Jeff Plotts retires as TPC Sawgrass Director of Golf Course Maintenance

Plotts, who also worked at TPC courses in Scottsdale and Memphis, will be replaced by Assistant Director Lucas Andrews

• Jeff Plotts has retired as the TPC Sawgrass Director of Golf Course Maintenance Operations after 10 years.
• Plotts was praised by players for the pristine condition of the Players Stadium Course during The Players Championship.
• His replacement will be Lucas Andrews, who served as his Assistant Director for the last seven years.

Jeff Plotts has retired as the TPC Sawgrass Director of Golf Course Maintenance Operations after nearly a quarter-century with the TPC Network and the last 10 at the TPC Sawgrass, where he led his staff in preparing the Players Stadium Course for The Players Championship. 

Plotts’ whose retirement was official on Oct. 8, is being replaced by his Assistant Director at the TPC Sawgrass, Lucas Andrews, a native of England who has been at the TPC Sawgrass for 16 years and has been in his current position for seven years. 

Plotts is a University of Georgia graduate who came to the TPC Sawgrass from the TPC Scottsdale in August of 2015. He oversaw conditioning of the Stadium Course under two challenging sets of circumstances, the final three years in May, and then the transition back to March. 

Each time, players raved about the conditions presented to them for the Tour’s marquee event. 

“Everything that Tour has done with [TPC] Sawgrass, just the whole experience with the golf course … it always looks so perfect, so perfectly manicured,” 2021 Players champion Justin Thomas said before the 2025 Players. 

Rory McIlroy, who went on to win his second Players, said the golf course kept pace with the increase of important the event carries to the Tour membership. 

“It seems like this tournament sort of gets bigger and better every year, conditioning of the golf course, the facilities,” he said. 

Jeff Plotts had an old-school approach

Much of that had to do with Plotts, who actually disdained some of the infrastructure available to him, such the Precision Air system that takes moisture out of the greens and pumps warm air through the sub-surface. 

Plotts would use it only under the direst of circumstances. 

“Mother nature knows best,” he said. “We’re supposed to adapt to her, not the other way around.”  

But Plotts also had to give resort guests a quality product the other 51 weeks of the year, on both the Stadium Course and the Dye’s Valley Course. 

TPC Sawgrass General Manager Matt Borocz said Plotts was instrumental in the growth of the resort courses and The Players. 

“We are sincerely grateful for Jeff’s hard work, dedication, and the many contributions he has made during his 10 years at TPC Sawgrass and over 23 years with the TPC Network,” Borocz said in a letter sent to the TPC Sawgrass membership. “His leadership has played a key role in enhancing our golf courses and shaping the evolution of both TPC Sawgrass and The Players.” 

Prior to his nine years at the TPC Scottsdale, Plotts worked at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea, the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., Bear’s Best of Atlanta and the Eagle Landing Country Club near Atlanta. He graduated from Georgia in 1989 with degrees in Environmental Science and Horticulture.

Lucas Andrews interned at St. Andrews, TPC Sawgrass

Andrews, a native of Portsmouth, England, graduated from the University of Guelph and completed internships at St. Andrews and the TPC Sawgrass before joining the latter after his graduation. 

“Lucas has been a valued member of our agronomy team,” Borocz said in his letter to the TPC Sawgrass membership. “His deep experience and commitment to excellence give us full confidence that he will continue to uphold the high standards expected.” 

The Players Championship will be March 12-15, 2026.