WHAT’S NEW By Sally Ross, Executive Director, OGSA.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
Thank you so much to those members who have already paid their dues for 2020/2021, and thank you to all those who plan to do so. The association will have a challenging year ahead, because of having to cancel our January 2021 OGCMC, so member support is more important than ever. Consider signing up more members of your crew, we would be happy to welcome them!
BOARD AND ASSOCIATION UPDATE
The OGSA Board of Directors is committed to continue supporting our members through these challenging times. We managed to jump to our online meetings without a hitch, but we all miss those face to face discussions of the past; it is harder to brainstorm, voice opinions, thoughts and ideas during online discussions, but we managed to do just that. Thanks to our Directors for being so accommodating and dedicated, especially over these past few months. Our AGM will be scheduled for early 2021, the official notice of meeting will be posted on our website and linked in Clippings, the vehicle for executing our AGM has not been decided on yet, but you will have the opportunity to participate, so once the notice goes out, please plan to attend!
EDUCATION
We are partnering with the Carolinas GCSA in their seminar series, and we hope some of you will take advantage or have taken advantage of these offerings. We would like to thank the Carolinas GCSA for including the OGSA membership in their program.
SCHOLARSHIPS
We have made changes to the scholarship amounts, some criteria and submission dates for our scholarships. The Assistant Superintendent Award (Kirkpatrick) is still due on November 1st; however, the Heritage Award and the Turfgrass Award are now due May 15. At the time of writing this, both Syngenta (Kirkpatrick) and BrettYoung (Turfgrass) have pledged their support. For more detailed information, please visit ogsa.ca, scholarships and awards.
SUPERINTENDENT RECOGNITION
WELCOME to Our New Members
Kelly Dustin Caradoc Sands Golf Club
Class A
Kendra Adams Rocky Crest Golf Club
Class C
Retired Members Brooks Young, Superintendent, Shelburn G&CC, acknowledged for hosting the Ontario Junior (U19) Girls' Championship.
As most of you know, the OGSA participated in the promotion of “Thank Your Golf Course Superintendent” campaign recently, as we have done for many years through radio ads during various events across the province, and it was nice to see a reference to “Today in Ontario” again in social media, because it so adequately displays why we thank our superintendents. We also acknowledged the following superintendents for hosting significant GAO events this past season: Mike Pellerin, Saugeen GC, Ontario Junior (U19) Boys' Championship
Congratulations to our Members who have recently become OGSA life members.
John Pickard
Class AA
Doug Meyer
Class AA
Allan Mackay
Class AA
Alex Weatherson
Class AA
DOG OF THE YEAR
Gerry Fox, Dalewood GC, Ontario Women's Amateur & Mid-Am Champ.
Randy Booker, Otter Creek GC, Ontario Men's Amateur Championship
Brooks Young, Shelburn G&CC, Ontario Junior (U19) Girls' Championship
Blaine Miller, Cambridge GC, Ontario Bantam (U15) Boys' & Girls' Championship Jim Burlington, Loyalist G&CC, Ontario Men's Mid-Amateur Championship
Rob Sloan, Woodington Lake GC, Ontario Disability Championship While it was tougher than usual to get the courses ready to host these events, and indeed execute them, our Ontario supers came through with shining colours, well done!
MEMBER SERVICES
We are looking at ways to improve our member services, taking the state of the world, our country, province, and industry into consideration. While we all hope things will go back to the way they were, we must be ready that this just may not happen. When you receive our survey, please provide your feedback.
Congratulations to Floki, and Lesley Thomas, Assistant Superintendent at Scarboro G&CC for being one of the 14 dogs selected for the 2021 Dog Days of Golf Calendar! Plan now to vote for Floki! The winner's owner will receive a $500 prize and $3,000 for his or her GCSAA-affiliated chapter. A $2,000 charitable donation will also be made to K9's for Warriors by GCSAA and LebanonTurf in honor of the winner. Also, good to note that when the OGSA was awarded monies for Maple, who took dog of the year honours in 2013, Both Tim Muys, Maple’s owner and our Board decided to donate the awards to humane societies. So, get online and vote for Floki through the process as outlined by Lebanon Turf. Voting details will be shared through twitter and clippings once finalized. The calendar will be distributed with the November issue of GCM magazine. Good luck Floki! ■ NOVEMBER 2020 | ONCourse 7
