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Ondo’s neighbor to the north, StuartLeventhal at the Interlachen C.C. is a study in contrastas the private-club members want fast greens.Leventhal said whenever discussing greens manage-ment, the first thing that needs to be mentioned is theage and type of grass so everything can be put in theproper context. Interlachen’s greens are seven-year oldTifdwarf greens. The course opened in 1975 so these

are second- or third-generation greens. Leventhal hasbeen there since 1985. He currently has a chippinggreen planted in TifEagle for the members to evaluatea potential conversion to an ultradwarf surface in thefuture.

Leventhal’s members aren’t as much con-cerned with green color as they are with smooth, fastputting surfaces, so his mandate is to keep them quickwhile also keeping them healthy. Like all good super-intendents who have to keep their greens near theedge, Leventhal keeps an eye on the weather andadjusts his routines as needed so as not to intentionallystress the grass.

With an average height of cut near .100inch that means really paying attention to what’s goingon. The height is lowered to .09 inch for special tourna-ment conditions and don’t stay there more than a fewdays. With low mowing heights, any aggressive groom-ing or verticutting practices are limited to the activegrowing season and taper off in the cool months.

During the warm months, vertigroomersand brushes help stand up the grass for a clean cut toproduce the needed speed. Leventhal’s number-onetool for speed management is to double cut the greens.He finds that’s the most effective and least stressfulway to affect speed. A typical tournament greenspreparation might be to double cut with triplex mow-ers followed by double-cutting with walking mowerswith brushes followed by single- or double-rollingwith triplex rollers. Yes, they are quick, but that fits the

membership’s desires.Leventhal used to believe in the lean-

and-mean school of fertility to get faster greensusing only 6-8 pounds of Nitrogen per year, but hefound he was battling too much turf stress and so hehas upped his totals to 10-12 pounds of N per yearand now grooms a much healthier surface for speedcontrol. A typical program during warm season

might be .5 - .75 lb. N/1000 sq. ft. every two orthree weeks in a granular fertilizer. During coolerweather the program shifts to more foliar feedingwith .1 lb. N/1000 sq. ft. in alternating blends of 20-20-20, iron, and a minor nutrient package.

Leventhal has also gotten away from theold aggressive Mat-Away verticutting practice andshifted to a schedule of more frequent but light verti-cutting, vertigrooming and topdressing cycles two orthree times a month, depending on conditions.Aerification is accomplished by using deep tines inthe spring and quadra-tines in the fall. A Sisis slicer isalso used in the summer during the rainy season tohelp the greens dry out.

I haven’t been ignoring putting greenmanagement on the new ultradwarf grasses, but themore I listen, the more obvious it becomes that thebook on these new varieties is still a work in progress.The early fears were that these aggressive thatch pro-ducers would require drastic measures to keep the bio-mass manageable. After some preliminary assaultswith severe deep verticutting, people like Matt Taylorgrowing Champion at Bonita Bay East and now RoyalPoinciana found that a regimen of lighter but more fre-quent verticutting did quite well. The key is always towatch out for the weather and don’t stress the plantwhen it doesn’t have good growing conditions torecover. That means getting the most aggressive man-agement practices done as early in the spring as possi-ble. Late summer’s tropical-storm season can be very

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No one ever accused golfers of being rationalor prudent. They can be brutal when theecosystem of a putting surface gets out ofwhack and poor playing conditions manifestthemselves.

stressful on the greens without the added injury of ver-ticutting.

Bob Randquist, CGCS at the Boca RioC.C. told me at the GCSAA conference in Atlanta thatlearning a new management program to deal withconverting from Tifdwarf to TifEagle can be made alittle easier by taking the GCSAA ManagingUltradwarf Greens seminar presented by Drs. JohnCisar of Florida and Dave Kopek of Arizona State.Randquist said the seminar helped to speed up hislearning curve and avoid a lot of problems.

One of the suggestions from the seminarwas to remove every other blade from your verticutreels and go two ways on the green. The stolons are sothick in the ultradwarfs that a standard verticuttersetup is essentially doing a severe scalp job on thestolons instead of a therapeutic thinning.

Also because of the feared thatch buildup, the initial fertility programs tended to be of thelean-and-mean school and, just as Leventhal found outon his greens, it’s better to work with a healthy turfplant than one that is anemic. That’s especially true ifyou are going to stress it with some low cuts for spe-cial events.

Because to the dense growth habit of theultradwarf varieties, foliar feeding is the most effectiveand popular means of supplying nutrients. Granularblends are still used, but are more effective when theturf has been opened up by verticutting and aerifica-tion. Sometimes even water penetration can be a prob-lem on the tight turf, so regular spiking is anotherpractice that has proven to be effective.

Perhaps an even more basic concept whendiscussing ultradwarf putting surfaces is undulationsand surface contours. If you have greens with severehumps and bumps and your club is on a fast track tore-grass with an ultradwarf, take five minutes and con-sider your new mowing heights. The 1/8-inch-and-lower effective cutting heights cannot be achievedpractically on severely sloping greens without scalp-ing. It may take more than just cutting off the old turfwith a sod cutter and throwing down the new sprigs.Golf course designers have to modify their putting sur-faces to accommodate these new parameters.

When it comes to tackling puttinggreen management, don’t ever forget your great-est source of information - your fellow superin-tendent who may have already broken the trailyou are now following.

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H A N D S O N

‘JUNIOR TIPS’

Photo Gallery Part 2

Working at the Car WashWant to make cleaning golf course equipment a lit-tle more fun for the staff? We all know the sizableinvestment that is made on golf course equipmentthese days as well as the value in keeping theequipment clean and in good working order. AtLimestone Springs in Alabama a mini car washwas installed in the wash down area. The cleaners,wax and distribution equipment is located on aninside wall with the selector switch and overheadspray boom attached to the same wall on the out-side of the structure.

Where’s My Tool Dude?Looking for a tool but not sure where you or someone else last placed it? At Rio Mar in Puerto Rico a cabi-net housing commonly used tools was labeled with pictures to provide an individual with a fool proofreminder of where a tool SHOULD be returned when it’s not in use.

Darren J. Davis

Here’s Part Two of my Junior Tips,which we began in the Winter issue. They don’tneed a lot of explanation, just imagination, and awillingness to innovate and try new ideas that mightsave some time and money.

Photos by Darren Davis.

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By Don Benham

What is the old saying? I’ve got goodnews and I’ve got bad news, which do you want first?Let’s start with bad news.

Several newspapers in the state have start-ed their annual attack on golf courses and chemicaluse again. The articles generally quote somebody whomakes scientific-sounding comments that are based onopinions.

In Manatee County the school board hasdecided to buy some land from the University ofFlorida to build a new high school. The land they are

buying is part of the univer-sity’s agricultural station onState Road 70. The newspa-per has written several arti-cles saying how deadly theland is. Here are a fewquotes from articles submit-ted to the paper. “To usepesticide applications onneighbors’yards or nearbygolf courses are chemicalattacks - surely not as severeas terrorists but chemicalattacks nonetheless. Everyday is code red to us.”

The last time Iheard this particular lady

speak was at a department of health meeting inOrlando where she had also said, “Golf courses aretoxic holding ponds waiting to poison us.” Many timesthe same people are quoted all across the state pushingtheir agenda to stop all chemical pesticide, herbicide,insecticide and fungicide applications.

There is a direct tie-in here to scare peopleinto passing local ordinances that these items are inour drinking water and the ground children play on,and the real culprits are golf courses.

Enough of the bad news. What is thegood news?

The Palm Beach Post, which has beenvery critical of golf courses, published a great articleon golf courses and the difficulty of growing grassesthis winter. They quoted John Foy and several golfcourse superintendents, including Mike Ballard atAbacoa Golf Course, Ray Kimberly at West PalmBeach Country Club and Mark Jarrell at Palm BeachNational. I know that after the negative publicity twoyears ago, Mark Jarrell has been in contact with thepaper to urge more balanced articles. His direct con-tact I feel has changed the way the paper reports aboutgolf.

If your local paper writes something verynegative that is not true, take the time to meet thereporter. Not to beat on him, but to provide him with

facts. For example, how much water do we actuallyuse? We are seen as heavy water users. You can createyour own grassroots support and become one of thepeople contacted before they actually publish an arti-cle.

More Good news. I attended a TreasureCoast GCSA meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at PortSt. Lucie. The meeting started at 4 p.m. and had agreat agenda. Opening speaker was Kurt Kuebler,immediate past president of the Florida ClubManagers Association.

Kuebler is the general manager ofLoxahatchee Club in Jupiter. He spoke on employeerelations and methods to improve them. The club evenhas a scholarship fund for children of employees andis funded by members. He conducts weekly meetingswith department heads, so all departments could sharewhat was happening that week. He praised MarkHeater, the golf superintendent, for his leadership abil-ity. Kuebler was an excellent speaker and gave at least15 workable suggestions.

John Foy spoke not only on the weatherbut, on losing some chemicals and cautions us on howto use MSMA. He said methyl bromide will probablybe available past 2005, which was good news. Heclassified nematodes today as our number-one pestproblem.

National Golf Foundation’s Barry Frankgave an overview of where golf was heading in num-ber of rounds played and courses under construction.

McGladrey and Pullen CPA firm talkedon how accounting decisions affect course superin-tendents also. For example to buy or lease equipmentthey passed out a complete booklet on trends of pri-vate golf clubs including average cost per hole formaintenance broken down by region. It includes agood checklist for superintendents.

This program was put together by KevinDowning and I would highly recommend it to allchapters. The good news is how good the programwas and the idea of putting it on at 4:00 PM in theafternoon. The bad news is it was under-attended.

(Editor’s note: The Palm Beach Post also recently ranarticles on the Audubon ACSP Workshops and the

results of the Florida Golf Economic Impact Study.)

For information about the author, see inside cover.

Harrell’s Founder LosesLengthy Battle withCancer at 74

Harrell’s, Inc. Chairman of the Board JackR. Harrell, Sr., 74 diedMarch 28 in Lakeland fol-lowing a lengthy battle withcancer.

Harrell spentmore than 50 years servingthe turf and ornamentalindustry. His work beganwhen his parents purchased afeed store in 1941 in down-town Lakeland. That locationserved local farm and ranch

customers in greater Lakeland for many years. Harrellwas thrust into leadership of the business following hisfather’s sudden death in 1964. The company soonexpanded by adding five retail locations across westcentral Florida. The focus of the business during the 60sand 70s was lawn and garden supplies.

Harrell then directed the company into the

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Don Benham

BENHAM’SBEAT

Good News -Bad News

In Memoriam

A Bull Gator in God’s GardenAn obituary elsewhere in this issue will

tell you the facts of the life and passing of Jack R.Harrell, Sr., but it cannot begin to tell the story of whatJack meant to the industry and to so many individualsin the business. I cannot speak for all of them. I canonly tell my story.

When I left Disney in 1988 for a briefbout with bentgrass at the Isleworth G&CC, it wasthen I got to know and appreciate Jack Harrell as asupplier, a man and a friend. The fact that Jack men-tored me as I battled bentgrass in Central Florida willnot come as a surprise to many long-time superintend-ents in Florida. His helping hand has lifted many of usout of the doldrums of despair and confusion, andguided us along the path to success.

Mr. Harrell knew his own products. Hefiddled around with them on his home bermudagrasslawn, so he could discuss the successes and limitationsof each product. It was practical, cracker-barrel agron-omy at its finest, and it was free for the asking. Weasked often.

The most honest and truthful sentiment Ican offer is the warm feeling and sense of ease thatwould come over a person when they engaged Mr.Harrell in conversation, whether it was business orpersonal. To me he had the charisma of an ArnoldPalmer. He was someone who made you feel specialand important in that moment.

I couldn’t tell you about his businesssavvy in the terms of bean counters and annualreports. All indications were that he was a shrewd andinfinitely honest businessman. He would never fail tothank you and tell you he appreciated you and not justyour business. All I know as a customer is that theservice and support provided by him personally or byhis representatives was always superior and customerloyalty ran both ways.

The industry has been made much betterbecause of him. The Harrell’s Turf Academy is analmost-unprecedented event, where the company literal-ly pays for your education, entertainment and meals fortwo days each year. His sponsorship of turf causes andevents was always generous. He touched so many of usalong his life’s journey, that he earned the greatest richesof a lifetime - the love and respect of his fellow man.

Today I am sad at losing my friend and agreat mentor in our business, but I am heartened toknow that Mr. Harrell has been able to lay down theburden of his illness. And I can see the twinkle in hiseye as the old Bull Gator takes a place of honor inGod’s garden in paradise.

Joel JacksonMarch 28, 2003

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specialty turf and ornamental market, beginning in theearly 1980s. He oversaw construction of the compa-ny’s first manufacturing plant and distribution center,which began operating in Lakeland in 1984. Throughhis initiative as chairman of the board, Harrell’s hasgrown to be a recognized industry leader, serving turfcustomers across the Southeast and around the world.Harrell’s serves the ornamental marketplace in allregions east of the Rocky Mountains. Manufacturingplants are now located in Alabama and South Carolinain addition to the corporate headquarters in Florida.

Known for his integrity and for his deepconcern for people, Harrell was often consulted byindustry associates throughout his home state.Superintendents would often request Harrell’s assis-tance and advice regarding challenges faced on theirgolf courses. He received the Florida turf industry’shighest honor in 1999 when he was awarded the pres-tigious Wreath of Grass Award. He also received theLarry Kamphaus Award in 2001, presented by theCentral Florida Golf Course SuperintendentsAssociation.

Aside from work, Harrell’s interestsincluded golf, aviation, Lakeland High School andUniversity of Florida athletics, teaching SundaySchool, keeping up with his active 93-year-old motherand following the exploits of his large family.

He was a member of Lone Palm GolfClub in Lakeland and Black Diamond Golf &Country Club in Lecanto, Fla. He was a charter mem-ber and deacon of Lakeside Baptist Church in

Lakeland, where he taught a men’s Sunday Schoolclass for more than 40 years. He was a member of theLakeland High School Century Club and was a BullGator at the University of Florida. He is a formerchairman of the board of Lakeland Regional MedicalCenter and was a member of the Sixth Man Club atFlorida Southern College.

Jack Harrell, Sr. is survived by his wife of48 years, Norma; his mother, Lucile, Lakeland; by hissons, Jack, Jr., Lakeland, president and CEO ofHarrell’s; Fred, San Francisco, Cal.; daughters SusieWilson, Lakeland, and Mary Lu Strawbridge, Ocala;and by 14 grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may bemade to Lakeland Christian School, 1111 Forest ParkStreet, Lakeland, FL 33803 or to Redeemer ChristianSchool, 155 SW 87th Place, Ocala, FL 34476.

GCSAA ReportGCSAA Considers Relocation to SunbeltCities... or Not

At its December planning meeting, theGCSAA board of directors engaged Chicago-basedFPL Associates to narrow the study of the associa-tion’s potential future headquarters location to threecommunities: Phoenix, Orlando and Jacksonville. Inaddition, the board reaffirmed the possibility ofGCSAA remaining in Lawrence, Kan.

During the weeks of Jan. 13 and 20, prin-cipals of the search firm visited Orlando andJacksonville to ascertain what opportunities exist forrelocation. The consultant’s report was provided to theboard at the pre-conference board meeting, Feb. 6-7 inHilton Head, S.C.

Prior to the GCSAA Annual Meeting, atown hall meeting was conducted Feb. 13 at the con-ference and show to answer questions and discussissues regarding the relocation feasibility study. Basedon the feedback from the meeting, the board of direc-tors decided to remove from the ballot the amendmentintended to allow the board to select a headquarterslocation on behalf of the membership.

In a press conference Mike Wallace, JonMaddern and Steve Mona pledged to make sure themembers would have access to all the informationregarding any possible relocation attempt, and play akey role in making the decision. Citing the input andeducation behind the PDI implementation, theGCSAA leadership promised a similar approach tothe relocation discussion. The topic had been awkwardto deal with and needed to be made public becauseeveryone is very sensitive to the impact on theGCSAA staff.

Norman Supports Foundation If past performance is an indication of

future results, then The Environmental Institutefor Golf should yield significant achievementsgiven its association with professional golfer and

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