Marvin H. Ferguson was born in Buda, TX on June 16, 1918. After graduating high school as a multi-sport athlete (football, basketball, baseball and track), Marvin attended Texas A&M College. He graduated in 1940 with a B.S. in Agronomy and soon thereafter began his first job, laboring in the fields of the old Arlington Turf Gardens, in Arlington, Virginia. Here the USGA and the USDA carried on cooperative studies in turfgrass research. It soon became necessary to move hundreds of grass selections from the old gardens (the Pentagon was to be built on this site) to the new USDA Plant Industry Station, in Beltsville, Maryland, and Ferguson was to select the specimens to be saved and transferred. And thus began the career of the man who would become one of the most recognized and respected professionals in the field of turfgrass management.

In the decade following his college graduation, Marvin married, had two children (Judith and Mark), completed a year of military service as a Medical Corpsman in the U.S. Navy, continued his work evaluating various grass and soil types and, in 1950, earned his Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Ferguson then returned to his home in Bryan, TX as a Professor of Agronomy at his alma mater. In 1953, while still teaching and counseling graduate students, Marvin began working with the USGA Green Section. At his Texas A&M office, he built his own laboratory equipment and established procedures for testing soil/sand mixtures for their effects on putting green construction and performance. He built the first USGA putting green at Texarkana Country Club in 1959. The following year he published the USGA's "Method of Putting Green Construction" which has stood the tests of time and continues to serve as the foundation for putting green construction in the U.S. and around the world. During the 15 years he spent working with the USGA, the "father of the green construction method" also became known for his work in demonstrating the damaging effects of spiked golf shoes on putting green turf.

In 1969, Dr. Ferguson announced that he was beginning the next phase of his career as president of Agri-Systems of Texas, Inc. His new company was to design and build golf courses, conduct soil analysis and specialty turfgrass production, among other capabilities. Over the next 16 years, Marvin's company built 10 golf courses in Texas and surrounding states. He was elected to the American Society of Golf Course Architects and served on the Society's Research Committee.

Dr. Marvin H. Ferguson died suddenly on January 10, 1985, at the age of 66. Although his death was unforeseen, his success and his long-term impact on turf grass management were not.

Born: June 16, 1918, Buda, Texas

Died: January 10, 1985