Students specializing in sports field and turf grass management showcased their skills last week in a national competition known as the Turf Bowl.
Those enrolled in the golf course management program through the university’s Institute of Applied Agriculture placed third in the competition, held
Feb. 11 in San Diego.
Sixty-two undergraduate teams competed as part of the annual Golf Industry Show, and about 240 students from 33 schools participated, including eight students from this university.
“It’s kind of an all-around test of your knowledge for anything that has to do with sports field and turf grass management,” said Scott Hebert, a second-year student in the golf course management program who placed third in the competition and won $1,000 along with Ian Patrician, Marvin Martinez and James Halley.
Students are given three hours to complete multiple-choice questions, short answers, identification questions and an essay. This exam ultimately covers 11 different components that golf course superintendents are responsible for managing, including soil fertility, weed identification, irrigation and turf grass mathematics, said Kevin Mathias, this university’s team coach and lecturer and coordinator for the golf and turf program.
“They are given four different scenarios that they have to be prepared to write on given 30 minutes,” Mathias said. “They don’t know until they open the packet and it shows what topic they have to write about.”
The IAA pays for the students to attend the conference; however, Mathias said the team will use the winning money to offset some of the travel costs.
“We’re proud of our IAA students,” IAA Director Glori Hyman wrote in an email. “They put in many long hours studying and reviewing for the competition.”
The students and Mathias have been working together since the fall. However, Mathias has been working with Turf Bowl participants at this university since 2000.
“Typically I will make an announcement to the different classes that may have students that have an interest, and then we have some meetings and talk about what’s required of them,” Mathias said. “If the student makes a commitment, they need to make an honest effort to prepare.”
Hebert said Mathias does a good job of sorting students based on the fields and areas in which they excel.
Mathias met with the participants over winter break and administered four “pretty extensive” practical exams that prepared the students for the competition.
“From that, they learn their weaknesses and try to strengthen them,” he said. “It’s kind of like a mock competition that I’m trying to get them ready for.”
Mathias’ team came in second place at the Turf Bowl last year, and Hebert said that he had believed his team would place within the top five this year.
“Dr. Mathias does a good job of preparing us,” Hebert said. “I think we did pretty well. We made him proud, so that’s all that matters.”
