PROFILE

By John Kmitta

All photos courtesy of John Mascaro and Turf-Tec International

Inventor . Innovator . Salesman . Educator . Industry advocate . All of these terms can be used to describe turfgrass industry pioneer Tom Mascaro .

Born near Philadelphia in 1915 to parents who had immigrated from Italy , Mascaro contracted polio at a young age , paralyzing his entire left side . He slowly regained mobility everywhere except his left leg .

Mascaro ’ s parents couldn ’ t afford expensive treatments or procedures . But when Tom was a teenager , they were able to get him into a program at a Temple University hospital that conducted free operations as a way of teaching students in the gallery . Doctors were able to connect tendons and muscle from the front of Tom ’ s leg to those in the back of his leg . The doctors advised exercise as a follow-up to his surgery , so Tom began taking on jobs involving manual labor and physical activities .

Tom ’ s father was involved in the mushroom business at the time . When the Great Depression hit , however , nobody could afford mushrooms , and Tom , who had heard that golf courses used spent mushroom soil for topdressing , went to work shoveling and delivering loads of mushroom soil to golf courses .

“ During the Depression , banks closed down and nobody had access to cash . However , when he delivered his first load of mushroom soil to a golf course , he received $ 50 cash ,” said Tom ’ s son John Mascaro , president of Turf-Tec International . “ He figured selling soil to golf courses was a pretty good business .”

26 SportsField Management | January 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com