The ISU Turf Club hit a hole in one at the 13th Annual Collegiate Turf Bowl in Anaheim, Calif. last month.

A team of four ISU students competed against 89 other teams from universities across the country in a three-hour test, placing first. The bowl was sponsored by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

The winning team consisted of Adam Hebbel, junior in horticulture; Bradley Johnson, junior in horticulture; Matt Klingenberg, senior in horticulture; and Mark Newton, junior in horticulture.

A total of 19 students from Iowa State participated in the competition, making up five teams.

The test included subjects relating to golf course management. The topics were financial management, human resources, an essay, visually identifying grasses and weeds, insects and diseases and an overall knowledge of turf grass management, said Marcus Jones, team coach and assistant superintendent at Veenker Memorial Golf Course.

The teams with the highest overall score on the test wins.

“The knowledge they need to do well in this test is the knowledge that they will need when they get their first job in the [golf course management] industry,” Jones said.

This is the fourth year Jones helped coach Turf Club members in preparation for competition.

“We hold structured study sessions starting right after Christmas break,” he said. “Although, a lot of students will start before that on their own time.”

Nick Christians, advisor to the Turf Club and university professor of horticulture, said the competition is a good learning tool for the students and faculty members.

“We can use the feedback we get from how the students perform to fine tune our curriculum,” Christians said. “We know what things to add to the curriculum and what to emphasize.”

Christians said the results of the competition can also be used to compare students.

“It gives us an objective measure of outcomes, we have a measure of how our students stack up against other universities,” Christians said.

Doing well in a competition like this also gives the university recognition, and can be used to recruit students, Christians said.

“It speaks highly of not only the students, but also the faculty that have taught the students over the years,” Jones said.