History
The OSU Turfgrass Club is a student led organization, founded in 1994, that is designed to further the members’ education in the turfgrass industry. The members are a close group of students who have selected the Turf Management option within the Horticulture major. Most of the students enjoy the game of golf and want to become golf course superintendents, while other students have an interest in becoming athletic field managers, or landscapers. The club is open to any student who feels they would fit into these categories.
Purpose
The purpose of the club is to increase the student members’ practical knowledge of the turfgrass industry, to provide opportunities to meet people working in the turfgrass industry, and to assist in the process of finding internships, summer jobs, and permanent employment. In addition, the club facilitates student participation in regional and national associations such as the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association (OGCSA), the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), the Oregon Sports Turf Managers Association (OSTMA), and the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association (OLCA). Most importantly, we strive to enhance Oregon State University’s reputation as a national leader in the turfgrass industry.
Club Meetings
The Turf Club meets five times each term, for a total of 15 meetings throughout the year. The club generally conducts meetings every other Wednesday, and are held at 6pm in ALS 4000, right before the Ag. Exec. meetings. Industry professionals are invited to speak to the club from not only Oregon, but internationally as well. This year we have already hosted a former Oregon State University Turf Management alumni that owns and operates a turf consulting business in Asia. These speakers provide first-hand experience about the industry and offer valuable advice to our members. The meetings do vary sometimes based upon our guest speakers’ schedules. On Thursday, February 16th we are hosting Mike Turner, Superintendent of The Reserve Golf Course and Vineyards. It is a common occurrence for turf club members to meet a superintendent at one of these meetings and set themselves up with a summer internship.
Events
Each winter term the Turf Club is in attendance for the most important meeting in the turfgrass industry, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America National Educational Conference. This year’s conference is February 27th through March 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Around 6,000 industry representatives, professionals, professors, and students attended the conference last year. This event consists of over 60 educational seminars and 550 exhibitors that provide access to the most current information, and technologies, related to turfgrass management.
The annual “Turf Bowl”, an industry sponsored and publicized event, allows turf students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by competing against other student teams from across the nation. Last year, 320 students, on 87 teams, from 39 colleges and universities competed in the Turf Bowl. This year’s competition is held on March 1st, and we will be fielding two teams that expect to do very well. The test consists of sections like grass, weed, insect, and disease identification, as well as management strategies, general turfgrass questions and equipment knowledge.
More Information/Contact Information
Meeting information will be posted on the bulletin board in the Agricultural and Life Sciences Building, on the 4th floor near Room 4159.
The Turf Clubs website is beaverturf.com
Advisor – Rob Golembiewski, Ph.D. Turfgrass Specialist, golembir@hort.oregonstate.edu
President – Warren Gawlik, gawlikw@onid.orst.edu