golf course management – march 2015
DESCRIPTION
A publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of AmericaTRANSCRIPT
Golf Course Management Magazinewww.gcsaa.org • March 2015
ation of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
GCM
Mass. appealMassachusetts-born, Jersey-based, John O’Keefe, CGCS, is GCSAA’s 79th president PAGE 44
a
GReference materials 40
Frozen festivities 56
PGA National’s team spirit 66
INSIDE: Managing fairway fuel spills PAGE 84
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10 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
CONTENTS03.15
44
56
66
72
Living the dreamNewly elected GCSAA
President John O’Keefe, CGCS,
exemplifies the American
dream.
Howard Richman
Freeze warningBuilding and maintaining an ice
rink for members at Nashawtuc
Country Club in Concord, Mass.,
isn’t all smooth skating for Greg
Cormier, CGCS.
Greg Cormier, CGCS
Bear tamersA shared sense of teamwork
helps Jane Broderick and Lukus
Harvey keep a handle on all 90
holes of golf at the busy PGA
National Resort and Spa.
Michael R. Abramowitz
Don’t call it a comebackMark Black, CGCS, and Quail
West tackle a renovation project
designed to modernize greens at
the club and keep it among south
Florida’s elite.
Hal Phillips
On the Cover: GCSAA 2015 President John O’Keefe, CGCS, was photographed at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J., by John O’Boyle.
The ffth hole at Sweetens Cove GC in South Pittsburg, Tenn. Photo courtesy of Sweetens Cove
12 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
INSIGHTS
Petroleum diesel and biodiesel spills affect fairways differentlyThe effects of petroleum diesel and two
types of biodiesel were tested on three
turfgrass genera in Arkansas.
Donald M. Johnson, Ph.D.
Don W. Edgar, Ph.D.
Douglas E. Karcher, Ph.D.
Michael D. Richardson, Ph.D.
John H. McCalla, M.S.
84
RESEARCHCutting EdgeTeresa Carson
99
16 President’s message
18 Inside GCM
20 Front nine
30 Photo quiz
82 Up to speed
98 Verdure
100 Product news
102 Industry news
106 Climbing the ladder
106 On course
107 Coming up
107 On the move
108 In the field
115 New members
116 In memoriam
120 Final shot
ETCETERA03.15
34ShopSaving cranks and
other shafts
Scott R. Nesbitt
AdvocacyReaching far and wide
Chava McKeel
CareerReferences: Make
them count
Carol D. Rau, PHR
EnvironmentRacing against
resistance
wide36
e403832Turf
Low-input vs. traditional
turfgrass: Runoff quantity
and quality
Pamela Rice, Ph.D.
Brian Horgan, Ph.D.
USGA research reportsReports of USGA-funded research related to golf
course management.
90
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GCSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President KEITH A. IHMS, CGCS
Vice President JOHN J. O’KEEFE, CGCS
Secretary/Treasurer PETER J. GRASS, CGCS
Immediate Past President PATRICK R. FINLEN, CGCS
Directors RAFAEL BARAJAS, CGCS
DARREN J. DAVIS, CGCS
JOHN R. FULLING JR., CGCS
MARK F. JORDAN, CGCS
BILL H. MAYNARD, CGCS
Chief Executive Offcer J. RHETT EVANS
Chief Business Development Offcer J.D. DOCKSTADER
GCM STAFF
Editor-in-Chief SCOTT HOLLISTER
Sr. Managing Editor BUNNY SMITH
Sr. Science Editor TERESA CARSON
Associate Editor HOWARD RICHMAN
Sr. Manager, Creative Services ROGER BILLINGS
Manager, Creative Services KELLY NEIS
Traffc Coordinator BRETT LEONARD
GCSAA This Week/Turf Weekly
Editor ANGELA HARTMANN
ADVERTISING 800-472-7878
Managing Director MATT BROWN
Marketing and Business Development [email protected]
Sr. Manager, Business Development JIM CUMMINS
Lead International Developer ERIC BOEDEKER
Account Development Managers BRETT ILIFF
KARIN CANDRL
SHELLY URISH
GCM MISSION
Golf Course Management magazine is dedicated to advancing the golf course superin-tendent profession and helping GCSAA members achieve career success. To that end, GCM provides authoritative “how-to” career-oriented, technical and trend information by industry experts, researchers and golf course superintendents. By advancing the profes-sion and members’ careers, the magazine contributes to the enhancement, growth and vitality of the game of golf.
The articles, discussions, research and other information in this publication are advisory only and are not intended as a substitute for specifc manufacturer instructions or training for the processes discussed, or in the use, application, storage and handling of the products mentioned. Use of this information is voluntary and within the control and discretion of the reader. ©2015 by GCSAA Com-munications Inc., all rights reserved.
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Golf Course Management MagazineOffcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
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16 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
All of us have memories of our frst real job.
For some, that memory might be of a sim-ple household chore such as doing the dishes or taking out the trash. For others, it might be pitching in on the family farm where the only real payback was a sore back and the ap-preciation of your mother and father. And still others might identify the frst job that provided them with a real paycheck for their efforts as the point they offcially crossed over into the American workforce.
My recollections of my frst real job sur-round mowing lawns for a local landscaping company during the summers around my hometown of Lenox, Mass. The lawns tended to be large and the work could be hard, but I was proud of what I did and the few dollars it did generate improved my life greatly.
At no point, though, did I think what I was doing would set the stage for what would become my career. I had other thoughts and other plans at that age, but that modest start led to a job managing the grounds at a nearby condominium community which ultimately led me to a turf degree from the University of Massachusetts and to the long, memorable career that I have today.
All of these steps along the way came back to me often in recent months and were cer-tainly in clear focus when I was fortunate enough to be elected by the membership of GCSAA as the association’s 79th president last month in San Antonio. It was a hum-bling experience, to be sure, but one that I feel is the next logical step along my journey in this great career that we all share.
Leading up to that election and in the weeks that have followed, I have been asked many times what I hope to accomplish in my year as GCSAA president, what a successful year would look like. And while I’ve always recognized that success is no individual en-deavor and comes in many different shapes and sizes, I would look back on my year in this offce without regret if we were able to keep GCSAA on the same positive, upward path that those who have come before me have set us upon.
Success would mean we continued our dogged pursuit of the association’s strate-gic vision of becoming the global leader in golf course management by the year 2020. It would mean that membership standards remain front and center among GCSAA members and that we learned more about what association membership means to them today and what it should mean to them in the future.
A successful 2015 would maintain the great momentum we have achieved in the areas of advocacy and government relations, with the respect and authority that our in-dustry has gained among legislators at the national, state and local levels only growing in the next 12 months. And it might also include a deep dive into ways we can build upon what in my mind has been one of this association’s greatest victories in recent years, the establishment of our feld staff program.
But in the end, I won’t measure my year as GCSAA president by a series of individual triumphs or setbacks. Instead, I will ask my-self the same question that I’m sure many of you ask yourselves when evaluating your own golf courses: Are my members happy? Are they satisfed with my work and the results that we were able to achieve in the past year?
If the answer you hear is “yes,” chances are you sleep well at night after a long day at work, knowing that the most important constituents you have — those who play your golf course on a regular basis — are pleased. And in the same vein, if the members of GCSAA tell me that they are pleased with the direction of the association and with the programs and services that we offer, then I, too, will be content that my year of service in this position has been for the better and that we remain frmly on the path toward achiev-ing GCSAA’s mission, vision and goals.
John J. O’Keefe, CGCS, is the director of golf course man-
agement at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J.,
and a 35-year member of GCSAA.
John J. O’Keefe, CGCS
The customer is always right
But in the end, I
won’t measure my
year as GCSAA
president by a
series of individual
triumphs or
setbacks. Instead,
I will ask myself the
same question that
I’m sure many of
you ask yourselves
when evaluating
your own golf
courses: Are my
members happy?
(president’s message)
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18 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
When you work in the business of golf course management, you know that any news story with the word “megadrought” in the headline isn’t going to be a pleasant read.
And, true to form, the stories that began to pop up in the national news in early Febru-ary touting a study by NASA, Cornell Uni-versity and Columbia University that predicts decades-long drought conditions for large swaths of the U.S. Southwest and Plains re-gions over the next century was anything but good news, not just for golf but for society in general.
The study, published in the journal Science
Advances, concludes that future drought risk in those areas is likely to exceed the driest con-ditions since the Middle Ages, with a stagger-ing 80 percent likelihood of extended drought between 2050 and 2099. The reasons cited for this drought? Accelerating climate change gets its fair share of the blame, but the scientists mainly point to a problem with supply and de-mand as the reasons for their dire predictions — water supplies in these parts of the U.S. simply can’t keep up with the demands placed upon them by the number of people who now call these areas home.
“Ultimately, the consistency of our re-sults suggests an exceptionally high risk of multidecadal megadroughts … (and) a level of aridity exceeding even the persistent mega-droughts that characterized the Medieval era,” the study concludes.
Ominous words, to be sure. But if you’re looking for a sliver of hope amid all the doom and gloom, the scientists did attach a pretty big condition to their predictions. If aggres-sive steps are taken to address the many factors contributing to drought, they say, then there is a chance the overall impact of future droughts can be mitigated. If not, well …
So what does this all mean for golf course superintendents, aside from the fact golf will likely be the least of the worries for future su-perintendents if these predictions play out? As I see it, the most immediate takeaway was that our industry, on the whole, has already started taking the kinds of steps suggested in the report in regard to water management and usage. A prime example of those steps was
“Golf and Water: Evolving Best Management Practices,” a water summit that took place re-cently in Pasadena, Calif., that GCM’s How-ard Richman chronicles on Page 24 of this month’s issue.
The summit brought together the region’s major players in both golf course management and water to discuss ways they could not only coexist, but also work together to form pro-active plans of attack in the face of the cur-rent drought plaguing the Golden State. They shared stories of participating in turf rebate programs, installing more effcient irrigation nozzles, switching pump stations … anything that might help superintendents more wisely and effectively utilize this crucial resource in the face of crippling drought conditions.
It’s probably fair to argue whether events such as “Golf and Water” or even the specifc steps discussed at the summit go far enough in addressing the dire situation facing us all. Shouldn’t we all be doing much, much more in the face of an impending megadrought?
The easy answer to that question is yes. But boiling down the entire debate about water management and drought to this level misses the broader point, in my opinion. Sure, we all should be doing more to conserve water and preserve supplies for future generations. We also should be doing more to end world hunger, cure cancer, end global conficts.
The real point is that we’re at least doing something about our water woes, and as is often the case, golf and superintendents are leading the way. Thanks to the hard work of many, legislators from the national, state and local levels, municipal water regulators and even members of the general public recog-nize that superintendents are taking the ini-tiative on this issue, that they want to do the right things and that they’re prepared to do even more.
And when trying to solve a problem as big as an impending megadrought, it’s those ini-tial steps that form a foundation for what ulti-mately will become a fnal solution.
Scott Hollister is GCM ’s editor-in-chief.
Meeting tomorrow’s megachallenges
Many recognize
that superintendents
are taking the
initiative on this
issue, that they want
to do the right things
and that they’re
prepared to do
even more.
(inside gcm)
Scott Hollister
twitter: @GCM_Magazine
Ph
oto
by M
ark
Ale
xander
Words nobody really wants to hear ultimately launched Lee Strutt into unique territory.
In early 2015, Strutt became the frst person to achieve the three major professional certifcations in golf course management — GCSAA’s Certifed Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS), the British International Golf Greenkeepers Association’s Master Greenkeeper (MG) and the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association’s Master Superinten-dent (MS).
“Like a boyhood dream,” Strutt, 45, tells GCM about his one-of-
a-kind feat.
Years ago, not everyone believed in Strutt, course manager at
gWest, a golf resort in Perthshire, Scotland. It was that train of thought
that fueled his inspiration to reach for the stars.
“I remember at the age of 14 being told publicly by my high school
One of a kind
22 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15OURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
By the NUMBERS
teacher that I would never achieve anything. I think initially
I shrugged it off and didn’t really care,” Strutt says, “but
later in my career it became my driving force to never give
up and allow my high school teacher to be right.”
2014 GCSAA president Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, took
note of Strutt’s deed.
“What an incredible professional accomplishment.
The commitment demonstrated by Lee to complete the re-
quirements for these three certifcation programs speaks
to his commitment to education and his desire to learn but
also to his commitment to the golf course superintendents’
profession and the game of golf as well,” Ihms says.
Strutt completed the trifecta by adding the MS desig-
nation. “The MS was very intense. To try and focus on a
whole range of subjects from agronomy to management
for the exam with the added pressure of having to answer
300 questions in six hours, effectively one every 90 sec-
onds,”. . . the 14-year GCSAA member says.
A job in agriculture was on Strutt’s initial career to-do
list. His parents managed a bar before operating the food
and beverage department at a golf course, which also ft
perfectly into his plan.
“I had worked summer holidays and weekends on a
local farm and loved being outside, working with machin-
ery. It was heaven,” Strutt says. “The UK had a downturn
in agriculture, so my parents encouraged me to try to ful-
fll my outdoor desires by working on the golf course. In-
stantly, I took to golf maintenance, especially the smell of
cut grass.”
His frst job at a golf course was Bath Golf Club in
England, where Strutt served a three-year apprenticeship
under head greenkeeper Derek Cheetham. The journey to
this point in Strutt’s career has helped him understand
what it takes to be successful.
“Dedication and never giving up is my goal, and un-
derstanding that the route to your goal won’t be easy and
changing direction is sometimes the only way forward
when it feels like you are going backward,” Strutt says.
“Accept that you will never know everything, but continue
to learn toward a better understanding. Be prepared for
setbacks, but never give up.”
Strutt reeled off a list of those people who have made
his achievement possible. They include Curtis Tyrrell,
CGCS, MG at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club; Jimmy Kidd from
Gleneagles in Scotland; David Duke, CGCS, MG at the Golf
and Country Club Seddiner See in Germany; Andy Camp-
bell, CGCS, MG with Ransomes Jacobsen; Ken Siems,
CGCS at Scotland’s Pestovo Golf Club; and Eric Foerster,
CGCS, MG at Ironbridge Golf Club in Colorado Springs.
“I’m indebted to my peers for sharing their great
wealth of knowledge and to my mentors for steering me
with their wise words, encouragement, faith and trust to
keep achieving,” he says.
It took a while for Strutt to secure all three designa-
tions. Fourteen years ago, he reached MG status. In 2004,
he began the path toward certifcation with GCSAA but
says for personal reasons he placed that goal on the back
burner, fnally accomplishing it last year. That is when he
embarked on chasing the fnal designation.
“No one else has achieved all three, so it’s like a boy-
hood dream. I could be a pioneer,” Strutt says.
— Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Golf loses two legendsTwo golf legends passed away in the frst week of
February.
Charlie Sifford, the frst African-American to play on
the PGA Tour, died Feb. 3. Sifford, 92, was GCSAA’s Old
Tom Morris Award recipient in 2007. He won twice on the
PGA Tour and last year became just the third golfer to re-
ceive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Billy Casper, 83, died Feb. 7. Casper won three major
championships (U.S. Opens in 1959 and 1966 and Mas-
ters in 1970). He won 51 times on the PGA Tour, including
a streak of at least one victory each year from 1956-71.
22 GOLF CO
Lee Strutt (right) receives his Master Superintendent certifcate from 2014 Canadian GCSA President Christian Pilson during the BIGGA Turf Management Expo in Harrogate, England. Strutt is the frst superintendent to achieve certifcation from GCSAA, BIGGA and the Canadian GCSA. Photo courtesy of BIGGA
By thehthhthyByByBB
Width (in yards)/square yards of world’s smallest championship green, the 5th hole at England’s West Essex Golf Club*
14/154ss
5
w
Record-setting putting greens
28,000Square footage of the world’s largest championship green, the par-6 No. 5 at the International Club in Bolton, Mass.†
-250Feet below sea level of the world’s lowest elevation putting greens, at Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley, Calif.¶
11,000Height (in feet above sea level) of the world’s highest golf course greens, at La Paz Golf Club in Bolivia.¶
Source:
*www.answers.com†www.intotherough.co.uk¶www.fyingbluegolf.com
24 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Water summit hopes to make a splash
Golf courses and water have a history. Sometimes
positive. Sometimes not so positive.
A frst-of-its-kind water summit in Southern Califor-
nia in early February called “Golf & Water: Evolving Best
Management Practices,” arguably can be considered a
groundbreaking event. The goal? Determine ways in which
golf courses can alleviate the burden of water usage in
drought-stricken, water-strapped California.
4114The
44
and their golf courses get it. Silva, who works for the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power’s conservation
response unit, is known in the area as “The Water Cop.”
When it comes to conserving water, Silva sends a message
that sounds as if superintendents are the law-abiding type.
“You guys are effcient. And I’m going to stand by it,”
Silva said. “We have the data.”
There are 866 golf courses in California, according
to SCGA’s Craig Kessler. Of those, 446 are located in
the southern portion of the state, where drought is most
prevalent, although other areas aren’t exactly soaked.
San Francisco, for instance, did not record measurable
rain in January for the frst time since records have been
kept (although a series of early February storms provided
some relief).
As of the water summit, 23 golf courses had either
begun or were in the process of participating in the turf
rebate program, or what Mike Huck of Irrigation & Turf-
grass Services referred to in his keynote speech as “cash
for grass.”
UC-Riverside’s Jim Baird, Ph.D., noted, “We’re at 47
million acres and dwindling.”
A stumbling block for some California courses is that
their water districts have not yet, or may not, participate
in the turf rebate program. At the time of the water sum-
mit, that included Santa Barbara. GCSAA Class A superin-
tendent Martin Moore of Birnam Wood Golf Club in Santa
Barbara says his course was paying $9 per unit of water.
“It’s not like we’re the only ones. Our members are
having to cut back,” says Moore, a 36-year association
member. “Everybody’s out reading their water meters.”
The host for the water summit event, Brookside, par-
Movers and shakers from multiple industries came to
Brookside Golf Course, adjacent to the famed Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, Calif., united to confront the situation that has
extended beyond serious.
In January, the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated that
Southern California is in an “extreme and exceptional”
drought. In June 2014, California offcials declared a state-
wide drought emergency and Gov. Jerry Brown called for
a 20 percent across-the-board reduction in water usage.
That includes golf courses. Many of them have taken
it to heart. The list includes North Ranch Country Club in
Westlake Village, Woodland Hills Country Club and Oak-
mont Country Club in Glendale. They are participating in
a turf rebate program sponsored by their respective water
districts. For each square foot of turf removed, they receive
a $2 rebate. Turf removal means more native areas, which
also equals reduced water use.
“This (water restrictions) is our No. 1 issue, and it’s
not going away,” says Oakmont superintendent Kurt De-
siderio, who estimated that his club will save at least $1
million over the next 10 years on water costs.
Those who participated in the water summit included
GCSAA feld staff members Jeff Jensen and David Phipps,
the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) and the
Council for Watershed Health.
Also on hand was Pat Gross from the USGA Green
Section. He amplifed the message clearly, adding that
California is not the only state that should take heed.
“That (drought) scares us. We’re living the nightmare
right now,” Gross said. “Water is an issue facing the game
of golf all over the country.”
There is no doubt to Enrique Silva that superintendents
DID YOU KNOW . . . ?Facts and trivia about golf
Source: www.intotherough.co.uk
125,000golf balls a year are hit into the water at the famous 17th hole of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass
DID YOU KNOW . .lf
515 yardsThe longest drive ever.
375 feetThe longest putt ever.
The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million
Balls travel signifcantly further on hot days. A golfer swinging a club at around 100 mph will carry the driver up to eight yards longer for each increase in air temperature of 25° F
There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.Th
Don’t feel bad about your high handicap — 80% of all golfers will
never achieve a handicap of less than 18
The driver swing speed of an average female golfer is 62 mph; 96 mph for an average LPGA professional; 84 mph for an average male golfer; 108 mph for an average PGA Tour player; 130 mph for Tiger Woods; 148-152 mph for a national long drive champion.
GSCAA Class A superintendent Jesse Seguin of Brookside GC.
26 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
USGA Annual Meeting goes green
Golf course management found itself front and center
during the USGA’s Annual Meeting, which took place in
New York City in early February.
From the presentation of the USGA Green Section
Award and discussions of environmental sustainability,
green speeds and water usage on golf courses to the up-
coming U.S. Open at Chambers Bay Golf Course near Ta-
coma, Wash., it was clear that matters important to golf
course superintendents were also important to the current
leadership of the USGA.
During an acceptance speech following his election
to a second one-year term as the 63rd president of the
USGA, Thomas J. O’Toole, Jr., said the true champion of
2014’s back-to-back men’s and women’s U.S. Opens at
Pinehurst No. 2 was “water conservation.”
“As we saw at Pinehurst, managing water usage can
simultaneously decrease maintenance costs and increase
golf’s enjoyment and challenge if executed properly,”
he said.
Later in his speech, O’Toole formally recognized Paul L.
Carter, CGCS, who heads maintenance at The Bear Trace at
Harrison Bay (Tenn.), as one of the “true champions of the
game,” as an acknowledgement of Carter’s many environ-
mental accomplishments in golf, including GCSAA’s 2015
President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.
“Golf needs more champions like Paul Carter, people
who are willing to take these matters seriously and act
to spread environmental responsibility throughout golf,”
O’Toole said.
USGA Executive Director Mike Davis joined the envi-
ronmental chorus during a news conference, saying, “We
believe in terms of resource management that less water
on a golf course is a very good thing. It’s a good thing in
terms of water and the environment, but it’s also a good
thing in playing and making the game enjoyable.”
The golf course management theme continued during
the USGA’s presentation of its annual awards, as Patricia
J. Vittum, Ph.D., was offcially presented with the USGA
Green Section Award, which acknowledges the recipient’s
distinguished service to the game through his or her work
with turfgrass.
A professor in the University of Massachusetts’ Stock-
bridge School of Agriculture, Vittum has focused her re-
search on the biology and management of turfgrass in-
sects and the effectiveness of biological-control methods.
She is the principal author of the second edition of “Turf-
grass Insects of the United States and Canada,” widely
regarded as the leading publication on turf entomology.
PGA Merchandise Show draws more than 41,000
The 62nd annual PGA Merchandise Show in January
in Orlando featured visitors from 79 countries.
More than 41,000 people, including PGA profession-
als, buyers and industry leaders (GCSAA members and
staff among them) were in attendance. More than 6,600
PGA professionals were there, which is a 6 percent in-
crease compared with 2014.
Last call for MVT nominations Nominations for GCM ’s 2015 Most Valuable Tech-
nician Award (MVT), presented in partnership with Foley
United, are due no later than March 27.
The MVT program is designed to honor the best and
brightest golf course equipment technicians in the indus-
try, the men and women who play such a key role in keep-
ing the tools of golf course maintenance up and running.
Nominations will be narrowed to a feld of three f-
nalists by a team of industry judges. GCM readers and
GCSAA members will then be able to review the résumés
and qualifcations of the fnalists and vote online for their
favorite in April. The winner of the MVT contest is sched-
uled to be announced in July’s issue of GCM.
Go online to www.gcsaa.org and search “Most Valu-
able Technician” to locate the nomination form.
Joe Stefanick, equipment technician at Seven Lakes
Golf and Tennis Community in Fort Myers, Fla., earned the
MVT Award in 2014 and was featured during the 2015
Golf Industry Show in San Antonio.
ticipated in the turf rebate program and removed 21 acres
of turf that is being transformed into natural areas, etc.
Superintendent Jesse Seguin fgures this is the future of
golf in California. And, perhaps elsewhere.
“Like I said to my GM, it’s the future of golf. Something
needed to be done. I defnitely think it’s something every-
body should understand because it impacts our industry,”
Seguin said.
— Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Nearly three decades later, Mitchell says goodbye
When Penny Mitchell started at GCSAA, its current
headquarters was nothing but a piece of land. No doubt,
though, she left an imprint there.
Mitchell, senior manager, certifcation, retired Feb. 6
after 28 years at GCSAA. On her last day, current and for-
mer GCSAA employees gathered at a local establishment
to say their goodbyes.
“When I walked into the offce all those years ago, I
defnitely was not thinking about a career — just a job,”
says Mitchell, who was recalling the association’s former
location at nearby Alvamar Golf Club before it moved into
its current headquarters in 1991. “So thank you, GCSAA,
for making a lifetime career possible for me.”
Watson grant recipients announced
Phillip Vines, David Jesperson and Charles (Chas)
Schmid each received $5,000 grants as part of GCSAA’s
Dr. James Watson Fellowship Program.
Vines is a graduate student in turfgrass pathology at
Mississippi State University; Jesperson and Schmid are
doctoral students at Rutgers University. The Watson fel-
lowship is funded by a partnership between The Toro Co.
and GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, the Environmen-
tal Institute for Golf.
The fellowship is named in honor of the late James R.
Watson, Ph.D., a Toro vice president who pioneered turf-
grass research. The recipients, students working toward
postgraduate degrees, have been identifed as promising
future teachers and researchers in the feld of golf course
management. They received all-expenses-paid trips to the
Golf Industry Show last month in San Antonio.
Patricia J. Vittum, Ph.D. (center), receives the USGA Green Section Award from Kimberly Erusha (left), managing director of the Green Section, and William L. Katz, a member of the USGA Executive Committee. Photo © USGA/Chris Keane
28 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Tweets
RETWEETS
Aquatrols@Aquatrols Our President
and CEO Tracy Jarman just signed a BIG
check to@theEIFG. It will be presented
offcially at @GIS_2015.
Kevin W. Frank@MSUTurf
The lower & upper peninsula #GLTE
Thad Thompson@TerryHillsMaint
Vinyl Guard on trap rake handles. No
more fberglass splinters, dresses them
up and saves me a lot of money.
Clay Stewart@claystewart58
Floor being poured for the new chemical
storage facility
John Deere Classic @JDCLASSIC
A snow covered 16th green at
TPC Deere Run... We promise it’s
there.#meltfaster http://instagram.
com/p/yZ3Xq8HouO/
Mike Huck@IrrTurfSvcs
From@ucanrwater how CA’s % of
normal snow water equivalents have
declined from an avgs of 54% to 26%
in last month
Steve Wright, CGCS@wrightsteve19
Getting my CEU’S at FTGA regional
seminar.@PBGCSA@FGCSA
Joel Kachmarek@tacomaturf
Lowering the collar around 16 in order to
expand putting surface
GSU University Park@GSGolfCourse
Red maples are ready for spring to get
here too!
Editor’s note: GCM is excited to welcome Adam
Lawrence and his new quarterly feature, The Drawing
Board, to the GCM family. This feature will spotlight
new golf course development and construction projects
worthy of note to superintendents in both the United
States and around the world and will be authored by
Lawrence, the editor of Golf Course Architecture mag-
azine as well as By Design, the quarterly publication of
the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Saint Emilion (France)Tom Doak’s frst course in mainland Europe, which
is now complete and growing in before an offcial open-
ing later this year, could be an important milestone for
the French golf industry. Developed by the Mourgue
d’Algue family, publishers of the Rolex World’s Top
1,000 Golf Courses guide and tireless promoters of
French golf, the course — formally named Domaine
Golfque du Grand Saint-Emilionnais and located near
the famous wine town, 40 minutes east of Bordeaux
— occupies excellent undulating land, though the soil
is heavy. Doak’s design is typically bold: The frst hole,
downhill and with a severe fallaway green sets the tone.
But it’s in the areas of greenkeeping and sustainability
that the course may have important messages for the
French business. André Mourgue d’Algue, who, along
with his father Gaëtan, found the site 10 years ago and
has been working on the project ever since, says they
want the course to offer a taste of British golf, includ-
ing a traditional fescue/browntop bent sward. This will
be something of a challenge on poor soil in a country
where much of the industry seems to have accepted
that the battle with Poa annua cannot be won. Addi-
tionally, French regulations preclude the extraction of
water from aquifers, so Doak’s cleverly designed sys-
tem of ditches and ponds will have to collect and store
all the water needed for irrigation through the summer.
Fort Myers (Fla.) Country Club
Donald Ross’s course in southwest Florida was an
example of an architect making something good out of
a very unprepossessing location. Almost entirely fat
and devoid of natural features, about the only thing
that made the site stand out was the drainage canal
through the middle, which Ross used as a hazard on a
number of holes. Now Fort Myers Country Club has a
new look, courtesy of architect Steve Smyers and his
associate Patrick Andrews. It’s still fat, and it still has
that drainage canal — which carries stormwater away
from nearby developments — but it now has a more
substantial network of ponds and streams, serving to
detain more water when the Florida rains hit. Despite
the tight site, Smyers has stretched the course to al-
most 7,000 yards, turning the fnishing hole into an ex-
citing, multi-option par 5, which uses the canal to set
up the second shot. The player can either blast for the
green, or lay up on either side of the water. Celebration
bermudagrass covers the fairways, while the greens
are TifEagle. “From the very beginning, our main goal
was to update the course in the same way that Ross
might, were he alive and designing a course on the
same site today,” said Smyers.
Sweetens Cove Golf CourseSouth Pittsburg, Tenn.
Golf Digest architecture editor Ron Whitten has
called Sweetens Cove one of the 10 best nine-hole
courses in America, while Anthony Pioppi, author of
“To the Nines,” a survey of those courses, says it’s the
best built since World War II. Architect and constructor
Rob Collins and Tad King, and superintendent Michael
Burrows appreciate the praise, but for them just hav-
ing the course open is recognition enough. Collins and
King used the abundant sand supplied by their client’s
concrete company to shape the fat site at Sweetens
into a course that packs more punch into nine holes
than most do in 18. Hugely undulating greens put a
premium on short game skills, while the par-3 fourth
hole, whose green measures 25,000 square feet and
is partially blind from the tee, is unique in golf.
The drawing boardAdam Lawrence
adam.lawrence@golfcourse
architecture.net
Twitter: @adamlawrence
30 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Turfgrass area:Putting green
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Grass variety:Champion bermudagrass
(a)Ice on green
Turfgrass area:Putting green
Location:Haymarket, Va.
Grass variety:Poa/bentgrass blend
(b)
PROBLEM
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
Irregular dark green lines, off-color turf between lines
Answers on page 104
(photo quiz)
PROBLEM
By John MascaroPresident of Turf-Tec International
32 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Pamela Rice, [email protected]
Brian Horgan, [email protected]
Strategies used to maintain managed bi-ological systems, including golf course turf, often involve application of fertilizer and pes-ticides to optimize plant health and protec-tion. The transport of applied fertilizers and pesticides with runoff to surrounding surface waters has been shown to result in enhanced algal blooms, promotion of eutrophication or negative impacts on sensitive aquatic organ-isms or ecosystems. In previous research we demonstrated that changes in cultivation prac-tices (for example, type and timing of core cul-tivation) reduced the volume of runoff and the percentage of applied pesticides and nutrients that moved off-site with runoff from creeping bentgrass turf. In the current study we evalu-ate the infuence of turfgrass species on runoff quantity and quality.
Experiments are under way to compare the volume of runoff and measure the amount of pesticides and nutrients in runoff from conven-tional versus low-input turfgrasses. Plots (20 feet × 80 feet) maintained as a golf course fair-way (0.5-inch height of cut) were seeded with creeping bentgrass (Dominant Xtreme 7: a 7:3 mixture of 007 creeping bentgrass and SR 1150 creeping bentgrass) or a fne fescue mixture
Presented in Partnership with Barenbrug
(turf)
In our previous studies with creeping bent-grass turf, we found that runoff volume had a greater effect than chemical concentration on the overall mass of chemicals transported off-site with runoff. We are curious to learn if this trend continues with the low-input fne fescue mixture or if other infuencing factors are of greater importance. Data collected from this study will guide strategies to manage low-in-put fne fescue mixtures in order to provide op-timal results for golf course managers, golfers and the environment.
Pamela Rice is a research chemist at the USDA-Agricultural
Research Service, St. Paul, Minn., and an adjunct professor
in the department of soil, water and climate at the University
of Minnesota−St. Paul; and Brian Horgan is a professor in
the department of horticultural sciences at the University of
Minnesota−St. Paul.
Low-input vs. traditional turfgrass: Runoff quantity and quality
(equal parts Chariot hard fescue, Seabreeze GT slender creeping red fescue, Cardinal strong creeping red fescue and Longfellow II Chewings fescue). Each plot is equipped with runoff gutters; a fume; an automated sampler; and a fow meter to measure fow rates, calcu-late runoff volumes and collect subsamples of the snowmelt and rainfall runoff. Studies will be performed with fertilizer and pesticides applied at label rates to both the traditional and low-input turf, as well as additional studies with pesticides applied at label rate for creeping bentgrass turf and label rate for the low-input fne fescue turf.
To date we have observed the fne fescue mixture produces greater quantities of snow-melt and rainfall runoff than the creeping bent-grass (see fgure above). Collected runoff sam-ples have been processed and are being stored frozen until completion of chemical analysis.
Creeping bentgrass and low-input fne fescue turfgrass plots used in runoff testing at the University of Minnesota−St. Paul. Photo by Pamela Rice
Runoff measurements from creeping bentgrass and fne fescue plots were taken on June 14-15, 2014, from 6:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. and on June 19 from 2 a.m. to 11:25 p.m. On June 14-15, the quantity of runoff from fne fescue was 3.7 times that from creeping bentgrass, and on June 19, runoff from fne fescue was 1.8 times that from creeping bentgrass.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0
20
40
60
80
100
120June 14-15, 2014 June 19, 2014
Creeping bentgrass
Fine fescue
June 14-15, 2014 June 19, 2014
Runof
f (m
illim
eter
s)
(shop)
34 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Scott R. Nesbitt
A crankshaft repair sleeve is a sensible addition to any service job like a clutch replacement, or other service work involving an external oil seal. Photos by Scott Nesbitt
Saving cranks and other shafts
Oil oozing from the rear of an engine can be a destructive mess. A hydraulic motor drib-bling on the greens is a nightmare. There’s a solution that can often solve these problems, with great savings in cost and labor time.
The trick is installing a thin stainless steel sleeve on a shaft to provide a new smooth mat-ing surface for the oil seal.
At bottom in the photo is the sleeve needed on a 15-year-old 2.5-liter gasoline engine’s rear-main crankshaft oil seal. At top is the metal cup that is the installation tool. At left is the stan-dard-size oil seal that was installed after the sleeve was in place. The seal’s fexible lips easily expand over the sleeve’s 0.010-inch wall.
About 30 extra minutes were needed to pull the fywheel and install the sleeve and seal while replacing the clutch. I install a shaft-saver sleeve for any seal that’s exposed to the grit and grime of the open air, even on newer equip-ment. That includes engines, hydraulic pumps and motors, transmissions, axles and things like camshaft seals on engines with rubber timing belts.
For $30 or less, it’s cheap peace of mind. Besides making the shaft surface harder and smoother, the stainless steel re-sists corrosives. Some new engines come with wear sleeves. Any repair or wear sleeve is easily removed and replaced during service work.
I like to use a 4-pound hard-face dead-blow hammer to install a sleeve. Go online to You-Tube to watch an expert do it by searching for “muscle car engines Ford 302 rear main sleeve.” That bench job is a lot easier than working up-side down under a machine.
Preparation breeds success. First, clean, clean, clean the shaft. Carb cleaner loos-ens deposits. Lightly polish with very fne emery cloth to knock down any burrs, then spray and wipe and air-blast. Now measure,
measure, measure your existing shaft. And the repair sleeve. Don’t trust the factory specs. Fac-tories make errors. Off-spec shafts and sleeves are not unknown.
Before installation, I heat a sleeve (nestled in its installation cup) by setting it on a hot-air popcorn popper ($30 at big-box stores). The 1,250-watt heater brings the sleeve to about 170 F so it slightly expands. Properly sized sleeves are made to ft at normal room tempera-tures. I fnd the heating makes installation a bit easier when there’s limited hammer-swing-ing room.
A good equipment distributor can get the right sleeve for common engines, like Kubota diesels. Unless it’s for a car or truck, don’t expect an auto parts store to list sleeves for Perkins, Kohler, Kawasaki or other mod-ern turf engines, or an old tractor with an orphan engine. Stick with a large machine shop or industrial supply house, whether on-line or brick-and-mortar. You may wait a day or two, but patience pays off.
Sleeves are available for nominal shaft sizes from ½ inch to 8 inches (12-200 mm), and are best selected from your real-world measure-ments. Download the catalog at www.skf.com/binary/26-128020/11337_2-EN-SKF-Speedi-Sleeve.pdf.
With the SKF catalog displayed in Adobe Reader, hold the CTRL and F keys at the same time to display the search box. Type in Speedi-Sleeve and click the NEXT button. You’ll fnd info and instructions on Pages 4-7. Click the NEXT button again and fnd part numbers for sleeves in metric and U.S. dimensions.
The SKF numbering system is used for Na-tional’s “Redi-Sleeve” products, while National parent Timken adds a KWK prefx for its “KWIK-Sleeve” line. Canadian sleeve seller
Daemar uses the SKF numbers, while Fel-Pro and Silver Seal use their own number system. So it goes. Corporate mergers in the bearing and seal business mean your sleeve may ar-rive in a box with a different brand name. As long as it’s clean and the right size, focus on the measurements.
If your original shaft has a nasty groove, mix some steel-reinforced epoxy (J-B Weld or other quality brand) and tap the sleeve on while the fller is still moist. And don’t forget that on most sleeves the fange is only needed for in-stallation, and may need to be snapped off. Use common sense.
And, by the way, that popcorn popper does a nice job drying arc welding rods to re-duce popping.
Scott R. Nesbitt is a freelance writer and former GCSAA
staff member. He lives in Cleveland, Ga.
With 1,250 watts producing 170 F air, a popcorn popper makes a repair sleeve expand a wee bit, making installation a wee bit smoother.
36 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Reaching farand wide
As GCSAA’s government relations director, I have the privilege of crossing the country to meet with GCSAA affliated chapters to dis-cuss all things related to the association’s ad-vocacy efforts. In the past year, GCSAA’s feld staff has helped me set up visits to 10 states: Connecticut, New York, Maine, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Wisconsin.
Speaking of feld staff, they are a criti-cal component of GCSAA’s advocacy efforts. They help the national association better un-derstand what issues are impacting the pro-fession at the state and local levels. They also help GCSAA better communicate its advo-cacy efforts and needs down on the ground in the states.
I spread a bit of doom and gloom during my presentations. There are many issues im-pacting the profession, and the regulatory scru-tiny of the industry is high. Despite the doom and gloom, there is also much to be proud of. GCSAA and its members are standing up for the profession and game and pushing back against lingering misperceptions.
Rest assured: GCSAA has its advocacy tentacles far and wide, and superintendents are “getting a seat at the table,” a reoccurring theme in my presentations.
Here is a snapshot of the incredible ad-vocacy activities our association is engaged in now.
Central Plains. The health of the Missis-sippi River Basin watershed is a focus along with the development of comprehensive best management practice (BMP) programs in the region. Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska chap-ters are taking the lead. The Minnesota GCSA is also a constant presence at the statehouse in St. Paul with a focus on outreach related to water management. Relationships gained have put golf and the industry’s responsible man-
agement of its resources in a good light.Florida. The Florida GCSA participated
in the 4th Florida Golf Day in early February. The state just released an updated economic impact study, which members used during ap-pointments with lawmakers. GCSAA mem-bers continue to attend city and county meet-ings to address proposed fertilizer bans and ordinances. Individual testing on the Florida BMP manual also continues in the state.
Great Lakes. The Wisconsin GCSA and Ohio GCSA chapters are focused on develop-ment of BMP programs. Illinois superinten-dents are pushing back against legislation to roll back pesticide preemption.
Mid-Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic Associa-tion of Golf Course Superintendents has been pushing back on anti-pesticide legislation brew-ing in Montgomery County by showing up at public hearings and offering public testimony. Pennsylvania superintendents are organizing to hold a state lobby day in Harrisburg. Virginia superintendents are working with state regu-latory offcials to meet their 2017 compliance deadline for all golf courses to have a certifed nutrient management plan.
Nort west. Superintendents have had their hands full watching the national pollinator debate play out in their region. Neonicotinoid insecticide ban legislation is common, and GCSAA members are participating in city and county hearings. The Rocky Mountain GCSA is working with the Coloradans for Responsi-ble Pesticide Application coalition to advance sensible legislation to implement the Colorado Pesticide Applicators’ Act.
Nort east. The Connecticut AGCS recently secured a seat on the state’s Water Planning Council, which will focus in 2015 on develop-ing a statewide drought plan. The Long Island GCSA has also secured a seat on the newly formed Long Island Technical Review and Ad-
(advocacy)
Chava McKeel
twitter: @GCSAA
visory Committee to advise the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on factors such as pesticide use patterns, aquifer vulnerability, and recommended alternatives and pollution prevention measures. The New Hampshire GCSA is planning a state lobby day in Concord. The Vermont GCSA is in the fnal stages of creating a nutrient management plan with the department of agriculture. New York chapters are developing a validation tool for their new BMP program.
Sou Central. The Arkansas GCSA is or-ganizing to host an Arkansas Golf Day in Little Rock and has begun discussions to move for-ward on a BMP program. Texas superinten-dents are focused on drought and water man-agement issues and reaching out proactively to water offcials throughout the state to see where they can work together on water issues.
Sout ast. The Louisiana-Mississippi, Car-olinas and Georgia chapters are lining up to implement formal BMP programs. The Ten-nessee GCSA is in the midst of preparing an economic impact study to assist members with their advocacy efforts.
Sout est. Cactus & Pine GCSA mem-bers recently met with U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-04) and staff. With Arizona in the midst of a severe drought, the meeting focused on water use and conservation on golf courses. Golf allies in California are continuing to set up golf industry water conservation task forces in partnership with water regulators in order to secure golf ’s long-term viability in a state plagued by water challenges. Task forces have been set up in the Coachella Valley, Los An-geles, San Diego, Ventura County and Sacra-mento County.
Chava McKeel is GCSAA’s director, government relations.
Pictured are members of the Cactus & Pine GCSA with U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona and his key staff members at Apache Sun GC in Queen Creek, Ariz. Photo by Jeff Jensen
38 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
For everyone involved in the pest control discussion — homeowners, farmers, pest con-trol operators, environmentalists and legisla-tors, in addition to golf course managers — pesticide resistance remains a serious concern.
Last month, well-known National Pub-lic Radio personality Diane Rehm invited Aaron Hobbs, president of RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) to join a panel discussion tackling the issue. GCSAA has been allied with RISE, a specialty chemical trade organization, on national, state and local levels for more than 20 years.
Hobbs was joined on the NPR show panel by Les Glasgow, herbicide technical prod-uct lead for Syngenta; Erik Olson, director of health programs for the Natural Resource Defense Council; and Andy Dyer, professor of biology at the University of South Carolina and author of “Chasing the Red Queen: The Evolutionary Race Between Agricultural Pests and Poisons.”
Rehm opened the show with a ques-tion about the challenges of weed resistance management and whether there is a need for new solutions, setting the stage for an extensive conversation about the issues and challenges. Each panelist shared his distinct perspective, but Hobbs was able to bring into focus one commonality in the various views — the sup-port for an integrated approach.
Hobbs pointed out that pesticides can be important tools and solutions to a prob-lem, noting, “Whenever you’re approaching a pest problem, whether it’s a weed or an in-
sect, you have to take an integrated approach. I think that’s something we can all agree is the way to go.
“You have to take that thoughtful, inte-grated approach to address that problem,” he continued. “Fortunately, we have those solutions that help us deal with those prob-lems now.”
The herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) was singled out for the panel’s scrutiny, with Syngenta’s Glasgow commenting, “Be-cause it (Roundup) was so good, it was used ev-erywhere on every crop. The future is about di-versifying.”
Glasgow added that it takes the Environ-mental Protection Agency at least 10 years to review new pesticide products to ensure they can be used safely.
Although he used the phrase “chemical arms race” to describe past pesticide use and resulting resistance issues, Dyer acknowledged that pesticide application professionals are more aware of the potential for harm.
Hobbs also emphasized the importance of education, proper use and application, and continued evolution of pesticide technology.
“If resistance becomes an issue, and we’re looking at bringing a new solution to the table, they are not broad solutions; they are tar-geted,” he said on the show. “The innovation cycle brings a product to market that is more targeted to be more specifc to the pest prob-lem we’re trying to solve, as well as softer and
Presented in Partnership
with Aquatrols
(environment)
Racing against resistance
friendlier to those benefcials in the feld.”Glasgow supported Hobbs’ emphasis on ed-
ucation, saying, “Education and training pro-grams are crucial. We do have the tools, and we keep developing the tools, and it’s really about educating those making the decisions about how these products are used.”
Olson shared concerns about the impact of pesticide use on milkweed and the monarch butterfy habitat, and Rehm directly asked Hobbs for a response. He referred to the im-portant role pesticides play in invasive spe-cies management.
“There are invasive plant species that come in and compete with milkweed, making it dif-fcult to grow, thrive and provide that habitat,” he said. “We are invested as an organization today in efforts to create more habitat for pol-linators, particularly along rights-of-way. … For monarchs in particular, we are partner-ing with groups today where these herbicide tools are one of the frst ways to create that sustainable long-term habitat of the monarch butterfy.”
Listen to the complete panel discussion on the Diane Rehm Show website at http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-02-03/ environmental_outlook_the_race_against_pests_and_weeds or track Hobbs’ online conversation at www.twitter.com/DebugThe Myths.
Left: Photo by John A. Anderson/ Shutterstock.com
Below: Aaron Hobbs
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40 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
References. Sounds pretty basic, right? Just list your last three managers and you’re all set.
No! If this is what comes to mind when you think of references, then please read on! Refer-ences are extremely important and can be an invaluable part of a successful job search in the golf and turf industries. Just like other career tools, the primary goal of references is to help set you apart. In this month’s column, we will explore references and hopefully unlock some ideas that you can apply the next time you con-duct a job search.
Send references wit your résumé. We strongly recommend sending a reference list with your résumé. The golf industry is known for being a tightknit community of turf pro-fessionals and being very well connected. Su-perintendents have a strong network, and if there is any chance the reader knows someone on your reference list, it can be a huge help in getting your foot in the door.
Format correctly. References are typically an extra page at the end of a résumé, with the same font and formatting as the résumé. We recommend three to fve listings, and listing each reference along with title, company, ad-dress, email, best phone number to reach the individual and, if necessary, an explanation of how you are associated with that individual.
Include letters and testimonials. Another op-tion is to include a reference letter or testimoni-als along with your résumé and reference list. A few optimal times to include a reference letter are if the person or facility listed is well-known and could be of interest to the recipient, or if the letter is short and power-packed with a glowing recommendation. Another option, which can be customized to focus on the tar-get audience’s specifc needs, is to include some shorter quotes from references instead of a full letter. Testimonials are key in current business marketing strategies and can be useful as part of your career tools — marketing you!
Represent all aspects of your career. Think of your career from all perspectives — agronomy and turf conditioning, leadership, fnancial management, staff management, budgeting, customer/member relations, facility contribu-tions and renovations/construction. Consider the target audience and the key qualities they are seeking. Who can support your claims in those areas of your professional career and tal-ents? Consider golfers/members, committee
chairs, PGA professionals, golf course archi-tects, contractors, vendors, agronomy consul-tants and colleagues.
Customize for ea arget golf facility. Your reference list will change depending on the tar-get audience. For example, if you are seeking a role in constructing a new golf course, you would want to ideally list a person who can di-rectly authenticate your experience in renova-tions or construction, such as a contractor or architect. If your target audience is not inter-ested in your construction background, choose other references instead. Remember: Your strategy is to base the reference list on what you think the reader is seeking.
Leverage all connections. Instead of wait-ing and hoping for hiring committees to call your references, be proactive and utilize your network to stand out. One tactic that can get you to the top of the stack is to ask someone to place a call to the target facility on your be-half. Yes, this strategy should not be overdone and should be thoughtfully employed, but it can be powerful. This is when networking can be critical in prompting the hiring committee to anticipate receiving your career documents, providing a great introduction and ultimately supporting your case as a strong candidate.
Stay connected. The frst step in mak-ing references a key part of your career plan starts today — build your network and stay connected to your potential references. Re-member: Networking starts with your sin-cerely reaching out to help others. Reach out to folks in your network a few times each year to touch base. Send Christmas cards. If you read an article written by someone you know, or learn about an achievement or promotion, drop them a note. Show that you value the rela-tionship and genuinely care about that person. Then when your dream job opens up, you will be ready with plenty of options to make your references count.
Carol D. Rau, PHR is a career consultant with GCSAA and
is the owner of Career Advantage, a career consulting frm
in Lawrence, Kan., specializing in golf and turf industry
careers. GCSAA members receive complimentary résumé
critiques by Rau and her team, résumé, references, cover
letter and LinkedIn creation for a reduced member rate,
along with interview preparation and portfolio consultation.
References: Make them count
Leverage all
connections. Instead
of waiting and
hoping for hiring
committees to call
your references, be
proactive and utilize
your network to
stand out.
(Career)Carol D. Rau, [email protected]
twitter: @CareerGolf
M A S T E R S B E N T G R A S S of
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44 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
LivinGthendream
Newly elected GCSAA President John O’Keefe, CGCS, exemplifes the American dream.
Howard Richman
Photos by John O’Boyle
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 45
46 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
John O’Keefe, CGCS, was raised in Lenox, a small, western Massachusetts town with stately
mansions from the Gilded Age that has historically served as a summer retreat for the wealthy and
famous artists.These mansions were called cottages; the term itself evoked the more informal country life
that members of the highest society enjoyed in Lenox in contrast to the increasing formality of New York, Boston and Newport. Today, Lenox continues to be a popular tourist destination, partly because it is nestled in the Berkshire Mountains. Tanglewood, one of the top attractions, is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and also hosts concerts for Lenox resident James Taylor, among others.
Lenox Memorial High School, from which O’Keefe graduated, refects the storied history of the town with the unique name of its school mascot: Millionaires.
It’s ironic that, coming from a place like Lenox, O’Keefe’s family was far from affuent. O’Keefe, in fact, truly did ascend to great heights from the ground up.
O’Keefe’s childhood home was tiny and dwarfed by the landmark estates on his street. His father died when he was 7. The youngest of four children, O’Keefe was raised by his mother, Fre-della, who provided what she could on a nursing home aide’s salary.
“I indeed was lucky to be surrounded by very kind people who always thought highly of me and our family through some hard times,” says O’Keefe, director of golf course management at Preakness Hills Country Club, in Wayne, N.J.
His wife of 35 years, Margaret, says, “He truly came from nothing, but he had a strong moral compass given to him by his mother and an amazing work ethic. He wanted to go somewhere. He just wasn’t sure where that was going to be.”
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 47
New GCSAA President John O’Keefe, CGCS, wants to make
it perfectly clear what his role is in 2015.
It all starts with you.
“It’s all about the membership. It’s their association,” O’Keefe
says. “We’re just governing it. My goal is to represent the mem-
bership the best I can.”
In doing so, O’Keefe has a number of objectives that he wants
to accomplish. He’d like to see streamlined member standard
classifcations fnalized or, at the very least, come close to resolu-
tion this year. He also is looking forward to adding a membership
classifcation for equipment managers, which was to be voted on
last month in San Antonio at the Golf Industry Show (results of
the vote were completed after this issue of GCM went to press).
On another front, O’Keefe hopes GCSAA expands its feld
staff program. “I would love to see us add a couple more po-
sitions, to better cover some of the larger areas throughout the
country,” he says.
He also believes it would be greatly benefcial for GCSAA
to place somebody full time in Washington, D.C., for advocacy
purposes.
In general, O’Keefe senses a revival in golf, which is good
for everybody.
“I think we’re starting to climb again. We’re seeing people
with more discretionary income. Renovation work is being done,
equipment is being purchased and clubs are beginning to spend
money. Those are good signs,” he says.
GCSAA’s goal of becoming the global leader in golf course
management by 2020 remains on course, O’Keefe believes.
“We’re all concentrating on 2020. The ship is pointed in the
right direction,” he says.
Once his time as president is completed, O’Keefe hopes to
have something special in the works at his place of employment,
Preakness Hills Country Club, in Wayne, N.J. He says resources
have been approved for a new maintenance facility at his club,
where he has served since 1986. The plan is to break ground
in 2016.
“We’ve got 3,200 square feet right now of buildings and trail-
ers. The new facility will be 20,000 square feet. We’re excited
about that,” O’Keefe says.
— H.R.
A menu of possibilities
John O’Keefe, CGCS (above and far right in top photo), discusses plans for the day at Preakness Hills CC in Wayne, N.J., with (top photo, from left) assistant superintendents Steve Aspinall and
Tony Espe.
48 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Now, it’s apparent where that somewhere turned out to be.
Late last month, O’Keefe was elected the 79th president in GCSAA history. Those who know him well think it is the perfect ft.
“Natural born leader,” says Tracey Holli-day, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Ster-ling Farms Golf Course in Stamford, Conn. She worked with O’Keefe at the beginning of his career at Longshore Club Park in Westport, Conn., and later served on his staff during O’Keefe’s tenure at Westchester Hills Golf Club in White Plains, N.Y.
Greg Boring, GCSAA Class A superinten-dent at the Country Club of Scranton (Pa.), and a past assistant superintendent at Preak-ness Hills, says, “John is a leader and a mentor. I look at John more as a friend. He basically showed you how things should be done.”
O’Keefe is a giant in the business, according to Brian Gjelsvik, who worked as an assistant superintendent for O’Keefe at Preakness Hills in the early 1990s.
“He is built for this moment,” says Gjelsvik, who now owns Seeton Turf Warehouse. “What he has accomplished will have an impact on this business for a very long time.”
O’Keefe, who turns 59 this month, wants to continue his contributions — while he is in offce and beyond.
“Whatever I can do to help advance careers, educate, give people a chance to succeed, re-mains important to me,” O’Keefe says. “I love giving back to this industry.”
The making of a superintendentO’Keefe’s drive and determination started
at an early age.“Mom always had to work to provide for
us,” O’Keefe says, “and we didn’t have a lot of extras. Whatever I needed, I had to go out and work for it.”
O’Keefe is big into mentoring. He simply is returning the favor for all of those people who mentored him as he climbed the ranks in his profession. They include Ronnie Woodger, whose landscape business provided opportuni-ties for O’Keefe when he was a young teenager in search of a way to make his life better.
After high school he didn’t think col-lege was a possibility, but O’Keefe was able once again to make the most of an opportu-nity that was afforded him by David Roche, a local bank executive who thought that he was bright, personable and had a strong work ethic. Roche hired him to be the manager of grounds at a luxury condominium community in nearby Pittsfeld.
“I was making more money than my friends,” O’Keefe says, “but it was a job and not a career.”
Every day, O’Keefe drove by Pittsfeld Country Club on his way to work and ad-mired the beauty of the golf course. Toward the goal to fnd a career, O’Keefe decided to take the leap and pursue his college education. His appreciation for the beauty of golf courses encouraged him to fnd out all he could about the business. He soon knew that he had to be
“Whatever I can do
to help advance
careers, educate,
give people a
chance to succeed,
remains important
to me. I love
giving back to this
industry.”
— John O’Keefe, CGCS
Above: O’Keefe with his namesake, grandson John “J.T.” Sharples.
Right: The O’Keefe clan: (front, from left) Maureen Shar-ples with J.T. and Adrienne O’Keefe; (back, from left) Tom
Sharples, Margaret O’Keefe, John O’Keefe and Dale Huettenmoser.
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GOLF COURSE ACCESSORIES EMERGENCY:
WHO WILL YOU CALL?
Nutrients
A survey link will be sent to superintendents via email. All superintendents will be able to participate, however, only U.S. data will be used. GCSAA members who complete the survey will receive 0.25 service points. Additionally, all superintendents (members and non-members) who complete the survey will be entered into a prize drawing for a $100 Visa or American Express gif card. A total of three gif cards will be awarded to each of the seven agronomic regions as identifed on the survey (21 gif cards total).
Te Golf Course Superintendents Association of America is
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Go to www.gcsaa.org and show you care.
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50 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
at the University of Massachusetts’ Stockbridge School of Agriculture and took the steps to make that happen, including fnally taking his SATs at age 20.
Earning his degree with high honors in 1979, O’Keefe took his frst job on a golf course as an assistant superintendent for Mark Fuller, CGCS, at Longshore Club Park. As a college student, O’Keefe had been an intern for Fuller.
“And I couldn’t wait to get him back,” says Fuller, currently at the Connecticut Golf Club and a key mentor to O’Keefe. “I could tell that, as an intern, he was driven, wanted to be in the business, had good character, good personality and was a team player. I got spoiled with him as my frst assistant. He’d take on anything and everything he possibly could to improve himself.”
That frst head superintendent job came O’Keefe’s way in 1981. He took the position at Westchester Hills Golf Club in White Plains, N.Y., where he remained for fve years. In 1986, O’Keefe began his tenure at Preakness Hills CC, an era that is nearing 30 years. The O’Keefes moved into a home near the 17th hole there and raised two daughters, Adrienne and Maureen.
Preakness Hills, which features a par-3 sig-nature 18th hole, opened in 1926. O’Keefe is just the third superintendent in the club’s his-tory. His presence — along with that of his two assistants, Tony Espe and Steve Aspinall — is highly regarded by fellow staff and members alike. They have managed to do more with less,
according to club president Peter von Halle. The manner in which O’Keefe represents him-self on a daily basis impresses von Halle.
“There is not an obnoxious, caustic bone in his body. John is very humble, generous. We’re proud he’s president,” von Halle says. “John is just a very consistent performer.”
O’Keefe and his staff ’s attention to de-tail has made life easier for greens chairman Bryan Becker.
“We rely heavily on John. His ability to ex-plain things to myself or my predecessors has allowed the greens chair to be a job that people are excited to do,” Becker says. “John is able to keep it fair for all levels of play. A golf course’s consistency, playability, is so key to the success of a club. This is home for John. He’ll never sacrifce conditions here for anything.”
Preakness Hills’ PGA head professional John Mascari says that O’Keefe is ultrasup-portive and that they mesh nicely. Mascari says having O’Keefe on board is almost like having a historian on the property.
“He remembers everything,” Mascari says.James Messina, general manager at Preak-
ness Hills, knows he can lean on O’Keefe for help and advice, and to provide a vision.
“He is kind of the father fgure of the club, the voice of reason, my sounding board,” Mes-sina says. “He’s Steady Eddie. He could keep this place going with his eyes closed.”
Aspinall believes that having O’Keefe as a boss and mentor is preparing him to take that next step some day.
Above: O’Keefe and John Mascari, head PGA professional at Preakness Hills.
Right: James Messina, Preakness Hills’ general manager, meets O’Keefe overlooking the course’s signature
18th hole.
“He is kind of the
father fgure of
the club, the voice
of reason, my
sounding board.
He’s Steady Eddie.
He could keep this
place going with his
eyes closed.”
— James Messina
52 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
changed. A fnancial crisis of mammoth pro-portions affected people and businesses border to border. Golf was not immune.
In a GCSAA board meeting at Penn State, O’Keefe vividly recalls the atmosphere inside. “We had the TV on monitoring the stock market and literally were on the phone with our brokers asking what we should do as we watched the market fall out of the sky. We were having to make some tough decisions,” O’Keefe says. “It was really scary.”
As he embarks on his presidency, O’Keefe is confdent that GCSAA weathered the storm. Work still needs to be done and nothing is going to be taken for granted, he promises.
“I’m proud of where we are, considering the limited budgets and what the staff has been able to do with them,” O’Keefe says. “I’m one of (GCSAA’s) headquarters’ biggest cheerlead-ers. They’re really great people there.”
Big DaddyIf you are in O’Keefe’s circle, you know
that Big Daddy is his nickname. Todd Raisch, CGCS, at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., bestowed the moniker on O’Keefe when the two of them and a few oth-ers in the business attended a Toro function in Abilene, Texas.
“He was the leader of the group. The supe-rior. The oldest,” Raisch says. “He can be an imposing fgure with that deep voice.”
Raisch believes those in the business should listen to what O’Keefe has to say.
“The thing I appreciate about the deans of our industry, such as the Alonzi brothers (Joe and Bob), Mark Kuhns and John is that they
continually try to learn and don’t let egos get in the way,” Raisch says.
O’Keefe is thankful for the time he gets to spend with his family, who have also taken to calling him Big Daddy. Whether it’s watching football (he is a New England Patriots fan) or college basketball, the O’Keefes enjoy just being together.
He loves to travel, goes deep-sea fshing and gets to a NASCAR race whenever he can and, of course, golf is a big part of his downtime as well. O’Keefe is an avid foodie; he loves to cook and especially enjoys experiencing differ-ent restaurants with friends and family. When he can get away from the club for a day in the summer, his favorite place to go is the beautiful Jersey shore.
These days, O’Keefe loves nothing more than seeing his frst grandson, 7-month-old J.T. Sharples. The J. stands for John. Yes, his daughter Maureen and her husband, Tom, named him after O’Keefe, who sat down and wept in the hospital upon learning his grand-son’s name.
“It was my husband’s idea,” Maureen Shar-ples says. “He really admires him. Dad is a great example that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you love it.”
Howard Richman ([email protected]) is GCM ’s asso-
ciate editor.
“He’s always there to catch you when you’re falling. I learned from him that you’ve got to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of turf,” As-pinall says.
O’Keefe’s tree of former assistants at Preak-ness Hills includes Scott Hall, who counts himself among the benefciaries of his mentor’s skills. Hall, now the GCSAA Class A super-intendent at Raritan Valley Country Club in Bridgewater, N.J., says O’Keefe was an exem-plary role model and passed along traits that are helping in his job.
“Everybody looked up to him, saw him as what a superintendent should be by how he carried himself,” says Hall. “As much as he stayed true to his job, his ability to deal with membership on a daily basis and maintain the integrity of his work was impressive. He wasn’t just a ‘yes’ man. If a problem arose, he could explain it to the membership and people at the club. I learned a lot about dealing with people from him.”
Road to the presidencyBeing president isn’t anything new for
O’Keefe. Prior to his GCSAA Board of Direc-tors service, he served as president of the Met-ropolitan GCSA, Tri-State Turfgrass Research Foundation and the GCSA of New Jersey.
“The industry has been good to me and my family. It has developed a life for us,” says O’Keefe, who at one point in his career served on three different boards simultaneously. “But when I fnished my presidency in New Jersey, I said, ‘I’m done.’ It was time for a break.”
A gentle push from none other than his daughter, Adrienne, changed his way of think-ing. Look where it got him.
“While the girls were growing up, it was Barbiemania at our house,” Margaret O’Keefe says. “John learned how to do ponytails and whatever else it took to be a good daddy.”
Later, when the girls were college bound, Adrienne put it best. “She said to John, ‘Go for it. It’s your turn, Dad.’ He sat through all of the dance and piano recitals, cheerleading and feld hockey games. It was his time. It truly was his turn,” Margaret O’Keefe says.
In 2008, with his family’s blessings, O’Keefe continued his climb through the ranks of the industry. He was appointed to the GCSAA Board of Directors that same year. For the most part, times still were good. “We were coming out of record attendance and trade show exhibitor space at the GIS (Golf Industry Show) in Orlando,” O’Keefe says.
Within a year, however, everything
Preakness Hills CC President Peter von Halle (left) and green chairman Bryan Becker (right) meet with O’Keefe to discuss the scope of an upcoming bunker renovation project.
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03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 57 03.15 GO
Building and maintaining an ice rink for members at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Mass., isn’t all smooth skating for Greg Cormier, CGCS.
Greg Cormier, CGCS
d
warning
58 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
When my general manager approached me with the idea of building an ice rink for the
members back in in 2011, I wasn’t thrilled. I had helped construct an ice rink at a previous
club, and it had been a losing battle, requiring a whole lot of man-hours to build and maintain,
and attracting almost no use by the members.
At the time, we were trying to add value to our membership by offering winter activities
such as platform tennis and Nordic skiing in addition to ice skating. I decided to view the
project as an opportunity to help contribute to the club’s growth and attract new members.
We chose to construct the rink on the Har-Tru tennis courts. We could use the court lights
for the ice rink and tap into the nearby tennis center for water. The tennis center could also
double as a warming house for the members.
For the frst three years, we constructed the rink out of 6-inch ADS N-12 solid drainage
pipe. We made a 150-by-55-foot rectangle out of the pipe and were able to buy a piece of
6-mm-thick white plastic for a liner. The plastic was placed over the pipe rectangle, so that
we had roughly 4 feet of overlap all the way around. We then cut 6-inch single-wall fexible
pipe in half and placed it over the top of the 6-inch pipe used for the frame, sandwiching the
liner between both pipes. Plywood was laid around the outside of the pipe to hold down the
overlapping liner and to provide a place for skaters to step off the ice.We flled the rink slowly, letting a thin layer of ice form before adding more water. The
biggest challenge was the 1 percent slope in the courts, meant to allow for surface drainage during tennis season. One side of the rink would have a solid 3-inch ice layer, but the ice on the other side might be only 1 inch thick. Even when we flled to the top of the 6-inch pipe on the low side, the high side was barely thick enough.
In Concord, located just west of Boston, it is rare to have prolonged periods of be-low-freezing temperatures. It was a constant struggle to get the rink smooth, especially
Purchased plywood boards surround Nashawtuc CC’s new hockey rink. Triangular brackets hold the boards in place.
Photos by Greg Cormier
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with thin ice on one side and black pipe attracting sun to the edges. The 2013-2014 winter was the exception to the norm, and we had subfreezing temperatures for over two weeks. The ice rink turned to glass with the grounds crew scraping it and applying light coats of water daily.
The rink went from being almost unused the year before to being the talk of the club. The general manager requested that we post a sign to des-ignate certain time periods for hockey versus free skate. The rink became very popular among college students home for winter break and families with young kids hitting the ice for the frst time.
Doubling upFor the 2015 winter, the membership requested that we build two
rinks: one just for hockey and the other designated for skating. After seeing how popular the rink was in 2014, I thought we could step it up a notch in quality and order a kit from Nicerink.com. The kit comes with brackets, boards, liner, kick plates and foam pads for the top of the boards. We purchased plywood for boards instead of paying extra for the plastic boards that come with the kit. The triangular brackets have spikes on the bottom and a slot on the front to receive the boards. The key is to install the brackets and boards before the ground freezes.
The liner is then installed once the weather forecast calls for consis-tently freezing temperatures. In our case we waited about a month to in-stall the liner after the boards and brackets were in the ground. If the liner sits full of water, it tends to collect leaves and debris, which then create holes in the ice when the sun melts it. The biggest task was cutting the plywood on a table saw to create the boards.
The total investment was about $2,500 for supplies, which we can reuse every winter. The system is easy to assemble and even has videos available online for each step of the process. The end result is a much nicer looking — and a more functional — rink. The Nicerink has 16-inch sides, which allows us to increase the depth of the ice. It is also better for hockey because the players can shoot the puck off the boards.
The skating rink is flled slowly, allowing a thin layer of ice to form before more water is added.
62 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Keeping ice niceThe rink is a lot of work to maintain. We
typically have two staff members scrape the ice in the morning and apply a layer of water with an attachment on the end of a hose. We call it a “Zamboni” but it is actually sold by Nicerink as an ice resurfacer. On days where temperatures remain below freezing we will use the “Zamboni” up to three times per day — a
Crew members groom the ice with a special scraper that attaches to a hose to apply a layer of water.
practice that also requires two staff members and about 30 minutes each time.
When it snows, rink maintenance is a much larger task. Once we fnish all of the snow re-moval around the club and the platform tennis courts, we still need to tackle the rink. A snow blower is used to remove the bulk of the snow. A team of three or four people will then scrape the ice with shovels to get it as clean as possible. Finally, a heavy layer of water is needed to melt any remaining snow on the surface.
After a snow event, it takes a day or two to produce smooth ice again. Two years ago we ran a water line down to the tennis courts and installed a frost-free spigot. This is important if you do not have a water source close by. The only water in the area was from the irrigation system, which gets blown out each fall. We ended up connecting to the potable water line that feeds the tennis building and bringing a line down close to the courts. We are able to reach the entire ice area of both rinks with a 100-foot ¾-inch hose.
Measuring successThere are several ways to build an ice rink;
these are just the methods we used. I know other superintendents who have had success constructing the boards and brackets all out of
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wood. Several people in our community have been building ice rinks in their back yards in recent years, and most of them use simple wood construction with plywood walls.
The temperatures have been consistently cold for the beginning part of January 2015. The rink is seeing heavy use and we are get-ting compliments on the quality of the ice. But an ice rink is just as dependent on the weather as the golf course when it comes to producing high-quality conditions. It only takes a few days with temperatures in the 40s with bright sun to ruin a perfect surface and all your hard work. The next day it drops below freezing and the members are all asking when the ice will be smooth again. The answer is the same one I would give a golfer asking when a newly aerated green will be smooth again: when the
weather turns favorable for a long enough pe-riod to restore the conditions.
Building an ice rink is certainly not for ev-eryone. We have found a system that works when the weather is consistently cold. We are fortunate to have multiple staff members on through the winter. If you are thinking of of-fering this at your club, you should really weigh the cost and frustrations with the net beneft to the members. We seem to have a large popula-tion of young families and members with col-lege-age kids. If you took away these groups, the rink would not see much use.
Greg Cormier, CGCS, is the director of golf course opera-
tions at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Mass., and a
12-year member of GCSAA.
Leo Feser award
CANDIDATE
This article is eligible for the 2015 Leo Feser Award,
presented annually since 1977 to the author of the
best superintendent-written article published in GCM
during the previous year. Superintendents receive
a $300 stipend for articles. Feser Award winners
receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Golf Industry
Show, where they are recognized. They also have
their names engraved on a plaque permanently
displayed at GCSAA headquarters.
Nashawtuc CC chose to locate the ice rinks on the tennis courts, where potable water, lights and shelter are
accessible.
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Lukus Harvey Manages WhatWorld Famous Golf Course
In Palm Beach Gardens, FL?
“When the PGA tour comes in, they preach onething over and over. CONSISTENCY. They wantall 18 greens to be the same consistency. Theywant every bunker the same depth and firmness.They want our roughs to be the exact sameheight, no matter where you land. So when
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Lukus Harvey-Director of Agronomy PGA National Resort & Spa Palm Beach Gardens FL
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Bear tamers
A shared sense of teamwork helps Jane Broderick and Lukus Harvey keep a handle on all 90 holes of golf at the busy PGA National Resort and Spa.
Editor’s note: T is is t e fft eries of article ig lig ting t e important relations ip between GCSAA superintendents and PGA of America professionals. T ese stories are being publis ed simul-taneously in bot GCM and PGA Magazine.
At PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., teamwork works. It’s a man-tra that both PGA/LPGA director of golf operations Jane Broderick and director of agronomy Lukus Harvey preach every day.
Whether it’s on a global stage for the kickoff to the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing with The Honda Classic, the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships each summer or mem-ber and resort guest play on the facility’s fve courses — four of which are ranked among the Top 75 in Florida — spanning more than 650 acres, it takes a team fring on all cylinders.
“There’s always something going on at PGA National,” explains Broderick, a two-time na-tional LPGA Teaching & Club Professional Golf Professional of the Year, and the frst to ever achieve PGA and LPGA Master Professional status.
A Johnstown, N.Y., native, Broderick has climbed the ranks at PGA National since starting in the bag room in 1986. Over time, she became PGA head professional and eventually director of golf operations.
Broderick acquired the golf bug when she started playing rounds to help her mother exercise following a heart attack. After working at a nine-hole course near the Adirondack Mountains
Michael R. Abramowitz
AT THE TURN
(business)
PGA National Resort and Spa’s Champion Course, which has hosted The Honda Classic, 1987 PGA Championship, 1983 Ryder Cup and 18 Senior PGA Champion-ships, was recently re-grassed with Celebration bermudagrass tees, fairways and green surrounds. Photo © Montana Pritchard
68 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
under the guidance of the late Pat Palmieri, Broderick was hired on the spot by then-PGA head professional Bill Hobbs at PGA Na-tional. It took in-person persistence, though. Broderick showed up in the golf shop to fnd out exactly where she stood.
Today, she oversees 90 holes of golf, a members’ club, seven dining options, bars, ftness, tennis, croquet, two driving ranges, the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Golf School, the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, swim-ming, a world-class spa, conference halls and banquets.
Broderick employs a staff of 100, includ-ing directors of inside operations and outside operations, who help her manage a total of 150,000 rounds yearly.
“Jane’s incredible,” says Honda Clas-sic tournament director Ed McEnroe. “She’s absolutely an extension of our group. She’s always looking out for others and incredibly like-minded.”
For fun, Broderick competes in half-triath-lons and rides her bike 75 miles for charity.
“Jane might be one of the top fve most organized women on the planet,” boasts her mentor, John Gardner, a former vice president at PGA National and now the PGA general manager at Quail West Golf and Country Club in Naples, Fla.
Maintaining a balanceHarvey, an Ohio State alumnus and Kent,
Ohio, native, previously served at some of the world’s top courses, including what’s now Trump National Doral Miami with its famed Blue Monster course, and the Jack Nicklaus-designed Trump National Golf Club Jupiter (then the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa). He has been a GCSAA member for 14 years.
“Lukus understands there’s a balance be-tween maximizing rounds and taking good care of the golf course,” says Bud Taylor, PGA director of golf at Old Palm Club in Palm Beach Gardens, who worked with Harvey at Ritz-Carlton.
Harvey was instrumental in the grow-in for Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples before moving to John’s Island Club in Vero Beach. He honed his trade interning at Augusta Na-tional Golf Club.
He credits daily communication with Broderick as the key to the massive opera-tion’s success.
“We have each other’s back, and nothing is out of bounds,” says Harvey. “We’re driving toward the same goal.”
Help me, HondaEvery so often, Harvey will lean on Nick-
laus, a fellow Buckeye, for some advice on
Top: Jack Nicklaus designed and redesigned the Cham-pion Course (hole No. 3 is shown), which is now rated No. 65 among Golfweek’s Best Resort Courses. Photos courtesy of PGA National Resort and Spa
Bottom: PGA/LPGA director of golf operations Jane Broderick (left) and director of agronomy Lukus Harvey pose with a statue erected in honor of the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus.
70 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
handling the courses, especially around The Honda Classic. Makes sense, especially since Nicklaus performed the design and redesign of PGA National Resort & Spa’s famous host of that event, the Champion Course, site of the 1987 PGA Championship, 1983 Ryder Cup and 18 Senior PGA Championships.
As treacherous as it is beautiful, complete with the famous “Bear Trap” on the back nine, “The Champ” is ranked No. 65 among Golf-week’s Best Resort Courses. When the wind blows off the meandering lakes throughout the property, watch out. It’s a beast.
Yet, tour players love the course because it serves as a great test as they round the club-house turn toward Augusta.
Honda Classic competitors had a new ex-perience this year. Nicklaus led another reno-vation that included the addition of Celebra-tion bermudagrass fairways, tees and green surrounds “for major-like conditions” and a redesign of the par-4 14th hole that brings more water and bunkers into play. He also expanded the greens on Nos. 1, 9, 15 and 17 back to their original size.
Harvey and Broderick’s staff work around the clock before, during and after Honda Classic week to get not just the Champion Course in spectacular shape but the other four courses, too, as they remain open for member play throughout the event.
Enter “Café Cart Barn,” as Broderick af-fectionately calls it, where food trucks and catering are brought in near the maintenance facility. “The key to keeping your staff happy is to keep them well fed,” she explains.
Meanwhile, many of the golf and main-tenance staff members are housed onsite.
“During The Honda, we roll the greens until 11:30 at night and are back at it at 3:30 a.m.,” adds Harvey.
Bear necessitiesFrom the usual to the not so usual, Broder-
ick, Harvey and crew savor it all.At the gateway to the Bear Trap is a statue
of a bear erected in honor of the Golden Bear. For a recent television shoot, two trained griz-zlies were brought into the act. Honey was placed in the statue’s mouth so the live ani-mals would lean on it.
As a buildup to this year’s Honda Classic, Golf Channel brought its popular show “Big Break” to the resort. The logistics of flm-ing the show, which began airing last month, were tricky.
“While you’re only dealing with two or three different holes, your staff must always be on standby,” says Harvey. “If weather comes in, you have to drop everything and start from scratch.”
Keeping it greenIn South Florida, play is year-round. In
order to prevent wear and tear, maintenance best practices must play through, but juggling fve courses is not simple. Broderick and Har-vey set up a rotation based on the reservation schedule to ensure that benefcial aerifcation takes place regularly during the hot, humid and wet summer.
For example, they delayed re-grassing the Champion Course range until the Optimist junior golf event was complete last July, in order to promote good range turf.
“It’s a balancing act,” explains Harvey, who aims to aerate each course three times during the season. “I really lean on Jane to let me know which course is available.”
Meanwhile, lightning is always a concern. And with the resort’s Estate Course located a few miles down the road, it may be bright sunshine on one course and a monsoon on an-other.
“How Lukus responds to the weather is fascinating, from cold to cloudy weather, to torrential downpours. It impacts everything,” states Broderick.
Yet, their success boils down to commu-nication.
“Jane is inspiring,” says Harvey.
Michael R. Abramowitz is senior editor for the PGA of
America and PGA Magazine.
Broderick (left) and Harvey rise to the challenge of managing 150,000 rounds of golf annually and maintaining the more than 650 acres at PGA National Resort and Spa’s fve courses.
“The key to
keeping your staff
happy is to keep
them well fed.”
— Jane Broderick
72 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Don’t call it a comebackMark Black, CGCS, and Quail West tackle a renovation project designed to modernize greens at the club and keep it among south Florida’s elite.
It’s a familiar feature at so many south Florida courses — the wooden retaining walls that form the hard edge separating putting surface from water hazard. The putting surface was typi-cally designed to be fush with the top of that wall, but 25-30 years of sand and thatch accu-mulation have raised the greens up. In a region where topdressing is a year-round discipline, the putting surfaces can rise a half-inch every 12 months.
Mark Black, CGCS, director of golf course maintenance and grounds at the 36-hole Quail West Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla., estimates the ultradwarf putting surfaces on his Preserve Course today sit some 13 inches higher than the day the course opened for play in 1992. For golfers, the difference can be too gradual and subtle to notice — perhaps until the moment a ball rolls back off the green into the drink.
For Black and his crew? Well, they do notice the difference and have seen the agronomic and maintenance issues building for years. While the visuals are most stark beside retaining walls, it’s a problem coursewide.
“As the green surfaces get to be that much higher, it makes some of the surrounding undula-tions disappear,” says Black, who arrived from Bonita Bay 16 years ago, after construction and grow-in of both the Preserve and the neighboring Lakes Course (opened in two phases, in 1993 and ’95).
“The interesting thing for ultradwarf growers is how topdressing programs affect the col-lars, not just the surrounds. The collars grow more aggressively — so fast that it affects surface drainage. And these ultradwarfs are so dense, when you start to lose surface drainage, when
Hal Phillips
AT THE TURN
(renovation)
Quail West Golf and Country Club, long regarded as one of the top facilities in golf-mad Naples, Fla., is prepping for a greens renovation with longtime superintendent Mark Black, CGCS, at the helm. Photos courtesy of Quail West
“The interesting
thing for
ultradwarf
growers is how
topdressing
programs affect
the collars, not just
the surrounds.”
— Mark Black, CGCS
74 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
it won’t sheet-fow off the putting surface, the moisture accumulates in those areas. In those parts of the green we’re battling pythium root rot and additional disease pressure.
“Obviously, I’m not the frst one to man-age aging greens with an above-average accu-mulation of mix, but I can tell you we main-tain an aggressive aerifcation program in the summer months,” Black continues. “We con-tinued incorporating and diluting organics with as much sand as we could. But there just comes a time when they won’t perform to the standards of member expectations — and our own expectations.”
Full-circle propositionPush now comes to shove as Black and
course architect Drew Rogers have embarked on a comprehensive plan for improvement of the Preserve, where all 18 greens and sur-rounds will be rebuilt, along with all 56 bun-kers. It’s likely the Lakes Course will get a sim-ilar refurbishment when the Preserve project is complete.
Both 18s at Quail West are credited to ar-chitect Arthur Hills, whose frm Rogers joined the year the Preserve Course debuted. Rogers subsequently oversaw design and construction of the Lakes Course.
“You cringe a little bit when you consider how Florida courses were built at that time,” says Rogers, who formed his own architec-ture frm, JDR Design, in 2010. “Back in the ’90s, it was more typical to build the green separate from the surrounds. A cavity is built up with the layers of materials that compose a USGA green, of course. But there was one
big, looming problem that few in the industry paid enough attention to: You’ve got a cavity that is built up with layers of materials that are frankly different from everything around it.
“When we build today, we make darn sure the surrounds are identical and seam-less — that, in terms of the soil profle, you can’t tell the green edge from the outside edge. Unfortunately, once greens in this part of the country get to be 25-30 years old (the typical life span of a USGA green in Florida), you can tell exactly where those edges, those transition areas are,” Rogers continues. “Little bumps and trenches develop around the edge of the green that are tough to maintain. And if your ball settles there? Well, it defnitely affects playability … and aesthetics.”
The work at Quail West is a full-circle proposition for Rogers, not merely for his revisitation of early designs, but also for the presence of Mark Black. The two met in the early 1990s, when Black was golf course su-perintendent at the Bonita Bay Club, perhaps Naples’ most prominent, multi-course devel-opment. Black would leave Bonita Bay for Quail West in 1998, but his time there was noteworthy. Not only did he oversee the devel-opment of some fve separate 18-hole tracks, but Black also trained a veritable army of as-sistants who’ve gone on to take superintendent positions at some of the fnest clubs in the Na-ples area.
“I just keep running into these guys, and they’re all recognizable because they clearly bring Mark’s expertise and dedication along with them,” Rogers says.
There is Matt Taylor, CGCS, a 22-year member of GCSAA who looked after the Fazio-designed East Course at Bonita Bay be-fore taking the top job at 36-hole Royal Poin-ciana in Naples in 2000. Rogers is now reno-vating the Cypress course there.
There is Kenyon Kyle, CGCS, who left Black’s tutelage to build and grow in Shadow Wood Preserve in Estero. That was an Arthur Hills design where Rogers, by then a full part-ner in the frm, assumed lead architect duties. Kyle, a 19-year GCSAA member, then went off to Amelia Island before returning to Na-ples at Audubon Country Club, where he and Rogers are now collaborating on another re-furbishment program.
Then there’s Hal Akin, CGCS, another 19-year member of the association who stayed put at Bonita Bay and today presides over the New Marsh, Creekside and Bay Island layouts.
“There are lots of other Mark Black proté-gés I don’t even know, but clearly here’s a fel-low who produces talent,” Rogers says. “Guys
Black has mentored a host of superintendents who have gone on to manage some of southwest Florida’s top golf facilities.
“When we build
today, we make
darn sure the
surrounds are
identical and
seamless — that,
in terms of the soil
profle, you can’t
tell the green edge
from the outside
edge.”
— Drew Rogers
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Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando. He qualifed for and completed the golf course operations program at Lake City Community College (now called Florida Gateway Col-lege), then went to work for Hall.
“Yeah, there are a lot of young fellas who have worked with me, done a lot of great things, but I’m not sure it was because of me,” Black says. “What they may not fully appreci-
ate is how much they got from Dan Hall. He’s the godfather. I’m just one of the offspring.”
Naturally, this family tree of superinten-dents all clustered in the Naples area invites some key comparisons. Such as, who’s the snappiest dresser?
“That’d be me,” Black deadpans.And the best player?“Me! Of course, that doesn’t make me
Quail West is a 36-hole facility featuring a pair of Arthur Hills-designed layouts — the Preserve (pictured here) and the Lakes courses. Drew Rogers, a former Hills protégé, will lead the upcoming renovation work.
like Mark and Matt Schaffer (superintendent at Merion GC) and a few others, the Latshaws — they really demand a lot of their assis-tants and managers. It becomes sort of a way of life. You live and breathe the golf course. It’s intense. It’s demanding. But at the end of the day, the dynamic is fatherly. These assis-tants work hard because they’re treated well, and that’s a super motivator. They go on to do good things because they’ve been trained to succeed.
“I’ve always wanted to work directly with Mark because I’ve worked directly with so many of these guys who come from his farm, so to speak. Now I fnd myself with the chance to work directly with Mark, and I couldn’t be more delighted,” Rogers says.
‘Just one of the offspring’Black may embody the business in his cor-
ner of the world (he has been a GCSAA and Everglades GCSA member for 34 years), but he wasn’t born to the profession. Black was “fortunate enough” to work for someone who was born to the job: Dan Hall, the longtime superintendent at Imperial Golf Club in Na-ples and himself the son of a superintendent. Black, a native of Lake Wales, Fla., got his frst taste of golf course work at Arnold Palmer’s
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any good.”“The other thing you have to understand,”
says Black, getting serious again, “is that Na-ples, Florida, has some of the fnest superin-tendents in the country. There are a lot of re-ally sharp guys, and the sharing of failures is what has always intrigued me in this business. What we get right is almost taken for granted. When things are bad, there are so many guys who are willing to stop and help and tell you what worked for them. That’s a part of the
business that I hope never dies.”
Final decisionsWhen we checked in with Black this past
summer, fnal decisions had yet to be reached about just what turf he and Rogers would in-stall on the Preserve Course. This is the other key component of the renovation, and Black is still researching the matter with his colleagues in Naples and the USGA.
“We’re awaiting the USGA report as we speak,” Black says. “There are off-types of bermuda that have contaminated our existing (ultradwarf) surfaces. Basically, it’s not unlike Poa does with bent greens. It’s a bermuda- grass type, but it behaves differently than the intended type. The growth habit, the suscep-tibility to drought, pests and disease is slightly different. That makes it tough because you have to treat one green different than you treat another. Something might be more effective on one green than another, and that creates in-consistent playing conditions for the golfers.”
“All this became very apparent to me over the past four to fve years,” Black continues. “The last few we’ve had drought in summer and hot humid weather in the fall, which is perfect for disease. And if you don’t have greens that drain adequately or properly, you
Returning Quail West’s putting surfaces to their original design features and characteristics is job one of the club’s upcoming renovation project.
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80 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
get a perfect storm of disease pressure. That’s hard to manage.”
Rogers says that, according to the USGA, once the contamination level gets to about 40 percent, courses should think seriously about removing that grass and establishing a new stand. Most of the greens at Quail West have gone beyond 60 percent contamination.
“It more or less forced the hand of the club to react,” Rogers says, noting that the non-original ultradwarf surfaces at Quail West are 16 years old and provide nothing close to the pure strain sought by all supers in this part of the country.
“At the same time we’re dealing with the contamination, the green complexes are 22 years old,” Black says. “We now have a greens mix that is 25 inches deep; a good average is 0.5 inch a year through topdressing. We’re on an average schedule. But they just don’t perform the way a USGA green is supposed to. They don’t drain and percolate like they did, and could, and should. In a region with 56-58 inches of annual rainfall, this has made it more diffcult than we’d like.”
Rogers is marrying these agronomic efforts to a range of other course improvements beft-ting a 22-year-old course in a demanding cli-mate — one that enables play 52 weeks a year.
“In large part, we are just piecing these golf courses back together,” Rogers explains. “They are 20-plus years old and showing their age. We see it in the bunkers, tees, around the greens. The greens we’ve talked about, but today we also understand how to move golf carts through holes better and more safely. Trees have grown and are adversely impacting play. Some bunkers are now out of position. The tees are small and perched up — tough to climb and tough for equipment to negotiate.
“We’re also dealing with a slightly differ-ent demographic of member today, and we’re paying very close attention to their needs. Our plan involves details that will promote a more playable and enjoyable golf experience, but without negating the original design intent or the challenge from the back tees.”
“The membership,” Black adds, “is very happy with both golf courses. They’re not looking to have new golf courses when we’re done. They’d like the old ones returned to them, but just better versions.”
Hal Phillips is the managing director of golf and resorts
for Mandarin Media, a public relations frm with offces in
Portland, Maine; Park City, Utah; and Saigon, Vietnam,
and the former editor of Golf Course News.
“We’re also
dealing with a
slightly different
demographic of
member today, and
we’re paying very
close attention to
their needs.”
— Rogers
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They have a voice in the industryThrough the GCSAA Superintendent Research Panel, these individuals have a voice in the
industry. They are also receiving great rewards for their participation on the panel through
our quarterly prize drawings.
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of the Superintendent Research Panel at gcsaa.org/Community
Richard M. Novak, CGCSRapid City, SD
Arrowhead Country Club
Daniel A. PetersenCheyenne, WY
FE Warren AFB Golf Club
Barry L. BollingerLebanon, PA
Rich Valley Golf Club
Scott Anagnostelis, CGCSLaughlin, NV
Mojave Resort Golf Club
A. Michael Maffei, CGCSBrewster, NY
Morefar Golf Course
82 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Early one afternoon in September 2013, I stopped by a local golf course to grab a bite to eat. After ordering a sandwich, I took a seat outdoors on an elevated deck overlook-ing the 18th and spied the assistant superin-tendent rolling the green. Awaiting my order, I sipped on a beverage and let my face bathe in the warmth of the sun’s rays. Tension drained from my body, clearing my mind of thought as I entered nirvana. My sandwich was delivered, I ordered a second beverage and, after eating, I was recharged and ready to get back to work.
As I asked for my check and prepared to depart, I noticed the assistant superintendent was still rolling the green. As I made my way toward the green, the assistant turned off his machine. When I asked what he was doing, he said, “Rolling the green.” I gave him a stare that alerted him I was aware of that fact, so he added, “Well, we aerifed the greens today, so I’m rolling each green 16 times to smooth them out.”
I was surprised, to say the least. First of all, I had to smile, recalling the superinten-dent of the course had informed me a decade before that he would never put “one of those machines” (a lightweight roller) on any of his greens. Now he was rolling every green 16 times after core cultivation, a practice intended to alleviate compaction of the root zone after months of play. Seemed to me like it might be counterproductive.
By the spring of 2014, I had had numerous conversations with golf course superintendents who also rolled after core cultivation. Further-more, I learned that some superintendents were making purchasing decisions based on the weight of the roller. Their logic was that the heavier the roller, the faster the hole closure and the smoother the putting surface. Obviously, it was time to initiate a study.
In September 2014, a study was initi-ated at the Hancock Turfgrass Research Cen-ter (HTRC) of Michigan State University by aerifying a creeping bentgrass research put-ting green with a Toro Pro Core with 0.5-inch tines. The green was mowed fve days per week with a Toro Triplex Reelmaster set at a 0.125-inch height of cut. Two rollers were
used in the study: the Toro GP 1240 and the Salsco GGR 9065, which is approximately 210 pounds heavier than the Toro. One of the plots was a non-rolled check plot. The other plots were rolled fve days per week for 20 days after aerifcation.
Hole-closure ratings were taken daily after aerifcation. For both rollers, hole closure in rolled aerifed plots was not noticeably faster compared to that in the non-rolled aerifed plots until 11 days after aerifcation. That trend continued for 25 days after aerifcation. Pelz- meter measurements showed that both rollers increased green speed (or ball roll distance) by 12 inches at one day after aerifcation, and that trend continued for the frst week. However, by 14 days after aerifcation, the rolled plots were nearly 2 feet faster in speed compared to the non-rolled check plots. That trend continued for the duration of the experiment. Finally, soil cores were taken, and neither of the rollers cre-ated any measurable compaction differences compared to the non-rolled aerifed plots. On every date, there were no differences between the two rollers, indicating heavier rollers do not hasten hole closure or enhance smoothness more than lighter rollers.
An additional observation made at the HTRC in 2014 was that dollar spot can grow rampant on the circumference of the aerifca-tion holes. This is logical given that we know drier soil leads to more severe dollar spot out-breaks. Obviously, customer satisfaction is the No. 1 reason to assist hole closure. I added that little tidbit about dollar spot to demonstrate that aerifcation hole closure can be a turfgrass health issue as well.
Golf course superintendents continue to impress me with their innovation. Results from this study indicate that rolling after aerifca-tion (regardless of roller weight) signifcantly increases customer satisfaction, and you don’t have to roll each green 16 times to achieve mea-surable results.
Thomas A. Nikolai, Ph.D., is the turfgrass academic spe-
cialist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.,
and a frequent GCSAA educator.
Thomas A. Nikolai, [email protected]
Weighing in on rolling after aerifcation
An additional
observation made
at the HTRC in 2014
was that dollar
spot can grow
rampant on the
circumference of the
aerifcation holes.
(up to speed)
With so much on the line, staying Rooted in Science™ is our commitment to you.
We understand that your professional reputation and livelihood are dependent on the quality
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Mike Cavanaugh, Co-Owner(215) 588-5594 | [email protected]
84 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Petroleum diesel and biodiesel spills affect fairways differentlyThe effects of petroleum diesel and two types of biodiesel were tested on three turfgrass genera in Arkansas.
Donald M. Johnson, Ph.D.Don W. Edgar, Ph.D. Douglas E. Karcher, Ph.D.Michael D. Richardson, Ph.D. John H. McCalla, M.S.
Turf-damaging fuel spills are usually caused by equipment failure, tank or hose leaks, or careless refueling practices (2). Be-sides being potential environmental hazards, fuel spills result in unsightly turf damage, de-tracting from the aesthetics of the golf course environment.
Petroleum diesel is one of the primary fuels used to power maintenance equipment on commercial golf courses. A national study published in 2012 (5) found that 97% of 18-hole golf courses used petroleum diesel, with virtually all (98%) used to fuel maintenance equipment. The typical 18-hole golf course used 3,467 gallons (13,124 liters) of petroleum diesel fuel annually.
The increasing worldwide demand for en-ergy, coupled with concerns about emissions, has resulted in greater interest in renewable, clean-burning alternative fuels. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced from vegetable oils, cooking greases and oils, or animal fats (3). Five percent of 18-hole golf courses nation-wide used biodiesel in 2008. Courses using biodiesel averaged 2,528 gallons (9,569.5 li-ters) annually, with 90% of that used to fuel maintenance equipment (5). Pure biodiesel (B100) may be blended to produce a 20% bio-diesel blend (B20) that is commonly used in the industry.
As biodiesel use increases in the turfgrass industry, the question arises as to the relative effect of petroleum diesel and biodiesel spills on turfgrass. However, a search of the litera-
ture failed to locate previous studies address-ing this question. Thus, the objective of this project was to compare the effects on turfgrass damage and recovery of simulated spills of petroleum diesel, a biodiesel blend (B20) and pure biodiesel (B100) at both ambient (90 F [32 C]) and elevated (165 F [74 C]) operat-ing temperatures.
A related study (2) evaluated the effect of petroleum, synthetic (polyalkylene-glycol) and vegetable-oil hydraulic fuids, applied at various temperatures and volumes, on necro-sis and recovery of warm-season turfgrasses. As expected, the synthetic hydraulic fuid resulted in the least necrosis and the most rapid recovery; however, vegetable-oil-based hydraulic fuid resulted in less necrosis and faster recovery than petroleum-based hydrau-lic fuid. Since biodiesel is produced primarily from vegetable oils, these fndings suggest bio-diesel spills should have a less negative impact on turfgrass than petroleum diesel spills.
Materials and methods
This experiment was conducted at the Ar-kansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Fayetteville, Ark., during the sum-mer of 2012. Simulated spills of three fuels (petroleum diesel, B20 and B100) were ap-plied at two temperatures (90 F and 165 F) to SR 1020 creeping bentgrass (Agrostis sto-lonifera L.), TifSport bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon var. dactylon), and Meyer zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) fairways.
Two experiments were conducted. In ex-periment 1, a volume of 20 milliliters was ap-plied by syringe at the center point of each 1.0-square-foot (929-square-centimeter) treat-ment area (Figure 1) on June 8, 2012, and turf injury evaluations extended through July 20, 2012 (42 days). In experiment 2, a volume of 10 milliliters was applied by syringe to the cen-ter point of each 1.0-square-foot treatment area on July 20, 2012, and turf injury evaluations extended through Aug. 31, 2012 (42 days).
Experiment 1 (June 8-July 20) Experiment 2 (July 20-31 Aug. 31)
Mean (SD) maximum daily temperature (F)† 92.8 (5.4) 92.5 (7.0)
Mean (SD) minimum daily temperature (F) 69.4 (4.6) 69.7 (6.4)
Total rainfall (inches) 1.4 4.4
†SD = standard deviation.
Table 1. Temperature and rainfall during experiments 1 and 2.
Temperature and rainfall
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 85
The mean daily high and low tempera-tures were similar over the two experiments, but total rainfall during experiment 2 was ap-proximately three times greater than that dur-ing experiment 1 (Table 1).
Fairway turf was established on a silt loam soil, mowed at a height of 0.6 inch (1.5 centi-meters). All areas were amended with phos-phorous and potassium based on annual soil
tests. Nitrogen applications varied for each species as follows. Creeping bentgrass fairways were fertilized during the growing season with a combination of granular and biweekly foliar nitrogen applications for a total of 0.5 pound nitrogen/1,000 square feet (24.4 kilograms/hectare). During the growing season, bermu-dagrass and zoysiagrass fairways were fertil-ized monthly with a granular nitrogen source.
Rates were 1.0 pound/1,000 square feet (48.8 kilograms/hectare) for bermudagrass and 0.5 pound/1,000 square feet for zoysiagrass fair-ways. All turf areas were irrigated, as needed, to prevent drought stress.
Digital images were taken at one, two, four and six weeks after treatment, using a framing technique that allowed a precise measurement of the turfgrass cover in the
Figure 1. A creeping bentgrass fairway one day (top) and seven days (bottom) after fuel application for selected treatments.
1 day after fuel application
B100 (32°) B20 (74°) untreated
untreated PD (32°) PD (74°)
7 days after fuel application
B100 (32°) B20 (74°) untreated
untreated PD (32°) PD (74°)
86 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
plot area (4). Percent relative green cover was calculated by dividing the percent green cover area for each surface by the mean per-cent green cover area for the appropriate non-treated control surface (6).
Results
Experiment 1 (20-milliliter fuel application)For creeping bentgrass fairways (Figure 2,
top), there were signifcant differences in per-cent relative green cover by fuel type in three of four comparisons by week. Plots treated with B20 and B100 had signifcantly higher percent relative green cover than plots treated with petroleum diesel at two, four and six weeks post-application. By week 6, relative green cover of creeping bentgrass was 45% for treatments with petroleum diesel, 62% for treatments with B20 and 70% for treatments with B100. Fuel temperature did not have a signifcant independent effect on percent rela-tive green cover for creeping bentgrass at the 20-milliliter application rate.
Bermudagrass fairways exhibited a con-sistent and signifcant difference in percent relative green cover by fuel type in each of the four comparisons by week. Within each week, percent relative green cover was signifcantly lower for plots treated with petroleum diesel, intermediate for those treated with B20 and higher for those treated with B100 (Figure 2, middle). By week 6 of the bermudagrass fair-way treatments, relative green cover was 77% for petroleum diesel, 84% for B20 and 96% for B100. Fuel temperature did not have a sig-nifcant independent effect on percent relative green cover for bermudagrass at the 20-mil-liliter application rate.
Zoysiagrass fairways responded differently to the simulated fuel spills when compared to creeping bentgrass and bermudagrass fair-ways. With zoysiagrass, there were no signif-cant differences in percent relative green cover by fuel type for any week (Figure 2, bottom). Zoysiagrass exhibited less initial damage and more complete recovery (as measured by per-cent relative green cover ) to all types of fuel spills compared to creeping bentgrass and ber-mudagrass. By week 6, the percent relative green cover for zoysiagrass exceeded 90% re-gardless of fuel type. Again, fuel temperature did not have a signifcant independent effect on percent relative green cover for zoysiagrass.
Experiment 2 (10 milliliters fuel application)In the frst experiment, 20 milliliters of
Figure 2. Percent relative green cover by week for petroleum diesel (PD), 20% biodiesel (B20) and 100% biodiesel (B100) applied at 20 milliliters on creeping bentgrass, bermudagrass and zoysiagrass fairways. Within each species and week, bars with the same letter are not statistically different.
0
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% r
elat
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over
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Bermudagrass
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aa a
b
aa
b
a
a
b
aa
a
bc
a
b
c
a
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ca
bc
a a a
a aa a
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20-milliliter applications
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 87
fuel was applied to the center of each surface, resulting in turf damage that approached the margin of the 4-inch (10-centimeter) diameter evaluation area; in the second experiment, the application volume was decreased to 10 mil-liliters on each 1.0-square-foot treatment area. Total rainfall also differed between the frst (1.4 inches [3.55 centimeters]) and second (4.4 inches [11.17 centimeters]) experiment. These differences should be noted when attempting to compare results across experiments.
For creeping bentgrass fairways, there were no signifcant differences in percent relative green cover by fuel type for any of the four weekly comparisons (Figure 3, top). There was a signifcant independent effect for fuel tem-perature, with fuels applied at 165 F resulting in a lower percent relative green cover (overall mean 79%) than fuels applied at 90 F (over-all mean 84%). Interestingly, there was not a signifcant interaction between fuel tempera-ture and number of weeks post-application; the decrease in percent relative green cover for fuels applied at 165 F persisted throughout the study period.
On bermudagrass fairways, there were sig-nifcant differences in percent relative green cover by fuel type in each of the four com-parisons by week (Figure 3, middle). In each comparison, percent relative green cover was signifcantly lower for plots treated with pe-troleum diesel, intermediate for those treated with B20 and higher for those treated with B100. By week 6, relative green cover for ber-mudagrass was over 90% for each fuel type with B100-treated bermudagrass at 99% rel-ative green cover. There was no signifcant main effect for fuel temperature on percent relative green cover for bermudagrass.
On zoysiagrass fairways, there were signif-cant differences in percent relative green cover by fuel type each week (Figure 3, bottom). In weeks 2, 4 and 6, percent relative green cover was signifcantly lower for plots treated with petroleum diesel, intermediate for those treated with B20 and higher for those treated with B100. By week 6, B100-treated zoysia-grass had a relative green cover of 96%, com-pared to 75% for B20 and 59% for petroleum diesel. There was no signifcant main effect for fuel temperature on percent relative green cover for zoysiagrass.
Implications
The results of this study yielded fairly con-sistent results across turfgrass surfaces and ex-
Figure 3. Percent relative green cover by week for petroleum diesel (PD), 20% biodiesel (B20) and 100% biodiesel (B100) applied at 10 milliliters on creeping bentgrass, bermudagrass and zoysiagrass fairways. Within each species and week, bars with the same letter are not statistically different.
0
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Bermudagrass
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aa
aa a a
aa a a
a a
ba a
cb
ac b a c
b a
ba a
c
b
a
c
b
a
c
b
a
10-milliliter applications
88 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
The
RESEARCH SAYS
• Researchers examined the effects of spills of
petroleum diesel, 20% blended biodiesel and
100% pure biodiesel on creeping bentgrass,
bermudagrass and zoysiagrass fairways.
• Biodiesel spills generally resulted in less fairway
turf damage and faster recovery compared to
petroleum diesel spills.
• For creeping bentgrass fairways, small fuel
leaks are more damaging at higher tem-
peratures, and high-volume leaks are more
damaging than small ones regardless of the fuel
temperature at the time of the leak.
• Superintendents should monitor fuel-damaged
fairways and consider allowing natural regrowth,
which is especially likely with biodiesel fuel spills.
bentgrass fairways, small fuel leaks are more damaging at higher temperatures, and high volume leaks are more damaging than small volume leaks regardless of the fuel tempera-ture at the time the leak occurred.
RainfallDetermining the effects of rainfall on
damage from fuel spills was not an objective of the present study, but large differences in rainfall were observed between the two study periods (Table 1). It appears that the greater amount of rainfall observed in the second experiment (4.4 inches [11.17 centimeters]) compared to the frst experiment (1.4 inches [3.55 centimeters]) may have mitigated some of the injury by moving the fuel away from crowns and other meristematic tissues or by diluting the fuels so that less injury occurred. Plots were maintained in well-watered condi-tion in both experiments, so these effects are not believed to be associated with drought stress in the plots. The effects of water volume on injury would be a good avenue for future research, as increased irrigation might be an alternative approach to reducing damage from fuel spills on golf course turf.
ZoysiagrassIn the frst experiment, zoysiagrass fairways
treated with 20 milliliters of each fuel type showed no signifcant difference in percent rela-tive green cover by fuel and an almost complete (>90% relative green cover ) recovery by week 6. In the second experiment, at the 10-millili-ter application rate, there were signifcant dif-ferences in percent relative green cover by fuel type, with petroleum diesel being lowest, B100 highest and B20 being intermediate. In addi-tion, by week 6, recovery in percent relative green cover for treated zoysiagrass fairways was much lower for petroleum diesel (50%) and B20 (75%) than in the frst experiment. The cause of this difference was not determined, but it may have been due to different growth rates for zoysiagrass between the two experiments (the zoysiagrass plots were 81% green at the be-ginning of the frst and 98% green at the begin-ning of the second experiment).
Finally, this research suggests that golf course managers should carefully monitor fuel-damaged fairways and consider allowing damaged turf to regrow naturally. This natu-ral regrowth is especially likely with biodiesel fuel spills.
Funding
This study was supported by the Arkan-sas Soybean Promotion Board; FutureFuel Corp.; and the University of Arkansas, Divi-sion of Agriculture.
Acknowledgments
The results of this research were originally published online on Nov. 14, 2014, in the journal Applied Turfgrass Science as “Effect of Petroleum Diesel and Biodiesel Spills on Turf-grass” by Donald M. Johnson, Don W. Edgar, Douglas E. Karcher, Michael D. Richardson and John H. McCalla (doi:10.2134/ATS-2013-0005-RS).
Literature cited
1. Bai, R., and D. Li. 2013. Establishment of peren-
nial ryegrass in soil contaminated with simulated
petroleum-based spills and remediation. HortTechnol-
ogy 23(3): 334-338.
2. Berndt, W.L. 2007. Effect of synthetic hydraulic fuid
on warm-season turfgrass. Online. Applied Turfgrass
Science doi: 10.1094/ATS-2007-1119-01-RS.
3. Department of Energy. 2009. Biodiesel Handling and
Use Guide. 4th ed. NREL Report No. TP-540-43672;
DOE/GO-102008-2658. U.S. Department of Energy,
Offce of Scientifc and Technical Information, Oak
Ridge, Tenn.
4. Karcher, D.E., and M.D. Richardson. 2013. Digital
image analysis in turfgrass research. Pages 1133-
1149. In: J.C. Stier, B.P. Horgan and S.A. Bonos,
editors. Turfgrass: Biology, Use, and Management.
Agronomy Monograph 56.
5. Lyman, G.T., M.E. Johnson and G.A. Stacey. 2012.
Golf course environmental profle measures energy
use and energy management practices. Online.
Applied Turfgrass Science doi: 10.1094/ATS-2012-
0288-01-RS.
6. Young, J., M. Richardson and D. Karcher. 2012.
Evaluating ball mark severity and recovery using digi-
tal image analysis. Arkansas Turfgrass Report 2010
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research
Service 593:50-55.
Donald M. Johnson ([email protected]) is a professor
and Don W. Edgar is an associate professor in the depart-
ment of agricultural education, communications and tech-
nology; and Douglas E. Karcher is an associate professor,
Michael D. Richardson is a professor and John H. McCalla
is a research specialist in the department of horticulture at
the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
periments. In 15 of 24 comparisons by weeks after application, fairway surfaces treated with B20 and B100 had signifcantly higher percent relative green cover than did surfaces treated with petroleum diesel. None of the 24 comparisons by weeks after application resulted in a signifcantly higher percent rela-tive green cover for surfaces treated with pe-troleum diesel. Finally, in four of six compari-sons in week 6, surfaces treated with B20 or B100 had signifcantly higher percent relative green cover than did surfaces treated with pe-troleum diesel. Thus, we conclude that B100 and B20 spills generally result in less fairway turf damage and faster recovery compared to petroleum diesel spills. This is consistent with research on the effects of spills of vegetable-based hydraulic fuid (2).
In the second experiment, when fuel was applied at 10 milliliters, the heated (165 F) fuel produced greater damage to creeping bentgrass fairways than the fuel applied at am-bient temperature (90 F). However, in the frst experiment, where the fuel was applied at 20 milliliters, no differences by fuel temperature were observed for creeping bentgrass fairways. It is also important to note that when fuel was applied at the 20-milliliter rate, regardless of application temperature, damage was substan-tially greater than for fuel applied at 10 millili-ters. These fndings suggest that, for creeping
90 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Examining turfgrass species and management regimes for enhanced carbon sequestration
Aaron Patton, Ph.D.Jon Trappe, M.S.Quincy Law, M.S.Dan WeisenbergerRon Turco, Ph.D.
Soil carbon sequestration has been pro-posed as a method to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. Although our understand-ing of soil carbon dynamics in wooded land-scapes and agricultural crops has increased signifcantly in recent years, highly managed turf areas have remained understudied. Turf ecosystems have tremendous potential to se-quester carbon in the soil, but more research is needed to understand how we can enhance soil carbon sequestration. To improve our un-derstanding of carbon sequestration, we are learning how turf species and management practices infuence soil carbon. Our research objectives include:
1. Determining the greenhouse gas fux of common turf species: perennial rye-grass, Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, bermudagrass and zoysiagrass.
2. Quantifying total and labile soil carbon
and total nitrogen in stands of various ages of Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and zoysiagrass.
3. Measuring how turf clippings (residues) affect soil microbial activity and soil ag-gregate stability.
4. Determining the infuence of vari-ous tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass cultivars with differing leaf elongation rates on mowing frequency in order to identify turfgrasses with reduced mow-ing requirements and increased carbon sequestration potential.
5. Measuring the effects of grass clipping management (collect or return) on
USGA research reportsEditor’s note: The United States Golf Association funds a wide range of research related to golf course management. The reports published here were written by university researchers to describe results of their USGA-funded research. As stated in the reports, some of these results are preliminary because the research projects or the data analysis have not been completed. More information on USGA-funded research is available at usgatero.msu.edu/tero_browse.html.
(Report)
greenhouse gas fux and soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics.
The data available now are preliminary results because additional research and analy-sis remain to be completed. Refereed journal articles will be submitted at the conclusion of the study.
The preliminary carbon dioxide fux re-sults by species predominately demonstrate how weather impacts greenhouse gas fux. Carbon dioxide fux data across species closely tracked soil temperature data for each of the sampling dates. Bermudagrass was consis-tently among the species with the lowest car-bon dioxide fux across 14 collection dates.
Sampling from the greenhouse gas fux chambers. Photo by Jon Trappe
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 91
The three cool-season species — Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue — followed similar trends in carbon dioxide fux across most measurement dates.
Carbon dioxide fux data within species but across cultivars of varying growth rates showed few differences.
Grass clipping management played a minor role in greenhouse gas fux, as returning grass clippings resulted in greater carbon diox-ide fux than collecting clippings on only one of the six measurement dates. Nitrous oxide fux was not different among main treatment effects (species, cultivar and clipping manage-ment) during the experiment, and there was not a measurable methane fux.
Differences in labile and total soil carbon were realized between turfgrass species after three years of growth post-planting, with tall fescue having 9.9% more labile soil carbon and 4.5% more total soil carbon than Ken-tucky bluegrass. After two years under differ-
ent mowing practices, plots where grass clip-pings were returned had 3.3% more labile soil carbon, 4.2% more total soil carbon and 4.6% more total soil nitrogen than those where clip-pings were collected.
Planting slower-growing turfgrasses re-sulted in fewer annual mowing events: Ken-tucky bluegrass required fewer annual mow-ing events than tall fescue, and slow-growing cultivars needed to be mowed less than the moderate-growing cultivars, which were mowed fewer times than the fast-growing cul-tivars (Table 1). Mowing by the one-third rule also reduced mowing requirements (Table 1).
Returning clippings increased the num-ber of annual mowings by about 2 compared to plots where clippings were collected when mowed by the one-third rule (Table 1), but returning grass clippings was benefcial as it increased tissue nitrogen concentration in clippings as well as total soil nitrogen concen-tration and total and labile soil carbon.
This project is one of many current proj-ects being conducted by turf scientists around the country so that we can continue to learn and better understand how turf management infuences soil carbon sequestration. The re-sults of this study highlight the importance of turfgrass selection and mowing practices on the carbon and nitrogen dynamics and bio-geochemical cycling in a turfgrass system.
Aaron Patton ([email protected]) is an associate pro-
fessor, Quincy Law is a graduate research assistant, and
Dan Weisenberger is a research agronomist in the depart-
ment of horticulture and landscape architecture, and Jon
Trappe is a graduate research assistant and Ron Turco is
a professor in the department of agronomy at Purdue Uni-
versity, West Lafayette, Ind.
Number of mowing events
Weekly One-third rule
Cultivar Species Growth rate† Collected Returned Collected Returned
Gazelle II tall fescue slow 28.25 29 16 17.75
Tar Heel II tall fescue medium 29 29.25 17.25 21.25
Endeavor tall fescue fast 28.75 29.5 21 24.25
Prosperity Kentucky bluegrass slow 19.75 24 12.25 14.25
Moonshine Kentucky bluegrass medium 27.5 28 15.5 17.5
Thermal blue Kentucky bluegrass fast 27.75 28 20 22.5
†Cultivars were selected for this experiment based on their growth rate in preliminary trials and their similar appearance and stress tolerance in previous field trials in West
Lafayette, Ind. (data not shown).
Table 1. The number of recorded mowing events with clippings collected and returned for each treatment in 2013.
Recorded mowing events in 2013
Reducing annual bluegrass in fairways
Zac Reicher, Ph.D.Matt SousekDavid Minner, Ph.D.Andrew Hoiberg, Ph.D.
Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is the most
(Report)
troublesome weed on golf courses wherever cool-season grasses are grown. On fairways in particular, populations can quickly approach 50% or more if aggressive control measures are not initiated shortly after establishment. Furthermore, diffcult summers can cause sig-nifcant thinning or widespread death of an-nual bluegrass.
In response, superintendents will overseed in late August to early September to help the
stand recover from summer. However, an-nual bluegrass germination and competition is highest in the fall, and thus it can overtake the desired turf and the cycle starts over. Mini-mizing annual bluegrass and maximizing the desired cool-season turf could help break this cycle. Seeding early in the summer before the almost inevitable annual bluegrass thinning could allow the desired turf to establish while the annual bluegrass is thinning. Addition-
92 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
ally, aggressive herbicide use after interseeding could shift the competitive balance away from annual bluegrass toward the desired turf.
Herbicide use over new seedlings is a compromise between seedling safety and the potential for the target weed to reduce estab-lishment. Given the tremendous potential for annual bluegrass to dominate seedlings of the desired turf, it is likely best to err on the side of applying herbicides early to seedlings. This would be especially true in the fall when cool-season turfgrasses are not under signif-cant stress.
Velocity (bispyribac-sodium, Nufarm) is currently the industry standard for post-emer-gence selective annual bluegrass in seedling creeping bentgrass or perennial ryegrass. Te-nacity (mesotrione, Syngenta), has excellent seedling tolerance over Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass and can control annual bluegrass pre- and post-emergence. The pre-emergence herbicide dithiopyr has the most fexible label for use over new seedings. Our objective was to determine whether summer
seeding and post-seeding herbicides will im-prove success of fairway interseeding as mea-sured in composition of annual bluegrass ver-sus desired turf.
Our studies began in summer 2011 and are located on the fairways of three golf courses of various maintenance levels in Iowa and Nebraska. Golf courses included Country Club of Lincoln (Neb.), Crooked Creek (Lin-coln, Neb.) and Ames (Iowa) Country Club. Fairways are mixed stands of annual blue-grass as well as perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass and/or creeping bentgrass. Seed was dropped into seedbeds after solid-tine aerifca-tion. Treatments include seeding dates (June 15, July 15 or Aug. 15), interseeded species (unseeded, creeping bentgrass, perennial rye-grass or Kentucky bluegrass, depending on location), and herbicides (untreated; Velocity [on creeping bentgrass] or Tenacity [on Ken-tucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass] applied two and four weeks after seeding; dithiopyr applied in early fall and early spring; or Veloc-ity/Tenacity applied after seeding plus the two
applications of dithiopyr. Results were variable across these locations
since environments ranged from an urban country club (Lincoln) with limited air move-ment to Ames CC, which is relatively wind-swept, to a daily-fee public course with limited shade. The fnal data in May 2014 are most important in this study, taken after three years of treatments. However, fnal annual bluegrass data in Ames was affected by widespread win-terkill in 2013-2014 from extended snow cover in the low area where the experiment was lo-cated. Data from Ames in fall 2013 indicated that overseeding with perennial ryegrass was most effective in reducing annual bluegrass cover, especially when followed with Tenacity applied two and four weeks after seeding.
The other two locations did not suffer win-terkill and thus data continued through 2014. Interseeding creeping bentgrass was most ef-fective at reducing annual bluegrass at Lincoln CC, especially when followed with Velocity applied at two and four weeks after seeding. When interseeding Kentucky bluegrass or pe-rennial ryegrass into lower-maintenance fair-ways at Crooked Creek, Tenacity applied two and four weeks after seeding was the domi-nant factor reducing annual bluegrass popu-lations while overseeding species had little ef-fect.
Surprisingly, seeding date had little effect on minimizing annual bluegrass regardless of location. Our data reinforce one of our origi-nal hypotheses that herbicide use shortly after germination is critical for minimizing annual bluegrass competition and maximizing estab-lishment, regardless of the species chosen for overseeding.
Zac Reicher ([email protected]) is a professor and Matt
Sousek is a research technologist in the department of
agronomy and agriculture at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln; David Minner is a professor in the horticulture
department at Iowa State University, Ames; and Andrew
Hoiberg is now director of research and development at
Calcium Products, Ames, Iowa.
Interseeding a desired species usually occurs after annual bluegrass is thinned by summer stress. However, the lighter-colored annual bluegrass germinates quickly and usually outcompetes the desired turf if no post-seeding herbicides are used. Photo by Zac Reicher
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 93
Ammonia volatilization losses from fertilized turfgrass as affected by nitrogen source
Elizabeth Guertal, Ph.D.
The loss of nitrogen to the air as ammonia gas (via urease activity) can be a substantial pathway of nitrogen loss, especially if urea is applied to the surface without further incor-poration. The objective of this work was to examine ammonia loss as affected by nitrogen sources, some of which contain various vola-tilization inhibitors (urease inhibitors).
Our ammonia volatilization experiment consisted of three separate experiments, all using a standard laboratory bench procedure for the evaluation of nitrogen loss via volatil-ization. Treatments were: (1) granular urea, (2) urea + Ca-Aminoethylpiperazine (Ca-AP)/Ca-Heterpolysaccharides, (3) urea with maleic-itaconic copolymer (Mal-IcoP), and (4) urea with N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric tri-amide (NBPT). All inhibitors were applied at labeled rates. All fertilizers were applied as granular products to the turf surface at a rate of 1 pound nitrogen/1,000 square feet (4.88 grams/square meter) to tall fescue, with no additional water applied after application. The underlying soil was a loamy sand with a soil pH of 6.2.
The volatilization system that was used for all experiments consisted of a series of 16 2-liter glass canning jars, all attached to an air source via a 16-outlet manifold. A plug of turf was placed in each jar, the jar sealed, and air was allowed to fow along the top of the turf in each jar. This method collected ammonia via an ammonia trap system. Air fow was generated by passing 100 milliliters/minute air stream through a 5N sulfuric acid air scrubber and across each jar, with resul-tant NH
3 trapped in 100 milliliters of 0.01
nitrogen boric acid. The boric acid trap was changed every other day for 11 days, with collected samples titrated to the original pH of the boric acid using 0.01 nitrogen sulfu-ric acid to determine ammonia collected. For each experiment, there were three replicates for each nitrogen source. Each experiment was conducted for 11 days. The fgure below
is the average of all three experiments. The only nitrogen source with a volatil-
ization inhibitor that signifcantly reduced ammonia loss (as compared to the urea-only control) was the urea that contained the ure-ase inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric tri-amide. Materials with other volatilization in-hibitors did not reduce volatilized ammonia as compared to the urea treatment. Maximum volatilization always occurred by day 3 of the study and had largely reduced to nonmeasur-able levels by 11 days after fertilization. These are very typical responses, and the amount of volatilization and the time over which it oc-curred are similar to those measured in dozens of other volatilization experiments conducted in our laboratory. Typical nitrogen losses from urea applied to the surface were around 20% of nitrogen applied. This was reduced to around 10% of nitrogen applied when the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide was added to the urea.
(Report)
In addition to urease inhibitors, methods for reducing volatilization losses of nitrogen can include the use of other nitrogen sources that do not contain urea, slow-release nitrogen sources, foliar fertilization or simply applying water to move urea farther into the soil, away from a zone of high urease activity. Prelimi-nary work at Auburn has shown that applica-tion of 1 ⁄8 to ¼ inch (0.3175 to 0.635 centime-ters) of irrigation following urea fertilization will reduce volatilization losses.
Beth Guertal, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is a professor
in crop, soil and environmental sciences at Auburn Univer-
sity in Auburn, Ala.
Volatilization N loss from fertilized tall fescue
Figure 1. Cumulative ammonia loss from tall fescue as affected by various ammonia volatilization inhibitors in a laboratory study.
0
5
10
15
20
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 3 5 7 9 11
Days after initial fertilization
Nitro
gen
loss
(%
of
nitro
gen
applie
d)
Urea
Urea + Ca-AP
Urea + Mal-IcoP
Urea + NBPT
94 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Evaluating organic amendments for controlling large patch on zoysia
Xiaowei PanXi Xiong, Ph.D.Michael D. Richardson, Ph.D.James T. English, Ph.D.Shiping Deng, Ph.D.
Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is one of the most important warm-season grasses. In the transition zone where winter-kill is a concern, zoysiagrass is the dominant grass species managed on golf course fairways and tees. Zoysiagrass has relatively few disease problems except large patch (R izoctonia so-lani AG-2-2 LP), which can be a serious prob-lem if left untreated.
Soil organic amendments may provide an alternative strategy for large patch control and potentially reduce dependence on the use of conventional fungicides. It is hypothesized that incorporation of organic amendments en-hances soil microbial populations and/or activ-ity, which adversely affects plant pathogens via antagonism, parasitism or competition.
Previous research conducted at the Uni-versity of Missouri demonstrated that a plant-based material, mustard seed meal, can suppress and kill R. solani under laboratory conditions. Field studies showed that applying mustard seed meal in a mixture with sand as a topdressing material following aeration can sig-nifcantly minimize injury to turfgrass plants. In addition, observations from golf course su-perintendents in Missouri and Arkansas indi-cate that animal waste-based organic fertilizers have reduced large patch occurrence and sever-ity. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of organic amendments on soil properties and their infuences on large patch occurrence.
Field plots were inoculated with R. solani in fall 2012 on zoysiagrass maintained under fairway conditions in Missouri and Arkansas. Application methods included topdressing only or core aerifcation followed by topdress-ing. Organic amendments included mustard seed meal, Back to Nature chicken manure and Milorganite fertilizer at 1,340 pounds/acre (1,501.94 kilograms/hectare), in addition to UMAXX (urea fertilizer) at 143 pounds/
acre (160.28 kilograms/hectare), Heritage fungicide (azoxystrobin, Syngenta) at 0.4 fuid ounce/1,000 square feet (0.127 milliliters/square meter), and an untreated control. All organic amendments and synthetic fertilizer provide 1.5 pound nitrogen/1,000 square feet (7.32 grams/square meter) per application. Treatments were applied once in spring and fall in 2013 and 2014.
Evaluations included biweekly assess-ments of turfgrass quality, phytotoxicity and large patch cover. Soil physical and chemical properties and soil microbial characteristics were determined before and one year after the initial treatment applications and will also be analyzed in spring 2015, two years after the initial applications. To simplify the discus-sion, only selected results from the Missouri site will be included in this article.
Turf injury was found only in plots treated with mustard seed meal at one week after treatment following each application except the spring 2014 application. Topdressing fol-lowing aeration application method reduced mustard seed meal phytotoxicity compared to the topdressing-only method for up to 40% improvement. Regardless of application method, the affected turf completely recov-ered by two weeks after treatment.
Large patch was signifcantly reduced in plots receiving chicken manure and the fun-gicide, compared to the untreated control over
the two seasons. This trend was similar to the ratio of gram-positive to gram-negative bacte-ria in the soil. Earlier research reported that some gram-negative bacteria, like Pseudomo-nas fuorescens, can suppress many root fungi including R. solani. Studies in both Missouri and Arkansas are ongoing to corroborate cor-relations we observed from this feld study.
In summary, repeat applications of organic amendments, such as chicken manure, appear promising for suppressing large patch under feld conditions. Organic amendments dem-onstrate effects on soil microbial populations, and shifts in microbial populations may con-tribute to large patch control.
Xiaowei Pan is a graduate student, Xi Xiong (xiongx@mis-
souri.edu) is an assistant professor and James T. English
is a professor in the department of plant sciences at the
University of Missouri, Columbia; Michael D. Richardson
is a professor in the department of horticulture at the Uni-
versity of Arkansas, Fayetteville; and Shiping Deng is a
professor in the department of plant and soil sciences at
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.
(Report)
Large patch outbreak on a zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) fairway, Columbia, Mo. Photo was taken on May 27, 2010. Photo by Xi Xiong
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96 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Improved understanding and testing for salinity tolerance in cool-season turfgrasses
Paul G. Johnson, Ph.D.
B. Shaun Bushman, Ph.D.
Water is a critical issue for sustainability of agriculture and urban areas in the North American West. Golf course superinten-dents are frequently asked, or forced, to use less irrigation water and/or to use water from lower-quality sources. Yet at the same time, rapid population growth requires these turf-grass areas to do more and be used by more people. Turfgrass with high quality, greater salt tolerance and greater drought tolerance is essential.
Our research has focused on four questions:
• Which plant measurements are most ef-fcient to select for salt tolerance?
• What variation is present for salt toler-ance in perennial ryegrass (Lolium pe-renne), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pra-tensis) and alkaligrass (Puccinellia)?
• Can alkaligrass be improved for turf-grass quality characteristics?
• What genes can be used to differenti-ate between salt-tolerant and suscepti-ble grasses?
It has been diffcult to fnd consistent salt tolerance in grasses due to interactions of climatic factors and variability in soil salin-ity. Our project is evaluating materials under controlled but representative conditions to gain a better understanding of the mecha-nisms of salt tolerance.
In 2014 we focused on two parts of the
(Report)
project: (1) a repeat of a feld salinity experi-ment combining visual, physiological and mo-lecular evaluations of bluegrass and ryegrass entries; and (2) continued study of Puccinel-lia (alkaligrass) germplasm for turfgrass qual-ity traits.
In 2014 we repeated feld salinity experi-ments that were also conducted in 2013. The salt treatments were applied overhead as irri-gation and were started mid-June with a salt concentration of 3 decisiemens/meter, in-creased to 6 decisiemens/meter in mid-July, then increased again to 9 decisiemens/meter in mid- August. This created soil salinity lev-els at 0.3 decisiemens/meter in control plots up to 12 decisiemens/meter in the salt-treated plots in August.
As expected, salt treatments reduced turf-grass quality, but quality reductions were lower in 2014 than in 2013, likely because of generally cooler temperatures. Plant growth was impacted in 2014, ranging from 0% to greater than 50% reduction in growth due to salt stress. Studies of gene expression in salt-stressed plants compared to control plants is currently under way.
In short, few data were obtained in 2014 on the alkaligrasses evaluated for turfgrass quality, since most did not survive the high temperatures in 2013. This gives us little con-fdence that these grasses will provide useful traits in the semi-arid western United States. Initial evaluation of Puccinellia showed some
potential in turfgrass quality in cool condi-tions, but high temperatures in summer ap-pear most limiting to the species.
However, we did observe consistent salt-tolerance trends in key Kentucky bluegrass lines. Gene sequences (alleles or paralogs) in-volved in cellular sodium and calcium chan-neling have been previously identifed and will be explored with root and shoot collec-tions in 2015.
Paul G. Johnson ([email protected]) is a professor in
the department of plants, soils and climate at Utah State
University, Logan, and B. Shaun Bushman is a research
geneticist at the USDA-ARS Forage & Range Research Lab
in Logan.
Overall plot photograph on July 9, 2014. Visual symptoms of salt stress were mild at this midsummer date but growth was signifcantly inhibited. Photo by Paul G. Johnson
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ent from previous work because Dr. Leinauer was especially interested in turfgrass quality, a measure that includes density, uniformity, leaf texture, smoothness, growth habit and green color. Previously, most of the work in this area focused on turfgrass color only. In this study, as with previous studies, the researchers found signifcant correlation in turf color data col-lected by the NDVI and DIA color-index methods, and in percent cover data collected through NDVI and DIA. Thus, both types of remote-sensing equipment seemed to agree with each other pretty well, when color and percent cover were assessed.
But what about the quality of the turf — that multicharacteristic rating of the attrac-tiveness of a sward? Well, the NDVI meter was best for tracking changes over time. That is, from day to day, NDVI readings might be the best tool for describing changes in turf-grass quality over time — even better than a person’s visual ratings. Thus, an NDVI meter could be a handy tool for your course, al-lowing you to track turfgrass quality in your specifc grass and management situation over time. The NDVI and DIA tools were less use-ful when different varieties were being com-pared. In that case, visual assessments best detected differences caused by variety. So, NDVI readings you collect from your course, with your variety, would not be especially use-ful to your neighbor at a different course with a different variety of turf. At this time, the au-thors concluded that a visual assessment de-tected quality differences in turfgrasses more accurately, especially when different varieties were involved.
Source: Leinauer, B., D.M. VanLeeuwen, M. Serena, M. Schiavon and E. Sevostianova. 2014. Digital image analysis and spectral refectance to determine turfgrass quality. Agronomy Journal 106:1787-1794.
Beth Guertal, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of
crop, soil and environmental sciences at Auburn Univer-
sity in Auburn, Ala., and the editor-in-chief for the Ameri-
can Society of Agronomy. She is an 18-year member of
GCSAA.
98 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Remote sensing. Digital imagery. Spectral refectance. All terms used to describe some basic procedure by which a digital image is used to quantify the color or growth of turf-grass. The science has made its way into gen-eral use, and now everything from relatively cheap hand-held sensors to affordable cell phone applications can be purchased to help keep track of the color of your turfgrass. Some of these tools have been shown to work well in rating and tracking percent green cover and turfgrass color.
But what about quality? Although the color of turfgrass is certainly a primary factor in determining turf quality, a lot of other char-acteristics can often affect quality. The abil-ity of remote sensing to evaluate the quality of turf has not been well studied, and the re-sults that are out there are pretty mixed. So, in an effort to gain some more defnitive results, the folks at New Mexico State University (Dr. Bernd Leinauer and his crew) used the Na-tional Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) variety trials to try to get a handle on the re-mote sensing of turfgrass quality. They used bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, seashore paspalum, Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue variety tri-als. Over four years, they took monthly visual ratings (using a standard 1–9 scale, where 1 indicates dormant or dead, 9 is perfect and 6 is minimally acceptable), NDVI (normal-ized difference vegetative index) readings and DIA (digital image analysis) readings. NDVI readings are a refectance (in the near-infrared and red ranges) obtained from scan-ning an area of turf, while DIA readings are photographs taken under controlled settings (camera mounted on a metal box that encom-passes a known area of turf), which are then digitized to a green color index. In this study, the DIA readings were also used to obtain a percent cover rating. The idea of these alterna-tive measurement methods is that a quick scan or picture of a turfgrass sward would provide an accurate and unbiased estimate of turfgrass quality, an estimate not sullied by a human’s perceptions or preconceptions.
At the simplest, Dr. Leinauer wanted to see how well visual quality, NDVI and DIA related to each other. This study was differ-
Beth Guertal, [email protected]
twitter: @AUTurfFert
I see you doing that
(verdure)
This study was
different from
previous work
because
Dr. Leinauer was
especially interested
in turfgrass quality,
a measure that
includes density,
uniformity,
leaf texture,
smoothness,
growth habit and
green color.
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 99
CUTTING EDGETeresa Carson
Snow mold control with propiconazole
Snow molds often require preventive fun-gicide applications for acceptable control in temperate climates. However, timing these ap-plications can be diffcult because of variable environmental conditions in the fall. Some advocate for applications relatively early in the fall before dormancy onset, allowing the growing plant to absorb and translocate any systemic fungicides before snowfall. This may leave the turf and fungicide exposed to the ele-ments for several weeks or more, potentially allowing signifcant fungicide degradation before snow cover. To combat these degrada-tive effects, others advocate for application as close to snowfall as possible. However, the turf is often dormant at this time of year and may not fully absorb and translocate any systemic fungicides applied. In addition, the risk that permanent snow cover will arrive before ap-plication increases signifcantly when applica-tions are late in the year. The purpose of this research is to determine the degree of propi-conazole uptake at varying temperatures and to assess the most effective application timings for snow mold control in the feld. The frst objective will be assessed by applying radio-labeled propiconazole to the base of creeping bentgrass plants in growth chambers set at 62 F, 50 F, 43 F and 32 F (16.6 C, 10 C, 6 C and 0 C) and measuring the movement of the fungicide molecule in the plant at each tem-perature. The second objective will be met by
applying common snow mold fungicides at six different timings throughout the fall at three different golf courses in Wisconsin that typi-cally experience high, medium and low snow mold pressure. The results of this research will provide superintendents with additional infor-mation on optimal timing for effective snow mold control. — Sam Soper, Bruce Schweiger
and Paul Koch, Ph.D. ([email protected]), Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
Fungicide alternatives for Microdochium patch
Microdoc ium nivale is a major turfgrass disease in cool, humid regions and currently traditional fungicides are the only known
methods of control. Increasing pesticide re-strictions have generated concern regarding the management of M. nivale. The objective of this research is to evaluate rolling, as well as the application of mineral oil, sulfur and potassium-phosphite as fungicide alternative options for management of M. nivale on Poa
annua putting greens. A two-year feld exper-iment conducted on a sand-based P. annua putting green built according to USGA recommendations was initiated in Septem-ber 2013 and will conclude in June 2015 at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., and Washington State University, Puyallup,
Photo by Paul Koch
Photo by Clint Mattox
Wash. Treatments in this experiment include rolling fve days a week, and mineral oil (Civi-tas One) at 8.5 ounces/1,000 square feet (2.7 milliliters/square meter), Sulfur DF at 0.25 pound/1,000 square feet (1.22 grams/square meter), and PK Plus at 6 ounces/1,000 square feet (1.9 milliliters/square meter), applied every two weeks, as well as an untreated con-trol. All possible combinations of these treat-ments are included in the study. Initial results have shown that the combination of Sulfur DF and PK Plus and also Civitas One applied in combination with PK Plus, Sulfur DF or PK Plus and Sulfur DF are providing the greatest reduction in disease. At the Corvallis location, abiotic damage has been observed in
winter with the Civitas One treatments, espe-cially when combined with the rolling treat-ments. Further research is currently being conducted to determine how abiotic damage from repeated Civitas applications and poten-tial pH imbalances from sulfur applications can be mitigated. — Clint Mattox, Alec Kow-
alewski, Ph.D. (alec.kowalewski@oregonstate.
edu), and Brian McDonald, M.S.
Teresa Carson ([email protected]) is GCM’s science editor.
The research projects described below were all funded by a grant to GCSAA from the Environmental Institute for Golf.
100 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
(Product news)
Club Car and GPSI introduced the Visage
Resort Edition that features navigation tools,
maps and two-way communication capabili-
ties. Visage Mobile Golf Information System is
designed to help course operators monitor and
control the location and status of golf cars and
low-speed vehicles. The Visage Media Network
connects an audience of golfers at courses
worldwide, delivering featured content and
letting golfers share user-generated messages,
photos and videos via a 10-inch color touch-
screen. The system will soon allow guests to
connect with their social and professional
networks. Contact Club Car, 800-258-2227
(www.clubcar.com).
Navigation &
COMMUNICATION
The STK-6V from Hunter Industries is an
enhanced version of its existing synthetic turf irriga-
tion system to clean and cool synthetic sports turf. It is
designed specifcally to provide easier installation, simple
maintenance and to accommodate different types of play-
ing surfaces. It includes a new 3-inch galvanized ductile
iron assembly with heavy-duty grooved fttings for ease of
servicing. The isolation valve and point of connection for
the quick coupler are now inside the vault and provided
with the feld-installed assembly for a total top service
solution. The vault also includes a drain valve for easier
servicing and winterization. The core of the Hunter ST Sys-
tem features gear-driven long-range rotors; a heavy-duty
manifold assembly; and low-pressure-loss, slow-opening
valves with all components contained in a construction-
grade vault. Contact Hunter Industries, 760-744-5240
(www.hunterindustries.com).
Cup-saver.com is a small startup company that
began in 2013. It specializes in golf cup guards known as
the Golf Cup Saver. Company owner and operator
Robert Grant launched the business with an idea to
manufacture a tool that he uses for hole painting. He says
the idea formed after a series of colleagues found Golf
Cup Saver made their jobs easier when spraying greens
and painting holes. Golf Cup Saver keeps out the paint
and keeps the paint from building up. The cup setter, the
company says, no longer gets stuck after multiple painting
applications, and the cups are kept very clean. Contact
617-775-7651 (www.Cup-saver.com).
Lebanon Turf completely revitalized its Emerald
Isle Solutions foliar fertilizer production line. The plan
includes the development of product updates centered on
enhanced agronomic solutions for golf course superinten-
dents. Emerald Isle Solutions are used to increase turf’s
ability to withstand stress, drought and disease and are
recommended for use throughout the growing season.
Increasing liquid and biological product regulation among
some states is requiring product enhancements to comply
with new demands. Nitrogen limitations and phosphorus
restrictions in several states are also being assessed
to ensure maximum product availability throughout the
country. Contact Lebanon Turf, 800-233-0628
(www.lebanonturf.com).
Wheel Spray Corp. introduces the WS-485
Grounds Wheelie II, its newest sprayer in the
Wheel Spray line featuring the company’s trademarked
motorless system. It has no batteries or engine noise.
The WS-485 is made to deliver chemical applications,
which are relatively unchanged by the speed at which
the sprayer is pushed. The faster it is pushed, the faster
it pumps. When the operator stops, the sprayer stops
Hunter Industries STK-6V
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 101
pumping. The WS-485 can be used to apply herbicides,
fungicides, insecticides, fertilizers and liquid de-icers. The
twin wheel pumps spray a fan of solution 6 feet wide at
the rate of 1 gallon per 1,000 square feet. It is equipped
with large, easy-to-push rubber tires and a heavy-gauge
steel frame for the 6-gallon tank. The pumping system
and the 6-gallon tank are constructed of corrosion-
resistant materials. The spray pattern is delivered from
two nozzles in the form of tiny droplets providing a steady,
uniform application, which greatly reduces costly chemical
drifting. Shutoff controls located on the handle grips allow
operators to use the nozzles independently. Contact Wheel
Spray Corp., 262-646-8640 (www.wheelspray.com).
Club Car’s Precedent 4Fun is designed to
make the golf experience more enjoyable for families,
couples, women’s groups, teachers, students, corporate
and social group outings by fostering sociability during
their rounds. The vehicle is powered by a 3.7-hp motor;
features four forward-facing seats; attachments for four
golf bags including junior size; and eight cup holders.
Precedent 4Fun is equipped to integrate Club Car’s Visage
mobile communications system. Contact Club Car,
800-258-2227 (www.clubcar.com).
Soil Technologies Corp. is distributing
TurfTech Bio-Mega for turf managers who are
seeking a total microbial ecosystem for transforming
the rhizosphere of greens and tees and improving turf
performance under all kinds of challenging conditions. Turf
Tech Bio-Mega’s formula is an enhancement of the original
TurfTech formula that was developed in the 1980s. The new
formula adds a diverse concentration of benefcial microbials
that are known to improve turf rooting, nutrient uptake and
plant health. In addition, it contains a variety of plant-derived
substances including steroidal saponins. The company says
the impact of these phytochemicals, combined with Bio-
Mega’s microbial communities, is a genuine breakthrough
based on solid soil science. Contact Soil Technologies Corp.,
800-221-7645 (www.soiltechcorp.com).
Hunter Industries unveiled MP800SR360,
a short-radius version of its popular MP Rotator, featuring
rotating streams of water applied at a slower rate to con-
serve water and prevent runoff. It reaches radius settings
as low as 6 feet and can reach up to 12 feet on the high
end. The precipitation rate remains matched across all arc
and radius settings at approximately 0.8 inch per hour.
Contact Hunter Industries, 760-744-5240
(www.hunterindustries.com).
Club Car’s Precedent 4Fun
Trojan Battery launched its new true deep-cycle
battery line, Reliant AGM with C-Max Technol-
ogy. Trojan designed this new AGM line from the
ground up with features that maximize sustained
performance and increase total energy output to
meet the requirements of deep-cycle applica-
tions. Key features are proprietary paste formula
(elements designed to address the unique needs
of deep-cycle applications to maximize sustained
performance and increase total energy); unique
separator composition (thick design ensures high
compression for effective contact between glass
mat and plates, which protects against stratifca-
tion for extended battery life); plastic polymer case
design (features reinforced case end walls for
increased durability and provides higher battery
cell compression); and maximum fame arrestors.
Contact Trojan Battery, 800-423-6569
(www.trojanbattery.com).
Battery
LIFE
102 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
(Industry news)
Swan
RE-ELECTED
Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Ariz., cele-
brated its 50-year anniversary by announcing a renovation
that was completed late last year. The frst desert-style
layout built in the U.S., Desert Forest GC was constructed
by legendary architect Red Lawrence in 1962. The
renovation included selected tee box areas and all of its
greens and greenside bunkers by Dave Zinkand.
Bob Trogele, Ph.D., was named chief operat-
ing offcer and executive vice president of AMVAC
Chemical Corp. Trogele is focusing on growing the
business across multiple product lines and geographies,
achieving greater proftability and establishing a pipeline
of future opportunities through innovation and strategic
relationships. Over the past 28 years, Trogele has worked
in positions of increasing responsibility within the agribusi-
ness sectors of agrichemicals, biotechnology and plant
nutrition, culminating with 10 years at FMC Corp., where
he served most recently as president-Asia Pacifc across
20 countries.
Howard Swan was unanimously re-
elected chairman of the Golf Consultants
Association (GCA). Swan, senior consultant
at family-owned Swan Golf Designs, will
lead for two more years. The association has
doubled in size during the last three years.
GCA says it believes its revamped website,
launched in April 2014, has proven to be a
success in making global golf business more
aware of the breadth of the specialist services
members can provide and in gaining many
more inquiries for those services.
GCSA of New England elected its 2015 Board
of Directors. They are: Michael Luccini, CGCS,
Franklin CC, president; David Johnson, Wianno
Club, vice president; Jason VanBuskirk, Stowe
Acres CC, treasurer; Jeff Urquhart, Milton Hoosic
Club, secretary; Kris Armando, Sassamon Trace
GC, trustee; David Stowe, CGCS, Newton
Commonwealth GC, trustee; Peter Rappoccio,
CGCS, Concord CC, trustee; Ed Downing, New
England Specialty Soils, trustee; Donald D’Errico,
Spring Valley CC, fnance chairman; John Ponti, Ne-
hoiden GC, golf chairman; Brian Skinner, CGCS,
Bellevue GC, education chairman; Greg Cormier,
CGCS, Nashawtuc CC, newsletter chairman; and
Mark Gagne, Walpole CC, past president.
Sports Turf Managers Association hosted a
record 200 exhibitors and 1,200 attendees from nine coun-
tries at its 26th annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver.
The four-day event earlier this year was highlighted by the
“Seminar on Wheels Tour” at various professional, collegiate
and youth sports felds in the area. Attendees visited turf
exhibits and networked with environmental science leaders.
SAFE, the association’s charitable foundation, raised nearly
$15,000 during the event. Former Denver Broncos All-Pro
linebacker Karl Mecklenburg delivered the keynote speech.
Founders Awards were given to four members to com-
memorate signifcant contributions to the profession: Dick
Ericson Award (Tony Leonard, Philadelphia Eagles); George
Toma Award (Mike Albino, Ballard Sports); William H. Daniel
Award (Brian Scott, Mt. San Antonio College); and Harry C.
Gill Award (Andrew McNitt, Ph.D., Penn State). Next year’s
event will be held Jan. 19-22 in San Diego.
Desert Forest Golf Club
Photo courtesy of Desert Forest GC/© Tony Roberts
03.15 3OLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 103
Sports Turf Research Insti-
tute (STRI) honored winners of the
2015 Golf Environment Awards in January
at Harrogate. Royal St. David’s
Golf Club, Harlech, North Wales,
received Environmental Golf Course
of the Year honors. John Kelly,
Royal Birkdale GC, Southport, Lancashire,
received Conservation Greenkeeper of the
Year. Hockley Golf Club, Twyford,
Hampshire, earned Outstanding Environ-
mental Project of the Year.
Paul Rea was appointed senior vice
president, crop protection, North America
for BASF. Rea joined BASF Australia in
2001, moving to the U.S. in 2004. Rea has
held a number of positions at BASF in the
U.S., including director of the professional
and specialty solutions division and vice
president, U.S. crop operations. Most
recently, Rea was senior vice president,
crop protection, Asia-Pacifc.
Spectrum Technologies Inc.
appointed Alicia Gillman as director
of marketing. Gillman oversees the devel-
opment of diagnostic marketing strategies
in alignment with company objectives
to drive revenue. In addition, Gillman is
spearheading marketing communications
and leading advertising efforts to grow
customer relationships. Gillman previously
held global positions in communications
at Deere & Co., and in marketing at T-
Systems International Inc.
Bob Raley was hired to be a sales
representative for the East Coast region
at Spring Valley. Raley, who earned
a master of science degree in agronomy
from Penn State University, spent three
years with Agrium Advanced Technologies
as an agronomist, managing research
programs and providing agronomic sup-
port for wholesale and retail sales.
Soil Science Society of
America (SSSA) is coordinating
a series of activities throughout 2015
International Year of Soil (IYS) to educate
the public about the importance of soil.
SSSA is developing a series of 12 2-min-
ute educational videos. They are working
in conjunction with Jim Toomey, author
of the environmental cartoon, Sherman’s
Lagoon, for videos, go to www.soils.org/
iys/monthly-videos.
Profle Products announced that
Adam Dibble and Matt Welch
each achieved the prestigious designation
of Certifed Erosion, Sediment and Storm
Water Inspector (CESSWI). Dibble is a senior
marketing manager for Profle Products.
He has been with the company fve years.
Welch, a technical services associate, has
been with Profle almost two years. The
CESSWI certifcation recognizes individuals
who have proven they are technically quali-
fed to provide consistent and competent
site inspections for compliance with ap-
propriate local, state and national laws and
regulations on permitted construction sites.
The CESSWI program is administered by
EnviroCert International Inc.
Golf 20/20 announced the creation of
a new website for women called
Troon was selected to manage The Golf Club at Mansion Ridge in
Monroe, N.Y. Located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, The Golf
Club at Mansion Ridge features an 18-hole, par-72 Jack Nicklaus Signature
design.
New Course
MANAGEMENT
Dibble Welch
GolfForHer.com. It is designed to
serve as a resource for all women interest-
ed in the game — from those who have
never played to those who are returning to
the game and to those who play the game
but want to engage more with the golf
lifestyle. The website highlights initiatives,
events, people and products of interest to
women golfers of all ages and abilities.
104 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
By John Mascaro
President of Turf-Tec International
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
This green has irregular dark green lines with off-color turf between them, but
it’s not a serious problem. Instead, it’s just a neat photo. The Champion ber-
mudagrass in this part of the country usually does not go completely dormant
during the winter if the turf is covered before the onset of cold weather. Last
winter was unusually cold in the Mobile area, with temperatures below freezing
for several consecutive days. Because of this, these greens were covered, and
the covers were left in place for some period of time. Strong wind gusts caused
some of the covers to bunch up in places, which doubled the insulation, protect-
ing those areas from the bitter cold (by Southern standards) and keeping them
from going into dormancy. The stripes remained nice and green until the spring
came and evened things out.
Photo submitted by Brian Aaron, CGCS, superintendent at Azalea City Golf
Course in Mobile, Ala., and a 22-year member of the association. If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro’s Photo Quiz, please send it to:John Mascaro, 1471 Capital Circle NW, Suite #13, Tallahassee, FL 32303, or e-mail to [email protected].
If your photograph is selected, you will receive full credit. All photos submitted will become property of GCM and GCSAA.
The ice on the green is fairly obvious. How it got here is the real story. During
the middle of the fall golf season, the superintendent arrived at this hole on a
30-degree mid-November morning to fnd all the irrigation heads running. The
right photo shows the amount of ice on the seventh green; the green surrounds
were also frozen, and icicles were hanging from the trees. There was standing
water throughout the fairway, which was also iced over in areas. The superin-
tendent grabbed his irrigation radio and tried to shut down the station, but there
was no communication with the controller. When he went to the box, he heard
a loud and fast clicking noise so he opened it up and shut off power to the box,
which shut down all the heads. Upon closer inspection, he realized that a mouse
had chewed on the wires in the controller, causing all heads on the seventh hole
to run all night. The superintendent and a clubhouse attendant scraped the ice
off the green with coal shovels, a task that took about three hours. The hole was
cart path-only for the day, and the superintendent changed out the ribbon cable
(left photo) the next day, returning the controller to full operation.
Photo submitted by John Karas, superintendent at Bull Run Golf Club in Haymar-
ket, Va., and an 11-year GCSAA member.
(photo quiz answers)
(a)PROBLEM
(b)PROBLEM
Superintendents ar eel tractor . The MH5 provides the
ultimate in versatility mow fairways or roughs; verticut; or scalp-down before overseeding. To top it all
off, the affordable MH5 mower is the ideal Tier 4 Final alternative for courses looking to get the most value from their equipment
-mounted unit is the ultimate mowing tool at www.jacobsen.com.
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With a productive 135” width-of-cut and an MSRP of less than $30,000,*
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106 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Q: You eventually left Lawrence CC to be an assistant at Evansville CC. How important was that move in your career?
A: I really learned about agronomics. I went online and got a certifcate from Ohio State and took classes from Penn
State. The superintendent, Jeff Sexton, taught me more than I ever could have imagined. He involved me in greens committee
meetings, our Tri-State chapter, which taught me the professional side of the business. The knowledge I gained from him made
me feel I’m equipped to get after it.
Q: You recently started at Western Hills, on Jan. 1. How has it gone so far?
A: I’ve got a seasoned crew and our mechanic has been here 10 years. They know what needs tender loving care, so
that’s nice.
Q: Western Hills is a private course. What makes it special?
A: The membership takes pride in their golf course. That drives me to give them a product they deserve.
Q: It’s March, which means basketball, which is king in your state. Are you a big hoops fan?
A: I’m a huge IU (Indiana) fan. I’ll watch as much March Madness as I can. Hopefully, they’ll be part of it.
Q: Who is your biggest fan?
A: My wife, Shannon. I can never thank her enough for the opportunity to be here. To pick up and move was not easy. She
was behind me and supported me.
— Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Getting to know youIt was more about pepperoni and mozzarella for Jeremy Tredway in his pre-golf industry days. An economics major at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Tredway was a general manager at Larry Bobe’s Pizza in Lawrenceville, Ill., when his life’s journey took a curve he never dreamed of. He wanted something to keep himself busy in between shifts, so one day Tredway headed to Lawrence County CC. There he encountered John Piper, who was grinding reels. Piper had a question for Tredway. “He asked me if I wanted to be the superintendent. I said, ‘Yes, if you teach me what you know.’ Well, he taught me,”
Tredway, 37, says. “I never mowed a green or changed a cup before. I learned to love golf.”
Jeremy TredwayWas: Assistant superintendent, Evansville
(Ind.) Country Club
Is: Superintendent, Western Hills
Country Club, Mount Vernon, Ind.
(Climbing the ladder)
ON COURSEMarch 5-8 — PGA Tour, World
Golf Championships-Cadillac
Championship, Trump National Doral,
Miami, Fla., Don Thornburgh Jr.,
superintendent.
March 5-8 — PGA Tour, Puerto
Rico Open, Trump International Golf Club,
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Jason Matos,
assistant superintendent.
March 5-8 — LPGA, HSBC Women’s
Champions, Sentosa Golf Club, The
Serapong Course, Singapore.
March 5-8 — Web.com Tour,
Karlbana Championship, TPC
Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia.
March 5-8 — European Tour, Africa
Open, East London Golf Club, Eastern
Cape, South Africa.
March 12-15 — PGA Tour, Valspar
Championship, Innisbrook Resort
(Copperhead), Palm Harbor, Fla., Ryan
Stewart, superintendent.
March 12-15 — Web.com Tour,
Brasil Champions presented by HSBC,
Sao Paulo Golf Club, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
March 12-15 — European Tour,
Tshawne Open, Pretoria Country Club,
Waterkloof, South Africa.
March 19-22 — PGA Tour, Arnold
Palmer Invitational presented by
MasterCard, Bay Hill Club & Lodge,
Orlando, Fla., Christopher Flynn, CGCS,
director of grounds.
March 19-22 — LPGA, LPGA
Founders Cup, Wildfre Golf Club at JW
Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort &
Spa, Phoenix, Ariz., Todd Norton, director
of grounds.
March 19-22 — European Tour,
Madeira Island Open, Clube de Golf do
Santo da Serra, Madeira, Portugal.
March 19-22 — Web.com Tour,
Chile Classic, Club de Golf Mapocho,
Santiago, Chile.
March 20-22 — Champions Tour,
Tucson Conquistadores Classic, Omni
Tucson National (Catalina Course),
MEMBERS ONLY
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 107
Tucson, Ariz., Mike Petty, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
March 26-29 — PGA Tour, Valero
Texas Open, JW Marriott TPC San
Antonio, Tom Lively, CGCS, director of golf
course operations.
March 26-29 — Web.com Tour,
Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented
by NACHER, Le Triomphe Country
Club, Broussard, La., Michael Frantzen,
superintendent.
March 26-29 — LPGA, Kia Classic,
Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad,
Calif., Kevin Kienast, CGCS.
March 26-29 — European Tour,
Trophée Hassan II, Golf du Palais Royal,
Agadir, Morocco.
March 27-29 — Champions
Tour, Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic
presented by C Spire, Fallen Oak, Biloxi,
Miss., Matthew Hughes, GCSAA Class A
director of grounds.
March 27-29 — Symetra Tour,
Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, Lake
Wales Country Club, Lake Wales, Fla.,
George Mackanos, superintendent.
COMING UPMarch 5 — Nor’Easter Ski Day,
Killington Ski Resort, Killington, Vt.
Phone: 203-387-0810
Website: www.cagcs.com
March 16 — CTGCSA Turf Show,
Landa Park, New Braunfels, Texas.
Phone: 512-507-8233
Website: www.ctgcsa.com
March 18 — GCSAA Webcast: Triple
Trouble Series, Part I: Shade
Contact: GCSAA Education
Phone: 800-472-7878
Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/
webcasts.aspx
March 19 — GCSAA Webcast:
Phosphite — Fertilizer or Fungicide (or
Both)?
Contact: GCSAA Education
Phone: 800-472-7878
Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/
webcasts.aspx
March 19 — 31st Annual Forum,
Naperville CC, Naperville, Ill.
Phone: 630-639-9395
Website: www.cagcs.org
March 23 — Spring Educational
Symposium, Rio Bravo CC, Bakersfeld,
Calif.
Phone: 559-298-4853
Website: www.centralcaliforniagcsa.com
March 23-24 — USGA Regional
Conference, Hope Valley CC, Durham,
N.C.
Phone: 800-476-4272
Website: www.carolinasgcsa.org
March 25 — GCSAA Webcast: Triple
Trouble Series, Part II: Drainage
Contact: GCSAA Education
Phone: 800-472-7878
Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/
webcasts.aspx
March 30-31 — Peaks & Prairies
GCSA “Almost Spring” Meeting and
USGA Green Section, Snow King Resort
Hotel, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Phone: 406-273-0791
Website: www.ppgcsa.org
April 1 — GCSAA Webcast: Triple
Trouble Series, Part III: Air Movement
Contact: GCSAA Education
Phone: 800-472-7878
Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/
webcasts.aspx
April 20 — 11th annual Joseph Troll
Turf Classic, TPC River Highlands Golf
Club, Cromwell, Conn.
Phone: 888-561-7778
Website: www.cagcs.com
May 6 — University of Arizona
Karsten Field Day, Tucson, Ariz.
Phone: 520-318-7142
Email: [email protected]
ON THE MOVEALABAMA
R. Geoff Smith, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Bella Vista Country Club, is now (A) at
Dogwood Hills Golf Course in Higdon.
ARIZONA
Tyler S. Broderick, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at The Duke at Rancho El Dorado,
is now (C) at Talking Stick Golf Club in
Scottsdale.
108 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Southwest Jeff Jensen
Cactus & Pine GCSA board members, along with chapter executive director Carmella Rug-
giero, Apache Sun Golf Club owner Mike Musulin and I, met with U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-
04) and staff in December at Apache Sun Golf Club in Queen Creek, Ariz. The meeting was
initiated by Cactus & Pine secretary and GCSAA board candidate Rory Van Poucke, who
serves as the general manager/superintendent of Apache Sun Golf Club. Also represent-
ing the Cactus & Pine was President Andy Huber and board members Kai Umeda and Jim
Marshall. With Arizona and the Southwest U.S. in the midst of a severe drought, the meeting
centered on water use and conservation on golf courses. The congressman and his staff
were educated on reclaimed water use, turf reduction programs, irrigation efficiency and
technology, turfgrass research, BMPs and the industry’s work on assisting with the devel-
opment of model drought compliance legislation. Van Poucke also provided an economic
impact study that outlined the golf industry’s $3.4 billion impact on Arizona’s economy. Golf
is now the leading driver of tourism to the state. Additionally, the EPA’s newly proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS)
rule that GCSAA and the golf industry is opposing was discussed. The congressman has condemned the EPA’s new rule
and understands the devastating economic consequences it will have for golf, agriculture and small businesses throughout
Arizona and the U.S. if it is implemented. The Cactus & Pine GCSA appreciates Congressman Gosar and his staff’s time, and
any questions concerning the meeting can be directed to Rory Van Poucke or to me.
Northeast Kevin DoyleFrom Europe to Washington, D.C., to Washington State and nearly every place between, the plight of honey bees has been on
the main stage. After attending the Pollinator Summit (presented by the New Jersey Green
Industry Council) and Dr. Daniel Potter’s keynote address at the New York State Turfgrass
Association Turf and Grounds Exposition, I have come to learn a lot about the critical role
pollinators play in our world. What role does turf play in the pollinator discussion? Neonic-
otinoid class insecticides (neonics), often used as a preventive for white grubs, have been
shown to have an adverse effect on pollinators. The degree to which they affect the ben-
eficial insects often has more to do with which side of the political issue you wish to argue.
While this situation is unfortunate, it definitely can create disruption in turf right here in the
Northeast region. Just this past year alone, legislative measures took place in New Jersey,
New York, Vermont and Maine to ban the use of neonics. Beekeepers in Vermont joined
one superintendent at the committee hearing to assist in educating the legislators as to
the minimal role neonics play in pollinator issues. Stephanie Darnell, technical development
manager, Bayer CropScience, cited a survey of beekeepers that placed pesticides as the seventh most important stress factor
to those in the bee industry, with varroa mite at the top of the list. While none of the above-mentioned legislation efforts were
successful, it opens up the “what if” discussion. Without this useful tool, turf managers could be pushed to use more volatile
chemicals, such as organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, to control the same pests. These options are much less
environmentally friendly, more costly and potentially more harmful to nontarget pests. What can turf managers do with regard
to our friendly pollinators? 1) Develop stewardship practices: Learn about our role as land managers and the stresses regard-
ing honey bees and develop spray programs with the sensitivities of pollinators in mind. 2) Support research, remain vigilant
regarding the latest research, and adjust your practices as needed. 3) Be part of the solution. Whether you choose to work
with industry partners on specifically developed pollinator-friendly programs, or become conscious of areas and plantings that
you could incorporate on your property, avenues are available for our industry to be part of the solution. I encourage GCSAA
chapters to reach out to your state apiarists as a resource for information. Invite that individual to a meeting or education day
to spread the word about pollinators in your area. The more you learn about the role your facilities play in the issue, the better
chance you have of being part of the solution.
For the latest blog posts from all of GCSAA’s feld staff representatives, visit www.gcsaa.org/community/regions.aspx.
(In the field)David Dube, formerly (A) at Recreation
Centers of Sun City, is now (A) at Anthem
Golf & Country Club-Persimmon Course
in Phoenix.
Dennis W. Dulaney, formerly (AFCR)
at Wilbur Ellis Company, is now (A) at
Recreation Centers of Sun City in Sun City.
Steve C. Patterson, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Encanto Golf Course, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Maryvale Golf Course in Phoenix.
Jake M. Wood, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Las Vegas Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Aquila Golf Course in Laveen.
CALIFORNIA
Daniel Cutler, formerly (C) at Indian Wells
Golf Resort, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Indian
Wells Golf Resort in Indian Wells.
William J. Hausch, formerly (A) at
Nicklaus Club Monterey, is now (AF) at
Farmload Distributing in Stockton.
Tracey L. Hawkins, formerly (AF) at
Profle Products LLC, is now (C) at Yocha
Dehe Golf Club in Brooks.
Paul R. Mock Jr., formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Calabasas Golf & Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Industry Hills at Pacifc
Palms Conference Resort in City of
Industry.
Michael K. Prouty, formerly (C) at
Wilshire Country Club, is now (C) at Visalia
Country Club in Visalia.
Jorge Vergara, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Skylinks Golf Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Coyote Hills Golf Course in Fullerton.
COLORADO
Jason A. Cieslinski, formerly (C) at
Colorado Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
The Short Course at Cordillera in Edwards.
Kevin M. Kallas, formerly (C) at Murphy
Creek Golf Course, is now (C) at Meadow
Hills Golf Course in Aurora.
Sean Parsons, formerly (C) at Hiwan Golf
Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Hiwan Golf
Club in Evergreen.
Craig M. Sloan, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Begin Oaks Golf Course, is now (AF) at
Begin Oaks Enterprises in Aguilar.
CONNECTICUT
Stephen B. Wickstrom, formerly (C) at
Burning Tree Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Burning Tree Country Club in
Greenwich.
DELAWARE
David F. Ellison Jr., formerly (C) at
Newark Country Club, is now (A) at Newark
ter exe r Carme
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 109
Country Club in Newark.
FLORIDA
Thomas D. Cravey, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Villages Kingfsher Golf Course, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Tierra Del Sol Golf Course
in Lady Lake.
R.D. Hillhouse, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at King’s Creek Golf Club, is now (A)
at Fernandina Beach Golf Course in
Fernandina Beach.
Brandon T. Johnson, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club,
is now (C) at Atlantis Golf Club in Lake
Worth.
Dale A. Miller, formerly (AA) at Redox
Turf, is now (AA) at Ameriturf in Estero.
Patrick Munson, formerly (C) at Palm
Beach Gardens Golf Course, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Palm Beach Gardens Golf Course
in West Palm Beach.
Chad L. Nixon, CGCS, formerly (AFCR) at
Winfeld Solutions LLC, is now (AFCR) at
Golf Ventures in Lakeland.
Ronald L. Palsgrove, formerly (A) at
Summerglen Country Club, is now (A) at
Arlington Ridge Golf Club in Leesburg.
Michael J. Perham, CGCS, formerly (AA),
is now (A) at Timber Pines Golf Course in
Spring Hill.
Carlos Rodriguez, formerly (AS) at
Lake Nona Golf Club, is now (AS) at The
Breakers Rees Jones Course in West Palm
Beach.
Quinn M. Saunders, formerly (C) at
Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Stonebridge Golf & Country
Club in Boca Raton.
Everett B. Tate III, formerly (A) at
Fernandina Beach Golf Course, is now
(A) at Venetian Bay Golf Course in New
Smyrna Beach.
Charles A. Wagmiller, CGCS, formerly (A)
at Hyatt Hill Country Golf Club, is now (A)
at IMG Golf and Country Club in Bradenton.
Shannon S. Wheeler, formerly (A) at
Fountains Country Club, is now (A) at
Wycliffe Golf & Country Club in Lake
Worth.
Adam Winslow, formerly (C) at
Wyndemere Country Club, is now (C) at
Foxfre Country Club in Naples.
GEORGIA
John Collopy, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Honey Creek Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Turtle Cove Golf Course in
Monticello.
HAWAII
Ikaika Bechert, formerly (C) at King
Kamehameha Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at King Kamehameha Golf Club in
Wailuku.
IDAHO
Jacob R. Teaford, formerly (S) at
Washington State University, is now (C) at
Lewiston Golf & Country Club in Lewiston.
ILLINOIS
Aaron Hearn, formerly (C) at Stonebridge
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Salt
Creek Golf Club in Wood Dale.
Justin G. Olmstead, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Glen Flora Country Club, is
now (AF) at Precision Laboratories in
Waukegan.
Tony M. Smith, formerly (C) at JBM Golf
Properties, is now (C) at Mistwood Golf
Course in Romeoville.
Charles Totten, formerly (AS) at
Northmoor Country Club, is now (AS) at
Turf Equipment Technicians Association
in Plainfeld.
Scott White, formerly (A) at The Mauh-
Nah-Tee-See Club, is now (A) at Urbana
Golf & Country Club in Urbana.
Jeremy Woods, formerly (C) at
Woodstock Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Woodstock Country Club in
Woodstock.
INDIANA
David S. English, formerly (C) at The
Club at Olde Stone, is now (C) at Victoria
National Golf Club in Newburgh.
Nathan R. Herman, formerly (C) at
Oakland Hills Country Club, is now (C) at
Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh.
Patrick Miller, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Philadelphia Cricket Club , is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at The Hawthorns Golf & CC in
Fishers.
Jake Taley, formerly (AS) at Pine Valley
Golf Club, is now (AS) at Meridian Hills
Country Club in Indianapolis.
Jeremy Tredway, formerly (C) at
Evansville Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Western Hills Country Club in
Mount Vernon.
IOWA
Jeremy D. Ehlers, formerly (SW) at Iowa
State University, is now (AS) at Carroll
Municipal Golf Course in Carroll.
Brett R. Parcher, formerly (C) at Elmcrest
110 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Muscatine Municipal Golf Course in
Muscatine.
KANSAS
Jeff W. Aldrich, formerly (C) at Quail
Ridge Golf Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Quail Ridge Golf Course in Winfeld.
LOUISIANA
Brian Hollier, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Coushatta Casino Resort, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Koasati Pines at Coushatta in
Kinder.
Ron Johnson, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Audubon Park Golf Course, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Joseph M. Bartholomew Sr. Golf
Course in New Orleans.
MARYLAND
Tyler J. Brunk, formerly (C) at Hermitage
Country Club, is now (C) at Bretton Woods
Recreation Center in Germantown.
Garrett C. Emerick, formerly (C) at Swan
Point Yacht & Country Club, is now (C) at
Old South Country Club in Lothian.
Joseph A. Roberts, formerly (S) at North
Carolina State University, is now (E) at
University of Maryland in College Park.
Adam C. Stottlemyer, formerly (C) at
Old South Country Club, is now (C) at The
Suburban Club in Pikesville.
Daniel T. Wildeman, formerly (C) at
MJB GOLF@Potomac Ridge, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Fairway Hills Golf Club in
Columbia.
MASSACHUSETTS
Todd A. Bechtel, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Button Hole Short Course & Teaching
Center, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Crestwood
Country Club in Rehoboth.
MICHIGAN
Adam D. Dredge, formerly (C) at South
Course at Oakland Hills Country Club, is
now (C) at Oakland Hills Country Club in
Bloomfeld Hills.
Austin D. Grall, formerly (SW) at
Michigan State University, is now (C) at
Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton
Harbor.
Steve Plunkett, formerly (C) at Radrick
Farms Golf Club, is now (C) at University
of Michigan Golf Course in Ann Arbor.
MINNESOTA
Kurt D. Haugen, formerly (C) at Glen
Lake Golf & Practice Center, is now (C) at
Baker National Golf Course in Hamel.
Kevin J. Malloy, formerly (C) at Bearpath
Golf & Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Bearpath Golf & Country Club in Eden
Prairie.
Kristopher J. Pinkerton, CGCS, formerly
(A) at Oshkosh Country Club, is now (AA)
at Reinders Inc. in Minneapolis.
MISSOURI
Derek Wilkerson, CGCS, formerly (A)
at Sun City South Golf Course, is now
(A) at Highland Springs Country Club in
Springfeld.
MONTANA
Rick A. Welton, formerly (C) at Hilands
Golf Club, is now (AS) at Hilands Golf Club
in Billings.
NEBRASKA
Chris Vontz, formerly (A) at Friend
Country Club, is now (A) at Cross Creek
Golf Links in Cambridge.
NEVADA
Juan Perez, formerly (C) at Spanish Trail
Golf & Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Spanish Trail Golf & Country Club in
Las Vegas.
Kyle W. Peterson, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at The Club at Las Campanas Santa Fe, is
now (Supt. Mbr.) at Conestoga Golf Club
in Mesquite.
Mark J. Woodward, CGCS, formerly (AA)
at Damarco Golf, is now (AA) at OB Sports
in Aliante.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Bryan M. Conant, formerly (C) at
Woodland Golf Club, is now (C) at Sky
Meadow Country Club in Nashua.
NEW JERSEY
Samuel A. Barden, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Westchester Country Club, is now (E) at
United States Golf Association in Far Hills.
Joseph E. Greytok, formerly (A) at Eagle
Point Golf Club, is now (AF) at SMS
Additive Solutions in Mount Laurel.
NEW YORK
Jacob S. Fawaz, formerly (S) at Michigan
State University, is now (C) at Winged
Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck.
Kevin E. Glowka, formerly (A) at The Fox
Valley Club, is now (A) at Crag Burn Golf
Club in East Aurora.
Richard R. Greco, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at En-Joie Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Binghamton Country Club in Endwell.
Alex L. Kaczmarek, formerly (S) at
University of Connecticut, is now (C) at
Creek Club in Locust Valley.
Brent J. Peveich, formerly (C) at Pine
Hollow Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Pine Hollow Country Club in East
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112 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Norwich.
Brent L. Thompson, formerly (A) at
Mountain Top Golf and Lake Club, is now
(A) at Silo Ridge Country Club in Amenia.
NORTH CAROLINA
Ryan D. McClannon, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Skybrook Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Reynolds Park Golf Course in
Winston-Salem.
Leonard B. Pritchett, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Greenbrier Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Beechwood Country Club
in Ahoskie.
OHIO
Matthew Powell, formerly (C) at
Muirfeld Village Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Muirfeld Village Golf Club in
Dublin.
OKLAHOMA
Scott A. Countryman, formerly (C) at
Oaks Country Club, is now (A) at Heritage
Hills Golf Course in Claremore.
Dustin Elms, formerly (C) at Oklahoma
City Golf & CC, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Oklahoma City Golf & CC in Nichols Hills.
Joseph L. Hubbard, CGCS, formerly
(AA), is now (A) at Lakeview Golf Course
in Ardmore.
James D. Wyers, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Pebble Creek Country Club, is now (AF) at
Luber Brothers in Bethany.
PENNSYLVANIA
Corey Forbes, formerly (C) at River Crest
Golf Club, is now (C) at White Manor
Country Club in Malvern.
Michael A. Madara, formerly (C) at
Frosty Valley Country Club, is now (C) at
Wyoming Valley Country Club in Wilkes-
Barre.
Matthew J. Rogers, formerly (C) at
Aronimink Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Gulph Mills Golf Club in King of Prussia.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Michael P. Cochran, formerly (C) at
Spring Creek Golf Club, is now (C) at Long
Cove Club in Hilton Head Island.
Paul Lewis, formerly (C) at Cliffs
at Keowee Springs, is now (AS) at
Thornblade Club in Greer.
TENNESSEE
Chet W. Frazier, formerly (A) at Mystery
Valley Golf Course, is now (A) at The
Legacy of Springfeld in Springfeld.
TEXAS
Jay Abbott, formerly (A) at Deerwood
Club of Kingwood, is now (A) at Kingwood
Country Club in Kingwood.
How good are your
greens ?
www.greenstester.com [email protected]
GREENSTESTER - Know Your Greens
Brandon B. Crumpler, formerly (A)
at Longwood Golf Club, is now (A) at
Raveneaux Country Club in Spring.
William A. Duckworth, formerly (A) at
Fox Run Golf Course, is now (A) at U.S.
Air Force Services Agency in San Antonio.
Nicholas O. Johnson III, formerly (A)
at Golfcrest Country Club, is now (A) at
Sterling Course at Houston National Golf
Club in Houston.
Reagan W. Olson, formerly (C) at Cowan
Creek Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Legacy Hills Golf Club in Georgetown.
William C. Sturm, formerly (A) at
Canyon Creek Country Club, is now (A) at
Prestonwood Country Club-Hills Course
in Plano.
UTAH
Adam W. Breitenfeldt, formerly (S) at
Colorado State University, is now (C) at
Entrada at Snow Canyon in Saint George.
VERMONT
Brendan Flynn, formerly (C) at Breakfast
Hill Golf Course, is now (C) at Jay Peak
Golf Course in North Troy.
VIRGINIA
Thomas A. Jones, formerly (S) at Ohio
State University, is now (C) at Robert Trent
Jones Golf Club in Gainesville.
Adam S. Rice, formerly (C) at Dominion
Valley Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Montclair Country Club in Dumfries.
Jonathan D. Taylor, formerly (SW) at
Ohio State University, is now (C) at Robert
Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville.
WISCONSIN
Marc P. Davison, CGCS, formerly (A) at
Green Bay Country Club, is now (A) at
Wisconsin GCSA in Waupaca.
Joel Larsen, formerly (C) at Milwaukee
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at North
Shore Country Club in Thiensville.
BAHAMAS
Jay M. Miller, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
New Smyrna Beach Municipal GC, is
now (Supt. Mbr.) at Baker’s Bay Golf and
Ocean Club in Abacos.
CANADA
William T. Green, formerly (C) at The
Toronto Golf Club, is now (ISM) at Cutten
Fields in Guelph, Ontario.
Dave Jacobsen, formerly (C) at Weston
Golf & Country Club, is now (C) at
Bearspaw Country Club in Calgary,
Ontario.
Derek J. Therrien, formerly (A) at Eagle
Creek Golf Club, is now (AF) at Turf Care
Products Canada in Newmarket, Ontario.
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03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 115
FRANCE
Nuno Morgado, formerly ( ISM) at
Domaine de Barbossi–Riviera Golf, is now
(ISM) at Domaine de Barbossi–Riviera
Golf in Alpes-Maritimes.
MALAYSIA
Francis Chan K Hui, formerly ( ISM) at
Perangsang Templer Golf Club, is now
(ISM) at Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz
Shah in Shah Alam.
SOUTH KOREA
Bruce H. Reineck, formerly (A) at
Chibana Golf Course, is now (A) at Banyan
Tree Club in Seoul.
Correction
The state and previous employer
for Andy Drohen was incorrectly
listed in the January issue of GCM.
Drohen, formerly (AF) at Agrium
Advanced Technologies, is now (AF)
at Koch Agronomic Services. He is
based in Massachusetts.
NEW MEMBERSALABAMA
Anthony Michael, Associate, Point Clear
ARIZONA
Michael P. Murphy, Supt. Mbr., Sun City
Gary D. Slone, Supt. Mbr., Tucson
Rick J. Stoffel, Supt. Mbr., Sun City
ARKANSAS
Kent A. Albright, Supt. Mbr., Fayetteville
Jeff Brewer, Associate, Little Rock
CALIFORNIA
Jon A. Arnett, Class C, Santa Rosa
Robert J. Esposo, Supt. Mbr.,
Pacifc Grove
COLORADO
Austin J. Lang, Class C, Aurora
Christopher C. Miller, Class C,
Colorado Springs
CONNECTICUT
Daniel M. Maier, Class C, Darien
Thomas M. Martel, Class C, Ridgefeld
Jeffrey L. Swanson, Class C, Fairfeld
Brendan M. Weinstein, Class C, Old
Greenwich
FLORIDA
Mike McNaught, Associate, Vero Beach
Beau M. Niebrugge, Class C, Naples
Isaias Nunez, Associate, West Palm
Beach
Shane P. Rice, Class C, Indiantown
GEORGIA
William J. Boyce, Class C, Alpharetta
Cecil K. Daniel, Supt. Mbr., Savannah
Thomas G. Ingram, Class C, Roswell
James P. Stalvey, Class C, Lilburn
Chad M. Williams, Class C, Alpharetta
Timothy B. Williams Jr., Class C,
Rocky Face
ILLINOIS
James Cassidy, Affliate, East Peoria
Scott F. Denil, Class C, Mundelein
Drew A. Vokracka, Class C, Effngham
INDIANA
Jamie Skolsky, Supt. Mbr., Chesterton
IOWA
Jonathan Fields, Student, Cedar Rapids
LOUISIANA
Beau H. Farmer, Class C, Avondale
Joseph F. Hoke, Supt. Mbr., Jennings
MARYLAND
Christian J. Brinkerhoff, Student,
College Park
Shaun M. Clark, Student, College Park
Kelly N. Harrison, Class C, Baltimore
Ian Patrican, Student, College Park
Sean Whiston, Class C, Phoenix
MASSACHUSETTS
Connor C. Kuehl, Associate, Salem
MICHIGAN
Joseph Cox, Student, East Lansing
Ken R. Doyle, Student, East Lansing
Shawn R. Haverdink, Student,
East Lansing
Yang Lyu, Student, East Lansing
Christopher T. Notestine, Student,
East Lansing
Evan Nicholas Rogers, Student,
East Lansing
MINNESOTA
John W. Gordon, Student, Crookston
Ken L. Hoffman, Associate, Saint Paul
MISSISSIPPI
William E. Rees, Student,
Mississippi State
Matthew A. Tucker, Student,
Mississippi State
NEBRASKA
Dusty J. Keiser, Class C, Elkhorn
Timothy J. Soppe, Associate, Elkhorn
116 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
GCM (ISSN 0192-3048 [print]; ISSN 2157-3085 [online]) is published monthly by GCSAA Communica-tions Inc., 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-3859, 785-841-2240. Subscriptions (all amounts U.S. funds only): $60 a year. Outside the United States and Canada, write for rates. Single copy: $5 for members, $7.50 for nonmembers. Offce of publication and editorial offce is at GC-SAA, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-3859. Periodicals postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., and at additional mailing offces. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to: Golf Course Management, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049. CANADA POST: Publications mail agreement No. 40030949. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 122, Ni-agara Falls, ONT L2E 6S8.
NEW JERSEY
Nathan R. Cooper, Associate, Springfeld
Joseph M. Hodgin, Student,
New Brunswick
Donald Jennings, Affliate,
Hamilton Square
Steve Miller, Student, New Brunswick
Michael D. Weir, Associate, Denville
Thomas L. Woodward, Supt. Mbr.,
Bayonne
NEW MEXICO
Joe M. Hill, Associate, Hobbs
Don W. Quick, Associate, Hobbs
NEW YORK
James J. Carlton, Student, Delhi
Benjamin M. Carroll, Class C, Manlius
Daniel P. Golding, Class C, Scarsdale
Jeffrey Nicolaisen, Class C,
Lake Success
Austin K. Sevcik, Class C, Rye
NORTH CAROLINA
Matthew W. Anderson, Class C, Denver
Todd Armstrong, Affliate, Charlotte
David K. Bibler, Class C, Greensboro
Glenn Galle, Student, Raleigh
OHIO
Michael Burke, Student, Columbus
Conrad Cavill, Student, Columbus
Joshua N. Forster, Student, Columbus
Matthew I. Gates, Student, Columbus
James C. Grimstead, Student, Columbus
Chenchen Gu, Student, Columbus
David J. Howe, Student, Columbus
Jarryd King, Student, Columbus
José F. Moragues, Student, Columbus
Renata Mundim Ribeiro, Student,
Columbus
Silvain Timmerman, Student, Columbus
Todd Troy, Student, Columbus
Georgi B. Vlahov, Student, Columbus
PENNSYLVANIA
Kirk M. Bender, Student, University Park
Tyler Brown, Student, State College
Devon E. Carroll, Student,
University Park
Jacob D. Leadbetter, Class C, Pittsburgh
Austin J. Marsteller, Student,
University Park
Curt B. Moore, Student, University Park
Kyle S. Patterson, Student,
University Park
Cody R. Price, Student, State College
Joshua J. Rogers, Class C, Reading
Jake M. Ronchi, Student, Doylestown
Frank A. Schmidt, Class C, Sewickley
Justin K. Wilson, Class C, Verona
Matthew F. Wolfe, Class C, Verona
SOUTH CAROLINA
Doug W. Burdick, Class C, Hilton
Head Island
TEXAS
Anthony M. Bailey, Class C, McKinney
Billy J. Bancroft, Class C, College Station
John C. Colligan, ASGCA, Affliate,
Arlington
Wes Dyer, Student, College Station
Daniel T. Fergason, Student, Waco
Ryan D. Heath, Class C, San Antonio
Trey Kemp, Affliate, Arlington
Danny McConnell, Associate,
College Station
Larry Meier, Associate, Fredericksburg
Joseph R. Owens, Class C, San Antonio
Freddy Ramirez, Associate, Austin
Loyd A. Richeson, Associate, Dallas
Keaton T. Smith, Student, Waco
David Strickland, Associate, Austin
UTAH
Karl Anderson, Supt. Mbr., Richfeld
Brock K. Sorenseon, Class C, Tooele
VIRGINIA
Terry R. Dewhurst, Class C, Gainesville
WISCONSIN
William F. Collins, Student, Madison
John A. McEntegart, Student, River Falls
AUSTRALIA
Shane Greenhill, ISM, Sorrento
Ann McKeon, Affliate, Pennant Hills
CANADA
Derek C. Alexander, Associate,
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Ryan Costello, Student, Guelph, Ontario
Miles J. Curtis, Student, Guelph, Ontario
Steve P. Damphousse, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Andrew Lee Darnbrough, Class C,
Kelowna, British Columbia
Amanda Frend, Class C, Thornhill, Ontario
Michael K. Gentry, Class C, East
Gwillimbury, Ontario
Jack Gillespie, ISM, Hepworth, Ontario
Andrew G. Hart, Class C, Vancouver,
British Columbia
James E. Johnson, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Adam D. Kimber, Student, Guelph, Ontario
Paul D. Krug, Student, Guelph, Ontario
Brian Neeb, Class C, Brampton, Ontario
Steven J. Rabski, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Matt Shushack, Student, Guelph, Ontario
Jonathan S. Smith, Class C, Mississauga,
Ontario
Dustin D. Zdan, ISM, Medicine Hat,
Alberta
DENMARK
Russell A. Anderson, ISM, Farum
IRELAND
Colm A. Dockrell, Educator, Dublin
SPAIN
Ricardo Llorca, ISM, Betera Valencia
Matilde Puertas, ISM, Cartaya Huelva
IN MEMORIAMRichard L. Boehm, CGCS Retired, 66,
died Dec. 24, 2014. Mr. Boehm, a 43-year
member of GCSAA, graduated from Ohio
State University in agronomy. He spent his
entire career working in the golf course
management profession. For the majority
of his career, Mr. Boehm worked at Wright
Patterson AFB in Fairborn, Ohio. After
retiring from there in 2003, he took the
role of head agronomist for all of Air Force
golf and relocated to San Antonio, Texas.
He retired from there in June 2014 and
received the Air Force Meritorious Civilian
Service Award. Mr. Boehm is survived by
his wife, Charlotte Boehm, and his son,
Aaron Boehm, who played golf often with
his father. Memorial contributions can be
made to the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation,
Boy Scouts of America or the American
Heart Association.
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 117
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GOLD PARTNERS
Jacobsen ...................................................31, 105 (800) 232-5907 ......................www.jacobsen.com
Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC ................. Cover 4 (909) 308-1633 .............www.syngentaprofessionalproducts.com
Bayer Environmental Sciences .......... 35*, 67, 113 (800) 331-2867 ............ www.backedbybayer.com
SILVER PARTNERS
The Andersons, Inc. .......................................... 11 (800) 253-5296 .............. www.AndersonsPro.com
Barenbrug USA ................................................33* (800) 547-4101 ......................... www.barusa.com
Baroness ........................................................... 19 (707) 283-0610 .........................www.baroness.us
BASF ................................................................ 75 (888) 566-5506 .................www.betterturf.basf.us
Club Car ............................................................. 59 (800) 445-6680 ........................... www.clubcar.com
Cushman (a.k.a. E-Z-GO)..................................... 64 (800) 774-3946 ........................ www.cushman.com
Floratine Products Group .............................51, 83 (901) 853-2898 ....................... www.foratine.com
Foley United ...................................................... 71 (800) 225-9810 .................. www.foleyunited.com
Koch Agronomic Services, LLC ....................17, 63 (888) 547-4140 ......................... www.kasturf.com
Lebanon Turf ................................................14, 15 (800) 350-6650 ............... www.lebanonturf.com/
Par Aide Products Co. ......................................2-3 (888) 893-2433 ........................ www.paraide.com
PBI Gordon Corp. ........................................ 21, 41* (800) 971-7233 .................... www.pbigordon.com
Precision Laboratories, Inc. .............................. 61 800-323-6280 ...................www.precisionlab.com
Quali-Pro ........................................................... 53 (888) 584-6598 ......................www.quali-pro.com
R & R Products Inc. ........................................... 62 (800) 528-3446 ....................www.rrproducts.com
Rain Bird Corp., Golf Div. ................................... 95 (210) 826-6391 ........................www.rainbird.com
Standard Golf Co. ...................................... Insert 49* (866) 743-9773 ....................www.standardgolf.com
Tee-2-Green Corp. ......................................... 42-43 (800) 547-0255 .................... www.tee-2-green.com
ADVERTISERS
ABM................................................................. 114 (844) 526-3226 .........................www.abm.com/golf
Aqua-Aid Inc. ...................................................35* (800) 394-1551 ....................... www.aquaaid.com
Aquatrols Corporation ....................................... 39 (800) 257-7797 ..................... www.aquatrols.com
Bernhard & Company Limited ........................... 80 (800) 323-6280 ....................www.bernhard.co.uk
BoardTronics...................................................... 6-7 (800) 782-9938 ............................boardtronics.com
Bobcat ............................................................... 13 (877) 745-7813 ...............http://bobcat.com/allnew6
Broyhill Inc. ..................................................... 118 (402) 987-3412 ........................ www.broyhill.com
Champion Turf Farms ......................................... 8-9 (888) 290-7377 ..........www.championturffarms.com
Cub Cadet Golf .................................................. 23 (317) 818-8185 ......www.cubcadetgolf.com/sales
East Coast Sod & Seed ................................... 119 (856) 769-9555 ............... www.eastcoastsod.com
Frost Inc. .......................................................... 116 (800) 621-7910 ......................... www.frostserv.com
Georgia Seed Development Commission Insert 65* (303) 431-7333 ........................ www.tifeagle.com
GCSAA Services .............. 37*, 41*, 49, 81, 110, 111 (800) 447-1840 ...............................www.gcsaa.org
GCSAA TV .......................................................... 65 ..........................................................www.gcsaa.tv
Golf-Lift Div. Derek Weaver Co., Inc. ................... 119 (800) 788-9789 ............................www.golf-lift.com
Greenleaf Technologies ................................... 112 (760 )485-2936 .....................www.turbodrop.com
Greenstester ..................................................... 112 .............................................www.greenstester.com
Grigg Bros. ........................................................ 69 (888) 623-7285 .....................www.griggbros.com
Growth Products Ltd. ........................................ 25 (800) 648-7626 ...........www.growthproducts.com
Hole in White ...................................................... 60 (949) 737-1783 ..................... www.holeinwhite.com
Johnston Seed Co. ......................................... 54-55 (800) 375-4613 .................. www.johnstonseed.com
Kelly’s Green Team ............................................ 117 (660) 627-5500 ..............www.kellysgreenteam.com
ADVERTISING INDEX & MARKETPLACE
King Ranch ......................................................... 77 (800) 445-2602 ....................... www.miniverde.com
Lastec ............................................................. 107 (866) 902-6454 ..........................www.lastec.com
Lely USA Inc .................................................... 119 (888) 245-4684 .........................www.lelyusa.com
Linear Rubber Products ..................................... 119 (800) 558-4040 .....................www.rubbermats.com
Milorganite ...................................................... 115 (800) 287-9645 ..................... www.milorganite.com
New Life Turf ..................................................... 37* (803) 263-4231 ...................... www.newlifeturf.com
Peat, Inc. .......................................................... 118 (800) 441-1880 ........................... www.peatinc.com
Penn State University ..................................... 114 (800) 233-4973 .........www.worldcampus.psu.edu
Pifer ................................................................. 118 (888) 442-8442 ..........................www.pifergolf.com
PlanetAir Turf Products ..................................... 27 (877) 800-8845 .........................www.planetair.biz
Richway Industries ............................................ 118 (800) 553-2404 ...........................www.richway.com
Ryan .................................................................. 76 (866) 469-1242 .......................... www.ryanturf.com
Seago International, Inc. .................................... 118 (800) 780-9889 ........................www.seagousa.com
Smithco, Inc. ............................................. Cover 3 (877) 833-7648 ........................www.smithco.com
Steiner ............................................................... 78 (866) 469-1242 ................ www.steinerturf.com/golf
Steven’s Water Monitoring ................................ 73 215-908-0044 ................. www.stevenswater.com
TRIMS Software International Inc. .................. 119 (800) 608-7467 ............................www.trims.com
Trojan Battery Company ...................................... 29 (800) 423-6569 . www.trojanbattery.com/competition
TurfCo ................................................................ 79 (800) 679-8201 ............................. www.turfco.com
Underhill .......................................................... 97 (800) 328-3986 ......................... www.underhill.us
Vinylguard Golf ................................................. 109 (866) 254-5201 ................. www.vinylguardgolf.com
Wiedenmann North America ............................. 89 (866) 790-3004 .........www.wiedenmannusa.com
* Denotes regional advertisement
Bold denotes affliate member
118 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
03.15 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 119
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120 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.15
Photographer: Ryan G. Davis • Title: Golf course superintendent • Course: Arrowhead Golf Club, Littleton, Colo. • GCSAA membership: 11
years • The shot: Winter weather can come up pretty fast when your golf course is located on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, as Davis
documented in these three photos showing a storm that hit his course last November. “It’s very common for it to drop 30 degrees in an hour
before these storms roll in,” he says. The frst two shots were taken about six hours apart on the day the storm came in, while the third was taken
two days after the snow stopped falling. • Camera: Sony Cyber-shot
