golf course management - july 2014
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A publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of AmericaTRANSCRIPT
Golf Course Management Magazinewww.gcsaa.org • July 2014
Offcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Nematicide breakthrough 84
Zoysia to the rescue 62
Grassroots Ambassadors 36
GROW
INSIDE: Teamwork powers GCSAA, PGA partnerships PAGE 72
Superintendents front and center in efforts to secure
golf’s future PAGE 44
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®
T E C H N O L
healthy grass
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toro.com/100
2014 – Greensmaster® eFlex
1928 – First all-electric putting greens mower
Since July 10, 1914, a long line of Toro inventors have been passionate about helping Turf Managers get their jobs done
more effectively. Innovations that make a difference are only accomplished through close collaboration with our end-user
customers and channel partners. As we embark upon our second century, we want to take this time to say ‘Thank You’ to
the many people who have allowed us to reach the Century mark as a company! At Toro, innovation is more than a slogan;
it is our lifeblood, our legacy, and our ongoing commitment to every customer we are honored to serve.
Thank you for placing your confdence and trust in The Toro Company.
CelebratingA Century of Innovation
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ank you to our valued customers!
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The right accessories improve course conditions and make golfers want to come back for more.
More than ever, you have to wow golfers with your golf course. That’s because the No. 1
reason golfers give for not returning to a golf course is “poor course conditions.” But there’s
more to course conditions than greens, tees, fairways and bunkers. Consider accessories –
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Having well maintained, proper golf course accessories is a crucial part of course conditions.
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Trusted by the best courses on Earth.
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Now your presence can be felt on every part of your course. That’s the control you get with the new
A Model mowers from John Deere. Thanks to our TechControl display, no matter who is operating
the mower, you can easily program these mowers to mow and turn at exact speeds, to transport
at preset speeds, and to lock in fuel savings. You can also plug in service reminders and get diagnostic
feedback quickly and accurately. And all of your operators can now perform in a more consistent fashion.
The power to control your course is now in your hands. To fnd out more about our new A Models,
contact your local John Deere Golf distributor today.
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Control like this has always been out of reach. Until now.
Our exclusive, password-protected TechControl Display
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10 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
44
56
62
72
Hole new ballgame?More than ever, superintendents
have a hand in grow-the-game
initiatives. Some have already
arrived, and some may be
coming soon to a course
near you.
Howard Richman
Mow for lessLeasing is becoming a
popular and more affordable
option for superintendents
looking to replace their golf
course equipment.
Bill LootsGrounds for changeA golf course in the
transition zone responds to
years of drought with a switch
from bentgrass to zoysiagrass
on the fairways.
Jonathan Pokrzywinski
Making a championship course clickSuperintendent Roger Meier
teams with general manager
Keith Reese and head
professional Chris Hamburger
to give Valhalla Golf Club
a winning team.
Roger Graves
• On the Cover: Golf courses across the country are warming up to FootGolf and a number of other options and initiatives to grow business.
Photographer Andy Lundberg captures the action at Kansas City’s Heart of America Golf Academy.
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12 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
INSIGHTS
Improving drought performance of creeping bentgrassSequential application of a plant growth regulator and glycine
betaine, an osmoregulant, could help manage cool-season turf in
prolonged periods of drought stress.
Bingru Huang, Ph.D.
Patrick Burgess
A new nematicide for turfgrassA byproduct of sugar processing
has shown some efficacy as a
nematicide in turfgrass.
William T. Crow, Ph.D.80
RESEARCH
8489
Cutting EdgeTeresa Carson
16 President’s message
18 Inside GCM
20 Front nine
30 Photo quiz
78 Up to speed
90 Verdure
92 Product news
96 Industry news
102 Climbing the ladder
102 On course
103 Coming up
104 New members
104 In the field
105 Newly certified
105 On the move
108 In memoriam
112 Final shot
ETCETERA07.14
32TurfRoundup Ready returns
to turf
Garett Heineck
34ShopThis and that in the shop
Scott R. Nesbitt
AdvocacyWanted: GCSAA
Grassroots Ambassadors
Chava McKeel
36
EnvironmentClean and green
Bunny Smith
38
CareerDon’t let body language
hijack your message
Carol D. Rau, PHR
40
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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 Operating Offcer MATT SHATTO
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
[email protected] Traffc Coordinator SHELLY URISH
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. ©2014 by GCSAA Com-munications Inc., all rights reserved.
Golf Course Management MagazineOffcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Best of All Worlds®
1-800-233-0628 • www.LebanonTurf.com
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Best of All Worlds®
1-800-233-0628
www.countryclubmd.com
You spoke. We listened.
In answer to feedback from superintendents worldwide, our four new Country Club MD
greens grade fertilizers contain phosphorus for those golf course managers who need to
include P in their greens nutrition program.
Ask your sales representative for more information about Country Club MD.
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16 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
For those of us who make our living as golf course superintendents, patience is more than just a virtue. It’s almost a job requirement.
Much of the work that we put in on the golf course doesn’t pay us back with immedi-ate dividends. It takes time for newly seeded grass to spring to life. Bunker renovation proj-ects don’t start and fnish in the same day. Building new tees, creating naturalized areas, applying fertilizer — all of them require pa-tience before we enjoy the fruits of our labor.
To some extent, the same can be said of many of the efforts that your national asso-ciation puts forth on behalf of its members. When we create and implement certain pro-grams and services, we realize we likely won’t see immediate results. But we also realize that the long-term benefts will more than make up for all of our hard work.
A prime example of this is GCSAA’s gov-ernment relations and advocacy efforts. For many years, staff and committed members have worked to create a consistent and reliable presence for our profession on Capitol Hill and among legislators all over the country. But like many things within the halls of govern-ment, the efforts you put in today are often done so with an eye toward the benefts you can realize tomorrow.
One of these key advocacy efforts is GCSAA’s participation in National Golf Day, an annual event that I was lucky enough to take part in this past May. Now in its seventh year, National Golf Day is a product of the We Are Golf coalition — a group that includes GCSAA, the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, the National Golf Course Owners Association and the Club Managers Association of Amer-ica — that brings the message of golf ’s eco-nomic, environmental, charitable and ftness benefts to Capitol Hill.
This year’s GCSAA contingency at Na-tional Golf Day, which included members of the board of directors, key staff and the Government Relations Committee, carried two specifc areas of focus into its conversa-tions with legislators. The frst was an effort to persuade members of the House Ways and Means Committee to abandon their attempt to exclude golf courses from conservation-easement tax-incentive eligibility. The second revolved around the Clean Water Act and pro-
posed changes to how the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA) defnes “waters of the United States,” a change that could ad-versely effect superintendents’ ability to main-tain their golf courses.
The meetings that took place on National Golf Day were largely fact-sharing missions on our part, but I’m pleased to report that those discussions produced positive results much faster than even we could have hoped. A few weeks following National Golf Day, we learned that the House Ways and Means Com-mittee intended to include golf courses among land uses eligible for conservation-easement tax incentives. Although there is work to do to ensure that this decision becomes fnal, it is a positive development that can only help golf courses remain vital, healthy small businesses.
Shortly after that, the EPA announced that it had extended the comment period on the proposed changes to the Clean Water Act’s waters-of-the-U.S. provision for 91 days, which was one of GCSAA’s key requests of legislators during National Golf Day. The de-cision gives an industry stakeholder team that GCSAA helped create more time to develop its message and ensure those messages reach key decision makers within the EPA.
Two key messages on National Golf Day, and two key victories for the golf industry, vic-tories that did not take long in coming. Not everything in our business bears fruit so rap-idly, and I certainly realize that these wins are the exception and not the rule. But for me per-sonally, both outcomes are extremely gratify-ing and proof positive that the time and effort GCSAA puts into its efforts in Washington, D.C., have been worth it and do lead to posi-tive benefts for superintendents in particular and the golf industry as a whole.
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, is the golf course maintenance man-
ager at Bella Vista (Ark.) Village and a 33-year member
of GCSAA.
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS
The power of persuasion
For many years,
staff and committed
members have
worked to create
a consistent and
reliable presence
for our profession
on Capitol Hill and
among legislators all
over the country.
(president’s message)
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18 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
For those of us who enjoy golf, play golf and are maybe even lucky enough to work in golf, we all have a story about what frst drew us into the game.
My story is probably similar to many of yours because it involves my father and grand-father. My dad always enjoyed the game and encouraged my participation, but it was my grandfather who frst set me up with lessons at the public course down the road from his and my grandmother’s home, Minor Park Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.
One summer, when I was probably 9 or 10 years old, my grandfather took me down to the course once a week, and left me in the ca-pable hands of the club pro. While my grand-father grabbed a seat in the small snack bar at the course, I would join several other kids on the driving range to bang balls for an hour.
I’m not sure how much, if anything, I actually learned from those lessons — those who’ve seen me play will back me up on that — but the real payoff for me wasn’t the les-sons themselves. Instead, it was the promise of a full round of golf with my grandfather once I’d fnished the lessons that kept me coming back for more. And true to his word, at the end of that summer, he and I toured the links at Minor Park. I probably shot a 120 — on the front nine — but never did my grandfather show any signs of frustration or impatience. And despite my score, it’s a round of golf I re-member to this day, especially on the rare oc-casions when I get back to Minor Park to tee it up again.
Did that experience have anything to do with my landing a career in the golf industry? Probably not. That was more good fortune and dumb luck than anything. But it certainly is a fond memory of my frst real exposure to the game and one I remember frequently when the topic turns to the grow-the-game initiatives that have become such a part of our industry today.
In a business that has slowly been leaking not only players but also entire golf facilities in recent years, these efforts are absolutely key to
the future of the game. Far fewer youngsters have experiences like mine to bring them to golf, so it’s imperative that the industry iden-tifes initiatives that will help do that for us.
In the early days of these grow-the-game efforts, superintendents often found them-selves on the outside looking in, many times a view that was of their own choosing. Getting players to the course was the job of those in the pro shop, the thinking went, not for those in the maintenance building. You deal with the golfers, we’ll deal with the grass.
But that thinking is decidedly old school now. In a time where superintendents play crucial roles in the fnancial health of facili-ties, attracting and retaining players has be-come everyone’s business, and as Howard Richman’s excellent lead story in this issue of GCM illustrates, superintendents have re-acted accordingly.
They’ve embraced cutting-edge concepts, such as FootGolf, as avenues that can po-tentially increase participation in traditional golf. They’ve joined with other facility lead-ers to develop new ways to utilize existing as-sets on the golf course. They’ve thrown their support behind efforts such as The First Tee, Play Golf America and Tee It Forward. Basi-cally, they’ve done whatever they’ve needed to do to help secure the long-term health of not only their own facilities, but the overall game of golf as well.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a grandfather who can introduce them to the game of golf in the same way that I was. That the game of golf recognizes this and is trying to do something about it gives me hope that others will still get the opportunity to discover what is great about our game and our industry.
Scott Hollister is GCM ’s editor-in-chief.
Scott Hollister
twitter: @GCM_Magazine
For the love of the game
One summer,
when I was
probably 9 or
10 years old, my
grandfather took
me down to the
course once a
week, and left me in
the capable hands
of the club pro.
(inside gcm)
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LM 315TriPlex
GREENSMOWER
Contact Your Local Baroness Dealer!
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Photo courtesy of The Toro Co.
The Bull Tractor Co. helped revolutionize the farm tractor industry in the early 1900s, but it was far from
satisfed with engines that were being produced in those days.
In 1914, that all changed. The Toro Motor Co. was founded that year to build engines for the Bull Tractor
Co. Although the Bull Tractor Co. folded four years later, Toro kept on humming. Its ability to grow and prosper
spanned decades, and this month Toro reaches a milestone.
On July 10, Toro celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the day in 1914 when the company was founded.
Toro is planning a yearlong celebration to mark an achievement that not many businesses have matched.
What has contributed to Toro’s longevity? Toro chairman and CEO Michael J. Hoffman has an answer:
“The character of our people and channel partners, and their relentless commitment to serving our custom-
ers and building market leadership through innovation.”
Landmark moments in the history of the Minneapollis-based company whose trademark red equipment
now circles the globe include:
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This advertisement appeared in the pages of one of Golf Course Management magazine’s predecessors. GCM archives
• In 1918, building its frst product specifcally for golf, a
power fairway roller based on a Bull Tractor frame
• Unveiling the industry’s frst all-electric-powered
walk-behind greens mower in 1923
• Introducing in 1966 the Valve-In-Head Sprinkler, com-
bining the valve and sprinkler head in one unit
• Launching a new concept in commercial rotary mowing
equipment in 1972, the all-hydraulic Groundsmaster 72
• In 2008, showcasing the Groundsmaster 5900 Se-
ries rotary mower, which mows an acre in less than
fve minutes.
In 1919, Toro entered its core golf business when it
mounted fve reel mowers to a Toro tractor to cut the fair-
ways at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.
Through the years, Toro has developed a deep network
of professional distributor, dealer and retail partners across
industries in more than 90 countries (in 1922, Toro created
the golf industry’s frst national distributor network).
Toro, whose frst president was John Samuel Clapper,
employs more than 5,000 worldwide. It has global man-
ufacturing locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, California,
Nebraska, Florida, Texas, Mexico, England, Romania, Italy,
Australia and China.
In all, Toro has more than 1,500 patents developed by
its employees. Hoffman credits those innovators for mak-
ing it possible for the company to move forward into the
next 100 years.
“These same values that have been core throughout
our frst 100 years form the foundation for continued suc-
cess into our next century,” Hoffman says.
Radrick Farms earns Clean Corporate Citizen Award
At a reception on the grounds of Radrick Farms Golf
Club in Ann Arbor, Mich., superintendent Dan Mausolf and
his staff were presented with a Clean Corporate Citizen
Award from the state of Michigan’s Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality.
Radrick Farms general manager Paul Scott and club-
house manager Jon Moll were in attendance, as was
Debra Swartz of e-Par. Kevin Frank, Ph.D., from Michigan
State University was also present, along with John Fulling,
CGCS, a member of GCSAA’s board of directors.
The Clean Corporate Citizen Award is a voluntary pro-
gram that the state of Michigan sponsors for the business
community. To earn the award, Radrick Farms had to com-
plete three steps: Certifcation in the Pollution Prevention
(P2) program; creation of an Environmental Management
System that meets ISO 14001 standards; and public and
DEQ review.
Radrick Farms is the frst golf course in Michigan to
receive the Clean Corporate Citizen Award.
Mausolf, a 14-year member of GCSAA, had a key
role in helping the golf course receive the honor. He led
the charge for Radrick Farms to become certifed in the
Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program. The course also
is a Groundwater Guardian Green site, part of the Mich-
igan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship program and
Community Partners for Clean Streams. Mausolf also as-
sembled a brochure that outlines all of the environmental
programs, outreach and practices that take place at Rad-
rick Farms.
— John Miller, CGCS, GCSAA Field Staff,
Great Lakes Region
22 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Year Ted Smith founded Wayne, Pa.-based
Smithco and launched the Red Rider utility truck
150 Miles of range between charges for E-Z-Go’s RXV golf car
1967
90 Countries representingThe Toro Co.’s global reach
62,000
1968/1980Jacobsen produces frst riding greens mower, the Greens King; Greens King IV updates include “power backlap-ping,” another industry frst
square feet of additional space in 2014 expansion of Deere & Co.’s
Product Engineering Center in Cedar Falls
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24 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Bishop states his casePGA of America President Ted Bishop is anything but
afraid to speak his mind. When it comes to defending golf,
his message is delivered loud and clear.
Recently, Bishop (who is a GCSAA member and owner
of The Legends GC in Franklin, Ind.) responded to media
criticism in the form of an open letter. GCM has provided
excerpts below:
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. One
of my favorite westerns when I was a kid growing up in
northern Indiana back in the 1960s was “The Man Who
Shot Liberty Valance.” The movie starred Jimmy Stewart
and John Wayne. It was a great John Ford flm and the
most famous line of the movie was uttered near the end.
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
In the past few weeks, the sport of golf has been bul-
lied around similar to the townsfolk of Shinbone who were 411
victim to Liberty Valance, the gunfghter who was brilliantly
portrayed by Lee Marvin.
Enough is enough. Golf is not “in a hole” nor is the golf
market “stuck in a bunker.”
Given that 2013 had the fewest days open for golf
(268, less than the 288 the previous year because of
weather) in the past seven years, it was encouraging to
see that golfers played more rounds of golf per day than
they had in previous years. There were a total of 37 states
with consistent or increased rounds played per day in 2013
compared to 2012.
According to PGA Performance Trak, golf facility op-
erators reported growth in three of four key performance
revenue indicators from 2012 to 2013, including golf
merchandise sales (up 2.2 percent); food and beverage
revenue (up 2.0 percent); and total facility revenue (up a
modest 0.3 percent).
Through annual golf participation studies conducted
by the National Golf Foundation (NGF), 3.5 million to 3.7
million new and former golfers took up the game in each
of the last fve years. We also note that recent declines
in participation have offset gains in our sport. As such,
a stagnant industry is clearly not the goal and that is why
our Task Force is exploring innovative ways to bring new
people into golf.
We have our legends. They are names like Bobby
Jones, Ben Hogan, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Arnold
Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. And we have our facts. I am not
suggesting for even a moment that golf does not have its
challenges. We have plenty, including time, diversity and
diffculty. Interestingly, 90 percent of golf played in the U.S.
is on public courses at an average of $28 per round, dis-
pelling the notion that golf is unaffordable.
It is time that the facts became the legend — print
the facts. Liberty Valance is dead, and, as the script said,
“Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance.”
GCSAA, industry partners visit Capitol Hill
The mission: To show Washington, D.C., all the rea-
sons why golf is so meaningful.
On May 21, GCSAA joined other leaders in golf for
the seventh annual National Golf Day in the nation’s cap-
ital. National Golf Day is a major industry effort under the
auspices of We Are Golf, which is a broad coalition of the
game’s leading associations and industry partners. It is
designed to showcase golf’s nearly $70 billion economy,
$4 billion annual charitable impact, environmental value to
local communities and ftness benefts.
For GCSAA, discussion points with lawmakers this
year focused on environmental issues, most notably pro-
posed changes to the Clean Water Act and how the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) defnes “waters of the
United States,” a key pillar of the act. If changed, the rule
could greatly expand which water bodies fall under federal
jurisdiction and, ultimately, it could negatively impact su-
perintendents’ abilities to maintain their golf courses.
Those efforts paid almost immediate dividends, as the
EPA announced in early June a 91-day extension of the
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26 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
(Minn.) Golf Course earned a bronze medal as part of the
U.S. Women’s Curling Team that participated this year in
the World Senior Curling Championship in Scotland. Curl-
ing features a four-person team in which they slide a 42-
pound “stone” or “rock” down a 150-foot ice sheet, using
broom sweeps to move the object.
As a teenager in Minnesota, O’Leary worked on a golf
course. Obviously, she gained a passion for it; O’Leary has
been a superintendent since 1983.
Jacobsen fnds a place on world stage
The FIFA World Cup is a monumental event that draws
attention worldwide. Jacobsen is proud to be part of it.
Jacobsen equipment is being used to maintain train-
ing facilities and stadium felds for the World Cup soccer
tournament, which started June 12 and concludes July 13
in Brazil. One of the venues using Jacobsen equipment
is Arena Pernambuco in Recife, which was scheduled to
host the U.S. team’s fnal Group G game June 26 against
Germany.
Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, site of the
World Cup fnal, is being mowed with the Jacobsen Tri-
King small-area reel mower. The Tri-King mowers also
are being used at training venues, including the Australian
training camp at Vitaria in Espirito Santo, Portugal’s camp
at Campinas at São Paulo and Mexico, who is using facili-
ties of Santos Futebol Clube.
comment period about these proposed changes, which
will allow an industry stakeholder group formed by GCSAA
time to formulate public comments.
“This proposed change has the potential to greatly
affect almost every golf facility in the country and many
maintenance practices that take place on the golf course,”
says Chava McKeel, GCSAA’s associate director, govern-
ment relations. “Our members coming to Capitol Hill and
communicating about this important issue, along with
many more, sends a strong message and helps strengthen
the overall position of both the profession and the associ-
ation in matters of advocacy and government relations.”
GCSAA’s contingent in D.C. included members of
its board of directors, Government Relations Committee
and select staff who attended more than 85 individual
meetings with lawmakers and their staffs, meetings that
focused on the broader message of National Golf Day in
addition to issues of specifc interest to golf course su-
perintendents and the golf course management industry.
All told, golf leaders from all corners of the industry
shared stories about the game’s almost 15,000 diverse
small businesses, which employ more than 2 million peo-
ple and provide $55.6 billion in annual wage income. In
addition, industry executives discussed golf courses’ posi-
tive infuences on ecology, tax revenues and tourism.
“National Golf Day presents a unique opportunity
not only for the golf industry but also for GCSAA and its
members to make personal connections with members of
Congress and to help them understand the role the game
plays in the economic, environmental and charitable life
of our communities,” says GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. “The
opportunity to educate lawmakers on issues of importance
to our members and the stewardship role superintendents
play every day is one we embrace. We are proud of our
association with We Are Golf and our participation in Na-
tional Golf Day.”
National Golf Day also featured a daylong exhibit in
the Cannon Caucus Room with a host of golf exhibits,
including a section that was dedicated to golf course
maintenance and its tools, manned by members of the
Mid-Atlantic Association of GCS, and a display featuring
the soon-to-be-opened Grass Roots exhibit at the U.S. Na-
tional Arboretum.
In addition, live golf lessons for members of Congress
and staff were provided by 2012 PGA Teacher of the Year
Michael Breed, host of “The Golf Fix” on Golf Channel;
and LPGA professional Dana Rader. Another special activ-
ity featured a Republican vs. Democrat putting challenge.
Bronze medal for O’LearyNorma O’Leary, CGCS, reached her silver anniver-
sary of being a GCSAA member this year. One of her most
prized possessions in 2014, though, has everything to do
with bronze.
O’Leary, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Silver Bay
Also, the Ransomes Mastiff walk-behind reel mower
is being used to give the felds a fnal striping before
each game.
“The fnal at the Maracana will attract a television au-
dience in excess of 300 million people around the globe,
all watching the game on a playing surface prepared by
our mowers,” says Jacobsen president David Withers. “I
think everyone connected with the business can take pride
in that.”
Is the force with them?Possibly coming to a golf course near you: Jedi Putter.
A team of Rice University engineering students devised
a training putter that offers golfers audio, visual and tactile
feedback to help them learn a consistent putting stroke.
“In the past few years, some work has been done on
modeling the physics of putting,” says Ray Simar, Rice pro-
fessor of electrical and computer engineering. He gave fve
seniors the task of designing and creating a putter that
provides multisensory feedback, “in particular, how the
ball rolls, trajectories on the green and also the sweep path
and how that should perform.”
The practice putter also can provide data to the user
through a Bluetooth-enabled device, such as a smart-
phone or computer. Eventually, the team plans to intro-
duce a speaker in the head to help users synchronize their
swing to tones.
The team (Matthew Lopez, Sid Mullick, Chelsea Ro-
drigues, Roy Wu and Yize Zhao) completed a prototype of
the Jedi Putter and fled for a patent on a putter that has
an accelerometer, a gyrometer and a magnetometer, all in
the club head.
Courses land USGA championships
Three courses are the latest to receive word they will
be the sites of future USGA championships.
• Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn., was awarded
the 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Champion-
Members of GCSAA’s board of directors, Government Relations Committee and staff met with members of Congress on National Golf Day in Washington, D.C. Photo by Scott Hollister
020-029_July_Front9.indd 26 6/17/14 4:24 PM
28 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
An unusual soda dumped
on golf course
A golf course in Lexington, Ky., needed repairs
after vandals targeted some of the greens with soda.
Not the type of soda you might expect, according
to WKYT-TV. www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/Van-
dals-target-Lexington-golf-course-262466041.html
Female superintendent
honored in Colorado
GCSAA Class A superintendent D’Ann Kimbrel
received a lifetime achievement award last month.
Colorado Golf Journal profles Kimbrel, a 26-year
association member, who was pretty good in another
sport in her younger days. www.cogolf.org/index.
php?mod=NewsMedia_Read&ArticleID=1165
GolfÕs tie to D-Day
The 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at
Normandy Beach was well documented last month.
Did you know famed Omaha Beach, where the Allies
gallantly fought to gain a foothold in the fght against
the Axis, has a golf course? Well, Golf.com provides
the details. http://www.golf.com/courses-and-trav-
el/d-day-anniversary-golf-trip-normandy’s-omaha-
beach-golf-club-about-more-birdies-and-bogeys
Let there be lights
Can’t get a tee time during the day at Mission
Bay GC in San Diego? Well, you still may be in luck.
If you want to play under the lights, that is, according
to a feature at SanDiego.com. www.sandiego.org/
articles/golf/let-there-be-light-night-golf-at-
mission-bay-golf-course.aspx
Tweets
RETWEETS
In the
NEWS
ship. David Robertson, 12-year GCSAA member, is the
superintendent at Hillwood. The golf course opened in
1957 and was renovated in 2003 and again in 2011.
This will be the 14th USGA championship held in Ten-
nessee.
• Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., will host the
2017 U.S. Senior Open. Kip Tyler, CGCS, a 36-year
member of the association, oversees the facility. Salem
CC, designed by Donald Ross, hosted the 2001 U.S.
Senior Open.
• Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 4 will be the site of the 2017 U.S.
Amateur Four-Ball Championship. No. 2 will serve as
the match-play course; No. 4 will be the companion
course for the competition. Bob Farren, CGCS, is direc-
tor of golf course and grounds. Kevin Robinson, CGCS,
is superintendent at No. 2. Steve Wilson is superinten-
dent at No. 4.
• Shoal Creek near Birmingham, Ala., will host the 2018
U.S. Women’s Open. Forty-two year GCSAA member
James Simmons is the superintendent. Shoal Creek,
designed by Jack Nicklaus, hosted the 1984 and 1990
PGA Championships.
Calling all dogsIt is time to enter the 2015 LebanonTurf Dog Days of
Golf Calendar contest.
If your dog is selected for the calendar, it has a shot at
being selected the 2015 Dog of the Year, which is worth a
$3,000 prize for your affliated chapter and a $500 prize
for you. In addition, a donation to a charitable cause will
be made in honor of the winner. Everyone who submits a
photo receives a gift from LebanonTurf.
To enter, submit high-resolution images along with
complete contact information for the dog’s owner; dog’s
name, age and breed; complete contact information for the
golf course superintendent; facility name and location; and
photographer’s name. Multiple images may be submitted.
Entries will be accepted through Aug. 1. The Dog Days of
Golf calendar accompanies the November issue of GCM.
Submit images and information to lebturfdogcalen
If you have any questions about the calendar, con-
tact Cynthia Andrews at LebanonTurf (800) 532-0090,
ext. 253.
Compliance deadline loomingOct. 6, 2014, is a key date.
As mandated in the EPA Federal Register notice, no
fenamiphos (Nemacur nematicide) products labeled for
use on golf courses can be used after that date. Fenam-
iphos is in the organophosphate chemical class, and
Nemacur has been used to control the major genera of
nematodes attacking turfgrass. This includes root knot,
root lesion, sting, lance and ring nematodes.
Bayer Environmental Science will not buy back any ex-
isting stock but is willing to assist in the proper disposal of
hazardous material if the remaining product is not used by
Oct. 6, 2014.
Patrick Reinhardt@gasoutherngcm Sun and sand. TifEagle is #happyhap-pyhappy pic.twitter.com/cp4UStPQ41
Dan Tolson@mountainturf Photo quiz... Head not working, pulled swing joint and whuddya know but a golf ball jammed inside. #howdoyafg-ger? pic.twitter.com/WESHkvnhKV
Benjamin Rink@benrink Hex bolt, straight blade screw and a torx bolt all on the same recoil. C’mon Mr. Mechanic, can’t we make it eas-ier??? pic.twitter.com/bWbByVGYPg
Jeff Johnson@MinikahdaTurf Still debating when fwys should get their frst app of N this yr Cloudy days are not a good day to make that decsn pic.twitter.com/bF5V3HwnU0
Craig Wilson@cragerwilson New resident on golf course. Been trying for a week to get a picture of Bambi. Thanks to Derek we have one pic.twitter.com/g61PNMF0xh
Trevor Burlingame@tdburlingame Greens vented, topdressed, rolled and mowed. Ignore the small holes and sand. They still putt great. pic.twitter.com/CSuRqEjise
Syngenta Turf@SyngentaTurf Bees are hitting the links and thriving w/ #OperationPollinator! Learn more about our efforts to improve #bee health: http://bit.ly/1oT0CUM
CanmoreG&CC Super@ReidSolodan Longtime Assistant Spence is always thinking! pic.twitter.com/B2ovLZ2H8T
020-029_July_Front9.indd 28 6/17/14 4:24 PM
30 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Turfgrass area:Rough
Location:Tallahassee, Fla.
Grass variety:419 bermudagrass
(a)
Deep dents in turf
Turfgrass area:Putting green
Location:Oxford, Pa.
Grass variety:Dominant bentgrass
(b)
PROBLEM
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
White tops of mounds
Answers on page 100
(photo quiz)
PROBLEM
By John MascaroPresident of Turf-Tec International
030-031_July14_PhotoQ.indd 30 6/17/14 2:08 PM
To keep its 81 holes of world-class golf in fl awless shape every day, Pebble Beach uses only
Jacobsen turf equipment on every inch of every hole.
For more than 90 years, Pebble Beach has been a national treasure. Its fi ve breathtaking courses
contain some of the most iconic golf images known to the game. Six major championships
helped create an indelible image of majestic beauty and striking contrasts.
For more information about Jacobsen or to fi nd a Jacobsen dealer near you, visit jacobsen.com.
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5 COURSES.
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Pebble Beach Golf Links® is maintained by Jacobsen equipment. Pebble Beach®, Pebble Beach Resorts®,
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trademarks, service marks and trade dress of Pebble Beach Company. Use is by permission.
ONE BRAND OF TURF EQUIPMENT
030-031_July14_PhotoQ.indd 31 6/17/14 2:08 PM
32 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Roundup Ready returns to turf
Editor’s note: Employees of T e Scotts Co. are testing RRKB on t ei ome lawns during t e 2014 growing season.
In 2011 The Scott’s Co. announced it would release a genetically engineered turfgrass, a gly-phosate-resistant cultivar of Kentucky blue-grass (1). Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the common nonselective herbicide Roundup. Although Roundup Ready technology has been around since the mid-1990s, species containing the gene have been limited to ag-ricultural crops. The Roundup Ready trait is widespread because of the low cost, effective-ness and relative safety of glyphosate. However, heavy glyphosate use is not without obstacles. The emergence of glyphosate-resistant weeds and pollen contamination of conventional crops has been an ongoing concern in agricul-ture (5,6). Before deciding to either condemn or praise Roundup Ready Kentucky bluegrass (RRKB), it is important to consider the risks and benefts of genetic engineering in turf.
A common misconception is that genetic modifcation is synonymous with genetic engi-neering. Genetic modifcation, which has been carried out for thousands of years, can be as simple as selection of plants to increase their utility. Genetic engineering, a rela-tively new technology that became popular in the mid-1980s, infers the insertion of a particu-lar gene (transgene), whose function is known, into a plant of a different species where it was not previously expressed. Gene insertion can be carried out in several ways and commonly
Garett Heineck
involves the use of a gene gun or a biologi-cal vector such as Agrobacterium tumifaciens, a common plant pest. Because the effect and safety of these transgenes is not always known, several U.S. government agencies oversee the safety of genetically engineered crops.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates genetically engineered crops by controlling plant movement, plant pests and noxious weeds; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates genetically engineered crops, which contain plant-incor-porated pesticides; and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety of genetically engineered crops used for food and feed purposes (3). Before a genetically engi-neered crop can be sold to the public, one or all of these agencies must determine the risks the crop poses to agriculture, environment and food safety.
The media attention surrounding RRKB has focused on how The Scott’s Co. was able to circumvent all government regulation of genetically engineered crops. Any plant using Agrobacterium as a gene vector is regulated by the USDA, but Scotts used a gene gun and a Roundup Ready gene from a non-plant pest to achieve glyphosate resistance (4). Any plant-in-corporated pesticides (for example, the com-mon Bt trait) are regulated by the EPA, but RRKB contains only the Roundup Ready gene, which does not express pesticides. Finally, turfgrass is neither a food nor a feed product and is not regulated by the FDA. Therefore, the U.S government has no regulatory author-ity over RRKB, and The Scotts Co. is free to release it as it would any other nongenetically engineered variety.
What are the possible risks from RRKB? Hypothesized risks involve pollen contami-nation, increased risk of glyphosate-resistant weeds and escape from intended area of use. In turf species, pollen contamination, which occurs when pollen from a genetically engi-neered crop fertilizes a nongenetically engi-neered crop, can be considered the greatest hazard (2). It can be an issue for seed producers trying to grow seed for organic growers or con-sumers who wish to have turfgrass that is not genetically engineered. Pollen contamination has been a problem in Roundup Ready alfalfa, sugar beet and creeping bentgrass (2). Apomic-tic cross-fertilization can be an issue if any na-tive plants are sexually compatible with the genetically engineered plant. Kentucky blue-grass belongs to the genus Poa, which has
Presented in Partnership with Barenbrug
(turf)
about 300 species, some of which are native to the U.S. (7).
With all the regulations and risks surround-ing genetically engineered plants, why are they so popular? Genetic engineering has the poten-tial to increase the utility of species in ways that would be otherwise nearly impossible. Genetic engineering can enable plants to better protect themselves from disease and insect pressure; it also increases resistance to drought and heat stress and allows resistance to nonselective herbicides like glyphosate. How important is RRKB in light of the potential risks? RRKB will allow consumers to have weed-free lawns without using alternative management prac-tices and species selection while using a low-risk herbicide (assuming no glyphosate-resis-tant weeds). However, using the correct species and variety along with best management prac-tices also yields high-quality weed-free lawns. The deciding factor is how much time and energy the public is willing to put into educa-tion and home lawn management. Resources on species selection and appropriate manage-ment practices are available through University of Minnesota Turfgrass Extension (www.exten sion.umn.edu/garden/turfgrass/).
Garett Heineck is a research assistant in the department of
horticultural science at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul.
Literature cited
1. APHIS. 2011. www.aphis.usda.gov/
newsroom/2011/07/pdf/KY_bluegrass.pdf.
Accessed May 29, 2014.
2. Mallory-Smith, C., and M. Zapiola. 2008. Pest
Management Science 64(4):428–440.
3. McHughen, A., and S. Smyth. 2008. Plant Bio-
technology Journal 6(1):2–12.
4. Wang, Z.-Y., and E.C. Brummer. 2012. Annals of
Botany 110(6):1317–1325.
5. Watrud, L.S., E.H. Lee, A. Fairbrother et al. 2004.
Proceedings National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.
101(40):14533–14538.
6. Wilson, R.G., B.G. Young, J.L. Matthews et
al. 2011. Pest Management Science 67(7):
771–780.
7. Wipff, J.K. 2002. Scientifc Methods Workshop:
Ecological and agronomic consequences of gene
fow from transgenic crops to wild relatives. Pages
143–161. (www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~asnow
lab/Proceedings.pdf#page=145) Accessed Feb.
14, 2014.
032-033_July14_Turf.indd 32 6/17/14 2:10 PM
34 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
This month, I’m passing along some fndings while noodling on various fxes and frustrations with golf course mainte-nance equipment.
Cheap carbs that seem to work fine
In a 30-day period, we had occasions to install fve cheap new carburetors instead of trying to rebuild carbs that had been stored a year or more with fuel in the system.
Cost of parts and labor was our prime con-sideration.
How can you resist a completely new string trimmer carb for $15.99, including freight?
How about getting a completely new Briggs carburetor for just $10 more than the $49 list price for the fuel shutoff solenoid for that same carb?
There was the will-ft carburetor for $14.32 (plus shipping) that seems to work just as well as the $73 original-equipment carb we didn’t buy for a Honda single-cylinder pressure washer engine. The will-ft included a new fuel line.
Every one of these cheap carbs worked fne,
(shop)
Scott R. Nesbitt
cell rechargeables. Then I stumbled across the “AA to D cell converter” on eBay. This inex-pensive plastic case is the same size as the big D battery, but holds two AA batteries and the conductors to carry juice to the device. Since we have few items needing D cells, but many that use AAs, the decision to purchase this converter was a no-brainer.
There are also cases that convert a sin-gle AA to replace a C cell, but we use lots of C cells, so we skipped that gizmo. Curiously, it’s hard to fnd an adapter that lets a C cell replace the just-slightly larger D cell.
Preserving plastic pipe cement
PVC pipe cement comes in steel cans that have the lids screwed on extra tight. Once you open the can, the cement dries out pretty quickly and becomes useless.
Wrap the threads of the can with four or fve layers of Tefon tape and you’ll fnd that the cement will stay fresh and usable a lot lon-ger. The trick is that the tape creates an air-tight seal. You’ll also fnd it’s a lot easier to re-open the can.
Hand cleaner for mounting tires
While fghting to get air into a new small tubeless tire, I stopped to clean my hands with a creamy white hand cleaner like GoJo or Goop. Just for grins I smeared some of the cleaner on the tire bead and the wheel — and it worked better than the soapy water I’d al-ways used.
I’ve tried this on a couple of tires in the 4-, 6- and 8-inch rim sizes, and can report the tires can be easily mounted and flled with air, and stay flled. Multi-tasking hand cleaner!
Scott R. Nesbitt is a freelance writer and former GCSAA
staff member. He lives in Cleveland, Ga.
This and that in the shop
Wrapping the threads of a can of plastic pipe cement creates an airtight seal that greatly extends the shelf life of cement.
A shiny new will-ft carburetor that cost less than $15 will replace an old carb that was not worth rebuilding, given the low cost of many new replacement carbs. Photos by Scott Nesbitt
A solid-state LED bulb replaces the conventional incandescent bulb, is more durable and uses less power.
Converter cases hold two small AA bat-teries and take the place of D cell batteries. It’s hard to beat the cost and convenience.
which leads to thinking that the era of install-ing rebuild kits is fading away.
LED flashlight bulbs don’t break
I’ve owned a 19.2-volt Craftsman cordless work light for many years and always cringed when it fell over. The fragile bulbs broke eas-ily and cost a lot to replace. I gambled on an “upgrade” bulb, which uses LED (light emit-ting diode) technology. One LED bulb costs about the same as two old-style bulbs. But LEDs are solid-state, so there’s no tiny inter-nal wire just waiting to fall apart at the slight-est shock. Color me happy.
The LED produces a less intense “milky” light compared to the old bulb, but the greater durability and much longer battery life out-weigh any downsides.
Buy and install LEDs carefully. Unlike regular bulbs, many LEDs will work over a wide range of voltages, such as in fashlights with two, three or four batteries, or 18- to 24-volt cordless work lights. But you’ll burn out the LED if you get over or under its speci-fed voltage.
Replacing D cell batteries
In the process of adopting rechargeable batteries for all the meters, lights, radios, etc., in the shop, I balked at the high price of D
034-035_July14_Shop.indd 34 6/17/14 2:12 PM
36 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
July 1 offcially kicks off the GCSAA Grassroots Network and the search for GCSAA Grassroots Ambassadors, brought to you by GCSAA’s department of information and public policy.
The network includes the entirety of GCSAA’s grassroots army, which the associa-tion is trying to build. Network members re-ceive the newly launched, monthly Greens &
Grassroots e-newsletter and special targeted ac-tion alerts from Government Relations Online at www.gcsaa.org.
The goal of the ambassador program within the larger GCSAA Grassroots Network is to match a professional member of GCSAA with each member of Congress, and to pro-actively build relationships between the two. The program establishes a network of commit-ted volunteers to serve as the “go-to” people for lawmakers and their staffs on golf course man-agement issues. This relationship will focus on the success of the facility.
It is critical that golf course superintendents across the country educate policymakers on the importance of the golf industry, and golf course management in particular, to ensure their continued license to do business, espe-cially in light of an increasingly diffcult reg-ulatory climate.
Nearly 200 professional members have al-ready expressed an interest in serving as am-bassadors through GCSAA feld staff postcard recruitment and the ambassador recruitment survey distributed in April.
If selected, GCSAA Grassroots Ambassa-dors will agree to perform the following spe-cifc actions during a two-year appointment:• Build and maintain positive relationships
with assigned policymaker, and keep abreast of, and advocate for GCSAA policy statements and initiatives.
• Regularly review GCSAA publications,
action alerts and updates on Government Relations Online.
• Respond to GCSAA action alerts in a timely manner and engage colleagues to participate in such efforts to the extent re-quired or necessary. An ambassador must be able to represent GCSAA as a whole and the advancement of its members and the golf industry in general. Personal view-points should be set aside.
• Meet personally with assigned policymaker or his or her key staff at least twice each year (such as attending an August recess town hall; setting up a meeting in a district offce; visiting the policymaker on Capitol Hill; or hosting a golf course site visit).
• Invite assigned policymaker to attend a chapter meeting or other GCSAA-affli-ated function.
• Attend GCSAA Advocacy Bootcamp if at-tending the Golf Industry Show, if it fts in with personal schedule.
• Promptly report all actions and outcomes tied to ongoing advocacy efforts.
• Include government relations and advocacy information in chapter newsletters or chap-ter websites as appropriate.
• Provide biannual government relations up-dates at chapter meetings.GCSAA’s government relations team will
work with chapter presidents and executive directors and GCSAA feld staff to quantita-tively and qualitatively vet the pool of poten-tial GCSAA Grassroots Ambassadors in the coming months.
All superintendents who are selected to be ambassadors will receive the tools and re-sources they need to become effective advo-cates for the profession. Each ambassador will receive a welcome packet that includes compre-hensive information about serving in the role, a biography and contact information for their
Wanted: GCSAA Grassroots Ambassadors
(Advocacy)
Chava McKeel
twitter: @GCSAA
selected member of Congress and an ambassa-dor engagement calendar.
The calendar will outline advocacy training, meetings and education opportunities hosted by GCSAA. This may include participation in webinars, attending town hall meetings during August recess and Get Out the Vote efforts.
For the frst time, GCSAA will also offer an Advocacy Bootcamp at the 2015 Golf Indus-try Show in San Antonio for its ambassadors. Training will focus on issue awareness and po-litical engagement.
GCSAA’s Government Relations Commit-tee has been working hard to ensure the suc-cessful launch and implementation of the pro-gram. They’ve put on their ambassador hat and helped develop the curriculum for the training and education component of the program.
“This is an exciting time for GCSAA’s gov-ernment relations program,” says Peter J. Grass, CGCS, who is secretary/treasurer of GCSAA and the committee’s current chairman. “We are taking our advocacy efforts to a higher level. At the end of the day, when there is an issue that comes up in Congress that could im-pact how your facility is operating, such as the recent release of the EPA’s proposed rule that redefnes a ‘Water of the U.S.’ under the Clean Water Act, we want to make sure that federal policymakers in all 50 states know GCSAA’s position on the issue.”
If you are interested in learning more about the GCSAA Grassroots Network or are inter-ested in becoming an ambassador, please con-tact the program lead, Kaelyn Seymour, gov-ernment relations specialist, at [email protected] or (800) 472-7878, ext. 3612.
Chava McKeel is GCSAA’s associate director, government
relations.
Scott Ramsay, CGCS at Yale University GC in Middletown, Conn. (far left), and Kaelyn Seymour, GCSAA’s government relations specialist, meet on Capitol Hill with a congressional staff member as part of GCSAA advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. Photo by Scott Hollister
036-037_July14_Adocacy.indd 36 6/17/14 2:12 PM
38 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Clean and greenCleaning golf course equipment used to
be as simple as hosing it down in the mainte-nance building parking lot and letting the water drain wherever it could. Aside from leaving a lot of grass and dirt on the parking lot, this practice was feared to result in contamination of nearby bodies of water, and today washing spray equipment without containing the wash water is against the law in most places. Proposed rules for interpreting the Clean Water Act could impact all aspects of equipment washing prac-tices everywhere in the U.S. (see “Land grab,” Page 36, in the June 2014 issue of GCM).
Golf course operations and superintendents have been fnding solutions to the wash water runoff problem in systems that contain the water and either properly drain it or recycle it for reuse on the wash-down pad. The most so-phisticated of these systems can cost well over $100,000 for equipment and installation, but some carry a more reasonable price tag and oth-ers fall into the DIY category.
Ralph J. Kepple, CGCS at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, needed a new way to handle equipment wash-down at the renowned Don-ald Ross-designed venue that is home to the PGA Tour Championship. The wash pad with sump and removable solids collection tank that had been in place at the maintenance fa-cility that was built in 1995 was becoming “ex-tremely high-maintenance,” Kepple says. The
crew was constantly spending time cleaning de-bris from the drains and tank, and the water was drained off the property rather than being recy-cled. He looked at several systems before fnd-ing a partner in U.K.-based Highspeed Group, which offers the ClearWater wash pad water recycling system. Highspeed Group’s director David Mears was looking for a high-profle fa-cility in the U.S. to debut the system and help spread the word.
The ClearWater system incorporates specifc microorganisms that break down the contami-nants in the wash water in an underground tank after it has passed through a primary flter and grass trap/sand flter in the wash pad. The water then passes through a series of underground fl-ter and storage steps before it is pumped up as clean water to the aboveground spray guns.
“The thing I like about it is it’s an extremely simple system,” Kepple says. “It doesn’t take a lot of maintenance. We just add the biologicals and perform some weekly maintenance.”
East Lake GC installed its ClearWater sys-tem in August 2013, and after nearly a year of use, Kepple says they expect to have to “vac-uum out” the trapped silt and other non-hazard-ous material that has collected below ground. He cites a couple of additional advantages to the system. First, because the temperature in the underground clean-water storage tank stays con-stant, the system doesn’t have to be shut down in winter — only the aboveground hoses have to be detached and re-attached when equip-
Bunny [email protected]: @GCM_Magazine
ment has to be washed down. Second, although Kepple hasn’t run the exact numbers, the facil-ity has been able to cut back on water usage by recycling its wash water — an important bonus in drought-plagued Georgia.
What’s your wash-down solution? GCM would like to share your best management prac-tices for equipment washing. With new legal re-quirements and a growing scarcity of water re-sources, this is one issue that won’t dry up. Reach out to us via Twitter (@GCM_Magazine) or email at [email protected].
Bunny Smith is GCM ’s senior managing editor.
The new equipment wash-down system at East Lake GC in Atlanta recycles the water through a simple, underground system. Photo courtesy of Ralph Kepple
Presented in Partnership with Aquatrols
The crew was
constantly spending
time cleaning debris
from the drains and
tank, and the water
was drained off the
property rather than
being recycled.
(environment)
038-039_July14_Envirn.indd 38 6/17/14 2:28 PM
www.aquatrols.com
®
High concentrations of salt in your soil disrupts osmosis, ef ectively sucking needed water
away from turf roots. This leads to rapid wilting, reduced shoot growth and leaf tip burn.
Aquaplex Amino® sprayable osmotic regulator works within the plant to balance osmotic
potential, improving water and nutrient uptake and minimizing the impact of stress
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Fight back against those evil little suckers.
038-039_July14_Envirn.indd 39 6/17/14 2:28 PM
40 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
I was recently attending a continuing edu-cation class and began discussing interviewing experiences with human resources colleagues in the golf industry. The conversation quickly morphed into a list of what not to do in an in-terview. Their answers may surprise you, and yet research validates their responses.
Several of the top reasons for not select-ing particular candidates can be summarized as poor nonverbal communication skills. Seriously? This seems too basic to be true. However, regularly we see applicants con-vey well-prepared verbal answers and ideas during an interview, while transmitting a contrasting message with their nonverbal cues. In this month’s column, I will unpack the role that body language has in interview-ing to help you sidestep potential interview-ing pitfalls as you advance your career in the golf and turf industry.
Be aware of your posture, both standing and sitting. I recently served on a hiring com-mittee at a golf club. One of the candidates repeatedly expressed his desire to work at the club during the interview and presented com-pelling reasons to hire him. But his message was thwarted by his poor posture (leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs), which conveyed disinterest, regardless of his verbal message. Sit in an active, upright, interested posture. You want to learn more about their facility and are honored to be there. Also, avoid fddling with belongings and sudden movements, calmly arrange your folder or device on the table for notes, and confdently offer a handshake.
Be aware of your facial expressions. This may take practice, especially when you are ner-vous in an interview setting, but it is crucial. UCLA professor and researcher Albert Meh-rabian found that people tend to believe the facial expressions they see, not the words that are spoken. He also concluded that 55 percent of communication pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in facial expression. This is power-ful! Remember that all candidates interviewed are qualifed; the interview is heavily weighted on feelings and attitudes — sometimes termed “gut instinct” — in deciding which candidate
to hire. Be intentional about keeping your fa-cial expressions aligned with your verbal con-tent to ensure your message will be received as expected.
Be aware of eye contact. Yes, we all know this, right? But it isn’t that simple. What about an interview with a committee of several peo-ple? How much eye contact is appropriate? Most communication experts use the 50/70 rule as a general guideline: engage eye contact 50 percent of the time when you are speak-ing and 70 percent when you are listening. Increased eye contact conveys credibility and confdence. A candidate who displays less eye contact can be perceived as intimidated, less confdent and not having conviction in what they are saying. Establish eye contact before you begin your answers and end your answers with confdent engagement. This allows you some latitude during your responses to natu-rally look at notes and comfortably focus on the content of your message. In a committee setting, give most of your attention to the per-son who asked each question along with inter-mittent eye contact with the other committee members. As you fnish your answers, return your concentration to the person who asked the question, which gives them the nonverbal cue that you are willing to answer any fol-low-up inquiry or provide clarifcation.
The longer I study interviewing and career advancement, the more I realize the power of simple communication principles. Yes, you must be strategic and carefully consider the content of your interview answers, but don’t underestimate the impact of how your message is delivered through body language.
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 and cover letter
creation for a reduced member rate, along with interview
preparation and portfolio consultation.
Don’t let body language hijack your message
Several of the top
reasons for not
selecting particular
candidates can
be summarized
as poor nonverbal
communication skills.
(Career)Carol D. Rau, [email protected]
040-043_July14_Career.indd 40 6/17/14 2:28 PM
040-043_July14_Career.indd 42 6/17/14 2:28 PM
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044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 44 6/17/14 2:36 PM
new
More than ever, superintendents have a
hand in grow-the-game initiatives. Some
have already arrived, and some may be
coming soon to a course near you.
Howard Richman
Kurt Austin and his daughter, Mariella, enjoy a day of FootGolf at Heart of
America Golf Academy in Kansas City.Photos By Andy Lundberg
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 45 6/17/14 2:36 PM
46 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
The lengths to which golf has gone to grow the game sometimes could be viewed as extreme.Chicken wire might be classifed as extreme.Then again, as golf organizations ranging from GCSAA to PGA of America and USGA seek
to fuel a golf surge coming off years of economic hardships that affected everything from golf to groceries, perhaps chicken wire isn’t such a zany idea.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” says GCSAA Class A superintendent Kevin Fateley.Like Fateley, superintendents nationwide have emerged as vital cogs in growing the game.
At Fateley’s Wildcat Creek Golf and Fitness, where strategically placed chicken wire fencing prevents balls from plummeting into the facility’s namesake creek, this is so much more than a golf course.
Approximately 80 miles west of GCSAA headquarters, in the heartlandesque city of Manhat-tan, Kan., where legendary coach Bill Snyder put Kansas State University football on the map, there is a new game in town. The craze appears to be sweeping across the country.
It is called FootGolf. You may have read about it. Seen it. In fact, “NBC Nightly News” had a segment on it in late May. In late spring, HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” was at Haggin Oaks in Sacramento to do a story. In case you are unfamiliar with it, FootGolf is played on a golf course, but you use a No. 5 size soccer ball instead of a Titleist. The cups are about 21 inches in diameter. No cleats or spikes allowed.
You tee off the same as golfers (not at the same time of course, but you do reserve tee times the same as you would in golf) to holes that usually are located off the greens. Yes, you even can kick out of a bunker.
FootGolf seems to have gained quite a foothold in America. According to American FootGolf League co-founder Roberto Balestrini, more than 130 golf courses in the U.S. had FootGolf as of June 1. He projects that number to be 500 by year’s end. “I am a big fan of the golf industry. This puts people on golf courses. Some of them are just using their leg instead of a club,” Balestrini says.
One course that has FootGolf also happens to be the home course of PGA of America Presi-dent Ted Bishop.
“Since we put in FootGolf May 3, we’ve had more rounds of FootGolf than golf,” says Bishop, a fve-year member of GCSAA, from The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Ind. “It’s incumbent upon us to embrace some of these ideas.”
Since Wildcat Creek decided to include FootGolf as one of its options for members and pa-trons, interest continues to escalate. “We opened March 18,” says Fateley, a 24-year GCSAA member, noting his FootGolf course measures approximately, 1,930 yards, including a par-5 that is 242 yards. “We’re up to 125 people playing. It’s taking off.”
The key for the golf course industry, including superintendents, is whether FootGolf players
Top: FootGolf on a weekend in Kansas City at Heart of America Golf Academy.Bottom: PGA of America president Ted Bishop has a FootGolf course at his Indiana facility. Photo courtesy of PGA of America
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044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 47 6/17/14 2:36 PM
48 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
have an interest in playing golf, too. If enough of them do, that certainly would classify as a grow-the-game option at a time when growth arguably is a problem.
Early this year, National Golf Foundation (NGF) President Joe Beditz stated that about 5 million golfers have left the game in the last 10 years. According to the NGF, rounds of golf that were played in 2013 dropped nearly 5 per-cent from the previous year, and for the eighth year in a row, more courses closed than opened in the U.S.
GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans understands the challenges that the golf industry has en-countered in recent years. He, though, prefers to look forward rather than back — and Foot-Golf ’s ascension is a positive development. Su-perintendents are at the heart of ensuring the development continues.
“I think that everyone that works in this in-dustry — superintendents, PGA professionals and general managers — knows that it is im-portant to embrace new ideas to help the game grow and fourish,” says Evans, whose organiza-tion supports multiple grow-the-game initiatives such as Golf 20/20, We Are Golf and Get Golf Ready. “If something draws traffc, we’re sup-portive of any initiative that makes a facility suc-cessful. If FootGolf is one of those, good.”
Fateley has no doubt that FootGolf will beneft more than simply course owners and operators. In fact, he is convinced it unequiv-ocally will grow the game of golf.
“In a few years, you’ll see people who started out in FootGolf, then at some point pick up a golf club, and eventually play both,” he says. “I see FootGolf as the only grow-the-game initia-tive out there that will work. Superintendents
need to fnd ways to be involved. This is one they should get behind.”
Growing-the-game options galoreTee it Forward. The First Tee. SNAG.
Golf 2.0.The list of potential growing-the-game ini-
tiatives is, well, growing. Besides those listed above, others have come along such as Hack Golf, Time for Nine and now FootGolf. Enlarging cups to as large as 15 inches has been tried.
Some may consider a cup that is the size of a steering wheel to be radical. Yet almost any initiative that potentially could grow the game is worth a look, says Mike Hughes, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association.
“Each facility has to understand it’s part of their mission to do it,” Hughes says. “I think there are some superintendents that see that and do contribute.”
Countless superintendents have taken the initiative to help grow the game, and one exam-ple of a superintendent taking charge and hop-ing to make a difference is the “Learn Golf” initiative at Monarch Dunes in Nipomo, Calif. Tom Elliott, CGCS, and PGA professional Jim Delaby launched the program almost exactly one year ago.
“We have a 12-hole par-3 that just wasn’t busy. It was driving us nuts,” Elliott says. “I was trying to keep the course in good shape but no-body was playing it. I was thinking, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ We even dropped the price, but it wasn’t a beginner’s haven like it was meant to be. I met with Jim and we put this together. You’ve got a big (8-inch) cup on every hole, and we give them a little golf bag with a
Left: Superintendent Kevin Fateley is pleased with the results since adding FootGolf to his Kansas course.
Photo courtesy of Roger HammerschmidtRight: Youths at Val Halla Golf and Recreation Center in
Maine are part of a grow-the-game program. Photo courtesy of Toby Young
“In a few years,
you’ll see people
who started out in
FootGolf, then at
some point pick
up a golf club, and
eventually play
both. I see FootGolf
as the only grow-
the-game initiative
out there that will
work.”
— Kevin Fateley
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 48 6/17/14 2:36 PM
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50 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Beaches to support its program that teaches life skills and leadership through golf to children, adults with disabilities and area veterans. The luxury oceanfront resort oversees the agronom-ics of The First Tee program, built on a site at Dyer Park that previously was a dump.
Director of golf and grounds Mark Reid and his team at The Breakers each contributes an annual allocation of 16 hours of volunteer time off for the organization, using their skills to per-form tasks ranging from general maintenance to aerifcation, sod preparation and installation.
“We are delighted to have such an amaz-ing relationship with The First Tee The Palm Beaches,” says Reid, a 19-year GCSAA mem-ber. “While they are technically the benefcia-ries of our volunteer work, it has been so re-warding for us to participate. We’re not just helping grow golf; the kids are learning core values and how to be good citizens. If we don’t get involved with youth golf in ways such as this, where is our industry going to be? We’ve all got to look outside the box a little bit to fnd unique but important ways to get involved in our communities.”
At Val Halla Golf and Recreation Center in Cumberland, Maine, more than 600 youths and adults annually participate in grow-the-game programs, including Wine and Nine for the adults. Val Halla GCSAA Class A superin-tendent Toby Young and his crew are “totally involved,” he says. They have to be at certain
“We’re not just
helping grow golf;
the kids are learning
core values and
how to be good
citizens. If we don’t
get involved with
youth golf in ways
such as this, where
is our industry going
to be?”
— Mark Reid
wedge and putter to use. For $10, you play.”Their program is paying dividends.“Our play probably has tripled,” says El-
liott, a 27-year member of GCSAA. “We have got a lot of stories of people completely hooked who had never wanted to be on a golf course.”
Elliott gains satisfaction that he is able to make a difference.
“If we as superintendents can’t do it, the in-dustry is in trouble,” he says.
Based on numbers, grow-the-game initia-tives make a solid impact.• More than 9 million youngsters have
participated in The First Tee since its inception in 1997. Recently, it started an after-school program in partnership with other youth-serving organizations.
• Get Golf Ready, which consists of a fve-les-son plan with golf clubs included for $99, reached more than 86,000 participants last year; that’s a 13 percent increase from 2012.
• PGA Junior League Golf witnessed a whop-ping 490 percent growth from 2012 (1,500 youths) to 2013 (8,900). Already this year, the number of participants has grown to 18,000.
• Drive, Chip and Putt competition ex-panded from 11 PGA sections and 19 states in 2013 to 41 sections and all 50 states this year.In Florida, The Breakers Palm Beach
has partnered with The First Tee The Palm
A fvesome getting their kicks. FootGolf co-founder Roberto Balestrini says by year’s end there may be 500 courses in America that offer FootGolf. Photo by Andy Lundberg
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 50 6/17/14 2:36 PM
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52 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
times when the course is packed.“It can look like Disneyland sometimes,”
Young says, “but there is something to be said about seeing 5-year-olds carrying a bag taller than them and seeing them enjoy it.”
In the Pacifc Northwest, the 17-year-old First Green Foundation has introduced thou-sands of children to golf course settings by using the facility as an environmental learning lab. Jeff Gullikson, CGCS at Spokane Coun-try Club, along with Bill Meyer, Ph.D., started the program in Washington in 1997.
“We don’t teach golf. We just break down barriers and perceptions they may have about being at a golf course,” says Gullikson, who received GCSAA’s President’s Award for Envi-ronmental Stewardship a decade ago. “I would hope superintendents see the value in doing something like this. It does take time, and time is the most limiting factor in all our lives.”
Time, though, should never be an excuse for superintendents not to get involved, says GCSAA Class A superintendent Todd Bohn of Wolf Creek Golf Links in Olathe, Kan. “I think superintendents need to be part of things but sometimes may have a hard time fguring out what that entails,” says Bohn, who has helped raise more than $25,000 the last two years for equipment used in the SNAG (Starting New At Golf) program in the Kansas City area. “We have to fnd ways to help in our industry. If we don’t, we’re not going to have jobs.”
Since some grow-the-game initiatives are relatively new (Hack Golf, which hopes to in-crease the fun factor of the game, or Time for
Nine, initiated by Golf Digest to promote the idea that playing just nine holes is fne), esti-mating their full impact on how many players have chosen to enter the game of golf may not be determined for years.
That’s OK with World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona, who is willing to take a look at any initiative that doesn’t violate or denigrate the tradition of the game.
“We have a lot of programs out there that are doing well and having an impact right now,” Mona says. “Something such as Foot-Golf cannot hurt. No way you can argue that it’s bad for golf.”
Kicking around a new ideaGCSAA Class A superintendent Stacy
Baker didn’t say a word when he frst learned that Haggin Oaks Golf Course would consider FootGolf for their menu of member choices.
Baker did, however, respond.“I just laughed,” he says.Not anymore. Baker, a 10-year GCSAA
member, now is all-in with the FootGolf phe-nomenon. After it started in July 2013 at Hag-gin Oaks’ Arcade Creek Course, 6,500 rounds of FootGolf were played through the end of the year. From January until June of this year, they totaled 3,612 rounds and forecast 10,000 over-all for all of 2014.
“This thing has exploded. It’s amazing,” Baker says.
How invested is Haggin Oaks in FootGolf? In April they created a new position for Karl Van Dessel, who is their FootGolf operator.
The Breakers Palm Beach maintenance crew works on a First Tee facility in their area. Photo courtesy of The Breakers Palm Beach
“We have a lot of
programs out there
that are doing well
and having an
impact right now.
Something such
as FootGolf cannot
hurt. No way you
can argue that it’s
bad for golf.”
— Steve Mona
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 52 6/17/14 2:37 PM
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“I think this goes deeper than just seeing FootGolf players wanting to also give golf a try,” Baker says. “It’s growing our industry. My budget was increased this year because of it (FootGolf), but I wasn’t asked to spend the addition to my budget on FootGolf. I’m going to be able to get a new tee mower because of it.”
In a way, FootGolf has re-energized Baker.
“It’s fun seeing people use the property in a new way,” he says.
In Michigan, assistant superintendent Jeff LeBlanc has his own way of supporting FootGolf, besides helping prepare his course for it in Canton, Mich., called Fellows Creek Golf Club.
“I’m starting a league and will play in it,” says LeBlanc, 30. “I love the idea.”
At Wildcat Creek in Kansas, the agronomic side of FootGolf creates minimal challenges, according to Fateley, who had three members quit but insists it didn’t have to do with their feeling inconvenienced by sharing the course with FootGolf players.
“I have to jump off the sprayer and remove a fag or tee post. We have to tweak the mowing pattern a little around the cup, but that’s about it,” says Fateley, whose $4,000 investment in cups, fags, soccer balls and other materials was recouped in two months from revenues gen-erated by FootGolf. “No practice swings with this, and we’re not replacing divots.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Les Depew, a member at Wildcat Creek, isn’t convinced that Foot-Golf will prompt large numbers to also use the facility to play golf.
“Most kids want success right away. It’s eas-ier to kick a soccer ball than hit a golf ball,” Depew says.
Whether FootGolf is a fad or a fxture re-mains to be seen. Fateley serves as an example of a superintendent willing to take a risk, which Bishop applauds.
“Superintendents can be traditionalists, re-sistant to change,” Bishop says. “We’ve got to have superintendents understand these things are critical. They have to play a vital role in these initiatives because these are their courses.”
Fateley is certain it was worth it to take a chance.
“You always have to be looking for revenue streams, things to bring people to your course,” Fateley says. “You can come out here, be among nature, unwind. That seems pretty cool to me.”
Howard Richman ([email protected]) is GCM ’s asso-
ciate editor.
At River Ridge GC, Oxnard, Calif., FootGolf players dressed in knickers for the event. Photo courtesy of Roberto
Balestrini
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 54 6/17/14 2:37 PM
044-055_July14_FootGolf.indd 55 6/17/14 2:37 PM
Photo illustration by Mopic/Shutterstock.com
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 56 6/17/14 2:30 PM
MOW
Leasing is becoming a popular and more affordable option for superintendents looking to
replace their golf course equipment.
Bill Loots
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 57 6/17/14 2:30 PM
58 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
The golf season may be in full swing in most parts of the country, but
once it reaches the downswing, superintendents will be turning their at-
tention to acquiring the equipment they need to facilitate the smooth op-
eration of their golf courses. Financing and leasing are popular methods
to fund turf maintenance and irrigation equipment. Understanding these
methods, their advantages and challenges, can go a long way in setting
up your business and your course for success.
While current interest rates are still at historic lows, many market ana-
lysts and economists are predicting interest rate increases as early as the
spring of 2015. And with so many golf courses having held off on major
equipment decisions during the economic slowdown, there is now signif-
icant pent up demand for new golf course turf maintenance and irriga-
tion-related equipment. No doubt, if your facility falls into this category,
now is the time to take advantage of historically low rates. U.S. Federal
Reserve Policy is tightening, with the new Fed chairman cutting back on
monthly bond purchases, which will drive interest rates higher.
Here are a few tips to consider when making your equipment financ-
ing decision.
Special financing termsCheck with the equipment manufacturer for special fnancing terms. In an effort to increase
market share, many turf equipment and irrigation vendors will offer a wide variety of incentives for spring/summer deliveries.
These incentives include zero or below market interest rates, delayed payments, skipped pay-
It’s possible to combine different manufacturers’ products in the same fnance package. Most major manufacturers will extend a warranty on used equipment their technicians have refurbished. GCM fle photos
ments or extended terms. In some cases, free goods or maintenance packages may also be available. Lower rates and delayed terms help stretch your equipment budget, making it easy for you to acquire more equipment. When you receive an equipment quote, inquire about spe-cial fnancing terms. Your dealer may have a particular model they are trying to move or a leftover machine from the previous year that would qualify for a special offer or discount.
Package your dealDon’t hesitate to combine different manu-
facturers’ products in the same fnance pack-age. If you prefer a specifc manufacturer for a given task, such as fairway mowing, and an-other manufacturer for your greens and tee box equipment, your preferences can be easily in-corporated into your contracts.
Don’t forget to bundle ancillary assets such as reel grinders and other maintenance tools needed in your shop in your fnancing solu-tion. The best equipment fnanciers have the
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 58 6/17/14 2:30 PM
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 59 6/17/14 2:30 PM
60 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
fexibility to incorporate all the equipment you require to maintain your course your way.
Ask for extended-term warranty pack-ages, which can be easy to include in the total fnance package and will allow the cost of this service to be included in your monthly payment.
New or used?Consider used or certifed pre-owned
equipment. Today’s turf maintenance equip-ment and utility vehicles are made better than products produced even a few years ago. This is good news for managers whose budget con-straints may require the acquisition of all, or a portion of their 2014 purchases, to be used or certifed pre-owned. Used or certifed pre-owned can be a great ft for backup equipment or equipment that is used only a few hours each month, since they are subjected to limited wear and tear.
High-quality used equipment is readily available in the marketplace with numerous reputable vendors specializing in this mar-ket segment. Used equipment runs the gamut of condition, from fresh off another golf course with no refurbishment, to a complete frame-up restoration.
Leasing has become an increasingly pop-
ular and affordable alternative to loans and
full payout contracts over the past several
years. As organizations have become less
focused on ownership and more interested
in the use of equipment, leasing has piqued
their interest. Many organizations have come
to realize that ownership of depreciating as-
sets is not in their best interest. Leasing of-
fers several advantages to full payout fnance
contracts, including:
• Improved cash fow. You’ll have lower
monthly payments by incorporating resid-
uals (an amount the lessor assumes the
equipment will be worth at lease termi-
nation). With leasing you pay for only the
portion of the asset you use.
• Lower maintenance costs. Warranties
usually accompany new equipment acqui-
sitions. Maintenance costs on older assets
are often higher than on new equipment, thus
maintenance budgets can be reduced when
new equipment is acquired.
• Accounting benefts. Many leases qualify for
off-balance-sheet treatment, which improves
fnancial ratios. Improved fnancial ratios can
lead to better access to credit and more favor-
able lending terms.
• 100 percent fnancing. In most instances,
lessors fnance 100 percent of the equip-
ment cost, including dealer setup charges,
taxes and freight. Available cash can be used
for more productive purposes such as club
improvements or taking discounts for upfront
payment from suppliers.
• Administration. Leasing allows for the con-
solidation of many services into one transac-
tion. Maintenance packages and insurance
can be added, requiring only one monthly
payment for all aspects of equipment usage.
• No risk of obsolescence. Technology has
led to many recent product breakthroughs,
and this trend will likely continue. Why take
ownership of an asset that may become
obsolete? Since the equipment is owned
by the lessor, the risk of obsolescence is
transferred to them instead.
• Repayment terms can match seasonal
revenue streams. Repayment terms can
be tailored to match seasonal revenue.
Skipped or reduced payments can be in-
corporated into the lease stream to refect
non-revenue periods.
• Economical fxed-rate fnancing. The
stream of fxed-rate lease payments will
not increase, as they are guaranteed for
the life of the lease. The lessor assumes
the risk of interest rate fuctuations, mak-
ing it easier to plan budgets.
— B.L.
It is important to determine if original man-ufacturer’s parts and factory trained techni-cians were used to complete any refurbishment. Most major manufacturers of turf equipment and larger independent equipment distributors refurbish used equipment and provide a thor-ough accounting of the refurbish process and often extend a warranty. It is worth the effort to have your mechanic or other trained profes-sional inspect the used products to be certain the asset will function properly on your course.
With the improvement in the quality of turf maintenance equipment, fnance com-panies are willing to offer longer lease or loan terms on used or certifed pre-owned equip-ment. The combination of longer fnance terms and the lower cost of acquisition make acquiring equipment on your wish list much more affordable. Additionally, if you want to include an extended warranty in the fnancing package, most lenders will accommodate the addition of a service agreement.
Do the mathWeigh the cost of maintenance against
your monthly outlay for new equipment. Eco-nomic necessity may require the reduction of your equipment budget to accommodate other course priorities. If this is your situation in 2014, closely examine your equipment main-tenance budget.
Older, worn-out equipment has a signif-cantly higher cost to maintain than is often an-ticipated. Take into account that over a season, repairs, parts, labor (including overtime) and equipment downtime will all have a cost. So while it may seem cheaper in the short term, older equipment can have an economic as well as an intangible impact on your golf course.
Why a lease?
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 60 6/17/14 2:30 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 61
Do not underestimate the opportunity cost of equipment that is not functional when con-sidering the expense of keeping old, worn-out equipment operational.
Consider the fact that larger organizations may be able to reduce headcount by purchas-ing new equipment and relying on warranties to repair malfunctions as opposed to tapping in-house employees to fx equipment that con-tinuously breaks down. New equipment typi-cally comes with a warranty that eliminates, or greatly reduces, the cost to maintain the asset early in its life.
Also consider converting a portion of your maintenance budget to fnance payments. For every $100 per month redeployed from your maintenance budget to an equipment pay-ment, approximately $5,300 in new equipment can be fnanced on a 60-month full-payout lease. Consult your fnance specialist to de-termine what your club can afford with a set monthly payment.
Negotiate the termsNegotiate the fnancing terms of your new
equipment purchases as diligently as you in-vestigate the equipment itself. As an expert in the maintenance and aesthetics of your golf fa-
cility, your choice of turf maintenance equip-ment is based on a number of relevant factors, including perceived value, quality of the func-tion performed, durability and reputation of the manufacturer. You spend many hours re-searching product specifcations, participating in demonstrations of new products and ask-ing opinions of your maintenance staff. After your analysis, you choose the equipment that best suits your individual needs — so why not spend the time researching the best ways to ac-quire it?
Your decision on the provider of leasing or fnancing services is no less important than your choice of equipment, and requires your due diligence. Take the time to compare dif-ferent lease and loan proposals, shopping for the terms that are most attractive for your or-ganization. Just as there is no one set price for a piece of equipment based on options and extra features, lenders offer a wide variety of terms and conditions that can be customized to meet your exact specifcations.
Don’t pay for features such as skip pay-ments or extra insurance if these attributes are not important to your facility. If you are not familiar with the terminology or conditions of the fnancing proposal, don’t hesitate to ask
your fnancial provider for guidance. They’re there to answer your questions. For additional assistance, consult with your organization’s club manager, controller or fnancial offcer.
No matter what type of equipment you prefer, leasing and fnancing can make your acquisitions more affordable when stretching budgets is important. Take the time to explore fnancing options that will reduce your cost of use, including the negotiation of the terms of your contract.
Most importantly, don’t feel you are alone in navigating these fnancial decisions. Your organization has fnancial professionals that can assist you in your efforts to obtain the best equipment and the best fnancing package for your needs.
A veteran of more than 30 years in the golf fnance busi-
ness, Bill Loots is the originations leader for the golf equip-
ment fnance team of EverBank Commercial Finance, a
subsidiary of EverBank. EverBank Commercial Finance is
not itself a bank or a member of the FDIC.
056-061_July14_Equip.indd 61 6/17/14 2:30 PM
62 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Grounds for changeA golf course in the transition zone responds to years of drought with a switch from bentgrass to zoysiagrass on the fairways.
The 2012 drought affected many golf courses across the country. The weather is always something we deal with, in good times and bad. Every season there will be times when the turf starts to look a bit “off” and things start to get a bit closer to the edge of living and dying. Typi-cally, a nice rain shower or a few mild days will come along to perk everything back up and make things all better again. Or so you’d think.
At the Country Club of Decatur (Ill.), 2012 got off to a quick start. Temperatures climbed into the 80s in March and the golfers got to dust off their clubs a little earlier. The unusually dry, warm conditions proved very favorable for golfers and the maintenance crew alike.
Sometimes, what starts off as a good thing can quickly turn into a problem. As the calendar rolled from April to May, then May to June, the lack of rainfall began to add up — or not, de-pending on how you view it. Although irrigation cycles can help, in the end it’s supplemental and insuffcient, especially in this case.
Decatur heats upThe irrigation system at the Country Club of Decatur relies on city water. In most cases, a
superintendent will view this as an inconvenience and a budget-buster, but a far worse case can happen: water restrictions.
When drought comes creeping into any area, the farmers, arborists and superintendents are typically the frst to know. Of course, everyone notices lake levels dropping, but it’s the guys
Jonathan Pokrzywinski
AT THE TURN
(renovation)
Warm-season and cool-season grasses coexist. As newer zoysia varieties begin to move north into the transition zone, the Country Club of Decatur discovered the cost savings, drought tolerance and playability of zoysia for fairways in central Illinois. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Pokrzywinski
When drought
comes creeping
into any area,
the farmers,
arborists and
superintendents are
typically the frst to
know.
062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 62 6/17/14 2:31 PM
64 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
on the ground who see the trouble and realize things are getting a little wobbly. Local media pick up on it and run stories about “averages” and historical numbers, but drought really doesn’t become anything more than a conver-sation until it actually impacts the area.
By the end of June, the public had been made aware of voluntary water restrictions for all city water users. By the end of July, still with no signifcant rainfall, low humidity and high temperatures knocking on 100 F, man-datory restrictions were in effect.
No one is ever pleased with water restric-tions, but the city of Decatur did an excellent job of communicating the problems and in-forming the public. Obviously, someone who is in the business of selling water would like to have water to sell, so we are all on the same team as a community.
At frst, the water restrictions limited us to watering only three days a week. This can put any superintendent in a bind. With the high temperatures, the course didn’t need to be fooded on those days, as that would cause a different type of problem, but moderate water-ing was certainly not enough for a course that was already severely stressed.
A few weeks later, the city imposed total water restrictions, and no outdoor usage was permitted. While water is always a top prior-
ity for me, during this period the rest of the community was in the same situation. Land-scape companies, sod growers and even car washes were shut down. The lake levels were a daily conversation.
Now, at the Country Club of Decatur, what started as heat stress quickly turned ugly. Simple things like raising mowing heights, which we had been doing for weeks, became a non-factor as we were running out of grass to mow. Carts had been restricted to the deep rough and cart paths. One thing was certain: We were losing turf and losing it fast.
Considering solutionsWhile the course continued to burn, the
new focus became a plan to avoid these prob-lems in the future. Wells were not an option. After testing and digging, we could fnd no signifcant source of water under our course. Although this mission was a failure, it was something we knew we had to try.
Sometimes, things have to line up just right — the perfect storm, as some call it — before you can move forward. Because we were no strangers to water restrictions, our problem was to reduce our water needs and still provide a top-notch golf course. One of the frst topics that is addressed in any golf course management textbook is turfgrass se-
lection, but most superintendents don’t have a choice: They work with whatever they are handed when they take over a golf course. At the Country Club of Decatur, that meant 36 acres of bentgrass fairways as well as greens. Changing the turf at this century-old private club was a drastic solution in terms of cost, disruption of play and potential loss of mem-bers, but one way or another, we had to start over. Why not start over with turfgrass that would work better in this situation? The ques-tion wasn’t whether we could afford to take this drastic step. The fnal analysis concluded we couldn’t afford not to take it.
Located in central Illinois, Decatur is pretty well known as a hot box in the sum-mer. With a lower topography similar to a cra-ter, the oven-like conditions and cool-season golf course turf don’t quite mix. In most new climate models, Decatur is now in the transi-tion zone range. While the summers do get testy, the winters can bring plenty of snow and ice. Several years ago, the concept of converting the fairways to zoysizgrass would have appeared to be an illogical overreaction. Through quite a bit of research, countless conversations with multiple agronomists and researchers from leading universities, Zenith zoysia became a frontrunner for our turf of choice for fairways and tees.
While under total water restrictions along with the city of Decatur, CC of Decatur experienced major drought damage (pictured is the No. 3 fairway) in 2012.
062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 64 6/17/14 2:31 PM
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66 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Setting the stageIn many areas, the talk of zoysia brings
out the skeptics. I know this all too well, but this is not your grandfather’s zoysia. Grown from seed, Zenith zoysia has a much shorter dormancy period and really doesn’t compare to the older varieties. Its track record and research tied in well with our needs from a maintenance standpoint as well as a playabil-ity aspect. And, of course, the big goal here was to become less reliant on water.
With an investment like this, all the re-search, planning and communication are well worth the effort. Tim Bowyer of the Patten Seed Co. and Rod Maxwell, an experienced zoysia grower in central Illinois, were enor-mously helpful in setting us on the pathway to success. There are always surprises with any project, but I learned many years ago while working as an assistant superintendent with Steve Mueller in Fort Wayne, Ind., that if you expect the smallest thing to be an issue, you’ll be ready for all the big issues.
Throughout the fall of 2012 and winter, we had several meetings and countless conver-sations with the members before they decided to go ahead with the conversion in June 2013. There is no way of closing down a course
while keeping every member happy. In our case, with the problems we needed to address, we had the right board of directors, commit-tee, general manager and staff assembled at the right time to make the sound decision to prepare our course for the future and solve the issues of the present.
One thing that is very important to grow in any type of grass is water. With this in mind, we contacted the city about receiving a waiver to continue watering during the grow-in in the event of any restrictions. Our grounds committee chairman and our club president took the lead in this matter, citing the conver-sion’s compliance with the city’s “Sustainable Decatur” initiative by reducing water and chemical use. The city quickly embraced this green concept.
Time to growAll of our ducks were in a row when the
project began on June 10, 2013. The June start date allowed the members to enjoy their course for a few months before the shutdown. Although it felt a bit strange, events such as the club championships were scheduled very early to make the most of the shortened golf season. Due to the scorching from the previ-
After glyphosate was applied and began to kill off the No.16 fairway at CC of Decatur in May 2013, the transition from bentgrass to zoysiagrass began.
Word of our
zoysiagrass
conversion spread
quickly, and before I
knew it, there was a
parade . . . coming
out to see the show.
062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 66 6/17/14 2:31 PM
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062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 67 6/17/14 2:31 PM
ous season, the course had seen better days, but there was enough Poa seed down in the soil of this 100-year-old course to carry us through that short period.
As many can attest, no project goes entirely according to plan. Seed-ing took longer than anticipated and during this three-week period we had plenty of irrigation heads that became stuck. Weather wasn’t always our friend; a freak rainstorm washed out seed on a couple of the fair-ways. The work was slow, dusty and somewhat stressful, so it was con-venient to have reliable crew members like Guy Doolen on the seeder and my assistant superintendent, Brett Oxley, keeping things together.
A pretty good estimate for zoysia germination is about 17 days. That’s a long time in superintendent time. Growing in zoysia also takes a lot of irrigation cycles to keep the soil and seed moist at all times; it seemed like every time one cycle stopped, another one would begin. Of course, I thought my course would defy science and germinate faster than ever and my impatience allowed doubt to creep in for no good reason.
Finally, after all the planning, sweating and waiting, the seed popped up — a little over here and a little more over there at frst, but in just a few days things were taking shape. By the end of August, the fairways were loaded with zoysia that was producing even more zoysia. That’s one of the great benefts of this plant; it gives you the coverage and sustain-able density for a great fairway.
While the course was shut down for the conversion of the tees and fairways, we also renovated the putting surfaces of the old push-up greens — primarly Poa with a little bit of everything mixed in — with Penn A-4 bentgrass, which has a deeper root structure and is not as thirsty as our 50-year-old “mutts.” This also gave us the opportunity to modify the profles of some of the older greens that had settled and were holding water in certain areas and to make some of the greens more
With the new Zenith zoysiagrass fairways and Penn A-4 bentgrass greens, CC of Decatur looks to reduce water use and cost savings in the future.
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70 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
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.
challenging and enjoyable for the golfers.The fnal aspect of the course shutdown
was accommodating the members through reciprocal agreements with a number of golf courses within 30-100 miles of the Coun-try Club of Decatur. We are also fortunate enough to have a local park district that op-erates three outstanding golf courses, and the district and the club reached an agreement al-lowing members to play these public courses for a similar reciprocal fee. This was a great way to meet the needs of our members and to help stimulate the local economy.
Lessons learned
Word of our zoysiagrass conversion spread quickly, and before I knew it, there was a pa-rade of superintendents, sales reps and educa-tors coming out to see the show. Who could blame them? Ours was the frst club in the area to venture into zoysia, and since I was one of the frst guys on the block to go this route, it was always nice to have another set of eyes on the course and to discuss the project with a colleague.
The driving point of this mission was making our fairways heat- and drought-tol-erant, along with the benefts of watering less and worrying less about a hot day of heavy play. Since the grow-in, irrigation amounts have changed drastically, and we expect to save more than 7 million gallons of water per year at this course. The transition provided the opportunity for a true audit of our Toro SitePro system. While the grow-in was wind-ing down, this audit brought many changes
to our irrigation system — simple things like changing nozzles and switching from full to part circles in other areas.
These changes, along with paying close attention to each individual head’s output and percentages, really streamlined our water output to coincide with our actual needs. It’s true that numbers never lie, but one thing I’ve discovered in conversations during this time is how few superintendents know how much water they actually use. Whether the number is high or low is never really to be disputed from one course to the next because it is the superintendent’s call and he or she is the one monitoring the need. But if your only record of how much water you’re using is “10 minutes on this and 12 minutes on that,” then it’s really diffcult to plan how to conserve or, in many cases, to apply a healthier amount of water.
I believe that the support of everyone at the Country Club of Decatur as well as the public-private engagement made this entire project a huge success. It started with open minds and communication — something that should be stressed to any golf course community or club that pursues a project of this magnitude. It also invites the members/golfers who have witnessed the grow-in process to take owner-ship and pride in the course, and that is the goal for every superintendent.
Jonathan Pokrzywinski is the GCSAA Class A superinten-
dent at the Country Club of Decatur (Ill.) and a 16-year
member of the association.
Ten months after seeding with zoysia, this CC of Decatur fairway was ready for play. The progress from seed to lush turf in one season exceeded expectations. The zoysia also held up under extremely tough winter conditions.
062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 70 6/17/14 2:31 PM
- Joe Stefanick, Seven Lakes Golf and Tennis Community, Fort Myers, Fla.
- Bill Claytor, Muirfeld Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
- Raymond Hooker, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, Fla.
We will announce the winner soon. Stay tuned!
Congratulations to the Finalists.
062-071_July14_DecaturCC.indd 71 6/17/14 2:31 PM
72 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Making a championship course clickSuperintendent Roger Meier teams with general manager Keith Reese and head professional Chris Hamburger to give Valhalla Golf Club a winning team.
Editor’s note: T is is t e frst in a series of article ig lig ting t e important relations ip between GCSAA superintendents and PGA of America professionals. T ese articles are being simultaneously publis ed in bot GCM and PGA Magazine.
At Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., it isn’t unusual for PGA general manager Keith Reese to converse with Roger Meier, the club’s golf course superintendent, 10 or 12 times daily during peak season. That’s in addition to formal weekly meetings and a monthly lunch with Reese, Meier and PGA head professional Chris Hamburger to detail daily events and discuss any special maintenance or operational issues that might impact member play on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Design golf course.
Reese, Meier and Hamburger all recognize it takes a trusting team to deliver exemplary course conditions and a memorable golf experience for members, guests, PGA professionals and touring professionals. That’s why communication is constant — and paramount to success — at Valhalla, which is preparing to host its third PGA Championship, Aug. 4–10.
“It’s hugely important for the general manager, golf course superintendent and PGA head professional to plan effectively, communicate regularly and be on the same page in all opera-tions and maintenance matters,” notes Reese, who has been a Valhalla staff member since 1989.
Roger Graves
AT THE TURN
(business)
Valhalla GC’s return to championship form after an extensive renovation in 2011 is a testament to the golf course maintenance team. Photos courtesy of PGA of America
“The three of us
complement each
other well, and I
believe we are a
strong team.”
— Roger Meier
072-077_July14_PGA.indd 72 6/17/14 3:41 PM
74 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
A dedicated teamMeier, a 17-year GCSAA member who
came to Valhalla in 2010 from Chariot Run Golf Club in Laconia, Ind., has been instru-mental in nursing all 18 of Valhalla’s greens back to championship form after an extensive golf course renovation in 2011. He believes the leadership triumvirate of Reese, himself and Hamburger has become a highly effective team dedicated to making Valhalla a national/international championship venue and an en-joyable course for members.
“The three of us complement each other well, and I believe we are a strong team,” says Meier. “Chris is a great liaison to the members for me when I cannot be present. He’s in tune with our operation (on the grounds) quite well. Keith has a strong vision for Valhalla and what the future will look like. I think the Val-halla experience has never been better and will continue to grow.
“It’s certainly not just the three of us who have made it this way. It is the huge support-ing staff in place, including the 39 men and women on my team, and certainly the PGA of America for investing in the future success of Valhalla Golf Club when we embarked on the renovation of the club in 2011. I have never worked with a more passionate team than the one we have now.”
Meier knows he has advocates — and trusted team co-leaders — in PGA profession-als Reese and Hamburger.
“As with any golf course, everyone’s role is important for the overall success of the club,” says Meier, who stays in communication with Reese and Hamburger via two-way radios, cell phone calls, texts and emails. “The general manager and head professional are the face of the operation, but the golf course superinten-dent’s job is very important because we’re the ones providing the product and protecting the asset that everyone is playing on. The GM and head professional are the ones in contact daily with the membership and guests, so it’s para-mount that the superintendent’s communica-tion is precise.”
Hamburger, who oversees golf operations and member relations as the PGA head pro-fessional at Valhalla, says it is important for all staffs to work together to deliver a consistently memorable golf experience at the venue that also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup.
“Communication from department to de-partment and from members to operations staff is crucial,” notes Hamburger. “We receive
a lot of feedback from the members about the golf course, so we need to pass that on to Roger and his crew so they can hear what the membership is thinking. We also stay in tune with what the superintendent and his crew is doing, so we can educate members about golf course improvements or maintenance projects that might affect play. No one likes surprises when they get out on the golf course, so we communicate among all departments to make sure everyone is aware of any special situations each day.”
Accomplishing a common goalLike most major golf course operations,
Meier sets his agronomic calendar a year in advance while Reese sets Valhalla’s budget, the maintenance component of which is based on Meier’s recommendations.
“My role as a general manager is multi-faceted, but it all comes down to being team leaders trying to accomplish a common goal,” says Reese. “As the GM, I’m Roger’s watch-dog and I have to make sure we’re within bud-get. But I’m also his advocate when we iden-tify something that must be done that might not be specifcally in the budget. I’ll go to bat for him. I’m a sounding board for Roger, and Roger is a sounding board for me. Roger has a great personality — he’s a very positive, up-beat guy. He has been more approachable by our members than any other superintendent I have worked with.”
Reese, Meier and Hamburger helped form a membership advisory committee last year at Valhalla to increase communication with the membership. The committee has proved in-valuable following the extensive renovation at Valhalla, which closed the course for several months. During the renovation, the leader-ship trio of Reese, Meier and Hamburger kept members up to date via monthly newsletters,
Keith Reese
Chris Hamburger
Roger Meier
“Communication
from department
to department
and from
members to
operations staff
is crucial.”
— Chris Hamburger
072-077_July14_PGA.indd 74 6/17/14 3:42 PM
76 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
the club’s website, Twitter and even a blog.To underscore the team concept at Val-
halla, Reese, Meier and Hamburger like staff members from all departments to play the golf course and offer feedback and suggestions for improvement. To make that more feasible for Meier’s golf course crew, which does much of its deep maintenance on Mondays, Reese allows Meier’s staffers to play the course on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings if the course is not booked for a special event.
“It gives you a totally different perspec-tive when a member of the operations staff or grounds crew plays the golf course to ex-perience the course as the members do,” says Reese. “I can tell you Roger’s key staff mem-bers aren’t afraid to come up to the clubhouse and chat about course conditions. It’s a two-way street when it comes to communication.”
Of course, conducting a major champi-onship requires major planning and major maintenance, but Valhalla is prepared for next month’s PGA Championship thanks to the team coordination between Meier, Reese and Hamburger. They have been planning for the event since 2010, when Meier was hired.
“The year of the PGA Championship, our staffng numbers are the greatest change,” Meier says. “We have brought in fve addi-
tional staff members, primarily turf interns or turf graduates, to assist us with preparations. Unfortunately, the one thing that dictates how the cards fall sometimes is weather, and we all know we can’t control it. The great-est challenge for us going into this particular PGA Championship is the ‘newness’ of the golf course after the renovation, especially the putting surfaces. A lot of study is being con-ducted currently on how they perform under different agronomic and environmental con-ditions to provide the ultimate champion-ship surface.”
In preparation for the PGA Champion-ship, the Valhalla course will be restricted to golf cars on paths only after the Fourth of July weekend. The course closes for member play two weeks before the PGA Champion-ship and will remain closed for one week after the season’s fourth major for recovery and tear down. By then, the team at Valhalla Golf Club will be ready for a brief vacation — and to start planning for the club’s next big event.
Roger Graves is the senior writer for PGA Magazine.
“It gives you a
totally different
perspective when
a member of the
operations staff or
grounds crew plays
the golf course
to experience
the course as the
members do.”
— Keith Reese
Staff members from all departments at Valhalla GC are encouraged to play the golf course and offer feedback and suggestions for improvement.
072-077_July14_PGA.indd 76 6/17/14 3:42 PM
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78 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
On June 8, 2014, Paul Eugene Rieke, Ph.D., became the worst golfer in history to be inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, or for that matter, any golf hall of fame.
The honor was not bestowed upon him be-cause of his great athleticism, but because of the numerous contributions he has made to the advancement of golf course management. At the induction ceremony, his achievements were enumerated and praised, but that is not what this article is about. This is a story about his last research project, its relevance today and how it came about prior to his retirement in 1999.
For longer than he can remember, Rieke believed that the root zone of a putting green could be constructed in a manner to increase its water-use effciency. His idea was to decrease the rooting depth at the acme of slopes while increasing the rooting depth at the base, or valley, of slopes. An obstacle with testing his hypothesis was it would be very expensive to build and perform the research. However, as Rieke’s retirement approached, the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation allocated funds for the construction of 12 sloping research greens, and GCSAA, USGA, the O.J. Noer Foundation and Tri-Turf contributed funds for equipment and labor to test his hypothesis.
Bernd Leinauer, Ph.D., currently of New Mexico State University, was a post-doctoral researcher at the time, and he was hired to con-struct the greens, install monitoring equipment and gather data. He was the perfect candidate given his graduate work focused on soil water use. The research greens were constructed with a 7 percent slope running down one side of the acme and a 3 percent slope down the opposite side. At the acme (or top) of the slope, the root-zone mixture was constructed to an 8-inch depth, while the root zones at the base of the slopes had a depth of 16 inches. Rieke’s vari-able-rooting-depth construction method was compared to standard 12-inch uniform root-zone mixtures.
Results from the research clearly indicated that decreasing the depth of the root zone at the acme of the slope while increasing the depth of the root zone in the low portions of the green led to more uniform moisture retention in the
root zone. And increased uniform moisture re-tention in the root zone led to signifcantly less localized dry spot at the acme of the putting green surface and, ultimately, a more effcient use of water.
For over 30 years water conservation has been touted as one of the biggest challenges facing the golf industry, with rising water costs and water restrictions looming in many parts of the world. To address this issue, the use of effuent water, advancements in wetting agents and time domain refectometry (TDR) tech-nology have been embraced by the golf indus-try as means to replenish water in a scientif-cally responsible manner.
For those considering the construction of a golf course or reconstruction of a green, Rieke’s variable-rooting-depth construction method should be utilized. Water use can be maxi-mized when this construction method is com-bined with the use of wetting agents, irrigating within plant-available water thresholds deter-mined with TDRs, and using sound cultural management practices.
The only problem I have with this con-struction method is that is it often referred to as a variable-depth or modifed USGA root zone. The lack of a consistent name leads to confusion, which limits the use of this novel construction method. I propose that, from this point forward, we refer to the variable-depth root-zone method as the “USGA Rieke root zone” in honor of the soil scientist that cre-ated it and the institution that helped fund it. I look forward to attending the offcial naming ceremony, perhaps during the USGA Green Section session at the Golf Industry Show in San Antonio?
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]
Water conservation from the ground up
For over 30 years
water conservation
has been touted as
one of the biggest
challenges facing
the golf industry,
with rising water
costs and water
restrictions looming
in many parts of
the world.
(up to speed)
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The 2015 Dog Days of Golf Calendar is sponsored by LebanonTurf in cooperation with GCSAA.
Enter your golf course canine companion in LebanonTurf’s 2015 Dog
Days of Golf Calendar and Dog of the Year contest. If selected for the
calendar, your dog will also have a chance to be crowned 2015 Dog
of the Year, garnering a $3,000 prize for your affliated chapter and
a $500 prize for you. A $1,000 donation to the Train a Dog Save a
Warrior program will also be made in honor of the winner.
Entries are being accepted now through Aug. 1, 2014. Be creative, have some fun, but by all means, show off your dog! Submit your entry at www.gcsaa.org/dogcalendar or email high resolution photo(s) to [email protected]. For more information, visit www.gcsaa.org/dogcalendar today.
BOSCO
2014 Dog of the YearOwner: David Kohley,
22-year GCSAA Class A Member
Golf Course: Silver Lake Country
Club, Orland Park, Ill.
Win $3,000 for your
chapter and $500 for you!
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80 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Improving drought performance of creeping bentgrassSequential application of a plant growth regulator and glycine betaine, an osmoregulant, could help manage cool-season turf in prolonged periods of drought stress.
Bingru Huang, Ph.D.
Patrick Burgess
Drought-induced turf decline is an increas-ing concern for turfgrass managers because of the declining availability of fresh water for ir-rigation and the increased frequency of nat-ural drought events. Two key strategies for maintaining high-quality turf stands with a limited water supply are reducing water loss from the turf canopy or lowering water con-sumption rates and facilitating water reten-tion within plant cells as soil water becomes limited. Understanding the physiological fac-tors controlling water use and water retention is critically important for enhancing turfgrass survival during drought stress and for main-taining functional aesthetics with limited water resources.
One of the major determinants of the plant water-use rate is the amount of leaf area available for transpiration, which is closely as-sociated with vertical growth rate of shoots. Cultural practices that suppress vertical shoot growth or reduce transpirational leaf area may reduce the plant water-use rate.
Trinexapac-ethyl is one of the most widely used plant growth regulators for suppressing shoot growth and reducing clipping accumu-lation (5) and has also been found to reduce evapotranspirational water loss (1,2). Exog-enous application of trinexapac-ethyl before plant exposure to stress has been shown to improve turf quality under combined drought and heat stress (6) or drought stress alone (1,7,9) in several turfgrass species in con-trolled-environment growth chambers. The application of trinexapac-ethyl before drought events or preconditioning of turfgrass plants with trinexapac-ethyl may slow rates of water use and water depletion from the soil and pro-
Turf quality
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Figure 1. Turf quality (rated on a scale of 1-9) under well-watered control and drought stress in 2010 (A) and 2011 (B) for plants treated with Primo Maxx (PM only + drought), glycine betaine (GB only + drought), and Primo Maxx plus glycine betaine (PM + GB + drought). Vertical bars indicate LSD (least signifcant difference) values (P ≤ 0.05) for comparison between treatments at a given day of treatment where signifcant differences were detected.
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07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 81
mote plant survival for longer duration as soil becomes dry.
The water-retention capacity of plants is regulated by the accumulation of compat-ible inorganic and organic solutes commonly referred to as osmoregulants or osmolytes, as they contribute to osmotic adjustment for in-creased or maintained cellular water retention. Glycine betaine, a quaternary ammonium compound, is a major osmoregulant that con-trols osmotic adjustment for plant adaptation to drought stress (8). Foliar application of gly-cine betaine has also been found to strengthen the antioxidant defense system of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) under drought or salinity stress (10). Exogenous application of glycine betaine has been shown to be effective in improving drought tolerance of various ag-ronomic crop species such as rice (3), but in-formation on the use of glycine betaine for im-proving turfgrass drought tolerance is limited. Studies in controlled-environment growth chambers have demonstrated positive effects of exogenous glycine betaine on growth and physiological activities of creeping bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass during prolonged pe-riods of drought and salinity (10). It is antici-pated that glycine betaine application at the onset and during soil dry-down periods may alleviate leaf dehydration and sustain active growth and improved turf quality. Currently, many products that claim to be benefcial to plant health include an osmoregulant such as glycine betaine in their formulation.
As previously demonstrated in controlled environments, when either trinexapac-ethyl or glycine betaine is applied singly, each has shown some positive effects on drought tol-erance of plants. The question is: Can se-quential application of trinexapac-ethyl and glycine betaine be more effective than using either product alone in feld conditions? We conducted a feld study in 2010 and 2011 to evaluate sequential applications of trinexapac-ethyl before drought stress and applications of glycine betaine at the onset of drought stress and during drought stress for effectively pro-moting turfgrass performance and physiologi-cal adjustments when water is withheld.
Materials and methods
The experiment was performed May through August in 2010 and 2011 on 4-year-old feld plots (5 feet × 6 feet [1.52 × 1.83 me-ters]) established with 007 creeping bentgrass.
Drought treatments
Figure 2. Drought-stressed turf plots treated with: Top, water only (untreated control), Primo Maxx (PM only) and glycine betaine (GB only); and Bottom, water only (untreated control) and Primo Maxx plus glycine betaine (PM + GB). Photos by P. Burgess
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82 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
drought onset compared to 2011.Each main plot of drought was divided
into replicated subplots that were treated with Primo Maxx (trinexapac-ethyl, Syngenta Pro-fessional Products), glycine betaine or Primo Maxx + glycine betaine. In 2010 and 2011, Primo Maxx was applied twice, biweekly dur-ing the month of May (May 17 and 31, 2010; May 16 and 30, 2011) as per manufacturer-recommended rates for creeping bentgrass turfgrass at 10.9 fuid ounces/acre (0.8 liter/hectare) Primo Maxx (0.25 fuid ounce/gallon [1.95 milliliters/liter] [v/v]; a.i. trinexapac-ethyl = 11.3%). Glycine betaine (200 millimoles/liter) was applied weekly four times over the 31-day dry-down period in 2010 (June 1, 8, 15, 22) and seven times over the 48-day dry-down period in 2011 (May 31; June 7, 14, 21, 28; July 5, 12). The carrier volume was 87.12 gallons/acre (815 liters/hectare) applied with a pressur-ized (40 pounds/square inch [276 kilopacsals]) backpack sprayer. The concentration of glycine betaine used was chosen based on a preliminary test that showed positive effects on creeping bentgrass growth at the 200 millimoles/liter concentration in a growth chamber study.
Results and discussion
Creeping bentgrass performance measured as visual turf quality (on a scale of 1-9, where 1 is dead, brown grass and 9 is best-quality turf) based on color, density and uniformity dur-ing drought stress was signifcantly improved by the sequential application of Primo Maxx before drought stress and glycine betaine dur-ing drought stress in 2010 and 2011 (Figure 1). Turf treated with Primo Maxx alone also maintained higher water content during early drought stress, but the effectiveness dimin-ished following prolonged periods of drought stress in both years (Figure 2). The effects of Primo Maxx on improved turf performance were mainly due to increases in the amount of green leaves or canopy density (Figure 2).
Glycine betaine applied singly during drought stress resulted in signifcantly higher visual turf quality (Figure 1) and leaf water content (Figure 3), but did not have signif-cant effects on the canopy density (Figure 2) in both years. The improvement in drought tolerance by the application of glycine betaine was mainly due to enhanced water retention and suppressed leaf dehydration. Turf treated with glycine betaine appeared to be brighter green with more active growth rather than dull green with ceased growth as seen in the
Turf was mowed weekly at a height of 0.4 inch (10 millimeters) with clippings removed and watered three times per week to maintain soil water content at feld capacity (30%) before the drought treatment. The soil type was a Nixon sandy loam (fne-loamy, mixed, semi-active, mesic typic hapludults).
Emerald fungicide (boscalid, BASF) was applied at the manufacturer’s recommended rate of 7.8 ounces/acre (548.9 grams/hectare) in late April to preventively control dollar spot disease before trinexapac-ethyl application. Urea (46-0-0) was also applied in late April at 24 ounces nitrogen/1,000 square feet [7.3 grams/square meter] to promote spring green-
up. No fungicides or fertility were applied dur-ing the experimental period of 2010 or 2011 to avoid confounding effects. After the study was terminated in 2010, the feld was again treated to control dollar spot and a spoon-feeding fer-tility regimen was implemented to deliver 8 ounces nitrogen/1,000 square feet (2.4 grams/square meter) every two weeks until the grow-ing season ended.
In 2010, irrigation was withheld for 31 days. In 2011, irrigation was withheld for 48 days. The duration of drought differed be-tween years due to weather conditions. The 2010 trial experienced hotter days with more wind during the drought period, causing rapid
Figure 3. Leaf relative water content under well-watered control and drought stress in 2010 (A) and 2011 (B) for plants treated with Primo Maxx (PM only + drought), glycine betaine (GB only + drought), and Primo Maxx plus glycine betaine (PM + GB + drought). Vertical bars indicate LSD (least signifcant difference) values (P ≤ 0.05) for comparison between treatments at a given day of treatment where signifcant differences were detected.
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untreated control treatment (Figure 2).The benefcial effects of sequential applica-
tion of Primo Maxx and glycine betaine were more pronounced than when either product was applied singly. The two chemicals had additive or synergistic effects in maintaining higher-quality turf under prolonged drought stress. The additive effects of sequential Primo Maxx application before drought stress fol-lowed by glycine betaine application dur-ing drought stress in creeping bentgrass were manifested as enhanced turf quality and leaf hydration in creeping bentgrass exposed to drought in both 2010 and 2011 (Figures 1-3). Combining Primo Maxx for improving turf density and reduction in water consumption before drought stress and glycine betaine for improving leaf water retention and antioxi-dant activity ultimately improved turf quality during prolonged periods of drought. Incor-porating both plant growth regulators and os-moregulants into turfgrass management pro-tocols in a programmatic approach could be benefcial for managing cool-season turfgrass species in environments with prolonged peri-ods of drought stress.
Funding
This research was supported by the O.J. Noer Research Foundation, the Rutgers Cen-ter for Turfgrass Science and the New Jer-sey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rut-gers University.
Literature cited
1. Bian, X., E. Merewitz and B. Huang. 2009. Effects
of trinexapac-ethyl on drought responses in creeping
bentgrass associated with water use and osmotic
adjustment. Journal of the American Society for Horti-
cultural Science 134:505–510.
2. Ervin, E.H., and A.J. Koski. 2001. Trinexapac-ethyl
effects on Kentucky bluegrass evapotranspiration.
Crop Science 41:247-250.
3. Farooq, M., S.M.A. Basra, A. Wahid et al. 2008.
Physiological role of exogenously applied glycine
betaine to improve drought tolerance in fne grain
aromatic rice (Oryza sativa l.). Journal of Agronomy &
Crop Science 194: 325–333. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-
037X.2008.00323.x
4. Khan M.S., X. Yu, A. Kikuchi et al. 2009. Genetic
engineering of glycine betaine biosynthesis to
enhance abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Plant
Biotechnology Journal 26:125–134.
5. Lickfeldt, D.W., D.S. Gardner, B.E. Branham and T.B.
Voigt. 2001. Implications of repeated trinexapac-
ethyl applications on Kentucky bluegrass. Agronomy
Journal 93:1164–1168.
6. McCann, S., and B. Huang. 2007. Effects of trinexa-
pac-ethyl foliar application on creeping bentgrass
responses to combined drought and heat stress. Crop
Science 47:2121-2128.
7. McCann, S., and B. Huang. 2008. Drought responses
of Kentucky bluegrass and creeping bentgrass as
affected by abscisic acid and trinexapac-ethyl. Jour-
nal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
133:20–26.
8. Nilsen, E.T., and D.M. Orcutt. 1996. Physiology of
plants under stress — abiotic factors. John Wiley &
Sons, New York.
9. Xu, C., and B. Huang. 2012. Proteins and metabolites
regulated by trinexapac-ethyl in relation to drought
tolerance in Kentucky bluegrass. Plant Growth Regu-
lation 31:25-37.
10. Yang, Z., J. Yu, E. Merewitz and B. Huang. 2012. Dif-
ferential effects of abscisic acid and glycine betaine on
physiological responses to drought and salinity stress
for two perennial grass species. Journal of the Ameri-
can Society for Horticultural Science 137:96-106.
Bingru Huang, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is a
professor and Patrick Burgess is a laboratory researcher in
the department of plant biology and pathology at Rutgers
University, New Brunswick, N.J.
RESEARCH SAYS
• Trinexapac-ethyl (TE), a widely used plant
growth regulator, has been found to reduce
evapotranspirational water loss.
• Previous research indicates that applying
glycine betaine at the onset of soil dry-down
periods and during those periods may alleviate
leaf dehydration and sustain active growth in
turf.
• Our research shows that Primo Maxx and
glycine betaine had additive or synergistic ef-
fects in maintaining higher-quality turf under
prolonged drought stress.
• In creeping bentgrass exposed to drought, ap-
plying Primo Maxx before drought stress and
glycine betaine during drought stress resulted
in enhanced turf quality and leaf hydration.
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84 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
A new nematicide for turfgrassA byproduct of sugar processing has shown some effcacy as a nematicide in turfgrass.
A few years ago a new turfgrass nematicide, Multiguard Protect EC (furfural, Agriguard) came on the market in the United States. The active ingredient in Multiguard Protect is fur-fural, which is a byproduct of sugar process-ing. Furfural has a number of industrial uses including being an industrial solvent, and in some cases, a food additive. The activity of furfural against nematodes was frst recog-nized a couple of decades ago, but because it has limited solubility in water, its practicality as a nematicide was limited. Illovo Sugar in South Africa is the world’s largest producer of high-quality furfural. Their chemists began searching for new uses for furfural and came across the earlier reports of its nematicidal ef-fects. They then developed emulsifable for-mulations of furfural that disperse in water and are well-suited for soil applications. Illovo has now developed several furfural-based ne-maticides, including CropGuard and Protect in South Africa and Multiguard Protect in the United States.
University of Florida research
Although Multiguard Protect is new to the market, at the University of Florida we have been working with Illovo formulations of fur-fural for more than 10 years. In the labora-tory and greenhouse, we have conducted dose-response and exposure-time experiments with Multiguard Protect to determine the concen-trations and exposure times required to inca-pacitate sting nematode (Belonolaimus longi-caudatus), the most damaging nematode on turfgrasses, and several other turf nematodes
William T. Crow, Ph.D.
(root-knot [Meloidogyne graminis], ring [Me-socriconema ornatum], and spiral [Helicoty-lenc us pseudorobustus] nematodes). We have conducted numerous feld trials with Multi-guard Protect, evaluating effects on nema-todes and on turf health of different rates, application timings and application methods. Our feld trials have been conducted in a va-riety of environmental conditions, including the University of Florida Plant Research and Education Unit (PSREU) at Citra, Fla., and at golf courses in the area, on multiple warm-
season turf cultivars and species, and different kinds of nematodes. This paper will give an overview of Multiguard Protect, summarize our research results and outline how best to use the product based on our current knowl-edge about it.
Results and discussion
Furfural is a contact nematicide, mean-ing that it affects nematodes in the soil, but not those that are inside plant roots. There-fore, in most cases, Multiguard will be more
A Multiguard Protect-treated plot shows turf improvement after three applications. Photo by W.T. Crow
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07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 85
Increasing exposure time to Multiguard Protect
effective against ectoparasites like sting nema-todes than it is against endoparasites like lance nematodes. Multiguard is not unique in this respect. Other than Nemacur (which will not be permitted for use on golf courses as of Oct. 6, 2014), none of the turfgrass nematicides currently on the market has systemic activity. However, even endoparasites will spend time in the soil when they can be affected by con-tact nematicides like Multiguard.
Like most pesticides, the higher the con-centration of furfural in soil solution, the bet-ter it works (2) (Figure 1). Unfortunately, as rates get higher, the risk of phytotoxicity to turf also increases. The current maximum la-beled rate of 8 gallons/acre (74.83 liters/hect-are) is on the low side with regard to effcacy, but has less potential for negative effects on turf than higher rates. This means that single applications of Multiguard are typically insuf-fcient and, in most cases, several applications are required to reduce nematode numbers in soil and improve turf health. In our feld trials, we usually do not start observing results until after the second or third application. A single application will kill some, but not most, of the nematodes present. Based on our research re-sults, a sequence of applications made at two- to three-week intervals will maximize effects on nematodes while minimizing the poten-tial for phytotoxicity. Application intervals of greater than four weeks are usually too long and allow nematode populations time to re-cover between applications.
Maximum effects to nematodes are real-ized after 18 to 24 hours of exposure to Multi-guard (2) (Figure 2). Therefore, after an initial post-application irrigation with ¼-inch (0.635 centimeter) of water, we recommend not irri-gating again until 24 hours have passed. This will allow maximum exposure of the nema-todes to the furfural in soil solution. We also do not recommend applying Multiguard Pro-tect if there is a high risk of substantial rainfall in the 24-hour forecast.
We have conducted numerous feld trials with Multiguard Protect on nematode-in-fested bermudagrass (Cynodon species) greens. In most of these trials, we have observed turf improvement after two or three applications (1) (Figure 3). This improvement was great-est from spring and fall applications and not from summer applications. Therefore, for best results in Florida, we recommend applying
Figure 2. Effects of increasing exposure time to Multiguard Protect (at 1,500 parts per million in soil solution) on the number of healthy sting nematodes in a laboratory experiment.
Increasing concentration of Multiguard Protect
Figure 1. Effects of increasing concentration of Multiguard Protect in soil solution on number of healthy sting nematodes recovered three days after treatment in a laboratory experiment.
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86 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Multiguard sequences in spring and/or fall. This recommendation may be different for other regions.
One of the mysteries about Multiguard was that often in our feld trials, even when we observed turf improvement, we were not able to observe signifcant reductions in nematode counts. For example, in the three trials shown in Figure 3, we observed no signifcant nema-tode reductions despite having signifcant turf improvement. Therefore, we conducted ad-ditional trials on bermudagrass tees, studying the effects of Multiguard Protect on numbers of sting nematodes at different soil depths. Some of the results from these trials are shown in Figure 4. In the top 2 inches (5 centime-ters) of the soil profle, Multiguard was not ef-fective against sting nematodes. However, at depths of 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) and 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) (data not shown), Multiguard reduced numbers of sting nematodes after two applications of the maximum labeled rate (1). These results indicate that Multiguard Protect is effective against sting nematodes, but not in the top 2 inches of soil.
We know that furfural is rapidly broken down by soil microbes, particularly in aero-bic conditions. Therefore, we hypothesize that because the top portion of the soil profle has high microbial activity and aerobic con-ditions, the furfural gets broken down too quickly in that area to have the desired effects. In lower portions of the soil profle, where less oxygen is available and microbial activity is lower, the furfural should stay around longer and have greater impact on nematodes. The reason that we were unable to observe signif-cant nematode reductions in many of our ear-lier trials is likely because we typically sample to a depth of 4 inches, which includes the in-effective zone. This likely dilutes the overall observable effects.
Conclusions
In summary, Multiguard Protect is an ef-fective management tool for nematodes on turf, particularly ectoparasitic species like sting nematode. However, it must be used correctly in order to be effective. Before treat-ment, the soil must be moist to prevent phyto-toxicity, so superintendents should pre-irrigate if necessary. After application, irrigating im-mediately with ¼ inch of water will move the
Figure 3. Effects of three spring applications of Multiguard Protect on the percent of turf green cover of (A) Tifdwarf, (B) Jones Dwarf and (C) Champion bermudagrass greens in Citra, Fla. Stars indicate application dates. Asterisks (*, **, ***) indicate values that are signifcantly different from the untreated plots at P ≤ 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01, respectively.
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RESEARCH SAYS
• A byproduct of sugar processing, Multiguard
Protect, has shown some potential as a nemati-
cide in turfgrass, especially for sting nematode.
• The soil should be moist when the product is
applied, and the product should be watered in
after application.
• Multiguard does not eliminate nematodes and
should be used in combination with other tools
in an IPM program.
• Turf species and cultivars show varying dif-
ferences in sensitivity to Multiguard, so trial
tests should be carried out to determine how a
particular grass/environment will react to the
product.
furfural into the soil profle. After watering-in the treatment, do not irrigate again for 24 hours. Make multiple applications at two- to four-week intervals.
Although it is helpful, Multiguard Protect is not a silver bullet against nematodes (we do not know of any product that is), and expecta-tions should be realistic. We observe improved turf health while the Multiguard application sequence is ongoing, but usually these are not long-term benefts. Multiguard will suppress nematodes, but it will not make all of them go away. For these reasons, Multiguard will typically work best in rotation or in combina-tion with other nematode management tools in a nematode IPM program and only rarely should be relied on as a sole tactic against nematodes. Multiguard works better against some nematodes than others, and better on some courses than others. We have also ob-served differences in sensitivity among grass species and cultivars. Therefore, before treat-ing large areas, the golf course staff should
frst do some trial testing to familiarize them-selves with the product and its effects on their grass and in their environment.
Acknowledgments
Funding for these studies was provided by Illovo Sugar and Agriguard Co. The author also would like to thank Mark Kann and his staff at the University of Florida Plant Science Research and Education Center in Citra, Fla., and the superintendents and staff of the many cooperating golf courses.
Literature cited
1. Crow, W.T., and J.E. Luc. 2014. Field effcacy of fur-
fural as a nematicide on turf. Journal of Nematology
46:8-11.
2. Luc, J.E., and W.T. Crow. 2013. Factors affecting fur-
fural as a nematicide on turf. Journal of Nematology
45:260-264.
William T. Crow, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is a professor and
landscape nematologist in the entomology and nematology
department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
Multiguard Protect vs. nematodes at two soil depths
Figure 4. Effects of three applications of Multiguard Protect at two-week intervals on the number of sting nematodes at depths of 0-2 inches (A) and 2-4 inches (B) of soil profle on bermudagrass golf tees at Palatka and Citra, Fla. Stars indicate application dates. Asterisks (*, **, ***) indicate values that are different from the untreated plots at P ≤ 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01, respectively.
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140
160
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
No.
of
stin
g n
emat
odes
/10
0 c
c (c
ubic
cen
tim
eter
s) o
f so
il Palatka untreated
Palatka Multiguard
Citra untreated
Citra Multiguard
A
B
***
***
0–2 inch depths
2–4 inch depths
Week 0 Week 2 Week 4 Week 6
Week 0 Week 2 Week 4 Week 6
080-089_July14_TechwellCuttingEdge copy.indd 88 6/17/14 2:32 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 89
CUTTING EDGETeresa Carson
Endophyte-mediated biotic resistance in turfgrass
Turfgrass-fungal endophyte mutualism is of broad signifcance in turf. Festuca and Lolium species are known to harbor Epic loë fungi in their aboveground tissues. The en-dophyte infection is asymptomatic and typi-cally confers benefts to its plant host, which in turn makes nutrients accessible to the en-dophyte. An intriguing aspect of this mutual-ism is manifested in the endophyte-mediated disease resistance unique to the F. rubra (red fescue)–E. festucae interaction. Field studies have shown that dollar spot disease caused by Sclerotinia omoeocarpa is effectively hindered in endophyte-infected F. rubra. Another study reported that endophyte-infected F. rubra is toxic to chinch bugs. In order to understand the mechanisms driving these advantages, we analyzed clonally propagated endophyte-free and E. festucae-infected F. rubra for differen-tial plant gene expression. Analysis of the E. festucae data revealed that the most abundant E. festucae transcript constituted >10% of its transcriptome. Strikingly, the second-most abundant endophyte gene encodes a small secreted antifungal protein. Current studies are aimed at determining if the endophyte antifungal protein may be involved in the ob-served endophyte-mediated dollar spot resis-tance. Endophyte genes that may confer biotic
resistance to Epic loë-infected plants were also discovered. We have recently demonstrated one such gene to be insecticidal against black cutworms. — Karen V. Ambrose and Faith C. Be-
langer, Ph.D. ([email protected]), Rut-
gers University
GABA mitigates drought stress damage in perennial ryegrass
Perennial ryegrass is an important for-
age and turfgrass species that is sensitive to drought stress. The objective of this study was to investigate whether gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) may play a role in promoting drought tolerance in grass species. GABA was exogenously applied as foliar spray at the rate of 50 millimoles/liter or 70 millimoles/liter to CSI perennial ryegrass under well-watered or drought-stressed conditions in a controlled-environment growth chamber. The effect of GABA on the growth physiology, drought stress response, antioxidant activity and lipid peroxidation of perennial ryegrass exposed to drought stress was measured. GABA-treated ryegrass exposed to drought stress had higher relative water content (RWC), turf quality and peroxidase activity and lower wilt rating, can-opy temperature, electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation compared to untreated plants. GABA application had no signifcant effect on the activity of superoxide dismutase and cata-lase under well watered and drought condi-tions. GABA application at 50 millimoles/liter was found to be more effective in alleviating drought stress damage in ryegrass. The results from this study suggest that GABA mitigated drought stress damage in perennial ryegrass by maintaining higher RWC and membrane sta-bility. — Sanal Kumar Krishnan, Kevin Laskowski,
Vijaya Shukla and Emily B. Merewitz, Ph.D., Michi-
gan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
Teresa Carson ([email protected]) is GCM ’s science editor.
Photo by E. Merewitz
Leaf sheath epidermal peel of big bluegrass infected with Epichloë stained with Rose Bengal. Fungal hyphae growing in between the plant cells are indicated by arrows. Photo by F. Balengar
080-089_July14_TechwellCuttingEdge copy.indd 89 6/17/14 2:32 PM
90 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
The year was 1993. Lee Janzen won the U.S. Open; the Dallas Cowboys were Super Bowl XXVII Champions; and “Jurassic Park” was the top-grossing movie. And Dr. Jim Mur-phy, with his advisor Dr. Paul Rieke, published the results of his Ph.D. research at Michigan State University.
Many other researchers had previously ex-amined the impact of turfgrass cultivation on water infltration and thatch, but few had stud-ied how cultivation affected the soil and the turf itself. This was important, as we typically core-aerify to relieve soil compaction and en-courage root growth, among other benefts.
A 3-year-old Penneagle creeping bentgrass green was used. The treatments were: (1) level of soil compaction (none and compacted); (2) hollow- or solid-tine aeration (both ~½ inch di-ameter); and (3) soil water content (“moist” or “wet”) at the time of compaction. Cores from the hollow-tine treatments were reincorpo-rated; treatments were not further topdressed. The treatments were applied six times: in June, July and August of each year.
Relatively easy measurements like turf color or quality may not provide much information, so you have to collect data like bulk density (a measure of how much soil solid is crammed into a given volume, with a higher bulk density indicating greater compaction); porosity (how much of the soil is flled with air holes, ~50%); and pore size distribution (the relative num-ber of small pores to big pores; a 50:50 mix is good). You need these numbers to determine if core cultivation really did anything to the soil.
So Murphy measured soil bulk density, porosity and pore-size distribution. He also measured the ability of water to fow through the green, both in the laboratory (saturated hydraulic conductivity) and in the feld (dou-ble-ring infltrometer). Last, he measured soil compaction with a soil penetrometer, and he collected turf quality, root and shoot responses.
This research provided some concrete data about the effects of compaction. Compaction increased soil bulk density, reduced water infl-tration and reduced the macropores, convert-ing them to micropores, which created wetter soils that did not drain as effectively. The most effective treatment for restoring macropores was use of hollow-tine coring, not solid tine.
Soil resistance (as measured by the pene-trometer) was also affected by the coring treat-ments. Hollow tines were better for relieving soil compaction, and the effect lasted longer. With solid tines, any relief of soil compaction was gone after three weeks (as compared to the control), indicating that aerifcation with solid tines might have to be frequent if used to re-lieve soil compaction. Be careful, however, as it was noted that constant aerifcation at the same depth could result in the subsurface develop-ment of a cultivation pan.
Overall, hollow-tine aerifcation was the best method for increasing soil macroporos-ity, improving water conductivity and relieving soil compaction. Cultivation when the soil was “wet” or “moist” was a little hard to sort out. In general, there seemed to be a little more turf injury when the soil was allowed to dry. Also, drying the soil before cultivation may limit the development of a cultivation pan.
Not surprisingly, compaction reduced root growth. Perhaps surprisingly, root weight was not increased by cultivation, and summer cul-tivation did not increase root development. This was an intense aerifcation schedule (three times in summer), and analysis of root growth well after the aerifcation period may have pro-vided more information about root response. We need more work in this area.
Should you aerify? Yes. This paper clearly showed that hollow-core cultivation tines in-creased water infltration and macroporosity and decreased soil compaction. But, long-term and frequent use requires careful consideration, and the depth of effective aerifcation should be altered to avoid the development of a compac-tion pan. Avoid tine aeration if your soil is not compacted. This work saw the benefts of culti-vation on compacted soils, but not on the non-compacted plots in the study.
Source: Murphy, J.A., P.E. Rieke and A.E. Erickson. 1993.
Core cultivation of a putting green with hollow and solid
tines. Agronomy Journal 85:1-9.
Beth Guertal, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of
agronomy and soils at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.,
and the editor-in-chief for the Agronomy Society of Amer-
ica. She is a 17-year member of GCSAA.
Beth Guertal, [email protected]
twitter: @AUTurfFert
Poke some holes in this
(verdure)
It was noted that
constant aerifcation
at the same depth
could result in
the subsurface
development of a
cultivation pan.
090-091_July14_Verdure.indd 90 6/17/14 2:33 PM
Rounds
Research
Presented in partnership with The Toro Company.
Each year, the Environmental Institute for Golf
raises funds for turfgrass research by auctioning
off rounds of golf. The program uses the
donations to provide support for agronomic
studies, awareness, scholarships and other
education programs. To learn how you can
bid on a round, visit rounds4research.com.
Auction Date:
August 1-10, 2014
Support Rounds 4 Research
and further the game you love.
THIS AUCTION ISN’T SILENT.
It will make a lot of noise for courses everywhere.
090-091_July14_Verdure.indd 91 6/17/14 2:33 PM
92 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
(Product news)
Underhill International launched Flo-Pro,
a state-of-the-art injection system for golf
course turf products. With an effcient and
time-saving design and patented, fuid-
fow technology, Flo-Pro utilizes a course’s
irrigation system to apply liquid or water
soluble wetting agents, fertilizers and soil
amendments. Flo-Pro can also apply acid
to help lower pH levels. Flo-Pro connects
to the irrigation main line and monitors
precise delivery of turf care products.
The unit has no moving parts and doesn’t
require electricity. Feed rates are adjustable
for various mixing ratios, and pre-mixing
or pre-blending aren’t required. The user
sets the dial to the desired injection rate
from 1 to 20 gallons per hour and pours the
wetting agent or other soluble product into
the tank. The irrigation system evenly applies
the solution and completes the job. Contact
Underhill International, 866-863-3744
(www.underhill.us).
State-of-the-art
SYSTEM
Kubota Tractor Corp. introduced a new
member to its Z300 Series zero-turn mower feet with the
ZD326H. It is designed for turf care professionals and
large property owners alike. Its newly designed
72-inch shaft-driven commercial deck is a key
feature. It was redesigned specifcally
to increase power and effciency while
ensuring excellent cutting performance.
The welded deck is 6 inches deep
and features an advanced baffe
design for a precision cut while
maintaining suffcient airfow for
even spread of clippings. The
cutting height can be adjusted
from 1 to 5 inches in 0.25-inch
increments. The ZD326H features
a greater engine displacement of
1,123 cubic centimeters, delivering
more torque to manicure large
areas with strength and effciency.
The new model boasts a 26-hp
liquid-cooled Kubota diesel engine
and a heavy-duty hydrostatic
transmission with a wet-type
power take off clutch. Contact
Kubota, 888-458-2682
(www.kubota.com).
NK Technologies introduced the APN-R
Series Power Monitor, which measures the
power usage of a single piece of equipment, an extensive
machine system, an area such as a workshop or an entire
facility. APN-R is factory confgured with 0-500 A or
0-2000 A range fexible coils to measure the load current.
The line voltage (up to 600 VAC) connects directly to the
transducer; no potential transformer is needed unless the
line voltage exceeds 600 volts. APN-R measures three
phases of current and voltage and computes 14 values
necessary to track the power usage. The monitor’s digital
format provides information on the system voltage, current
and power factor in addition to wattage. The monitor fts
seamlessly into an industrial communications network,
both hard-wired and wireless, depending on the specifcs
of the application. Contact NK Technologies, 800-959-
4014 (www.nktechnologies.com).
092-095_July14_ProductNews.indd 92 6/17/14 2:33 PM
KP Golf Tape is a measuring tape that is designed
specifcally for golf. Its main use is measuring the closest to
the pin contest. Measuring is accomplished by one person
and causes no damage to the hole, KP Golf Tape says. It
clips onto the fagstick, stays where you position it and still
has the ability to rotate 360 degrees. It will measure exactly
the same every time no matter who is using the tape,
according to the company. It will ft on any fagstick and
can be used in other ways, such as measuring a chip-off
during a horse race, marking perfect circles around cups
and setting up putting contests. Contact KP Golf Tape, 888-
502-6116 (www.kpgolftape.com).
Bob-Cat introduced the 8-Bushel Boss-Vac
Collection Systems for FastCat mowers. The
dump-from-seat model empties debris within its own
footprint. The front counterweight system employs easy-
to-handle suitcase weights that are strategically placed
where the weight is most effective without impeding the
operator’s line of sight. The weights are easily removed
and replaced without tools. Each of the 8-Bushel Boss-
Vac Collection System models features an oversized air
vent hood that allows high volumes of air and debris to
enter the collection system and provides plenty of area
to exhaust the air. The debris is moved into the collection
hopper without clogging through a molded, high-density
polymer grass tube with a large 15.31-inch blower fan
and 6-inch-wide blades. Contact Bob-Cat, 866-469-1242
(www.bobcatturf.com).
092-095_July14_ProductNews.indd 93 6/17/14 2:33 PM
SeaStar Paspalum was licensed
by Hawaiian Turfgrass, which is
O’ahu’s producer of certifed, low-water-
use turf. SeaStar paspalum may be used
for golf courses wall-to-wall, sports turf
and home lawns. Paul Raymer, Ph.D.,
at the University of Georgia developed
SeaStar paspalum, which was in testing
and development for nine years before
it was released. Results of the National
Turfgrass Evaluation Program placed
SeaStar in trials at eight locations from
2007 to 2009, and the grass rated highest
for quality, color and texture, according
to Hawaiian Turfgrass. Other benefts
of SeaStar include a high level of salt
tolerance, tested and confrmed short-
term drought tolerance and the ability to
be mowed with a reel or rotary mower.
Contact Hawaiian Turfgrass, 808-371-
0527 (www.hawaiianturfgrass.com).
The Oregon 40V Max
Cordless Tool System is
designed to make course grounds
maintenance easy and cost effective. The
lithium ion battery-powered tools feature a
trimmer/edger. With a fip side edge guide
and a quick-load trimmer head, it has
been redesigned with 50 percent more
power than the previous model. The pole
saw has a tool-free telescoping shaft that
offers up to 15 feet of reach for branch
trimming without a ladder. The hedge
trimmer has a 24-inch precision cutting
blade and a 3⁄4-inch cutting capacity.
The tools also free up groundskeepers
from the hassles associated with gas-
powered tools, including fuel spillage,
toxic emissions, noise and endless
maintenance. In addition, the batteries are
compatible with all tools in the Oregon tool
system. Contact Oregon Cordless, 888-
313-8665 (www.oregoncordless.com).
Bayer CropScience launched
an app for golf course superintendents
and lawn care operators. Download the
free app at the iTunes store for solutions
and preventive tips to combat troublesome
weeds, turf diseases and pests. The
app offers comprehensive product
information, a rate calculator, weather
information and access to Bayer sales
representatives, distributors and current
promotions. Contact Bayer, 866-992-2937
(www.bayercropscience.us).
Turf Max introduced the Turf Max
Pigment Remover, designed to
remove pigment stains and buildup quickly
and easily from spray equipment and keep
golf course equipment clean. To use, apply
to stained equipment, wait fve minutes and
pressure wash the mess away. Turf Max
Pigment Remover is safe on almost all turf
equipment surfaces. Contact Turf Max, 215-
307-7712 (www.turfscreen.com).
Hendrix Progressive Fuel
Technologies developed
Propane Conversion Kits,
which are EPA-certifed, for the PERC
Mower Incentive Program. The Hendrix
kit can convert mower models featuring
any of nine Kawasaki engines in three
block sizes, including the 852cc, FX 751V,
726cc and FS 600V. The kits are designed
to provide optimal fuel effciency and
performance for geographic elevations
ranging from sea level to 2,500 feet and
from 2,500 feet to 5,000 feet above sea
level. Contact Hendrix Progressive Fuel
Technologies, 847-526-1700
(www.hendrixsystems.com).
Vanguard 810cc engine
from Briggs & Stratton won an
Excellence Award from the Business
Marketing Association of Milwaukee. It also
received a Merit Award in the American
Marketing Association’s Prism Awards
contest. Launched last fall, Vanguard
810cc engines have the optimum 810-cc
displacement for higher torque to take on
heavy workloads common in commercial
mower settings, the company says.
Contact Briggs & Stratton, 800-444-7774
(www.briggsandstratton.com).
Aqua Control launched its newly
designed Select 2 Series of
aerating fountains, made for improved
durability and increased performance at
lower cost. Aqua Control says Select 2
Series fountains double the fow and still
have plenty of pressure (30 feet
of head at 500 gallons per minute).
Contact Aqua Control, 800-377-0019
(www.aquacontrol.com).
OpenTee acquired GolfSwitch
and its online tee time business.
GolfSwitch had partnerships with more
than 3,700 golf courses worldwide.
OpenTee, which was scheduled to start
last month, is available on both desktop
and mobile devices. Contact OpenTee,
855-223-9575 (www.opentee.com).
Solu-Cal USA received Organic
Materials Review Institute
(OMRI) Listing for its fagship
Golf Preservations Inc.Nationwide Golf Course
Drainage Company
Specializing in
Drainage Installation on
Existing Greens, Approach
and Fairway Drainage
Golf Preservations Inc.
504 Gloucester Ave
Middlesboro, KY 40965
606-499-2732
www.golfpreservations.com
Email: [email protected]
092-095_July14_ProductNews.indd 94 6/17/14 2:33 PM
product, Solu-Cal Enhanced Calcitic
Lime. The OMRI Listing is granted only
for products that meet the criteria for use
in certifed organic production. Solu-Cal
Enhanced Calcitic Lime is used for quick
and effcient soil adjustment, working
rapidly to adjust soil pH in as little as
six to eight weeks, the company says.
Contact Solu-Cal USA, 774-678-0288
(www.solu-cal.com).
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled
EnviroAtlas. It is a Web-based
interactive tool that integrates over 300
separate data layers, helps decision
makers understand the implications of
planning and policy decisions on fragile
ecosystems and the communities that
depend on goods and services from these
ecosystems. EnviroAtlas developed data
layers through collaboration among the
EPA, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Forest
Service as well as other federal, state
and non-proft organizations and several
universities. For information, go to http://
enviroatlas.epa.gov/enviroatlas/.
Witt Industries has a new
product catalog. Nineteen new
products were added to the company’s
extensive line of waste and recycling
receptacles, many of which include
additions to the fberglass line. Witt also
introduced three new outdoor receptacles,
fve indoor receptacles, one ash receptacle
and a step-on recycling unit with multi-
stream options. Contact Witt Industries,
800-543-7417 (www.witt.com).
Edgetite Products Inc. created
spikes for paver edging. The spikes
help solve separation problems that can
occur when using regular spikes designed
for paver edging. Edgetite spikes make it
easy to ensure that the pavers are properly
installed, which eliminates needless time
spent on re-installation. They come with
a how-to guide and video. Edgetite spikes
have a patent pending angled tip design.
Contact Edgetite, 630-514-0052
(www.edgetite.com).
Larson Electronics unveiled its
160-watt Explosion Proof UV
Fluorescent Light Fixture
that is used to cure coatings and
adhesives or as a germicidal agent.
Contact Larson Electronics, 800-369-
6671 (www.larsonelectronics.com).
DepenDable.
loyal.
trustworthy.
you are
what you spray.
Affrm™ WDG is the one fungicide turf maintenance
professionals everywhere depend on year-in and year-out
to cure a broad spectrum of troublesome turf diseases.
Count on Affrm for superior control of anthracnose,
patch diseases, snow molds and many other diseases
in turf and ornamentals. Plus, it’s an effective resistance
management tool and is compatible with most commonly
used pesticides.
Learn more. www.nufarm.com/uSTo
©2014 Nufarm. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Affrm™ is a trademark of Cleary Chemical, LLC. Cleary Chemical, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nufarm.
www.nufarm.com
092-095_July14_ProductNews.indd 95 6/17/14 2:33 PM
(Industry news)
Professional
SUPPORT
The fourth annual Art of Green Spaces poster
contest winners sponsored by Project Evergreen/Birds &
Blooms Magazine were announced. Twelve winners in all
from eight states were honored for their work. Winners
by age group are Abdullah Khan, Stafford, Texas,
kindergarten through second grade; Vincent Ray C.
Tagulao, Wildomar, Calif., third- through sixth-grade;
Katy Shawke, Bloomingdale, Ill., seventh- through
ninth-grade (shown above); and Carlo Tagulao,
Murrieta, Calif., 10th- through 12th-grade. “Project
EverGreen has worked to share the importance of healthy
green spaces since our inception 10 years ago,” says
Cindy Code, executive director of Project EverGreen. “It’s
very encouraging to see the next generation of leaders
so focused on healthy yards, parks and ball felds. It’s
Matt Cimino, CGCS, was named senior
technical services advisor in the southern
U.S. at Civitas. Cimino’s role is to support the
professional turf team. “In my new role, I want
to help superintendents in the feld overcome
their turf challenges and achieve healthy turf
they can be proud of,” Cimino says.
Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club
comforting to know that green spaces are an important
part of their lives.” A panel of professional artists and
designers reviewed the entries and selected the winning
posters. First-, second- and third-place artists in each age
group received an Amazon gift card worth $100, $50 and
$25, respectively.
The renovated Bay Course at Stockton
Seaview Hotel & Golf Club in Galloway, N.J.,
was unveiled this spring. The work was done in time for
the ShopRite LPGA Classic that was held May 26-June 1.
Highlights of the renovation: New tee boxes on the fourth,
ffth, 10th and 12th holes; 150 yards were added to the
course; and a new bunker complex was inserted between
the fourth and ffth holes.
Project Evergreen/Birds & Blooms Magazine
096-099_July14_IndustryNews.indd 96 6/17/14 2:34 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 97
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes GC in Maricopa,
Ariz., has begun a signifcant renovation aimed at
improving the course’s playability for leisure players while
maintaining the challenges and shot values enjoyed by
experienced golfers. The renovation is scheduled for
completion in September. Original course architects from
Schmidt-Curley Design and Fred Couples are leading the
project, which includes a complete bunker renovation. In
all, 83,000 square-feet of bunkers are being removed.
The Tom Weiskopf-designed Snake River
Sporting Club in Jackson Hole, Wyo., offcially
reopened for play in late May. The course had been closed
for fve years. Weiskopf was invited back to oversee the
$5 million course renovation that included resurfacing
every green with bentgrass and restoring all the bunkers.
The practice facilities were enlarged to include a newly
contoured putting and chipping green.
Eric Bauer was named director of agronomy for
Bluejacket National, a private club currently
under development in Montgomery, Texas. Bauer
previously served as director of grounds at The Club
at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. Bluejacket
National was created by Tiger Woods and Tiger Woods
Design. The facility will include an 18-hole championship
golf course as well as a one-of-a-kind Short Course and
comprehensive practice facilities. Bauer earned a turf
management degree from Michigan State University.
He started his career at Shoal Creek GC in Birmingham,
Ala., and more recently served as superintendent for The
Challenge at Manele, Lanai, Hawaii, and Spring Creek
Ranch in Memphis, Tenn., before joining The Club at
Carlton Woods.
Harrell’s is expanding with a plan to open warehouses
in Houston and Dallas in the second quarter of this
year. The company also announced it is expanding in
the Midwest by adding a sales representative — Jim
Dillard — dedicated to Columbus, Ohio, and two
service technicians — Keith Krause and Jason
Market
SPECIALIST
Alea Miehls was named market specialist
for the turf and ornamental segment of FMC
Corp. She provides sales and technical support
in the western states including California,
Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and
Arizona, working closely with distribution and key
professionals in lawn care, golf and nursery and
ornamental markets. Miehls replaced Corbett
Schnatmeyer, who moved from the West Coast to
cover the Northeast market after Allan Dufoe was
named to the newly created position of turf and
ornamental key account manager and nursery
and greenhouse market lead. Miehls is a recent
graduate of the University of California, Riverside.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in biological
sciences and a master’s in plant biology.
Funderburg — in Chicago. Other additions
in the Houston project are sales manager Travis
Klosterboer and territory managers Stephen
Dolen and Clint Neely. In Dallas, Bradley
Snodgrass and James Jensen are new
territory managers.
Applications for the 2014 Syngenta Business
Institute (SBI) are due Aug. 19. The sixth annual SBI
is scheduled Dec. 8-11 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Syngenta
partners with Wake Forest University School of Business
to provide superintendents with heightened business and
managerial skills. Twenty-fve superintendents will be
selected. For information on how to apply, go to
www.GreenCastonline.com/SBI.
The American Society of Golf Course
Architects (ASGCA) had multiple announcements.
Lee Schmidt was elected president this spring.
Schmidt is principal in Schmidt-Curley Golf Design
with Brian Curley. The frm has offces in the U.S. and
China. Schmidt worked on numerous projects with Pete
Dye, including Kingsmill Country Club in Williamsburg,
Va. During 12 years with Landmark Land Co., Schmidt
headed the design and construction division on such
prominent jobs as PGA West and La Quinta (Calif.) Hotel
& Resort and Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Three
regular members achieved Fellow status: Michael
Hurdzan, Ph.D., a past president; Cary
Bickler; and Keith Evans. Also, two elected
associate members were added: Gary Brawley and
Troy MG Vincent. Their elections bring the total of
ASGCA members who practice worldwide to nearly 180.
E-Z-Go acquired TUG Technologies Corp.,
a manufacturer of ground support equipment in the
aviation industry. Based in Kennesaw, Ga., TUG equipment
services airlines, air freight companies, ground handlers,
government agencies and airports. Its product line
includes cargo tractors, belt loaders, tow tractors and
pushback vehicles.
Ak-Chin Southern Dunes GC
The Andersons hired Tony Atchison as
territory manager serving Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas,
New Mexico and Tennessee. Previously, Atchison worked
for Arysta in the same geography. He can be reached at
469-815-5214.
Bob Finnegan joined Signature Control
Systems Inc. as senior business development
director. Finnegan is responsible for increasing market
share within strategically positioned accounts in
Signature’s global market space. Finnegan, a 15-year
member of the irrigation industry, is based in Stuart, Fla.
Chris Dyer was promoted to regional sales director,
East Region, for E-Z-Go. Dyer joined the company
in 2006 as a feet sales representative and prior to his
promotion covered the Dixie Section territory of Alabama
and the Florida panhandle. Dyer’s new coverage area
spans New York to North Carolina.
Chuck Greif was promoted to managing director of
the Asia Pacifc Division for Jacobsen. Greif previously
served as director of sales for the company’s Eastern
Region Division in the U.S. He relocated to Singapore. Greif
has more than three decades of experience in global sales
management. He began in the turfgrass industry in 1998
as national sales manager for John Deere Golf.
096-099_July14_IndustryNews.indd 97 6/17/14 2:34 PM
98 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
The American Society of
Irrigation Consultants (ASIC)
National Conference attracted more than
165 people in late April to Portland, Ore.
The conference included elections. The
incoming president is Ivy Munion
(ISC Group); vice president is Corbin
Schneider (Verde Design); treasurer,
Chris Mitchell (Russ Mitchell
& Associates); secretary, Stacy
Gardner (Irrigation Consulting Inc.);
and Steve Hohl (Water Concern)
moves to past president. New board of
directors members are Carey June
(Irrigation Consulting Services Inc.)
and Lynda Wightman (Hunter
Irrigation). Plaques were awarded
to retiring board members Vince
Nolletti (Paige Electric) and Doug
MacDonald (Aqua Engineering).
Wightman received the Sam Tobey
Award in recognition for her hard work
and unwavering commitment through
the years. Jim Laiche received the
Roy Williams Award for his passion for
the irrigation industry and the selfess
and exemplary customer service he has
provided. Fellow status was presented to
Brian Vinchesi and Brendan
Lynch.
Emerson Bearing recently
expanded its golf division as part of the
company’s recreation industry offerings.
“We originally formed our golf division a
few years ago because there had been
such an increase in demand for our
bearings for golf carts,” says Steve
Katz, president, Emerson Bearing. “Well,
that has continued the past few years,
and we needed to reinforce the division
to serve not only golf courses but other
companies that utilize golf carts for their
operations. So we have added personnel
and expertise to better serve this market.”
KPMG, the PGA of America
and the LPGA announced the
KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship and the creation
of a multifaceted program focused on
the development, advancement and
empowerment of women on and off
the golf course. The frst championship
is scheduled June 8-14, 2015, at
Westchester Country Club in Rye,
N.Y., with a purse among the highest
in women’s golf at $3.5 million. The
championship will be operated by the
PGA of America, and will work in close
collaboration with the LPGA. The event
will be broadcast in partnership with NBC
and Golf Channel. “Together, we believe
this championship, broadcast to millions
around the world, will energize new
audiences in our collective effort to grow
the game,” says PGA of America President
Ted Bishop, who is a member of GCSAA.
Women on Course, a premier
golf-lifestyle networking organization,
tripled its membership since being
acquired by Billy Casper Golf (BCG)
in September 2013. BCG expects
membership to grow by 400 percent in
2014 over 2013. Company management
cites several contributors to the dramatic
growth, including a new, compelling
value proposition for new members in
partnership with brand-name golf and
lifestyle product manufacturers and
service providers; addition of weekend
resort destination and custom events for
members; and participation in Women on
Course and non-golf (social) events is up
by more than 150 percent as women, no
matter their skill levels, are increasingly
looking to play golf with other women.
Steve Jubb was named president
of the National Alliance for
Accessible Golf. Jubb succeeds
Betsy Clark, Ph.D., who served for the
last fve years. Jubb is the director of PGA
Charities and Military Liaison for the PGA
of America and the PGA Foundation. Jubb
previously served as head golf professional
at Boca West Country Club and executive
director of the New Jersey Section PGA.
Ray Stukas is the 2014
Sports Turf Manager of the
Year, as announced by Sports
Turf Canada and sponsored by
Guelph Turfgrass Institute.
The honor recognizes an individual’s
professional ability and contribution to the
Canadian sports turf industry and shows
appreciation for his or her proactive and
progressive efforts within the profession.
Stukas is manager of parks, Toronto and
East York District, for the city of Toronto. He
has more than three decades of industry
experience.
Andrew Fleming joined
KemperSports as company senior
vice president-strategy and business
affairs. He is charged with leading the
company’s marketing technology and
revenue management programs as well as
corporate strategy, growth initiatives and
new business lines. Fleming previously
served as vice president of business
096-099_July14_IndustryNews.indd 98 6/17/14 2:34 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 99
development and senior counsel for NBC
Sports/Golf Channel.
Brent Bolton joined Lebanon
Seaboard Corp. as its new grass
seed general manager. His position
focuses on building business relationships
with key growers, blenders, breeders
and dealers. Bolton, who has more than
15 years of experience in the industry,
previously worked for Scotts Miracle-Gro.
Sports Turf Managers
Association (STMA) extended its
partnership with the 2014 Green
Sports Alliance Summit. Green
Sports Alliance is a nonproft organization
designed to help the sports industry
enhance environmental performance.
More than 600 industry stakeholders,
including several STMA members, are
participating in the fourth annual Green
Sports Alliance Summit set for July 21-23
in Santa Clara, Calif.
Colorado and Louisiana
proclaimed July as Smart Irrigation
Month in their respective states.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal issued formal
proclamations to recognize the initiative.
This is the third consecutive year that
Colorado is recognizing Smart Irrigation
Month. It is the frst for Louisiana. The
Irrigation Association frst launched Smart
Irrigation Month in July 2005 to increase
public awareness of the value of water-use
effciency and water-saving products,
practices and services.
The Club Managers
Association of America
(CMAA) announced a partnership with
Landscapes Unlimited to
support CMAA and The Club Foundation
as a bronze partner in the CMAA
Corporate Alliance Program. The
partnership represents a signifcant
commitment by Landscapes Unlimited,
a golf course construction, management
and sports and recreation company, to
support CMAA and The Club Foundation.
Landscapes Unlimited is a solutions-based
company that provides customers with
comprehensive expertise within the golf
and recreation industries.
CMAA announced 18 new members
in its Honor Society. They are Albert
Costanini, Canoe Brook CC, Summit,
N.J.; Jeffrey J. Blais, Green
Island CC, Columbus, Ga.; Michael
Bradfeld, Countryside Golf and
CC, Naples, Fla.; Cindy R. Davis,
Athens CC, Athens, Texas; Thomas
M. DeLozier, Quail Hollow Club,
Charlotte, N.C.; Dana R. DiChiara,
Mountain Brook Club, Birmingham,
Ala.; James Fields, Skaneateles
CC, Skaneateles, N.Y.; John E.
Foster, Wade Hampton GC, Cashiers,
N.C.; Christophe Granger,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Gavin B.
Inglis, Knickerbocker CC, Tenafy,
N.J.; Thomas C. Janney, CC
of Virginia, Richmond, Va.; Michael
J. Mally, The Carriage Club, Kansas
City; Max. D. Moreno, Elmcrest
CC, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Eric J.
Rhodes, Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio;
Neil Rooney, Scarboro Golf and
CC, Toronto, Ontario; Larry Steve
Savvides, Mizner CC, Delray Beach,
Fla.; Ryan Shaw, Fiddlesticks CC,
Fort Myers, Fla.; and Randle St.
John, Wilshire CC, Los Angeles, Calif.
McGladrey LLP renewed its
commitment to CMAA and is remaining
a Bronze Alliance Partner. McGladrey
is a U.S. provider of assurance, tax and
consulting services focused on the middle
market.
The Prestwick Group Inc.
announced personnel moves, including one
that represents a homecoming. Derek
Wathke, who left the company late in
2013, has returned to again work on the
sales staff. Originally, Dustin Schwab
had replaced Wathke. Schwab, interestingly,
was recommended to The Prestwick Group
by Wathke. In between, the company also
hired Ben Fahrenholz. Territories
were adjusted to accommodate all three
men.
Meadows Farms Golf Course
in Locust Grove, Va., selected Billy
Casper Golf (BCG) to manage its
facility. Meadows Farms is a 27-hole layout.
The featured hole is an 841-yard par-6.
Virginia Costa, senior designer and
agronomist at Fry/Straka Global
Golf Course Design, was named
associate member of the European
Institute of Golf Course Architects
(EIGCA). Costa, who resides in Italy, is an
accomplished amateur player, having been
a member of the Italian National Team.
Skybrook Golf Club in
Huntersville, N.C., chose Troon to
manage its facility. The clubhouse at
the par-72 golf course sits on one of
the highest elevations in Charlotte-
Mecklenburg County.
096-099_July14_IndustryNews.indd 99 6/17/14 2:34 PM
100 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
By John Mascaro
President of Turf-Tec International
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
Although the white tops of these mounds appear to be frost, this phenom-enon occured in 54-degree temperatures. As the assistant superintendent was out scouting the golf course this winter, he stopped to take a closer look at something he spotted in the dormant bermudagrass rough. A sample was sent to the University of Florida, and it was suspected to probably be a generic mycelium from an unknown saprophytic fungus that was just growing on the surface of the dormant bermudagrass. No treatment was applied, and the area came out of dormancy with no problems. However, it does make an interesting shot for the Photo Quiz.
Photo submitted by Jeff Heggen, the assistant superintendent at Seminole Golf Course in Tallahassee, Fla. Doug Abbuhl, a 26-year GCSAA member, is the Class A superintendent at Seminole. Philip F. Harmon, Ph.D., associate professor in the plant pathology department at the University of Florida in Gainesville, assisted in the answer.
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 deep dents in this putting green are a result of a contest that went awry. During the exceptionally wet fall this past year in the Northeast, this club had an outing that was sponsored by a helicopter company. It was two weeks after the fall aerifcation, and the club had just received several inches of rain in the three days leading up to the event. The superintendent was standing on the putting green talking to a member who was playing in the outing when someone from the pro shop asked them to move to the side as they were preparing to conduct a ball-drop contest. Participants in the outing were able to buy balls with numbers on them that were then dropped, on the green, with the closest to the pin winning a prize. At that moment, a helicopter appeared over top of the clubhouse, stopped about 150-200 feet over the green and dropped a “test” ball that went into the turf like a missile, disappearing com-pletely from view. The superintendent frantically waved his hands for them to stop, but they didn’t see him and then proceeded to pour two 5-gallon buckets full of golf balls from that distance. When the dust settled, the superintendent showed the golf pro the damage that was caused. The pro asked, “Who would have known it would cause that much damage?” to which the superintendent replied, “I would have known.” The divots were repaired with screw drivers in about an hour, however the damage could still be seen the following spring. This also shows why communication between the clubhouse and the super-intendent is so important.
Photo submitted by Mark McGreevy, the GCSAA Class A superintendent at Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, Pa., and a 12-year member of the association.
(photo quiz answers)
(a)PROBLEM
(b)PROBLEM
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 100 6/17/14 2:35 PM
102 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Q: What makes Bully Pulpit special? (Golf Digest rated it No. 94 on its most recent 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses in America.)
A: The views are unbelievable. You are in the Badlands of North Dakota. There are spots out there you can see pretty much the entire course. It’s a blessing to be here.
Q: Tell us about your goals.
A: Try to learn as much about the business as I possibly can. I have a great teacher (GCSAA Class A superintendent Kyle Fick). He likes to teach; he wants to teach. I also want to make a comfortable living so I can provide for my family. I want to fnd a balance between work and family.
Q: What is your most prized possession?
A: Probably my golf clubs, simply because of how much I love the game and how at home I feel when I’m out playing.
Q: When did this business get into your blood?
A: When I was younger, I worked at a country club in Bloomington. They gave me a lot of respon-sibility. Working there and being able to provide a good experience for people is something I enjoyed. It became easy to wake up, knowing you would enjoy whatever you were going to be doing. It wasn’t so much work as it was something I loved to do.
Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Getting to know youSocial media fts in the world of Andrew Stoldorf, which probably comes as no surprise for someone who is 23 years old (isn’t everyone into it at that age?). He has a Twitter account (@StoldorfTurf). He also has his own blog (stoldorfturf.blogspot.com). He certainly had fod-der for both not too long ago when he went to syringe the 11th green, which had several occupants who delayed his work. “There must have been 15 to 20 cows on the green. By the time we got them off of it, it looked like it got pounded with divots,” Stoldorf says. “That is one reason I love my job — every day is a different adventure.”
Andrew StoldorfWas: Student, Rutgers, Professional
Golf Turf Management School
Is: Assistant superintendent, Bully Pulpit, Golf Course, Medora, N.D.
(Climbing the ladder)ON COURSEJuly 3-6 — PGA Tour, The
Greenbrier Classic, The Old White
TPC, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.,
Jake Workman, superintendent.
July 3-6 —Web.com Tour, Nova
Scotia Open, Ashburn GC-New Course,
Halifax, Canada.
July 10-13 — PGA Tour, John Deere
Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill., Alex
Stuedemann, superintendent.
July 10-13 — LPGA, Ricoh Women’s
British Open, Royal Birkdale GC, South-
port, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
July 10-13 — Champions Tour, U.S.
Senior Open, Oak Tree CC, Edmond,
Okla., Tyson Thill, director of agronomy.
July 10-13 — Web.com Tour, Utah
Championship presented by Zions
Bank, Willow Creek CC, Sandy, Utah,
Troy VanDenBerghe, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
July 14-19 — USGA, U.S. Amateur
Public Links, Sand Creek Station GC,
Newton, Kan., James Houchen III, GCSAA
Class A superintendent.
July 14-19 — USGA, U.S. Women’s
Amateur Public Links, The Home
Course, Dupont, Wash., Dennis Roque,
superintendent.
July 17-20 — PGA Tour, The Open
Championship, Royal Liverpool GC,
Hoylake, England.
July 17-20 — LPGA, Marathon
Classic presented by Owens Corning
and O-I, Highland Meadows GC, Sylvania,
Ohio, Daniel Salois, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
July 17-20 — Web.com Tour,
Albertsons Boise Open presented by
Kraft Nabisco, Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho,
Joe Aholt, superintendent.
MEMBERS ONLY
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 102 6/17/14 2:35 PM
July 21-26 — USGA, U.S. Junior
Amateur, The Club at Carlton Woods,
The Woodlands, Texas, Jeremy Childree,
superintendent.
July 21-26 — USGA, U.S. Girls’
Junior, Forest Highlands GC, Flagstaff,
Ariz., Andrew Annan, CGCS.
July 24-27 — PGA Tour, RBC
Canadian Open, Royal Montreal GC (Blue
Course), Ile Bizard, Quebec.
July 24-27— LPGA, International
Crown, Caves Valley GC, Owings Mills,
Md., Steve Glossinger, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
July 24-27 — Champions Tour, The
Senior Open Championship presented
by Rolex, Royal Porthcawl, Bridgend,
Wales.
July 24-27 — Web.com Tour, Mid-
west Classic, Nicklaus GC at LionsGate,
Overland Park, Kan., Gary Sailer, CGCS.
July 25-27 — Symetra Tour, Credit
Union Challenge, Capital Hills at Albany,
Albany, N.Y., Scott Gallup, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
July 31-Aug. 3 — PGA Tour,
Reno-Tahoe Open, Montreux G&CC,
Reno, Nev., Doug Heinrichs, CGCS.
July 31-Aug. 3 — PGA Tour, World
Golf Championship-Bridgestone
Invitational, Firestone CC (South), Akron,
Ohio, Larry Napora, director of golf course
operations; John DiMascio, CGCS.
July 31-Aug. 3 — Web.com Tour,
Stonebrae Classic, TPC Stonebrae,
Hayward, Calif., David Davies, CGCS.
COMING UPJuly 13-15 — Texas Turfgrass Asso-
ciation Summer Conference, Hyatt Lost
Pines Resort, Lost Pines.
Phone: 979-690-2201
Website: www.texasturf.com
Email: [email protected]
July 15 — UConn Turfgrass Field
Day, Plant Science Research and Educa-
tion Facility, Storrs.
Phone: 888-561-7778
Website: www.cagcs.com
July 21 — Texas Tech Turfgrass
Field Day, Quaker Farm, Lubbock.
Email: [email protected]
July 23 — Nebraska Turfgrass As-
sociation Turf Field Day, John Seaton
Anderson Turfgrass Research Center,
Mead.
Phone: 402-472-5351
July 24 — Iowa Turfgrass Field Day,
Horticulture Research Station, Ames.
Host superintendent: Dan Strey
Phone: 515-635-0307
Website: www.iowagcsa.org
July 29 — WTA Summer Field Day,
OJ Noer Research & Education Facility,
Verona, Wis.
Phone: 608-445-4982
Website: www.wisconsinturfgrass
association.org
July 29-30 — Rutgers Turfgrass
Research Field Days, Hort Farm II,
Brunswick; and Adelphia Farm, Freehold.
Phone: 973-812-6467
July 31-Aug. 1 — PAES Recirculat-
ing Technology Workshop, Apopka, Fla.
Phone: 877-347-4788
Website: www.PentairAES.com
Aug. 4-5 — Professional Grounds
Maintenance Society Summer
Regional Seminar and Site Visit, Min-
neapolis.
Website: www.pgms.org/2014-summer-
site-visit
Aug. 6 — Turfgrass Field Day, UGA
Griffn Campus, Griffn, Ga.
Phone: 706-376-3585
Website: www.ggcsa.com
Aug. 7 — Kansas Turfgrass Founda-
tion Field Day, Rocky Ford Turfgrass
Research Center, Manhattan.
Phone: 785-532-6173
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.kansasturfgrassfoundation.
com/annual-ktf-feld-day.html
Aug. 11 — August Field Day,
University of Illinois Lincolnshire Fields,
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 103 6/17/14 2:35 PM
104 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Mid-Atlantic Chase Rogan
Recently, I attended a social media round-
table at Independence Golf Club in Midlo-
thian, Va. Curious superintendents wanted
to learn how to better utilize social media
to help them gather relevant information
that is floating around the ever-expanding
World Wide Web. The main social media
players, as most of you know, are Face-
book and Twitter. In my opinion, Twitter is
the most applicable for golf course su-
perintendents. Why? Because you search
key words, post pictures, hashtag a topic
and communicate directly to other tweet-
ers. Most people seem to use Facebook
more for family and close friends, while Twitter can be used more for business purposes, although that doesn’t mean you
can’t share personal information there as well. Furthermore, you can tweet out course conditions, cart restrictions or frost
delays to members of your club, and even link that post to Facebook so it will automatically post to your club’s Facebook
page. David McCall, a pathologist at Virginia Tech, suggested Virginia superintendents start a hashtag campaign that is
#VATurf. This way, everyone interested in sharing information about turf news in Virginia can find information easily by
simply searching that hashtag on Twitter. Likewise, many industry companies and organizations share relevant news and
information through Twitter. The beauty in this is how fast you can receive that information right into the palm of your hand.
If you need help getting started, or have questions along the line, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help you
work through the kinks to becoming more connected.
Central Plains Steve Randall
I had the opportunity recently to attend two events held by the Mississippi Valley GCSA near
St. Louis. On the second day, the Mississippi Valley GCSA held an inaugural equipment tech-
nicians education and networking session at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. The equip-
ment technicians session was a first for the chapter. I counted 37 equipment technicians
— an excellent turnout. How did they get such good attendance? A big thanks to Bellerive
superintendent John Cunningham, CGCS, for helping organize the event. Steven Tucker from
the IGCEMA (International Golf Course Equipment Manufacturers Association) was also there.
The chapter hopes this may be the first of many similar events. Following a short business
meeting, Boyd Montgomery from The Toro Co. provided a Tier 4 equipment update. The “Big
3” manufacturers, with help from their local distributors, had various pieces of equipment on
display. After lunch, the equipment technicians had to answer five questions regarding each piece of equipment on display
(two from each manufacturer were provided). The chapter plans to set up a second event in the fall. The IGCEMA has
agreed to provide a $350 travel allowance, and a 2015 conference and show registration will be auctioned off. There is
no better education than the power of networking face to face with your peers. As these events grow and expand, we will
provide updates on their success. Is this something your chapter would be interested in trying? Ultimately, you can never
take your staff for granted.
For the latest blog posts from all of GCSAA’s feld staff representatives, visit www.gcsaa.org/community/regions.aspx.
(In the field)
Champaign.
Phone: 309-533-5838
Website: www.ci-gcsa.com
Aug. 13 — Michigan State University
Turfgrass Field Day, Hancock Turfgrass
Research Center, East Lansing.
Website: www.michiganturfgrass.org/
msu-turfgrass-feld-day.html
Aug. 13 — Poa Sympoisum, Mesa
Community College, Mesa, Ariz.
Phone: 480-609-6778
Website: www.cactusandpine.com
Sept. 8-11 — Florida Turfgrass As-
sociation Annual Conference & Show,
Buena Vista Palace, Lake Buena Vista
Phone: 863-688-9413
Website: www.ftga.org
Sept. 11 — University of Tennessee
Turf & Ornamental Field Day, East Ten-
nessee Research and Education Center-
Plant Sciences Unit, Knoxville
Phone: 865-974-7201
Website: www.tennesseeturfgrassweeds.org
———
To learn if you can receive education points
for any of these upcoming programs, visit
the External Education Listings in the
education section at www.gcsaa.org/
education/externaled/current.aspx.
———
We want to know about your event in
advance. To submit an entry for “Coming
up,” please send your information fve to
six months before you’d like to see it in the
magazine. We run event information for
three months. Send a contact name if all
details are not fnal. Contact Golf Course
Management, Attention: Coming Up, 1421
Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-
3859; 785-832-3638; fax: 785-832-
3665; email: [email protected].
NEW MEMBERSALABAMA
Nathaniel J. Arndt, Class C, Birmingham
Robert D. Collier, Student, Auburn
Allen S. Dobbs, Student, Auburn
ARIZONA
Nicholas R. Spardy II, Student, Tucson
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 104 6/17/14 2:35 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 105
CALIFORNIA
Wade H. Heinsch, Class C, Mammoth
Lakes
Patrick W. Lewis, Supt. Mbr., Mammoth
Lakes
FLORIDA
Justin M. Gille, Class C, West Palm Beach
Chad E. Libby, Class C, Leesburg
GEORGIA
Greg Knight, Class C, Savannah
Caleb J. Malone, Class C, Perry
ILLINOIS
Jesse L. Gifford, Class C, Danville
Justin M. Sample, Class C, Hoffman
Estates
IOWA
Casey Herrick, Class C, Polk City
Matthew M. Porter, Student, Ames
MICHIGAN
Scott M. Hoag, Class C, Washington
Michael Wright, Student, Brimley
MINNESOTA
Joseph P. Hines, Class C, Minneapolis
NEW JERSEY
Benoit Beaulne, Student, New Brunswick
NEW YORK
Gary Byrne, Class C, Southampton
Jarrod M. Shirley, Class C, Southampton
NORTH CAROLINA
Donald W. Caudle Jr., Class C, New Bern
Christopher M. Shepard, Supt. Mbr., Vass
NORTH DAKOTA
Andrew Schmidt, Class C, Medora
OHIO
Jeff M. Boll, Class C, New Albany
Tyler Graf, Class C, Beachwood
Shane L. Uber, Class C, Canton
PENNSYLVANIA
Matthew T. Lawrence, Student, State
College
RHODE ISLAND
Nathaniel Mitkowski, Educator, Kingston
SOUTH CAROLINA
Jonathan Hammonds, Class C, North
Myrtle Beach
SOUTH DAKOTA
Casey Eggleston, Class C, Spearfsh
TEXAS
Jesus Polio, Class C, Houston
VIRGINIA
Willie M. Cooper, Supt. Mbr., Chesapeake
WISCONSIN
Adam A. Ayers, Class C, North Lake
James E. Cavezza, Supt. Mbr., Wisconsin
Dells
Brian T. Opheim, Class C, Kohler
Lance A. Wagner, Class C, Oregon
AUSTRALIA
Shane Baker, ISM, Roleystone
CANADA
Jeremy Geer, ISM, Mactier, Ontario
Kendra A. Kiss, Associate, Aurora,
Ontario
Steven A. Masaro, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
William Matthews, ISM, Stevensville,
Ontario
Mike Young, Student, Orangeville, Ontario
Kevin J. Nieuwland, ISM, Port Colborne,
Ontario
David Vellinga, ISM, Blenheim, Ontario
SINGAPORE
Ismail Mohamed Taha, ISM, Singapore
NEWLY CERTIFIEDErik Guinther, CGCS, Roaring Cap Club,
Roaring Gap, N.C.
S. Matthew Wharton, CGCS, Carolina
Golf Club, Charlotte, N.C.
ON THE MOVEARIZONA
Richard M. Donaldson, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Vista Mar Golf and Beach Resort,
is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Desert Mountain
Club-Renegade Course in Scottsdale.
Brian R. Nelson, formerly (C) at Oro
Valley Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at General William Blanchard Golf Course
in Tucson.
Steve C. Patterson, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Big Island Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Encanto Golf Course in Phoenix.
John M. Pollok, formerly (AA) at JP’s
Consulting, is now (AA) at Ewing Irrigation
Products Inc. in Phoenix.
CALIFORNIA
Matthew T. Dachowski, formerly (C)
at The Los Angeles Country Club, is
now (Supt. Mbr.) at North Course at Los
Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles.
Cory A. Fadenrecht, formerly (S) at
Oregon State University, is now (C) at
Bermuda Dunes Country Club in Indio.
Dave Sheldon, formerly (C) at Windsor
Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Adobe
Creek Golf Club in Petaluma.
Frank L. Tedescucci III, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at Coto De Caza Golf & Racquet
Club, is now (A) at Aliso Viejo Golf Club in
Laguna Woods.
FLORIDA
Scott E. Dulina, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Hunters Run, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at The
Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood.
James B. Miller, formerly (A-RT) at
Aerifcation Plus Inc., is now (A-RT) at
West Coast Turf Inc. in Punta Gorda.
Cale W. Priddy, formerly (C) at Old
Edwards Club LLC, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
GEORGIA
Jacob N. Darr, formerly (C) at Twin
Eagles Club, is now (C) at Druid Hills Golf
Club in Atlanta.
Zackary B. Fletcher, formerly (C) at Glen
Arven Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Griffn Bell Golf Links in Americus.
IDAHO
Matthew C. Nelson, formerly (AF) at
Grigg Bros./BRANDT, is now (AF) at
Magic Valley Bentgrass in Filer.
ILLINOIS
Glenn K. Bereiter, CGCS, formerly (A) at
Aldeen Golf Club, is now (A) at Rockford
Park District in Rockford.
Scott B. Klingberg, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Golf Club of Illinois, is now (AS) at Elgin
Country Club in Elgin.
Daniel J. Laws, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Tamarack Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Cardinal Creek Golf Course in
Scott Air Force Base.
Cody L. Scott, formerly (C) at Howard
D. Kellogg Golf Course, is now (C) at Leo
Donovan Golf Course in Peoria.
Brian T. Yeager, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Lincoln Oaks, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete.
INDIANA
Nick R. Klinkhammer, formerly (AS) at
Augusta National Golf Club, is now (C) at
Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh.
KANSAS
Brien Agler, formerly (C) at The National
Golf Club of Kansas City, is now (C) at
Indian Hills Country Club in Prairie Village.
Christopher Benisch, formerly (C) at
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 105 6/17/14 2:35 PM
106 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Meadowbrook Golf & Country Club, is
now (Supt. Mbr.) at Meadowbrook Golf &
Country Club in Prairie Village.
KENTUCKY
Brannon J. Lillard, formerly (C) at Triple
Crown Country Club, is now (AS) at
Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
LOUISIANA
Michael R. Lefer, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Beau Chene Country Club, The Earnest
Corp, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Golden Nugget
Lake Charles in Lake Charles.
MARYLAND
H. Steven Evans, formerly (C) at
Hampshire Greens Golf Course, is now
(AS) at Norbeck Country Club in Rockville.
Adam S. Imirie, formerly (C) at
Worthington Manor Golf Club, is now (C) at
The Suburban Club in Pikesville.
MASSACHUSETTS
Donald J. D’Errico, formerly (A) at
Pleasant Valley Country Club, is now (A) at
Spring Valley Country Club in Sharon.
Patrick L. VanVleck, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Sandy Burr Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Maynard Country Club in Maynard.
MICHIGAN
Aaron Golowesky, formerly (C) at Oak
Pointe Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Oak Pointe Country Club in Brighton.
MINNESOTA
Brooks A. Ellingson, formerly (A) at
Albion Ridges Golf Course, is now (A) at
Timber Creek Golf Course in Watertown.
Anthony T. Sherman, formerly (C) at
Tournament Club of Iowa, is now (C) at
Willingers Golf Club in Northfield.
MISSOURI
Jared J. Brewster, formerly (C) at Calusa
Pines Golf Club, is now (C) at Bellerive
Country Club in St. Louis.
NEW JERSEY
Jason T. Cliver, formerly (C) at Deerwood
Country Club, is now (C) at Metedeconk
National Golf Club in Jackson.
Curtis T. Gandolfo, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Hamilton Farm Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at The Mattawang Golf Club in Belle
Mead.
Casey D. Holloway, formerly (C) at
Meadows Course at Fiddler’s Elbow
Country Club, is now (C) at Fiddler’s Elbow
Country Club in Far Hills.
Michael S. Wenning, formerly (C) at
Wild Turkey/Cascades Courses at Crystal
Springs Country Club, is now (C) at
Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Far Hills.
NORTH CAROLINA
Thomas C. Davis, formerly (C) at The
Landings Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Sapphire National Golf Club in Sapphire.
Ryan Golay, formerly (C) at TPC Potomac
at Avenel Farm, is now (C) at The
Hasentree Club in Wake Forest.
Steven W. Martin, CGCS, formerly (A) at
The Pearl Golf Links, is now (A) at Rivers
Edge Golf Club in Shallotte.
OHIO
Ian Schlather, formerly (C) at Elyria
Country Club, is now (C) at TPC Rivers
Bend in Maineville.
Gary F. Zagar, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Quail Hollow Resort & Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Briardale Greens Golf Club
in Euclid.
PENNSYLVANIA
Thomas P. Height, formerly (C) at Country
Club of Scranton, is now (A) at Pleasant
Valley Country Club in Connellsville.
Kurt Jensen, formerly (C) at Squires Golf
Club, is now (C) at Overbrook Golf Club in
Bryn Mawr.
Michael A. Kachurak, formerly (C) at
Merion Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Merion Golf Club in Ardmore.
Jon H. Schriner, formerly (A) at Briardale
Greens Golf Club, is now (A) at Butler’s
Golf Course Inc. in Buena Vista.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Scott M. Brown, formerly (C) at Surf Golf
& Beach Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Surf
Golf & Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach.
Daniel W. Woolley, formerly (S) at Horry-
Georgetown Tech College, is now (C) at
Myrtlewood Golf Club in Myrtle Beach.
TEXAS
Eric Bauer, formerly (A) at Club at Carlton
Woods, is now (A) at Bluejack National in
Montgomery.
Barry R. Carter, formerly (A) at
Meadowbrook Country Club, is now (A) at
Southern Hills Golf Club in Gladewater.
Jason F. Floyd, formerly (C) at Tascosa
Golf Club, is now (C) at Ross Rogers
Municipal Golf Course in Amarillo.
GOLD PARTNERS
PLATINUM PARTNERS
SILVER PARTNERS
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 106 6/17/14 2:35 PM
SILVER PARTNERS
SILVER PARTNER
Partner Recognition Program
Anywhere you see a beautiful golf course, there’s probably a PBI-Gordon product behind it.
With more than 65 years of experience and technical knowledge, and a proven line of pre- and
post-emergent herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, and other products,
PBI-Gordon is a leader in supporting golf course superintendents and their turf and ornamental
management needs.
Proven on golf courses worldwide, the PBI-Gordon roster of products includes Trimec® and Pro-
Form® herbicides, Zylam® insecticides, and specialty products such as Segway® Fungicide SC
for exceptional protection against Pythium damage.
Based in Kansas City, Mo., and in business since 1947, PBI-Gordon is 100% employee-owned.
For more information on PBI-Gordon or the company’s products, visit PBIGordon.com or call
800.821.7925.
Since 1933, Rain Bird has focused on developing products, services and technologies that
promote the effcient irrigation of the world’s crops, landscapes and green spaces. As the need to
use water intelligently continues to grow, so does our commitment to the golf course maintenance
industry.
Through initiatives and sponsorships with like-minded organizations such as the GCSAA, we
advance state-of-the-art methods to promote responsible and effective outdoor water use with the
goal to help strengthen the golf course maintenance industry and the game of golf as a whole. To
learn more, visit www.rainbird.com.
100-108_July14_Departments.indd 107 6/17/14 3:01 PM
108 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
Raymond T. Poskey, formerly (C)
at Traditions Golf Club, is now (C) at
Grapevine Golf Course in Grapevine.
John B. Wyne, formerly (C) at Bridlewood
Golf Club, is now (C) at Buffalo Creek Golf
Club in Rockwall.
VIRGINIA
Mitchell R. Carlton, formerly (A) at
Crown Pointe Golf & Country Club, is now
(A) at The Carlton Club in Virginia Beach.
J. Greg Haley, formerly (I), is now (A) at
Mariner’s Landing Golf & Country Club in
Huddleston.
CANADA
Matthew Cimino, CGCS, formerly (A)
at Cimarron Hills Country Club, is now
(AF) at Petro-Canada Lubricants, Inc. in
Mississauga.
Steve C. Gruhl, formerly (ISM) at St.
Catharines G&CC, is now (ISM) at
Bellmere Winds Golf Club in Keene.
IN MEMORIAMCory J. Huskey, 25, died May 10,
2014. Mr. Huskey, a fve-year member
of GCSAA, was the superintendent at
Wendell (N.C.) Country Club. Previously,
he was the superintendent at Olde Liberty
Golf & Country Club. Mr. Huskey grew
up in Raleigh. He is survived by his wife,
Jessica Huskey; son, Jackson Haga;
parents, Gary and Debra Huskey; sister,
Gina (Ethan) Lester; niece, Meredith;
sister-in-law Jacqueline Graebner; and
many other family members and friends.
GCM (ISSN 0192-3048 [print]; ISSN 2157-3085 [online]) is published monthly by GCSAA Communications 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 GCSAA, 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, Law-rence, KS 66049. CANADA POST: Publications mail agreement No. 40030949. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 122, Niagara Falls, ONT L2E 6S8.
4 easy ways to subscribe
Name______________________________________________ Title _________________________________________________
Company/Club ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________City________________State_____Country_______Zip ___________
Phone _______________________________________________Fax ________________________________________________
(GCS) Golf Course Superintendent
(SUPT) Superintendent/Owner
(GCMD) GC Maintenance Dir.
(AGCS) Asst. Golf Course Super.
(EMPL) GC Maintenance Staff/Emp.
(OWNR) Club/Course Owner
(CP) Club President
(GC) Green Chairman
(GCM) Other Golf Course Management
(GREP) Golf Association Rep.
(CONS) GC Construction Ind. Rep.
(CREP) Company Representative
(INST) Educator/Extension Offcer
(S) Turfgrass Student
(RET) Retired
(UNEM) Unemployed
Offcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
PHONE: 800.472.7878
FAX: 785.832.3643
WEB: www.gcsaa.org
MAIL: 1421 Research Park Dr., Lawrence, KS 66029
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(REST) Resort Golf Course
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100-108_July14_Departments.indd 108 6/17/14 2:35 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 109
PLATINUM PARTNERS
John Deere Co. ................................................4-5 (800) 257-7797 .............www.johndeere.com/Golf
The Toro Co. .................................................. IFC-1 (888) 664-7489 ..........www.toro.com/leaderboard
GOLD PARTNERS
Jacobsen ...................................................31, 101 (800) 232-5907 ......................www.jacobsen.com
Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC ................. Cover 4 (909) 308-1633 ..................................................... www.syngentaprofessionalproducts.com
SILVER PARTNERS
The Andersons, Inc. .......................................... 11 (800) 253-5296 .............. www.AndersonsPro.com
Barenbrug USA .................................33, Cover Tip (800) 547-4101 ......................... www.barusa.com
Baroness ............................................................ 19 (707)283-0610 ............................ www.baroness.us
BASF ................................................................ 65 (888) 566-5506 .................www.betterturf.basf.us
Bayer Environmental Science ......................49, 69 (866) 550-8785 ..................................................... .......................... http://www.backedbybayer.com/golf-course-management
Civitas Fungicide (a.k.a.Petro Canada) .................. 53 .................................................www.civitasturf.com
Club Car ............................................................. 37 (800) 445-6680 ........................... www.clubcar.com
Cushman (a.k.a. E-Z-GO)..................................... 51 (800) 774-3946 ........................ www.cushman.com
FMC Professional Solutions .............................. 13 (800) 235-7368 .......... www.fmcprosolutions.com
Lebanon Turf .......................................... 14-15, 79 (800) 350-6650 ............... www.lebanonturf.com/
Par Aide Products Co. ......................................2-3 (888) 893-2433 ........................ www.paraide.com
PBI Gordon Corp. ............................................... 21 (800) 971-7233 .................... www.pbigordon.com
Precision Laboratories, Inc. .............................. 67 (800) 323-6280 .................www.precisionlab.com
Quali-Pro ............................................................ 35 (888) 584-6598 .........................www.quali-pro.com
Tee-2-Green Corp. ......................................... 42-43 (800) 547-0255 .................... www.tee-2-green.com
ADVERTISERS
AMVAC .............................................................. 77 (888) GO-AMVAC ........www.amvac-chemical.com
Aquatrols Corporation ....................................... 39 (800) 257-7797 ..................... www.aquatrols.com
BoardTronics...................................................... 6-7 (800) 782-9938 ............................boardtronics.com
Buffalo Turbine ............................................... 108 (716) 592-2700 ..............www.buffaloturbine.com
Central Garden and Pet ....................................... 61 (816) 221-9189 ............................www.central.com
Champion Turf Farms ......................................... 8-9 (888) 290-7377 ..........www.championturffarms.com
Commercial Turf & Tractor ................................. 111 (800) 748-7497 www.commercialturfandtractor.com
East Coast Sod & Seed ...................................... 111 (856) 769-9555 ...................www.eastcoastsod.com
Foley United ...................................................... 71 (800) 225-9810 .................. www.foleyunited.com
GCSAA Services ..................79, 87, 91, 95, 106-108 (800) 472-7878 ...............................www.gcsaa.org
GE Capital, Equipment Finance ............................ 23 (469) 586-2010 ..................www.gecapital.com/golf
Golf-Lift Div. Derek Weaver Co., Inc. ............... 109 (800) 788-9789 .........................www.golf-lift.com
Golf Preservations ............................................... 94 (606) 499-2732 .............www.golfpreservations.com
Gowan Company ............................................... 68 (800) 883-1844 ......................www.gowanco.com
GreensGroomer Worldwide, Inc. ........................ 41 (888) 298-8852 ext. 500 .................... http://www.greensgroomer.com/
Grigg Bros. ........................................................ 59 (888) 623-7285 .....................www.griggbros.com
Growth Products Ltd. ...................................... 73 (800) 648-7626 ...........www.growthproducts.com
Highspeed Group Ltd........................................... 54 ........................................... www.clearwatertv.co.uk
Jenlis Inc. ......................................................... 105 (877) 356-6455 .....................www.weedrazers.com
Koch Agronomic Services, LLC ......................... 25 (888) 547-4140 ......................... www.kasturf.com
Landmark Seed .................................................. 55 (800) 268-0180 ............www.turfandnativeseed.com
Linear Rubber Products ..................................... 111 (800) 558-4040 .....................www.rubbermats.com
Milorganite ........................................................ 98 (800) 287-9645 ..................... www.milorganite.com
Nufarm .............................................................. 95 (800) 345-3330 ..................... www.nufarm.com/US
Peat, Inc. .......................................................... 109 (800) 441-1880 ........................... www.peatinc.com
Penn State University .......................................... 63 (800) 2334973 ...............www.worldcampus.psu.edu
PlanetAir Turf Products ..................................... 27 (877) 800-8845 .........................www.planetair.biz
Plant Food Co. Inc. ............................................ 99 (800) 562-1291 ................. www.plantfoodco.com
Rogers Sprayers Inc. ......................................... 110 (888) 975-8294 ................www.rogerssprayers.com
Seago International, Inc. ................................. 110 (800) 780-9889 .....................www.seagousa.com
SGM Industries ................................................. 103 (630) 688-5192 ................. www.sgmindustries.com
Smithco, Inc. ................................................Cover 3 (877) 833-7648 .......................... www.smithco.com
Steven’s Water Monitoring ................................... 93 (215) 908-0044 ...................www.stevenswater.com
SubAir Inc. ...................................................... 111 (800) 441-1880 .............www.subairsystems.com
TRIMS Software International Inc. .................. 110 (800) 608-7467 ............................www.trims.com
Trojan Battery Company ...................................... 29 (800) 423-6569 . www.trojanbattery.com/competition
Turf Screen ......................................................... 47 (267) 246-8654 ....................... www.turfmaxllc.com
Underhill ............................................... 17, Insert (800) 328-3986 ......................... www.underhill.us
Wiedenmann North America ............................. 75 (866) 790-3004 .........www.wiedenmannusa.com
* Denotes regional advertisement
Bold denotes affliate member
ADVERTISING INDEX & MARKETPLACE
109-111_July14_indexmarketplace.indd 109 6/17/14 3:35 PM
110 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 07.14
109-111_July14_indexmarketplace.indd 110 6/17/14 2:36 PM
07.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 111
EAST COAST SOD & SEED596 Pointers Auburn Road • Pilesgrove, NJ 08098
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109-111_July14_indexmarketplace.indd 111 6/18/14 8:21 AM
Ph
oto
gra
ph
er C
ody Beckley •
Title G
olf course superintendent • C
ou
rse N
utters Crossing G
olf Course, S
alisbury, Md. •
GC
SA
A m
em
bersh
ip Three-year m
ember •
Th
e sh
ot A
lthough Beckley oversees
maintenance at N
utters Crossing, this photo features the seventh hole at Eagle’s Landing G
olf Course in B
erlin, Md., just outside of O
cean City. B
eckley captured the shot during the April m
eeting of the Eastern
Shore A
ssociation of GC
S, w
hich was held at the club, and John K
aminski, P
h.D., from
Penn S
tate provided Beckley w
ith assistance in the photo editing process. • C
am
era
Canon EO
S R
ebel SL1
Do you have a photograph that you’d like the G
CM
staff to consider for The Final Shot? You can subm
it photos for consideration by e-mail to thefnalshot@
gcsaa.org or to GC
M editor-in-chief S
cott Hollister at shollister@
gcsaa.org.
112_July14_Final shot.indd 112 6/17/14 2:37 PM
Make your own environmental impact.
Sustainability begins with you. Operation Pollinator is a way to beautify
your course and provide pollinating insects the habitat they need to
thrive. Syngenta provides over ten years of expertise in developing
pollinator friendly plots, as well as communication tools to promote the
positive environmental benefi ts of Operation Pollinator to golfers and
local communities. To see how your course can benefi t from a sound
ecological initiative, visit greencastonline.com/operationpollinator
#OperationPollinator
© 2014 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions before buying or using Syngenta products. The label contains
important conditions of sale, including limitations of warranty and remedy. All products may not be registered for sale or use in all states.
Please check with your state or local extension service before buying or using Syngenta products. The Alliance Frame, the Purpose Icon and
the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Syngenta Customer Center: 1-866-SYNGENT(A) (796-4368). MW 1LGG4029-P1 6/14
C2-C4_July14_ads.indd 4 6/17/14 1:36 PM
Ken Brunermer, superintendent at Montour
Heights Country Club and a member of the Greater
Pittsburgh Golf Course Superintendents Association,
entered the golf business nearly 30 years ago as
an assistant superintendent at a public golf course.
We asked Ken to share with us some of the insights
he’s gained in his role as a superintendent, and his
approach to maintaining exceptional fairways.
Insights on Fairway Maintenance
Untitled-1.indd 1 6/18/14 8:34 AM
Untitled-1.indd 2 6/18/14 8:35 AM
Q – What has been your most challenging fairway
disease or pest to treat?
Dollar spot is a nagging issue – it can be controlled,
but it is expensive. We’ve found that it’s better to be on
a strong preventive program, rather than try to stretch
applications and risk a hard-to-control outbreak. So we
apply every other week, or at least every third week.
Q – What are some solutions that have helped you
achieve healthy turf at your course, and what results
have you experienced?
Signature StressGard™ is part of our greens program
– we use it every other week through summer on
our putting greens, and we apply Tartan® every other
month on our putting greens. We’ve used Bayer
StressGard products for at least eleven years now
because they consistently work for us. You can see
when your turf is under stress, and we notice a visible
improvement in turf health within a couple days of
using Signature.
Q – Why do you feel it so important to maintain
beautiful fairways, and how do you feel your fairway
maintenance helps contribute to a strong business
and happy golfers at your course?
When managing greens and fairways, you have to
have balance. You can’t have one without the other. At
any good club golfers expect great greens, tees and
fairways. The greens require the most work to achieve
the level of perfection golfers expect.
But we do whatever it takes to make the fairways look
great because they’re a big part of the picture. They’re
definitely all important parts of the golf experience.
Q – What has been your biggest challenge while
managing Montour Heights’ grounds? How do you
overcome this challenge?
People – We are lucky to have great people at Montour
Heights, but managing a crew, members – and keeping
everyone happy – that takes practice. You feel kind of
like the middleman. Members – I email our members
whenever there’s something important to share. We try
to keep people informed without over-communicating
things like routine maintenance, so members know
we value their time. We keep things short, direct and
to the point. Crew – My crew has been with me for a
long time, so fortunately training is no longer an issue.
It has taken a long time to get to that point, though.
When I first started at Montour Heights, the crew
didn’t know me, and I didn’t know them. It was very
challenging to build that trust and understanding of
expectations.
“We’ve used Bayer StressGard™
products for at least eleven years
now because they consistently
work for us.”
Untitled-1.indd 3 6/18/14 8:35 AM
Q – What should we know about your course that we
don’t know already?
It was once an estate owned by a former club
president. When he passed away, the club acquired
the house and surrounding grounds, turned it into a
new clubhouse and had an 18-hole course built on its
grounds. The full-time estate keeper who operated the
grounds donated all proceeds to charity. They also set
up a trust for all employees to ensure they were paid
until they died.
Q – At the end of the day, what are you most proud
of managing a course like Montour Heights?
Being a superintendent is very rewarding because my
work is right in front of me for everyone to see. When
I arrive in the morning and everything is nice, and the
grass looks beautiful, it’s a great feeling. It’s like having
a 240-acre garden – when it is all looking pretty, that’s
very rewarding.
Fun Facts
Who would be your dream guest to golf at Montour
Heights Country Club?
Arnold Palmer
If you could go golfing with one person, who would
you go with and why?
Arnold Palmer, because Arnie is one of the reasons that
golf is as popular as it is, and he’s just a very classy
individual. From all the stories I’ve heard about him
over the years, he’s a very humble man and an all-
around good guy.
Where are three places you would like to visit and
check off your bucket list?
Banff National Park in Canada, Alaska and Costa Rica
What is one thing about you that might surprise
people?
My wife and I are starting to raise chickens and cattle
now. We live on a 90-acre property because we enjoy
farming and managing the land.
Finish this statement. When I’m not at the golf
course I’m:
Working! My wife has a landscaping business, so I help
her with that, and we also manage our own property.
I feel landscaping has taught me how to be a better
superintendent, especially in terms of attention to
detail.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I like to fish – I just don’t get much time to do it!
Bayer CropScience LP, Environmental Science Division, 2 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
1-800-331-2867. www.BackedbyBayer.com. Bayer(reg’d), the Bayer Cross (reg’d), StressGard™ and Tartan® are
trademarks of Bayer. Not all products are registered in all states. Always read and follow label directions.
©2014 Bayer CropScience LP.
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