HCS Turf Students San Diego Success...

March 3, 2022
OSU Turf Bowl Teams A & B

OSU Turfgrass Students were able to compete & win big in the GCSAA Collegiate Turf Bowl hosted in San Diego earlier this year!

The turf bowl is a knowledge test that teams of 4 from participating schools take over a 3-hour period during the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Conference and Show. It’s quite comprehensive and very competitive. There have been as many as 90 teams competeing in previous years. This year 44 teams competed.

Our “A” team took home 3rd place (which ties our 2005 team for all-time best performance) & our “B” team got 11th place, missing the top 10 by only 1 point. The OSU Turf Clubs Faculty Advisor Dr. Gardner summed up the thrill of the moment: “It was an honor to see our students awarded 3rd place by outgoing GCSAA President Mark Jordan, who is a former OTF board president and long a supporter of the OSU turfgrass science program.”

Team Members

Team A: 3rd Place

Daniel Russell

Casey Williams

Patrick Andrews

Parker Baney

Team B: 11th Place

Chris George

Christian Crossmock

Stephen Bichsel

Austin Gruber


The Two Turf Teams Pose Smiling on the BeachMembers of both OSU Turf Bowl teams taking a well earned break on the warm beaches of San Diego!

Get the inside scoop on the GCSAA Turf Bowl + Conference from Parker Baney & Patrick Andrews:

favorite part of the competition

Parker: “The identification section because we had to identify many samples of grasses, weeds, insects, diseases, and seeds. I also enjoyed the math section of the exam.” 

Patrick: “My favorite part of the competition was competing with other schools. Also beating Penn state was fun too.”

How was the conference overall?

Parker: “Overall, the conference was awesome. It was very cool to talk to industry professionals, hear about and see the new technology within the industry as well as talk to other students from across the country. It was also fun to network with people from all aspects of the industry across the country.”

Patrick: The conference was very fun and informative, the turf club was able to get tours of show booths to learn about new equipment and practices. Also, the conference was a great way to network and meet up with people you worked for in the past.”

How did you get interested in turf?

Parker: “I first became interested in turf when I started working on a golf course just a couple of years ago and decided to change my major because I enjoyed it so much.” 

Patrick: “I loved to work outside so I started working for my local golf course where the passion grew. My boss then told me about the ATI turf program where I attended for two years then wanted to broaden my knowledge and decided to do a 4-year program. From both programs, I was able to work at 4 different Golf Clubs in different parts of the country allowing me to network and meet new people. While also getting a great education from Ohio State.”

advice for students prepping for a competition

Parker: “Study everything with repetition. We studied a lot leading up to the competition and got some study help from industry professionals like Dr. Gardner, Brandon Stith and Nate McKinniss at Muirfield Village Golf Course.”

Patrick: “First, listen to class lectures. Second would be to ask people in the industry for help studying, we had many great people like Nate McKinniss from Muirfield and Brandon Stith from OTF both past students who helped us with studying."

 


Congratulations to all the competing teams & good luck on prepping for next years competition!

A special thank you to Parker Baney & Patrick Andrews for the photos.