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P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T

3 2 T H E F L O R I D A G R E E N

What is the reasoning behind such arequirement?

Golf course superintendentsare truly stewards of the environment,but it often takes more than just “walk-ing the walk and talking the talk” toconvince others outside the golf-course-management industry.

The easiest and most highlyrecognized way to validate your com-mitment to the environment is throughthe possession of a pesticide license.While not every golf course superin-tendent applies chemicals, it was agreedthat all Class A members should have abasic understanding of the conceptsrelated to safe pesticide application,handling and storage.

Remember, to enter your pes-ticide license information, please accessan affidavit through “My MemberCentral” on the GCSAA web site orrequest an affidavit by calling GCSAA’sFax-On-Demand at 888-838-4419.

If you do not currently pos-sess a pesticide license and would prefer

to take GCSAA’s IPM exam, you havethe ability to schedule an exam onceagain by going to “My MemberCentral” or by calling the Fax-On-Demand number listed above.

IF I MISS THE DEADLINE?It is July 1, 2006 and I have

failed to fulfill the requirements forClass A renewal!

You have had three years toaccumulate and record the three points(minimum of 1.2 education points), aswell as meet the pesticide requirement,but have been unable and/or unwillingto do so. What is going to happen toyour GCSAA membership?

Complying with the ongoingrequirements adopted with the imple-mentation of the ProfessionalDevelopment Initiative is purely volun-tary. Your membership in GCSAA isnot at risk; however, your ability tomaintain your Class A status in GCSAAis.

If you fail to earn a total of

three points (1.2 must be educationpoints) and/or fail to meet the pesticiderequirement, you will be reclassified toSuperintendent Member status on July1, 2006. In order to regain your Class Astatus, you will be required to meet theoriginal requirements plus you will berequired to accumulate an additionalfive points (2.0 must be educationpoints). That means that instead ofneeding three points to maintain yourClass A, you now need a total of eightpoints (3.2 must be education points)in order to regain your Class A status.Remember, as a SuperintendentMember of GCSAA, you still have allthe rights and privileges of the associa-tion, with the exception of holdingoffice.

If you have any questions con-cerning your Class A status, please con-tact R. Scott Woodhead, SeniorManager of Governance and MemberStandards at 800-472-7878 ext. 4418 orStacie Adams, Membership/PDICoordinator at extension 3687.

H A N D S O N

3 4 T H E F L O R I D A G R E E N

The Role of theSecond AssistantBy Joel Jackson, CGCS

Perhaps the title of this issue’sHands On topic may have seemed a bitlimiting since many courses don’t havesecond Assistants and, in manyinstances, may not even have one assis-tant. But every course has a number-one or number-two “go-to” guy or galwhom the superintendent turns to runthe show when he or she is away on abusiness trip or a much-needed vaca-tion.

Sometimes it’s someone to bein charge while the superintendent is ina club meeting, or someone to lead asmall project crew or to be the follow-up person during the morning prepara-tions and set up of the golf course.

When there are first and sec-ond assistants, they often serve double-duty as crew leaders and supervisors inaddition to performing pest-controland irrigation-technician duties. In lesscommon cases, some equipment man-agers serve as “assistants” to oversee thecrew when the superintendent is gone.

During my days at WaltDisney World, we didn’t have anyonewith the title of assistant superintend-ent, but we did have a position called a“lead groundskeeper.” Over time,besides leading several crew membersin the usual multi-person activities likeroutine bunker- or cart-path-edgingassignments or perhaps a seasonalgreens renovation or sod project, theyalso began making out daily schedulesfor the routine jobs.

The pest control and irriga-tion technician’s work was coordinatedand assigned by the superintendentsdirectly.

You often hear people say thatthe crew is the most important asset ofthe maintenance department, and it’strue. It doesn’t matter how big thebudget or elaborate the facility. You canbuild the biggest and best golf course inthe world, but it takes people to make itwork. A few of your fellow superin-

tendents chipped in to share the dutiesand responsibilities of their secondassistants.

JOHN’S ISLAND CLUB

John’s Island Club has onlyone second assistant superintendent onour three courses and that individual isstationed at our West Course. The needarose when our practice facilities wereexpanded and staffing levels wereraised.

The second assistant is incharge of the practice areas. We have afour-acre short-game facility that con-sists of three greens and eight bunkers,a driving range with a video buildingand two practice greens. The short-game greens, bunkers, fairway, roughsand divots must all be ready for open-

ing before the golfers arrive. The driv-ing range must be mowed and thebunkers must be raked. The job needsthe same detail as we put on the golfcourse, since many players just go tothe West course to use the practicefacilities and we must have the employ-ees to respond to the needs.

During the summer monthsthe second assistant is put in charge ofthe special projects. This gives the indi-vidual the opportunity to show moreinitiative to plan the day for a group ofemployees and then supervise the workand be responsible for the results.Through this leadership they have beenable to manage people of different abil-ities and to prioritize the steps involvedin the project.

The goal is to allow the secondassistant a chance to grow into the oleof a first assistant superintendent intwo years. We have been very successfulin the training process and the proof isthat, as I write this, we are currentlywithout a second assistant since he washired at another club as the first assis-tant.

Greg Pheneger, GCS

HOBE SOUND GCMike Kindrew is our second

assistant. His responsibilities includemaking the fertilizer applications to thegreens and performing most of theagronomic and cultural practices to theputting surfaces. He also is in charge ofmonitoring and operating the club-house and common area irrigation sys-tems. Mike also has strong carpenterskills and spearheads most of our proj-ects involving general building con-struction. This week Mike Francisco,my first assistant, is on vacation andMike steps in and assumes his duties,which gives him chance to take onmore responsibility of the total opera-tion.

Roy Mac Donald, GCS

GREY OAKS GCWe don’t have a position

called second Assistant. Our third per-son in charge has the title of crewleader.

Normally this person doesn’thave any academic turf managementeducation, but this individual has aconsiderable amount of practical expe-rience, around three to five years at ourcourse. They are able to accomplish alljob tasks and train others to performthese tasks. We prefer this person to bebilingual.

The crew leader can come inon weekends and get the crew startedand are able to recognize irrigationneeds and run the irrigation system ifnecessary.

This person needs to be a selfstarter and motivator and someonethat the staff will look up to andrespect. This person needs to be able tocommunicate with the entire staff.

Rick Tatum, GCS

During the summer

months the second

assistant is put in

charge of the special

projects. This gives the

individual the

opportunity to show

more initiative

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3 6 T H E F L O R I D A G R E E N

H A N D S O N / S U P E R T I P S

Place anInstantFlag!By Darren J. Davis

Like many Super Tips, I stum-bled upon the following idea while vis-iting one of my peers, Kyle Sweet at theSanctuary Golf Club on Sanibel Island.

I wanted to take photographsof the golf course to accompany anarticle I was writing. Since Sweet wasnearing the end of a complete golfcourse renovation, and the club wasclosed, I had a problem – there were nopins set in the greens!

I knew the challenge of find-ing photogenic pin locations and upuntil now I hadn’t developed a solutionother than to set a pin myself, or havean employee perform the task.

Fortunately, on this particular daySweet came to the rescue.

After explaining my predica-ment he said, “No worries, I can takecare of that.” I knew he was a nice guy,but I was a little surprised at how calmSweet appeared with my nuisanceproblem.

When he returned, he broughtwith him what appeared to be a regula-tion flagstick with an embroideredSanctuary logo flag attached. However,he didn’t have any of the necessarytools to set the pin. Sweet had taken asaw and cut the ferrule off the bottomof the flagstick so I could simply insertit into any green, wherever I wanted.

The tip worked beautifullyand from a distance you couldn’t tellthere was no cup set in the green.

When I finished the shoot andreconnected with Sweet to thank him, Icomplimented him on his resourceful-ness. Sweet quickly admitted that. likeme, he gained a lot of knowledge fromvisiting his peers and he would have togive credit where credit was due.

He said, “One day I was visitingmy good friend Bob Wagner at CoralCreek Club in Placida, and while tour-ing the golf course, Bob mentioned thatthe (Tom) Fazio group had been doing alot of photo shoots on his golf course.Bob added that one of the photogra-phers was very particular and continual-ly wanted the flags moved to differentlocations on the greens. So after movingthe pin several times with a cup-cutter,Bob realized there had to be an easierway to do this… which is when hethought of cutting off the ferrule.”

Sweet said that Wagner hadalso taken a double-sided logo flag andinstalled a thin piece of wire in theinterior of the flag. The idea was tobend or curl the wire so if there was nobreeze, the flag could be manually posi-tioned to see the logo. Or, if it was awindy day, the wire could be used tokeep the flag fixed in one location.

Sweet remarked, “In the past Ihad been faced with the same predica-ment as Bob, and although this ideawas so simple, it was one of thosethings that I had never thought of.” Headded, “I certainly can’t take the creditfor it, but I sure have used the tip!”Sweet said that he has used Wagner’sinnovation when taking personal pic-tures and when taking photographs forthe club newsletter.

By cutting the ferrule off the bottom of aflagstick, photographers can easily movethe pin wherever they want on a green.Photo by Darren Davis.

Did you ever hard-wire a flag? A thinwire can help position the logo for aphoto. Photo by Darren Davis.

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I N D U S T R Y N E W S

2005 USGA Regional Conference

More than 100Attend USGAConferenceBy Joel Jackson, CGCS

Attendance at the 2005 USGARegional Conference in Palm BeachGardens, like many other events, wasaffected by Hurricane Wilma, butnonetheless it was successful and edu-cational for 100-plus at the session

Longtime director ofSoutheast Regional Affairs, RogerHarvie, is retiring and Kathy Gordonhas taken his place at the Marietta, Ga.office. Harvie will be moving toFlorida, possibly to the Treasure Coast.

MORNING SESSION

Mr. Positivity, Tim Hiers,CGCS, discussed how turn your main-

tenance facility into an asset for crewmorale and course productivity. Youdon’t have to have a big budget to havea neat, clean and organized shop. A lit-tle pride and professionalism in themaintenance facility shows the crewthat you and the club care about them.It pays dividends.

Setting written maintenancestandards so a superintendent knowswhat the members want and expect interms of course conditioning is easierthan you think, according to Todd

Lowe, USGA agronomist who listedways for members to achieve consensuson priorities . With divergent opinionsamong committee members a superin-tendent must try to satisfy a wide rangeof expectations.

Pete Dye has said the threemost important aspects of golf coursedesign arre drainage, drainage, anddrainage. Pat O’Brian USGA agrono-mist from the Southeast Region recom-mended hiring professional drainageexperts to solve your problems. Newtechnology and methods can captureand move water more efficiently, and aprofessional will get results.

Bruce Adams from the SouthFlorida Water Management Districtdiscussed cooperative funding initia-tives for water conservation. To noone’s surprise, public consumption isthe number-one enemy in the much-ballyhooed water crisis. Adams saidmuch water could be saved simply byretrofitting high-rise condos to meetcurrent codes. He also said that, in a

From left: ToddLowe, USGAAgronomist andSuperintendents JohnCunningham andTim Hiers go overPower Point proce-dures at the USGARegional Conferenceheld in Palm BeachGardens. Photo byJoel Jackson.

Afternoon Sessionspeakers at theUSGA RegionalConference includedPat O'Brien, USGAAgonomist, LeeBloomcamp,Syngenta and JohnMascaro, Turf TecInternational.Photo by JoelJackson.

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recent survey of golf-course use, golfwas using two percent of the water inSWFWMD district.

Hopefully, Black DiamondRanch and Superintendent JohnCunningham, CGCS will be the cata-lyst to shed light on the subject ofshade on greens. The ancient battlebetween trees and turf took a positivestep when the owner and members ofBlack Diamond Ranch enacted a sun-light-enhancement program tht essen-tially mandates that all trees causingturf decline on the course shall beremoved. They have taken a stand thatthe turf is the most important aspecton a golf course. Hallelujah!

AFTERNOON SESSION

After lunch, Jim Leiseberg,regional agronomist for WCICommunities, said environmentallyresponsible development can be a def-inite asset to the local community. Hiscompany’s commitment extends fromthe design and operation of the golfcourses to the entire community plan.

John Foy, director of theUSGA Florida Region Green Sectiondiscussed winter annual weed control.He said new products have madechemical transition more of a realityfor those who don’t want MotherNature to pull any surprises.

Nozzle-type selection anddroplet patterns are just as importantas calibrating your spray equipment,according to Dr. Phil Harmon, plantpathologist with UF/IFAS.

Lee Bloomcamp fromSyngenta discussed rumor versus reali-ty in pesticide resistance. Rotatingchemicals is good policy, but plantsand pests don’t mutate at the drop of ahat. It takes the right combination ofevents for resistance to develop.

John Mascaro, president ofTurfTec International, has revived thefamous Mascaro Photo Quiz of hislate father, Tom. The Photo Quiz fea-ture, and old and new turf puzzles,appear regularly in Golf CourseManagement magazine. My favoritewas the mysterious circular thin spotsthe size of hoola hoops on sports turf.The answer? Cheerleader wear.

I N D U S T R Y N E W S

4 0 T H E F L O R I D A G R E E N

Membership IssuesDominate 2005Delegates Meeting

Membership issues dominatedthe discussions at GCSAA’s 13thChapter Delegates Meeting, Oct. 1–2 inKansas City.

Chaired by Vice PresidentSean A. Hoolehan, CGCS, the meetingprovided delegates updates on GCSAAprograms and policies, and solicitedinput on key issues relevant to the pro-fession, industry and the game.Attendees also heard presentationsfrom candidates for national officesthat will be filled by elections at the2006 annual meeting in Atlanta, Feb. 9.

MARKETING CLASS A AND CERTIFIED

Director Robert M. Randquist,CGCS, presented the next step in theassociation’s implementation of theProfessional Development Initiative —

executing a marketing plan for the vari-ous membership classes. The associa-tion will seek to position GCSAA mem-bers differently from nonmembers,Class A members apart fromSuperintendent members, and Certifiedmembers in a manner distinct fromnon-certified members. The goal is tocommunicate value in the marketplace,resulting in a stronger position (finan-cially, organizationally, and profession-ally) for GCSAA members.

DUES PRICING STRUCTURE

In a follow-up from the 2004delegates meeting, Secretary/TreasurerRicky D. Heine, CGCS, led discussionon a programmed dues-pricing struc-ture. Rather than levying 15-20 percentincreases periodically (approximatelyevery five years), the proposed concept isto implement a regular increase that istied to the consumer price index. Pastfeedback has supported such a modelbecause it is easier to budget and could

stem membership drops resulting fromperiodic large increases. This concept hasreceived support from various GCSAAcommittees. The delegates approvedcontinued discussion on this topic.

GROWTH AND RETENTION

Staff also unveiled a member-ship-growth and -retention program tocombat declining membership from22,000-plus in 2002 to about 20,500.

Membership numbers areimportant for many reasons. Dues rev-enue determins the extent of memberprograms and services. A growingmembership gives GCSAA a strongerposition strengthent the association’sability to advocate on behalf of itsmembers. Key to the strategy is focus-ing on value when communicatingwith employers and nonmembers.

PROMOTING DIVERSITY

In addition to growing themembership, the association has