The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) has awarded scholarship money to 22 college students as part of the GCSAA Scholars Program administered by The Environmental Institute for Golf.
The GCSAA Scholars Program, funded by the Robert Trent Jones Endowment, was developed to recognize outstanding students planning careers in golf course management. Winners were selected to receive scholarship awards based on the final ranking in the competition. Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized undergraduate program in a major field related to golf/turf management and be a GCSAA member. Undergraduate applicants must have successfully completed at least 24 credit hours or the equivalent of one year of full-time study in an appropriate major.
The first place winner of the competition, Aaron Johnsen, receives a $6,000 scholarship and is honored as the Mendenhall Award Winner. The second place winner in the competition, Jason Oliver, receives a $5,000 award and is designated as the recipient of the Allan MacCurrach Award. The MacCurrach Award is funded by the PGA Tour. Johnsen, a Woodbury, Minn., native, is a senior environmental horticulture major with an emphasis in turfgrass management at the University of Minnesota and Oliver, who hails from Portland, Ore., is a horticulture/golf course turf management major at Oregon State University scheduled to graduate in December. Both of them will also receive an all-expense paid trip to the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show this February in Anaheim, Calif.
Stephen Hicks (Massachusetts), Bradley Sladek (Texas Tech), Tim Christian (SUNY Cobleskill), William Overly (Kansas State), Corey Heasley (Rutgers), David Golembeski (Connecticut), Scott Martell (Penn State), Christopher Skvir (Rutgers), Blake Hertzog (Penn State) and Ian Gallagher (Ohio State) each were awarded stipends ranging from $1,500-$2,500.
Wesley Crompton (North Carolina State), David Camuso (Rhode Island), Michael Hardin (Clemson), Jon Trappe (Purdue), Adam Bogucki (Maryland), Jon Cancel (Cal Poly Pomona), Eric David (Michigan State), Anna Farre (Michigan State) and Concepcion Moreno Mena (Michigan State) won $500 each as Merit Winners.
Joaquin Berjano, an international student at Michigan State, was awarded a $2,000 Ambassador Scholarship by GCSAA as well. Earning a bachelor's degree in Forestry Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Berjano is a member of the Spanish Superintendents Association and is now working on his two-year turfgrass management degree at Michigan State while completing an internship at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, Mich