A team of Cal Poly Pomona students took second place last month in the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America’s Collegiate Turf Bowl Competition.
The team of Oscar Del Real, Sean McLaughlin, Kamrin Campbell and Mark Nakatsui scored 418 points to finish second. It’s the highest finish for any Cal Poly Pomona team in the Turf Bowl, and it came with a $2,000 prize.
A total of 62 teams from 33 different schools participated in the Feb. 11 competition, which was held at the Golf Industry Show in San Diego. A team from Penn State University won the contest, with teams from Auburn, Iowa State, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Michigan State University, Rutgers, and Penn State rounding out the top 10.
A second Cal Poly Pomona team of Eric Green, David Avila, Donald Quickly and Ashley Herman finished in 13th place.
“All of the students performed very well,” says Priti Saxena, a lecturer in the Department of Plant Science and the team’s adviser. “They worked really hard and studied really well.”
The competition tested the students’ knowledge of turf management, including irrigation, water and business management, weeds, diseases, insects and fungicides. It included an essay addressing a case study scenario; the 2nd place Cal Poly Pomona team had the highest score on the essay portion at 70 out of 75 possible points.