Three Awarded College Scholarships by GCSAA for Writing

The Environmental Institute for Golf has named Mark Brotherton, Jon Trappe and Patrick McCullough as winners of the 2008 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Student Essay Contest.

Open to GCSAA members who are undergraduate or graduate students pursuing degrees in turfgrass science, agronomy or any field related to golf course management, the GCSAA Essay Contest accepts entries with a focus on golf course management. The scholarship funding is provided by The Environmental Institute for Golf through the Robert Trent Jones Endowment.

Judges from the GCSAA scholarship committee select winners to receive scholarships and the first place entry may be published or excerpted in the association's official publication, GCM.

Brotherton, from Oak Ridge, N.J., and a fourth-year undergraduate student at Penn State University, won the first place scholarship of $2,000 for his essay: "How Well Do You Know Your Topdressing Sand?"

Trappe, from Fayetteville, Ark., is a first-year graduate student at the University of Arkansas. He earned the second place grant of $1,500 for his paper: "Implications of Genetically Modified Turfgrasses."

McCullough, from Hoboken, N.J., and a graduate student at Rutgers University, claimed the third place award of $1,000 for his writing: "Roughstalk Bluegrass Control: Do New Herbicides Offer Long-Term Management Solutions in Cool-Season Turf?"

The Environmental Institute for Golf is the philanthropic organization of GCSAA and is a collaborative effort of the environmental and golf communities, dedicated to strengthening the compatibility of golf with the natural environment. The Institute concentrates on delivering programs and services involving research, education and outreach that communicate the best management practices of environmental stewardship on the golf course. For more on The Institute, visit http://www.eifg.org/. For more information about the GCSAA, visit http://www.gcsaa.org/.