Michigan State student Dan Miller was named the winner of the Mendenhall Award scholarship.
The $6,000 award is part of the GCSAA Scholars Competition that provides financial assistance ranging from $500 to $6,000 to recognize "outstanding students working toward careers in golf course management or other related areas of the golf course industry" according to the GCSAA. The competition is funded by the Robert Trent Jones Endowment and administered by the GCSAA Foundation.
Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized undergraduate program in a major field related to turf management, have completed at least 24 credit hours or the equivalent of one year of full-time study of the appropriate major and be a GCSAA member.
Miller, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Michigan State, began working on a golf course during his fifth year of undergraduate studies. After five declared majors, he began working on the crew at Mystic Creek Golf Course and Banquet Center in Milford, Michigan under superintendent Tyler Cooper, who also is a Michigan State alumnus. He suggested the university's two-year turfgrass management program to Miller.
Miller entered the two-year program in 2024 and recently completed an internship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Miller has one year remaining in the two-year certificate program and is scheduled to graduate next spring.
"Winning the Mendenhall Scholarship solidifies the confidence I have in myself that I have found my path in life, and it gives me even more confidence and drive to be the best student and future professional I can be in this industry," Miller said. "I look forward to meeting and networking with as many people as I can at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show."
Other award winners:
Scholars Award $2,500
- Ernesto Martinez, Pennsylvania State University
- Christopher Kelly, SUNY Delhi
- Otto Hoehl, Purdue University
Scholars Award $1,000
- Bryce Thompson, Purdue University
- Gavin Trout, Clemson University
Scholars Award $750
- Seth Knutson, Michigan State University
- John Monnin, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
- Gabriel Schneider, Michigan State University
- Isobelle Brasher, Michigan State University
Merit Award $500
- Gavin Kenning, Purdue University
- James Cowden, Pennsylvania State University
- Owen Dodge, Michigan State University
- Maxum Verleye, Michigan State University
- Brendan Phillips, Michigan State University
- Tristan Carrier, Pennsylvania State University
- Tyler Kregel, Pennsylvania State University
- Evan Kluwe, Michigan State University
- James Anderson, Rutgers University
- Patrick Neustadt, Michigan State University
- Salman Bo Drees, Pennsylvania State University
- Robert Knapp, Michigan State University
- Jackson Reimer, Pennsylvania State World Campus
The top award of the GCSAA Scholars Competition is named for the late Chet Mendenhall, who was a charter member of GCSAA, a past president (1948) and recipient of the association's Distinguished Service Award (1986). Along with this award, Miller will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, Feb. 2-5, in Orlando.