so when they go out to a job interview, they have no problem.”
According to Perea, most students at Mt. SAC commute from somewhere in Los Angeles County, and most already work in the landscape or turf industry. Adding Mt. SAC to their resume shows they are getting hands-on job skills. Typically, students have been working in industry and find out that Mt. SAC offers classes for irrigation, IPM and other skills needed for their job.
“They come to us and then they’ll generally go up one position after another,” he said. “Their pay and quality of life will increase while they’re getting a certificate or associate degree with us.”
Mt. SAC’s certificate program consists of five to six courses (three units apiece), then tree care, nursery, integrated pest management, and park and sports turf science, as well as classes such as plant propagation and soil science. For the associate degree, there are 16 core courses plus general ed classes.
Perea, Scott and Jennifer Hinostroza are the three full-time teachers, and they teach five to six different classes year round. In addition, the Horticulture department has several adjunct professors who are industry professionals – including directors of horticulture, golf course superintendents, tree specialists and more.
In terms of career paths for Mt. SAC students, as mentioned, many are already in the landscape or sports field industry when they enroll at Mt. SAC. Students are active in arboriculture, landscape maintenance, nursery, indoor plants, golf courses, sports turf, grounds maintenance and more.
“People in the industry know that if students come from Mount SAC, you can bet they’re going to have some skills,” said Perea. “Then there is SFMA, which is huge for us.”
Perea is a Mt. SAC alumnus who competed on the Mt. SAC turf team and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, MBA and Ph.D. As a student, Perea helped the Mt. SAC turf team to multiple Student Challenge wins; and as a professor and coach has gone on to lead the team to continued success.
At the 2025 SFMA Conference Student Challenge, Mt. SAC became the first team to sweep first, second and third place. In addition to winning the 2025 two-year competition in the Student Challenge, Mt. SAC won in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. And since the two-year competition began in 2007, Mt. SAC has had at least one team finish in the top three in all but three of those years.
“The turf team is interesting,” said Perea. “I hand select the students. I need to see their academic work and their ability to work in a dynamic group. A lot of our students in the Student Challenge have never taken a turf class. I personally tutor these teams in person every two weeks, and that’s how we prep for it. Through turf team we’ll have someone working at a nursery, someone working indoor house plants, someone working on a golf course, someone doing landscape installation, someone doing IPM recommendations.”
Students who join the Mt. SAC turf team have performed at a high level academically and socially within their peer group and also exhibit niche skills, such as being strong at plant identification.
“I’m generally looking for someone who has really high reading comprehension, and can read through multiple-choice questions,” said Perea. “Then I’m always looking for a combination of guys and girls on the same team. Our students don’t get credit for this and don’t get paid for it. You get something if you win, and you get to add that to your resume. When they’re done, students who were on turf team have long-lasting social connections. It’s a growth-oriented experience, and unlike any other experience they will have.”
Perea added that the opportunity SFMA provides through Student Challenge is incredible.
“I’m so happy every year that the students get to come for this and the experience of the conference,” he said. “SFMA has been providing an incredible event for us to learn and grow for a long time. I’m just super grateful.”
For more information about Mt. San Antonio College, visit https://www.mtsac.edu/horticulture/