04/06/2007

Sports in brief

Beach Bums hire new groundskeeper

TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Beach Bums have added Chris Fahrner to their staff as head groundskeeper.

Fahrner comes to the Beach Bums after being manager of the grounds for the Oakland Athletics AAA affiliate Sacramento River Cats from 2004-2006.

A Michigan native, Fahrner earned his Bachelor's of Science in Turfgrass Management from Michigan State University before beginning a career working on baseball fields. Fahrner got his start with internships in Grand Rapids for the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2000, and then in Detroit for the Detroit Tigers in 2001 where he studied under current Tigers groundskeeper Heather Nabozny.

In the summer of 2002, Fahrner was named the head groundskeeper of the Class A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and moved on to become the head groundskeeper of the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds in 2003. Fahrner was supervisor of the entire athletic complex for the University of New Mexico in 2004.