Past Scholarship Recipients
Ava Veith
Colson Bates
Colson Bates
Ava is currently a rising senior student-athlete on the Virginia Tech varsity women’s soccer team who is majoring in systems biology with a minor in horticulture. It wasn't until the summer of 2022 that she discovered not only her passion for the turfgrass industy, but how her studies can relate to her experiences as an athlete. She has enjoyed mowing, sprigging, doing projects in the greenhouse, spraying trials, flying drones, listening to presentations, and helping out her colleagues whenever she can.
Her own research, however, is focused on how diseases and other abnormalities on turfgrass athletic fields impact player safety. With the help of Dr. David McCall and the members of his lab, Ava has collected large amounts of data on local athletic fields that contain the common spring dead spot (SDS) disease or winter injury. Using equipment such as a soil moisture meter, Clegg hammer, rotational resistance tester, ball rebound device, and soil profiler, they have been able to quantify the affects of SDS and winter injury on player safety and field performance. Ava has personally played on fields with these conditions, and she loves how she can translate her experiences as a player to her research.
Combining her work from the summer of 2022 with her efforts this summer, Ava is looking to get a head start on her thesis as she will be beginning graduate school at Virginia Tech upon completion of her undergraduate degree in May of 2024. She hopes her findings can help encourage proper management of all athletic fields and ultimately create the safest playing surface for athletes everywhere.
Colson Bates
Colson Bates
Colson Bates
Last year when Colson applied for and won the Jim Claxton Scholarship, he was a student at Penn State University in the 2-year Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Colson made his way to Pennsylvania for school in hopes of becoming a golf course superintendent. He completed an intense 6-month internship at The Links at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, CA as a part of his school program.
Colson graduated from Penn State this past March with the highest distinction. He also won the Outstanding Student Award for the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program. This award is presented to students who are judged to be outstanding "all- around" students. The recipients are individuals who are strong academically, who have demonstrated leadership potential, and have the interest and the persistence to achieve their goals.
Colson is working back out west as an Assistant-in-Training at Monterey Peninsula County Club in Pebble Beach, CA, where he has been since graduating from Penn State in March. So far, he is really enjoying the experience and learning a lot.