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Golf Course Management Magazinewww.gcsaa.org • March 2014
Official Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
INSIDE: A new option for Southern superintendents PAGE 68
GCM
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, takes the reins as GCSAA’s 2014 president
PAGE 44
Avoiding résumé pitfalls 40
Tips for teeing grounds 58
Reducing brown ring patch on Poa 86
Leadingman
C1_March14.indd 1 2/25/14 1:30 PM
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Golf Course Management Magazinewww.gcsaa.org • March 2014
Offcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
INSIDE: A new option for Southern superintendents PAGE 68
GCMOfficial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
GCM
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, takes the reins as GCSAA’s 2014 president
PAGE 44
Avoiding résumé pitfalls 40
Tips for teeing grounds 58
Reducing brown ring patch on Poa 86
LeadingLeadingLeadingLeadingman
LeadingLeadingLeadingLeadingLeadingLeading
C1_March14.indd 1 2/25/14 1:30 PM
TIME ISN’T MONEY. PRODUCTIVITY IS.
It’s simple Turfonomics.
The challenge today isn’t simply to maintain a beautiful golf course. It’s to maintain it on a budget. To succeed, you need to work smarter, more effciently and more economically than ever before.
Chapter 2
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The challenge today isn’t simply to
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To succeed, you need to work
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Think people don’t notice the accessories?
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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
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10 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
44
58
68Carry onNew GCSAA President Keith A.
Ihms, CGCS, achieves the pin-
nacle of his profession despite
a void that makes the moment
bittersweet.
Howard Richman
Equal footingA golf course architect offers 12
teeing ground tips for super-
intendents, green committees,
women golfers and golf course
owners.
Kari Haug, MLA, EIGCA
It’s super zoysia!The products of years of turf-
grass breeding have replaced
creeping bentgrass at some
courses in the South, restoring
superintendents’ peace of mind.
Mark Leslie
• On the Cover: New GCSAA President Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, from the Country Club of Little Rock in Little Rock, Ark. The cover photo of Ihms
and the images that accompany Howard Richman’s profile of GCSAA’s 78th president were taken by Joel Schmidt.
010-015_March14_TOC.indd 10 2/18/14 1:40 PM
12 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
34ShopShop chemicals for the modern plastic worldScott R. Nesbitt
AdvocacyJourney begins in MinnesotaJack MacKenzie, CGCS
CareerRésumé pitfalls to avoidCarol D. Rau, PHR
EnvironmentWater-conscious and responsibleMark Johnson
INSIGHTS
Disease updatesReports of previously unknown diseases, sightings in areas where dis-eases have not been seen previously and other news of turfgrass diseases.
Reducing brown ring patch severity on Poa annua greensBrown ring patch is similar to other Rhizoctonia diseases, but does not react the same way to fungicides.Steven J. McDonald, M.S.
Richard Grala
Bruce B. Clarke, Ph.D.
78
RESEARCH
8695
Cutting EdgeTeresa Carson
36 4038
16 President’s message
18 Inside GCM
20 Front nine
30 Photo quiz
76 Up to speed
96 Product news
100 Industry news
106 Climbing the ladder
106 On course
107 Coming up
108 In the field
109 New members
112 Newly certified
113 On the move
115 In memoriam
120 Final shot
ETCETERA03.14
32TurfEvery breath you takeTeresa Carson
010-015_March14_TOC.indd 12 2/18/14 1:40 PM
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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
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
KARINCANDRL
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
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16 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Growing up in central Texas, benevolence and giving back were more than just occa-sional feel-good gestures. They were family traditions, as real as Sunday dinners and Texas A&M football.
Both my mother and my father were hard-working, focused individuals with little time for nonsense. Mom ran a tight ship around the house, while my dad was a sunup to sundown farmer. But despite the long hours they put in, they both always had time for their children and they always had time for helping out and giving back, whether on the local school board or through their church.
That ethos and that dedication to service defnitely rubbed off on me. When I took my frst head superintendent job at a course near Houston, one of the frst things I did was volunteer to serve in my local superintendent chapter. That continued throughout each of the stops I made on my career path, and ad-vanced to service at the national level with GCSAA. And as I begin my term as the asso-ciation’s 78th president, I am humbled by the trust that GCSAA’s membership has placed in me and I am dedicated to serving you with the same passion, focus and determination that I have tried to bring to all of my previous op-portunities to serve.
One of the most notable ways that I be-lieve I can serve GCSAA members as your 2014 president is by keeping the association on the same steady, positive path that I believe we have followed over the past several years. Those who have come before me have helped to assure that your association has successfully weathered tough times and economic chal-lenges while still keeping an eye on the future, and I fully intend to make sure we continue doing business in this manner.
To me, that means celebrating successes and doing our best to build upon them. Suc-cesses such as our feld staff program, which is now fully staffed with nine highly talented individuals spread across the country helping to facilitate better engagement between our affliated chapters and the national associa-tion. Keeping this program moving forward and identifying potential expansion in certain strategic parts of the country is defnitely one of my priorities in 2014.
Another success we all can take pride in is
the Rounds 4 Research program, which gen-erated nearly $150,000 last year for turfgrass research projects at the local and regional lev-els. Keeping this vital pipeline fowing and making sure those who beneft most from the program — our nation’s golfers — are aware of its impact are both goals that will have my undivided focus over the next 12 months.
I also believe that previous national boards of directors and other groups of member vol-unteers deserve considerable credit for their work on membership standards. The impact of that work can be seen every day across our industry, as superintendents receive better compensation and increased recognition for the role they play in the overall health and suc-cess of a golf facility.
As an offshoot of that work, we have been examining GCSAA’s membership classifca-tion structure — currently, there are 12 differ-ent classifcations of membership — and how we might simplify that for the beneft of both the member and the GCSAA staff. I feel this is an important initiative for the association, and I assure you it will be a key target for me throughout the coming year.
But individual points of emphasis will not be what drive me during my year as your president. Continued successes in these areas and many others are certainly satisfying, but it is my belief that a dedication to a broader focus, a dedication to always pursuing what is in the best interest of the GCSAA member, is a much nobler goal. We will experience our share of wins and losses in the coming year, but I am convinced that if everything we do centers upon what is best for our members, then my efforts in giving back to a profession and an association that I hold so dear will be well worth it.
Please know that I am always available to hear your thoughts, feedback and opin-ions about GCSAA’s products and services, so feel free to reach out to me at keith.ihms@ sbcglobal.net with any questions or concerns you might have.
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, is the director of grounds main-
tenance at the Country Club of Little Rock (Ark.) and a
33-year member of GCSAA.
Keith A. Ihms, CGCS
Following the family tradition
When I took
my frst head
superintendent job
at a course near
Houston, one of
the frst things I did
was volunteer to
serve in my local
superintendent
chapter.
(president’s message)
016-017_March14_PresMess.indd 16 2/18/14 1:40 PM
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18 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Golf course superintendents are no strang-ers to distractions getting in the way of real life. Every time a superintendent thinks he or she has the day-to-day routine of golf course maintenance down pat, something inevitably comes up to shatter that routine. A big tour-nament, Mother Nature, a special project … you name it.
At this time of year, the staff of GCM can totally sympathize with those superinten-dents. Because regardless of what we do to make the monthly production of the maga-zine as planned and as calculated as possible, there’s just no way to get around the chaos that typically envelops our work on the March issue, thanks to a little disruption that seems to pop up on the calendar every year at this time — the annual Golf Industry Show.
Now, we won’t talk much about our week in Orlando in this issue. It’s not because we don’t want to — hey, even those of us in the print business understand the brevity of the modern news cycle. Instead, it’s more a mat-ter of timing, or the lack thereof. The amount of time between our staff ’s return from show and our deadlines for the March issue just don’t allow us the opportunity to do justice to a full post-GIS wrap-up in this issue, so we wait until April.
But those same restraints don’t apply to our assessment of how a week out of the offce af-fects our work on this particular issue of GCM. When you take a carefully plotted four-week process and scale it back to just three weeks, you fnd yourself in the same boat as super-intendents whose daily work gets waylaid by a member-guest tournament or an irrigation project. You’re bound to face a few challenges.
Don’t confuse our discussion of those challenges with whining, though. No need to break out the tiny violins while reading this column. To a person, our staff absolutely loves our time at the Golf Industry Show. It annu-ally provides us with our best opportunity to connect with readers, to interact with GCSAA members and to fnd out what’s working and what isn’t in the pages of the magazine. With-out question, we make more friends, dig up more story ideas and learn more about the people who read GCM during that week than
at any other point during the year.But a week on the road (and for me, closer to
10 days on the road, thanks to my involvement in staffng the GCSAA Golf Championships) does take its toll. And the only reason I bring it up in this column is to give you a little ad-ditional context as you read this month’s maga-zine, and maybe, so you’ll marvel at the work turned in by our staff in the same way I mar-veled at it while I edited and proofed this issue.
There’s this month’s cover story on new GCSAA President Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, for example, written by Associate Editor Howard Richman. It’s a deep and sometimes heart-warming look at the Arkansas superinten-dent and the path he took to get to where he is today, and it’s worth a read for any GCSAA member curious about where the association’s 78th president plans to focus his attention in the coming year.
Considering the March issue is our put-ting greens issue, freelance writer Mark Les-lie’s feature on the use of zoysiagrass on greens is defnitely noteworthy. In our part of the world, it’s not uncommon to see zoysia used as a fairway grass, but its use on greens is another story entirely. It’s not exactly a trend yet, but Mark does a great job of examining the phe-nomenon that, at worst, gives superintendents in some parts of the country another potential putting surface to consider.
You’ll also fnd stories in this issue on the creation and maintenance of forward tees, the control of brown ring patch on Poa annua greens and ways superintendents can improve their résumés during the job hunt. In short, you’ll fnd everything that you’ve come to ex-pect from GCM in this issue, whether it took us three weeks or four weeks to fnish up.
Despite the abbreviated schedule, I never worried much about our team being able to produce a relevant and readable issue this time around. We’d done it before, and I knew we’d do it again. Still, it’s nice when your staff makes you look like a prophet, so I hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of their labor in this issue.
Scott Hollister is GCM ’s editor-in-chief.
Scott Hollister
twitter: @GCM_Magazine
Conquering chaos theory
Without question,
we make more
friends, dig up more
story ideas and
learn more about
the people who
read GCM during
(GIS) than at any
other point during
the year.
(inside gcm)
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20 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Just brew itIt may be a stretch to compare Orlin Reinbold to Bo Jackson. Reinbold,
though, certainly has lasted a whole lot longer.
You know Bo, right? He was the 1980s two-sport specialist who played
baseball for the Kansas City Royals in the spring and summer before trans-
forming into a running back for the Los Angeles Raiders in the fall and winter.
A severe football-related hip injury eventually caught up with Jackson, who
continued to play baseball but never realized his full potential in either sport.
Reinbold (pictured, to the right), however, seems to be excelling in two
different felds.
Besides ownership of Landmark Turf & Native Seed, Reinbold has planted
roots in the brewery market.
Reinbold is majority co-owner with Jason Miller (pictured left) of Orlison
Brewing Co. in Airway Heights, Wash. The twosome took control of the fedgling
business and have done well enough that they are in expansion mode. Spe-
cializing in lagers, Orlison Brewing Co. is now selling its products in grocery
stores across the Great Northwest.
“My accountant has been a naysayer,” Reinbold says, “but now, looking at
the numbers, he says we can make it. It’s on a better fight path.”
Entrepreneur may best describe Reinbold, 63. In fact, it runs in the family.
His grandfather, August Reinbold, oversaw one of the frst reclamation seed
properties in the 1940s. Orlin graduated from Washington State University
with a degree in agriculture and horticulture. Later, he taught people about
the business and ran a greenhouse before showcasing his creative side to the
world. In 1995 he developed Moisture Smart, an evaporation gauge designed
to simplify watering lawns and yards.
The reception for Moisture Smart was underwhelming.
“It was the greatest invention ever,” Reinbold says, “but it never went
020-029_March4_Front9.indd 20 2/18/14 1:42 PM
22 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Acres of creeping
bentgrass vs. acres
of bermudagrass on
putting greens in
the U.S.*
Acres of greens on the average 18-hole golf course in the U.S.*
Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, Colo., suffered serious damage in a 2013 food. Photo courtesy of Kevin Norby
anywhere. People had to go out and read it. Maybe the time wasn’t right.”
The timing of Reinbold’s decision to fully enter the brewery business oc-
curred in December 2012. He had invested six fgures in the previous owner’s
brewery. When it started to struggle, Reinbold and Miller, who ran a seed
production feld for Reinbold, bought it outright.
“I thought ‘If you’re good in a certain feld, can you take that knowledge
and go into another sector and make it work there?’ That was the challenge,”
Reinbold says.
Although they are in no huge rush, Reinbold and Miller are considering expansion beyond Washington, Idaho and
Oregon. They have Nevada and Colorado on their radar.
“It’s starting to catch steam,” says Miller, 39.
Miller says he and Reinbold each have their strengths but combined they offer the perfect union.
“Orlin is marketing and sales (which he learned supplying 150,000 poinsettias during the holidays years ago in the
Inland Empire). I’m hands-on design,” Miller says. “He’s young in spirit. If I had his pep and attitude … it’s what we all
strive for. We blend so well. We just want to make things better.”
Reinbold doesn’t classify himself as a beer drinker. A beer taster? You bet. His favorite product they make at
Orlison, where their motto is “Brew No Evil,” is Underground. It’s a stout lager that includes ample roast barley and
black malt.
Although the brewery is quenching his thirst for branching out, Reinbold’s ties to the seed industry remain well
established, largely because of its importance to the masses.
“Grass seed ties the nation together. The whole infrastructure is based on grass. That’s what holds everything
together,” Reinbold says. “I think we’re still providing a need for the industry.”
— Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, Colo., sustained
major damage from storms and foods last August. Now,
it appears that those events weren’t enough to prevent
the completion of renovations to the course.
Golf course architect Kevin Norby of Herfort Norby
Golf Course Architects was hired by the city in 2011 to
complete a long-range capital improvement plan for the
course directed at improving overall course conditions
and identifying the need for long-term improvements. The
devastating August food — which toppled trees, dam-
aged cart paths and parking lots, washed out bridges
and bunkers, damaged the irrigation system and covered
tees, greens and fairways with rock and silt — created
what appeared to be insurmountable challenges.
Led by Norby, though, renovation plans are back on the
table. In fact, limited work has been done to remove downed
trees and silt. The majority of the repairs, however, won’t be
completed until a comprehensive assessment of the dam-
age and an application to the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency is complete. Norby hoped to begin construc-
tion by this month, depending on weather conditions.
“Our goal is to complete all of the necessary repairs
by the end of the summer to allow time for the course to
mature and be open for play in the spring of 2015,” says
Norby, who is working with golf course contractor Land-
scapes Unlimited to repair the damage and make the nec-
essary capital improvements.
Major storm damage won’t sidetrack Colorado course27,5
31
vs. 9,195
%U.S. golf facilities conducting winter overseeding on greens*
*Golf Course Environmental Profle, Environmental Institute for Golf†Joey Young, www.turfdiseases.org‡SRI International/GOLF 20/20
47,525 Acres of turfgrass maintained as greens in the U.S.*
2:1Margin by which
Lubbock, Texas, edged out Fairbanks, Alaska, as
“The Toughest Weather City Tournament 2013” †
$312 million Charitable impact
of Florida’s golf industry‡
1889 Year Bernhard and Co. forefather John Atterton submits patent for frst blade grinder
40
020-029_March4_Front9.indd 22 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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24 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Cleverly done: Olympics superintendent revealed
Much was made about the recent 50th anniversary of
the frst appearance on U.S. television by four lads from
England, best known as the Beatles, who debuted Feb. 9,
1964, on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
In more modern times, another Englishman is doing
something pretty monumental of his own.
Neil Cleverly, a 15-year GCSAA member, was named
superintendent for the Olympic golf course that currently
is being built in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympic Games
there in 2016 mark the frst time since 1904 that golf is on
the Olympics menu.
Cleverly told GCM that this was a rare opportunity that
was worth taking.
“When you put everything together, the uniqueness of
it, it’s self-explanatory what it means,” says Cleverly, pre-
viously the superintendent at Riviera Cancun Country Club
in Mexico. “But this is not just about the superintendent.
I’m just part of the team.”
Gil Hanse, architect for the Olympic golf course, says
Cleverly is quite the team player.
“He is doing a great job,” Hanse says.
Cleverly, 55, has an intriguing background. For 16
years he was part of the British military. “I served Queen
and country,” he says.
He was raised in the London area, served as a caddie
and worked on a golf course there. In time, Cleverly landed
in America. He was an intern for 18 months more than a
decade ago at The Old Colliers Club in Naples, Fla., for
Tim Hiers, CGCS.
“It was right after 9/11,” Hiers says. “Neil is a very
intense, inquisitive, driven guy. We were doing a project
with brackish water and paspalum, and I assigned him a
research project, collecting important data. What he did
with it helped us cut out four to fve years of the learning
curve. He was just an incredible researcher.”
The Olympic course at Reserva de Marapendi fea-
tures paspalum greens and zoysia fairways. Cleverly, who
speaks three languages (English, French and Spanish), is
learning Portuguese. There is no need to teach him why
golf course management is special. He knows this is the
life for him.
“My philosophy is if you love what you do for a living,
you never really work a day in your life,” Cleverly says.
Bayer announces Plant Health Academy class
Twelve golf course superintendents were chosen for the
second annual Bayer CropScience Plant Health Academy.
The academy is one of four educational opportunities
available to GCSAA member superintendents as part of
Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow, an initiative Bayer devel-
oped in collaboration with the GCSAA’s Environmental In-
stitute for Golf (EIFG) to advance plant health research and
education for superintendents.
The class is: Kelly Barker, Santa Rosa (Fla.) Golf &
Beach Club; Todd Bohn, Wolf Creek Golf Club, Olathe,
Kan.; Brett A. Chapin, The Redding (Conn.) Country Club;
Michael J. Dunk, CGCS, The Trophy Club, Lebanon, Ind.;
Brian C. Green, Lonnie Poole Golf Course at N.C. State,
Raleigh, N.C.; Timothy J. Hahn, Greystone and Shadows
Golf Courses, Walworth, N.Y.; Andrew Jorgensen, CGCS,
On Top of the World Communities Inc., Ocala, Fla.; Vincent
A. Pavonetti, CGCS, Fairview Country Club, Greenwich,
Conn.; Heath Puckett, CGCS, Cypress Lakes Golf & Coun-
try Club, Muscle Shoals, Ala.; Chris Steigelman, CGCS,
The Landings Club, Savannah, Ga.; Melvin H. Waldron III,
CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, Springfeld, Mo.; and
Robert J. Williams, Stockton (Calif.) Golf & Country Club.
The Plant Health Academy’s two-part immersive plant
health curriculum involves classroom training at GCSAA
headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., March 3-5; and in-the-
feld training at the Bayer Development and Training Center
in Clayton, N.C., Sept. 24-26. To fund Healthy Turf, Healthy
Tomorrow, Bayer invests a percentage of StressGard For-
mulation Technology product sales each year from 2013 to
2015 — a minimum commitment of $300,000 over three
years. These funds are also directed toward GCSAA-exe-
cuted initiatives that support the mission of EIFG.
John Deere sets record frst-quarter earnings
Deere & Co. announced net income of $681.1 mil-
lion for the frst quarter of 2014 that ended Jan. 31.
That total was an increase over the same period in 2013
($649.7 million).
Worldwide net sales and revenues for the frst quarter
increased 3 percent to $7.654 billion ($7.421 billion last
year at the same time).
Net sales of worldwide equipment operations in-
creased 2 percent for the quarter. Deere’s equipment op-
erations reported operating proft of $891 million for the
quarter compared with $837 million last year. In agricul-
ture and turf, sales increased 2 percent for the quarter
due largely to price realization and higher shipment vol-
umes, the company reports. Deere’s worldwide sales of
agriculture and turf equipment are forecast to decrease by
about 6 percent for fscal 2014. In the U.S. and Canada,
industry sales of turf and utility equipment are expected
to be up about 5 percent this year as a result of improved
market conditions.
TOCA launches Hall of FameThe Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association
(TOCA) is doing more than just celebrating its 25th anni-
versary this year.
TOCA announced it is establishing a Hall of Fame to
honor those who have “made outstanding contributions to
the turf and ornamental industry.” For the frst class that
is being inducted, nominations were being accepted until
March 1. Those selected will be recognized at an awards
banquet at the annual TOCA meeting May 8 in New Orle-
ans. The recipients of TOCA Distinguished Service Awards
will be grandfathered into the Hall of Fame. Those hon-
orees are Bob Tracinski, Owen Towne, Margaret Bell and
Den Gardner.
Also, TOCA is establishing the TOCA Foundation to
support TOCA internships and scholarships.
Past GCSAA president battling cancer
Mike Wallace, CGCS, is a fghter. That type of trait
comes in handy these days.
In January, Wallace had a four-hour-plus surgery to
remove a hyperparathyroid gland that left him with an ex-
tremely raspy voice. “My staff loves it because I can’t yell,”
says Wallace, facilities manager at Simsbury Farms Golf
Course in Simsbury, Conn.
That matter, though, is only half the battle. Wallace
Mother Nature Creates the Canvas,
GCSAA Members Help to Make
it a Work of Art
GCSAA members have been managing golf’s masterpieces
for more than 85 years. Make sure your most valuable asset is
under the watchful eye of a GCSAA member, bringing a focus
on enjoyment for the golfer, proftability for your facility and
responsible stewardship of the environment.
To learn more about GCSAA members and what
they can do for your facility, visit www.gcsaa.org.
GCSAA earns industry honor
GCSAA notched a frst place award in the 21st
annual ING Industry Honors.
The association won the Print Advertise-
ment-Trade Publications category for “Work of
Art.” The complete caption for the ad, which was
designed by Kelly Neis, GCSAA’s senior manager,
creative services, was “Mother Nature Creates the
Canvas, GCSAA Members help to make it a Work of
Art.” GCM Editor-in-Chief Scott Hollister accepted
the award on the association’s behalf Jan. 23 at the
PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.
020-029_March4_Front9.indd 24 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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26 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
411
also has a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It’s very slow-growing. It won’t kill me,” he says.
What else would you expect to hear from a man who
faces adversity in a manner that is both admirable and
courageous? Wallace, after all, has quite a history of over-
coming obstacles. Twice in the 1990s he lost election bids
to become part of GCSAA’s Board of Directors. Wallace
may have been down, but he certainly was not out.
In 2002, Wallace proved it. In that year, he was
elected as the 66th president of GCSAA.
Wallace, 63 and a 36-year member of GCSAA, al-
ready has leaped one of those previously mentioned ob-
stacles. He was informed before the surgery that he might
permanently lose his voice if there were any serious com-
plications during it. Fortunately there were not, but he also
was told that his voice may not return to normal.
As usual, Wallace won’t allow the glass half empty no-
tion to fy with him.
“I’m optimistic everything will be fne,” Wallace says.
Valent, Nufarm join forcesValent U.S.A. Corp. and Nufarm Americas Inc. an-
nounced last month that Valent entered into an agreement
that appoints Nufarm as the executive distributor of its
branded products for professional turf, ornamental and
aquatic uses in the U.S.
Valent and Nufarm are combining the product portfo-
lios of the two companies into one broad portfolio that will
be sold by Nufarm in the U.S. and will feature Nufarm’s
leading product offerings such as Escalade and Millennium
Ultra Herbicides, as well as its Cleary line of fungicides and
other Valent brands such as Safari and Arena insecticides,
SureGuard and Clipper herbicides and Tourney fungicide.
Under the agreement, Nufarm is offering the entire line
of Valent branded products for professional golf course,
lawn and landscape, production ornamental and aquatic
use under the Valent brand name. The agreement excludes
Valent’s business in the agricultural crop protection, seed
protection, consumer home and garden, industrial vegeta-
tion management, forestry, pest control, timber treatment,
public health and animal health markets.
PGA of America, USGA announce championship sites
Multiple golf courses have been chosen to be the host
sites for upcoming PGA of America and United States Golf
Association (USGA) championships.
• Philadelphia Cricket Club was selected to host in 2015
the 48th PGA Professional National Championship pre-
sented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and Omega. The
dates are June 21-24. Daniel Messerman, GCSAA
Class A superintendent and director of grounds, is a
14-year member of the association.
• Wellesley (Mass.) Country Club will host the 2016 U.S.
Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. The dates are
Sept. 17-22. William M. Sansone, 12-year GCSAA mem-
ber, is director of golf course operations.
• Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore., will have the
USGA’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 2017. The
dates are Sept. 9-14. GCSAA Class A superintendent
Brian Koffer, a 13-year member of the association,
oversees the course.
Attendees get social at Syngenta Business Institute
The 2014 edition of the Syngenta Business Institute
offered its usual menu of high-level business and per-
sonnel management instruction to a group of 24 super-
intendents from around the country who gathered at the
Graylin Conference Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., in
early December.
It also offered up a heavy dose of social interaction,
as more than half of the attendees shared their real-time
experiences at SBI through social media channels such as
Facebook and Twitter. And since it played such a big role
in the week, GCM asked some of the attendees to share
their impressions of the week in 140 characters or less,
true Twitter style. Here’s what they had to say:
@TCCcaddyshack: The 2013 SBI was one of the most
rewarding education opportunities I have been to. All
education directly related to everyday business!
— Ryan Borne, Terradyne Country Club, Andover, Kan.
Miss GIS? No worriesJust in case you could not be at GCSAA’s Golf
Industry Show in February in Orlando, no need to
fret. GCM had it covered. See for yourself in the
April issue of GCM. From the Opening Session to
what was new and improved on the trade show
foor, GCM was there to document it.
020-029_March4_Front9.indd 26 2/18/14 1:42 PM
28 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
The designÕs the thing for
longtime GCM contributor
Mark Leslie, a regular editorial contributor to
GCM, has branched out into the world of book pub-
lishing, and his most recent effort, “Putting a Little
Spin On It: The Design’s The Thing,” about the world
of golf course design, is discussed in Leslie’s home-
town paper, the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal. www.
sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2014/01/19/
monmouth-author-takes-diffent-spin-golf/1478338
South Dakota course to expand
Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club in Spearfsh, S.D., opened
nine holes three years ago. Now, according to the
Black Hills Pioneer, work is beginning to make it an 18-
hole facility. www.bhpioneer.com/local_news/article_
f2dfc3a0-794c-11e3-b080-0019bb2963f4.html
Anonymous gift buoys
Nebraska golf course
A nearly $7 million gift to nine different groups and
organizations in the small Nebraska town of Milford (pop-
ulation 2,156) has left those who work at the town’s nine-
hole golf course speechless after Thornridge Golf Course
found its way onto that short list. The Lincoln Journal
Star has the story. http://journalstar.com/news/local/
milford-s-millions-anonymous-gift-has-jaws-dropping/
article_5888b3db-9603-5b0f-bdd4-5ff47760d651.html
Trump shifts course on
plans in Scotland
Businessman Donald Trump withdrew a planning ap-
plication to build a golf course in Scotland, Herald Scotland
reports. It may have something to do with his legal bat-
tle there over an offshore wind turbine development that
is being built nearby. www.heraldscotland.com/news/
home-news/trump-withdraws-planning-application-to-
build-another-golf-course-in-scotland.1392292721
Tweets
RETWEETS
In the
NEWS
@turfman81: The combination of collegiate level busi-
ness classes along with great networking opportunities
and camaraderie made SBI13 an absolute success!
— Scott Hall, Raritan Valley Country Club, Bridgewater, N.J.
@CreekSupt: Incredible three days of business training
for the supt. Highly engaging and interactive, sometimes
full contact. Wow! Thanks @SyngentaUS #SBI13
— Matt Kregel, The Club at Strawberry Creek, Kenosha, Wis.
@gcsupt: Best business education a super can get. Lots
of education along w/ great food, late-night billiards and
free ice cream. A memorable week.
— Jeff Smelser, Galveston (Texas) Country Club
@boaz576: Biggest takeway: the problem with being a
leader is it’s infectious. Do you want others to catch what
you got? #SBI13
— J.R. McCroskey, Wild Dunes Resort, Harbor Course,
Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Sharp Park moves forward with plans
Environmentalists lost another battle with the city of
San Francisco over Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifca, Calif.
The City Planning Commission rejected a call to re-
quire a full environmental impact report on a construction
project at the golf course, the San Francisco Chronicle re-
ports. Environmentalists believe the work, which includes
clearing reeds and sediment from a pond and waterway,
threatens California red-legged frogs and San Francisco
garter snakes at the golf course. Three years ago, envi-
ronmentalists (including Sierra Club) fled a lawsuit to shut
down the golf course, arguing that the golf course oper-
ation threatened area wildlife. The lawsuit ultimately was
dismissed in 2012 by a federal judge.
Famed architect Alister MacKenzie (who also de-
signed Augusta National Golf Club) designed Sharp Park.
The municipal golf course is more than 80 years old.
Rooney honored by ASGCAMaj. Dan Rooney, founder of the Folds of Honor Foun-
dation and Patriot Golf Day, is the 2014 recipient of the
Donald Ross Award from the American Society of Golf
Course Architects (ASGCA). It will be presented May 5
during the 68th ASGCA Annual Meeting in Tulsa, Okla.
The award is named for ASGCA’s honorary frst pres-
ident, and is presented to an individual who has made a
positive contribution to golf and golf course architecture.
Rooney is majority owner of The Patriot Golf Club in Tulsa.
Former PGA of America CEO lands new position
Former PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka joined
Buffalo Communications as chief global strategist to fur-
ther expand the frm’s leadership position and spring-
board growth in the broader sports and lifestyle catego-
ries worldwide.
Steranka, who led the PGA of America for seven
years, resigned his post there in 2012.
Adam Garr @Superin10dentLet’s go ahead and fle this under Plan Z. It’s working amazingly well. pic.twitter.com/SZUp1R91uH
Kevin W. Frank @MSUTurfAnother sampling of Poa survival can-didates from HTRC, 50 days under ice. pic.twitter.com/Chbw93K3bP
Nick Janovich @njanovichBack from an awesome ski trip. Offce has fresh paint and foor is waxed. Ready for #spring. #turfgrass
Brian White @WccBrianGot the sweeper out today cleaning up the rough. pic.twitter.com/ DiQdS0ws0y
Scott Thayer @LegendsTurfFresh snow on the Back deck of the clubhouse #powdersnow#wishiwass kiing http://instagram.com/p/kh653CPd-b/
Parker Ferren @ParkerFerrenPerfect day to sling some sand! pic.twitter.com/1CziaF4MzZ
Kasey Kauff @KaseyKauffRonstar + fert being applied today
by @McCTurf and Dennis pic.twitter.com/rtBZGc3fI
020-029_March4_Front9.indd 28 2/18/14 1:42 PM
30 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Turfgrass area:Putting green
Location:Jackson, Miss.
Grass variety:Tifdwarf bermudagrass
(a)
Brown turf on edge of tee
Turfgrass area:Tee
Location:Montgomery, N.Y.
Grass variety:Creeping bentgrass/ryegrass
(b)
PROBLEM
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
Depressions on surface of turf
Answers on page 104
(photo quiz)
PROBLEM
By John MascaroPresident of Turf-Tec International
030-031_March14_PhotoQ.indd 30 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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030-031_March14_PhotoQ.indd 31 2/18/14 1:42 PM
32 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
From Augusta National to Pebble Beach, turfgrass maintenance on golf courses gener-ally requires some pesticide applications. Past feld studies have indicated that, during the course of play, golfers in some locations may inhale levels of certain chemicals that exceed the reference doses associated with chronic dis-eases. (A chronic reference dose is the daily exposure over a 70-year lifespan that produces no harmful health effects — excluding cancer. The incremental cancer risk is measured sepa-rately.) However, those previous studies were limited to the northeastern United States, few chemicals were tested, and some of the chemicals tested are no longer used on golf course turf. The studies were limited in scope because of the expense involved in conducting the research on a large geographic scale with a large number of chemicals.
A new study by engineers Hywel Wong, Ph.D., and Douglas Haith, Ph.D., uses math-ematical modeling to expand the reach of pre-vious work to include 37 chemicals and the entire continental United States. By develop-ing a fate and transport model, the researchers circumvented the diffculties involved in con-ducting a real-world study with numerous re-search sites and human experimental subjects. The model was tested against feld experiments at the University of Massachusetts Turfgrass Research Center that measured concentrations of eight pesticides. The authors found that testing of the mathematical model has proved that it is sound, and “it does not seem likely that a more accurate model would produce higher risk estimates.”
As of February 2012, all pesticides in the study (see the sidebar) were registered in the U.S for use on fairways, but only 25 were labeled for greens. Based on the relative size of different areas of the golf course, the model assumes that golfers spend 7 percent of a round on tees, 8 percent on greens and 85 percent on fairways. The model also assumes that golfers play one round of golf every day of the year, but are not otherwise exposed to these chemicals.
Location is important because weather affects evapotranspiration, volatilization fuxes and concentrations. Nine locations were selected to correspond to climate and
plant hardiness zones in the U.S. Mean an-nual temperature, mean annual growing sea-son precipitation, and months of the grow-ing season were collected for: Albany, N.Y.; Atlanta; Bismarck, N.D.; Columbus, Ohio; Fresno, Calif.; Houston; Madison, Wis.; Olympia, Wash.; and Roswell, N.M. Mean annual temperatures ranged from 41 F in Bis-marck to 68 F in Houston. Fresno had the least rainfall (5.3 inches), and Houston had the most (36.1 inches), but the two cities shared the lon-gest growing season (March-November).
Wong and Haith conclude that “most (at least 60 percent) of the 37 pesticides” showed “negligible volatilization losses from golf course turfs,” and losses from the rest “ranged from 0.2 percent to 10.4 percent of annual ap-plications.” Differences in volatilization loss de-pended on the chemical used and the location (which affected weather and timing and fre-quency of applications). Using chronic reference doses and cancer potency factors, the authors could not fnd any “evidence of health risk to golfers from inhalation of these pesticides.”
The results of the study were published as “Volatilization of pesticides from golf courses in the United States: mass fuxes and inhala-tion health risks” by Hywel Wong and Doug-las A. Haith, in the December 2013 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality 42:1615-1622.
Teresa Carson is GCM’s senior science editor.
Every breath you take
Presented in Partnership with Barenbrug
(turf)Teresa Carson
twitter: @GCM_Magazine
Herbicides
2,4-D
benefn
carfentrazone-ethyl
clopyralid
dithiopyr
furoxypyr
isoxaben
mecoprop-p
oryzalin
oxadiazon
pendimethalin
penoxsulam
prodiamine
rimsulfuron
sulfentrazone
sulfosulfuron
triclopyr
trifuralin
Fungicides
acibenzolar
azoxystrobin
chlorothalonil
cyazofamid
fudioxonil
iprodione
mancozeb
myclobutanil
propamocarb-HCl
propiconazole
thiophanate-methyl
Insecticides
acephate
bifenthrin
chlorantraniliprole
halofenozide
imidacloprid
indoxacarb
permethrin
thiamethoxam
Pesticides
032-033_March14_Turf.indd 32 2/18/14 3:26 PM
34 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Shop chemicals for the modern plastic world
A review of the shop’s chemical “tools” may bypass problems with modern mate-rials, especially the widely and increasingly used plastics. Like ours, your review may also encourage you to stock up on some old stand-bys that are still excellent aids.
Here are some items noted among the lu-bricants, cleaners and more specialized prod-ucts that landed on our new shelving after we organized the shop during the long, cold win-ter. The list includes brand names of products for which we’ve found no generic substitute or competitive product that’s sold here in north-east Georgia.
Read the label before using any chemi-cal. Many are extremely fammable and must be stored and handled properly. Unless you are absolutely certain, take the time to test a chemical on plastics, composites, paint and other fnishes. Some chemicals have unwanted reactions with metals, particularly aluminum and copper, brass and bronze. If you are trans-ferring a chemical to another container, like a pump can, make sure the labeling is clear.
Don’t repeat my ruination of a plas-tic-lined (and expensive) Bowden-type throt-tle cable system that froze when the wrong oil was applied to unstick it. Here are some nota-ble chem tools:
Spray lubricant for plastics. This is what I grab frst when I need a light oil. It works on everything and it won’t ruin plastic pieces in-
side a sticky ignition lock.DuPont Tefon Non-Stick Dry-Film Lubri-
cant (spray and liquid). Forms a slick surface that improves sliding items, like saw blades, hinges, locks and cutting blades. Especially good for coating shafts before installing oil seals. Leaves a corrosion-resistant coating that makes light bulbs easier to replace.
PB Blaster Penetrating Catalyst. A remark-able spray that frees up rusted fasteners. It can damage rubber and plastic, and the fumes upset some folks. Give it time to soak in.
T read cutting oil. An old sulfur-bearing standby for running a tap to clean up spark plug holes or other threads. Use as lubricant when drilling holes in metal to lengthen the service life of drill bits and reduce breakage of small bits. We keep it handy in a clearly la-beled metal pumper can.
Strong citrus-oil cleaners (Goo Gone and Goof Off are major brands). Vital for remov-ing oily, gummy, greasy residue, tape residue, wax, pine sap and other gunk. It will break down latex and some other paints after long exposure — good for cleaning, bad for surface prep before painting.
Carburetor cleaner spray (generic). Re-moves burned-on oil and fuel residues, loos-ens many paints — helpful when preparing a surface for welding. When it has propane or butane propellant, makes a good engine-start-ing spray. Use non-fammable brake cleaner when working with hot surfaces.
Non-detergent motor oil. Keep a few quarts in stock — it’s specifed in pressure washer pumps, air compressors and some
(shop)
Scott R. Nesbitt
other equipment. Keep in a metal pumper can for a quick shot of general-purpose mid-weight lube. You may have to order it, as many stores don’t stock it.
Non-alco ol regular gasoline and 50:1 non-alco ol 2-cycle mix. Used for the frst fueling of equipment that’s new or newly serviced. Eliminating ethanol in fuel removes one more factor that might disrupt the initial start-up.
Rubber/vinyl spray ad esive. For quick and often permanent repair of labels, seat covers and other light materials that are destined to become detached. A light shot holds gaskets in place for easy assembly. Comes in a heavier form that works as an adhesive or to protect electrical wiring terminals from humidity.
Mass air fow sensor cleaner. This is a plas-tic-safe electronics cleaner that works nicely to clean all manner of electrical contacts, motor commutator/brush assemblies and other assemblies. Leaves no residue.
Petroleum jelly. Just sticky enough to hold little springs and things in place when as-sembling small carburetors. Washes away easily when exposed to gasoline or petro-leum products. Good for small skin scratches and is a decent hand-cleaner. Helps protect vinyl from oxidation.
Scott R. Nesbitt is a freelance writer and former GCSAA
staff member. He lives in Cleveland, Ga.
Chemical tools old and new are a critical part of an efficient service shop. Photo by Scott Nesbitt
034-035_March14_Shop.indd 34 2/18/14 1:43 PM
36 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
It was Tuesday, April 2, and my day as the executive director for the Minnesota Golf Course Superintendents Association had started out fairly normal. Then the “call to arms” came from the Minnesota Golf As-sociation. The state’s House fnance commit-tee was going to implement a tenfold increase in water permit fees upon golf courses across the state. What was worse, golf was being tar-geted, as the game is perceived to have deep pockets, be a polluter of the environment and a water waster.
Fortunately for the state’s golf industry, the MGCSA board of directors had been active in recent years discussing environmental steward-ship, BMPs, water conservation, nutrient fate and sustainable turf management practices. Specialists had been brought in for educating our members, other successful state programs (Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Geor-gia) were studied, water crisis conferences were attended and professional support was sought from GCSAA and our own University of Minnesota.
The MGCSA had done its homework and knew the issues.
The result was a fairly comprehensive envi-ronmental stewardship program that focused on water quality and availability. It included BMPs, crisis water management, pollution control implementations and even told the “good story” of golf courses. The package was introduced to the state’s four big golf industry allies with the intention of uniting all of golf ’s strong leaders and presenting an industry-reg-ulated response to an impending water crisis for the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) review and endorsement. From there we hoped to have a policy put into law protect-ing our water rights.
Unfortunately, not all great plans make it to fruition, and our conception became mired in bureaucratic mud as the DNR went through administration changes. Although the initia-tive seemed to be dead in the water, we found a new champion for our plan through indi-rect networking.
Several years ago, the MGCSA had begun reaching out to public and private entities in search of allies and potential detractors. Through volunteer member support, the
MGCSA established a presence at import-ant state Senate and House hearings regard-ing water resources. We joined our green ally, the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Asso-ciation, for “Day on the Hill” activities. And perhaps of most importance, the association had representation at many agency meetings through a new relationship with the Environ-mental Initiative, a non-proft organization whose mission was to bring public and pri-vate groups together to solve nature-related challenges.
Last August saw the frst of three meetings thus far with the Minnesota Bureau of Water and Soil Resources, the umbrella agency for all state agencies including the DNR, Department of Agriculture and Pollution Control Agency.
Our friends at the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources have recommended that the Minnesota golf industry develop a program that would emulate the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certifcation Pro-gram as promoted by the Department of Ag-riculture. The DNR would have infuence upon water quantity and the Minnesota EPA’s water quality decisions. The goal for all enti-ties would be resource “certainty” in exchange for environmental stewardship. Courses that participate in the program would receive assur-ances that they would not lose their economic viability due to excessive regulation.
The MGCSA appreciates that the process has only just begun and the hoped-for state statutes are years down the road. However, the challenges associated with environmen-tal stewardship are not new, and the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” is not immune to the misper-ceptions the public has of golf and golf courses. Through education, the creation of coalitions, continuous presence and networking, the as-sociation has come a long way in ensuring the availability of the resources necessary for pro-fessional turf managers to do their job.
Jack MacKenzie, CGCS, is the executive director of the
Minnesota Golf Course Superintendents Association and a
32-year life member of GCSAA.
Journey begins in Minnesota
(Advocacy)Jack MacKenzie, [email protected]
Several years ago,
the MGCSA had
begun reaching out
to public and private
entities in search of
allies and potential
detractors.
036-037_March14_Adocacy.indd 36 2/18/14 1:44 PM
38 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Like many superintendents, Hetland worked on the facility’s irrigation system, re-duced irrigation of non-play areas, and initi-ated hand watering to help ensure effciency. Initially, he estimates that they reduced water use by 5-10 percent, but he didn’t stop there. They installed variable-frequency drives on the pumps and updated one pump station to improve effciency. They reduced their irriga-tion run time by four hours, which also con-serves energy.
When the course added nine new holes, they implemented a wetland system that col-lects the backwash water from a nearby water tower and collect about 45 acre-feet a year for irrigation. The nine new holes do have a water well, which has the appropriate pro-tection practices in place as well. Incorporat-ing design, best management practices and technology has helped with water manage-ment at the facility.
Hetland implemented a drought contin-gency plan, which he later supplemented with the Iowa GCSA’s drought plan. This drought plan was a cooperative effort between the Iowa GCSA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Water Supply Division. This three-stage restriction plan is ready and in place when necessary.
These efforts, as well as others (like those undertaken by the Georgia GCSA), demon-strate how being proactive can help facilities even before they are faced with drought or water restrictions. Facilities that demonstrate and communicate their efforts and commit-ment do help the golf course industry as well as themselves. The value of these efforts may have an economic return on investment as well as a long-term return for the image of the game.
Mark Johnson is GCSAA’s associate director, environmen-
tal programs.
Mark [email protected]
(environment)
It’s March, and for some organizations and individuals, there is a major focus on water because National Groundwater Aware-ness Week is the 9th through 15th and World Water Day is the 22nd. These events are im-portant because they promote awareness, con-servation and water-quality protection. We know that many golf course superintendents and others in the industry are already on point in regard to effcient and effective water man-agement. However, what do many individu-als outside our golf-centric group know about water management on golf courses? Also, should our efforts stop here or continue?
Both of these events provide opportunities to demonstrate water management practices, educate stakeholders and commit to continu-ous improvement. Consider the information from the We Are Golf website in the sidebar.
This message is important, and we can fur-ther demonstrate our current efforts as well as our commitment to continuous improvement. Environmental programs like the Ground-water Foundation’s Groundwater Guardian Green Site Program, Audubon International, eParUSA, Golf Environment Organization and others provide the means to help docu-ment, demonstrate and communicate efforts at individual golf facilities. They provide the platform for continuous improvement.
What’s the value of investing time and resources in such a program? Brett Hetland, CGCS at Brooks Golf Course in Okoboji, Iowa, explains that, “a value of participating in the Groundwater Guardian Green Site Program and with Audubon International is marketing, promoting our best manage-ment practices, demonstrating environmental stewardship and documenting the work we are doing.”
Hetland’s facility is located in the “Great Lakes Region of Iowa” where there are seven watershed groups and a constant awareness of environmental issues, especially water man-agement. Being proactive and working with watershed groups and regulatory agencies helps to achieve success. “It is better to be pro-active than reactive to regulations that will be enforced,” states Hetland, a 19-year mem-ber of GCSAA.
Water responsibilityAmong the most important issues fac-
ing the future of golf is water use. In some parts of the country, courses require large amounts of water to irrigate the landscape. For several decades, the golf industry has recognized its responsibility to reduce water use and become less reliant on po-table irrigation sources. This multi-faceted approach includes development of:• New grass varieties that use less water
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• Alternate water sources to reduce or eliminate use of potable water
• Design concepts to minimize area main-tained with grasses requiring less water
• Educational programs for golf course superintendents about water conservation
The real facts about golf course water use• 92 percent use wetting agents to aid in
water retention and effciency• 83 percent report protection of water
wells• 78 percent use hand-watering tech-
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40 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
During my 20 years as a professional in the feld of recruiting and conducting career consulting, I have witnessed many examples of what not to do in the career arena, particu-larly with résumés. I have analyzed thousands of résumés and have found that, although most professionals know the importance of a ré-sumé, it is the most glaring example of a career tool becoming an obstacle for professionals seeking a job. In this month’s column, I have highlighted common pitfalls so you can avoid them as you advance your career in the golf and turf industry.
Résumé is too long. This one can be diff-cult, particularly if you have been in the golf and turf industry several decades. We are often asked by GCSAA members, “How do I con-dense all my experience into a one-page docu-ment? What is an acceptable length?” The an-swer is based on many factors, including years in the industry, number of past employers, pro-fessional involvement and the level of job you are seeking. Typically, one page is enough for student and assistant superintendent résumés, but once you have been in the industry 10-15 years, it is acceptable, and probably necessary, to have a two-page résumé. More information is not necessarily helpful. Is it realistic to ex-pect a hiring committee that receives 100-plus résumés to take the time to read several pages of yours? The key points and qualities you have to offer will be lost in too much text.
Listing only employmen istory. Résumés are marketing tools, not just a list of past em-ployers, job titles and duties. Be aware that all the other candidates will have the same, if not more, experience performing similar tasks and holding similar job titles. Instead, use the ex-perience section of your résumé to set yourself apart, convey your achievements and the qual-ities that make you uniquely capable. Also in-clude a section at the top of the résumé that highlights what you have to offer, particu-larly with points directly related to your target employer.
Typos and/or grammatical errors. In a busi-ness where attention to detail is paramount, your career documents are an important way to demonstrate this skill. If you list “detail-ori-ented” on your résumé, but have an error that could have been easily corrected with proof-
reading — what do you think the reader will believe? I recently spoke with a superintendent at a top-50 course who had just received a ré-sumé from a candidate who spelled the name of his golf course wrong in the cover letter. That candidate may have been a top contender for the job, but understandably was never con-sidered. And don’t trust a spell-checker since it doesn’t fag incorrect word meanings.
Emailed résumé as MS Word fle. When emailing any career documents, always con-vert to a PDF and only send the PDF fle. This guarantees the recipient will view your docu-ment exactly as you formatted it. MS Word fles can look different on various computers, the printing can be off dramatically, and the document can be altered by the recipient.
Unprofessional email address. Be certain that your contact listings are professional. I rec-ommend getting a free email account with a professional listing to use for career purposes if your personal email address is questionable. And don’t forget to have a professional voice mail message.
Avoid these pitfalls and you will be well on your way to using a résumé as a marketing tool, not an obstacle, to set yourself apart in job searches and ultimately advance your career.
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.
Avoiding résumé pitfalls
I have analyzed
thousands of
résumés and have
found that, although
most professionals
know the importance
of a résumé, it is
the most glaring
example of a career
tool becoming
an obstacle for
professionals
seeking a job.
(Career)Carol D. Rau, [email protected]
040-043_March14_Career.indd 40 2/18/14 1:45 PM
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Keith Ihms. CGCS, oversees the Country Club of Little Rock. This Arkansas gem was built in 1902, and some members still play with old hickory sticks. Photos © Joel Schmidt
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 44 2/18/14 1:39 PM
New GCSAA President Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, achieves the pinnacle of his profession despite a void that makes the moment bittersweet.
Howard Richman
Carry on
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 45 2/18/14 1:39 PM
46 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
In times of need, especially when the welfare of others is at stake, each second represents a
valuable opportunity for newly elected GCSAA president Keith A. Ihms, CGCS.Time is precious, something not guaranteed. He knows. His grieving heart tells him so.There are no stipulations attached, nothing he wants reciprocated for these kind and im-
portant gestures from deep in the heart of this Texan. Ihms, director of grounds maintenance at the Country Club of Little Rock (Ark.) has proven in good times and bad that he is a depend-able servant who answers the call time and time again.
Just ask golf course architect Keith Foster. He practically needed to duck for cover while standing in front of the members at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas to deliver renova-tion proposals.
“The members started booing me,” Foster says, “and Keith is sitting in the front row, giving me a thumbs-up. Later he put his arm around me, says he loved the presentation. In the world we live in today, someone as authentic as Keith is rare.”
Fifteen months ago, Pastor Robert Weiss of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Little Rock was left in the dark after an ice-coated pine tree fell and damaged his parsonage, knocking out power.
“Keith and his wife Nita (her real name is Anita) invited me to come stay with them for a few days,” Weiss says. “That’s how Keith is. If anyone needs help or encouragement, he reaches out.”
What makes the Ihmses’ generosity so noteworthy in this particular act is that they were on the verge of facing end-of-life decisions, a scenario neither Keith nor Nita fathomed only four years after they married.
Three months earlier, Nita had been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. According to the National Cancer Institute, it is a rare type of cancer in which malignant cells are found in the lining of the chest or abdomen.
“For them to do that for me, near the end of Nita’s life … the love those two shared was wonderful to see,” Weiss says.
Today, barely more than 13 months since he lost the love of his life, Ihms has arrived at an intersection where personal tragedy meets professional triumph.
Ihms has enriched his industry and asked for nothing in return, but individuals, country clubs and major organizations such as GCSAA rushed to his side in time of heartache. Their encouragement is a driving force for Ihms — GCSAA’s 78th president — as he attempts to continue moving GCSAA forward.
“In the world we
live in today,
someone as
authentic as
Keith is rare.”
— Keith Foster
Ihms with horticulturist Nathan Britt near the recently dedicated clock
behind the 18th green.
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 46 2/18/14 1:39 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 47
“My country club has been unbelievably supportive, as have our GCSAA members. Their caring and compassion is unreal,” says Ihms, 56. “I received emails from GCSAA members, some of which I only shook their hand, yet they have taken this time to comfort me. That’s what this business is all about.”
From the Aggies to Arkansas
By the time he was 13, Ihms was prepping for his future.
As a youth in Llano, Texas, a small town northwest of Austin known for its abundant deer population, Ihms earned cash doing night watering at a nine-hole course. By day he’d golf there, and the wheels started turning.
“I knew I liked golf and I knew I liked the outdoors,” says Ihms, who learned the impor-tance of being a volunteer and serving from his mother, Janet, who was in the front row when as a youth he spoke in front of 500 people at a 4-H convention in Chicago. “It was a pretty good life.”
Ihms enrolled at Texas A&M. Oh, he thought about being an engineer until, as he says, “I realized my math skills probably would not make that an enjoyable experience.” Upon learning there was a degree for turfgrass sci-ence, Ihms pursued.
His decision sounds like a case of per-fect timing.
The legendary Dr. James Beard was the face of the program at Texas A&M during that period, when the rhizotron was developed and groundbreaking work, such as an overseeding system for warm-season grasses, materialized.
Ihms credits Joe DiPaola, a graduate assis-tant at that time, for helping mold his future. DiPaola, currently global lawn and garden re-search and development head for integrated solutions at Syngenta, recalls icon Dr. James Watson as a frequent visitor who would go to Beard’s house for dinner and kick around the-ories way past the 10 o’clock news.
“It was a special moment in time. It created a long-lasting network that paid dividends for the industry and for the individual,” DiPaola says. “A&M was at the center of it. We were building facilities. We were a team. They were creative times.”
When he departed Texas A&M in 1979, Ihms landed his frst professional position as an assistant at River Plantation Country Club in Conroe, Texas. His frst superintendent job was at Golf Crest Country Club in Pearland, Texas, followed by jobs at Walden on Lake Houston Golf and Country Club in Humble,
Man with a vision
GCSAA member classifcations. Field staff. Rounds 4 Research. China. PGA of America
and United States Golf Association.
This is by no means a multiple-choice quiz, but Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, certainly could be
a man with the answers.
As he settles in for his term as GCSAA president in 2014, Ihms has an agenda of ideas.
A key target: Coming to a resolution and possible reduction on the total of member classi-
fcations, which currently includes more than a dozen.
“Do we want to simplify it? If I had a goal, I would hope that the board of directors this
year would be able to, by the time of the Chapter Delegates Meeting (in October), say, ‘This
is what we think. What do you think?’ We need to decide,” says Ihms, director of grounds
maintenance at the Country Club of Little Rock (Ark.).
Ihms also ponders expansion for GCSAA’s feld staff, which has grown to nine individ-
uals who cover the nation’s membership chapters. Ihms envisions some regions with two
feld staff members.
“An example is maybe in the D.C. area there’s a person who can help in government
relations,” he says.
Capitalizing on Rounds 4 Research’s success in 2013 is another objective for Ihms.
Administered by the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) and presented in partnership
with The Toro Co., Rounds 4 Research has raised approximately $175,000 for turfgrass
research and education. A crucial factor is ensuring the end users support the program.
“The ones hitting on the tee are the benefciaries of that program,” Ihms says. “They’re
the ones who are beneftting from the research.”
GCSAA’s international footprint has widened in recent years. Ihms hopes to build on
those relationships, including in China, where GCSAA supports industry trade shows and
education. Expanding staff devoted to international efforts should be considered, he says.
Ihms likes GCSAA’s positioning as it looks ahead, with the goal of becoming the global
leader in golf course management by 2020. He says GCSAA’s relationships with the PGA
of America and USGA are evolving and becoming stronger, which is important to GCSAA’s
future status.
“We’re going to be involved in some of their initiatives, whether it’s growing golf or pace
of play. We serve an important role in that because our association has the boots on the
ground that can affect it,” Ihms says. “We all want the same thing because if we don’t grow
golf or we don’t make golf more enjoyable, none of us are going to be happy.”
GCSAA has weathered bumps in the road. Ihms, though, realizes the journey is far
from over.
“Financially, I think we’ve done a good job and we’re sound. We’re smaller, obviously.
We on our board don’t like it smaller because it’s a dollar number, so it impacts our pro-
grams overall,” Ihms says. “We feel we’re in a good position, but that being said, we still
have to stay very diligent in what we’re doing.”
— H.R.
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 47 2/18/14 1:39 PM
48 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Texas; Pine Forest Country Club in Houston; and Bent Tree.
Those are the days Clint Ihms, Keith’s son, remembers (when he was a baby, Clint had a case of colic and the only way to calm him was for Keith to cart him around in a golf car during the early hours of the morning). Not only did the Ihmses regularly win the honor of Yard of the Month, Clint was totally convinced he had the coolest dad on the block.
“I got to fy with him on the Texas A&M team football plane in 1998 to a game,” Clint says. “When he did some work for the Hous-ton Oilers, we had season tickets. That’s spe-cial stuff.”
Dallas, though, was too big for Ihms’ lik-ing, so when an opportunity surfaced at the Country Club of Little Rock in 2005, he was intrigued. When the club called to ask if he would fy in for an interview, Ihms pounced.
In time, the trip proved to be a package deal of sorts. Ihms not only got a new employer. He also found his soul mate.
Finding his nicheThis was no time for Ihms to be without
his cell phone.The February trip was all mapped out nine
years ago when Ihms boarded a Southwest fight from Dallas to Little Rock. He would land, jump in a taxi and arrive at the Coun-try Club of Little Rock to interview at 1 p.m. for the superintendent position. Ihms only had been to Little Rock once, when he accompa-nied the daughter from his frst marriage, Cathey, to an Irish step dance competition. It rained the entire three days they were there. His second visit to Little Rock turned stormy as soon as he got into that taxi.
The driver apparently wasn’t well schooled in Little Rock geography. With no GPS and Ihms inexplicably forgetting his cell phone, their trek, which should have taken 20 minutes from door to door, resulted in a nearly two-hour disaster.
“The driver got lost,” Ihms says. “He couldn’t fnd the place. He took me to every other course (including the Country Club of Arkansas). At one point he asked me, ‘Has this course been here very long?’ I told him it has been here since 1902. By then, I was in panic mode.”
Finally, with only 90 minutes of his four-hour allotted window at the country club re-maining, Ihms arrived. “There was someone standing outside the front of the club waiting for me,” Ihms says, “but a couple of people on their committee who had been there to meet me already had left. For a second I thought that nothing was going to come out of this fasco.”
The moral to this story: Showing up late for an interview doesn’t necessarily equal doom.
“When he came in for his interview, I was so impressed at his calm demeanor,” says Dr. John Moore, a member of the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame and president of the Country Club of Little Rock when Ihms was hired. “He came in and apologized for being late, told us the story, and he said, ‘If I may, would you let me just talk about myself and what I think is important in a superintendent’s job, and what I would do and what I wouldn’t do?’ He basi-cally took over the interview process in a very calm and assured manner.”
Moore noted that in the club’s history it had only employed a handful of superintendents. Ihms, who no longer was seeking stepping-stones, ultimately joined that small fraternity.
“Point is, we try to hire a good man. And when we’ve got a good man … we like longev-ity if you’ve got the right person,” Moore says, “and I liked everything about Keith.”
The Country Club of Little Rock is nestled in the Pulaski Heights neighborhood on the eastern edge of town. It features breathtaking views of the downtown skyline and stages an annual four-ball event that has been a fabric of the club for nearly a century. The club even has welcomed a guy named Bill Clinton before the Arkansas governor became president of the United States.
Politicians seem to know how to work a room, accumulating supporters with often just a smile and a kind word. Ihms quickly gained their trust at the club.
“He’s one of those guys that kind of grows on you,” says Hayden Franks, greens commit-
Top: Ihms (right, standing) receives a congratulatory handshake from Quinton Johnson after receiving a turf-
grass scholarship from the Texas Turfgrass Association in 1978. Photo courtesy of Keith A. Ihms, CGCS
Bottom: A view of downtown Little Rock from the approach shot to the No. 2 green.
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 48 2/18/14 1:40 PM
50 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
tee chairman at the club. “The more you get to know him, the more you think of him.”
Unparalleled work ethic doesn’t hurt.“That sucker works a lot harder than most
doctors,” says Franks, a dermatologist. “Keith and his staff (featuring assistant Kyle Bunney, superintendent Brandon Wright and equip-ment manager Jeff Brewer) made the busi-ness of the greens committee easy. The course looks so good that it looks like we’re doing our job well.”
Wright says, “He’s good about giving us op-portunities to try to grow ourselves.”
Byron Freeland, former club president, insists Ihms is a rare breed. “When he tells us something, we don’t have to second guess it. It’s his attention to detail,” Freeland says. “I’ve never heard anybody criticize the superin-tendent, and that is unusual. That is remark-able, actually.”
The silent treatment works in that instance, but Ihms is vocal. His ability to communicate resonates from his staff to the clubhouse.
“Keith and I are very close,” Country Club of Little Rock PGA professional Darrell Shel-ton says. “I try to fnd out more about what he’s doing than what I tell him I’m doing. He’s always seemed to have great direction on what he wants to accomplish.”
When Ihms tours the course with gen-
eral manager/chief operating offcer Blaine Burgess, there is a routine that has come to be expected.
“Every time I go out there (golf course), he’s pointing something out, whether it’s a tree dying or a green that’s not getting enough sun-light,” says Burgess, who admires how Ihms meshes with everybody from the entry-level laborer to past board presidents. “We do some-thing like a checkbook accounting system every week so I can see where he stands. He kind of stands above because he is so orga-nized and detail oriented — not only on the golf course but also in his administrative du-ties. It’s just the overall package that he brings to the table.”
A major renovation in 2010 reunited Ihms with Foster, who eventually landed the reno-vation job for Bent Tree several years earlier. Now, the Country Club of Little Rock secured his services for a redesign.
“I saw Keith through the design lens, con-struction lens and the technical lens,” Foster says, “and he was fantastic. I love to see my work better than it is. I told him, ‘You made my work better than it is.’ I say that, even though to this day when he sees me he boos me.”
When Nita died, Foster spoke that morn-ing with Ihms. In fact, they spoke often after she was diagnosed.
Top: Country Club of Little Rock General Manager/Chief Operating Offcer Blaine Burgess (next to Ihms) and Class
A PGA Professional Darrell Shelton review restoration plans for the course from 2010.
Bottom: Country Club of Little Rock GCSAA Class A superintendent Brandon Wright, whom Ihms calls his
“right-hand man,” on the 17th fairway.
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 50 2/18/14 1:40 PM
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“He handled it far better than I could have done it,” Foster says. “How does that not shake you to the core? Every time we’d hang up, I’d think ‘Keith is such a wonderful man.’ So many people care about Keith. His impact is wide.”
The Country Club of Little Rock’s pa-tience and support during Nita’s illness still moves Ihms.
“The club has been tremendous, and I want them to know it,” says Ihms, a 33-year GCSAA member. “The club has a huge amount of tra-dition. But it’s about the people there.”
Moore says, “We try to make Keith feel part
of the family. It was wonderful he had that sup-port. It didn’t surprise me.”
Coping with tragedyThe phrase “What a difference a day
makes” is so cliché. In the case of Keith and Nita Ihms, it’s so right.
Neither Keith nor Nita had found love for years after their frst marriages dissolved. Like thousands of others, they joined the dating rev-olution and signed up for eHarmony, hoping to fnd love at frst click. Even that, however, wasn’t doing much for Nita.
“She had a trial membership,” says Nita’s sister Teressa Robinson. “She was not going to renew it.”
Nita was on her fnal day of that trial when it happened, and isn’t that often the case in a love story, that something falls into your lap when you least expect it? Keith, who was at peace in his work and enjoyed hunting and collecting coins, rocks and arrowhead artifacts, still was missing a key piece to his life. He gave eHarmony a try, too. Nita’s profle proved to be intriguing. The feeling was mutual.
Their frst date included a walk across the Big Dam Bridge. Keith laughs as he recalls his hands sweating like a 16-year-old’s as he took Nita’s hand in his, a connection that grew stronger daily.
“When I moved here from Dallas, it was for both personal and business reasons,” Ihms says, “and I actually found both things that I was looking for.”
“When I moved
here from Dallas,
it was for both
personal and
business reasons,
and I actually found
both things that I
was looking for.”
— Keith Ihms
Top: Ihms and the heartbeat of his staff. To his left is Britt; back row, from left to right, are service technician
Jeff Brewer; assistant superintendent Kyle Bunney; Wright; and spray technician Josh Majors.
Bottom: Ihms discusses mowing patterns with Jesus Salcido.
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 52 2/18/14 1:40 PM
54 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Nita loved fowers, iced tea with lemon, freshly made guacamole, asparagus and straw-berries. When her daughter Kalli graduated from nursing school, Nita beamed. When Kalli was studying to become a registered nurse, Nita often spent days and nights taking care of Kalli’s daughter, McKinley Grace, who called Nita Nana.
A year after Keith and Nita met, they were married Nov. 14, 2009. Ask anyone and they will tell you this pairing was destiny.
“Nita was amazing. She brought out the best in him,” daughter Cathey says. “He was even better when they were together.”
Orlan Ihms, Keith’s oldest brother, says: “The two of them ft like gloves. He glowed.”
Robinson says her sister adored Keith. “She had fnally found her knight in shining armor,” Robinson says.
Ihms’ mettle would be tested when his fa-ther Lester, who was Keith’s hero because of how hard he worked without ever raising his voice, became ill in 2012. Later that year, in September, Ihms returned to Little Rock from a GCSAA board meeting and they received the news of Nita’s illness. One month later, Lester Ihms died at the age of 97.
Once Nita’s illness was diagnosed, Ihms was regularly by her side with his club’s bless-ing. It is one reason why he feels so indebted to them.
Nita’s daughter Jennifer Campbell watched as Keith accompanied her mom on every doc-tor visit and set alarms to ensure Nita received each dose at the precise time. “They put nee-dles in her lungs twice a week to drain fuid yet she hardly ever complained,” Ihms says. “She did what she needed to do though she knew she wasn’t going to survive it and at the same time
she still worried about everyone else.”Anita “Nita” Faye Ihms died Feb 23, 2013.
She was 57.“They were over the top for each other.
It’s heartbreaking to me that I can’t help him more,” Campbell says.
The thought of her often still brings tears to Ihms’ eyes. She loved to travel, and not having her by his side when he embarks on numerous journeys that come with being GCSAA’s pres-ident hurts.
“I know she is proud of him and thought he would be a great president,” Robinson says. “This will be very good for him in several ways. The frst year is always hard. This will keep him busy, if you know what I mean.”
Wally Smith, who was general manager when he hired Ihms at Bent Tree, is certain GCSAA has its man.
“I told him 25 years ago he’d be president,” Smith says. “He spoon-fed me, taught me ev-erything about the business, shared everything freely. You couldn’t fnd a better guy.”
The clock is ticking on his time in offce. Ihms plans to make the most of it. For him-self. For the Country Club of Little Rock. For GCSAA. For Nita.
“It’s a big responsibility, and I take it seri-ously,” Ihms says. “It will be sad, not having her there. They tell me as time goes on things that make you sad will make you smile. So that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Howard Richman ([email protected]) is GCM’s associ-
ate editor.
Left: The wedding picture of Keith and Nita Ihms from Nov. 14, 2009, at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs,
Ark. Photo courtesy of Keith A. Ihms, CGCS.
Right: Ihms checks on the irrigation system for the 16th green.
“I told him 25
years ago he’d
be president.
He spoon-fed
me, taught me
everything about
the business,
shared everything
freely. You couldn’t
fnd a better guy.”
— Wally Smith
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 54 2/18/14 1:40 PM
044-057_March14_Pres.indd 55 2/18/14 1:40 PM
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058-067_March14_W2.indd 58 2/18/14 1:41 PM
A golf course architect offers 12 teeing ground tips for superintendents, green committees, women golfers and golf course owners.
Kari Haug, MLA, EIGCA
Equalfooting
Photo by Kzenon/Shutterstock.com
058-067_March14_W2.indd 59 2/18/14 1:41 PM
60 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Over the years, I have often heard my women golfng partners comment about the poor con-dition of our teeing grounds. The dismay usually is related to an excessively offset tee that is small in size, has a poor angle to the landing area in the fairway, has poor turf conditions or simply sets the hole up to play too long.
While we know there are many really great superintendents caring for our courses, sometimes the women’s tees are overlooked. These tips are intended to be a hopeful reminder to help golf course management make improvements that will produce a better golf experience for women.
Location, location, locationIn addition to simply being a poor golf course design, a tee that is offset excessively to the far
edge of the fairway is offensive to women. In a game that is loaded with psychological nuances, a tee that is pushed off to the side (often with an incorrect angle and/or distance to the landing area) is a dismissive non-verbal message that pushes women to the side in more ways than just physical location. It also sets us up for failure on the golf course, making the game much more diffcult than it would be if the teeing grounds were properly designed.
While some offset might be appropriate in some cases, extremely offset tees should be cor-rected as soon as economically feasible.
Size mattersThe teeing ground is where everyone is supposed to get an equal footing to start each hole,
equally maintained, leveled and appropriately sized. A teeing area that is too small limits choices for tee shot setup and limits turf recovery from wear and tear. This is not the intended starting condition for a golf hole.
Since more divots are taken on the teeing ground on a par-3, a larger tee size is required for turf recovery than the tee size on par-4s and par-5s. Women’s tees have historically been underbuilt, and are in critical need of expansion in many cases.
A larger tee will increase choice in regard to fnding a level stance and setting up a tee shot, will facilitate mowing, and will allow for turf recovery and improved turf health on the teeing grounds.
Do you see what I see?Elevated tees are more important for women than men since we are on the average about 5
to 6 inches shorter than men. The visibility of golf hazards that stir emotions is just one of the psychological attractions of the game of golf. Unfortunately, the forward tee is frequently located downhill from an elevated back tee, diminishing a thrilling view or visual access to the hazards that lie ahead. An unseen hazard does not stir the emotions like a visible one. This robs women of some of the excitement of playing the game and may be just one element that contributes to the high attrition rate among women golfers.
The solution: elevate the forward tees as much as possible while still harmoniously integrating them into the landscape. This may mean choosing a tee location at a higher elevation or disturb-ing more area during construction of the tee, but it will be worth the effort for the women.
Not only does elevation affect visibility, so does lateral location (offset) of the tee. Make sure the driving angle allows clear visibility to the intended landing area for both right- and left-handed golfers.
Add sunlight, then water and drain well
Tees that are located way off to the side of the fairway are often plagued by overhang-ing tree limbs that block sunlight to the grass, which impairs the health of the turf on the tee surface. Tree limbs also block shots, visibility, or otherwise limit access to the fairway. Think about your left-handed women as well as your right-handers. Please contact your forestry ser-vice, or better yet, rebuild those tees in a better location. Additionally, women’s tees historically were sometimes constructed in the “push-up” style, meaning the native soil was pushed up, leveled off and turfed with minimal irrigation or drainage installation.
Unfortunately,
the forward tee is
frequently located
downhill from an
elevated back
tee, diminishing
a thrilling view or
visual access to
the hazards that lie
ahead.
Sometimes, women’s tees are overlooked during course improvement projects and have settled and become lumpy
over time. Photos courtesy of Kari Haug
058-067_March14_W2.indd 60 2/18/14 1:41 PM
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058-067_March14_W2.indd 61 2/18/14 1:41 PM
62 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
A worse situation is where tees were simply mowed into the fairway. These types of tees are very diffcult to maintain to standards equal to the back tees. New forward tees should be “constructed” with appropriate soil, turf, and suffcient irrigation and drainage. They should not just be pushed up, or worse, simply mowed into the fairway.
A temporary tee will get you temporary members and dissatisfed women golfers.
Hire a qualified EIGCA or ASGCA architect
In-house construction of a tee is quite possi-ble, but in-house design is sometimes a disaster. In-house design choices made by superinten-dents, course owners, the club pro or women’s club members are often regretted.
Professional tee design is not expensive and well worth the money in the long run when done by designers who thoughtfully consider play from the women’s tees.
Gimme a break (please?)Benches, ball washers, hole signs and trash
cans are generally standard equipment on most tees. However, when women’s tees are located moderately ahead of the men’s tees, there is rarely a bench in sight.
With a little design creativity, these on-course amenities can be easily integrated in a minimalist manner in order to preserve harmo-nious views from the back tees. Amenities are not needed on every tee, but a few rest areas would be greatly appreciated. On the other side of this coin are the amenities that crowd the tee.
Just because amenities are requested, that doesn’t mean we want the bench and the ball washer on the actual teeing area or crowding what little space we have.
Ensure a proper angle to the landing area
Proper angles are particularly important on dogleg holes. Hint: The inside of the dog-leg is usually not the correct angle to the land-ing area. The golf course architect can help to ensure proper angles and distances to landing areas such that women are not hitting through fairways, blocked from making shots or forced to negotiate a larger portion of a hazard than the players from the men’s tees.
Improper angles and distances to dogleg turning points often make the game much more diffcult for women. Also, angles play a signifcant role in the direction a ball will roll if a drive lands on a hillside with a glancing angle versus a shot that lands on the hillside straight away. Drives from the women’s tee that end up in the same lousy long rough every time prob-ably have an improper driving angle or poorly designed mowing pattern.
How far is too far?Forced carries (including over long rough)
can exhilarate or defate a golfer when he or she steps onto the tee. Indeed, one of the com-pelling attractions of the game of golf is the challenge presented by hazards that need to be carried, but if the carry distance is insurmount-able, it only defates the sense of well-being that is found by golfers on the course.
Instead of a forced carry, a better hazard type from the most forward tee would be a “strategic hazard” design, which allows the golfer to decide how much of the hazard they can carry. This type of hazard is much more playable than a “forced” carry for high hand-icappers. If there is a graduated second tee in place for women who have a low handicap, a surmountable forced carry is appropriate.
Many women’s tees are underbuilt. The photo on the left shows a tee that is only 6 feet wide. The two tees in the photo on the right share fewer than 200
square feet.
Drives from the
women’s tee that
end up in the same
lousy long rough
every time probably
have an improper
driving angle or
poorly designed
mowing pattern.
058-067_March14_W2.indd 62 2/18/14 1:41 PM
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64 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Can we level the playing field?It is often diffcult to fnd a level area in
order to take a stance and address the ball on the women’s tees. Sometimes one large ir-rigation head is in the middle of a very small tee, making it diffcult to set up a clear teeing area for tournament play, or just to fnd a level stance when playing for fun.
On some tees, the entire tee is moderately sloped. This is particularly bad when the slope is back to front, setting up a downhill lie on a tee shot.
Also, as tees age, they settle and get lumpy. Many women’s tees were built 30 years ago and have not been renovated. Maybe it is time?
Is your course too long?Decades ago, famed golf course architect
Alice Dye published tee design guidelines for a “Two Tee System for Women.” In order for courses to be manageable for the average woman golfer, she recommended that a course should play 4,800 to 5,200 yards. In a recent Minnesota study, only approximately 50 per-cent of the courses sampled had a tee built at this recommended distance.
Furthermore, when a women’s tee was built, only one was built. To this day, most courses still play too long for the average woman golfer. No wonder the game seems so diffcult.
Equity, please. Three would be great, but two will do
As indicated above, Dye recommended that the women’s tee system include two tees, similar to the teeing grounds for the men. The Minnesota study referenced above found that only approximately 20 percent of the time was a second tee built at an appropriate distance for women. Unlike the men, whose tees usu-ally provide three choices in course length, women continue to have limited choice with
only one tee.Furthermore, the study found the average
distance between the women’s tee and the frst men’s tee (the next tee choice) was approxi-mately 940 yards. This jump in distance is too far for women to work on graduated dis-tance challenges that will improve their game. When women’s games improve such that they start hitting drives through fairways or beyond landing areas, a second tee is needed — or even a third.
Imagine where women’s golf could be today if the tees had been built to Dye’s recommen-dations years ago.
Tokenism? No, thank youNot only do women need to be at the deci-
sion-making table, but we also need to have a voice in making the decisions. When planning a women’s tee design and renovation or new installation project, make sure your women’s clubs are well represented on the design com-mittee and/or greens committee.
Women need to step up and take part in course renovations or new design activities. Representative participation will enhance the process and outcome of the project. Women need to have a bigger voice in the game if the game is to grow and be sustainable for years to come.
Kari Haug (www.karihaug.com) is an associate member of
the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA)
and president/CEO of Kari Haug Planning & Design Inc.,
a golf course architecture company that specializes in sus-
tainable golf course design and women’s golf. She is also
a former physical therapist who has extensively studied
environmental impacts on mental and physical health and
wellness.
Often, the forward tee is offset excessively to the far edge of the fairway, creating improper angles and distances to dogleg turning points. Overhanging tree limbs also block
shots and visibility of the green.
To this day, most
courses still play too
long for the average
woman golfer. No
wonder the game
seems so diffcult.
058-067_March14_W2.indd 64 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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058-067_March14_W2.indd 66 2/18/14 1:42 PM
68 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
It’s super zoysia!The products of years of turfgrass breeding have replaced creeping bentgrass at some courses in the South, restoring superintendents’ peace of mind.
Life-preserver. Game-changer. Course-saver. Sounds like a tall order for Superman, let alone a turfgrass. Yet the object of these accolades is indeed a simpler life form: zoysiagrass. And its praise has quickly spread from Texas to the Southeast at golf courses where Diamond zoysiagrass has made the leap from fairways and tees to putting greens.
The 2007 conversion from bentgrass to Diamond zoysia “absolutely saved our course,” says Mike Fish, director of golf at the Arnold Palmer-designed Tanglewood Resort & Country Club in Pottsboro, Texas, which annually hosts two major college competitions. For Tanglewood, he adds, “bentgrass was a nightmare,” but zoysia “has brought peace of mind — being able to sleep in the summertime.”
“I hadn’t had a summer vacation in 20 years,” says GCSAA Class A superintendent Bob Land of Oconee Country Club in Seneca, S.C., who converted nine holes from bentgrass to Diamond zoysia in May 2012 and the second nine last June. “If you’ve got bent, you have to stay around because if anything can go wrong, it will when you leave. I used to wake up every morn-ing worrying if I would have any greens (alive). Now I sleep better.”
“From a superintendent’s standpoint, they actually get their lives back,” says Harold Kincaid, whose company leases and manages the municipal Reynolds Park Golf Course in Winston-Salem, N.C., which was converted from bentgrass to zoysia in 2012.
“I’m a big defender of guys on the turfgrass side,” says Kincaid, the general manager and PGA professional. “They would wake up in the middle of the night with sweats about losing their
By Mark Leslie
AT THE TURN
(business)
Diamond zoysiagrass replaced bentgrass on the greens at Tanglewood Resort & CC in Pottsboro, Texas. The course’s managers say the conversion, in 2007, brought “peace of mind.” Photo courtesy of Milt Engelke, Ph.D.
Diamond
zoysiagrass has
made the leap from
fairways and tees
to putting greens.
068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 68 2/18/14 1:42 PM
068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 69 2/18/14 1:42 PM
70 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
greens. With Pythium blight, it’s happened to a lot of courses, and they die in a couple days.”
Kincaid poses the analogy of having Dia-mond zoysia or a new ultradwarf bermuda- grass, compared to bentgrass. “During the summer months, they’re working out like going to the gym. And that’s when our busi-ness is the busiest: when the days are long. Our best revenue months are May through August and yet that’s when bentgrass is at its weakest, on emergency-room life support. Which green would you rather have — a green at its stron-gest or weakest during your busiest time?”
“It’s a game-changer,” agrees Milt Engelke, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Texas A&M, who, with the late Jack Murray, Ph.D., of the USDA, traveled to Asia in 1982 and brought back 787 unique specimens of zoysiagrass. From that and other collections made over the years, several of the new zoysiagrasses have risen to national and international promi-nence. Murray also created the National Turf-grass Evaluation Program (NTEP), which was initiated in the early 1980s.
“Diamond stood out from all of the rest,” recalls NTEP executive director Kevin Morris, who had just been hired by Murray at the time. “Diamond is unique. You put it in a trial and mow at 1 inch and don’t get any clippings.”
But zoysia is so slow-growing that most people wrote it off as an unworkable variety for putting greens.
“We thought a sod grower would have to
sell it at such a high price,” Morris reasons. “But somehow they got it to grow in and sell it and fnd a niche for it.”
“They” are Engelke and John Brown, pres-ident of New Life Turf sod farm in Norway, S.C.
Yet Engelke, one of the country’s foremost turf breeders who has released seven other zoysia varieties, defers to Brown: “I give John Brown all the credit in the world for taking this to the greens. He’s done yeoman’s work and has a group of superintendents who are absolute believers. It’s a game-changer.”
In turn, Brown credits other pioneers in the use of zoysiagrass on golf courses: Fish, who took a long look at the short-range green and large practice surface built by Doug Pe-tersan at Austin Golf Club in Spicewood, Texas, and then made Tanglewood the frst regulation course to install Diamond greens; and Ken Mangum, CGCS at Atlanta Ath-letic Club, whose Diamond zoysia tees and fairways won high praise during the 2011 PGA Championship.
After several years of experience changing greens to Diamond, Brown asserts, “We’re past the ‘proving stage.’ We’ve converted some quality golf courses from bermudagrass or bentgrass to Diamond, and we’re literally re-ducing the pesticide load on those greens — so much so that the savings in fungicides will pay for the renovation in a matter of four years.”
Top: Rolls of Diamond zoysia are installed on the prepared green surface. Photo courtesy of New Life Turf
Bottom: Bob Land says speed “is pretty darn good” on the zoysia greens at Oconee CC in Seneca, S.C.
Photo courtesy of Bob Land
068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 70 2/18/14 1:42 PM
72 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Pushing the boundariesBesides Tanglewood, Oconee CC and
Reynolds Park, the zoysia converts include the George Fazio Course at Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, Hilton Head, S.C.; Pilot Knob Park, Pilot Mountain, N.C.; Lake- view Golf Club, in Piedmont, S.C.; River Falls Plantation, Duncan, S.C.; The Creek Golf Club, Spartanburg, S.C.; Charlotte (N.C.) Golf Links; Big Cypress Golf Club, Lakeland, Fla.; Sapona Ridge Country Club, Lexington, N.C.; and Par III West, Greenwood, S.C.
Though these are mainly Carolinas facili-ties, Brown has expanded sales into Georgia and Tennessee and has engaged longtime turf expert Tommy Nalls of Classic Course Ser-vices to help him in Florida, Alabama, Missis-sippi, Arkansas and beyond.
In fact, Engelke says zoysiagrass grows nat-urally between 45 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees south latitude. But its agronomic and fnancial advantages over bentgrass in-crease the farther south the comparisons are made. And different courses have converted for different reasons — agronomic, fnancial or aesthetics (read: retaining trees).
Got a problem with shade? No worries with zoysia.
Too much heat and humidity? Ditto.Salt? No problem. According to Engelke,
zoysia even outperforms paspalums in that regard by actually remediating the salt out of the soil.
“It has salt glands and actually pulls salt out of the soil and puts it on the leaves, where it’s removed by mowing. During peak season it does require clippings be gathered, how-ever,” he says. “Paspalums tolerate salt, but at some point you have to fush it out.”
The most important reason for some courses to change is their fnancial survival.
“We couldn’t afford (to continue with bentgrass),” says Land at Oconee CC. “Look-ing to the future, we had to change to some-thing we could afford. The pesticides, fungi-cides, water and labor simply cost too much.”
At Tanglewood, Fish says, “With the f-nancial situation in golf we didn’t want to spend the (money for) chemicals, water and labor and watch the bentgrass wilt in July and August, which is what it did the previous four years. Some years were better than others, but the greens needed syringing in the afternoons, more chemicals, a huge amount of labor.
“But with zoysia, the hotter it gets, the bet-ter they get,” he continues. “It doesn’t need nearly the amount of water. The only issue is, in the spring we get a little fairy ring. It’s just a cosmetic thing that won’t kill the grass but has a very distinct look. We spray a product
and it goes away.”Fish says that in its worst year Tanglewood
spent $55,000 in chemicals to maintain bent-grass. “That’s not including fertilizers,” he says, “and even then there’s no guarantee [bentgrass will survive]. Besides that, we needed to walk-mow the bent; now we can ride.”
Chemicals for the zoysia greens total just $7,000 to $8,000 a year, Fish says.
The results are in“I love it,” says Gary Newcomb at Big Cy-
press. “We’ve had no issues with it at all.”“I’m very happy with (the conversion),”
says Land. “Better still, my greens and mem-bers are getting happier every day.”
“Since the new greens were installed [at Reynolds Park], we’ve had nothing but rave reviews,” says Tim Grant, director of the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks De-partment, who has decided to make the switch at the city’s second layout, Winston Lake Golf Course.
At Reynolds Park, Kincaid says the zoy-sia greens roll differently from bent. “They’re very durable. We have in excess of 200 rounds on a good day and the next morning they look like the morning before.
“It’s amazing how they grow. When it’s 100 degrees, our greens are lush while old courses with bentgrass are struggling just to stay alive, spending $1,000 to $2,000 a week on fungicides and we’re not doing any of that.
“In the summer time we’re not hand wa-tering and applying fungicides. We do have to topdress more with fner sand because the zoy-sia’s so aggressive. We verticut more and have groomers on both our riding greens mowers.
The cost of conversionBrown says the average golf course contains
2.5 acres of greens, and the size of a course’s greens largely dictates the cost of conversion.
While the cost for Oconee CC’s smallish 80,000 square feet in putting surfaces was ap-proximately $100,000, the cost for 19 greens at Reynolds Park was $220,000. The estimate for Winston Lake is $237,500.
Proponents of zoysia greens argue that the lower maintenance costs and shortened shut-down time to install it, compared to the alter-natives, mitigate that outlay.
“I know we saved a lot of money the frst year — at least $20,000 to $25,000,” says Land. “You can ride-mow these greens and there’s no hand-watering, both of which save on labor.”
Brown says he converts nine holes at a time in as little as 10 to 12 days, so that courses can keep their revenue stream fowing.
The conversion itself can be done by vari-ous methods.
At Big Cypress, says Newcomb, a GCSAA Class A superintendent and 21-year member of the association, “We sprayed everything out with Roundup/Fusilade, stripped them 2 inches deep, then rototilled 6 inches deep and added amendments to get things back in shape. After applying Basamid, we waited eight or 10 days to give it time to work. Four days after the sod was laid, golfers were play-ing the course.”
A second method has the golf course’s crew kill the existing turf with Roundup. The sod crew then strips the greens to 1 or 2 inches deep (a one-day process), the golf course crew aerifes the greens, and then the sod crew lays down a layer of sand, smoothing out rough
Bentgrass-to-zoysia greens converts include the Fazio Course at Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort in Hilton Head, S.C. Photo courtesy of New Life Turf
068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 72 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 73 2/18/14 1:42 PM
spots and installing the sod.At Oconee, Land took another approach:
the greens were aerifed, Brown’s crews used a sod-cutter to strip off the top inch, the course was fumigated with Basamid (“or methyl bro-mide if you can get it,” Land says) and watered heavily for two weeks. Finally, Brown’s crew foated the greens and sodded them.
Kincaid says if he were to do anything dif-ferently, it would be to add 2 inches of sand instead of 1 inch — something they did on the second nine — when foating the green before sodding.
Land agrees with having a deeper layer of materials: “I like a green to be good and smooth before laying the sod so you don’t have to use so much topdressing. I’d use a lot more sand beforehand to get the surface as smooth as possible.
“Our frst nine holes were a learning pro-cess,” he adds. “I had to roll them every day for about 30 days. The second nine we had learned our lesson. We made sure the surface was a lot smoother the second nine.”
Land says zoysia takes a while to grow in and for the seams to come together well. He recommends topdressing heavily at frst, but warns against fertilizing, which, he says, can cause the zoysia to get thatchy and then “you’ll be sorry.”
Negatives, anyone?When considering a conversion, every
course faces unique circumstances.Kincaid at Reynolds Park says, “If I’m
going to have a PGA event and I’m at a private club and I want the greens to Stimp 12 to 13 in the summer months, I’ll look at (an ultra-dwarf bermudagrass). But at a municipal golf course looking for playability, not wanting to cut trees and with minimal change in slopes, I’d highly recommend Diamond.
“It entirely depends on the golf course you’re operating. We want people playing golf, to keep playing it and introduce new golfers to the game, so our goals are different than a private club aiming at a major amateur or pro-fessional tournament.”
A major concern for some superinten-dents is that zoysias, because of their upright growth, generally putt slower than bentgrasses or ultradwarf bermudas.
Brown maintains that “seven to eight months of the year we can have Diamond roll-ing 11 to 13 [on the Stimpmeter]. The only time it’s an issue is in the dead heat of summer when its speed is around 9.”
Fish says, “What we battled in the begin-ning was speed. We worried about getting fast enough. That was a question the frst year. We Stimped at 9. It grows so fast in the summer-time that that’s when they actually slow down.
The speed now is higher than anyone would have predicted. It’s at 11.5 in the wintertime and 9.5 to 10 in the summer. We’re a member and resort course so we don’t need anything more than that.
“Our second concern,” he adds, “was ex-cessive frmness. But through venting, the frmness has been moderated and gotten much better.”
Land simply says Oconee’s speed “is pretty darn good.”
Kincaid says Reynolds Park mows at 0.01 inch, while Pilot Knoll Park has been as low as 0.085. “In the summer months we have above 9 on the Stimpmeter. I don’t want peo-ple 3-putting, but (I want) to keep play mov-ing and (to see) people enjoying themselves,” he says.
Another thing people overseeing mainte-nance don’t mind about zoysiagrass greens is shorter workdays.
“My guys love them because we get to go home at 3:30, not 7,” says Oconee’s Land.
Once zoysiagrass gains a toehold, Nalls says, “I think we will turn another curve in the turf industry.”
A frequent contributor to GCM, Mark Leslie is a freelance
writer based in Monmouth, Maine, and the author of “Put-
ting a Little Spin on it: The Grooming’s the Thing.”
068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 74 2/18/14 1:42 PM
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068-075_March14_Zoysia.indd 75 2/18/14 1:42 PM
76 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
In a world where information is available immediately via the Internet, I believe the turfgrass conference is still the most reliable method to stay up to speed on the newest ad-vancements in our industry. The conference has several advantages over other forms of information gathering. The most obvious ad-vantage of attending conferences is the trade show foor. Yes, you can look at equipment on the Internet, but there is nothing like being able to touch all the new machines and make product comparisons at one site or chat with fertilizer and pesticide representatives about advancements in their products. After chat-ting with industry reps, the attendees can compare notes with their peers to make an educated investment.
Another less obvious advantage, unbe-knownst to most superintendents, is that re-search is almost always presented live before it is published in trade journals. This is because most groundbreaking research is not available to the public until it is initially published in a scientifc journal. Unfortunately, earning publication in a scientifc journal not only takes months, but often years. The fact of the matter is that by the time many research re-sults appear on the Internet, many of the fnd-ings are old news to those who regularly at-tend conferences.
This fact is not lost on turfgrass research-ers. This conference season I was brought up to speed by Chas Schmid, a graduate student at Rutgers University, presenting data on how he achieved decreases in anthracnose with proper potassium fertilization. I was equally enlight-ened as Aaron Patton, Ph.D., from Purdue Uni-versity, demonstrated how to kill bermudagrass in cool-season grass — remarkable — and how to use new chemistries to prevent dandelions from fowering. The scariest presentation I sat in on this past season was given by Jim Bros-nan, Ph.D., University of Tennessee, who was citing cases of herbicide resistance. Fortunately, those in attendance were taught how to avoid this problem on their golf courses or how to remedy the problem if their weeds were already showing signs of resistance.
With that said, the presentations that capti-vate me the most are often given by golf course superintendents. This conference season I saw
Mike Morris, CGCS at Crystal Downs Coun-try Club in Frankfort, Mich., lead a conversa-tion about the benefts of HDPE pipe. Other presentations that stuck with me include Cur-tis Tyrrell, CGCS, from Medinah (Ill.) Coun-try Club, demonstrating his preparations for the Ryder Cup; Aaron McMaster recapping the complete renovation of Orchard Lake (Mich.) Country Club; Kyle Sweet, CGCS at The Sanctuary Golf Club, talking about aeri-fying into seashells on environmentally sensi-tive Sanibel Island; and innovative (or crazy) Matt Shaffer of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., who rolls his fairways, double-rolls his greens and rarely topdresses his putting sur-faces. These professional testimonials keep me in touch with the industry more than anything I can fnd on the Internet.
This brings us to one of the most important advantages of attending conferences, which is socializing with peers. At lunch the tables are full of debate about the morning presentations. Obviously, these conversations continue fol-lowing the afternoon sessions and, with little effort, the presenter can be engaged in the dis-cussion. The scrutiny that takes place is an in-tegral part of the unique experience that allows participants to decide if it is possible for them to implement any of the strategies discussed during the conference at their golf facility.
Don’t get me wrong, the Internet is a tre-mendous communication tool, but nothing beats the sheer volume of knowledge and ed-ucational resources that can be gained from a well-planned conference. Certainly, cost to at-tend conference is a legitimate concern and the Internet is far less expensive and a tremendous tool. But remember, you get what you pay for.
Thomas A. Nikolai, Ph.D., is the turfgrass academic spe-
cialist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.,
and a frequent GCSAA educator.
Two for the show!
In a world where
information is
available immediately
via the Internet, I
believe the turfgrass
conference is still
the most reliable
method to stay up to
speed on the newest
advancements in our
industry.
Thomas A. Nikolai, [email protected]
(up to speed)
076-077_Mar14_UptoSpeed.indd 76 2/18/14 1:46 PM
78 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Disease updatesEditor’s note: Each year, GCM publishes reports of previously unknown diseases, sightings in areas where diseases have not been seen previously and other news of turfgrass diseases. The following reports were previously published in the journal Plant Disease.
Patches of thinning buffalograss are the result of leaf blight caused by Curvularia and Bipolaris species in mid-summer in Lincoln, Neb. Photos by B.S. Amaradasa
First report of Curvularia inaequalis and Bipolaris spicifera causing leaf blight of buffalograss in Nebraska
Buffalograss (Buc loe dactyloides [Nutt.] Engelm.) is a warm-season turfgrass native to the mid-plains of North America having
exceptional heat, cold and drought tolerance. In the past few decades, many turf-type buf-falograss cultivars have been commercially released. During the summer of 2011, foliar blight was observed on buffalograss lawns in Lincoln and Waverly, Neb. Disease symp-toms were common when buffalograss was growing above 86 F (30 C) and in drought conditions. Disease symptoms began as dark
brown, oblong leaf spots, followed by leaf tip dieback and eventual blighting of entire tillers. Leaf infections would progress into patches of thinning turf.
Diseased leaf pieces were cultured and observed under a microscope to identify the causal organisms. Two fungal species having conidial morphology of Curvularia and Bi-polaris were isolated. Colonies of Curvularia isolates grown on potato dextrose agar at 77 F (25 C) appeared velvety and dark green-ish to grayish black after one week, while Bipolaris cultures were brownish gray with olive-green margins. The two species were identifed as Curvularia inaequalis (Shear) Boedijn and Bipolaris spicifera (Bainier) Subram.
Conidia of C. inaequalis were mostly straight to slightly curved, 17.4 to 37.1 × 7.2 to 12.6 micrometers, pale brown to brown, and three to four septate. Conidia of B. spic-ifera were 18.5 to 30.3 × 7 to 11.4 micro- meters, ellipsoidal or oblong, light brown and three-septate. DNA testing was used to confrm the identity of the two pathogens. Pathogenicity of the two species was tested on the buffalograss cultivar Prestige. Sto-lons of Prestige were established in 4-inch (10-centimeter) square pots flled with pot-ting medium. The pots of buffalograss were kept in an 86 F greenhouse with a 12-hour photoperiod for 12 weeks. One isolate of
(Report)
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 78 2/18/14 1:46 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 79
each species representing each collection site (two isolates per each species) was cultured on potato dextrose agar plates, and conidial suspensions of 1.5 × 106 spores/milliliter in sterile water were prepared. Each isolate was inoculated to three pots of Prestige by spray-ing 15 milliliters of spore suspension per pot. Control pots of Prestige were sprayed with water. Pots were sealed in transparent plas-tic bags, and every other day, the bags were opened for a few hours and the plants were sprayed with water to encourage infection. Isolates of C. inaequalis were more virulent, with initial symptoms of foliar spots appear-ing seven days after inoculation, followed by leaf tip dieback and necrosis of infected
tillers. Bipolaris spicifera isolates induced similar symptoms 14 days after inoculation. Control pots were asymptomatic. Curvularia inaequalis and B. spicifera were successfully re-isolated from symptomatic tissue. To our knowledge, this is the frst report of identi-fcation of foliar blight causal pathogens on buffalograss in Nebraska.
Source: Plant Disease, February 2014, 98(2):279.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-13-0487-PDN
B.S. Amaradasa, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral research asso-
ciate and K. Amundsen, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is
an assistant professor in the department of agronomy and
horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
Leaf spots and leaf tip dieback are initial symptoms of buffalograss leaf blight.
(Report)
First report of Ustilago cynodontis causing smut of bermudagrass in Washington state
Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is an important perennial turf and forage grass that is typically grown in warm, tropical and subtropical climates. Smutted inforescences of bermudagrass were observed and collected in Benton County, Wash., in October 2012 in an unmanaged, naturalized area located near the banks of the Columbia River and adjacent to large expanses of managed turf containing bermudagrass. The climate in this area is favorable to bermudagrass because of the relatively mild winters and hot, dry sum-mers that usually occur in this region.
The infected plants occurred in patches alongside healthy plants, and several disease foci were observed along a 328-foot (100-meter) transect of non-contiguous bermu-dagrass. The disease was severe wherever it occurred. Diseased inforescences were dis-torted, frequently failed to fully emerge and develop, and were covered with black-brown teliospores, which serve as resting spores of the fungus. Teliospores (n = 80) were irregu-larly globose to subglobose, 5.3 to 7.0 × 4.5 to 6.2 micrometers (mean 6.4 × 5.9 microm-eters) and 6.2 to 8.8 × 5.3 to 7.0 micrometers (mean 7.0 × 6.5 micrometers), with a smooth wall approximately 1 micrometer thick, and were consistent with previous descriptions of
Ustilago cynodontis teliospores. Teliospores germinated within 24 hours when plated on 0.2% malt agar at 61 F (16 C) and pro-duced four-celled basidia in an arrangement also consistent with U. cynodontis. Basidia gave rise to lateral and terminal, ovoid-to-long ellipsoidal basidiospores. Basidiospores budded or germinated by hyphae and pro-duced lateral or terminal aerial sporidia. Col-
lectively, the morphology of the teliospores, basidia and sporidia were similar to previous descriptions of U. cynodontis.
DNA was extracted from sporidia of three single-spored isolates grown in malt extract broth. Genetic testing of the three isolates showed that they exhibited 99% to 100% identity with U. cynodontis strains previ-ously deposited in GenBank. Representative
Healthy (left) and diseased (right) bermudagrass inforescences collected from a naturalized riparian area in Washington state. The diseased inforescences on the right were found to be infected with bermudagrass smut, which is caused by the fungus Ustilago cynodontis. Photos courtesy of Jeremiah Dung
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 79 2/18/14 1:46 PM
80 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Dollar spot lesions on tufted bulrush (Trichophorum cespitosum) on the seashore near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photos by T. Hsiang
specimens were deposited in the WSU My-cological Herbarium as WSP 72345 to WSP 72348.
This is the frst report of U. cynodontis causing smut on bermudagrass in Washing-ton state and represents the northernmost re-cord of this fungus in North America. The occurrence of U. cynodontis in Washington suggests that the pathogen may exist in other
hot and dry areas of northwestern North America where bermudagrass can be associ-ated with recreational, landscape or natural settings.
Source: Plant Disease, February 2014, 98(2):280.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-13-0560-PDN
J.K.S. Dung, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is
an assistant professor in the department of botany and
plant pathology, Central Oregon Agricultural Research
Center, Oregon State University, Madras, Ore.; L.M. Car-
ris, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the department of
plant pathology, Washington State University, Pullman,
Wash.; and P.B. Hamm is station director and professor
emeritus in the department of botany and plant pathology,
Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center,
Oregon State University, Hermiston, Ore.
(Report)
Dollar spot disease on the oceanside sedge Trichophorum cespitosum
Sclerotinia omoeocarpa is a fungal patho-gen that causes dollar spot disease on more than 40 plant species, mostly in the family Poaceae, and is considered the most wide-spread pathogen of golf course turfgrasses in the St. Lawrence River region.
In June 2011, lesions were observed on tufted bulrush, Tric o orum cespitosum (Poales, Cyperaceae), on the seashore near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. Single bunches had up to 40% of the leaves affected. The foliar symptoms were large hourglass-shaped lesions, up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long, with a straw-colored portion capped at two ends by dark zone lines on surrounding green foliar tissue. These lesions were simi-lar to dollar spot lesions found on turfgrasses such as Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis).
A fungus was isolated from symptomatic leaf segments and, after three days of growth on nutrient agar at room temperature, white fuffy mycelia covered the entire petri dish. Brown columnar structures began to form in the colony centers after seven days with abundant aerial growth, and cultures became cinnamon-colored after 14 days. Dark brown or black substratal stroma were formed on or in the agar, and cultures appeared dark brown from the bottom.
DNA was extracted and amplifed using ribosomal DNA primers ITS1 and ITS4, and the DNA fragment sequenced (GenBank Accession No. KF447776). The sequence showed a top match of 522/524 bp identity with the ITS sequence of an isolate of S o-moeocarpa, with the next 40 top matches also identifed as S. omoeocarpa. This was an un-
expected fnding, so attempts were made to test the ability of this isolate to cause disease on turfgrasses.
Two-week-old seedlings of Penncross creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), Touchdown Kentucky bluegrass (Poa praten-sis) and Express perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were inoculated by placing 0.2-inch (5-millimeter) diameter mycelial plugs from fve-day-old cultures onto the leaves of plants grown in small containers, and in-cubating under enclosed humid conditions throughout the test. White aerial hyphae on the leaves and straw-colored leaf lesions were observed by seven days after inoculation on Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, but no lesions or hyphal growth were ob-served on creeping bentgrass. No signs or
symptoms were observed on leaves where sterile agar plugs were used as inoculum. These tests were repeated three times with the same results, and a positive control was included by using an S. omoeocarpa isolate known to be pathogenic to creeping bent-grass under the same test conditions. Disease was observed on creeping bentgrass with the control isolate but never with the isolate from T. cespitosum. Sclerotini omoeocarpa was re-isolated from the lesions on Kentucky blue-grass and perennial ryegrass to satisfy Koch’s postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the frst report of S. omoeocarpa on T. cespitosum worldwide, involving an isolate that was found to cause disease on Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, but was not pathogenic to creeping bentgrass in vitro.
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 80 2/18/14 1:46 PM
TIFEAGLESOARS AT PRESTWICK C.C.
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Paul Kaufman-Superintendent Prestwick Country Club Myrtle Beach SC
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UPGRADE TO TIFSPORT
®
Retreat Golf Course-Hole#6Sea Island Golf Club - Sea Island GA
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82 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
The original host was not used in pathoge-nicity tests because it is considered an endan-gered species in many locations.
These fndings extend the known host range of S. omoeocarpa and may indicate another source of inoculum of this fungus, especially for oceanside golf courses. We are continuing research to fgure out why this isolate could cause disease on tufted bulrush, perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass, yet not on creeping bentgrass. The answers may lead to a better understanding of the
Dollar spot lesions on Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) in mid-summer.
(Report)
First report of Xanthomonas translucens causing etiolation on creeping bentgrass in Illinois, Kentucky and North Carolina
Symptoms of etiolation, which is an ab-normal elongation and yellowing of tillers, have been observed on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) putting greens for de-cades; however, symptoms are typically tran-sient and not problematic. Reports of etiola-tion have become more frequent recently, and research supports the involvement of bacte-ria.
During stressful summer periods in 2011 and 2012, 62 creeping bentgrass putting green samples were submitted to the North Carolina State University Turf Clinic exhib-iting symptoms of etiolation, chlorosis and/or general decline. Microscopic examination of stem and leaf tissue often showed bacte-rial streaming from the xylem tissue. Symp-tomatic tissue was surface disinfested in so-dium hypochlorite (10% Clorox) for fve minutes, blotted dry and rinsed in sterile distilled water. Disinfested tissue was placed in a small drop of sterile distilled water on a glass microscope slide and cut to allow bac-teria to stream into the water for two min-utes. The resulting bacterial suspension was streaked onto three nutrient agar plates and incubated at 86 F (30 C) overnight. Bacte-rial colonies varied in morphology, and those present in the greatest number based on mor-phology were re-streaked to isolate individual colonies. Bacterial isolates were tentatively
Comparison of inoculated (left) to non-inoculated (right) Penn A-1 creeping bentgrass maintained in the greenhouse at 86 F. Etiolation symptoms were continually observed in turf inoculated with Xanthomonas translucens as shown here at four weeks after inoculation. Photo by J.A. Roberts
genes involved in pathogenicity and eventu-ally help to improve disease management.
Source: Plant Disease, January 2014, 98(1):161.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-13-0703-PDN
T. Hsiang, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is a professor
and F. Shi is a research associate in the School of Environ-
mental Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada.
identifed to species using rDNA sequencing. Sequencing results showed isolates obtained from six locations (Illinois, Kentucky and North Carolina) having a positive match to Xant omonas translucens. Additional research is needed to confrm pathovar designation as X. translucens isolates were similar to both poae and graminis pathovars.
A representative isolate was also examined for carbon source utilization resulting in a positive identifcation of X. translucens. This isolate was used to inoculate six-week-old seeded Penn A-1 creeping bentgrass plants maintained at a height of 0.4 inch (1 centi-meter) in 1.38-inch (3.5-centimeter) diame-ter conetainers. Scissors were dipped in a cell suspension and used to cut healthy creeping bentgrass plants at a height of 0.4 inch, and the remaining suspension was applied to the
foliage until runoff using an atomizer bottle. Non-inoculated plants were cut and misted using sterile water. After inoculation, plants were placed in a sealed clear plastic container for 48 hours and then transferred to the growth chamber bench (86 F) receiving ir-rigation twice daily with distilled water. Etio-lation was rated within each of the four rep-licates by counting the number of etiolated leaves that were easily observed as signif-cantly higher than the rest of the turf canopy.
Plants inoculated with X. translucens ex-hibited etiolation of the youngest leaf within 48 hours, whereas the non-inoculated plants did not. Symptoms were similar to obser-vations in the feld, as etiolated leaves were chlorotic and easily extracted from the turf surface. Microscopic examination showed bacterial streaming and identifcation of bac-
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84 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
teria (using the previously described meth-ods) was positive for X. translucens. Etiolation symptoms persisted over multiple weeks, but a decline in turf quality was not observed.
Etiolation has been previously suggested as a precursor to bacterial wilt, caused by X. translucens pv. poae, on annual bluegrass (Poa
(Report)
First report of stubby root caused by Trichodorus
obtusus on zoysia and bermuda in South Carolina
In September 2011, diagnostic samples were taken from Tifway bermudagrass (Cyn-odon dactylon × C. transvaalensis) tees and from Emerald zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) roughs of a golf course in Charleston, S.C. Additional samples were taken from a sod farm located near Charleston from a feld of Empire zoysiagrass.
The soil was sandy loam, and the samples were taken at a depth of 4-6 inches (10-15 cen-timeters) from symptomatic turf. Symptoms on bermudagrass and zoysiagrass included stubby roots and lightly to severely chlorotic or dead patches of irregular sizes and shapes. Nematodes were extracted by sugar centrifu-gal-fotation and counted. The predominant nematode species recovered was a stubby root nematode, Tric odorus obtusus Cobb. Nema-tode densities were 30 to 170/6.1 cubic inches (100 cubic centimeters) of soil (average 94, n = 5) at the sod farm, and 30 to 230 (average 107, n = 7) at the golf course.
Tri odorus obtusus has been reported as a pathogen of bermudagrass in Florida, where it is more damaging than Paratric odorus minor, the other stubby root nematode com-monly associated with turfgrass. In Florida, a density of 120 T. obtusus/6.1 cubic inches is considered high risk. We have encountered several additional samples from across South Carolina with similar or higher densities since our frst diagnosis.
Infested soil (94 individuals/6.1 cubic inches) collected from the sod farm was put into columns and planted with Empire sod and maintained in the greenhouse. After 140 days, the population density increased to an average of 230 individuals/6.1 cubic inches
of soil. Plants were prone to wilting, and new root growth showed symptoms similar to those observed in the feld.
Morphologic and morphometric identi-fcation of T. obtusus was made by examin-ing male and female specimens in temporary water mounts. Males had ventrally curved spicules with three ventral precloacal papil-lae, with the posterior papilla just anterior to the head of the retracted spicules, one ven-tromedian cervical papilla anterior to the excretory pore, and tail with non-thickened terminal cuticle. Females had a deep, bar-rel-shaped, pore-like vulva, and one or two postadvulvar lateral body pores on each side. Males and females had distinctly offset esophagus. Females (n = 10) were 1,100 to 1,440 (1,250) micrometers long, body width 40 to 53 (45) micrometers, onchiostyle 63 to 75 (67) micrometers, and V 583 to 770 (673) micrometers. Males (n = 10) were 1,076 to 1,353 (1,222) micrometers long, body width 33 to 45 (39) micrometers, onchiostyle 62 to 69 (65) micrometers, and spicule 55 to 63 (59) micrometers.
A section of the rDNA region was se-quenced from individuals representing the two locations. A search revealed no similar
sequences to those of our two populations. As such, it appears that these are the frst se-quences of this portion of the rDNA for T. obtusus, although a different, non-overlap-ping portion was found under the synonym T. proximus. To our knowledge, this is the frst report of T. obtusus on zoysiagrass and the frst report of the species on bermuda-grass in South Carolina.
Source: Plant Disease, June 2013, 97(6):852.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-12-0932-PDN
J B. Shaver is a graduate student in plant and environ-
mental sciences; P. Agudelo, Ph.D. (pagudel@clemson.
edu), is an associate professor and nematologist; and S.B.
Martin, Ph.D., is a professor in turfgrass pathology in the
School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences,
Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
annua L.), and Acidovorax avenae has also been shown to produce etiolation on creep-ing bentgrass. To our knowledge, this is the frst confrmation of X. translucens as a cause of etiolation in creeping bentgrass.
Source: Plant Disease, 2014, in press.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-13-0565-PDN
Joseph Roberts, M.S., is a graduate research assistant;
Lane Tredway, Ph.D., is an associate professor; and David
F. Ritchie, Ph.D. ([email protected]), is a professor
and Extension specialist in the department of plant pathol-
ogy, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
(Above) Trichodorus obtusus female from South Carolina (length = 1,235 micrometers). (Right) Root symptoms of the stubby root nematode, T. obtusus, on zoysiagrass. Photos by Brad Shaver
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86 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Reducing brown ring patch severity on Poa annua greensBrown ring patch is similar to other Rhizoctonia diseases, but does not react the same way to fungicides.
We have conducted joint research stud-ies on the management of brown ring patch since 2010. From a feld research perspective, this disease has been challenging to work with because it is diffcult to fnd naturally infected putting greens with uniform dis-ease incidence and severity. The main body of research presented in this paper comes from work conducted in 2010 and 2011 on a putting green in New Jersey that exhibited an unusually uniform distribution of brown ring patch symptoms. Additional data were obtained in 2012 and 2013 from smaller re-search trials on putting greens in Pennsylva-nia with less severe disease pressure. Brown ring patch has become an important dis-ease of annual bluegrass (Poa annua) put-ting greens in the Northeastern region of the United States since 2007 (6).
The disease
Brown ring patch is caused by Waitea circinata var. circinata (sometimes referred to by its asexual stage R izoctonia circinata var. circinata) and is a serious disease of short-mowed annual bluegrass turf through-out much of the cool, humid regions of the United States. In New Jersey and much of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, this disease is often observed from early spring — when annual bluegrass is breaking dor-mancy — through late spring. However, in cooler regions, it can be a problem during the summer when air temperatures range from 65 F to 95 F (18 C to 35 C). Although the same pathogen can also signifcantly damage roughstalk bluegrass (P. trivialis) and creep-ing bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) (4,6), our
Steven J. McDonald, M.S.
Richard Grala
Bruce B. Clarke, Ph.D.
Symptoms of brown ring patch start as small yellow rings with green grass in the center and can ultimately reach a few feet in diameter. The yellow rings can turn an orange or brown color as the disease progresses, and the pathogen may eventually kill affected turf. Photos by Steve McDonald
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03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 87
research with this disease was conducted ex-clusively on annual bluegrass.
Symptoms of brown ring patch start as small yellow rings (0.25-2 inches [0.635-5 centimeters] wide) with green grass in the center and can ultimately reach a few feet (>0.5 meter) in diameter. The yellow rings can turn an orange or brown color as the dis-ease progresses and, in some cases, the patho-gen may eventually kill affected turf. After a severe outbreak, the rings may be sunken, are extremely slow to heal and can adversely affect golf ball roll. In addition, rings of this disease often appear as a series of smaller in-terconnected crescents, rather than the fairly circular rings typically observed with yellow patch (R izoctonia cereale), a pattern that can
often be used in the feld to distinguish be-tween these similar diseases.
Because of the destructive nature of brown ring patch, superintendents usually resort to frequent fungicide applications to manage it. In previous research, brown ring patch eff-cacy data from California, Virginia and Illi-nois demonstrated that there was variation in fungicide control depending on the number of applications made and whether treatments were applied on a preventive or curative basis (2). There have also been laboratory stud-ies evaluating fungicide effectiveness, but few feld fungicide effcacy trials have been reported in the northeastern United States. Furthermore, since brown ring patch has only recently been recognized as a disease of
annual bluegrass turf, limited data are avail-able about the impact of preventive and cura-tive fungicide applications or the impact of post-application irrigation on fungicide per-formance. Because the pathogen survives in the lower canopy and thatch, fungicide place-ment may also affect disease control.
Earlier research
Researchers in California investigated the impact of nitrogen fertilizer source and the vegetative suppressant Primo MAXX (trinexapac-ethyl, Syngenta) on the severity of brown ring patch (5). Their research indi-cated that increasing fertilizer inputs (from 0.5 to 1.0 pound nitrogen/1,000 square feet [2.4 to 4.8 grams/square meter]) reduced the
Fungicide Active ingredient Fungicide group ManufacturerStudy years†
2010 2011 2013
Affirm 11.3WDG polyoxin-D polyoxin Nufarm/Cleary C, P
Banner MAXX 1.3ME propiconazole DMI Syngenta C C, P
Briskway 2.7SC azoxystrobin + difenoconzaole QoI + DMI Syngenta C
Chipco 26GT 2SC iprodione dicarboximide Bayer C C, P
Chipco Signature 80WDG Aluminum-tris (fosetyl-AL) phosphonate Bayer C, P
Chipco Triton Flo 3.1SC triticonazole DMI Bayer C C, P
Cleary 3336 4F thiophanate-methyl benzimidazole Nufarm/Cleary C C, P
Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG chlorothalonil chloronitrile Syngenta C C, P
Endorse 2.5WP polyoxin-D polyoxin Arysta C
Headway 1.39ME azoxystrobin + propiconazole QoI + DMI Syngenta C
Heritage TL 0.8ME azoxystrobin QoI Syngenta C C, P C
Medallion 50WP fludioxonil phenylpyrrole Syngenta C C, P
Medallion 1SC fludioxonil phenylpyrrole Syngenta C
Pentathlon 4LF mancozeb dithiocarbamate SePRO C, P
ProStar 70WG flutolanil SDHI Bayer C C, P
Secure 4.17SC fluazinam pyridinamine Syngenta C, P
Tartan 2.4SC triadimefon + trifloxystrobin DMI + QoI Bayer C C, P
Torque 3.6SC tebuconazole DMI Nufarm/Cleary C, P
Torque 3.6SC + Affirm 11.3WDG tebuconazole + polyoxin-D DMI+ polyoxin Nufarm/Cleary P
Velista 50WDG penthiopyrad SDHI Syngenta P
Velista 50WDG + Banner MAXX 1.3MEC penthiopyrad + propiconazole SDHI + DMI Syngenta P
Velista 50WDG + Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG penthiopyrad + chlorothalonil SDHI + chloronitrile Syngenta P
Velista 50WDG + Heritage 50WDG penthiopyrad + azoxystrobin SDHI + QoI Syngenta P
†Each fungicide was applied as curative (C) or preventive (P) in each trial year.
Table 1. Fungicides tested (in alphabetical order), their active ingredients and fungicide groups, and research sites.
Fungicide products
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Curative fungicide trial, 2010
88 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
severity of brown ring patch, although this has not typically been the case with other R izoctonia diseases (3). Moreover, Primo MAXX (5 fuid ounces/acre [0.365 liter/hectare]) applied alone appeared to slightly increase disease severity when compared to the water control, but the combination of Primo MAXX and nitrogen fertilizers had no signifcant effect on the disease when compared to nitrogen applications alone (5). There have been no reports, however, on the impact of other plant growth regulators (PGRs) — such as Proxy (ethephon, Bayer) or Embark (mefuidide, PBI-Gordon), which are commonly used in spring to suppress an-nual bluegrass seedheads on greens — on this disease.
Golf course superintendents maintain-ing predominately annual bluegrass putting greens generally apply either Embark or a tank mixture of Proxy and Primo MAXX before seedhead formation is visible (in the “boot” stage). This stage can be identifed by examining the base of the stems of annual bluegrass for swelling or bulging. A change in the stem base indicates that seedheads have begun to form. Seedhead suppressants are most effective when applied just before
or at the time of swelling (1). Applying these PGRs several days after swelling has occurred or when seedheads are visible is generally less effective (1). Field observations suggest that outbreaks of brown ring patch may be enhanced by applications of these products; however, there are currently no reports in the literature to support this hypothesis.
Our research
The objectives of our research were to evaluate classes of fungicides commonly used on turf for their ability to control brown ring patch on a preventive or curative basis, to as-sess the impact of post-application irrigation on fungicide effcacy and to determine the impact of selected PGRs on disease sever-ity. Two fungicides, Velista (penthiopyrad, Syngenta) and Secure (fuazinam, Syngenta), were still experimental materials when they were evaluated in our studies. Velista, which belongs to the carboxamide (succinate dehy-drogenase inhibitor; SDHI) class of fungi-cides, is expected to reach the turfgrass mar-ket in 2014; and Secure, a contact fungicide, was brought to market in 2012. Both of these chemistries provide good to excellent con-trol of brown patch (caused by R izoctonia
solani), but their effect on brown ring patch has only recently been evaluated.
2010, 2011 and 2013 fungicide trials
General materials and me dsAll of the fungicides, active ingredients,
fungicide groups, manufacturers and appli-cation timings used in this study are out-lined in Table 1. Our two main brown ring patch fungicide trials were conducted on the 11th green of the Meadow Course at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, N.J. Turf consisted of a mixed annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass (70:30, respectively) putting green mowed at 0.125 inch (3.2 mil-limeters) fve days per week with a triplex reel mower. Extremely severe and uniform symptoms of brown ring patch had been ob-served on this green for approximately six years before our study, even though the su-perintendent had applied fungicides for con-trol. Our treatments were applied in a water carrier volume of 2 gallons/1,000 square feet (81.5 milliliters/square meter) using a CO
2-
pressurized boom at 38 psi (262 kpa) with 8008 EVS fat-fan nozzles. Treatment rates and application dates are shown in Tables 2 and 3. Plots were 5 feet × 5 feet (1.5 meters × 1.5 meters) and were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. A dif-ferent location of the green was used for each study. Plots were visually rated for percent symptomatic turf on a scale of 0% to 100%, where 0 = no symptoms and 100 = entire plot area blighted. Disease control was considered commercially acceptable if less than 5% of the turf area was blighted.
Methods specific to the 2010
curative fungicide efficacy study
The entire green was treated with the PGR (seedhead suppressant) Embark at 22.5 fuid ounces/acre (1.64 liters/hectare) on April 2 and 3 (total of 45 fuid ounces/acre [3.28 li-ters/hectare]). All fungicide treatments were applied once to a dry canopy on April 8, 2010.
2010 curative fungicide resultsBrown ring patch severity was low
(<10%) at the initiation of the study, but the disease was uniformly distributed through-out the trial area. It’s important to note that the objective was to evaluate the effect of a single “early-curative” fungicide application on this disease. Most fungicides slowly re-duced symptom severity over the study pe-
Treatment No./name Rate/1,000 square feet% brown ring patch†
April 16 April 28 May 7
Curative treatments applied April 8, 2010
1. ProStar 70WP 2.2 ounces 10.0 a‡ 6.9 ab 14.0 bcd
2. Endorse 2.5WP 0.9 ounce 7.2 a 8.0 ab 17.0 a-d
3. Heritage TL 0.8ME 2.0 fluid ounces 7.9 a 2.8 b 1.5 d
4. Banner MAXX 1.3ME 2.0 fluid ounces 11.9 a 24.4 a 32.3 ab
5. Cleary 3336 4FL 4.0 fluid ounces 5.9 a 12.7 ab 10.6 cd
6. Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG 3.25 ounces 9.3 a 19.1 ab 23.3 abc
7. Chipco 26GT 2SC 4.0 fluid ounces 9.4 a 11.7 ab 13.3 bcd
8. Tartan 2.4SC 2.0 fluid ounces 10.8 a 6.8 ab 13.0 bcd
9. Medallion 50WP 0.5 ounce 7.1 a 9.6 ab 8.6 cd
10. ChipcoTriton Flo 3.1SC 0.75 fluid ounce 7.8 a 6.9 ab 13.6 bcd
11. Not treated — 18.7 a 26.1 a 35.0 a
† Percent plot area blighted by brown ring patch was rated on a scale of 0%-100%, where 0 = no disease and 100 = entire plot area blighted.‡Means followed by the same letter are not signifcantly different from one another. Means were separated using Tukey’s HSD test, P = 0.05.
Table 2. Impact of curative fungicide applications on brown ring patch disease on a predominantly annual bluegrass put-ting green at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club, Bedminster, N.J., 2010.
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% brown ring patch, 2011
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 89
Treatment No./name Rate/1,000 square feet% brown ring patch†
April 25 May 2 May 11
Preventive treatments applied March 22, April 11 and April 25, 2011
1. ProStar 70WP 2.2 ounces 1.00 cd‡ 3.9 cd 2.5 cd
2. Affirm 11.3WDG 0.9 ounce 0.00 d 4.5 cd 4.3 cd
3. Heritage TL 0.8ME 2.0 fluid ounces 3.00 cd 3.5 cd 3.3 cd
4. Banner MAXX 1.3ME 2.0 fluid ounces 1.25 cd 14.5 bcd 15.5 cd
5. Cleary 3336 4FL 4.0 fluid ounces 37.3 ab 46.5 a 56.5 a
6. Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG 3.25 ounces 5.0 bcd 7.3 bcd 7.3cd
7. Chipco 26 GT 2SC 4.0 fluid ounces 22.8a-d 27.3 a-d 28.8 a-d
8. Tartan 2.4SC 2.0 fluid ounces 6.3 bcd 7.0 bcd 7.0 cd
9. Medallion 50WP 0.5 ounce 3.3 cd 4.5 cd 4.5 cd
10. Chipco Triton Flo 3.1SC 0.75 fluid ounce 2.3 cd 3.3 cd 4.0 cd
11. Torque 3.6SC 0.9 fluid ounce 5.0 bcd 5.3 cd 6.0 cd
12. Pentathlon 4LF 10.0 fluid ounces 5.3 bcd 8.3 bcd 9.5 cd
13. Chipco Signature 80WDG 6.0 ounces 14.8 a-d 20.8 a-d 22.5 bcd
14. Velista 50WDG + Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG 0.5 ounce + 3.25 ounces 9.8 bcd 10.8 bcd 9.5 cd
15. Velista 50WDG + Banner MAXX 1.3ME 0.5 ounce + 1.0 fluid ounce 8.5 bcd 11.8 bcd 12.0 cd
16. Velista 50WDG+ Heritage 50WDG 0.5 ounce + 0.2 ounce 4.0 cd 2.5 d 1.5 d
17. Velista 50WDG 0.5 ounce 5.0 bcd 10.5 bcd 13.0 cd
18. Torque 3.6SC + Affirm 11.3WDG 0.6 fluid ounce + 0.9 ounce 1.3 cd 1.5 d 2.0 d
19. Secure 4.17SC 0.5 fluid ounce 29.0 a-d 32.5 abc 33.8 a-d
Curative treatments applied April 25, 2011
20. ProStar 70WP 2.2 ounces 25.8 a-d 19.5 a-d 15.9 cd
21. Affirm 11.3WDG 0.9 ounce 22.0 a-d 13.5 bcd 11.5 cd
22. Heritage TL 0.8ME 2.0 fluid ounces 30.5 a-d 8.0 bcd 9.0 cd
23. Banner MAXX 1.3ME 2.0 fluid ounces 18.0 a-d 18.5 a-d 21.3 bcd
24. Cleary 3336 4FL 4.0 fluid ounces 27.5 a-d 36.3 ab 51.5 ab
25. Daconil Ultrex 82.5WDG 3.25 ounces 31.5 a-d 25.0 a-d 23.5 a-d
26. Chipco 26GT 2SC 4.0 fluid ounces 26.5 a-d 25.8 a-d 27.0 a-d
27. Tartan 2.4SC 2.0 fluid ounces 45.3 a 29.8 a-d 26.5 a-d
28. Medallion 50WP 0.5 ounce 17.8 a-d 9.5 bcd 9.3 cd
29. Chipco Triton Flo 3.1SC 0.75 fluid ounce 33.0 abc 17.8 a-d 16.8 cd
30. Torque 3.6SC 0.9 fluid ounce 28.8 a-d 15.5 bcd 18.0 cd
31. Pentathlon 4LF 10.0 fluid ounces 27.8 a-d 27.5 a-d 35.5 abc
32. Chipco Signature 80WDG 6.0 ounces 22.3 a-d 22.5 a-d 25.0 a-d
33. Secure 4.17SC 0.5 fluid ounce 16.8 a-d 19.0 a-d 26.5 a-d
34. Not treated — 28.8 a-d 46.0 a 52.3 ab
†Percent plot area blighted by brown ring patch was rated on a scale of 0%-100%, where 0 = no disease and 100 = entire plot area blighted.‡Means followed by the same letter are not signifcantly different from one another. Means were separated using Tukey’s HSD test, P = 0.05.
Table 3. Impact of preventive and curative fungicide applications on brown ring patch disease on a predominantly annual bluegrass putting green at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club, Bedminster, N.J., 2011.
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90 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
riod, but no treatments provided complete control. On April 16 (8 days after applica-tion), there were no signifcant differences between treated and untreated plots (Table 2). By April 28 (20 days after application), only plots treated with Heritage TL (azoxy- strobin, Syngenta) had less brown ring patch than the untreated control. Disease severity peaked (35% turf area affected) on May 7. On that date, all treatments, except Banner MAXX (propiconazole, Syngenta), Endorse (polyoxin-D, Arysta), and Daconil Ultrex (chlorothalonil, Syngenta), exhibited re-duced disease severity compared to untreated turf. However, only Heritage TL provided acceptable control (<5% disease severity) by the end of the study.
Met ods specifc to t e 2011 effcacy study Preventive treatments were initiated on
March 22 and were reapplied on April 11 and 25. Curative treatments were applied once (April 25) when there was 18% to 33% brown ring patch present and were therefore considered “late-curative” (rescue) treat-ments. The entire green was treated with Embark TO for annual bluegrass seedhead suppression in mid-April at the label rate.
2011 preventive fungicide resultsSymptoms initially appeared on April 11
as orange-yellow to brown rings, 0.5-2 inches (1.3-5 centimeters) in width, and eventually ranged from 3 inches to 2 feet (7.6-61 cen-timeters) in diameter. Data representing the impact of preventive and curative fungicide
treatments on brown ring patch are presented in Table 3. No fungicide treatments provided complete control of brown ring patch, due to the severity of the disease epidemic.
Brown ring patch severity peaked in this trial on May 11 at 52% turf area affected fol-lowing a period of cool, humid and overcast weather. Turf receiving preventive fungicide treatments typically had signifcantly less brown ring patch than the untreated con-trol, but this was not the case for most of the curative treatments. Preventive fungicide treatments that provided acceptable disease control throughout the study included Af-frm (polyoxin-D, Cleary/Nufarm); Chipco Triton Flo (triticonazole, Bayer); Heritage TL; Medallion (fudioxonil, Syngenta); and Prostar (futolanil, Bayer); as well as tank mixtures of Torque (tebuconazole, Cleary/Nufarm) + Affrm; and Velista + Heritage. Preventive treatments that had the high-est levels of disease (that is, disease severity equivalent to the untreated control) were: Chipco 26GT (iprodione, Bayer); Chipco Signature (Aluminum-tris, Bayer); Cleary 3336 (thiophanate-methyl, Cleary/Nufarm); and Secure. From this study, it was appar-ent that, although these fungicides are useful for controlling other turfgrass diseases, they should not be used alone where brown ring patch pressure is high. It should also be noted that some of the fungicides in this study were not labeled for the control of brown ring patch and therefore were not expected to suppress this disease, but we felt it important to assess the disease suppressive activity of as
many commonly used turfgrass fungicides as possible in this study.
2011 curative fungicide summaryNo curative treatments provided accept-
able control of this disease (<5% turf area infected), presumably due to the severity of the epidemic, the late timing of the curative treatments and the fact that only one applica-tion was made after symptoms appeared on April 11.
While the level of curative brown ring patch control in this trial was generally fair to poor (8% to 52% turf area blighted), Af-frm, Heritage TL, Medallion and Torque had signifcantly less disease than untreated turf on the majority of the rating dates. It’s important to note that disease severity of turf treated with late-curative applications of Banner MAXX, Cleary 3336, Chipco 26GT, Chipco Signature, Daconil Ultrex, Pentath-lon (mancozeb, SePRO), Secure or Tartan was equivalent to the untreated control. Therefore, as previously mentioned, such fungicides should not be relied on as stand-alone treatments, especially when brown ring patch is present.
Met ods specifc to t e 2013 effcacy study An additional curative feld trial was con-
ducted in 2013 on an annual bluegrass re-search green located in Boyertown, Pa. Treat-ments were applied on April 25 and May 9 using the methods previously described for our 2010 and 2011 fungicide trials. The site was treated with Primo MAXX at (5 fuid ounces/acre [0.365 liter/hectare]) every 14 days from April 25 throughout the duration of the trial. Turf was mowed at 0.125 inch (3.2 millimeters) fve days per week with a Toro Flex 21 hand-reel mower. Disease se-verity was assessed (pre- and post-treatment) as percent turf area blighted by brown ring patch using the methods previously described for our 2010 and 2011 trials. Disease control was considered commercially acceptable if less than 5% of the turf area was blighted.
The 2013 trial included two pre-mixed fungicides that were not included in our 2011 study — Briskway (azoxystrobin + difenocon-azole; Syngenta) and Headway (azoxystrobin + propiconazole; Syngenta) — and were com-pared to Medallion as well as Heritage TL, which, in our 2010 and 2011 trials, had proven to be effective when applied on a curative basis.
Treatment No./name† Rate/1,000 square feet% brown ring patch (2013)§
April 25 May 1 May 15
1. Headway 1.39ME 3.0 fluid ounces 9.5a‡ 3.8b 0.0b
2. Briskway 2.7SC 0.5 fluid ounce 9.5a 5.8b 0.0b
3. Briskway 2.7SC 0.725 fluid ounce 10.0a 2.3b 0.0b
4. HeritageTL 0.8ME 2.0 fluid ounces 7.0a 3.3b 0.0b
5. Medallion 1SC 2.0 fluid ounces 10.0a 2.0b 0.0b
6. Not treated 6.8a 20.5a 11.0a
†Treatments were applied on April 25 and May 9, 2013. ‡Means followed by same letter are not signifcantly different. Means were separated using Tukey’s HSD test, P = 0.05. §Percent brown ring patch was rated on a 0-100% scale, where 0 = no disease and 100 = entire plot area blighted.
Table 4. Brown ring patch as affected by curative fungicide applications on a predominantly annual bluegrass putting green in Boyertown, Pa., 2013.
Curative fungicide trial, 2013
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 90 2/18/14 1:46 PM
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92 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
2013 curative fungicide summaryThe treatments were initiated on April 25
when brown ring patch was evenly dispersed throughout the study (7% to 10% disease), and there were no differences among the plots (Table 4). By May 1, all treatments reduced brown ring patch compared to the non-treated control (21% turf area infected). Brown ring patch severity decreased in un-treated turf after May 1 with the onset of warmer air temperatures and, by May 15, complete control was observed for all fun-gicide treatments. Brown ring patch sever-ity was moderate in this trial (7% to 21% in untreated turf). The data indicated that all of the fungicides tested (Briskway, Headway, Medallion SC and Heritage TL) provided ac-ceptable disease when applied twice on a cu-rative basis under moderate disease pressure.
Fungicide suggestions for the
management of brown ring patch
To our knowledge, the 2011 trial reported here is the frst to evaluate a broad range of
Following the completion of our trials, we saw a greening response in areas that had been severely blighted. This symptom is likely due to a breakdown of organic matter (thatch) and a release of nitrogen and other nutrients resulting in enhanced greening that could be confused with Type II fairy rings.
Annual bluegrass growing in the aerifcation holes from the previous autumn was seemingly unaffected by brown ring patch. This could be due to several reasons, but less organic matter and improved turf quality are likely two factors.
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 92 2/18/14 1:46 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 93
fungicide chemistries commonly available in the turfgrass market for both preventive and curative control of brown ring patch. These data confrm previous research showing that fungicides such as Affrm, Heritage, Medallion and ProStar, which are known to be effective against other R izoctonia diseases, also provide high levels of brown ring patch control (2). Briskway and Headway are pre-mixed fungi-cides that contain a DMI (difenoconazole and propiconazole, respectively) combined with azoxystrobin (the active ingredient in Heritage TL). Our data from 2013 indicate that these pre-mixes are as effective as Heritage for the control of this disease when applied curatively under moderate disease pressure.
Post-application irrigation and
efficacy of curative fungicide
treatments, 2011
Two of the most effective fungicides in our 2011 trial, representing two different chemical classes, were selected to evaluate the effect of post-treatment irrigation on cu-rative control of brown ring patch. Heritage TL (2 fuid ounces/1,000 square feet [0.64 milliliter/square meter]) and Chipco Tri-ton Flo (0.75 fuid ounce/1,000 square feet [0.24 milliliter/square meter]) were applied once curatively on April 25. The study was arranged as a split-plot design (each plot had an irrigated and non-irrigated half) with four replications. Water (0.15 inch [3.81 mil-limeters]) was supplied to the irrigated half of each plot immediately following fungicide application (within 5 minutes) using a water-ing can.
Post-application irrigation improved brown ring patch control on turf treated with Chipco Triton Flo, but not Heritage TL (data not shown). Although these results are infor-mative and suggest that post-treatment irriga-tion may improve brown ring patch control for some fungicide chemistries, additional re-search is needed before defnitive statements can be made since only two products were evaluated for one year in this small pilot study.
Additional field observations
Where brown ring patch was severe in our trials, a signifcant degradation of thatch occurred (visual observations), especially in untreated plots. Following the completion of our trials, we also saw a greening response in areas that had been severely blighted. This has previously been reported (6) and is shown
in the photo. This symptom is likely due to a breakdown of organic matter (thatch) and a release of nitrogen and other nutrients re-sulting in enhanced greening that could be confused with Type II fairy rings (dark green stimulated turf in a circular patch). Fungi-cide applications targeting these fairy ring-like symptoms would likely have no effect if the patches were caused by brown ring patch. Another interesting feld observation was that annual bluegrass growing in the aerifcation holes from the previous autumn was seem-ingly unaffected by brown ring patch. This
could possibly be due to deeper rooting in the aerifcation holes resulting in improved plant health or because fertilizer had collected in these areas and enhanced turf vigor. It is ap-parent from this observation that further re-search is needed to determine the impact of aerifcation and rooting on brown ring patch.
Effect of spring applications of
PGRs on disease severity, 2012
This small trial was conducted on the same putting green at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club as our 2010 and 2011 fungicide trials, but in
All PGR treatments resulted in better turfgrass quality when compared to the untreated control (data not shown). In the plots where seedheads were suppressed, turf remained a dark green color, and ball roll would likely have been more uniform.
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 93 2/18/14 1:46 PM
94 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
• Limited data are available on the effect of preven-
tive versus curative fungicide applications, post-
treatment irrigation and PGR use on the severity
of brown ring patch.
• Preventive fungicides that provided acceptable
disease control included Affirm, Chipco Triton
Flo, Heritage TL, Medallion and Prostar, as well
as tank mixtures of Torque + Affirm and Velista
+ Heritage.
• Curative fungicide treatments did not always
provide acceptable control of brown ring patch.
• Post-application irrigation appeared to improve
curative disease control when Chipco Triton
Flo (but not Heritage TL) was applied, and turf
treated with Proxy + Primo had greater brown
ring patch severity than the untreated control;
however, additional research is needed to
confirm these observations and to more fully un-
derstand the impact of post-treatment irrigation
and PGRs on this disease.
RESEARCH SAYS
a different quadrant of the green. The PGRs Primo MAXX (5 fuid ounces/acre [0.365 liter/hectare]), Proxy (217.8 fuid ounces/acre [15.9 liters/acre]), Primo (5 fuid ounces/acre) + Proxy (217.8 fuid ounces/acre), and Embark (22 fuid ounces/acre [1.6 liters/hect-are]) were evaluated for their effect on brown ring patch and seedheads, in comparison to an untreated control, at early spring applica-tion timings and rates typically used on golf courses throughout the Northeast. All treat-ments were applied on March 20 and April 5, 2012, and turf was maintained as described in our 2011 fungicide effcacy study above. This trial did not receive applications of any other PGR or fungicide treatments in spring 2012.
All PGR treatments resulted in better turfgrass quality when compared to the un-treated control (data not shown). This was primarily due to increased seedhead forma-tion on untreated turf resulting in a whit-ish-brown color that lowered visual quality estimates. Embark, Proxy alone and Primo + Proxy treatments reduced seedheads com-pared to untreated and Primo-treated turf on the majority of rating dates in this study (data not shown). In the plots where seed-
heads were suppressed, turf remained a dark green color, and ball roll would likely have been more uniform.
Although all PGRs in this study except Proxy alone exhibited “numerically” more brown ring patch (greater disease severity) than untreated turf, only turf treated with Proxy + Primo had signifcantly more dis-ease than the untreated control on one rat-ing date (data not shown). These data sug-gest that PGR treatments that provide a high level of annual bluegrass seedhead and foliar growth suppression during spring may in-tensify brown ring patch disease on annual bluegrass putting greens. However, since this study was only conducted for one year, ad-ditional research is needed before this theory can be confrmed.
Integrated management of brown
ring patch
Brown ring patch is a unique turfgrass disease that does not respond to management and environmental conditions in the same way as other diseases caused by R izoctonia. Historically, many R izoctonia diseases of cool-season turf have been associated with high levels of fertility and are not known to be affected by PGRs (3). Brown ring patch thrives under a wide range of temperatures that, in some regions, can be present from March through November. Our observation that turf in aerifcation holes was less affected by this disease confrms some previous re-ports suggesting that the amount of thatch, organic matter and compaction may play a role in disease severity and control (3).
Superintendents should realize that main-taining greens under conditions of low nitro-gen fertility and aggressive PGR use (high rates and/or short application intervals) to en-hance playability may lead to enhanced dis-ease pressure and an increased reliance on fun-gicides to manage brown ring patch on annual bluegrass greens. Therefore, when environ-mental conditions favor disease development, less aggressive PGR use — as well as adequate irrigation, nitrogen fertility and fungicide ap-plications — should be used to reduce the po-tential for severe brown ring patch epidemics.
If PGRs are being used to suppress seed-heads in early spring and the course has had a history of this disease, it would be prudent to make preventive applications of one of the fungicides found to be effective in this and other studies. Since fungicides are still
strongly relied on for brown ring patch man-agement, selection of effective products is im-portant because many of the fungicides com-monly used on golf courses are not effective against this disease. Moreover, if brown ring patch becomes active, superintendents should not expect rapid symptom remission because research has shown that it typically takes 14-21 days or more for signifcant recovery to occur. Repeated fungicide applications on a 14-day interval and increased nitrogen ap-plications will aid in recovery if conditions re-main conducive for disease development.
Acknowledgments
We thank Fiddlers Elbow Country Club for the space and fexibility to conduct these trials on greens that remained in-play for the duration of the trials. We also thank Bayer, BASF, Cleary/Nufarm, DuPont, PBI-Gor-don, SePRO and Syngenta for providing product and support for these trials.
Literature cited
1. Dernoeden, P.H. 2013. Creeping Bentgrass Manage-
ment. 2nd ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.
2. McDonald, S.J., D. Settle, L. Stowell et al. 2009.
Chemical control of brown ring patch. Golf Course
Management 77(8):82-88.
3. Smiley, R.W., P.H. Dernoeden and B.B. Clarke. 2005.
Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases. 3rd ed. APS
Press, St. Paul, Minn.
4. Toda, T., T. Mushika, T. Hayakawa et al. 2005.
Brown ring patch: A new disease on bentgrass
caused by Waitea circinata var. circinata. Plant Dis-
ease 89:536-542.
5. Wong, F.P., C. Chen and L. Stowell. 2009. Effects of
nitrogen and Primo MAXX on brown ring patch devel-
opment. Golf Course Management 77(5):117-121.
6. Wong, F.P., and J.E. Kaminski. 2007 A new Rhizocto-
nia disease of bluegrass putting greens. Golf Course
Management 75(9):98-103.
Steven McDonald ([email protected])
is the founder of Turfgrass Disease Solutions LLC, Spring
City, Pa., and an instructor in the Professional Golf Turf
Program at Rutgers University. Richard Grala is a senior
feld technician with Turfgrass Disease Solutions LLC.
Bruce Clarke is the director of the Rutgers Center for Turf-
grass Science and chairman of the department of plant
biology and pathology and a 2014 recipient of GCSAA’s
Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award.
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 94 2/18/14 1:46 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 95
Automated irrigation and traffc on annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass
Managing annual bluegrass (ABG) and creeping bentgrass (CBG) at set levels of ir-rigation is becoming a common practice. The objectives of this study were to determine how three set irrigation levels controlled by an au-tomated irrigation system (16%, 12% and 8% water fraction volume [WFV]; integrated sensor system ISS) under various levels of traf-fc affect the performance of CBG and ABG greens. The frst year of data shows overall ABG requires more water to maintain the tar-get WFV. For example, at 8% and 12% WFV, ABG used ~0.5 inch more water per month than CBG. Grass species did not play a role in the amount of water leached, but the level of irrigation did. Target WFVs maintained higher than expected soil volumetric water content (VWC) as measured by hand with time domain refectometry. At 16% WFV, sea-son average VWC was ~28%; at 12% WFV, VWC was ~22%; and at 8% WFV, VWC was ~18%. In addition, a total of ~15 inches of rain occurred during the study (June–September 2013). We recommend close constant moni-toring of VWC when using automated irriga-tion systems that report WFV. Physiological and hormone results will be reported after two years of data. — Emily Merewitz, Ph.D., and Kevin
Frank, Ph.D., Michigan State University
BMPs’ infuence on anthracnose disease control in annual bluegrass turf
Over the past decade, management prac-tices such as mowing height, sand topdressing and nitrogen (N) fertility have been shown to infuence anthracnose severity, but it is not known whether these practices interact to af-fect disease severity, fungicide effcacy or play-ability of turf when used in combination. Two
feld trials were initiated on annual bluegrass (ABG) turf to investigate these questions. Trial 1 examined the effects of mowing height, N fertility and fungicide programming on an-thracnose severity. N fertility and fungicide programming and the interaction between these factors accounted for a majority of the disease response during the two-year study. Acceptable disease control was achieved with reduced fungicide rates or fewer threshold-based applications of fungicides when greater N fertility and higher mowing height were ap-plied. Trial 2 examined the effects of mowing height, N fertility and sand topdressing on an-thracnose severity and playability of ABG turf. Similar to trial 1, greater N fertility provided the greatest reduction of disease severity, but mowing height had the greatest impact on ball roll distance. Low mowing height (0.09 inch) consistently produced ball roll distance ≥ 10 feet. — Charles J Schmid, James W. Hempfing,
Bruce B. Clarke, Ph.D. ([email protected]),
and James A. Murphy, Ph.D.
Teresa Carson ([email protected]) is GCM ’s science editor.
CUTTING EDGETeresa Carson
Photo by Kevin Laskowski
Photo by James W. Hempfing
The research described in these summaries is funded in part by the Environmental Institute of Golf.
078-095_March14_TechwellCuttingEdge.indd 95 2/18/14 1:46 PM
96 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
(Product news)
Armstrong Fluid Technology launched Adept, a software selection program for commercial and
residential pumps. Intuitive screen designs allow users to view line drawings, multi-curves, photos, voltage,
motor size, inlets, outlets, accessories, seal operating limits, seal options, construction options and more than
a dozen motor options. Key features include Quick Pick (users can add a product to their schedule with just a
few clicks); Composite Curve Selection (patent-pending process of selecting a pump based on its operating
range); and Smart Memory (Adept remembers your input and preferences so that you don’t need to duplicate
any effort). Contact Armstrong Fluid Technology, 416-755-2291 ext. 611 (www.armstrongfuidtechnology.com)
Pump
TECHNOLOGYBandit Industries launched the Card Breaker
System for hand-fed and whole-tree drum-style
chippers. The Card Breaker works similar to a screening
system, restricting oversized material from exiting the
machine. The system is optional for most Bandit drum-style
chippers, creating an even higher quality wood chip that is
well suited for use in expanding biomass energy markets,
the company says. “By creating a better chip, our custom-
ers can have a better product to sell on the biomass fuel
market,” Bandit industries sales manager Jason Morey
says. Contact Bandit Industries, 800-952-0178 (www.
banditchippers.com).
BASF’s Xzemplar fungicide and Lexicon
Intrinsic brand fungicide now are registered by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Both products contain
the active ingredient fuxapyroxad, brand name Xemium.
Air-O-Lator Corp. says that its Enterprise II
is an energy- and cost-effcient option for aerating and that
it is simple to install. The Enterprise II delivers air 4
feet below the surface of the water tank, mixing the water
and keeping the odor down. Contact Air-O-Lator Corp.,
800-821-3177 (www.airolator.com).
Rosie’s Natural Way is showcasing the Dub-
bletten Urine Diverting Toilet. It is a sustain-
able waste management system that captures valuable
nutrients while decreasing pollution. The separated-bowls
design reduces water consumption by 80 percent through
separate fushing systems for liquid and solids. Urine is
diverted separately to a holding tank; contents can then
be used as a nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer for agriculture
or gardens. Dubbletten can be used in a building trying to
achieve environmental standards such as LEED or Living
Building Challenge. Contact Rosie’s Natural Way (www.
rosiesnaturalway.com).
Sunburst Thermal Weed Control Equip-
ment introduced SpHot Weeder, a hand-held fame
weeder that uses less propane while simultaneously being
more effective and less hazardous, the company says. It
is ideal for fence lines, gravel driveways, parking areas,
permeable pavement, etc. The technology contains and
directs fames and heat that make it effective and effcient.
Contact Sunburst Thermal Weed Control Equipment, 541-
345-2272 (www.thermalweedcontrol.com).
096-099_March14_ProductNews.indd 96 2/18/14 1:47 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 97
FMC Corp. offers new videos demonstrating
proper guidelines for liquid pesticide applications.
The videos take viewers step-by-step through appli-
cations of Talstar Professional Insecticide both out-
doors and indoors and are part of an FMC initiative
to promote environmental and product stewardship.
Lauren Wilson, a technical representative for
FMC and a licensed commercial applicator, demon-
strates how to prepare for an outdoor application,
including removing all pets, toys and people from
the area. She then shows the proper personal pro-
tective equipment for applicators, how to prepare for
an indoor application, proper storage of pesticides
and how to prepare for an accidental spill. Contact
FMC Corp., 215-299-6000 (www.fmc.com).
Application
TRAININGAce Torwel Inc. announced the Economizer
Mini Pickup Truck and Utility Vehicle
Spreaders in 1⁄3-yard capacity. The Mini spreader is
designed for universities, homeowners and professionals.
It is ideal for small narrow spaces, such as sidewalks. It
spreads sand, salt, seed, lime fertilizer and other coarse
materials. Made in the U.S., the Mini V-box spreaders are
lightweight, made of 50/52 series aluminum (hopper) and
304 stainless-steel (frame) construction. They feature
a quiet, durable 5.5-hp Honda gas engine with built-in
overload protection. Operators can easily control the fow
of material with an in-the-cab control panel that features
on/off motor switch and on/off conveyor switch. A 35-foot
cable for installation is included. A sealed rubber delivery
system with belt over pintle chain supports continuous
smooth fow of materials. All-aluminum material defectors
with adjustable spreading width from 4 inches to 24
inches cover small and large areas. Contact Ace Torwel,
888-878-0898 (www.acetorwel.com).
The Bobcat Co. released its new Tier 4 ex-
cavators: E42, E45, E50 and E55. They include a
non-DPF (diesel particulate flter) engine solution. These
four medium-sized M-series machines provide operators
with all of the same performance benefts of the previous
interim Tier 4 models. The machines also feature a new
forward-mount instrumentation system that presents op-
erators with many of the functions, aesthetics and visibility
that come with other Bobcat loaders. Tier 4 non-DPF solu-
tion was achieved by designing an ultra-low particulate
combustion (ULPC) engine. The ULPC is accomplished
through a specially designed engine combustion chamber
that signifcantly reduces the amounts of particulate
matter created during combustion. The new engines used
in E50 and E55 excavators have a 12 percent increase
in torque. The new Tier 4 excavators feature a machine
protection system that monitors, manages and shuts
down the engine if needed. Contact the Bobcat Co., 800-
743-4340 (www.bobcat.com).
The United States Golf Association (USGA)
launched an enhanced version of its Rules of Golf
mobile application for iOS and Android devices.
The application features a smart-search capability that
connects users to the rules information contained in the
most recent versions of the Rules of Golf and the Decisions
on the Rules of Golf books. Part of the update is a stream-
lined sharing process for the distribution of the Rules and
decisions via email. Direct links to www.usga.org have
been added for quick access and for sharing with others.
Additional features will be added to the app during 2014,
including information regarding the Rules of Amateur Sta-
tus. Rules of Golf is free and available for download via the
iTunes Store or Google Play. More information is available
at www.usga.org/mobile. Access to the Decisions on the
Rules of Golf also is available for free for a limited time and
will become an in-app purchase option beginning April 1.
Larson Electronics developed the LED-
A-10W-E26 Directional 10-Watt LED A19
style bulb. It is designed to ft in standard light bulb sock-
ets and provides durability and multi-color adjustability that
makes it ideal for industrial and commercial applications.
It provides 1,050 lumens of light while only drawing 10
watts. Contact Larson Electronics, 800-369-6671 (www.
larsonelectronics.com).
Lauren Wilson
096-099_March14_ProductNews.indd 97 2/18/14 1:47 PM
98 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
ProtoSports announced a campaign
to fund the production of a new video
stand for all types of Smartphones that will
lend a helping hand to golfers, among oth-
ers. The X Mount provides an affordable,
lightweight design that can be used in golf
cars with the clamp attachment for GPS
or videos and use the cross-clip backing
to turn the alignment rods into a mobile
monopod to record swings anywhere on
the golf course. Contact ProtoSports, 706-
207-0915 (www.protosports.com).
Precision Laboratories in-
troduced Border Turf & Orna-
mental Spray Performance
Adjuvant. Border is designed to
improve spray droplet adhesion and
coverage on leaf surfaces and reduces
off-target movement of spray mixes. It
allows turf managers to maximize the ef-
fcacy and ROI of their plant protection and
foliar nutrient products, the company says.
Contact Precision Laboratories, 800-323-
6280 (www.precisionlab.com).
Liquid Goose Repellent from
Bird-B-Gone is a non-toxic liquid
goose repellent used to make grass areas
unpalatable to geese (it’s also safe around
humans and pets). The active ingredient
in Migrate Goose Repellent is non-toxic
grape extract methyl anthranilate. The
extract irritates birds’ trigeminal nerves
and mucous membranes; they do not
like the sensation caused by the extract
and will avoid the area being treated.
Liquid Goose Repellent is applied to grass
or shrub areas where geese have been
grazing. When geese go to graze on the
treated areas, they will realize there is no
longer a food source and move on. One
gallon of Liquid Goose Repellent covers
approximately 16,000 square feet for one
application. The liquid repellent lasts three
months outdoors and won’t wash off with
rain or water. Contact Bird-B-Gone, 800-
392-6915 (www.birdbgone.com).
Witt Industries announced the
Paramount Series for its extensive
line of waste and recycling receptacles.
The Paramount Series is designed with
a stainless steel body and contemporary
perforated circle pattern to create a classic
look. The series is made in the U.S. from
100 percent post-consumer recyclable
heavy-gauge stainless steel for indoor or
outdoor use. Contact Witt Industries, 800-
543-7417 (www.witt.com).
Submit items for “Product News” to
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096-099_March14_ProductNews.indd 98 2/19/14 10:22 AM
SILVER PARTNERS
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GCSAA Partners Support Your Future
GCSAA’s industry partners support you and your profession through the funding of GCSAA education
programs, scholarships, leadership opportunities and networking events. They are dedicated to you, your
profession and your GCSAA. Support our partners and together we can all continue to strengthen the golf
course management industry.
096-099_March14_ProductNews.indd 99 2/19/14 9:12 AM
100 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
(Industry news)
Association
DONATES
E-Z-Go is celebrating its 60-year anniversary this
year by holding special events, including ones it staged at
GCSAA’s Golf Industry Show and also the PGA Merchan-
dise Show, both in Orlando. “E-Z-Go is excited to celebrate
its diamond anniversary this year, and to mark six decades
of leadership in light transportation and service to the golf
industry,” E-Z-Go President Kevin Holleran says. “We are
also humbled because we know that our success would
not be possible without the support of our customers in
the golf industry, many of whom have been loyal to E-Z-Go
throughout its existence.” The
company was founded June 13,
1954, by brothers and Army
veterans Bev and Billy Dolan in
a one-room machine shop in
Grovetown, Ga., near Augusta.
The frst E-Z-Go cars, dubbed
The GCSANJ Foundation presented
a check for $39,893 to Wendell Beakley,
GCSAA Class A superintendent at Washington
Township Municipal Golf Course in Black-
wood, N.J. The money raised for Beakley was
in memory of his wife, Augusta Joy (A.J.),
who died of cancer. GCSAA donated $2,500
from the emergency fund, and the GCSANJ
Foundation’s fundraiser supplied the rest.
Model 100, were built using surplus 24-volt electric mo-
tors originally intended to power wing faps on the B-17
Flying Fortress.
KemperSports has acquired three additional prop-
erties. The Castle Course at Northern Bay Resort
in Arkdale, Wis., is now being managed by KemperSports.
The Castle Course at Northern Bay, located 30 miles
north of the Wisconsin Dells, features an 18-hole course
that was ranked No. 4 on Golf Digest’s list of Best New
Public Golf Courses in 2006. In addition, KemperSports
was selected to manage Greeley Country Club
in Greeley, Colo. The member-owned club originally was
a nine-hole course built in 1920 by Tom Bendelow. Also,
KemperSports was picked to manage Cantigny Golf
in Wheaton, Ill. The 27-hole facility is a Certifed Audubon
Cooperative Sanctuary.
The Castle Course
100-103_March14_IndustryNews.indd 100 2/18/14 1:48 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 101
At the 2014 Hawaii Golf Ho’olaule’a
Awards Banquet, Russell Dodge, CGCS
Retired, received the Lifetime Achievement
Award and Robert Medeiros Jr. was honored
with the Superintendent of the Year award. The
board of directors of the Aloha Section PGA and
their peers chose Dodge and Medeiros. Dodge
(pictured to the right) landed his frst superin-
tendent position at Kaluakoi Golf Club Molokai
in 1977. Dodge, who became certifed in 1985,
also served at Waikapu in Maui, Koele & Manele
in Lanai, Sandalwood in Maui, Kapalua and
Kahili & King Kamehameha in Maui. Medeiros
(pictured far left) has been at Kiahuna Golf
Club in Kauai for 19 years. He was one of the
frst superintendents to convert golf course turf
to seashore paspalum. In 2005, Kiahuna was
named Water Conservationist of the Year.
Lifetime
AWARD
Maureen Clark is the new product
manager at Dow AgroSciences. She is execut-
ing the portfolio marketing strategy and
implementing product launches, marketing
research and communication plans. Clark
originally joined the Dow AgroSciences sales
team in 2008. In 2009, she was assigned
a turf and ornamental representative role
in western Florida. In 2013, Clark moved
to Indianapolis as the Marketing Excellence
Through Technology (METT) implementation
leader for the crop protection business. Clark
replaces Andy Kaler, recently named district
sales manager for the Pacifc Northwest
district in coastal crops.
HackGolf is a movement by industry leaders to make
the game more fun. The group of industry leaders includes
Ted Bishop, president of the PGA of America; Mark King,
CEO of TaylorMade Adidas Golf; and Joe Beditz, CEO of
the National Golf Foundation. “We have to recognize the
fact that we (the industry) have not been able to fx the
massive exodus of consumers from our game,” King says.
“Traditionalists are resisting concepts that will elicit real
change, so it is time that the people have a voice and can
share their ideas to reverse this trend.” King and his group
are calling on golfers everywhere to submit ideas that will
re-energize golf and attract new players. Their website is
www.hackgolf.org. “This is an industry-wide experiment,”
says Bishop, a fve-year member of GCSAA. “We don’t
have the answer, but by tapping the collective creativity
of millions of golfers who love this game as much as we
do, we will fnd the solution. Then, as an industry, we need
to demonstrate the courage to implement non-traditional
solutions.”
100-103_March14_IndustryNews.indd 101 2/18/14 1:48 PM
The Golf Course Superin-
tendent’s Association of
New England (GCSA of New
England) elected its 2014 board of
directors. They are: Mark Gagne,
president, Walpole Country Club; Scott
Lagana, CGCS, vice president,
Oak Hill Country Club; Mike Luccini,
CGCS, treasurer, Franklin Country
Club; David Johnson, secretary,
Wianno Club; Jeff Urquhart, trustee,
Milton Hoosic Club; David Stowe,
CGCS, trustee, Newton Commonwealth
Golf Course; Peter Rappoccio,
trustee, Concord Country Club; Donald
D’Errico, fnance chairman, Spring Val-
ley Country Club; Jason VanBus-
kirk, golf chairman, Stowe Acres Country
Club; Brian Skinner, education chair-
man, Bellevue Golf Club; Earl (Tom)
Albert, newsletter chairman, Hopedale
Country Club; Jason Adams, past
president, Blue Hill Country Club; and
Mark Casey, affliate trustee, MTE
Turf Equipment Solutions. The GCSA of
New England also announced Richard
Zepp, CGCS, recipient of its Distin-
guished Service Award. Zepp is director of
maintenance at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in
Boylston, Mass.
United Fertilizer Technolo-
gies (UFT) has been re-launched, ac-
cording to Ben Wilson, president of Wilson
Group Companies. UFT manufactures
the Protene brand of granular and liquid
plant nutrition products for the turf and
landscaping industries. UFT’s leadership
team consists of Wilson, David Barnes
(Southeast Partners), Brian Smith (Arizona
Sports Turf) and Ned Herod (formerly of
Herod Seeds). UFT initially plans to focus
on marketing Protene, a proprietary line of
specialty fertilizers.
The Rhode Island GCSA
(RIGCSA) awarded $10,500 in scholar-
ships, each worth $1,750. The recipients:
Ciara Cummiskey, University of
Rhode Island; Marcy Eichner, Suf-
folk University; Michaela Iacono,
all marketing and advertising initiatives
for GTE. Event planning, social media, PR,
internal and external communications, in-
ternational client services and distribution
opportunities fall under her authority. Nip-
per, formerly employed as vice president
of operations at Golf Ventures, has more
than 18 years of industry experience in the
sales, service and marketing of golf course
equipment.
Streamsong Resort Lodge
in Streamsong, Fla., offcially opened Jan.
17. The 216-room luxury lodge is part of a
facility that features golf courses Stream-
song Red, designed by Bill Coore and Ben
Crenshaw, and Streamsong Blue, designed
by Renaissance Golf Design (Tom Doak).
Darrell Crall was named chair of
Golf 20/20. Crall, chief operating
offcer at the PGA of America, succeeds
Mike Hughes, chief executive offcer of the
National Golf Course Owners Association,
who served as chair from 2010 to 2013.
Golf 20/20 is a unique collaboration of all
segments of the golf industry, from asso-
ciations and manufacturers to golf course
owners and operators and the media. It
was designed to unite and activate the
industry around key strategic initiatives
that increase participation and retention,
involvement and interest in the game.
Wiedenmann North America
LLC was honored as Importer of the Year
for Wiedenmann GmBH, a manufacturer
of turf equipment for the care of grounds,
lawns, athletic felds, and golf courses.
Wiedenmann North America, LLC is
headquartered in Savannah, Ga.
Elevation Marketing announced
its offcial brand launch and incorporation
at the company’s Arizona headquarters.
Previously known as Canyon Communica-
tions, the full-service marketing communi-
cation agency will continue to incorporate
leading-edge technology, including digital,
mobile and social strategies and tactics as
part of larger B2B marketing communica-
Bristol Community College; Alexander
McLeod, Yale University; Kather-
ine Sykes, Brigham Young University;
and Alicia Chase, New England Col-
lege. She also received the Ryan Reynolds
Legacy Scholarship. Each year RIGCSA
hosts a golf tournament and all proceeds
go to providing scholarships to deserving
students and funding research at the
University of Rhode Island. The 32nd an-
nual event is scheduled this year for Point
Judith Country Club in Narragansett, R.I.
Bayer CropScience announced
its two Plant Health Scholar-
ship recipients: Michael K.
McNamara, GCSAA Class A superin-
tendent at TPC Prestancia, Sarasota, Fla.;
and John Petrovsky, superinten-
dent at Greenbriar Woodlands Golf Club,
Toms River, N.J. Each receives a $2,500
scholarship to be used toward continuing
education in the area of plant health.
Melanie Stanton is the new execu-
tive director for Turfgrass Produc-
ers International (TPI). She came
to TPI from the American Society of Plastic
Surgeons in Arlington Heights, Ill., where
she served as accreditation manager. Be-
fore that, Stanton was account executive
for The Sherwood Group in Northbrook, Ill.
John Patton is the new vice president
of international sales for Landmark
Turf and Native Seed. Patton’s
experience in the seed sales and distribu-
tion industry began while working on
his family’s sod farm in Maryland. Most
recently, Patton worked for DLF Pickseed
USA as vice president of international sales.
He is a 1987 graduate of Virginia Tech.
Kevin Nettles of Dallas Athletic Club
is the recipient of the 2013 edition of the
A.C. Bearden Superinten-
dent of the Year as honored by the
North Texas Golf Course Superintendents
Association. Nettles and his father, Clyde,
were featured in the October issue of
GCM for their four decades of service.
The Nettleses have been the course’s only
superintendents since 1971.
The Ohio Turfgrass Founda-
tion (OTF) announced its annual scholar-
ship recipients. They are: Geoffrey
Barber, Peter Braun, Kyle
Danneberger, John DiFran-
co, Gregory Myers, Andrew
Northeim, Reese Overly,
Jordan Schmidt, Tyler Turner
and Rebecca Wicker, all from The
Ohio State University; Ross Clady,
Owens Community College; Jason
Cox, Rutgers University; Amy Day,
Cincinnati State Technical and Community
College; and Max Szturm, Clark
State Community College. The students
are pursuing degrees in turfgrass manage-
ment or a related feld. Each receives
fnancial aid ranging between $1,000
and $2,000. Since its inception in 1961,
the OTF has awarded nearly $500,000 in
fnancial aid to more than 325 students.
Turf Solutions Group (TSG) is
designing and building two softball felds,
a soccer feld, two youth soccer felds and
a multipurpose feld to accompany the
baseball feld previously built for Mercy
Street, a non-proft service for impover-
ished youth ages 5 to 14 in Dallas. TSG
provided a master plan for the sports
complex followed by a 3-D image that
could be easily previewed from any device.
The images helped convey what the
facility will look like before actually being
built, which helps Mercy Street explain the
expansion to the donors to their non-proft
organization. Mercy Street’s goal is to
instill core life values through recreation to
more than 400 youth in the baseball and
softball programs and more than 1,000
youth in the soccer program.
Global Turf Equipment (GTE)
named Debbie Nipper vice presi-
dent of marketing. Concurrent with her du-
ties as vice president of client and vendor
operations for sister company International
Club Suppliers (ICS), Nipper is overseeing
100-103_March14_IndustryNews.indd 102 2/18/14 1:48 PM
tions services through the launch, the
company says. All of the more than 25
staff members remain with the company.
Keep America Beautiful (KAB)
and Coca-Cola’s 2014 Recy-
cling Bin Grant Program is de-
signed to expand and support recycling in
communities across America. The program
is funded through a $350,000 grant from
the Coca-Cola Foundation. Since 2010,
more than 34,000 recycling bins have
been distributed through the program. In
the past six years, 4.4 million people have
been reached through the program, with
450 organizations receiving grants. This
year, Coca-Cola expands its investment in
the bin grant program to include a specifc
focus on two-year community colleges.
The program expects to award more than
4,500 bins, resulting in a projected 1.6
million pounds of recyclable materials col-
lected during their frst year in use.
Professional golfer Robert Allenby
is the recipient of the Golf Writers Associa-
tion of America’s (GWAA) 2014 Charlie
Bartlett Award presented by Aberdeen
Asset Management. The award is given
to a playing professional for unselfsh
contributions to the betterment of society
and is given in memory of the GWAA’s frst
secretary. Allenby, an Australian who has
played on the PGA Tour since 1999, holds
the annual Robert Allenby Golf Day and
Gala Dinner for charity. In 23 years, it has
helped raise more than $26 million to aid
children with cancer. GCM editor-in-chief
Scott Hollister and associate editor Howard
Richman are members of GWAA.
Toro launched its Legacy Grant
Program and Annual Produc-
tion Donation Program. The
Legacy Grant Program supports non-proft
organizations in their efforts to beau-
tify and preserve outdoor environments.
Grants also will be made to organizations
whose projects encourage and educate
the public about the effcient use of water.
The Annual Product Donation Program
will support organizations with equipment
and irrigation donations that assist in
maintaining their facilities and achieving
impact in their communities, such as
beautifcation of their outdoor landscapes.
Online applications are at www.toro.
com/community and will be accepted
through March 31, 2014, from non-proft
organizations located within 30 miles of a
Toro community.
Submit items for “Industry News” to
100-103_March14_IndustryNews.indd 103 2/18/14 1:48 PM
104 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
By John Mascaro
President of Turf-Tec International
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
The depressions on the surface of this putting green were created by hail. What is amazing about the photo is not just the damage, but the extent of the damage. This storm occurred in March just as the bermudagrass was starting to come out of dormancy. Even though the semi-private golf course was closed on this Monday, a group of about 60 golfers were on the course when the superintendent received word that a severe thunderstorm was ap-proaching. The golf-ball- to tennis-ball-sized hail started falling about 2 miles from the course, and all the golfers took shelter in the clubhouse while the crew put as many golf cars as they could ft into the cart barn. The hailstorm lasted more than 20 minutes and continued on another 2 miles after it passed over the golf course, leaving a 4-mile path of destruction. The hail not only damaged all 18 greens, tees and fairways, but also broke car windshields and put holes into the stucco walls and roofs of homes on the golf course and the surrounding community. The greens were rolled, verticut and topdressed; fairways were rolled and mowed. The turf, which had not begun actively grow-ing when the storm struck, took quite a while to recover. The members un-derstood the situation.
Photo submitted by John (Jay) Coalter, the GCSAA Class A superintendent at Patrick
Farms Golf Club in Jackson, Miss., and a 25-year member of the association.If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro’s Photo Quiz, please send it to:John Mascaro, 1471 Capital Circle NW, Suite #13, Tallahassee, FL 32303, or e-mail to [email protected].
If your photograph is selected, you will receive full credit. All photos submitted will become property of GCM and GCSAA.
The brown turf on the edge of this tee was caused by maintenance equipment. A bank of turf near this cart path was sprayed with glyphosate. The following day, a mower operator, who was unaware of the previous day’s application, drove through this area while mowing the tee. This transferred some of the still-active herbicide onto the tire and deposited it onto the turf, leaving behind these 20- to 30-foot strips of brown turf. It’s a mystery why the glyphosate was still active the day after it was applied; however, cool and damp weather may be the culprit. It was decided that if the turf did not improve after a day or two, it would be reseeded.
Photo submitted by Timothy J. Walker, CGCS at Winding Hills Golf Club in Montgomery,
N.Y., and a 15-year member of GCSAA.
(photo quiz answers)
(a)PROBLEM
(b)PROBLEM
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 104 2/18/14 1:48 PM
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104-115_March14_Departments.indd 105 2/18/14 1:48 PM
106 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Q: How did your time as an assistant prepare you for this?
A: I learned how to manage daily work schedules, employees and equipment and how to budget time
and resources. But more personally, I learned what kind of superintendent I wanted to be in regard to
how I wanted to manage course conditions and employees.
Q: What is best about being owners?
A: We have a vision for our golf course and how we want to improve it. We decide what the priorities
are and how to budget for them. It’s nice knowing that the decisions end with us.
Q: What is your philosophy as a superintendent?
A: Do things the right way when no one is watching. Take pride in your work. If it is worth your time,
then it is worth your effort.
Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Getting to know youJusten Reitzel went shopping. This, however, was no ordinary purchase, not just a brief stop at the convenience store for a pack of gum. In March 2013, Reitzel and his wife, Kristy, bought DeMor Hills Golf Course in Morenci, Mich., located near the Michigan-Ohio border. “Kristy got tired of riding around in the golf car with me, so she learned the game and took a genuine interest in it,” says Reitzel, a 16-year GCSAA member. “My career goal was to be a superintendent, but the last few years we started thinking about buying a mom-and-pop type of course. I would manage the course and Kristy would run the clubhouse. We told each other if we’re going to do it, let’s do it while we’re young and go at this thing.”
Justen Reitzel
Was: Assistant superintendent
Bowling Green (Ohio)
Country Club
Is: Superintendent/owner
DeMor Hills Golf Course,
Morenci, Mich.
(Climbing the ladder)ON COURSEMarch 6-9 — PGA Tour, World Golf
Championship-Cadillac Championship,
Trump National Doral, Miami, Fla., Don
Thornburgh Jr., superintendent.
March 6-9 — PGA Tour, Puerto Rico
Open presented by seepuertorico.com,
Trump International Golf Club, Rio Grande,
Puerto Rico.
March 6-9 — Web.com Tour, Chile
Classic, Prince of Wales CC, Santiago,
Chile.
March 13-16 — PGA Tour, Valspar
Championship, Innisbrook Resort-
Copperhead Course, Palm Harbor, Fla.,
Ryan Stewart, superintendent.
March 13-16 — Web.com Tour,
Brasil Championship presented by
HSBC, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
March 13-16 — European Tour,
Trophee Hassan II, Golf du Palais Royal,
Agadir, Morocco.
March 14-16 — Champions Tour,
Toshiba Classic, Newport Beach CC,
Newport Beach, Calif., Ronald
Benedict, superintendent.
March 20-23 — PGA Tour, Arnold
Palmer Invitational presented by
MasterCard, Bay Hill Club & Lodge,
Orlando, Fla., Matt Beaver, GCSAA Class
A superintendent.
March 20-23 — LPGA, LPGA
Founders Cup, Wildfre Golf Club at JW
Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort &
Spa, Phoenix, Ariz., Todd Norton, director
of grounds.
March 20-23 — Web.com Tour,
Panama Claro Championship, Panama
Golf Club, Panama City, Panama.
March 21-23 — Champions Tour,
Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, Fallen
Oak, Biloxi, Miss., Matthew Hughes,
GCSAA Class A superintendent and
director of grounds.
March 22-24 — Symetra Tour,
Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, Lake
Region Yacht & CC, Winter Haven, Fla.,
Juan Perez, superintendent.
MEMBERS ONLY
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 106 2/18/14 1:48 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 107
March 27-29 Ñ European Tour,
Eurasia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM,
Glenmarie G&CC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
March 27-30 Ñ PGA Tour, Valero
Texas Open, JW Marriott TPC San Antonio
(Tex.), Tom Lively, CGCS, director of golf
course operations.
March 27-30 Ñ LPGA, Kia Classic,
Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, Calif., Kevin
Kienast, CGCS.
March 27-30 Ñ Web.com Tour,
Chitimacha Louisiana Open,
Le Triomphe CC, Broussard, La., Scott
Poynot, GCSAA Class A
superintendent.
COMING UPMarch 3-4 Ñ Peaks & Prairies GCSA
“Almost” Spring Meeting, Holiday Inn
Downtown Parkside, Missoula, Mont.
Phone: 406-273-0791
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ppgcsa.org
March 3-5 Ñ South Dakota GCSA
30th Annual Turfgrass Seminar and
Trade Show, Best Western Plus Ramkota
Hotel & Conference Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Phone: 605-484-2003
Website: www.sdgcsa.org
March 5 Ñ North Florida GCSA
Green Committee University Program,
Timuguana CC, Jacksonville
Phone: 772-546-2620
Website: www.nfgcsa.com
March 5 Ñ Northern Great Lakes
GCSA Educational Conference, Green
Bay, Wis.
Phone: 906-424-4176
Website: www.nglturf.org
March 6 Ñ GCSAA Webcast: Plan
Now to Update Your Turf Care Center
Contact: GCSAA Education
Phone: 800-472-7878
Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/
webcasts.aspx
March 6 Ñ Annual Golf Summit Golf
Alliance of Washington, Everett G&CC
Phone: 253-858-2266
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.wwgcsa.org
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 107 2/19/14 8:50 AM
108 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Northwest David Phipps
Of all the things that you did as a young-
ster in school, what do you remember
the most? For me it was the field trips.
Whether it was the trip to the Nabisco
factory in first grade or the trip to the “Or-
egon Outback” in seventh grade, each of
those made an indelible mark in my mind.
This is the mission of the First Green
Foundation, to provide an outdoor learn-
ing experience for young children on a
golf course that will be remembered for
years to come. Using the golf course as
a laboratory, the First Green Foundation
utilizes a STEM (science, technology, en-
gineering and mathematics) learning curriculum. The First Green Foundation will help golf course superintendents connect
with local teachers and provide their golf courses as outdoor laboratories. The USGA, in partnership with Chevron, just
awarded the First Green Foundation a $155,750 grant to expand the program into Southern California and continue into
Oregon and Northern California. If ever a program has targeted advocacy for the game of golf, the First Green fits the bill.
It teaches students the benefits that golf provides to the environment and community. This enables superintendents to
promote the game by way of dispelling myths as well as growing the game. Giving the children an introduction to golf at an
early age will no doubt pay dividends down the road as we need to add more golfers to the sport. Please consider hosting
your own field trip. If you have any questions, I am always available to help. You can contact me at: [email protected].
You can also visit the First Green website, www.thefirstgreen.org.
Southwest Jeff Jensen
Bill Rohret, CGCS, a former golf course superintendent and now a spray technician at
Highland Falls Golf Club in Las Vegas, and his wife, Dian, recently received the 2013 Citi-
zens of the Year Award from the Southern Nevada Chapter PGA for their volunteer efforts
with Special Olympics Nevada. The Citizens of the Year Award is given annually by the
chapter to those who provide exemplary efforts within their community. Rohret, a 37-year
life member of GCSAA, and his wife started volunteering with Special Olympics Nevada in
2001 after their children, James and Nicole, left for college, leaving the two as empty nest-
ers. The couple coach a number of sports, including basketball, golf and track, to adults
and children with intellectual disabilities. “I have had the opportunity to work with some
great PGA professionals during my career, and to be recognized by the Southern Nevada
chapter is truly humbling,” Rohret said. “Working with Special Olympics athletes has changed my life, and I look forward
to assisting the organization in the future.”
For the latest blog posts from all of GCSAA’s feld staff representatives, visit www.gcsaa.org/community/regions.aspx.
(In the field)
March 6 — Spring Education in
conjunction with sustainable urban
landscape conference at Cuyamaca
College, El Cajon, Calif.
Phone: 760-845-7045
Website: www.sdgcsa.com
March 12 — 30th Annual Forum,
Naperville (Ill.) Country Club
Phone: 630-243-7900
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cagcs.org
March 13-17 — USGA/GCSANC
Regional Conference, Diablo (Calif.)
Country Club
Phone: 559-298-6262
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.californiagcsa.org
March 18 — Central Texas GCSA
Turf Show, Olympia Hills, Universal City,
Texas
Phone: 512-507-8233
Website: www.ctgcsa.com
March 25 — USGA Golf Summit of
Oregon, Waverley Country Club, Portland
Phone: 877-375-1330
Website: www.ogcsa.org
March 27 — South Florida GCSA
Expo, Fort Lauderdale
Phone: 800-732-6053
Website: www.floridagcsa.com
March 31-April 1 — Affordable Golf
Symposium, Dairy Creek GC, San Luis
Obispo, Calif.
Phone: 559-298-6262
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.californiagcsa.org
April 1-5 — Aquaponics Technology
and Design Workshop, Apopka, Fla.
Phone: 407-886-3939
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.PentairAES.com
April 22 — Mini Field Day, University
of Tennessee Research Center, Knoxville
Website: www.tgcsa.net
May 1 — Intermountain GCSA Spring
Event sponsored by RTM
Phone: 801-282-5274
Website: www.igcsa.org
May 7 — University of Arizona
Karsten Field Day, Karsten Turf Facility,
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 108 2/18/14 1:48 PM
Tucson
Phone: 480-609-6778
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cactusandpine.com
May 21 — Miami Valley GCSA Field
Day, Windy Knoll, Springfeld, Ohio
Phone: 937-294-6842
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mvsupt.com
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.
NEW MEMBERSARIZONA
Chris Lomas, Class C, Flagstaff
Jonathan R. Williams, Supt. Mbr., Tucson
ARKANSAS
Blake A. Willems, Student, Fayetteville
CALIFORNIA
Drew Nottenkamper, Associate,
Pebble Beach
Daniel A. Schuberg, Class C, Yorba Linda
Brandon T. Smiley, Class C, Corning
COLORADO
Chris M. Ehalt, Class C, Elizabeth
Ben D. Hobstetter, Student, Fort Collins
CONNECTICUT
Curtis W. D’Anna, Class C, West Hartford
Andrew H. Nisbet, Student, Storrs
DELAWARE
James M. Allison, Associate, Wilmington
Joseph Lee, Supt. Mbr., Middletown
FLORIDA
Robert J. Christian, Supt. Mbr., Indian
Lake Estates
Mark Cummings, Associate, Fort Myers
Raymundo D. Gomez-Hernandez, Class
C, Naples
J Drew Harrison, Class C, Amelia Island
Brad Keith, Supt. Mbr., Daytona Beach
Jonathan J. Lake, Class C, Orlando
Robert Murphy, Associate, Fort Myers
Patrick T. Pearson, Student, Fort Pierce
Caitlyn N. Sill, Student, Fort Pierce
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 109 2/19/14 8:50 AM
110 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
Annika Sorenstam, Honorary, Orlando
Shane R. Willey, Class C, Lakeland
Allen L. Wilson, Class C, Tarpon Springs
Steve Woods, Associate, Fort Myers
GEORGIA
Brandon M. Akins, Student, Athens
Carson M. Chittum, Student, Tifton
Wes R. Denmon, Class C, Acworth
Jonathon L. Fox, Student, Tifton
John W. Godlewski, Supt. Mbr., Atlanta
Thomas D. Richey, Associate, Atlanta
Joshua M. Sullins, Class C, Covington
ILLINOIS
Tony Arro, Affliate Co. Rep., O’Fallon
Kelly L. Kuchelmeister, Supt. Mbr.,
Rockford
Andrew S. Narlow, Class C, Flossmoor
INDIANA
Jada Powlen, Student, West Lafayette
IOWA
Brad Benson, Supt. Mbr., Ames
Colton R. Metzger, Student, Ames
KANSAS
Logan J. Slattery, Student, Manhattan
KENTUCKY
Taylor Frey, Class C, Louisville
MAINE
Jay A. Lashar, Class C, Kingfeld
MARYLAND
James P. Halley, Student, College Park
Casey J. Rezendes, Affliate, College Park
MICHIGAN
Nathan D. Buban, Student, Auburn Hillss
Eric C. Chestnut, Student, Brimley
Andres Gonzalez-Onieva Johansson,
Student, Brimley
Jeff LeBlanc, Class C, Canton
Steve W. LeDuc, Class C, Ann Arbor
Trent M. Limban, Student, Brimley
Josh G. Phillips, Student, Brimley
Christopher K. Sobeck, Supt. Mbr.,
Orchard Lake
MINNESOTA
Matson Gravelle, Student, Minneapolis
Travis Heifner, Supt. Mbr., Janesville
Brenda J. Miller, Educator, Crookston
Nick Ryan, Associate, Lakeville
David J. Sinkel, Class C, Maple Plain
MISSISSIPPI
Benton Hodges, Student, Mississippi
State
Jed C. McCoy, Student, Mississippi State
MISSOURI
Kyle J. Booth, Class C, Maryville
Brett Loman, Educator, Columbia
Robert W. Ralston, Class C, Kansas City
MONTANA
Joshua D. Brewer, Student, Bozeman
Andrew Leiter, Student, Bozeman
Rob J. Partain, Student, Bozeman
NEBRASKA
Ray O. Behling, Student, Elmwood
Dale P. Ostrander, Student, Lincoln
Jarod W. Spurlin, Student, Lincoln
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Doug M. Fuller, Class C, Nashua
Dean Scarito, Associate, North Hampton
Stuart Spooner, Class C, North Hampton
NEW JERSEY
Wesley L. Fleetwood, Student, New
Brunswick
Jessica A. Hall, Class C, Denville
Thomas Havelka, Class C, Spring Lake
Heights
Cory O’Neil, Student, New Brunswick
Nick Oram, Student, New Brunswick
Michael Percudani, Class C, Marlton
Richard Plemel, Student, New Brunswick
NEW MEXICO
Robert Gonzales, Supt. Mbr., Socorro
Jacob R. Morgan, Class C, Farmington
Chace J. Powell, Student, Farmington
NEW YORK
Dennis R. Alexander, Class C, Rochester
James A. Decarvalho, Class C, Bronxville
Keith Hallock, Student, Delhi
Yu Huang, Class C, Plandome
Wyatt W. Kotary, Student, Delhi
Tyler R. LePore, Student, Delhi
Jeffrey Niemczyk, Class C, Riverhead
Daniel Mitchell Pollack, Student,
Cobleskill
Andrew A. White, Class C, Mamaroneck
John J. Yursa, Associate, Mamaroneck
NORTH CAROLINA
Jill N. Ploetz, Educator, Raleigh
Karl F. Trost, Class C, Winston-Salem
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 110 2/18/14 1:48 PM
OHIO
Stuart Diamond, Student, Columbus
Callum D. Edwards, Student, Columbus
Chen Fang, Student, Columbus
Dale R. Gregory, Student, Columbus
Diarmaid Peter Henley, Student,
Columbus
Travis Irwin, Class C, Chillicothe
Thomas A. Jones, Student, Columbus
David J. Kinnear, Student, Columbus
Stewart Laver, Student, Columbus
Joe A. Lhotsky, Class C, Wooster
Elliot Lindsay, Student, Columbus
James McCann, Student, Columbus
Njabulo F. Mdluli, Student, Columbus
Robert Moore, Student, Columbus
Benjamin T. Stoner, Student, Columbus
Gabe S. Timbs, Student, Columbus
Nathan John Turner, Student, Columbus
Benjamin L. Williams, Student, Columbus
OREGON
Kabe C. Hockema, Student, Corvallis
Phillip V. Mauss, Student, Corvallis
PENNSYLVANIA
Thomas M. Goyne, Student,
University Park
Rickie L. Knorr, Supt. Mbr., Milton
Adam Kokinda, Educator, Lehighton
Kyle R. Krause, Student, State College
Charles F. Main, Class C, Bedford
Ryan R. Royer, Supt. Mbr., Skippack
Aaron D. Zinader, Class C, Beaver
RHODE ISLAND
Colin A. Zegarzewski, Student, Kingston
SOUTH CAROLINA
Ryan Jowers, Student, Conway
Harold R. Mcculler, Supt. Mbr.,
Murrells Inlet
Kelly E. Shaw, Class C, Hilton Head Island
Randolph M. Wilson, Class C, Blythewood
TENNESSEE
Jesse J. Benelli, Student, Knoxville
Scott B. Boyle, Educator, Knoxville
Jordan E. Clark, Class C, Loudon
Joseph P. Fedun Jr., Student, Knoxville
Dalton T. Wayman, Student, Knoxville
TEXAS
John Aguillon, Affliate, San Antonio
Sarah C. Glenn, Student, Lubbock
Cody Janssen, Class C, Granbury
Jake Johnson, Student, College Station
Ben Lauber, Class C, Fredericksburg
John M. Searway, Student, Lubbock
Cole Watts, Student, Lubbock
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104-115_March14_Departments.indd 111 2/19/14 8:51 AM
Justin Weeaks, Educator, Waco
VIRGINIA
Ferris Crilly, Affliate Co. Rep., Manassas
Adam Das, Affliate Co. Rep., Manassas
Ross S. Giserman, Student, Blacksburg
Chris McCarthy, Supt. Mbr., Gainesville
WEST VIRGINIA
Carrie Moore, Educator, Morgantown
WISCONSIN
Logan Ferrise, Associate, Oconomowoc
Kevin Jacky, Associate, Sheboygan
Bruce R. Schweiger, Educator, Madison
Jon Slock, Student, Madison
WYOMING
Craig Hanson, Associate, Sheridan
AUSTRALIA
Ian Widocks, Associate, Rose Bay
BAHAMAS
Anthony Thompson, Associate, Nassau
CANADA
Philippe Bigras, Class C, Blainville,
Quebec
Ryan J. Campbell, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Travis T. Ekelund, Class C, Calgary,
Alberta
Aidan J. Fitzgerald, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Jeremy D. Hubbard, Associate, Kitchener,
Ontario
Ryan Jackson, Class C, Gormley, Ontario
Graham B. McDowell, Class C, Kitchener,
Ontario
Alexander J. Taylor, Student, Guelph,
Ontario
Barry Taylor, ISM, New Liskeard, Ontario
Kelly Watkins, Affliate, Delta, British
Columbia
COLOMBIA
Diego A. Gomez, Student, Bogota
Nicolas A. Gomez, Student, Bogota
COSTA RICA
Erick Rodriguez Lopez, ISM, Guanacaste
Luis A. Navarro, ISM, Santa Cruz
CZECH REPUBLIC
Jiri Dvorak, ISM, Vysoky Ujezd
GERMANY
Viktor R. Franke, ISM, Swisttal
GUATEMALA
Carlos E. Recinos, ISM, Edifcio Torre
Azul
Astry M Soto, ISM, Guatemala
IRELAND
Aine Daly, Affliate Co. Rep., Wiklow
John Killoran, Affliate Co. Rep., Wiklow
Brendan Scott, Affliate Co. Rep., Wiklow
MALAYSIA
Mohamed Nasir N. Abdul Hamid,
Affliate, Johor Bahru
Mohd Nizam Othman, ISM, Kuala
Lumpur
SINGAPORE
Lawrence A. Walsh, Affliate, Singapore
SOUTH KOREA
Iksun Lee, ISM, Yongin-si
SPAIN
Juan Munoz, ISM, Madrid
Moha Hector Rodriguez de la Torre,
ISM, San Miguel de Abona
SWEDEN
Håkan P. Stålbro, Educator, Danderyd
SWITZERLAND
Charles F. Charmot, ISM, Vandoeuvres
Marc Charrel, ISM, Aigle
Juan C. Duran, Class C, Ascona
Christoph Ehinger, Associate, Hittnau
Raymond Garrouste, ISM, Ascona
Andri Jorger, ISM, Domat/Elms
Renato Milani, ISM, Vesbier
Gerard Nardini, ISM, Bougy-Villars
Roman Nolle, Class C, Bad Ragaz
Claudio Valaulta, ISM, Sagogn
Claudio Wellinger, Class C, Sagogn
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Michael J. McKenna, Associate, Dubai
UNITED KINGDOM
Ian Morrison, ISM, Ascot
NEWLY CERTIFIEDMichael Brunelle, CGCS, Upper Mont-
clair Country Club, Clifton, N.J.
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104-115_March14_Departments.indd 112 2/18/14 1:48 PM
ON THE MOVEALABAMA
Rusty W. Lambert, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at The Club at Mediterra, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Shoal Creek Golf Course in
Birmingham.
ARIZONA
John E. Davis, formerly (A) at
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, is now (A) at Pinnacle
Peak Country Club in Scottsdale.
Kenneth M. Newcomb, formerly (A) at
Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club, is now
(A) at Anthem Golf & Country Club-
Persimmon Course in Phoenix.
Matt A. Noreus, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Tatum Ranch Golf Club in Cave Creek.
ARKANSAS
Dustin McNaughton, formerly (S) at
Colorado State University, is now (C) at
Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs
National Park.
CALIFORNIA
Robert J. Badovinac, formerly (C) at
Scalawags Golf Club, is now (C) at
Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells.
Jeff D. Couwenhoven, formerly (A) at
Woodcreek Golf Club, is now (A) at Resort
at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley.
Robert W. Henderson Jr., formerly (AS)
at Country Club of Missouri, is now (C) at
The Bridges Golf Club in San Ramon.
Geoffery Plovanich, formerly (C) at The
Olympic Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at The
Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Peder E. Rauen, formerly (C) at Golf Club
at Quail Lodge, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Arrowhead Country Club in San
Bernardino.
COLORADO
Joshua L. Hess, formerly (S) at Colorado
State University, is now (C) at Ironbridge
Club in Glenwood Springs.
Robert W. Lowry, formerly (A) at Centre
Hills Golf Club, is now (A) at Fitzsimons
Golf Club in Aurora.
Seth Swanson, formerly (C) at Heritage
Todd Creek, is now (C) at Littleton Golf &
Tennis in Littleton.
Chet L. Wilmes, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Fitzsimons Golf Club, is now (C) at Mur-
phy Creek Golf Course in Aurora.
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 113 2/19/14 8:51 AM
114 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
CONNECTICUT
Frederick T. Doheny, formerly (C) at Oak
Hill Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich.
Lucas B. Lownes, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Muirfeld Village Golf Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Aspetuck Valley Country
Club in Weston.
Ryan P. Segrue, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Lake Isle Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Longshore Club Park in Westport.
Casey P. Sheehy, formerly (S) at Iowa
State University, is now (C) at Silver
Spring Country Club in Ridgefeld.
FLORIDA
Nicholas Flynn, formerly (A) at Green-
briar Woodlands, is now (A) at Falcon’s
Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee.
James D. Huntley, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Stoneybrook West Golf Course, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Orange Lake Resort &
Country Club in Kissimmee.
Patrick Lewins, formerly (A) at Naples
Grande Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
La Playa Golf Club in Naples.
Justin R. Lowery, formerly (C) at Country
Club of Birmingham, is now (C) at TPC
Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Kyle E. McCarty, formerly (C) at Kelly
Greens Golf & Country Club, is now (C) at
Pelican Preserve Golf Club in Fort Myers.
Colby Paiva, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Jupiter Hills Club & Village Course, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Lost Tree Club in North
Palm Beach.
Eli N. Rahz, formerly (C) at Avila Golf &
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at The
Club at Mediterra in Naples.
Brad Reano, formerly (AF) at One Source
Golf & Landscape, is now (AF) at Show Turf
of South Florida LLC in Boynton Beach.
Mark A. Salomone, formerly (C) at
Highlands Reserve Golf Club, is now (C)
at Pines Course at Pompano Beach Golf
Course in Pompano Beach.
Keith M. Viola, formerly (C) at The
Quechee Club, is now (C) at BallenIsles
Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens.
Nathan Wallace, formerly (C) at The Loxa-
hatchee Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Jupiter
Hills Club & Village Course in Jupiter.
GEORGIA
Raymond S. Griffn, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Real Turf Solutions, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Perry Country Club in Perry.
ILLINOIS
Matthew M. McDonald, formerly (C) at
Midlothian Country Club, is now (C) at
Naperville Country Club in Naperville.
Daniel E. Stahl, formerly (A) at Indian
Boundary Golf Course, is now (A) at
Highland Woods Golf Course in Hoffman
Estates.
Alex J. Stuedemann, formerly (Supt.
Mbr.) at TPC Twin Cities, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at TPC Deere Run in East Moline.
Peter J. Westfall, formerly (S) at Purdue
University, is now (C) at Biltmore Country
Club in Barrington.
INDIANA
Jim J. Wallace, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Medinah Country Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Delaware Country Club in Muncie.
LOUISIANA
Kevin A. Bell, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at El
Conquistador Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Contraband Bayou Golf Club at
Lauberge du Lac in Lake Charles.
Zach Mays, formerly (C) at Old Overton
Club, is now (C) at Squire Creek Country
Club in Choudrant.
Thomas J. Schlick, CGCS, formerly (A)
at The Davey Tree Expert Co., is now (A)
at Windy Hills Ranch in Broussard.
MARYLAND
Garrett C. Emerick, formerly (S) at
University of Maryland, is now (C) at Swan
Point Yacht & Country Club in Issue.
MASSACHUSETTS
William Creed, formerly (S) at Rutgers
University/Cook College, is now (C) at
Essex County Club in Manchester.
Daniel Seifert, formerly (C) at Golf Club
of Cape Cod, is now (C) at Duxbury Yacht
Club in Duxbury.
MICHIGAN
Justen R. Reitzel, formerly (C) at Bowling
Green Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at DeMor Hills Golf Course in Morenci.
MINNESOTA
Cole L. Besser, formerly (C) at Windsong
Farm Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Pioneer Creek Golf Club in Maple Plain.
Gary J. Deters, formerly (C) at St. Cloud
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at St.
Cloud Country Club in Saint Cloud.
MISSISSIPPI
James McCurdy, formerly (S) at Auburn
University, is now (E) at Mississippi State
University in Mississippi State.
MISSOURI
Justen Patterson, formerly (C) at For-
est Hills Country Club, is now (C) at The
Legends in Eureka.
NEVADA
Jody G. Farber, formerly (AS) at Las
Vegas Country Club, is now (AF) at Stotz
Equipment in Las Vegas.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Eric J. Whitmore, formerly (C) at New
Haven Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Atkinson Resort & Country Club in
Atkinson.
NEW JERSEY
Earle E. Casteen, CGCS, formerly (C) at
Linwood Country Club, is now (C) at Sea
Oaks Country Club in Little Egg Harbor.
James A. Strutton, formerly ( I), is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Golf Course of Concordia
in Monroe Township.
NEW YORK
David W. Dudones, formerly (A) at North
Jersey Country Club, is now (A) at West-
chester Country Club in Rye.
Paul W. Johnson, formerly (C) at Pine
Hollow Country Club, is now (C) at
Rockville Links Club in Rockville Centre.
Timothy Joyce, formerly (AF) at Metro
Turf Specialists, is now (AF) at Synergy
Turf Supply in Wappingers Falls.
Jason F. Sartwell, formerly (C) at
Champlain Country Club, is now (C) at
Glen Oaks Club Inc. in Old Westbury.
NORTH CAROLINA
Samuel H. Green Jr., formerly (A) at
Eagle Point Golf Club, is now (A) at Aqua-
Aid Inc. in Rocky Mount.
John C. Harrison, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Beau Rivage Resort & Golf Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Porters Neck Country Club
in Wilmington.
Corey J. Hraczo, formerly (C) at Carmel
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Badin
Inn and Golf Club in Badin.
Ryan L. Hull, formerly (S) at Rutgers
University/Cook College, is now (C) at
Methodist University Golf Course in
Fayetteville.
Cory J. Huskey, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
Olde Liberty Golf & Country Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Wendell Country Club in
Wendell.
OHIO
Michael D. Bibler, formerly (S) at Rutgers
University/Cook College, is now (C) at
Sylvania Country Club in Sylvania.
Jeff Laycock, formerly (C) at Columbus
Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at
Columbus Country Club in Columbus.
Jeff J. Reich, formerly (C) at TPC Rivers
Bend, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at TPC Rivers
Bend in Maineville.
Ryan L. Wharton, formerly (S) at Penn
State University-University Park, is
now (C) at Heatherwoode Golf Club in
Springboro.
PENNSYLVANIA
Derek R. Mohler, formerly (C) at River
Crest Golf Club, is now (C) at Waynesboro
Country Club in Waynesboro.
RHODE ISLAND
Matthew Klida, formerly (C) at
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Metacomet Country Club in East
Providence.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Gavin Johnson, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at
West Course at Belfair Golf Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Haig Point Club in Hilton
Head Island.
Brian M. Murray, formerly (A) at Wexford
Plantation, is now (A) at Palmetto Hall Golf
Club in Hilton Head Island.
Mike A. Weinreich, formerly (Supt. Mbr.)
at Kings North at Myrtle Beach National Golf
Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Myrtle Beach
National Golf Course in Myrtle Beach.
TEXAS
Daniel W. Boley, formerly (A) at
Waterview Golf Club, is now (A) at
Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in
McKinney.
Aaron M. Clary, formerly (C) at Oak Hills
Country Club, is now (C) at The Hills of
Lakeway-Flintrock Falls Course in Austin.
Jeffery M. Garza, formerly (C) at
Plantation Golf Resort, is now (Supt. Mbr.)
at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas.
Alan C. Pursley, formerly (C) at Newport
Dunes Golf Club, is now (C) at Whispering
Pines Golf Club in Trinity.
UTAH
Brack I. Crouch, formerly (C) at The
Short Course at Cordillera, is now (AS) at
Talisker Club At Tuhaye in Park City.
Jason T. Moon, formerly (AF) at Turf
Equipment & Irrigation, is now (A) at Swan
Lake Golf Course in Layton.
VIRGINIA
Christopher M. Hinesley, formerly (C)
at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at Loudoun Golf & Country
Club in Purcellville.
David S. McCall, formerly (E) at Virginia
Tech, is now (E) at Glade Road Research
Facility in Blacksburg.
Brian G. Minto, formerly (C) at Leewood
Golf Club, is now (C) at Willow Oaks
Country Club in Richmond.
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 114 2/18/14 1:48 PM
WASHINGTON
Earl E. Caswell IV, formerly (A) at Na-
tional Golf, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Gamble
Sands in Brewster.
Ken Reimers, formerly (C) at Harbour
Pointe Golf Club, is now (AS) at Legion
Memorial Golf Course in Everett.
Josh A. Truan, formerly (C) at Pebble
Beach Co., is now (C) at Gamble Sands
in Brewster.
Greg Van Hollebeke, formerly (C) at Golf
Club at Redmond Ridge, is now (Supt.
Mbr.) at Golf Club at Redmond Ridge in
Redmond.
WISCONSIN
Keith A. Happ, formerly (E) at USGA
Green Section Mid-Atlantic Region, is now
(E) at USGA Green Section, North-Central
Region in Elm Grove.
Brennen W. Herther, formerly (C) at
Oconomowoc Golf Club, is now (C) at
Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee.
Rich R. Leider, formerly (AF) at Reinders
Inc., is now (AF) at Lexington Commons
Condo Assoc. Inc. in Fond Du Lac.
Patrick L. Reuteman, formerly (S) at
University of Wisconsin-Madison, is
now (C) at Westmoor Country Club in
Brookfeld.
BRAZIL
Neil A. Cleverly, formerly (ISM) at Riviera
Cancun Country Club, is now (ISM) at
Rio 2016 Olympic Golf Course in Rio de
Janeiro.
CANADA
Jordan Barber, formerly (C) at Muirfeld
Village Golf Club, is now (C) at Beacon
Hall Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario.
Adam C. Calver, formerly (ISM) at
Nirwana Bali Golf Club, is now (ISM) at
Cabot Links in Inverness, Nova.
Jason W. Dowling, formerly (A) at
MacDonald Island Park Corp., is now (A)
at Big Bay Point Golf & Country Club in
Ontario.
Mike Temple, formerly (C) at Champaign
Country Club, is now (C) at Woodside
Greens Golf Club in Simcoe, Ontario.
Colin Young, formerly (C) at Beacon Hall
Golf Club, is now (ISM) at LeBovic Golf
Club in Stouffville, Ontario.
PHILIPPINES
Nicer Landas, CGCS, formerly (ISM) at
Golforce Inc., is now (ISM) at Turfgrass
Management Incorporated in Alabang,
Muntinlupa City.
SPAIN
Daniel Carretero, formerly (ISM), is now
(Supt. Mbr.) at RCGLP-Research Center in
Santa Brigida.
Miguel Angel Merchan Gonzalez, for-
merly (ISM) at Golf Campo de Layos, is now
(ISM) at Golf de Valdeluz in Guadlahara.
Editor’s note: The information in this report
was pulled from GCSAA’s member data-
base on Jan. 21, 2014.
IN MEMORIAM
George H. Fillmore, 89, died Aug. 24,
2013. Mr. Fillmore was a 38-year member
of GCSAA. He retired from Jackson, Mich.,
County Parks and Recreation following
41 years of service, many of those spent
at Cascades Golf Course. A World War II
veteran, Mr. Fillmore also was a member
of the Michigan GCSA, a member of the
Fraternal Order of Police and lifetime
member of American Legion Post 29. He
is survived by his wife, Doris; son Corky
(Paula) Fillmore; and daughter Caren
Leady; sister Clara (Bill) Adams; grandsons
Chris (Aimee) and Jon (Dana) Fillmore;
great-grandchildren Jessica, Zac, Riley and
Dash Fillmore; sister-in-law Irene Fillmore;
plus several nieces and nephews.
William P. Madigan, CGCS Retired,
73, died Dec. 28, 2013. Mr. Madigan, a
48-year member of GCSAA, retired from
The Country Club of Jackson, Mich., after
36 years of service. He served in the U.S.
Army from 1960-66. Mr. Madigan is sur-
vived by his mother, Mildred; sister Patricia
Van Bonn; brothers Dennis and Kerry
Madigan; sons Brent (Kimberly), Bryan
(Lara) and Bruce Madigan; and grandchil-
dren Ian, Nathan, Molly, Sean and Sara.
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.
104-115_March14_Departments.indd 115 2/18/14 1:48 PM
116 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
PLATINUM PARTNERS
John Deere Co. ................................................4-5 (800) 257-7797 .............www.johndeere.com/Golf
The Toro Co. .................................................. IFC-1 (800) 752-0463 ..............................www.toro.com
GOLD PARTNERS
Jacobsen ...................................................31, 105 (800) 232-5907 ......................www.jacobsen.com
Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC .......Cover, Cover 4 (909) 308-1633 ..................................................... www.syngentaprofessionalproducts.com
SILVER PARTNERS
Andersons, Inc., The .......................................... 25 (800) 253-5296 .............. www.AndersonsPro.com
Barenbrug USA ................................................. 33 (800) 547-4101 ......................... www.barusa.com
Baroness ............................................................ 19 (707)283-0610 ............................ www.baroness.us
BASF ................................................................ 51 (888) 566-5506 .................www.betterturf.basf.us
Bayer Environmental Science ......................13, 73 (866) 550-8785 . http://www.backedbybayer.com/golf-course-management
Club Car ........................................................ 66-67 (800) 445-6680 ........................... www.clubcar.com
Floratine Products Group .................................. 77 (901) 853-2898 ....................... www.foratine.com
Lebanon Turf ................................................14-15 (800) 350-6650 ............... www.lebanonturf.com/
Par Aide Products Co. ......................................... 2-3 (513) 470-0160 ...........................www.paraide.com
PBI Gordon Corp. .....21, 103, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115 (800) 971-7233 .................... www.pbigordon.com
Precision Laboratories, Inc. .............................. 61 (800) 323-6280 .................www.precisionlab.com
Quali-Pro ............................................................ 11 (888) 584-6598 .........................www.quali-pro.com
Standard Golf Co. ................................... 65, Insert (866) 743-9773 ................ www.standardgolf.com
Tee-2-Green Corp. ......................................... 42-43 (800) 547-0255 .................... www.tee-2-green.com
ADVERTISERS
AgSource Harris Laboratories ............................ 102 (402) 476-0300 ........ http://harrislabs.agsource.com
Aquatrols Corporation ....................................... 39 (800) 257-7797 ..................... www.aquatrols.com
BoardTronics...................................................... 6-7 (800) 782-9938 ............................boardtronics.com
Bobcat ............................................................... 23 (877) 745-7813 ...... http://bobcat.com/mowtosnow6
Broyhill Inc. ..................................................... 116 (909) 343-2100 ........................ www.broyhill.com
Central Garden and Pet ..................................... 107 (816) 221-9189 ............................www.central.com
Champion Turf Farms ......................................... 8-9 (888) 290-7377 ..........www.championturffarms.com
East Coast Sod & Seed ...................................... 116 (856) 769-9555 ...................www.eastcoastsod.com
FMC Professional Solutions .............................. 55 (800) 235-7368 .......... www.fmcprosolutions.com
Foley United ...................................................... 83 (800) 225-9810 .................. www.foleyunited.com
Frost Services ..................................................... 98 (800) 621-7910 ......................... www.frostserv.com
GCSAA Services ........................... 65, 81, 91, 98-99 (800) 472-7878 ...............................www.gcsaa.org
Georgia Seed Development Commission ... 81, Insert (303) 431-7333 ........................ www.tifeagle.com
Golf-Lift Div. Derek Weaver Co., Inc. ............... 117 (800) 788-9789 .........................www.golf-lift.com
Greenleaf Technologies ................................... 102 (760 )485-2936 .....................www.turbodrop.com
GreensGroomer Worldwide, Inc. ........................ 17 (888) 298-8852 ext. 500 .................... http://www.greensgroomer.com/
Grigg Bros. ........................................................ 69 (888) 623-7285 .....................www.griggbros.com
Growth Products Ltd. ........................................ 29 (800) 648-7626 ...........www.growthproducts.com
Helena Chemical Company ............................... 71 (901) 752-4414 ...........www.helenachemical.com
Hunter Industries................................................. 37 (760) 744-5240 .......................www.huntergolf.com
Johnston Seed Co. ......................................... 56-57 (800) 375-4613 .................. www.johnstonseed.com
Kelly’s Green Team ............................................ 117 (660) 627-5500 ..............www.kellysgreenteam.com
King Ranch ......................................................... 49 (800) 445-2602 ....................... www.miniverde.com
Kochek ............................................................ 117 (800) 420-4673 .........................www.kochek.com
Landmark Seed .................................................. 53 (800) 268-0180 ............www.turfandnativeseed.com
Lastec ............................................................. 109 (866) 902-6454 ..........................www.lastec.com
Linear Rubber Products ..................................... 117 (800) 558-4040 .....................www.rubbermats.com
Milorganite ...................................................... 110 (800) 287-9645 ..................... www.milorganite.com
MultiGuard ......................................................... 41 (908) 272-7070 ............www.multiguardprotect.com
ADVERTISING INDEX & MARKETPLACE
EAST COAST SOD & SEED596 Pointers Auburn Road • Pilesgrove, NJ 08098
www.eastcoastsod.com
856-769-9555
BENTGRASS SODGreens Height ¥ Tee/Fairway Height
FESCUEFine • Blue/Fine • Tall
BLUEGRASSRegular • Short-Cut
INSTALLATION AVAILABLE
Nufarm ............................................................ 112 (800) 345-3330 ..................... www.nufarm.com/US
Peat, Inc. .......................................................... 117 (800) 441-1880 ........................... www.peatinc.com
Penn State University ........................................ 111 (800) 233-4973 .............www.worldcampus.psu.edu
Pifer ................................................................. 116 (888) 442-8442 ..........................www.pifergolf.com
PlanetAir Turf Products ..................................... 27 (877) 800-8845 .........................www.planetair.biz
Plant Food Co. Inc. .......................................... 113 (800) 562-1291 ................. www.plantfoodco.com
Richway Industries ............................................ 118 (800) 553-2404 ...........................www.richway.com
Select Source ..................................................... 75 (877) 235-0043 ................http://selectsourcellc.net/
Smithco, Inc. ................................................Cover 3 (877) 833-7648 .......................... www.smithco.com
Steven’s Water Monitoring ................................... 74 (215) 908-0044 ...................www.stevenswater.com
SubAir Inc. ...................................................... 118 (800) 441-1880 .............www.subairsystems.com
TRIMS Software International Inc. .................. 118 (800) 608-7467 ............................www.trims.com
Trojan Battery Company ...................................... 35 (800) 423-6569 . www.trojanbattery.com/competition
Turfco................................................................. 63 (800) 679-8201 ............................. www.turfco.com
Turf Screen ......................................................... 61 (267) 246-8654 ....................... www.turfmaxllc.com
Wiedenmann North America ............................. 85 (866) 790-3004 .........www.wiedenmannusa.com
Bold denotes affliate member
116-119_March14_indexmarketplace.indd 116 2/18/14 3:55 PM
03.14 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 117
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116-119_March14_indexmarketplace.indd 117 2/18/14 3:53 PM
118 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 03.14
116-119_March14_indexmarketplace.indd 118 2/18/14 1:37 PM
Ph
oto
gra
ph
er Eric S
. Morrison, C
GC
S •
Title D
irector of Golf C
ourse and Parks M
aintenance, Town of G
roton, Conn. •
Cou
rse S
hennecossett Golf C
ourse • G
CS
AA
mem
bersh
ip 1
8-year m
ember •
Th
e
shot O
n the morning of Feb. 4
, during what M
orrison describes as a “never-ending winter,” he captured this shot of the w
inter wonderland that had developed at S
hennecossett Golf C
ourse from behind the
course’s 14th green. A
nd “never-ending” may actually be the best w
ay to describe the winter in that part of the country; on Feb. 1
3, the G
roton area felt the brunt of a winter storm
that dumped m
ore snow and
ice on the region. • C
am
era
Nikon C
oolpix S9300
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.
120_March14_Final shot.indd 120 2/18/14 1:38 PM
Get the whole story at...
Chris Deariso; Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, NC
‘‘The Smithco Star Command Spray Systemsaved us major time and chemistryat my last course…so when I moved to Quail Hollow,
my first purchase was anotherStar Command.
’’3 integrated modules makethe hard-to-believe happen.• Spray at speeds from 2 to 10 mph at a wide
range of application rates. Automatically.
• Never overspray again. Monitor shows an
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Start with the finest sprayers made, factory-fitted with
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necessary. AUTOMATICALLY.
You'll see an “As-Applied” map of all this on your
monitor as it’s taking place. Each nozzle automatically
and instantly shuts off over areas that have already been
sprayed and back on over unsprayed areas.
C2-C4_March14_ads.indd 3 2/18/14 10:07 AM
