Alumni Updates

Alum Creates Turfgrass Scholarship

The Penn State Turfgrass Program thanks recent turf alum Ryan Hillert, who recently established the Hillert Family Turfgrass Scholarship at Penn State.

Alum Named Businessperson of the Year

Congratulations to Penn State Turf Alum Alan FitzGerald, who was recently named 2019 Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year by Golfdom Magazine !

Turf Students Receive GCSAA Scholarships

This year, The GCSAA Scholars Competition awarded scholarships to six Penn State Turf students. The GCSAA Scholars Competition is funded primarily by the Robert Trent Jones Endowment and is administered by the Environmental Institute for Golf, GCSAA’s philanthropic organization. Scholars Competition scholarships range from $500 to $6,000.

Daniel Allison, who hails from Greenville, PA, received the MacCurrach Award. It is named in honor of the late Allan MacCurrach, who became the PGA Tour’s first staff agronomist in 1974 and was the winner of GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1997. The PGA Tour funds the MacCurrach Award. Along with his scholarships, Allison will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2020 Golf Industry Show in Orlando.

Cody Sanders, Paul J. Baich, and Spencer H. Hoffman received the Scholars Award.

Kevan McDonald and Vikas K. Pandey received the Merit Award.

Penn State Junior Billy Covert Named 2019 Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Penn State junior Billy Covert has been named the 2019 recipient of the Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, an unrestricted $2,500 grant, supports a turf student with a passion for the game and honors Stanley J. Zontek, the former director of the USGA Green Section’s Mid-Atlantic Region. Zontek died after suffering a heart attack at age 63 in 2012.

Covert has already walked some of the same land as Zontek. A Penn State graduate, Zontek was based in suburban Philadelphia at the time of his death. Zontek worked diligently with superintendents to improve playing conditions in the golf-rich Philadelphia region, which extends into southern New Jersey and northern Delaware. Zontek’s Philadelphia and Penn State ties intrigued Covert as he composed his scholarship essay.

“I learned he’s very hard-working and he loved his craft. He prepped for major tournaments and worked with the research behind everything,” Covert says. “I’m going to try to work at the research, learning more of the science behind what we’re doing.”

Covert, a turfgrass science major with a 3.73 GPA, spent the bulk of his first two academic years completing core courses. He’s stoked about delving into the turfgrass science portion of the Penn State curriculum, which will include visits to the University Park research plots.

At Pine Valley, Covert works under longtime superintendent Rick Christian and receives hands-on training from assistant William Rocco. Covert averages 60 hours per week at the course and his bosses incorporate interns into a variety of assignments and projects, including spraying, mowing, irrigating, fertilization and sod work.

“I have been very fortunate with my internships,” he says. “It has been awesome to work for John Gosselin and Rick Christian. You learn a lot with them, especially from their assistants who are very helpful with guiding you.”

The past two summers have reaffirmed the reasons Covert pursued a turf career at a young age. And when he peers into his long-term future, he already sees a geographic fit. “I want to end up in the Philly area,” he says.

Billy Covert