2025 RISING STAR AWARDS C. J. BUCK
Buck spent the next three years leading the crew as the primary person in charge of the playing surfaces for the stadium and practice fields, including handling all purchasing and hiring decisions.
“ Managing non-overseeded bermudagrass in Philadelphia with no sub heat is something I’ m super proud of,” he said.“ I have every picture from every day throughout the year to show the good, the bad and the ugly. The team loved the surface and how well it played. That makes me happy.”
Buck added that he treats everyone he works with as he would want to be treated.“ I wanted to build them up to have the confidence to do something their own way, figure out better ways to do things and then trust them to go do the job.”
But midway through 2023, seeking more work-life balance, Buck began entertaining thoughts of other career opportunities. He mentioned this to some of his sales reps, and Eric Shilling of Harrell’ s suggested to Buck a career shift to sales. At the time, Harrell’ s didn’ t have any sales reps in the region with a sports turf background.
“ They liked the sports turf background because it was different than everybody else on the crew in in our region. I left the Union on December 31, 2023, and I’ ve been with Harrell’ s for 18 months. I’ m really enjoying it.”
The initial transition from being a practitioner to being in sales was challenging for Buck because he had enjoyed growing grass for more than a decade. But now he embraces his role helping others.
“ You’ re going from one locked-in scenario to five to eight different scenarios a day multiplied by five days a week,” he said.“ You just give them the best information you can and you know it’ s all in their hands at that point. You are there to be a voice and a sounding board.”
Buck ' s sales territory stretches from Central Park to Washington, D. C., and west to central Pennsylvania; and his clients include sports field and golf course managers, as well as a growing portfolio of lawn care companies.
“ It’ s about trying to stay ahead of the curve and looking for opportunities as well,” he said.“ If you’ re driving down the road and you see a lawn care business, you pull in, introduce yourself, and hand out your business cards like candy. Get your name out there, get the company’ s name out there, and be a source of solutions for folks.”
One of the biggest challenges Buck has faced in his career is that he is colorblind.
“ A lot of our day-to-day depends on assessing the health of turfgrass— drought stress, mower injury, disease, etc. And there are a lot of indicators that present early as different colors. It’ s frustrating because I physically can’ t see it,” he said.“ I’ m the first one to say that I am terrible at spotting drought stress because I just can’ t see the turf turning. A lot of it is leaning on the crew, having people around me, and explaining what they need to look for and how we can best prepare for things like that.”
As a sports field manager, Buck enjoyed the peacefulness of quiet days— especially during the summer months when he would arrive early on a Saturday morning to mow with no one else around.
“ And I’ m a big soccer fan, so every aspect of being in and around soccer every day— that’ s what I live and breathe,” he said.“ Just being around the game was a high point for me.”
Buck’ s favorite part of his new role is sharing advice that worked for him.
“ Every situation is different, so you don’ t know if it will translate 100 % to what they’ re doing,” he said.“ But
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