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Olds College students celebrate top 10 finish in International Turf Bowl

Feb 26, 2018 | 6:55 AM

OLDS- Four Olds College students ventured to San Antonio, Texas recently to participate in the Turf Bowl.

The skills and knowledge based competition is for undergraduates in Turfgrass related programs.

The Olds College team, included fourth year Bachelor of Applied Science – Golf Course Management students Robert Balcom, Fergus Butt, Michael Davis and Andre Lens.

The team finished in an impressive 8th place.

Auburn University, took home first place in the competition.

“Attending the conference in San Antonio was a great networking and educational experience,” states Turf Bowl team member Rob Balcom. “Everyone put in a tremendous amount of time and effort in to preparing for the exam, and it shows in our result. Finishing in the top 10 in the Turf Bowl was a great way to end an already amazing experience.”

The Turf Bowl is knowledge and skills based competition that evaluates the student’s expertise in areas that are essential to Golf Course Superintendents and Managers.

The exam features a written case study, as well as a wide variety of multiple choice, short answer and identification questions covering agronomy, business and financial management.

“The Olds College team put in countless hours of preparation work outside of the classroom,” Faculty Advisor Jason Pick remarked. “They worked together for months to prepare, and I think their dedication is reflected in their results.”

The Turf Bowl featured 53 teams from 28 post-secondary institutions, most of which came from the United States.   

(Gary McKinnon)