Two U of A horticulture, landscape and turf science majors have been named inaugural recipients of the Garland Tynes Memorial Scholarship, the Arkansas State Golf Association recently announced.

Will Green, from St. Louis, and Derrick Olsbo, from Neosho, Missouri, are both in the turf sciences program in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and will be recognized at the Arkansas Golf Course Superintendents Association meeting in October at Shadow Valley Country Club in Rogers.

Green has worked at Bethpage State Park Golf Course in New York and Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, and this summer interned at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Olsbo has worked at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club in Fayetteville and interned this summer at The Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas.

"I am honored to be chosen as a recipient of the inaugural Garland Tynes scholarship and would like to personally thank the Tynes family and the ASGA for their support of turfgrass students at the University of Arkansas," Green said in the ASGA release. "My passion for turfgrass has led me to meet some of the nicest and most selfless people that I know today, and I am very grateful to be supported by such generous and thoughtful people."

"I would like to say thank you very much for this generous gift toward my education, and this will be appreciated for a long time, knowing the ASGA and Tynes family chose to help me accomplish my goal of getting a turf management degree," Olsbo said. "I am honored to be one of the inaugural recipients of the Garland Tynes Memorial Scholarship."

Tynes, who served the membership at Pine Bluff Country Club for 45 years as golf course superintendent before retiring in 2019, was tragically killed in December 2021 returning from a hunting trip with good friend John Simmons. Garland and Kathy Carey Tynes were married in 1975 and have two daughters, Rachel Jett of Heber Springs and Rebecca East of Benton.

Kathy, Rachel and Rebecca worked with the ASGA in suggesting a scholarship be established for recipients who want to study turfgrass management with plans of becoming a golf course superintendent.

"Student numbers in turf are on the rise, which is good for us and the game of golf," said Mike Richardson, professor in the Department of Horticulture and a researcher and scientist with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture. "Thanks to the ASGA and the Tynes family. These are very deserving students and the scholarships could not be a nicer way to honor Garland."

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.