Iowa State Turf Bowl Natioanal Champion Fifth Year in a Row

AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University Turf Bowl Team is number one, again. For the fifth year in a row, Iowa State students won the national Collegiate Turf Bowl Competition trophy. This year also marks the seventh time in eight years that an ISU team has won the knowledge bowl. From left, Clint Crill, Travis Dykstra, Marcus Jones, Shane Brockhoff, Jacob Kocak and Nick Christians at the award presentation of the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America Turf Bowl Championship. Jones is the team's coach and Christians is an ISU horticulture professor and the Turf Club's adviser.Clint Crill of Corning, Travis Dykstra of Sibley, Shane Brockhoff of Hancock, seniors in horticulture, and Jacob Kocak of Jackson, Minn., a junior in horticulture, made up the team that captured the title. The students competed against 82 other teams in a three-and-half-hour test on soils, turfgrass species, diseases, weeds, insects, mathematics, human resources and financial management relating to golf course operations. "The victory is significant because it carries on the tradition of past students," said Marcus Jones, the team's coach. "We have had tremendous success in the Turf Bowl and the younger students are well aware of this and work hard to carry on the tradition." "The win also reflects well on the faculty, department and university," said Jones, who is in his third year as coach. "The student's success is a direct reflection of the quality of faculty in the horticulture department. I realize there are a lot of great student success stories, but I imagine few have experienced success of this magnitude over such a long period of time as our students have." The victory did not come easily Jones noted. Students prepare for the test on their own time and do not receive academic credit for participating. "The team has weekly study sessions after the first of the year, but many students begin studying on their own during the fall semester due to the large amount of information they are responsible for during the competition," he said. The win is important to the student's as well. "The material covered and the skills required on the turf bowl are similar to the skill set the students will need when entering the job market," Jones said. The competition was sponsored by the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America (GCSAA) at its Golf Industry Show Feb. 5 to 11 in Atlanta, Ga.