www.gcsaa.org • November 2013 Offcial Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
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contents
November 2013 Volume 81 • Number 11
42 The ultradwarf revolution Superintendents from the transition zone southward are sleeping better at night because of a sweeping change in bermudagrass cultivars. Mark Leslie
62 Local knowledge Looking for inside information on the courses hosting the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships? Just turn to the golf course management professionals who know these venues best. Scott Hollister
On the Cover
The advent of ultradwarf bermudagrasses has been nothing short of revolutionary for warm-season superintendents, as this month’s cover depicts.
contents
RESEARCH
80
36
80 The Rules of Golf and the superintendent
A greater familiarity with the Rules of Golf can help superintendents better understand the game and make them more confident in marking the course. Jack D. Fry, Ph.D.
THEINSIDER
85 The plight of the bees Why are bees and other pollinators dying, and how can the golf industry safeguard bees and even augment their populations? Jonathan L. Larson Daniel A. Potter, Ph.D.
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The Insider: Careers
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The Insider: Shop
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89 Cutting edge Teresa Carson
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Digital career tools Carol D. Rau, PHR
Home vac in the shop Scott R. Nesbitt
The Insider: Environment Fine feathered friends Bunny Smith
The Insider: Turf The high price of ryegrass Teresa Carson
DEPARTMENTS
www.gcsaa.tv
http://gcm.typepad.com
@GCM_Magazine
GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT (ISSN 0192-3048 [print]; ISSN 21573085 [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, Lawrence, KS 66049. CANADA POST: Publications mail agreement No. 40030949. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 122, Niagara Falls, ONT L2E 6S8.
12 GCM November 2013
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President’s message Inside GCM Front nine Field reports Photo quiz Up to speed Industry news Product news On course Coming up New members On the move Final shot
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Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
golf course management OUR MISSION Golf Course Management magazine is dedicated to advancing the golf course superintendent 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 profession and members’ careers, the magazine contributes to the enhancement, growth and vitality of the game of golf. GCSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Vice President Secretary/Treasurer Immediate Past President Directors
Chief Executive Offcer
PATRICK R. FINLEN, CGCS KEITH A. IHMS, CGCS JOHN J. O’KEEFE, CGCS SANDY G. QUEEN, CGCS RAFAEL BARAJAS, CGCS DARREN J. DAVIS JOHN R. FULLING JR., CGCS PETER J. GRASS, CGCS BILL H. MAYNARD, CGCS J. RHETT EVANS
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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. ©2013 by GCSAA Communications Inc., all rights reserved.
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President’s Message by Patrick R. Finlen, CGCS
Inventing our future I’ll freely admit that when I am asked about the value GCSAA delivers to its members, I tend to rattle off a list of features we receive for paying annual dues. I usually begin reciting the tangible benefts such as this magazine, the GCSAA website, the education conference and trade show. I then talk about more of the intangible activities done on members’ behalf, such as marketing, government advocacy, organizational branding and the like. Certainly, both the tangible and intangible add up to quite a list. In my opinion, it is worth much more than the amount we pay. But I believe our most valuable beneft is one for which we as members give little thought. Consider if GCSAA did not exist. How would the golf course management profession be properly represented in the marketplace? Since the day of its inception, a primary focus of GCSAA has been to develop resources and standards (whether formal or implied) that meet the needs of the open market. This is the context I use when referring to market representation. I am not sure that Col. John Morley and his fellow board members thought they were assessing the marketplace when they convened for the frst time, but that is exactly what they were doing. They were looking at the game and the facility, and analyzing what was needed in a greenkeeper to meet the demands of consumers and employers. And knowing that they could meet and, perhaps, even exceed those demands, GCSAA’s founding fathers knew their members would be successful as a result. Fast-forward nearly 90 years from the days of Col. Morley, and the current GCSAA board and staff fnd themselves conducting the same analysis. What is the future of the profession if it is to remain viable and achieve success? If you have been a member of a GCSAA committee or a chapter delegate in the past year, then you have participated in discussions that the board of directors has facilitated to help answer that question. I trust you read the outcomes of the recently completed chapter delegates meeting that provided some color to those discussions (if not, please visit www.gcsaa.org). For those of you who were around approximately 10 years ago, GCSAA went through a detailed analysis that resulted in the establishment of formal membership standards. Those standards were created because a comprehensive strategic study concluded that they would enhance the knowledge, 16 GCM November 2013
skills and abilities of GCSAA members, thus creating higher value in the marketplace. Last year, a GCSAA member task group analyzed those standards and the results of their implementation. The review found several positive outcomes in the time since the members voted in standards, but the fndings also recommended it was time to study whether those standards needed changing. But to properly address that question, we need greater input. As I noted, we have heard from the special membership
I am not sure that Col. John Morley and his fellow board members thought they were assessing the marketplace when they convened for the frst time, but that is exactly what they were doing. standards task group, committees and delegates. In the upcoming months, GCSAA will be developing a means to capture additional member input. We will be framing the discussion around the following questions: • Would it be advantageous for GCSAA to simplify/narrow membership classes? • Should GCSAA enhance Class A standards? • What would motivate a member to achieve Class A status? • If changes are to be made, how quickly should implementation occur? This will not be a quick or a particularly easy process. But it is the responsibility of the association to monitor the marketplace and offer resources that will keep its members relevant and successful. And when you think about it, that might be the most valuable beneft of being a GCSAA member. GCM Patrick R. Finlen, CGCS (pfinlen@olyclub.com), is the interim general manager at The Olympic Club in San Francisco and a 28-year GCSAA member.
Inside GCM by Scott Hollister
When patience is a (required) virtue When I started my career in journalism way back when, I was like a lot of professionals in other lines of work. I had things I wanted to achieve, goals I wanted to reach and a well-considered timetable for how long I thought it should take for me to get there. I never reached my sports writing stretch goal — covering the Olympics — but I did cross plenty of achievements off my list. I interviewed many notable athletes, I got to run my own sports department as sports editor and I bagged a handful of writing awards. After I joined GCSAA in 1998 (I told you it was way back when), I was fortunate to follow a similar road. I met a ton of great people, snagged a few awards and got promoted a couple of times, most recently in 2010 when I had the privilege of taking over this magazine as editor-in-chief. I was reminded of my own circuitous career path in early October when I attended the eighth annual Green Start Academy, a networking and educational event for assistant superintendents put on jointly by John Deere Golf and Bayer Environmental Science. It’s an annual event with a very clear purpose — providing 50 assistants from around the U.S. and Canada with the right tools and the right connections to prepare them for the next step in their careers. It’s the kind of opportunity I wish they had offered to budding sports writers back in the day. Having attended several previous editions of this event, I know a host of Green Start alumni who are now managing golf courses of their own. And to a person, they all credit the program with giving them a new skill or facilitating a key introduction to someone else in the industry that helped in their leap from assistant to head superintendent. I have no doubt that this year’s class will eventually reap all those same benefts. The question is exactly when that will happen. It’s no surprise to anyone in golf course management that this industry remains a serious buyer’s market right now. The signs of an improving golf economy are plentiful, but that hasn’t changed the fact that there are more qualifed candidates for head superintendent jobs than there are openings for them to fll. That fact was hammered home during one of the small group sessions at Green Start. Ken Mangum, CGCS at Atlanta Athletic Club, asked the 20 or so assistants gathered 18 GCM November 2013
around him how many had been assistants for at least three years. All but two raised their hands. When he asked how many had been assistants for at least fve years, only a couple of hands went down. When I attended the very frst Green Start, the answer to that question would have been drastically different. Most assistants with designs on head superintendent jobs only had to wait a year or two for that opportunity. In today’s environment, even the most qualifed and motivated fnd they are spending more time on the sidelines.
Having attended several previous editions of this event, I know a host of Green Start alumni who are now managing golf courses of their own. That doesn’t diminish the need for the skills cultivated at events like Green Start. In fact, networking, communications abilities and top-notch agronomic chops are probably as important as they’ve ever been for assistant superintendents. It’s just that now those assistants are probably going to need to be just as skilled in the art of patience as they are in those other areas as they endeavor to take that next step along the ladder of success. GCM Scott Hollister (shollister@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s editor-in-chief.
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Watson
Wilson
A passing of legends: Duich, Watson and Wilson The turfgrass industry lost three legends in the business in a span of less than three weeks. Joseph M. Duich, Ph.D., James Watson, Ph.D., Charlie Wilson. Each man, in his own way, left a major imprint in the feld. Their contributions and their legacies were cemented long before their deaths. “I knew all three of them,” says Frank Dobie, superintendent at Sharon Golf Club in Sharon Center, Ohio. “They were giants.” Here is more about these men who meant so much.
“I knew all three of them. They were giants.” — Frank Dobie
20 GCM November 2013
Joseph M. Duich, Ph.D. It did not take long at all for Duich to make an impact. About the same time he joined the Penn State University faculty in 1955, Duich collaborated with the school’s legendary Burt Musser to develop Penncross creeping bentgrass. Duich, though, was far from done. He spearheaded Penn State’s two-year turfgrass program for those who wanted to be superintendents, an offering that in time gained international acclaim. He led the way for what became the Joseph Valentine Turfgrass Research Center at the university. When he retired from Penn State in 1991, Duich was a breeder of fne turf varieties, stress-resistant grasses such as Penn A’s, Penn G’s and Seaside II. “You can never quantify the impact this man had, and it will go on for generations,” Dobie says. Darren Davis, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Olde Florida Golf Club in Naples, Fla., graduated from Penn State the year Duich retired. The respect Davis has for Duich, who died Oct. 11 at the age of 85, is thick. “I would not be where I am, and I really believe this, if it was not for that man,” says Davis, a member of GCSAA’s board of directors. “He would take you under his wing in a tough love sort of way. I so wanted to please the man.”
Duich, who received GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1976 and its Old Tom Morris Award in 2006, never could go anywhere in this industry without stopping every few steps to hear a thank-you from a former student, answer a question from somebody who wanted to learn, or simply shake the hand of an admirer that knew his name and just had to meet the person whose work stretched from sea to shining sea. “He was such a wonderful professor and researcher,” says Penn State graduate Mark Kuhns, CGCS, director of grounds at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfeld, N.J. “All the bentgrasses he founded touched every part of the world. He just made such an impact — on everything.”
James Watson, Ph.D. Mike Richardson, Ph.D., did not know Watson for as long as many others in the turfgrass industry, yet his description of the man probably would be agreed upon by all who knew Watson. “He was a turf encyclopedia on legs,” says Richardson, a professor in the department of horticulture at the University of Arkansas. “He knew about everything. He really did. Genetics, soils, you name it. He had such a grasp on the whole breadth of the turfgrass industry.” Watson, who died Oct. 1 at 92, started in 1952 at The Toro Co., worked 46 years there, and led research in turf and water management. In 1983, Watson received GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award. In 1995, he was honored with GCSAA’s Old Tom Morris Award. Watson spent three decades on the USGA’s Turfgrass and Environmental Research Committee. Today, Toro provides funding through the Environmental Institute for Golf for the James R. Watson Fellowship Program that awards grants to students who are candidates for master’s or doctoral degrees in felds related to golf course management.
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“The main thing about Jim is that he always shared his knowledge,” says Stanley Metsker, CGCS Retired. “He knew what he was talking about.” Richardson, who met Watson 15 years ago when Arkansas sought a USGA research grant, still is impacted by what he learned from him. “He gave me a lot of energy, the passion to do what we needed to do,” Richardson says.
Charles G. Wilson
The entire GCSAA Chapter Delegates Meeting was held in Lawrence, Kan., home of GCSAA, for the first time since 1999. Meetings focused more on what the association and profession will look like in the future as opposed to discussing the current state of the industry. Read more about it at: www.gcsaa.org/Newsroom/ News/GCSAA/2013/GCSAAchapter-delegates-focus-on-thefuture.aspx
Wilson established the frst Green Section offce in 1952 in Davis, Calif. He also led the formation of the O.J. Noer Foundation. “He’s not only a legend, he’s a pioneer,” says Gene Haas, former executive director of the Wisconsin State Golf Association. “I learned so much from him just by listening. He was so convincing about what he was doing.” Wilson, who was 93 when he died Sept. 23, at one point was marketing director for Milorganite, a fertilizer of choice for numerous superintendents. Joe Deschler, employed by Horst Distributing, knew Wilson for years and said Wilson was much like Noer, undoubtedly a legend in the profession. “He just loved helping people,” Deschler says. “Whatever he did, he did it very well and in a professional manner.” — Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
First Plant Health Academy convenes in North Carolina It’s a question that more than a few golf course superintendents have contemplated when thinking about the management of the turfgrasses under their care: Is the best offense really a good defense? Tony Lasher, CGCS, who oversees 27 holes of golf at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Ore., admits he thinks about it every time he sees an advertisement in an industry publication touting “plant health” or hears colleagues discussing the concept
see more @ www.gcsaa.org during chapter meetings. “I’ve always been intrigued by the concept,” the 21-year GCSAA member says. “If we can keep the plant as healthy as we can for as long as we can, are we then really able to ward off pathogens and insects and weeds?” That natural curiosity on the topic was the driving force behind his application to be a part of the frst class for Bayer Environmental Science’s Plant Health Academy. And as one of the dozen superintendents from around the country who were ultimately selected and participated in two days of classroom sessions and feld tours in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area in late September, Lasher says the experience lived up to his expectations. “For me, it was a really good self-evaluation exercise,” he says. “It made me stop and think about my processes and practices, and how what I was doing on the golf course affected the health of the plant.” This session was the frst of two in which members of this frst class will participate. They’ll gather again at GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., in March for part two, along with another 12 superintendents who will be members of the second Plant Health Academy class. This trip to North Carolina showcased Bayer’s Development and Training Center in Clayton and the work being done at that facility, along with a tour of research facilities at North Carolina State and the university’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course. The Plant Health Academy is part of Bayer’s broader Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow initiative, which is an effort to advance research and education into the topic of plant health. Bayer is funding the program by investing a portion of sales of its StressGuard fungicide products — as much as $100,000 annually — in GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, the Environmental Institute for Golf. For more information, visit www.eifg.org/education/ continuing-education/healthy-turf-healthy-tomorrow. Additionally, GCSAA has conducted two related webinars that focused on plant health. Both are now available for viewing on GCSAA TV — Gadgets and Gizmos: Utilizing Technology to Monitor Moisture and Light To Produce Healthy Turf (www. gcsaa.tv/webinars/sponsored/view.php?id=204) and Managing Soils to Maximize Plant Health (www.gcsaa.tv/webinars/view. php?id=222). — Scott Hollister, GCM editor-in-chief
PGA Tour donates to EIFG For a third time, the PGA Tour has made a $100,000 donation to the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG), the philanthropic organization of GCSAA. In addition, PGA Tour Senior Vice President of Agronomy Cal Roth was named to the EIFG Board of Trustees. Roth is a 34-year member of GCSAA. “The PGA Tour’s generous commitment to the EIFG is a prime example of golf’s leading associations working together for the beneft of the game,” says GCSAA/EIFG President Patrick R. Finlen, CGCS. Members of Bayer Environmental Science’s frst Plant Health Academy were kept busy in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., region. Photo by Scott Hollister
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Devastating foods test Colorado
Coal Creek GC (top) and Flatirons GC were hit hard by September foods. Photos by David Phipps
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Sustainability in Golf: Beyond the Green was held Oct. 3-4 at The Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, S.C. and presented by Syngenta and hosted by Experience Green. GCSAA and the Carolinas GCSA both also supported the event as partners at the Steward level. The event was a collaboration of superintendents, PGA professionals, golf course owners and managers, marketers, etc., to discuss the basic tenets of sustainability — people, planet and prosperity. “Golf course superintendents are the innovative and creative force behind sustainability,” says Experience Green founder Teresa Wade. 24 GCM November 2013
This was no ordinary meeting of the Rocky Mountain GCSA. On Oct. 14 at Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden, Colo., no doubt heavy hearts flled the room. Some simply knew they still faced monumental tasks because what so many had considered unthinkable had changed their lives for the immediate future. In some cases, it could be much longer. September foods — unprecedented according to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, calling the mammoth rains “likely a 100-year food” — left some golf courses staggering as of GCM’s deadline. Boulder, Colo., received approximately 17 inches in an eight-day span, including nearly 12 inches in 48 hours. GCSAA Northwest regional feld staff representative David Phipps, who provided the accompanying images, has been on site. His support, and those of others who have been affected, is welcomed. It certainly is needed for one of their own. Tracy Richard, past RMGCSA president, has been fghting for his life. Richard, director of agronomy at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colo., and a 20-year member of GCSAA, went into cardiac arrest the week of the foods. A husband and father of three daughters, Richard was showing signs of improvement as GCM went to press. Richard, who had been on a ventilator and was unresponsive initially, was weaned off the ventilator and spoke for the frst time in three weeks on Oct. 14. “Tracy means so much to this organization. He grew this association to where we are today,” says Gary Leeper, executive director of the RMGCSA. “It’s so important that we get him back.” CommonGround Golf Course, which only had nine holes open by mid-October, was among those hit hardest. One course may not reopen until 2015. Then there is Flatirons Golf Course in Boulder, where 32-year GCSAA member Dave Brown needs thatch for his weak and tender greens. “I just never faced anything like this in my years growing turf,” he says. “I’m all over the map trying to get them (greens) to come back.” Nobody knows for certain when Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, Colo., will be back in business. Renovations that were already being planned have now grown in scope. “They pretty much lost three holes entirely, 14 of them had
see more @ www.gcsaa.org signifcant damage, and three wooden bridges got wiped out,” says architect Rick Phelps, whose frm Phelps-Atkinson Golf Design was among those bidding to renovate Coal Creek. “I think the hope is to break ground by mid-November (this month) and be done with construction in May so they can open in September. If the grassing isn’t done, it probably will be 2015.” At Estes Park, 18 holes currently equal 16. It mostly has to do with Fish Creek. “We lost a large portion of our par-5 17th. Normally, you can jump across the creek that separates the green from the fairway. The creek has become a 200-foot wide river,” says 17-year GCSAA member John Feeney, noting that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will help determine the fate of Fish Creek. “If that hole is unplayable, you can’t get to 18.” Feeney, who postponed aerifcation until next spring, says some good has come out of this challenging scenario in the Rockies. “I’ve been in situations that change on a daily basis. The last few weeks, they changed on an hourly basis,” Feeney says. “Ultimately, this probably will make my staff and me better turf professionals. We’re doing things we’ve never done before. I’ve learned about my guys’ skills set, how they handle responsibility they never had before, and it is refreshing.” — Howard Richman, GCM associate editor
Assistants get a Green Start on the ladder of success Editor’s note: The eighth-annual Green Start Academy, an education and networking event for assistant superintendents presented jointly by John Deere Golf and Bayer Environmental Science, took place in and around Raleigh, N.C., in early October. One of the 50 assistants selected to participate was Ryan Franklin, the assistant superintendent at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Va., and a three-year member of GCSAA. GCM asked Franklin to share some of his first-hand impressions of the event, and his report appears below. I had the opportunity to be selected to attend this year’s Green Start Academy. While I did not have any expectations about what this opportunity would have in store for me, I was pleasantly surprised by what a great experience this was. The main focus was how to make the next step in our careers from assistant superintendents to head superintendent. We had the opportunity to speak and listen to accomplished superintendents from across the country who had already traveled this path. Panelists included Chris Condon, the GCSAA Class A superintendent at Tetherow Resort and Golf Course in Bend, Ore.; Bob Farren CGCS, the director of golf course and grounds management at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort; Pat Finlen, CGCS, the interim general manager at The Olympic Club in San Francisco and the current GCSAA president; Ken Mangum, CGCS, the director of golf course and grounds at the Atlanta Athletic Club; and Bryan Stromme, CGCS, a regional golf course superintendent with Billy Casper Golf. From them, we learned how they got into the industry and how they have succeeded in their careers, and they also provided suggestions on how the attendees could move forward in their careers. They emphasized the value of networking, of being pro-
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Ken Mangum, CGCS, (standing, back right) chats with attendees at Green Start Academy. Photo by Scott Hollister
active in our careers and of volunteering in the industry. It was a great experience and a rare change to hear from so many accomplished professionals in one place, and it was all made possible by the Green Start Academy. There were other, more formal, presentations from Chris Carson, the GCSAA Class A superintendent at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfeld, N.J., along with Ed Ibarguen (general manager and PGA director of golf) and Billy Weeks (superintendent), both from Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C. Both presentations did a great job of highlighting how to take the next steps in your career and separate you from other candidates. Another great point I took away from their presentations was the need to take time out of this demanding industry and enjoy your life. It’s very easy for us to get caught up with work and lose what is truly important to us in our life. They told us to separate life and work and fnd a happy balance. The most important take-away from this outstanding opportunity, however, was simply talking to my fellow assistants. It was reassuring to know that regardless of the problems I might be facing at my course, I wasn’t alone. Assistants at courses on the other side of the country were facing the same things I was, so being able to talk about what we were going through — whether in agronomy, staffng or something else — was extremely valuable. I would encourage fellow assistants to take advantage of this opportunity and to apply to the Green Start Academy.
BASF unveils new active ingredient, two new fungicides Capping nearly a decade of research and development, BASF is planning on bringing two new fungicides to the golf course market in the frst half of 2014, both built on an all-new active ingredient. At a media event at Pinehurst Resort in early October, the company pulled back the curtain on Xzemplar and Lexicon, products that feature the new active ingredient fuxapyroxad. As of press time for this issue of GCM, neither product has received EPA registration, but company offcials expect that to take place by the end of this month and will feature the two fungicides in the company’s booth at the 2014 Golf Industry Show in Orlando.
26 GCM November 2013
see more @ www.gcsaa.org Although labeled for control of several pathogens, Xzemplar’s main target will be dollar spot. According to Kyle Miller, BASF’s senior technical specialist, the new product will be positioned as a premium product alongside its existing dollar spot fungicide, Emerald. Miller says Xzemplar has shown to be faster acting, longer lasting and provides a higher level of control on dollar spot than its cousin in the BASF product line. Lexicon is a broad-spectrum product that combines fuxapyroxad with pyraclostrobin, the key active ingredient in the company’s Intrinsic line of products. The two modes of action offered by those active ingredients have shown a wide variety of sustained disease control on dollar spot, leaf spots and root diseases on both greens and fairways, according to Kathy Kalmowitz, a market development technical specialist for BASF. Both products are expected to be commercially available in April of next year. — Scott Hollister, GCM editor-in-chief
Colorado course closes after 40 years in business Gleneagle Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., closed Nov. 1 after four decades in operation, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. A decline in golfers combined with rising costs for expenses such as water hastened the closing. http://gazette.com/gleneagle-golf-course-closingnov.-1-other-club-facilities-to-stay-open/article/1507232
A November to remember A 125th anniversary is being recognized in Greenburgh, N.Y. That is the location of The Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, which, on Nov. 14, marks the day in 1888 that golfers formally established what has become the oldest continuously existing golf club in the U.S., PGA.com reports. www. pga.com/golf-courses/golf-buzz/americas-frst-golf-clubmarks-major-anniversary
Course reopening rescheduled for 2014 Well, so much for planning. Mesquite (Texas) Golf Club had hoped to reopen this fall, but weather issues, including an ultra-wet summer, have forced a lengthy delay, according to The Mesquite News Star. The plan now is to reopen in June 2014 to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of the club, which opened in 1964. www.scntx.com/articles/2013/10/04/mesquite_news/news/1222.txt
FIELD reports
Northwest Southwest Central Plains Great Lakes South Central Southeast Florida Northeast Mid-Atlantic
EditorÕs note: Field Reports highlights news, notes and information from the front lines of the golf course management industry. To submit items for Field Reports, send them to editor-in-chief Scott Hollister (shollister@ gcsaa.org). To learn more about GCSAAÕs efforts on the local and regional level through its affiliated chapters and field staff program, visit www.gcsaa.org/chapters/default.asp.
Great Lakes A trio of well-known figures in the golf course management industry in northern Ohio has been inducted into the Northern Ohio GCSA’s Hall of Fame. During an induction ceremony in early October, William McMullin, Bill Lyons and Jean Esposito, CGCS, all entered the hall. McMullin, the longtime superintendent/owner at Yankee Run Golf Club in Brookfield, Ohio, began working in the family business at the age of 8. Now retired, McMullin is a 55-year GCSAA member who mentored many Ohio superintendents. Lyons served as the superintendent at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, from 1945 to 1963 before purchasing and then maintaining Lyons Den Golf Club until he passed away in 1983. A past president of the Northern Ohio GCSA, Lyons was a frequent contributor to both local and national publications and was a 38-year member of GCSAA at the time of his death. Esposito is a 36-year GCSAA member who serves as the superintendent/owner of Hinkley Hills Golf Club in Hinckley, Ohio. She was the first female president of the Northern Ohio GCSA, which also made her the first female to serve as president of any
28 GCM November 2013
of GCSAA’s affiliated chapters. She has a long track record of committee service, both locally with the Northern Ohio GCSA and the Ohio Turf Foundation and nationally with GCSAA. The Central Illinois GCSA has established the George “Tony” Polillo Research and Education Fund in the memory of a longtime chapter member and former president. Polillo passed away last year at the age of 97, but remained active in the chapter following his retirement and stayed in regular contact with chapter members, offering advice and counsel to those he worked with. The fund will be used to support local turfgrass research on matters of importance to Central Illinois GCSA members.
Miscellaneous Eight GCSAA affiliated chapters have recently made donations to the Environmental Institute for Golf, GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, in support of its research-based activities. Contributing chapters included: the Everglades GCSA, which donated $7,500 to attain Platinum Tee Club (contributions of a minimum of $5,000 annually) status for the 15th consecutive year and also attain Governor’s Club (cumulative giving between
$50,000 and $99,999 since 1987) status; the Heart of America GCSA, which donated $5,000 to join the Platinum Tee Club for the 19th consecutive year and also attain Presidential Club (cumulative giving between $100,000 and $249,000 since 1987) status; the Kansas GCSA, which donated $500; the Michigan GCSA, which donated $1,000 to become a member of the EIFG’s Golden Tee Club (gifts between $1,000 and $4,999); and the GCSA of New Jersey, which donated $5,000 to reach Platinum Club status and also joined the Executive Club (cumulative giving between $25,000 and $49,999 since 1987); the Peaks and Prairies GCSA, made up primarily of superintendents in Montana and Wyoming, which contributed $500; the Old Dominion GCSA, based in Virginia, which donated $1,000 to reach the Golden Tee Club; and the Tennessee GCSA, which contributed $500 to the EIFG. “These chapters are the prime example of how our industry is working together to foster sustainability,” says GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. “Their generosity is vital to furthering the research, awareness, education and scholarships that the EIFG supports. We thank them all for their gifts.”
PHOTO quiz
John Mascaro President of Turf-Tec International
Identify the problem PROBLEM A Brown rectangular area of turf Turfgrass area:
Lawn area near practice putting green Location:
Harbor Springs, Mich. Grass variety:
Bentgrass/Poa annua
A
PROBLEM B Intermittent brown lines on turf Turfgrass area:
Putting green Location:
Beaufort, S.C. Grass variety:
MiniVerde bermudagrass
Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
B Answers on page 100
30 GCM November 2013
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THE INSIDER: career
Carol D. Rau, PHR
Digital career tools
NEWS & notes Do not underestimate the power of networking. The majority of successful job-seekers find their positions through networking — not by sitting back and waiting for online job boards to deliver offers to their desktop, counsels Tory Johnson at womenforhire.com. Johnson writes: “It’s not just for powerful titans of industry; anyone can learn to network successfully. Start small by paying more attention to people around you. Don’t be shy about calling long lost relatives or chatting up the person sitting on the treadmill next to you at the gym. Tell them what you’re looking for and find out who they know or how they might be able to help.” Expand your network by joining professional associations and attending local events, Johnson writes, adding, “Finding a job is a full-time job — stay positive, stay focused and don’t give up!”
32 GCM November 2013
What if you needed to start a job search today? Are you prepared to conduct a successful job search in the digital age? Are you using digital tools to enhance your current role and better position yourself for future advancement? In this month’s column, I will identify some digital career tools and tips you can incorporate to enhance your career and conduct winning job searches as a professional in the golf and turf industries. As we work with GCSAA members, we often which can be particularly effective for any type of feld questions regarding the trend of creating a digital presentation or online media. GCSAA members frequently ask me if Linkedcareer website. A career website, also known as an online portfolio, is simply a website or blog In is a necessary part of career strategies. The anwith information about your experience, achieve- swer is yes! In addition to being a networking tool, ments and qualities as a professional. It is an ex- LinkedIn can be helpful in validating your qualicellent way to tell your story and describe your fcations with a prospective employer. A recent career achievement with context beyond the tra- study found that 63 percent of employers conditional career documents. In the golf and turf duct an online search about prospective employees industry, it can be challenging to convey your prior to offering a job. LinkedIn is typically one skills through traditional metrics. A career web- of the top listings in any search engine. The good site with photos can be a powerful tool as you news is that you can control and manage your indemonstrate your value visually to a prospective formation on this site. Block off an hour in your employer who perhaps doesn’t want to know the schedule soon to create a LinkedIn page, upload a science behind great turf, but can easily relate to professional photo, and complete at least the basic a photo of perfectly manicured greens. sections (title, summary, experience, education). It In addition to job searches, career websites is free and could play a key role in helping you adcan be a marketing tool for your current em- vance your career. ployer to enhance its competitive edge. As part Need additional information about digital caof your facility’s advertising to its target audi- reer tools? My team and I will gladly help you ence, your professional skills and expertise can be navigate career advancement in the digital age. showcased to prospective customers. In this apGCM plication, avoid putting your résumé on the site. It can also be linked to your employer’s website and any communications sent to golfers, mem- Carol D. Rau, PHR, is a career consultant with GCSAA and is the owner of Career Advantage, an employment consulting bers or customers. Have you ever thought of using PowerPoint frm in Lawrence, Kan., specializing in golf and turf industry or Keynote to create a power-packed presentation careers. GCSAA members receive complimentary résumé crito accompany your interview? What about using tiques by Rau and her team, résumé and cover letter creation it as a visual reminder of your achievements dur- for a reduced member rate, along with interview preparation ing an annual job evaluation with your supervi- and portfolio consultation. She can be contacted at careeradvan sor? Remember to take before-and-after photos, tage@sunfower.com.
THE INSIDER: shop
Scott R. Nesbitt
Washable, reusable flters are among the features that make a home-style bagless vacuum worth considering for the shop. Photo by Scott Nesbitt
Home vac in the shop Call me weird, but I’m just about convinced that a cheap home-style bagless vacuum makes
NEWS & notes The International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMA) has released the European version of the Reel Height of Cut Gauge (RHOC). Sales of the gauge in North America are growing, and the association hopes to duplicate that success abroad. “The major difference in the European version of our gauge is the clear zinc plating of the bar,” says IGCEMA CEO Stephen Tucker. “The North American version comes with a yellow chromate finish that is illegal in Europe. We have also outfitted the RHOC with a standard digital gauge that can be switched to both standard and metric measurements. Overall, we are excited to finally get this gauge into production after many months of testing and tweaks.” The new gauge, which costs $425 for non-members and $400 for members, can be ordered online. Click on the Pro Shop tab at www.igcema.org.
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more sense in the service shop than the traditional cylinder-shaped roll-around vacuum I’ve always used. This madness began when I needed to clean It does a fne job picking up grass clippings, up the very fne and very abrasive dust left be- dirt and the general crud that falls off turf hind after repairing some drywall in the shop. It equipment. was a small pile of dust. I didn’t want to invest It’s easy to see when it’s full, and it’s easy to $15 for a two-pack of the special ultra-fne fl- empty. I no longer endure the stench of damp ter bags required when using the traditional shop grass left moldering in a vacuum that’s a chore vacuum for cleaning drywall dust. Years earlier, to empty. that type of nasty dust had destroyed the motor It’s saved my back, eyes and knees by makbearings and commutator of two shop vacuums ing it easy to retrieve nuts, bolts, washers, spring before I learned those bags are essential. And I clips and other small parts that get dropped durlearned that you can ruin the bag if you pick up ing service work. Empty the clear-plastic collection chamber, run the vac and the parts end up liquid when the bag is installed. Because I was in a hurry, I grabbed an old ba- in the chamber, undamaged. gless upright we keep in the house for cleaning up It’s tall. I don’t have to bend over to haul it cat hair. It cost $10 at a garage sale, and I could or turn it on. It uses about the same space as a always replace it. My bargain Bissell had owners push broom. who thought the machine was dead. They didn’t It’s light. I can easily lift it over air hoses, exrealize the reusable flters have to be washed and tension cords, etc., and take it where it’s needed. The tools store tightly on the machine so I can dried now and again. My bagless worked great, putting most of the get them easily, unlike the fimsy tool holder on drywall dust in the collection chamber. Some my shop vacuum. Finally, it’s easy to wash the vacuum’s flters fne dust got past the frst (foam) flter, which is a sloppy ft and needs to be replaced. Some dust and rinse out the other working pieces when landed on the black paper/cloth flter. There was cleaning my hands after a day in the shop. Adno dust on the third (blue) flter just before the opted through thriftiness, the bagless has bemotor. There are still no death screams from the come a valued tool. motor, after months of picking up fne sand, grit GCM left after blade grinding and welding, the occasional splash of spilled coffee, and several more Scott R. Nesbitt (ORPguy@windstream.net) is a free-lance writer and former GCSAA staff member. He lives in Cleveland, Ga. rounds of drywall dust.
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THE INSIDER: environment
Bunny Smith
Paul L. Carter, CGCS, and his team keep the turkeys fed at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay in Chattanooga. Photos courtesy of P. Carter
Fine feathered friends
NEWS & notes The Spanish publication golfindustria.es will launch a new edition of “Guide for sustainable management of Spanish golf facilities” in early 2014. The guide, published annually in PDF format, is intended to help golf industry professionals in Spain locate resources to resolve problems related to energy and water use as well as legislation. The publisher says the 2013 edition of the guide had almost 2,000 downloads. Contact info@cgolfsostenible.es for additional information.
36 GCM November 2013
We couldn’t resist returning to The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay (see “Generally Electric,” August 2013, Page 36; “Eagle eye,” February 2012, Page 38) in the month of November for a story that fips a Thanksgiving tradition 180 degrees. At this 18-hole Chattanooga golf course operated by Tennessee’s Department of Environment and Conservation, it’s the humans who are feeding the turkeys. This turkey tale begins back in December 2009, ing the trough off of the feeders, which would rewhen superintendent Paul L. Carter, CGCS, and lease all the feed at one time.” The team went back to the drawing board to his crew spotted a rafter (that’s gobbler-speak for “fock”) of 19 turkeys on the golf course. Carter come up with a design that Carter says is “worksays that construction of a nearby auto plant pos- ing out great, and is still inexpensive and easy to sibly drove the turkeys onto the property in num- build.” The new feeders use 4 to 5 feet of 4-inch bers large enough to be noticed, and that the golf PVC piping, which is fnished at the top with a course habitat had everything the turkeys needed septic screw cap. This cap keeps the feed dry and to thrive (movement corridors with sheltering na- can be easily removed for reflling. The trough has tive grass, plenty of trees for night roosting, etc.) been eliminated altogether in favor of another end — except a good food source. To encourage the cap, which is glued to the bottom of the pipe and turkeys to stay, Carter consulted a local expert perforated with several 1-inch holes. Gravity feeds about their proper diet (answer: turkeys prefer the corn through the holes as the turkeys peck at cracked corn) and began exploring alternatives to it. Finally, the stark white PVC piping is painted purchasing expensive mechanical feeders. camoufage-style so it blends into the landscape. “Many feeder designs were discussed, but we The team has constructed and installed about settled on a simple trough-style design that would a dozen of the new and improved feeders throughbe reflled by gravity as the cracked corn was re- out the golf course. At $8 for a 50-pound bag moved,” Carter says. (enough for four feeders), the corn feed is relaAs Carter describes in his blog (www.bthbgcm. tively inexpensive; the environmental stewardship blogspot.com), the original tree-mounted feeder impact, however, is priceless. The turkey popula— constructed of double-walled ADS 4-inch solid tion, which Carter says has grown signifcantly, drain tile with an 18-inch trough — had a few “plays through” without troubling the golfers. “We enjoy watching people stop and take picproblems. “The feeders were successful in the beginning, tures of them,” he says. but … the feed in the trough could get wet from GCM irrigation or rainfall, possibly making the wildlife ill,” he writes. “Another downfall was created by our deer being smarter than we were. … Deer Bunny Smith (bsmith@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s senior managing were witnessed taking their front leg and knock- editor.
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THE INSIDER: turf
Teresa Carson
The high price of ryegrass
Brandon Reese (right), superintendent of the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale, and Mike Hills, regional sales and technical agronomist for Seed Research of Oregon, compare research plots on the Champions Course. The plots show various turfgrass combinations, including new improved annual and intermediate ryegrasses as well as fne fescues. Photo courtesy of Seed Research of Oregon
NEWS & notes Auburn University will launch its online master’s degree program in soil, water and environmental science in January 2014, allowing working professionals in fields related to natural resource management the opportunity to earn an advanced degree via distance education. The fully online program, which is multi-institutional and multidisciplinary, is offered through the Agriculture Interactive Distance Education Alliance (www.agidea.org), a consortium of universities (Auburn, University of Georgia, North Carolina State University and Texas Tech University) offering distance learning in agricultural disciplines. For more about the new degree program, including the application process, go to www.ag.auburn.edu/stu dents/distanceeducation/IDEA/index.php or contact Megan Ross at mhr0001@ auburn.edu or 334-844-3201.
Presented in partnership with Barenbrug
38 GCM November 2013
The cost of perennial ryegrass is at least 25 percent higher than it was last year. This no longer is a surprise to superintendents who have gotten over their sticker shock and are looking for a solution to yet another budget-busting problem. In fact, many superintendents may have expected the price to rise — just not quite so much. Turfgrass seed, like fertilizer, is a commodity and, by defnition, commodity prices fuctuate. Turfgrasses are affected by the laws of supply and demand as well as the vagaries of crop production. Seed companies compete for acres with higher-priced crops such as wheat and corn. To convince farmers to grow turfgrass instead of wheat, the seed companies have to pay more and then pass that cost on to consumers. Add depleted warehouses and a middling harvest, and you’ve got expensive perennial ryegrass. What’s a superintendent to do? Leah Brilman, director of research and technical services at Seed Research of Oregon, says, “They are trying different things. They decrease the seeding rate, overseed the fairway but not the rough, or seed the rough at a lower rate. Some of them are blending in intermediate ryegrass with the perennial or using only intermediate ryegrass or turf-type annual ryegrass because some of the
intermediate and annual ryegrasses cultivars are much improved.” John Rector, product manager for professional turf sales at Barenbrug USA, agrees with Brilman: “The price has defnitely affected what superintendents do and how they do it.” Rector says that, instead of overseeding, some superintendents are also using pigments or colorants, particularly on greens. In Arizona, where overseeding is often considered a necessity, Jeff Plotts, director of golf course operations at TPC Scottsdale, laughs when he says, “I don’t know if we’re coping.” With two courses, one of which sees a huge tournament every year (Waste Management Phoenix Open), Plotts has the experience and the knowledge he needs to make informed decisions. “We’ve been through this before,” he says. “In the late ’80s, perennial ryegrass was very high but fne fescue had a bumper crop. Fine fescue has a better cold growing habit, good color, salt tolerance and hardiness; that was a good choice for us.” In 2013, Plotts has continued to use a blend of 80 percent perennial ryegrass/20 percent Chewings fescue for the Stadium Course, which hosts the tournament. On the Champions Course, he is using a different blend: 80 percent intermediate rye/20 percent fne fescue. The fescues provide better color, and Plotts is confdent in choosing the improved intermediate ryegrass, which he has been testing on research plots on the course. “We have 15 to 25 different plots. We even tried a type of wheat to see if it could be used in combination with a tall fescue to make a rough that would be a deterrent to ducks. … It didn’t work out, but we continually look at different things and are open to new ideas,” says Plotts. And what does next year’s perennial ryegrass crop look like? Planting in the Willamette Valley has not been easy this fall with a wet September and early October. However, at press time in mid-October, the weather was perfect. Barenbrug’s Rector says, “We still have a couple of weeks to get seed in the ground. I am more optimistic than I was a couple of weeks ago, but it’s still too early to know what we’ll be able to accomplish.” GCM
Teresa Carson (tcarson@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s science editor.
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The ultradwarf
MiniVerde ultradwarf bermudagrass replaced bentgrass on the greens at Atlanta’s East Lake GC. Photo courtesy of East Lake GC
To some golf course superintendents, especially across the North, ultradwarf bermudagrasses are simply “vertically challenged” turfgrass. To others, in the transition zone, they are more and more a curious possibility. But to a growing number of superintendents from the Southeast to the MidSouth, they are as close to a panacea as the defnition allows. Now in their third wave of conversions — frst to replace older bermudagrasses, second to replace bentgrass at public courses looking for a more dependable summertime turf, and now at higherend clubs as well — ultradwarf bermudagrasses are frmly entrenched.
44 GCM November 2013
This is the story of a “revelation” that fostered a “revolution.” The revelation: ultradwarfs survive — and even thrive — in weather conditions that murder even the hardiest of bentgrasses. The revolution: scores of golf courses in the Southeast and Mid-South are racing to get on the bandwagon that holds out the hope of economic enrichment, agronomic improvement and a cure for sleepless nights. Indeed, ultradwarfs are nearly invincible in the South and allow superintendents to be on the offensive, constantly improving their putting surfaces rather than defensively trying to rescue bentgrass that is often stressed in heat and humidity and unable to provide the frmness desired from July through September. Call it a “surge,” call it a “wave,” but scores of golf courses of all types are converting from bentgrass to bermudagrass each year. “The embrace (of the change) by the golfng community has been a phenomenon that I never would have foreseen,” says Kevin Smith, CGCS, vice president and director of agronomy for Pinnacle Golf Properties who oversaw the conversion at The Champions Course at Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center, which he manages in Greensboro, N.C. “It has literally exploded.” “We continue to have 70 to 80 conversions a year and they never stop,” says Patrick O’Brien, director of the USGA Green Section’s Southeast Region. And that surge toClub spread of the courses country. The companies Top:continues Dallas Athletic boaststoa new pair ofareas championship — the Blue and the Gold — and a world-class facility that is utilized not onlyTifEagle by the club’s that own the three leading cultivars — practice Champion, MiniVerde and — remembers, but also by the golf teams at nearby Southern Methodist University. port bent-to-ultradwarf conversions from Florida to Texas and north into Kentucky, Photo courtesy of Dallas Athletic Club Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and even southern Indiana and northern Virginia. Bottom: if not all, of thetoconstruction and renovation work the that has taken Word of mouth andMost, personal visits courses that have made conversion are place the tenures of Clyde and Kevin Nettles DAChigh-profle has been completed powerful weapons induring this revolution, especially two thatatare PGA Tour in-house by the club’s 33-person maintenance team. Photos by Don Netzer hosts: East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and Sedgefeld Country Club in Greensboro. “When the 2009 heat wave hit, we had some of the worst greens on the PGA
The greens at The Champions Course at Greensboro, N.C.-based Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center undergo conversion from bentgrass to ultradwarf bermudagrass. Pictured here is the process, from sprigging (above), to topdressing and irrigation (left) to the fnished green just seven weeks later. Photos courtesy of Kevin Smith, CGCS
November 2013 GCM 45
By the numbers Once Morris and Mike Brown of Champion Turf Farms converted Cypress Golf Course from bentgrass to Champion ultradwarf bermudagrass, the no-till renovation method became the star of the show, the driving force behind the ultradwarf revolution that can help a golf course change its fortunes in a mere eight to 10 weeks — or sometimes even half that time. As PGA Tour competition agronomist Bland Cooper says, “It is the most painless of the conversional alternatives. … It’s so quick because you can plant into existing grade with no modifcation to the profle itself.” Keith Wood at Sedgefeld Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., is a case in point, and his experience has prompted a number of colleagues to follow in his footsteps. Closing Sedgefeld on May 1 allowed Wood time to do the necessary prep work, fumigate, then pull fumigation covers off to let the greens breathe a little before sprigging on May 23. “It was pretty easy,” he says. “There’s about two weeks’ worth of prepping beforehand where you defoliate the bentgrass. You verticut, mow and scalp it, trying to shred the leaf surface. Then you aggressively aerify and verticut to remove all the leaf texture that you can while leaving the contours of the greens intact.” At that time Wood’s crews applied amendments to the putting surfaces, including a lot of zeolite, humates and minerals such as calcium and potassium — “basically the whole pre-plant package so that when the grass is sprigged, all the nutrients are there to take off,” Wood says. In the no-till method, superintendents have the option of fumigating or using Roundup to kill the bentgrass. “You get rid of organic matter on the surface, but everything underneath is actually benefcial to ultradwarfs, which grow better in a heavier soil type rich in organics,” he points out. “You want as much organic matter at the beginning as you can have as long as it’s not excessive. Our thatch depth is ½ inch.” Once the preparation was complete, Sedgefeld’s four acres — 18 golf course greens and practice chipping and warm-up greens as well as nursery — were sprigged with Champion in 1½ days by an 18-person crew hand-shaking the
46 GCM November 2013
Keith Wood shows off the results of his ultradwarf bermudagrass maintenance regimen at Sedgefeld CC in Greensboro, N.C. Photos courtesy of Keith Wood
sprigs, rolling them and applying heavy topdressing sand to pack them in. (MiniVerde ultradwarf sprigs are cut into the surface with a machine.) “Then you cross your fngers, hoping you don’t get a heavy rain for 10 days,” Wood says with a smile. Actually Sedgefeld received heavy rain on the third day, and Wood’s crews needed to rake up the sprigs and shake them out evenly. “It wasn’t hard to overcome,” he says. Hank Kerfoot of Modern Turf Inc. says some superintendents are considering doing their transition a little later in the summer than Sedgefeld. “That will give them the opportunity to use Roundup and Fusilade in the spring and spottreat with it, not kill the whole green,” Kerfoot says. “Cut out an inch or two with a sod cutter and put in Basamid.” Because Fusilade’s residual is about two weeks, it takes a month for two good “kills.” Kerfoot suggests that superintendents choosing this path should identify all bermudagrass contamination lines within their greens and, if they are going to reclaim areas, do them as well. “Not everyone has fumigated because it’s expensive,” he says. “Timing and planning become
the bigger issues. You have to communicate with your membership or clientele, telling them you’ll improve the greens but they must bear with you.” Kerfoot noted that not every course is a candidate for the no-till method. For instance, if the greens aren’t percolating well, that issue must be addressed. Indeed, superintendent Gary Chambers at Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, Texas, used the no-till method on his Olde Course but not on the Lakes Course, where he removed three inches of the greens’ surface, then tilled. On the Lakes Course, he says, “we removed the organic matter and tilled, and we were open in four weeks. We sprigged them on a Monday, watered, applied starter fertilizer with ammonium sulfate and twice used a slow-release fertilizer with humate. On the seventh day, I was mowing them at 3 ⁄8 inch; on the 14th day at 1 ⁄8 inch. By the sixth week, we were cutting at 1 ⁄10 inch and verticutting and lightly topdressing them every 10 days. “Both methods worked out the same way,” Chambers says. — M.L.
Sedgefeld CC hosts play for the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship on its Champion ultradwarf bermudagrass greens every August.
“It’s the best decision this club’s made. It’s changed the way golf is played around here during the summer ... With Champion. you’re playing offense every day. You’re not worried one bit about losing it.” — Keith Wood
48 GCM November 2013
Tour,” says Keith Wood, superintendent at Sedgefeld, host of the Tour’s Wyndham Championship every August. “Fastforward to 2013, and the players are saying ours were the best greens they played on, so it’s come full circle. “It’s the best decision this club’s made,” he adds. “It’s changed the way golf is played around here during the summer. With bentgrass, you’re always playing defense, looking at the plant, making sure you’re doing the right thing health-wise. And you’re on the edge. Sometimes you go over the edge and lose bent. With Champion, you’re playing offense every day. You’re not worried one bit about losing it. You’re double-cutting it, verticutting it, fat-out getting at it. Everything you do makes it that much better. What a difference from tiptoeing to going full-blast working them and working them!” Sedgefeld’s experience “was a transformative event in this area,” says Smith. “They actually converted in late May–early June last year and hosted a Tour event two and a half months later, and to have the quality that fast obviously spoke volumes to everyone in this area. And then this year, after a very wet summer, they still had greens rolling in excess of 12 and the ball not plugging and having the resiliency and durability they had. Everyone thought, ‘How can
we not have this type of surface?’” Bland Cooper, competitive agronomist with the PGA Tour, declares, “The (Sedgefeld) conversion was a grand slam from the Tour’s viewpoint. The old greens were not in favor with our players, and Keith turned them into greens that they love.” At River Run Country Club outside Charlotte, N.C., host of the Chiquita Classic, superintendent Ron Ritchie converted the greens last summer, and Cooper says, “The jury is in, and the Tour players absolutely love them. Trevor Immelman says those were the best greens he played since Augusta National.” Ralph Kepple, CGCS, superintendent at East Lake, harkens back to 2007 when his club hosted a FedEx Cup event the frst week in September. It was a bad year for bentgrass, which provided the catalyst for a conversion to MiniVerde. “This summer’s been our hardest because of cloudy, wet weather,” Kepple says. “Bermuda hasn’t liked that well. But even with that, and after talking to golfers who have played here for years, I think our greens are better 365 days a year than with bentgrass. “It’s a more consistently good product,” the 31-year GCSAA member adds. “They’re more consistently frm and true, and you don’t have the summer stretch
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Part of Wood’s maintenance program at Sedgefeld CC involves setting up his verticutters to “whisper” over the greens immediately before they are topdressed.
Writing the textbook Whether deciding to work ultradwarf bermudagrasses on the cheap or devote extra effort to create top-fight putting surfaces, golf course superintendents are writing the manual for management of the new darlings of the golf industry in the South. “The way I look at it is, the superintendents are rewriting the textbook as it relates to ultradwarf management,” says Kevin Smith, CGCS, of Pinnacle Golf Properties of Charlotte, N.C. “We’re learning so much every year about what it can and can’t do and what it needs. Each individual takes a little different approach to it. Writing that textbook is a neat endeavor.” “It’s a lot of fun,” says Bland Cooper, competitions agronomist for the PGA Tour. “I’m seeing guys managing the plant up, not the plant down. I mean they’re not in problem mode all the time like with bentgrass.” While ultradwarf bermudas thrive on low heights of cut; double-mowing; and heavy rolling, verticutting and brushing, Cooper does warn, “They aren’t foolproof. You have to manage them. You can’t go home at two o’clock sure all your work is done.” The ultradwarfs’ kryptonite? Straight sand, according to Hank Kerfoot, president of Modern Turf Inc., who works with the MiniVerde cultivar. They thrive on thatch — a major reason why no-till renovation works so well in sprigging ultradwarfs. Patrick O’Brien and Chris Hartwiger, USGA Green Section agronomists in the Southeast Region, wrote in 2010: “Practically speaking, we have found low- to mid-level budget courses doing all their work with riding equipment and maintaining green speeds from 9 to 11 feet. Most importantly, the turf is healthy.” Indeed, the affordability of maintaining ultradwarfs was the driving force behind their early popularity. Today, more and more higher-end clubs are converting to the ultras and going the extra mile, foot to the accelerator.
Wood’s textbook Superintendent Keith Wood at Sedgefeld Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., host of the Wyndham Championship, spelled out his maintenance regimen. From mid-May to mid-September that routine is: • Mondays: verticut two times, up and back on the same pass, followed by topdressing, brush, water and roll. “We may verticut again and cross the pattern, depending on the weather for the upcoming week,” Wood says. “With lots of sun we’re more aggressive with verticutting. If it’s cloudy, we’re less aggressive.”
50 GCM November 2013
where you’re simply trying to survive and can’t do anything to make the greens putt well. We’re able to work them all summer long, and in the winter, when they’re dormant, they putt terrifc.” Golf course architect Lester George of Richmond, Va., added another wrinkle in support of the ultradwarfs. After converting the greens at the municipal Suffolk (Va.) Golf Course last summer, he says his main concern was maintaining the Dick Wilson-designed greens’ “cooliosity.” An ultradwarf allowed him to declare “mission accomplished.” “We didn’t want to rebuild the greens and reduce the contours just to keep bentgrass,” George says. “There were only one or two greens of the 18 on which I softened a couple contours. But if we had been redoing to bentgrass I would have needed to change them all and lost (the greens’) character. “So now we have the best of both worlds. We have the original contours, and the summer months are covered; it’s a very smooth surface.” Suffolk GC operator Eddie Luke of LEL Golf Management agrees, adding, “To take the course to the next level, we had to rebuild because of the heat issue here in the summertime. It’s 95 to 100 degrees for weeks on end. Suffolk lost two or three greens every year, like clockwork. We always lost No. 10 green, so we tested Champion on No. 10 last year, and it came out of dormancy in late March and lasted through the end of November before it turned brown. … These greens will be really good.” The Tour’s Cooper reasons, “Now that the ultras have been out there for a period of time, members look at them and say they’re pretty darn good, and at that point it just becomes a fnancial hurdle.” Why make the change? The reasons behind converting to ultradwarfs are economic, agronomic, play-side or any combination of the three. According to George Frye of Trans Golf, an independent consultant with Champion Turf Farms, “In 2006 the majority of golf courses we did were replacing bermudagrass. Last year more than 50 percent were replacing bentgrass. What has allowed that to happen is the growth habit. Whereas the
• • • • • •
Tuesdays: water and roll in the morning, single-cut with groomers off. Wednesdays: double-cut; no rolling and groomers are off. Thursdays: double-cut and roll, with groomers on and set at 0. Fridays: double-cut and roll, with groomers on and set at -0.05. Saturdays: double-cut and roll, with groomers on and set at -0.05. Sundays: double-cut; no rolling and groomers are off. Wood says that for most of the season his crews use walk-behind mowers set as low as possible — 0.123 so the bedknives don’t drag. “Once we’re into October, we start to single-cut and raise height of cut and get the greens ready for dormancy,” he says. When he verticuts, the greens are immediately topdressed. The verticutters, he says, are set up to “whisper” verticut. “By that I mean we’re not trying to remove thatch or disrupt the stolon/sand/mat layer,” Wood says. “We’re only trying to thin out the canopy and remove any long leaf blades that may try to lie down.” Aerating is only done once a year. “You do need to aerify because the density of the surface is such that you can’t use coarse-particle sand; you have to use fne sand,” Wood says. “Since the fne sand, over time, will seal things off, you need to aerify. You backfll aerifcation holes with a very coarse 45-mm sand. Once the greens are 90 percent healed from the aerifcation, we start back on the fne 65-mm sand routine.” From early April to mid-May and from mid-September to mid-October, maintenance is restrained. Crews topdress every other week and use colored sand to help hold heat and stimulate warmer soil temperatures. Regarding fungicide treatments, Wood says his four disease concerns are Pythium blight and Fusarium patch during low-growth periods in the winter, early spring and late fall; spring dead spot, which means preventive applications in the fall; and leaf spot during extended cloudy and overcast weather in summer or following a dry-down of soil moisture that leads to wilt. While some superintendents must deal with Rhizoctonia zea, Wood has not seen it at Sedgefeld. His main pests, he says, are nematodes, which he controls by spraying with Avid in the spring and fall. Wood says the greens are much more successful when you don’t overseed, adding that the ultras “play great when brown. Depending on how tight you mow them going into the fall, they will play very well. As a matter of fact, sometimes they get too fast because they’re not growing.” Depending on how cold it gets in the winter, superintendents may have to use green covers.
The Texas touch Superintendent Gary Chambers, who maintains 36 holes of ultradwarf bermudagrass at Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, Texas, says, “With just a little bit of work the dwarfs are great.” A 40-year veteran of bentgrass management, he says, “Bents cost more because you’re spraying fungicides. The only time I spray bermuda is to prevent spring dead spot in October, and Eagle fungicide at the 12-ounce rate is the only treatment my greens need.” Some superintendents complain about verticutting and topdressing the ultradwarf greens, Chambers says, “But it takes me no more time to verticut in two directions than it would just to mow the greens. I mow behind that and lightly sand in two to three passes and irrigate it in.” It took him two years to work out a regimen that includes brushing the greens and topdressing lightly every 10 days; verticutting twice every 10 days; and applying a small amount of Primo every 10 days “and you can get those greens putting great.” Mowing the greens at 1 ⁄10 inch, Chambers says, “Ultras will read 11 (on the Stimpmeter) consistently and 12 easily.” Regarding his fertility program, he says he uses a lot of foliar products. In the spring and fall, every three weeks, he applies slow-release granular 13-4-13 with humic acid at a rate
52 GCM November 2013
older Tifdwarfs needed warm soil temperature, (the new ones) react quickly to air temperature.” Frye says the ultradwarfs came to the marketplace as a replacement for Tifdwarf, which had replaced Tifgreen 328 as the bermudagrass of choice in the mid-1990s. Agronomically, the PGA Tour’s Cooper puts it bluntly: “With bermuda, you’re not exposing yourself to the annual possibility of catastrophic turf loss.” “I’d rather have a green that I’m trying to hold back from getting too aggressive than one I’m trying to keep alive,” says Gary Chambers, CGCS, who has converted 28 holes at the 63-hole municipal Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, Texas. Pinnacle’s Smith, a 34-year GCSAA member, says the reasons for conversion at his Greensboro course were both economic and agronomic. “What we’ve eliminated is the risk that our businesses faced with bentgrass. That’s the economic side of it that really is attractive: you have virtually eliminated risk in terms of potential bentgrass loss, potential putting green surface loss.” He adds, “We felt it had the potential to improve our bottom line inasmuch as we can promote play on that course now with an ultradwarf bermudagrass that we might not otherwise be able to in the months of July and August. And because of our typical weather patterns, bentgrass becomes stressed in most years, and it’s hard to promote rounds of golf at a pace that would maximize the revenue potential of the golf course.” At Suffolk GC, Luke was looking at a combination of savings and lost revenue because of losing three or four greens that would die every year. More importantly, it was more sustainable to serve Suffolk’s patrons with exceptional greens in the months when the most golf was being played. O’Brien refers to clubs moving to a new “business model.” That is, because ultradwarfs are only aerated once a year, instead of the two or three necessary for bentgrasses, they can add two months a year to their golfng revenue. “It’s impacted the business model, particularly at public courses and resorts, because they’re not having downtime due to aeration and their golfers playing elsewhere,” he says.
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of ¼ to ½ pound/1,000 square feet. To keep thatch under control on the greens, in June he sprays a liquid 12-0-0 iron product and mixes in a micronutrient package at 3 ounces/1,000 square feet and iron at 3 ounces/1,000 square feet every 10 days.
A question of speed Hank Kerfoot of Modern Turf says ultradwarf bermudas “have made the Stimpmeter relevant again. … The discussion used to be, ‘How fast can we make our greens?’ Now the Stimpmeter is relevant because we can have an intelligent conversation. You can make the ultras too fast to play. Going by the slope and quality of greens, the caliber of the members, you can have a conversation between the superintendent, pro, owner, greens committee, ladies, and you can dial in the speeds by how you maintain them. What’s the budget? Speed is a cost factor. It costs more to maintain an 11 than a 9½.” The challenge of ultras The PGA Tour’s Cooper says, “There are challenges with the grass. You have to ensure it is not stressed going into winter. If you protect yourself during winter months, you’ll be fne in the spring.” Superintendents have a lot more tools today, he noted, mentioning tarpaulins that can cover greens quickly; black topdressing sand to keep in the heat; pigments that are colorants to make dormant brown bermuda green; and moisture meters to prevent against moisture levels getting too low or high during winter months. “Desiccation is the real enemy, not cold,” Cooper says. “Moisture problems are diffcult to see if the grass is dormant. But with meters you can identify what percentage you need to maintain moisture and can largely mitigate the problem.” Sedgefeld’s Wood declared his fndings: “You’ll get ball marks for the frst year or 18 months as the turf matures and knits together and creates a tight mat layer. But once they turn from juveniles to adults, it’s amazing; the ball marks disappear; the stress is gone.” The stress is also gone from the superintendents overseeing these ultradwarf bermudagrass putting surfaces. — M.L.
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Hank Kerfoot of Modern Turf Inc., which installs MiniVerde ultradwarf bermudagrass, says golfers are embracing the conversions at courses throughout the Southeast and Mid-South.
When Morris Brown of Champion Turf Farms in Bay City, Texas, developed the notill renovation method (see sidebar, “Notill, no worries”) and converted Champions Golf Course in Houston, speed of conversion became a major selling point. With the no-till method, a conversion in Texas can be completed in as few as four or fve weeks, while in most of the country it ranges from eight to 10 weeks. “If it took 100 days, it wouldn’t be happening,” the USGA’s O’Brien says. Perhaps, perhaps not. The time factor Having completed conversion at the Lakes Course in four weeks and Olde Course in fve weeks, Firewheel’s Chambers may hold the world’s record. Or maybe not. “From north Texas to the coast you can get them open in four to fve weeks,” says Chambers, a 36-year member of GCSAA, “partly, I guess, because we’re pretty warm in the summer. I closed them on July 4, reopened on Labor Day, and people couldn’t believe how great the greens were.” But Sedgefeld’s experience is more com-
mon for the rest of the Southeast and MidSouth. Wood, a 17-year GCSAA member, says John McConnell of McConnell Golf, who bought the course in 2011, notifed the membership of the conversion in April 2012. The maintenance crews spent two weeks defoliating the bentgrass and preparing the greens for planting. The course was sprigged with Champion on May 23 and 24 and was ready for members to play on Aug. 7 and for the Wyndham Championship three days later. “In the Carolinas you have a short window to get it done,” Wood says. “Sometimes May is too cool, so we were taking a chance in late May. You need eight weeks of good growing weather, and if you do it in June you’re at late August opening up.” The cost factor Using the no-till method, the cost for an 18-hole transition varies from $100,000 to $200,000 depending on the size of the greens, architectural changes, irrigation, tree removal and other factors. “The infrastructure is the key,” says Frye, “because once the grass is on the ground, it’s a quick conversion to get the
The PGA Tour’s annual Wyndham Championship raises the profle of the converted greens at Sedgefeld CC. Photos courtesy of Keith Wood
golf course open again.” Luke says Suffolk GC’s cost was $175,000, which included $50,000 in lost revenue. Hank Kerfoot, president of Modern Turf Inc. in Rembert, S.C., who installs MiniVerde, says, “For the grass itself, you’re in the $50,000 to $75,000 range to have it planted; that (same amount) for sand and fertilizer and the methyl bromide to kill the old greens.” Cooper recommends one way for clubs to size up the investment. “We don’t know the life cycle of ultradwarf greens,” he says, “but certainly if a superintendent says, ‘If I can get 10 years out of this grass and the conversion costs $200,000, that’s a $20,000-a-year investment. Not bad.’” It appears this cost will take a hit on Jan. 1, 2014, when the government’s ban on methyl bromide begins. “The popularity of no-till has ridden the coattails of methyl bromide,” Kerfoot says. “When we started, it cost 17 cents per square foot. In 2014 it will probably cost 30 to 35 cents per square foot for fumigation. “It’s going to change the way people look at doing it.” Other options for killing bentgrass greens exist. While the race has been on for years for
Not so quick! The stigma attached to golf courses that don’t use bentgrass is sometimes the overriding reason the powers that be at a course decide against converting to ultradwarf bermudagrass. However, the “two-way option” allows many multicourse facilities to have it both ways and retain a bentgrass course or two while converting others. But more often than not, climate is the deciding factor when it comes to converting to bermuda. As USGA Green Section agronomist Patrick O’Brien says, “We have them (bermuda courses) in the Carolinas everywhere but in the mountains where it’s 4,000 feet.” “You get the question, ‘Can we do it in Kansas City?’” says Hank Kerfoot, president of Modern Turf Inc., which installs MiniVerde ultradwarf bermudagrass. “Yes, you can, but ask yourself, ‘Does it make sense?’ Are you prepared to keep bermuda alive in cold and snow? … When you push the envelope going north, you have to put more thought into just what your expectations are.”
The stigma A number of clubs, when debating bentgrassto-ultradwarf conversion, declare proudly, “No way. We’re a bentgrass club.” “It can be tough, but it’s easier now than fve years ago,” says PGA Tour competitions agronomist Bland Cooper. “Until four to six years ago there weren’t a number of higher-end private clubs that had done it, so there was a stigma. That stigma still exists. People consider bermudagrass as a second-tier grass. They think bent is
56 GCM November 2013
the grass for prestigious clubs.” O’Brien agrees, adding, “There’s still a deeply ingrained ‘bentgrass purity’ down here with some people.”
Best of both worlds Some superintendents are fortunate enough to have more than one golf course and therefore can hedge their bets or simply offer their golfers both the bent and ultra option. Gary Chambers of the 63-hole municipal Firewheel Golf Park in Garland Texas, is one of those superintendents; Kevin Smith, CGCS, vice president and director of agronomy for Pinnacle Golf Properties in Charlotte, N.C., is another. Firewheel has two clubhouses — one boasting 27 holes of 962 bentgrass and another offering 36 holes that were converted from 328 bermudagrass to an ultradwarf bermuda in 1999 and 2000. While Chambers and the region’s golf associations supported switching the bent courses, the city’s course manager determined it was better marketing to have 27 holes of bentgrass out of a new clubhouse. “It’s worked out real well,” Chambers reported. The same reasoning prevailed at the Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center, home of the bentgrass Players Course and the Champions Course, which hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur Publinks Championship and recently was converted to ultradwarf.
Photo courtesy of Modern Turf Inc.
“We feel that by having one bermuda and one bent course, we can maximize our revenue potential at virtually any time of the year,” Smith says. “In the summertime we can promote the Champions Course and not have any concerns about wearing out the putting surfaces. In the fall or spring and times in the winter when it’s conducive to play golf, we have a bentgrass surface that hopefully will be superior. But we found the ultradwarfs are very playable year-round, and many superintendents have decided to paint the grass, so golfers don’t realize the bermuda has gone dormant.” “At every club we work with, the subject (of conversion) has been discussed,” says O’Brien. “Not everybody decides to do it. You could be a club in the city where the market pressures are such that you continue to have bent. It goes to market pressure more than anything now. It’s not agronomic alone but other issues as well. A lot of times, agronomics is the lowest thing on the totem pole.” — M.L.
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Bland Cooper, competitive agronomist with the PGA Tour, says the greens conversion at Sedgefeld CC is “a grand slam from the Tour’s viewpoint.”
“We didn’t change to save money, and I don’t feel we have. The resources we spent keeping bent alive, we spend trying to make the product better.” — Ralph Kepple, CGCS
58 GCM November 2013
companies to fnd a replacement for methyl bromide, superintendents have used Basamid soil fumigant with varying results. Also, Kerfoot says, if a course undertakes its transition a little later in the summer, it could use Roundup and Fusilade in the spring and spot-treat with it. The residual on Fusilade is about two weeks and two applications will cause “a two good kills on bermudagrass,” he says. Once the conversion is complete, by all accounts, maintenance of ultradwarf bermudas is less expensive than bentgrass. That’s the reason that frst drove public courses to convert to them. The ultras use less water, less fungicide and less pesticide, meaning less labor. They also thrive on thatch, low height of cut and heavy grooming, so many superintendents are putting those savings right back into the course by constantly improving grooming programs (see “Writing the textbook,” Page 50). East Lake’s Kepple explains, “We didn’t change to save money, and I don’t feel we have. The resources we spent keeping bent alive, we spend trying to make the product better.”
The bottom line As the USGA’s O’Brien says, “You couldn’t believe the percentage of our time we spend assisting clubs to do with this — and with incredible success.” “When you look at the results,” says Cooper, “I don’t know how clubs can be in the position not to do it.” “It’s a breath of fresh air for superintendents who have struggled with bentgrass,” says Sedgefeld’s Wood. “You don’t struggle any more. You sleep at night. The greens aren’t my worry anymore.” GCM Mark Leslie is a free-lance writer based in Monmouth, Maine, and a frequent contributor to GCM.
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knowledge Looking for inside information on the courses hosting the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships? Just turn to the golf course management professionals who know these venues the best. Scott Hollister
The par-3 16th hole on the Palm Course at Walt Disney World, one of the host venues for the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships. Photos courtesy of Walt Disney World Golf
The GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic is presented in partnership with The Toro Co.
Top: Disney’s Magnolia Course, with its signature Mickey Mouse bunker on the par-3 sixth hole, and the Palm were home to a PGA Tour event for more than 40 years, a tradition that continued until 2012. Bottom: Mike Bruno, superintendent of both the Magnolia and Palm courses.
Like a chef’s personal recommendations from a menu that he crafted himself, the best advice and most pertinent information on a golf course — how it plays, where its challenges and opportunities lie and how conditioning and maintenance factor into both — comes from its golf course superintendent. Want to know if a putt on a particular green really does break toward the water? Ask a superintendent. Need to know if a new naturalized area impacts the playability of a certain hole? Check with the guy who probably created it. Curious how a recent renovation or switch to a new stand of turfgrass has changed the way a course is cared for? Defnitely talk to your friendly neighborhood turfgrass manager. That’s why when GCM began considering ways it could showcase the six Orlandoarea golf courses that will be playing host to the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships Feb. 1-3, we decided to go straight to the source and let some of Central Florida’s most respected golf course management professionals talk about these courses and what makes them unique, in their own words and from their own perspectives. And although this crew brings a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to the table, they also share one common trait — a deep insight into their own golf courses and a willingness to share some of those secrets with the more than 400 competitors that are expected to take part in the event in February. A platinum celebration In 2014, the GCSAA Golf Championships will be celebrating more than just a return to one of the tournament’s most popular locales (Orlando has hosted play six times, more than any other city in the event’s history). It will also be celebrating its long-running relationship with The Toro Co., which will be marking its 20th consecutive year as the tournament’s supporting partner. Hosting the celebration of that long-running partnership and the tournament’s return to Orlando will be one of the area’s most revered locations, Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. That’s ftting, since three of the six courses hosting tournament play — the Magnolia, Palm and Lake Buena Vista courses — are all affliated with Disney and managed by Arnold Palmer Golf Management. Two Marriott properties — Hawk’s Landing and Grande Pines — along with Celebration Golf Club round out this year’s rotation. For complete information on the tournament, visit www2.gcsaa.org/conference/ tournament/default.aspx.
Mike Bruno Disney’s Magnolia and Palm Golf Courses If there is one superintendent you wouldn’t blame for not looking ahead to February and the GCSAA Golf Championships — at least not yet — it would be Bruno, the GCSAA Class A superintendent overseeing maintenance at both Disney’s Magnolia and Palm layouts. That’s because the 12-year GCSAA member has spent the last several months knee-deep in an extensive renovation of the Palm Course, an effort that’s included new greens and greens complexes, new tee surfaces and signifcant bunker improvements. It was a necessary project on the more-than 40-yearold facility — and a similar project is on tap for Magnolia later next year — but it’s one that’s kept Bruno and his team hopping during the second half of 2013. A New York native who moved to Florida when he was a young child, Bruno worked in Texas for nearly a decade, including six years as the head superintendent at Frisco Lake Golf Club, before returning to the Sunshine State November 2013 GCM 63
Joe Lee originally designed. The work we will do on Magnolia in 2014 will be very similar to what we’re currently doing on the Palm. Since both Magnolia and Palm were built on former swampland — the entire Walt Disney World Resort was actually built on that type of ground — they are both pretty fat, typical Florida resort courses. Magnolia has a little more movement to it, because they used the fll from the construction of the lake at the Magic Kingdom to create a little elevation. The Palm is much fatter, and at some points is only 2½ feet above the swamp. On Magnolia, the one signature feature that everyone will notice is the greenside bunker on the par-3 sixth hole, which was built in a silhouette of Mickey Mouse. Renovating that bunker was one of the frst projects we did when I arrived here last year. We obviously kept that same famous shape, but we did improve the drainage, the lining and replaced the sand. My assistant, Brent Burroughs, oversaw all that work, and it turned out really great.
Disney’s Palm Course is currently undergoing an extensive renovation that is improving greens, tees and bunkers. The course is expected to reopen before the frst of December. Shown here is the par-3 third hole.
Both the Magnolia and Palm courses have been long-time favorites for visitors to Orlando and the Walt Disney World Resorts. Both are Joe Lee designs that opened in the early ’70s, and both push through more than 70,000 rounds annually. The renovation projects we have under way on the Palm and have planned for the Magnolia are really designed to modernize these courses and to make sure they remain popular destinations for golfers for another 40 years. On the Palm, we are addressing some of the maintenance challenges we face in the renovation, mainly in the bunkers and on the greens. For the GCSAA event, the greens will have been completely rebuilt from the ground up and regrassed with TifEagle ultradwarf bermudagrass. In the bunkers, we are improving drainage, replacing sand and reshaping all of the bunkers and complexes, so the style of the bunkers will be dramatically different from what
64 GCM November 2013
By the numbers
1
The number of days that this year’s event has been The number of consecutive bumped back from what years that The Toro Co. has competitors experienced a year ago in San Diego — served as the presenting Saturday through Monday partner for the GCSAA Golf in 2014 vs. Sunday Championships. through Tuesday last year. The change was made so tournament participants The number of options available to tournament can still take advantage participants in Orlando. Players can take advantage of of a full day of education the Four Ball Competition on Saturday, Feb. 1, then can on Tuesday at the Golf choose either a shamble tournament on Sunday, Feb. 2, Industry Show. or the two-day National Championship or Golf Classic portions of the event Feb. 2-3.
6
The number of consecutive years that Disney’s Magnolia and Palm Golf courses — both in the rotation for the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships — played host to a PGA Tour event before that streak ended following the 2012 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. The number of times the GCSAA Golf Championships have been contested in Orlando, making it the most popular host city in the tournament’s history. Palm Springs, Calif., has hosted fve times.
900
and the Magnolia and Palm courses last July, 10 months after Palmer Golf assumed management responsibilities for the Disney courses. Both courses are familiar with big events, having served as the primary hosts for the PGA Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic for many years before that event ended in 2012.
The number of rooms at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (https:// disneyworld.disney. go.com/resorts/grandforidian-resort-and-spa/), which is the host hotel for this year’s event.
Invest in Certification
Invest in You You are good at your job as a golf course manager. You know that keeping up with the latest changes in the industry requires a never-ending quest for knowledge. Earning GCSAA’s Certifed Golf Course Superintendent designation (CGCSSM) can provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the demands of your profession.
Take the first step towards achieving this success. Call us at 800.472.7878 to develop your plan for achieving certification.
Mark Harper
Top: The greens at the Lake Buena Vista Course, the third Disney property in the rotation for the 2014 GCSAA Golf Championships, underwent renovations in 2006 to grass them with TifEagle bermudagrass. Shown here is the par-3 seventh hole. Bottom: Lake Buena Vista’s par-3 16th hole.
Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course As both an accomplished golfer and a veteran superintendent, Harper brings a wide variety of perspectives to his job as the superintendent at Lake Buena Vista. And he knows he’ll tap into many of those perspectives when he and his crew are preparing the layout for the specialized clientele who will be taking part in the GCSAA Golf Championships. “We know there are a lot of things superintendents will see Mark Harper on the golf course that the average golfer won’t — sprinkler heads trimmed out, quality of cut, overall turf health,” the nine-year GCSAA member says. “So while the overall aesthetics of the golf course won’t be all that different, we’ll defnitely take our detail work to another level for this event.” A golfer since he could frst begin lugging clubs around the course with his father, Harper played the game at the college level at Ohio Valley University, a NCAA Division II school in Vienna, W.Va. He graduated there with a degree in business, but was soon drawn to a career in turf and picked up a two-year turf degree from Morehead (Ky.) State. After working a variety of assistant superintendent positions along the East Coast, Harper landed as the frst assistant at Crofton (Md.) Country Club late in 2007. That facility was managed by Palmer Golf, which also manages the courses at Walt Disney World, and in September 2011, Harper jumped at the opportunity to take over the top spot at Lake Buena Vista. Lake Buena Vista is a Joe Lee design that is known at Disney as “the Country Club.” The course was in a three-course rotation with Disney’s Palm and Magnolia courses for the PGA Tour’s visit to Orlando for most of the 1980s and ’90s before being removed after changes to the course to accommodate the construction of two Disney Vacation Club resorts made the hosting of a professional event too much of a logistical challenge. The course is located in a low-lying former swamp area; therefore, the golf course was shaped and elevated out of the food plain with heavy muck soils. The top 3 inches of the root zone has sandier qualities, which allows the turf to grow and be managed, but also brings on the high pressure of drainage issues during rainy summer months, isolated dry spots in fall and winter months, and mole cricket infestation in early spring through summer. Insects, weeds and managing soils are defnitely the biggest challenges.
66 GCM November 2013
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The greens at Lake Buena Vista were rebuilt to USGA recommendations in 2006 and were converted to TifEagle bermudagrass. The greens do see a lot of insect (nematodes), disease and weed pressure, so they are managed very intensively nearly year-round. We verticut them every other week from March through November to reduce thatch and grain. Our tees, fairways and roughs are all 419 bermudagrass, with the exception of the tees on Nos. 7, 8 and 17, which are seashore paspalum. Again, these areas will all be overseeded in February with perennial ryegrass. While visitors won’t see many beds of plant material on the course, there are a large variety of natural trees and plants that line the boundaries of every hole. Spanish moss is very visible on cypress and oak trees providing a great background to each hole.
Top: A former National Resort winner in the GCSAA/ Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards, Marriott’s Grande Pines GC will present plenty of challenges for competitors in the GCSAA Golf Championships. Photos courtesy of Marriott Golf Bottom: Chris Flynn, CGCS, the director of grounds for Marriott’s Grande Vista, who oversees maintenance at Grande Pines.
Chris Flynn, CGCS
Marriott’s Grande Pines Golf Club Golf course management is defnitely a family affair for Flynn, a 16-year member of GCSAA whose father and grandfather were both superintendents before him. “I really did grow up around the profession,” he says. “I spent plenty of summers working on the golf course.” That doesn’t mean he was an immediate convert to a career as a superintendent. Flynn kept his options open through high school and didn’t immediately attend college after graduation, trying his hand at other things. But he soon found himself back on the golf course and “that’s when I realized how much I enjoyed it and how much I wanted to learn more about it,” a revelation that led him to the renowned turf program at SUNY-Cobleskill in upstate New York. Early in his career, Flynn worked stints in New York, Texas and North Carolina, most notably working for the Pebble Beach Cos. as the superintendent at The Links at Spanish Bay. Itching for a return closer to home in New York, he took a break from the superintendent game and worked with his father’s golf course construction company before fnally fnding work in Florida with Marriott and Grande Vista Resort eight years ago. Marriott’s Grande Vista is the largest timeshare resort within the Marriott Vacations Worldwide portfolio. There are 1,616 guest units (made up of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom villas) located in 24 different buildings, all set on more than 400 acres at the headwaters of the Florida Everglades. Golf is one of the primary amenities at Grande Vista. There is the Marriott Golf Academy, the nine-hole Grande Vista Golf Club and, of course, Grande Pines Golf Club, an 18-hole championship course that opened in 2003 and is a design partnership between golf course architect Steve Smy-
68 GCM November 2013
TIFEAGLE
SOARS AT PRESTWICK C.C. “To be honest, Champion Paul Kaufman-Superintendent was on my mind early on, Prestwick Country Club because it was the sexy, Myrtle Beach SC in-vogue pick. But I put in a test green with TifEagle, MiniVerde and Champion, and after 2 years of playing around with all three, I got to see the limitations and strong points of each grass. I also looked at a lot of TifEagle courses. In the end, my bosses and I agreed that TifEagle was by far the best ultradwarf for Prestwick.” You’ll find TifEagle Bermudagrass at the spectacular Prestwick Country Club in Myrtle Beach SC. This links-style gem was designed by Pete Dye and his son P.B. Dye and opened in 1989. Superintendent Paul Kaufman is responsible for the day-to-day management and upkeep of this top-flight course that features towering dune-like berms, stairway bunkers and bulkhead-protected greens. It was Paul along with his bosses who made the decision to go with TifEagle. “Our Tifdwarf was really beginning to show its age and was getting to be almost unmanageable. On top of that, the Myrtle Beach area is so competitive. There are almost 100 courses here now in what’s essentially a one-mile by 30-mile strip, and the majority of them have ultradwarf
Adel GA Ph: 229 896-7581 • Fax: 229 896-7584 800 232-7453 Contact: Bruce Allison (bvallison@att.net) www.pikecreekturf.com
greens. From a competitive standpoint we were just lagging behind. So I put in a combination test green with TifEagle, MiniVerde and Champion ® and and evaluated all three grasses for over two years. I also looked at a lot of other clubs, and talked to a lot of other superintendents, We decided to no-till and shut the course down on June 18th. Believe it or not, we were open for play on September 1 with superb new TifEagle greens.” Take a tip from Paul Kaufman. Whether you’re renovating your existing greens or planning a brand new facility, insist on the best. Specify certified TifEagle Bermudagrass by name. You can sod it, sprig it or even no-till it under the right conditions. Just contact one of the TifEagle growers below or visit www.tifeagle.com. TEAM
UGA
South Florida Grassing, inc. Hobe Sound FL Contact: Homer Greene (sfgrassing@yahoo.com) Ph: 772 546-4191 Fax: 772 546-3482 www.southfloridagrassing.com
Top: Wildlife sightings are plentiful on Marriott’s Hawks Landing GC, including the threatened Florida sandhill crane. Bottom: Joshua Kelley currently serves as Hawks Landing’s interim superintendent after the course’s previous superintendent took another position within Marriott Golf in October.
ers and six-time major champion Nick Faldo. A Certifed Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and the National Resort winner in the 2010 GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards, Grande Pines is also regarded as one of the most challenging resort courses in Orlando. The course features TifEagle bermudagrass greens and TifSport bermudagrass tees, fairways and roughs. Both tees and fairways will be overseeded at the time of the GCSAA tournament. At Grande Pines, we’ve made several tweaks to the original design to help improve playability and pace of play. In 2008 and 2009, we removed 22 of the original 73 bunkers from the course. The 51 that remain are still challenging, deep and quite penal for novice and average golfers. The course also used to feature many forced carries over native grasses off the tee; as a part of our plan to improve playability, those areas were removed and sodded. Despite those changes, Grande Pines can still be a handful. There are numerous risk/reward situations that golfers will face during their round, and strategic shot-making is really required on just about every approach into the course’s greens.
Joshua Kelley
Marriott’s Hawks Landing Golf Club Marriott Golf has developed its very own super sub in the person of Kelley, an eightyear GCSAA member. Kelley’s full-time position is as the assistant superintendent at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando. But in early October, he was pulled onto a temporary “task force” as the interim superintendent at Hawks Landing when that facility’s superintendent, Aaron Thomas, was reassigned within the Marriott Golf family to a facility in Arizona. The move marked the third time in Kelley’s eight-year tenure with Marriott that he’s been asked to work on these task forces, which are created when courses need assistance with special projects or, in cases like this one, when there are temporary vacancies within the maintenance department. “I know these kinds of situations aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoy the variety,” Kelley says. “The timing isn’t always the best, but they always present new challenges and they offer a lot of opportunity for growth. It keeps you on your toes.” If Kelley remains on property through the GCSAA Golf Championships, it won’t be his frst time in the association spotlight. Earlier this year, Kelley was honored for his environmental work at The Ritz-Carlton GC with the National Resort award in the 2012 GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards. Hawks Landing Golf Club spans more than 220 acres at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort, the world’s largest Marriott Hotel. The course was originally designed by Joe Lee in 1986 and
70 GCM November 2013
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Top: Celebration GC, which was the fnal design collaboration between Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. The course opened in 1996. Photos courtesy of Celebration Golf Club Bottom: Ryan Burke oversees maintenance at Celebration GC.
was renovated by Robert Cupp Jr. in 1998. At over 6,800 yards, the par-71 course features water in play on 15 holes, challenging greens, undulating fairways and enough wind to keep it interesting. Clusters of multifarious trees and native grasses on the course put a premium on shot accuracy. The golf course features Tifdwarf bermudagrass greens, and Tifway 419 bermudagrass tees and fairways. One green that has seen some recent work is the par-3 17th, where the collars and surrounds were regrassed with Celebration bermudagrass. For the GCSAA tournament, the greens, tees and fairways will all be overseeded. Renovations like the one on 17 aren’t rare at Hawks Landing. Last September, the driving range tee and the frst tee were renovated and regrassed, creating more teeing space and a better opening tee shot. In the next few years, several more renovations are being planned. The greens will be converted to TifEagle bermudagrass to provide guests with the best-possible playing surface year round and allow us to forego overseeding. In addition, tees will be regrassed with Celebration bermudagrass, which will aid in a better teeing surface, especially in the shadier areas. Hawks Landing has been a Certifed Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2008. It is common to see animals throughout the property on a daily basis. Many animals of special concern such as the American alligator, tricolored heron, and Suwannee bass, as well as a few threatened species such as the Florida sandhill crane, osprey and bald eagle, call the course home. The occasional appearance of the endangered bobcat is not out of the question.
Ryan Burke
Celebration Golf Club If Burke’s frst year working in the golf course management industry in Florida didn’t drive him away, pretty much nothing will. A native of Vermont who was educated at the University of Massachusetts, Burke headed into the Sunshine State looking for work and found it as a foreman on the crew at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando. He also found himself in the middle of one of the most active hurricane seasons in the state’s history, with four named storms (not to mention two other tropical storms) making landfall in the state. “It was a bit of a shock to the system,” the one-year GCSAA member admits. “But I knew that if I could handle that, I could handle just about anything that would get thrown at me down here.” After his stint at Grand Cypress, Burke moved into an assistant superintendent role at the Golden Bear Club before taking over maintenance duties at Celebration two years ago. Celebration Golf Club has the honor of being the last design collaboration between Robert Trent 72 GCM November 2013
GCSAA Partners Support Your Future PLATINUM partners
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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.
Upgrade Orlando
The West Lobby of the Orange Country Convention Center, home to the 2014 Golf Industry Show, Feb. 3-6. Photo courtesy of the Orange County Convention Center
In today’s fast-paced digital world, it’s all about the upgrade, and the Golf Industry Show is no exception. Attendees registering for the 2014 event, Feb. 3-6 in Orlando, will notice some of these upgrades right away. First, online registration, which opened Nov. 5 for GCSAA members and opens Nov. 19 for nonmembers, is getting a facelift — thanks to GCSAA’s new vendor, Expo Logic. As part of the improvements, the registration confrmation email will now include a QR code that will allow attendees to quickly and easily print their badge at a self-service kiosk in Orlando. Everything attendees need to register and get ready for the Golf Industry Show can be found at www.golfndustryshow.com, including a link to the digital brochure. The digital brochure, which was introduced last year to replace the printed version, has a full listing of all the conference and show’s seminars, sessions and events. Another change for the 2014 Golf Industry Show is an altered schedule, which is detailed in the digital brochure. In brief: The GCSAA Education Conference will be at the Orange County Convention Center, Monday through Thursday, Feb. 3-6. The trade show will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 5-6, at the same venue. Unlike in recent years, there will be no activities on Friday in 2014. The USGA session moves to 8-10 a.m. Thursday, prior to the start of the second day of the trade show, and will become the
General Session. Member services at the show will undergo a transformation as well. In past years, such services as career consulting, skin cancer screening, the media center and Silent Auction booth have been at locations scattered throughout the convention center. In 2014, all association booths and services will be located together in the Association Clubhouse on the show foor. A full listing of Association Clubhouse services and location can be found in the digital brochure and onsite directory. The Golf Industry Show’s 2014 theme — “Connect, Learn, Grow” — will get a boost from the new Design and Construction Center on the trade show foor. Here, members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the Golf Course Builders Association of America will be on hand to provide complimentary design and construction consultations. To learn more about the Design and Construction Center or to book an appointment, contact D&CC@gcsaa.org. As always, the topic of turf will be front and center at the education conference, but communication and renovation will gain prominence with two sessions making their debut in 2014: “Time to Talk Business: Communication and Leadership Skills for Superintendent Success” (Monday, 10:30 a.m.noon) and “Selling Up: Working Together to Get the Project’s Green Light” (Tuesday, 1-3 p.m.).
Log in! ebrochure.golfndustryshow.com 74 GCM November 2013
Jones Sr. and Jr. The course opened in 1996. The course features Champion bermudagrass greens, while the rest of the course is grassed with 419 bermudagrass. At the time of the GCSAA tournament, our greens will be overseeded with Poa trivialis at 10 pounds/1,000 square feet. The rest of the course will be overseeded wall to wall with perennial ryegrass at a rate of 450 pounds/acre in the short grass and 350 pounds/acre in the roughs. At Celebration, we have a crew of 17 that is responsible for the maintenance of the course, golf village, clubhouse grounds and the Celebration Golf Academy. All grounds are maintained with a feet of Toro equipment. Celebration was built on a low-lying piece of property that consists of a pretty heavy soil. The key to maintaining this property is water management. There is a great deal of hand watering here, and we try to limit the overheads as much as possible to keep frmer conditions. The use of soil surfactants is also a major tool here to pull the water through the profle evenly. In addition to these practices, we have installed additional drainage in our most problematic areas to improve playing conditions and still keep the green, lush conditions that the course is known for. With 50,000 rounds annually and the course closed only on Christmas Day, you defnitely need to get creative here with your cultural practices. Everything is done ahead of play — aerifcation, overseeding, etc. — with little or no impact on the guests’ playing experience. Needless to say, there are a lot of early morning starts here at Celebration. GCM Scott Hollister (shollister@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s editorin-chief.
GOLD PARTNERS
GOLD PARTNER
Partner Recognition Program Grounded in the turf industry. With over 90 years of experience in the turf maintenance industry, Jacobsen has built a legacy of precision craftsmanship, legendary quality-of-cut and a history of innovation. With a singular focus on helping our customers achieve perfectly groomed, healthy turf, Jacobsen equipment maintains some of the fnest golf courses, sports felds and formal turf areas around the world. Innovations that Go Well Beyond Cut Jacobsen’s legendary quality-of-cut means more than just precisely trimmed turf. We believe in developing innovative technologies that make our machines better for the natural environment and customizable for individual course needs—all while delivering a better total cost of ownership. Our commitment to innovation can be seen in the revolutionary Jacobsen Eclipse 322 riding greens mower. Completely hydraulic free with intuitive controls and easy accessibility, this riding greens mower allows you to program your frequency-of-clip, mow speed, transport speed and other settings through a password-protected menu. Change your settings as course conditions change throughout the year. Quality that Speaks for Itself Since 1921, one thing has remained the same at Jacobsen—a focus on quality. We take a “quality comes frst” mentality with everything we do. Our engineers are focused on designs that perform and last. Our manufacturing processes have built-in quality checks. The parts and components we use must meet high standards for performance and reliability. And our products must meet rigorous testing standards. This focus on quality behind the scenes has resulted in Jacobsen’s legendary reputation for quality on the course. Guided by the Environment The environment is the cornerstone of our business, and we continue to design equipment that uses less fuel and minimizes or eliminates hazardous waste. Jacobsen developed the industry’s frst electric mower and has become the industry leader in electric and hybrid technologies. As a proud supporter of the Environmental Institute of Golf, we are squarely focused on achieving a more sustainable approach to golf facility management. A Partner in Progress As part of our commitment to the turf maintenance industry, Jacobsen is proud to be a Gold-level sponsor of the GCSAA. As we continue engineering new technologies and equipment that deliver proven results without sacrifcing the health of the environment, we applaud partners like the GCSAA who help us push the envelope and grow the industry we serve.
Up to Speed by Thomas A. Nikolai, Ph.D.
Fertility: The truth often lies in the recommendation Fertilization is necessary to produce a healthy stand of grass that can minimize weed, moss and algae encroachment while maximizing recuperative potential to produce excellent playing conditions. Nutrient replenishment is serious business to superintendents. Many of them have developed their own concoctions following years of experience at their site, or consultants or salesmen have prepared formulas for them based on soil test results. Soil testing is unquestionably important to determine the nutrient status of the root zone. Unfortunately, soil test recommendations for turfgrass are often based on research on crops like corn, which may be a member of the grass family but is also an annual crop. Therefore, some soil test recommendations can lead to unnecessary applications of certain nutrients. Over the past decade, Frank Rossi, Ph.D., at Cornell University has made a personal crusade of informing any superintendent who would listen that most potassium applications are of little value to the turfgrass plant. I’ll be happy to add that overfertilization with any nutrient can create nutrient imbalances that may lead to symptoms of nutrient defciencies in the turf. To further complicate things, according to folklore, certain nitrogen carriers decrease green speed; create pest problems; or seal off the turf surface, thereby decreasing infltration. To begin to address many of these concerns, a study was initiated at Michigan State University in 2009 by graduate student Miyuan Xiao (Nancy) under the direction of Kevin Frank, Ph.D., on a Penn A-4 creeping bentgrass green seeded in 2008. Included in the study were nine fertilizer programs applied on three putting green root zones: a root zone built according to USGA recommendations, an 80-10-10 sand-peatsoil root zone, and a push-up sandy clay loam soil. Fertilizer applications included in the study were urea alone; urea with phosphorous or potassium based on soil test recommendations; methylene urea; an organic carrier; and Grigg Brothers Gary’s Green, which is a liquid foliar-applied fertilizer. With the exception of an unfertilized check plot and a Gary’s Green liquid treatment applied at 1.5 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, all other treatments were applied at the rate of 3 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year. In 2013, after fve years of continuous applications with 78 GCM November 2013
the nutrient carriers mentioned above, the frst visible nutrient defciency (a phosphorus defciency) was observed following snow melt in the spring. The purplish symptoms appeared only on root zones built to USGA recommendations on plots fertilized with the urea-only, urea and recommended potassium, and methylene urea treatments. The site is now in the perfect condition to extract soil tests and run tissue analysis that will aid in the development of better fertilizer recommen-
Unfortunately, soil test recommendations for turfgrass are often based on research on crops like corn ... Therefore, some soil test recommendations can lead to unnecessary applications of certain nutrients. dations for creeping bentgrass greens. Some other interesting observations have been made on the site over the past fve years. With the exception of the unfertilized check plot, there were no meaningful differences in green speed among treatments, although plots treated with the organic fertilizer always resulted in the shortest ball roll. Additionally, plots treated with the organic fertilizer had more Poa annua encroachment than any other treatment. In fact, the other treatments had very little Poa encroachment at all. Among the root zones, the push-up greens had signifcantly more Poa. Continuing biannual soil and tissue tests along with visual observations should lead to improved recommendations for creeping bentgrass greens. Keep a lookout for more results from this groundbreaking study. GCM Thomas A. Nikolai, Ph.D., is the turfgrass academic specialist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and a frequent GCSAA educator.
research
The Rules of Golf and the superintendent A greater familiarity with the Rules of Golf can help superintendents better understand the game and make them more confdent in marking the course. Although golf course superintendents may sometimes forget, it’s all about a game. And, like it or not, this game has a set of rules, and the Rules of Golf (3) are rather lengthy, and at times, diffcult to understand. Until about 10 years ago, I had little knowledge or interest in the Rules, although I routinely taught classes to students who were hoping to become golf course superintendents. It was only after my son became competitive in junior golf that I began to really take notice of the impact the superintendent has on the Rules. In early 2013, a survey was developed to get a better understanding of golf course superintendents’ perception of the Rules, to fnd out who at the course oversees marking of the water hazards and to test superintendents’ knowledge on some basic Rules related to course maintenance. The electronic survey was developed at Kansas State University and was made available online for superintendents to complete between March 25 and May 24, 2013. The link to the survey was included in a GCSAA This Week update to all members and was also made available through various electronic media, including turfdiseases. org and distribution through Twitter. As an incentive to complete the survey, one participating superintendent was randomly selected to win a case of red hazard marking paint, courtesy of
Jack D. Fry, Ph.D.
80 GCM November 2013
Standard Golf of Cedar Falls, Iowa. In addition to the questions noted on the fgures in this paper and the Rules questions in Table 1, superintendents were queried on: their perceived knowledge of the Rules of Golf on a scale of 1 (ignorant) to 5 (PGA Tour rules offcial); whether they had taken the USGA/PGA threeday Rules seminar; and whether they had been through one or more presentations on the Rules of Golf. Although some basic statistics were run on the numbers, the survey was not all-encompassing as it ultimately sampled a relatively small group of superintendents. Nevertheless, the response across a wide geographical area was impressive. The survey was completed by 177 superintendents across 10 countries and 42 U.S. states. Of those surveyed, 39% were from private facilities, 23% from daily-fee, 20% from municipal, 8% from resort, and 10% from other (most of which were described in comments as semiprivate). Over three-quarters of those surveyed were at 18-hole facilities, with the remainder evenly distributed across 9-, 27- and 36-hole facilities.
Perception of the Rules Over half of the superintendents surveyed thought that it was extremely important for them to have a good understanding of the Rules of Golf
Superintendents should be familiar with the golfersÕ options should they encounter movable (left) or immovable (right) obstructions. Photos by Jack Fry
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Rules of Golf quiz Question
% selecting each answer
1. Which is not a loose impediment on the apron of a green?
Definition of loose impediments
A plug of earth removed during core aerification
9.7
An unattached divot
10.7
*Loose soil
44.6
A worm
35.0
2. Which of the following statements is correct concerning the teeing ground? It is the area prepared by the superintendent for commencing the play of holes from variably placed tee markers.
Definition of teeing ground 9.0
It is a rectangular area one club length in depth with the front and sides defined by the outside limits of two tee markers.
5.6
*It is a rectangular area two club lengths in depth, with the front and sides defined by the outside limits of two tee markers.
80.8
It is a rectangular area with the front and sides defined by the outside limits of two tee markers; there is no limit to how far behind the markers the player may tee his ball.
4.6
3. A player’s ball entered a water hazard and crossed a yellow line in the process. Which is NOT one of the possible options he has for taking relief in this instance?
Rule 26-1
*Drop a ball within two club lengths from where it last crossed the margin of the hazard, no nearer the hole (1 penalty stroke).
50.2
Drop a ball as far back as he wishes, keeping the point where it last crossed the margin between him and the pin (1 penalty stroke).
24.9
Play from the same place he played his last shot (1 penalty stroke).
11.3
Play from the ball where it lies in the hazard (no penalty).
13.6
4. A player’s ball comes to rest against a bunker rake lying in the bunker. Which depicts the proper sequence of events the player should undertake? *Mark the ball (optional but recommended) and remove the rake. If the ball moves, replace it.
Rule 24-1 77.9
Pick up the ball and remove the rake. Replace the ball where it was.
4.0
Mark the ball (optional but recommended) and remove the rake. If the ball moves, drop it within 2 club lengths of where it lay.
15.3
Pick up the ball and remove the rake. Drop the ball within 2 club lengths of where it lay.
2.8
5. Which of the following can a golfer do in a bunker? Take relief from casual water without penalty by dropping outside the bunker.
Rule 24-1 21.5
*Remove a soft drink can lying behind his ball.
70
Lightly ground his club behind the ball.
1.7
Remove a large tree limb lying behind his ball.
6.8
6. In taking relief from casual water, you may not drop the ball on the fairway if your ball is lying in the rough, even if this is the nearest point of relief.
Definition of nearest point of relief
True
42.4
*False
57.6
7. Ground under repair includes material piled for removal, whether it is marked or not. *True False
Definition of ground under repair 63.3 36.7 Decision 25/15 (Note: A committee may adopt a temporary local rule allowing relief.)
8. An aeration hole on a putting green is a hole made by a superintendent and so the player may take relief from it. True
20.3
*False
79.7
9. A golfer may take relief from an immovable obstruction if it interferes with her stance, swing, or line of sight.
Rule 24-2
True
35.6
*False
64.4
10. In stroke play, a player may not move aside a large weed growing next to his ball. *True False
Reference†
Rule 13-2 88.7 11.3
*Correct answer. The percentage of superintendents who selected each answer is indicated to the right, along with where the rule can be found in the Rules of Golf (3) or Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2012-2015 (2). † References are in the Rules of Golf (3) or Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2012-2015 (2). Table 1. A 10-question Rules of Golf quiz taken by each superintendent in the survey. The correct answer is indicated by an asterisk; the percentage of superintendents who selected each answer is indicated to the right, along with where the rule can be found in the Rules of Golf (3) or Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2012-2015 (2).
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Understanding the Rules of Golf 60
Percentage
50 40 30 20 10 0
Not important
Somewhat important
Average Above-average Extremely importance importance important
Figure 1. Responses of golf course superintendents (177 total) to the question: “On a scale of 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important), how important do you believe it is for a golf course superintendent to have a good understanding of the Rules of Golf?”
(Figure 1). However, it was surprising that 38% had never been through any presentation on the Rules. The USGA and PGA jointly offer a threeday seminar on the Rules at locations throughout the U.S. each year, but only 10 superintendents (6%) surveyed had taken that seminar. Superintendents seeking more information on the Rules have many options available. If a three-day seminar is too much, the USGA and PGA also offer a shorter, two-day seminar. State and local golf associations also frequently offer Rules seminars. In the past, GCSAA has offered webcasts and half-day and two-hour seminars at the annual conference that address interactions between superintendents and the Rules. Over 60% of the superintendents indicated that golf course maintenance practices have a signifcant or tremendous impact on the Rules (Figure 2). I have grown to appreciate the impact superintendents have on the Rules, and have highlighted some of these in a column (“Through the Green”) that has appeared every other month in GCM since February 2013.
Marking hazards on the golf course
Effects of golf course maintenance 45 40
Percentage
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
No impact
Limited impact
Moderate impact
Significant Tremendous impact impact
Figure 2. Responses of golf course superintendents (177 total) to the question: “On a scale of 1 (no impact) to 5 (tremendous impact), indicate to what degree you believe golf course maintenance practices impact the Rules of Golf.”
In order for a golfer to properly follow the Rules, water hazards and lateral hazards on the course must be marked with stakes and/or painted lines. Stakes are used to identify the hazard to the golfer from a distance, whereas the painted hazard line defnes the margin of the hazard. Just over 50% of the superintendents surveyed indicated that stakes were present on their golf course, but lines were painted only before important tournaments (Figure 3). About 24% of superintendents had stakes on the course, and painted lines regularly, and 7% said they paint, but don’t use stakes. Regarding who marks the golf course, 71% indicated that the golf course superintendent (maintenance staff) marked the course, whereas 19% indicated it was the golf professional (pro shop staff) (Figure 4). About 3% said the course would only be marked by a golf association before an important tournament. Just over 7% indicated “other” when asked who marked the course, and nearly all of them indicated it was a team effort between the golf professional and superintendent. Taking this into account, 80% of the superintendents surveyed were involved in marking the golf course, either individually or cooperatively with the golf professional.
Knowledge of the Rules
The quiz consisted of 10 questions on the Rules of Golf that had some relationship to maintenance of the course (Table 1). There were fve multi-
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Using stakes and painted lines 60 No hazards
Percentage
50
Course isn’t marked
40
Stakes, but never lines
30
Stakes, lines prior to tournament Stakes and lines
20
Lines but no stakes 10 0
Figure 3. Responses of golf course superintendents (177 total) who were asked about their use of stakes and painted lines for water hazards and lateral water hazards at their course.
Marking water hazards 80 70 60 Percentage
ple choice questions and fve true/false; some of these questions were taken from “999 Questions on the Rules of Golf ” (1). Before taking the quiz, over 90% of those surveyed considered themselves to have average or better knowledge of the Rules. Some of them were correct. The average score on the quiz was 68%, with the low score 30% and the high 100%. As a group, the most frequently missed question was No. 1, which addressed the defnition of a loose impediment. By defnition, soil and sand are only loose impediments on the putting green. Only 50% of the superintendents gave correct answers regarding the player’s options if the ball crosses a yellow line as it enters a water hazard (question 3, Table 1). Because they so often work with establishing hazard lines on the golf course, marking hazards and the golfer’s options after entering a hazard are areas where more education is needed. There was a positive correlation between how superintendents ranked themselves in knowledge of the Rules, and the score they received on the quiz. In other words, if they thought they knew more, their quiz score refected that. It’s also interesting to note that superintendents who indicated that they had been through one or more presentations on the Rules had a higher average quiz score (72%) than those who had not (61%). As a superintendent, you may be intimidated by the Rules of Golf, but don’t fret. Improving your knowledge of the Rules will pay off, especially those Rules that interact directly with course maintenance. Establishing a foundation of knowledge of the Rules will allow you to better understand the game that is responsible for your employment. In addition, you’ll be more confdent in marking the golf course, and in communicating with the golf professional and golfers. How do you start? Keep a copy of the Rules of Golf 2012-2015 in your offce. Spend some time looking over the defnitions. Here’s a list of Rules that is a good place to start (you will affect all of these with course maintenance practices): 13 (Ball Played as it Lies), 16 (The Putting Green), 23 (Loose Impediments), 24 (Obstructions), 25 (Abnormal Ground Conditions, Embedded Ball, and Wrong Putting Green), and 26 (Water Hazards). Want to be a better superintendent? Improve your knowledge of the Rules.
Golf Professional Golf Course Superintendent
50
A golf association overseeing tournament
40
Other
30 20 10 0 Figure 4. Responses of golf course superintendents (177 total) when asked who at their course marks water hazards, lateral water hazards, and out-of-bounds areas with stakes and/or painted lines.
Acknowledgments Thanks are extended to Steve Tyler, Standard Golf, for providing the hazard marking paint to the winner of the random selection. I appreciate the assistance of Scott Hollister, GCSAA, and John Kaminski, associate professor at Penn State, in distrib-
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The research says ➔ An electronic survey about the Rules of Golf was completed by 177 superintendents across 10 countries and 42 U.S. states. ➔ Superintendents who ranked themselves higher in knowledge of the Rules received a better score on the quiz. ➔ Superintendents who had participated in one or more presentations on the Rules had a higher average quiz score than those who had not. ➔ Superintendents need more education on marking hazards and the golfer’s options after entering a hazard.
(Top left and right) Well-marked hazards prevent golfer confusion on how to proceed. (Bottom) Unrepaired divots are not “ground under repair,” and golfer education on divot repair can pay off.
uting the link to the survey. Finally, thanks to Kenton Peterson, Ph.D., for assisting in analysis of the survey data. Literature cited 1. Rhodes, B. 2010. 999 Questions on the Rules of Golf. G2 Entertainment Ltd., Kent, United Kingdom. 2. United States Golf Association. 2011. Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2012-2013. USGA, Far Hills, N.J.
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3. United States Golf Association. 2011. Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status 2012-2015. USGA, Far Hills, N.J.
GCM Jack Fry (jfry@k-state.edu) is a professor in the department of horticulture, forestry and recreation resources at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan.
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The plight of the bees Why are bees and other pollinators dying, and how can the golf industry safeguard bees and even augment their populations? Pollinators, especially bees, are vital to agricultural production. Honey bees get most of the credit, but in the United States, there are also about 4,000 species of native bees, including bumble bees, orchard mason bees and leafcutter bees, that provide pollination services. Without bees, crops such as apples, almonds, blueberries, tomatoes and many others could not be economically produced. Wildfowers and many other wild plants also rely on bee pollination to produce fruits and seed. Pollination services provided by insects are valued at more than $29 billion per year in the U.S. alone (2). Recently, however, populations of honey bees and native bees have declined alarmingly (8). In particular, colony collapse disorder (CCD), a sudden disappearance of honey bees from seemingly normal hives, has focused attention on whether or not insecticides, especially neonicotinoids, may be contributing to pollinator decline. Some of those insecticides are used in golf course maintenance, so it is important that superintendents understand the issue and are able to discuss it with the public. This article outlines current knowledge about causes of pollinator declines and summarizes our recent research to objectively evaluate whether turf insecticides pose a hazard to bees and, if so, how the risks can be minimized.
The inside of a bumble bee hive shows the honey pots (open cells with shiny contents), where the bumble bees store their limited supply of food. The closed cells contain baby bees or eggs. Photo by Jonathan Larson
What’s driving pollinator decline? Researchers agree that there is no single reason why bees are in trouble (8). Rather, a perfect storm of stresses, outlined below, are acting together to contribute to declining pollinator populations. Habitat loss and fragmentation Loss of habitat is among the biggest threats to pollinator health (8). In the U.S., about 1 million acres of farmland or natural habitat are converted to urban areas each year (7). Urbanization can lead to shortages of the foral resources that bees depend on for food. Even farmland is usually not optimal for bees as monocultures of crops such as corn and wheat offer little in the way of nectar and pollen that wild bees need to survive. Most types of native bees nest in specifc places. Bumble bees, for example, take over abandoned rodent burrows as homes for their colonies. When meadows and woodlots are converted to human use, nesting sites for bees may be limited. When only remnants of these former natural areas are left behind, worker bees must forage greater distances, use more energy and face greater risks to bring food back to the nest. Parasites, diseases and changes in beekeeping practices Managed honey bees are susceptible to several microbial diseases including deformed wing virus, American foulbrood, chalkbrood and Nosema. Increased global trade in bee colonies makes it easier for exotic bee pathogens to be introduced inadvertently to the U.S. For example, the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, which has been implicated as one of several causal factors in CCD, was frst identifed in Israel but now infects hives around the world. Honey bees are also susceptible to tracheal mites that clog their breathing tubes and to blood-sucking Varroa mites that parasitize all life stages. Bees that become infected by one stress agent are weakened and may be less able to fend off the others (8). Shipping honey bee colonies around the country for commercial pollination can weaken them, increasing vulnerability to these agents, and they may bring diseases with them that will infect local bee populations. Beekeepers provide colonies with supplemental food — often sugar or corn syrup
This research was funded in part by the United States Golf Association.
Jonathan L. Larson Daniel A. Potter, Ph.D.
November 2013 GCM 85
research — to compensate for the lack of wild forage in agricultural monocultures and to replace the bees’ honey stores, which are harvested for sale. Artifcial bee foods, however, lack some of the nutrients in real honey that larval bees need to develop a strong immune system (9).
Areas of weedy turf were treated with insecticides and irrigated. Tents were placed on treated plots to contain the bees so they would feed on treated clover fowers. Photo by Daniel Potter
Effect of insecticides on bee weight gain Clothianidin Chlorantraniliprole Untreated 400 350
Mean weight gain (grams)
300 250 200 150 100 50 0 -50
0
7
15
28
42
Days after introduction Figure 1. Weight gain in bumble bee hives exposed to two different insecticides, clothianidin and chlorantraniliprole, as well as control hives that fed on nontreated fowers. Hives exposed to clothianidin gained weight at a slower rate than the untreated areas.
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Neonicotinoid insecticides Neonicotinoids are synthetic insecticides that affect the nervous system of insects. Imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam are the ones most widely used to control turfgrass pests. Neonicotinoids are also the most widely used class of insecticides in agricultural settings around the world. They can be applied as sprays, in granular form or as seed dressings. On golf courses, they are mainly used for preventive control of white grubs, billbugs and other soil-dwelling pests. They are systemically translocated from roots to grass stems and foliage. Above a threshold, oral or contact dosages of neonicotinoids are acutely toxic to bees (1). Even nonlethal exposures have the potential to impair the complex behaviors and reproduction of bees. For example, studies have shown that when worker bees are fed syrup containing a neonicotinoid, they become lethargic, and their normal foraging, homing and grooming activities may be impaired (4,10). If enough workers are intoxicated, the colony may lack a suffcient work force to feed itself. If enough pesticide-tainted nectar or pollen is brought back to the hive and fed to the larvae, the colony may struggle or die. We recently conducted experiments to assess the hazards to bumble bee colonies when neonicotinoids are applied to lawn-type turf with fowering white clover (6). Colonies were confned to forage for six days on clover blooms that had been sprayed along with the turf, or on nontreated plots. The bee colonies in their hives were then moved to a safe site to forage on nontreated clover and other fowering plants for six more weeks. The neonicotinoid-exposed colonies gained less weight than their non-exposed counterparts, and they subsequently produced no new queens (Figure 1). Colonies that fail to produce queens are doomed because the new queens are the only life stage that survives the winter to start the next generation. Notably, though, once the clover fowers present at the time of treatment were removed by mowing and new fowers grew to replace them, new bee colonies placed on the treated weedy turf were not harmed. Indeed, residues in the clover nectar dropped from toxic to essentially nontoxic levels after the frst mowing. Thus, while
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Hives were dissected and total workers, baby bees, queens and honey pots were counted inside each to determine what impacts the insecticides had on hive health. Photo by Daniel Potter
the research validates EPA label precautionary statements not to apply neonicotinoids to blooming nectar-producing plants, it also indicates that in the case of turfgrass weeds that are regularly mowed, such applications don’t pose a prolonged systemic hazard to bees. Another key fnding from our study was that Acelepryn (chlorantraniliprole, Syngenta), a relatively new anthranilic diamide insecticide that is used to control grubs, cutworms and other pests on golf courses, did not adversely affect bumble bee colonies even when the worker bees were exposed to fowering clover that had been directly sprayed.
Bee-friendly golf course management What can golf course superintendents do to help conserve pollinators? Clearly, direct contamination of fowering weeds by neonicotinoids is a bee hazard, but that is rarely a problem with applications to greens, tees and fairways where weeds are controlled with herbicides or mowed before they can bloom. Golf course applicators extending insecticide treatments into roughs should follow label directions not to spray those products when blooming weeds are present, or to at least mow off the fower heads before treatment. With those simple precautions, neonicotinoid insecticides can
be used on golf courses without harming bees. The insecticide Acelepryn appears nonhazardous to bees and most other benefcial insects (6,5). Pesticide applicators should follow label precautions and not apply insecticides to trees, shrubs or fower gardens when they are in bloom. The hazards of misapplication were highlighted by a high-profle incident in Oregon in June 2013 that led to the deaths of some 50,000 bumble bees when blooming linden trees in a shopping mall parking lot were sprayed with a neonicotinoid insecticide, in direct violation of the pesticide label. Communicate these precautions to members and homeowners in residential golf course communities to help them cultivate pollinatorfriendly lawns and landscapes. Golf courses are often some of the last nonfragmented green space remaining in urbanized areas. Environmental initiatives such as the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program, the Monarch Waystation Program (www.monarchwatch. org/waystations/) and Operation Pollinator (3) provide diversifed habitat in out-of-play areas that is favorable to bees and other charismatic pollinators such as Monarch butterfies. Increasing the acreage of naturalized habitat on golf courses also reduces mowing and the need for inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides.
Adult queen bumble bees were collected from different hives at the end of our trial. On the left are the many queens from a control hive. On the right is the original queen recovered from a hive exposed to clothianidin. Hives exposed to clothianidin produced no new queens and, by the end of the trial, had only the queens they started with. Photo by Jonathan Larson
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Operation pollinator is a way for golf course managers to encourage populations of bees and other pollinators with diverse plantings of nectar-producing fowers. For more information, see the April 2013 issue of GCM (http://gcmdigital.gcsaa. org/i/118283/111). Photo by Emily Dobbs
v
The research says ➔ Populations of bees and other insect pollinators are declining worldwide, potentially threatening the productivity of agricultural crops and natural plant communities. ➔ No one factor is causing bee decline; multiple interacting stresses such as habitat loss, pathogens, parasites, changes in beekeeping practices and other factors are in play. ➔ Exposure to certain pesticides can weaken bee colonies and make them more vulnerable to other stress agents. ➔ Our research shows that neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect bee health when flowering turf weeds are contaminated by sprays; once the treated site has been irrigated and mowed, the systemic hazard appears negligible. ➔ Chlorantraniliprole, representing a different chemical class, appears to be non-hazardous to bees. ➔ Superintendents can help conserve pollinators by adhering to label precautions when applying insecticides and by incorporating flowering plants in naturalized roughs.
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Conclusions Responsible use of insecticides on golf courses is not contributing to pollinator decline. However, public perception is important, so professionals who apply pesticides must diligently follow label precautions when using neonicotinoids on or around fowering plants. The U.S. EPA has added new label warnings to these products to highlight their potential hazards to bees. Recent restrictions on neonicotinoid usage in Europe and Canada underscore why it is important for turfgrass managers in the U.S. to be good stewards of these tools so that they will continue to be available. Golf course superintendents can also contribute to pollinator conservation by using targetselective insecticides, and by diversifying the golf course to provide food plants and habitat for bees and other pollinators. Funding We thank the United States Golf Association, the University of Kentucky’s Nursery Endowment Fund and the Bobby C. Pass Research Endowment for helping to support this research. Acknowledgments We also thank Syngenta for supporting the Kentucky Operation Pollinator project, and A. Kesheimer, C.T. Redmond, E. Dobbs and S. Marksbury for technical assistance.
Literature cited 1. Blacquière, T., G. Smagghe, C.A.M. van Gestel and V. Mommaerts. 2012. Neonicotinoids in bees: a review on concentrations, side-effects and risk assessment. Ecotoxicology 21:973-992. doi:10.1007/s10646-012-0863-x. 2. Calderone, N.W. 2012. Insect pollinated crops, insect pollinators and U.S. agriculture: Trend analysis of aggregate data for the period 1992-2009. PLoS ONE 7(5):e37235. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037235. 3. Dobbs, E.K., and D.A. Potter. 2013. Operation Pollinator for golf courses. Golf Course Management 81(4):100-103. http://gcmdigital.gcsaa.org/i/118283/111. 4. Henry, M., M. Béguin, F. Requier et al. 2012. A common pesticide decreases foraging success and survival in honey bees. Science 336:348-350. doi:10.1126/ science.1215039. 5. Larson, J.L., C.T. Redmond and D.A. Potter. 2012. Comparative impact of an anthranilic diamide and other insecticidal chemistries on benefcial invertebrates and ecosystem services in turfgrass. Pest Management Science 68:740-748. doi:10.1002/ps.2321.10. 6. Larson, J.L., C.T. Redmond and D.A. Potter. 2013. Assessing insecticide hazard to bumble bees foraging on fowering weeds in treated lawns. PLoS ONE 8(6):e66375. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066375. www.plosone.org/ article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0066375. 7. McFrederick, Q.S., and G. LeBuhn. 2006. Are urban parks refuges for bumble bees Bombus spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)? Biological Conservation 129:372–382. doi:10.1016/j. biocon.2006.05.014. 8. Potts, S.G., J.C. Biesmeijer, C. Kremen et al. 2010. Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25:345-353. doi:10.1016/j. tree.2010.01.007. 9. Wenfu, M., M.A. Schuler and M.R. Berenbaum. 2013. Honey constituents up-regulate detoxifcation and immunity genes in the western honey bee Apis mellifera. PNAS 110:88428846. 10. Whitehorn, P.R., S. O’Connor, F.L. Wakers and D. Goulson. 2012. Neonicotinoid pesticide reduces bumble bee colony growth and queen production. Science 336:351-352. doi:10.1126/science.1215025.
GCM Jonathan L. Larson is a doctoral candidate and Daniel A. Potter (dapotter@uky.edu) is a professor in the department of entomology at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Research in progress
cutting edge
the rolling frequency treatments. The three-year project was initiated in July 2011 at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. Turfgrass on the sand topdressed areas had less dollar spot incidence and was rated higher in quality compared to the native soil areas in 2011. Hot, dry weather in June and July 2012 could be the reason for the insignifcant difference in disease severity between sand and native soil plots and between rolling frequency treatments compared to 2011 results. — Thomas Okada Green (greenth7@msu. edu); John N. Rogers III, Ph.D.; Thomas A Nikolai, Ph.D.; Joseph M. Vargas, Ph.D.; and James R Crum, Ph.D., Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
Photo by T. Okada Green
Photo by T.M. Tate
Endophyte affects dollar spot severity in hard fescue Some hard fescues contain the fungal endophyte, Epichloe festucae. Genetic or endophytemediated resistance to diseases such as dollar spot would greatly improve quality of hard fescue under low maintenance. Dollar spot resistance levels in hard fescue can vary greatly, but inheritance of resistance in this species is not well understood. Endophytes have been reported to confer disease resistance in other fne fescue species. Several resistant and susceptible progenies of hard fescue were tested for the presence of the endophyte. Dollar spot was rated on a 1-9 scale, where 1 is disease-susceptible and 9 is disease-resistant. In progeny that tested positive for the endophyte, dollar spot ratings averaged 8.4 and in progenies that tested negative for endophyte, dollar spot ratings averaged 3.9 for 2010-2012. Because these samples are genetically similar, this resistance to dollar spot is likely mediated by the endophyte. This is the frst report of endophyte-mediated dollar spot resistance in hard fescue, but further research is needed to confrm this association. — Trent Matthew Tate (tmt103@scar letmail.rutgers.edu); William A. Meyer, Ph.D.; and Stacy A. Bonos, Ph.D., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Rolling and sand topdressing to reduce pesticide use The objective of this study was to compare turf grown on native soil and areas topdressed with sand, and evaluate the effects of season-long rolling frequency (one, three or fve times/week) on turf quality and disease severity for a mixedstand fairway of creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass. No fungicides were applied; plots were maintained at 0.5-inch cutting height. Vibratory rollers, attached to a triplex mower, were used for
Photo by G.L. Miller
Suppressing spring dead spot A three-year feld study on a plot naturally infested with spring dead spot (SDS) caused by Ophiosphaerella herpotricha was conducted using a strip-plot design with nitrogen source as the main plot and sulfur and fungicide as subplots. Nitrogen source treatments included urea, ammonium sulfate, calcium nitrate, Ufexx and Umaxx applied at 1 pound nitrogen/1,000 square feet in June, July and August. Flowers of sulfur (2 pounds/1,000 square feet) was applied to plots at the same time as nitrogen, or left untreated. Plots were treated with tebuconazole (0.6 f oz/1,000 square feet) once or twice during the fall or left untreated. Disease severity was assessed with digital imaging analysis. SDS was signifcantly less severe in plots receiving sulfur and/or tebuconazole compared to plots receiving only nitrogen. Fungicide plus sulfur treatments also provided more SDS suppression than fungicide alone. — Derek Joseph Cottrill and Gerald (Lee) Miller, Ph.D. (millerger@missouri.edu), University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
GCM Teresa Carson (tcarson@gcsaa.org) is GCM’s science editor.
Teresa Carson November 2013 GCM 89
PRODUCTnews INDUSTRY news Happenings and people you should know about
cut, New Hampshire and New Jersey. WinField has 80 service centers across the country. “This acquisition will allow WinField to grow its business and leverage existing distribution infrastructure in the northeastern United States,” says Kanchan Chavan, director professional products group, WinField. WinField also announced it entered into a purchase agreement for the acquisition of the professional products business assets and inventory of Wilco-WinField JV, which primarily services the turf and ornamental segments in the Pacifc Northwest. John Deere announced that two new distributors joined its network — Potestio Brothers Equipment Inc. in Colorado and Belkorp Ag LLC in California. Both will provide superintendents, club managers and technicians an enhanced level of service, support
Stens Corp., a global supplier of replacement parts for the outdoor power equipment, golf and industrial industries, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 16 at its new facility on the south side of Jasper, Ind. As one of the frst local companies to take advantage of the newly minted Jasper tax abatement ordinance, Stens frst announced in December 2011 that it would invest in renovating and equipping the 208,400-square-foot facility, adding up to 98 new jobs by 2015. Stens currently em-
Deere world champions recognized
ploys approximately 200 associates in Jasper and 275 across the country. The company completed its move to the new facility in July. Underhill International has entered a partnership agreement with KALO, supplier of turf and ornamental products, including Tournament-Ready, Hydro-Wet, H2O Maximizer and Medalist. The agreement was jointly announced by Ed Underhill, president of Underhill International, and Chuck Champion, president of KALO Inc. KALO turf and ornamental products will now be sold and marketed exclusively by Underhill International under the co-branding agreement. “This partnership presents a unique opportunity to provide golf course superintendents and turf professionals with water conservation products that enhance turf quality while applying water effciently,” Underhill says. WinField agreed to acquire Matrix Turf Solutions LLC. WinField is a large distributor of professional products for golf, lawn and sports turf, ornamental, pest control, aquatics and vegetation management. Based in the Northeast, Matrix Turf Solutions is an organization in the professional products industry, with a premium brand and value proposition similar to those of WinField, offering solutions, service and insights, primarily in turf and ornamental operations. Matrix Turf Solutions services New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecti-
92 GCM November 2013
Left to right: David O’Malley, John Deere Financial; and Shawn Emerson, Mike Scully and Bob Jones, Desert Mountain Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz. Photo courtesy of John Deere
A team composed mainly of Arizona residents won the 27th annual John Deere World Championship in September at Greenbrier Resort in Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The team was made up of Shawn Emerson, Mike Scully and Bob Jones of Desert Mountain Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.; and David O’Malley of John Deere Financial, Johnston, Iowa. The John Deere World Championship allows golf course maintenance professionals from all over the world to join their colleagues and John Deere personnel for team building on a course other than their own. This year’s event featured 208 golfers from seven different countries.
Jacobsen expands sales force
Foucheaux
Frie
Kuhl
Echenique
Morison
Jacobsen continues its expansion of its sales and support team. Doug Foucheaux is director of sales, responsible for the western U.S. and Canada. Foucheaux previously was senior regional manager at Rain Bird Corp. Lee Frie is territory sales manager, supporting dealers and customers in the northwest U.S. and Canada. Frie also came from Rain Bird, where he was district and regional sales manager. Kyle Mirk is territory sales representative for the western Michigan territory. Mirk had been at at CDW as sales account manager. Jacobsen also added Andrew Echenique, Gary Kuhl and Dean Morison as product support managers.
and value. Potestio Brothers, already a John Deere Gold Star Dealer, is supporting Colorado golf courses. The distributor has made signifcant investments in an expert parts staff, as well as six mobile service vehicles, and is a strong partner with John Deere Landscapes. Belkorp Ag LLC is serving the California region with its acquisition of former John Deere dealer Mid-Cal Tractor. It has eight locations throughout the Central Valley and the North Coast regions. Belkorp Ag also owns Big Sky Golf Course in British Columbia. Trojan Battery announced that Taijin Instrument & Electric Co. Ltd. will distribute Trojan’s deep-cycle batteries for the golf car market in South Korea. Taijin is selling and servicing Trojan products at the country’s more than 400 golf courses. They will offer Trojan’s broad line of deep-cycle fooded, AGM and gel batteries.
Profle Products recently completed a yearlong upgrade to their manufacturing facility in Blue Mountain, Miss. The upgrade allows the company, it says, continued expansion of production capacity and fexibility in its product mix, further enhancing its position in the sports turf, golf and agriculture markets. Representatives from the North Carolina Department of Labor and elected offcials joined employees of Profle Products to commemorate 750,000 consecutive hours without a lost-time incident at the company’s manufacturing facility in Conover, N.C. The company reached the milestone in August; the streak began in February 2008.
position. Chattahoochee Turf Products, owned by Roger and Susan Myers, has been an independent dealer partner of UTA for three years. The company has primarily done business in Georgia, but will now expand into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the panhandle in Florida. “My experience with UTA tells me that taking my involvement to the next level will be advantageous for my customers, my employees and my company as a whole,” Myers says. “I look forward to what lies ahead.” Pacifc Links International (PLI) announced the acquisition of the virtual club assets from International Club Network Limited (ICN). The ICN acquisition is the latest phase of growth PLI has seen this year, which includes partnerships with the PGA Tour and GolfBC and a portfolio of nearly 100 clubs throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia and Asia. Since 1998, ICN has developed what it says is the world’s largest private club access program consisting of 275 participating clubs in 22
countries. As part of the transaction, PLI will own and manage this network as well as ICN’s Privileged Play program. The largest program of its kind in Canada, Privileged Play provides members priority access and green fee savings at notable daily-fee courses for public and resort golfers. Also included in the network assets sold to PLI is a 50 percent interest in Access Global Golf and Travel Network. Global Turf Equipment (GTE), an independent seller and exporter of pre-owned golf course equipment, established Global Turf Equipment Denmark in partnership with Denmark golf industry veteran Tom Larsen. Larsen has been selling pre-owned turf equipment in Denmark since 2009 and repairing an array of light and heavy machinery for decades. The partnership will allow Danish golf course and turf professionals to access GTE’s unmatched inventory of preowned products. Serving golf facilities in more than 80 countries worldwide and all 50 U.S. states, GTE offers golf
“A single sedge tuber can produce more than 1,900 shoots.”
United Turf Alliance (UTA) added Chattahoochee Turf Products, a Georgia-based distributor of professional turfgrass maintenance products, in an ownership
November 2013 GCM 93
course owners, operators and superintendents a substantial cost savings by offering late-model alternatives to brand-new machines. Turf Solutions Group (TSG) built Nations Park in Newberry, Fla. The 16-feld complex is composed of natural grass and synthetic turf. The scope of the project included laser grading, drainage and irrigation for each of the 16 baseball felds.
Billy Casper Golf (BCG) acquired Women on Course, a golf networking organization. Women on Course is maintaining its name, and Donna Hoffman, who founded it in 2005, remains president and is based at BCG corporate headquarters outside Washington, D.C. BCG plans to dedicate extensive resources to signifcantly expand Women on Course’s membership base and expose millions of women to golf. Since 2010, Women on Course has increased its participation by more than 40 percent. Hunter Products was chosen by Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for installation of a new turf course 20 miles north of San Diego. The turf course features Hunter’s I-90 and I-40 rotors, IBV valves and Pilot central control system. Additional grounds areas featuring native plant material will be watered using Hunter’s multistream, multitrajectory nozzle, the MP rotor. The project is expected to be completed in time for opening day of the 2014 race season.
PEOPLE news Valent Professional Products announced that Jim Crockett and Nancy Voorhees were hired as territory managers for the company’s southeastern and western regions, respectively. Crockett most recently served as a horticulturist at Auburn University. He has worked in a leadership capacity at a number of major turf and ornamental companies during his career, including
94 GCM November 2013
vice president of operations at Color Spot Nurseries, the largest nursery in the U.S. He also was national sales manager and director of horticultural sales for Cleary Chemical Corp. Voorhees has worked as a lawncare specialist and assistant branch manager for ChemLawn Services. She spent the last 24 years with Target Specialty Products as a distributor sales representative and most recently as the company’s landscape business manager. Nic Neimeier and Rob Vanscoy joined La Crosse Forage & Turf Seed as sales representatives. Previously, Neimeier served as seed coordinator for All Points Cooperative in Nebraska. Neimeier focuses on serving customers within Nebraska and its surrounding states. Vanscoy comes to La Crosse Forage & Turf Seed following more than fve years as operations manager for Oliger Seed Co. in Ohio. Chris Phillips is the new vice president and general manager of Yardney Water Management Systems Inc. Phillips, son of Yardney president and CEO Ken Phillips, joined the company in 2004 as manufacturing technical support. Since 2007, he has served as operations manager. Norm Tuohy is the new regional sales manager at Arkansas Valley Seed. Tuohy has worked in the seed sales and distribution industry for more than 30 years, including the position of national accounts manager.
GOLF briefs Tripp Davis and Associates completed work on their frst golf course project in China. EcoCity International Country Club, located in Tianjin (fourth-largest city in China) is their site for an 18hole championship course, extensive practice facilities and state-of-the-art clubhouse. Eco-City International CC is surrounded by Ying-Cheng Lake, and the site occupies low land marshes near the Bohai Sea. In order to provide stimulating contrasts to the otherwise
play this month. Ambiente features only 90 acres of maintained turfgrass, requiring a minimum of maintenance resources. The remainder is a mix of desert riparian plants, upland desert trees, shrubs and grasses.
Coppinwood earns environmental honor
Bull Valley Golf Club in Woodstock, Ill., chose KemperSports to manage its facility. Bull Valley was built in 1988 and has been a host site for a U.S. Open qualifer. Dick Nugent designed Bull Valley Golf Club, ranked as the 19th-best golf course in Illinois by Golf Digest in its bi-annual state-bystate rankings.
GCSAA Class A member Scott Pratt led the effort at Coppinwood Golf Club in Goodwood, Ontario, to be recognized for environmental excellence. Coppinwood achieved designation as a Certifed Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program of Audubon International. Coppinwood became the 52nd golf club in Ontario and the 1,017th worldwide to earn the honor. “We worked with the world’s leading golf course architect, Tom Fazio, to build the course with the environment in mind, building on what was already there with minimal changes to the landscape,” says Pratt, a 15-year GCSAA member. Coppinwood is located on 357 acres of rolling terrain with stunning elevation changes 30 minutes northeast of Toronto. fat landscape that afforded panoramic views of the extensive water frontage, Tripp Davis and Associates created bold bunkering to present strategic and visual defnition. An offcial grand opening is anticipated for May 2014. Total Driving Range Solutions (TDRS) was chosen to build a new driving range facility at Oak Hills Park Golf Club in Norwalk, Conn. Plans call for a two-tiered, 30-bay structure with heated, allweather capability on the lower level. The range will extend 250 yards and will be conveniently located adjacent to the frst tee to accommodate golfers warming up before a round as well as those who visit just to practice. The First Tee also will be involved at the facility, which is expected to be completed next spring. Staples Golf Resource Group is launching a “Community Links” concept in Hobbs, N.M. Named Ocotillo Park Community Links, the project is set to invigorate the city’s golf course by implementing design practices that reinforce the course’s link to the surrounding community. The
primary focus of the plan is to attract youth and beginners to the game of golf by redesigning the existing 18-hole golf course that incorporates family tees, expand the practice facility and add a nine-hole executive course with a SNAG (Starting New at Golf) facility. The plan keeps overall turf acreage to a minimum, integrates a minimal irrigation delivery system that utilizes the city’s effuent water system, has chosen drought-tolerant grasses and keeps the overall focus on how the course can be maintained effciently. Additional elements such as walking trails, trail heads with rest areas and other outdoor spaces within the property have been included to increase the use of the facility by the non-golfng community. A complete rebranding of the facility also is planned. Construction is set to begin by the end of the year. Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design completed its work at Ambiente Golf Course at JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Arizona. The course is expected to open for
The Arlington Club, a private country club in Richmond, Ky., decided to retain KemperSports for its club management. KemperSports is evaluating all aspects of the club, including membership categories and programs, the condition of the physical plant, etc.
GCM Submit items for “Industry News” to hrichman@gcsaa.org
“In one year, one sedge tuber can become 6,900 new tubers.”
November 2013 GCM 95
PRODUCTnews
What’s new and hot for your course
AgroSciences’ products and products containing Dow AgroSciences’ active ingredients. Cash rebates are available on more than 55 participating products, including formulator brands and on-fertilizer formulations. In addition, customers can earn bonus rebates based on the total rebate amount earned throughout the year. Qualifying products must be invoiced during the purchase period Sept. 1, 2013, through Aug. 31, 2014. Completed rebate forms and invoices must be postmarked by Jan. 15, 2014, to receive a check in March or by Sept. 30, 2014, to receive a check in December. Contact DowAgroSciences, 800-255-3726 (www.Powerofmore.com).
Spectrum Technologies Inc. and the USGA introduced TruFirm turf frmness meter and also launched a new version of the FieldScout GreenIndex+App for turfgrass. TruFirm offers a quick, easy and affordable method to measure the frmness of turf and bunker sands. Data acquired from the device allows golf course superintendents and sports turf managers the ability to take appropriate actions to reach the desired frmness of golf course greens, fairways and bunkers as well as other playing surfaces. The USGA’s primary objective for the development of the TruFirm is to provide championship-caliber playability by managing greens that are consistently frm and fast. The patented TruFirm system utilizes a hemisphere-shaped impact hammer that mimics the shape of a golf ball to better simulate golf ball impacts. The mass is dropped from a consistent height and the maximum turf penetration value is recorded and correlated to the surface frmness — the lower the penetration value, the frmer the turf. Meanwhile, FieldScout GreenIndex+App utilizes the latest advancements in technology to allow users to measure the relative greenness of turf using its smartphone camera. Contact Spectrum Technologies Inc., 800-2488873 (www.specmeters.com). The FMC Professional Solutions Early Order Program is ongoing until Dec. 20, 2013. It allows participants to purchase products at current pricing prior to 2014 price increases, receive a base rebate incentive and beneft from extended payment terms. Popular FMC products included in the program are Blindside, Dismiss, Dismiss South, Dismiss CA, Echelon, Solitaire, QuickSilver
96 GCM November 2013
and Segway. Rebates are based on purchase amounts. To qualify, a rebate form must be submitted with copies of invoices via mail, fax, e-mail or online at www.fmceop.com by Jan. 15, 2014. For more information, go to www. fmcprosolutions.com/home/ promotions.aspx The 2013-14 Power of MORE rebate program from Dow AgroSciences is on now for customers who purchase qualifying products through December 2013. In addition, checks will be mailed twice during the program year for more frequent payouts. Customers earn cash back when they purchase Dow
E-Z-GO introduced its redesigned Freedom TXT personal golf car, updating the model’s classic look and proven performance and offering a host of enhancements to make the vehicle even more fun for the family, whether it’s crossing the fairways of the golf course or traversing the neighborhood paths. Freedom TXT’s new styling follows modern automotive design cues, giving it a sleek, contemporary appearance. Its front cowl and body panels are crafted from durable automotive-quality materials with an attractive painted fnish resistant to scratches and fading. The new front bumper withstands repeated 5 mph impacts, and TXT’s steelreinforced rear bumper is the strongest in the industry, the company says. The new sun top boasts a double-walled construction and an industry-frst molded-in grab handle. The canopy is angled downward to eliminate standing water, and a 360-degree drip edge funnels water away from occupants to
GolfBoard provides a new way to ride
GolfBoard from SolBoards Inc. is an electric long board that allows riders to travel across the course at the same speed of a golf car and experience the terrain like a surfboard. The four-wheel drive, lithium-powered longboard caters to experienced riders and newcomers. Its removable standup handlebar/golf bag holder offers the inexperienced rider a balanced point, a secured mount to attach a golf bag and the added bonus of a drink and ball holder. Contact SolBoards Inc., 888-328-2841 (www.golfboard.com). keep riders dry. Also, upgraded seating provides better lower back support and more cushioning. The forward-neutralreverse switch was relocated to a central location along the bench seat’s centerline, placing controls at the driver’s fngertips. The dashboard has larger cupholders. Contact E-Z-GO, 800-241-5855 (www.ezgo.com). Bayer’s Specticle FLO and Celsius have been approved for use in California. Specticle FLO is a pre-emergent herbicide that protects against a broad spectrum of broadleaf and grassy weeds including Poa annua, crabgrass and goosegrass. Celsius, meanwhile, delivers post-emergent control of more than 150 weeds and offers reduced risk of phytotoxicity during summer months. Celsius offers best-in-class safety on bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, St. Augustinegrass and centipede turf types and provides a single solution for many diffcult-to-control grassy and broadleaf weeds. Contact Bayer, 800-3312867 (www.backedbybayer.com). Standard Manufacturing introduced Bunker Barrier, a two-phase liquid-applied bunker liner that creates a frm, fexible layer
that stops contamination of the sand. Phase One is a binder coat that dries within an hour of applying with existing spray equipment. Phase Two is a topcoat and can be applied as soon as Phase One has dried. Both phases will spray on white but will clear as soon as they dry. Cleanup is simple with a mild soap solution. Sand can be added to the bunker the following day. Contact Standard Manufacturing, 626-3752515 (www.standard-mfg.net).
NIP IT IN THE TUBER
Can Your Fall or Spring Treatment Also Prevent Sedges? Echelon® Herbicide Can. With its patented combination of dual active ingredients, Echelon® goes beyond conventional preemergence crabgrass and Poa annua control to fight sedges and other weeds present at the time of application. What’s more, Echelon impacts sedge tubers underground to reduce future populations of perennial sedges.
SnowEx released SS-4000, its walk-behind rotary broom with a plow attachment for snow removal and other cleanup applications. It is powered by a Honda GXV Series engine, features a floating pivotal broom head with five angle settings to adjust the trajectory of snow and other materials. The 16-inch-diameter broom is centrally driven, allowing the unit to work against curbs, walls and other obstacles from either the left or right side. Brush rotation
Save big on Echelon herbicide and other products with the 2013 FMC Early Order Program! Visit www.fmcprosolutions.com or ask your FMC Authorized Sales Agent or Distributor for more information.
FMC Turf
@FMCturf
Source of tuber facts: Tumbleson & KIommedahl, 1961. FMC and Echelon are trademarks of FMC Corporation. ©2013 FMC Corporation. All rights reserved.
November 2013 GCM 97
Plant Food Co. launches biopolymer
Plant Food Co. Inc. introduced Omega, a benefcial biopolymer. It is a combination of chitosan and plant extracts that has taken stress recovery to an entirely new level, the company says. Plant Food Co. also features Impulse Green-T, a product derived from natural stress-resistant plant complexes, which increases potassium and calcium levels within the plant cell walls while decreasing H202 levels. Contact Plant Food Co. Inc., 800-562-1291 (www.plantfoodco.com). speed is infinitely adjustable and down pressure can be increased or decreased by raising or lowering
the pneumatic support wheel. For heavier snow, operators can install a front-mounted blade attachment,
which comes standard with the SS-4000. The 40-inch blade uses a unique pin system for easy installation and removal. Contact TrynEx International, 800-725-8377 (www. snowexproducts.com).
A Family Tree makes customengraved, high-grade stainless steel tree tags that are both environmentally responsible and a permanent reminder of a friend, a family member or a signifcant moment, such as a hole-in-one. The tree tags are engraved with a diamond-tipped custom-engraving tool etched into the steel. A patented spring allows the tag to be placed anywhere on the tree. The tree tag can be customized with golf course logos. Contact A Family Tree, 877-289-2381 (www. afamilytree.com).
Netafm showcases Octave, a technically advanced ultrasonic water meter that utilizes double-beam sensors to monitor fow. It offers a new level of accuracy to measuring fow data because the water-fow path is unrestricted. There are no moving parts or impeller. With no wear-prone parts, Octave’s ultrasonic technology reduces maintenance and improves long-term reliability. The meter’s measurement method is based on dual-beam sensors that determine the length of time it takes an ultrasonic wave to travel the distance between the two sensors located in the meter’s body. The sensors alternate as both senders and receivers with the ultrasonic waves traveling both with and against the direction of the fow.
FINALLY, A PHOSPHORUS YOU CAN ROOT FOR Add Crystal Green® to your nutrient program. A season-long supply of slow-release P, N, plus Mg in each granule builds high-performing, wear-resistant turf. Te unique, plant-activated mode-of-action releases nutrients only when roots ask for them, minimizing nutrient loss caused by tie-up or runof. Tat means fewer applications, reduced rates and lower costs. Enhanced efciency Crystal Green® Phosphorus when your turf needs it. Peace of mind when it doesn’t.
www.crystalgreen.com
Crystal Green® is a registered trademark of Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies
The fow rate is determined by the time differences between the two waves. The meter features an easyto-read, multiline digital LCD display that provides immediate reporting and visual indicators for critical conditions. Octave is available in sizes from 2 inches to 12 inches and monitors fow ranges from 1 gpm to 5,500 gpm. Contact Netafm, 888-6382346 (www.netafmusa.com). Arysta LifeScience has announced that a 30-pound bag is replacing the 40-pound bag of Aloft insecticide. Aloft SC and G formulations are broad spectrum and long lasting and provide systemic and contact activity for control of many pests in and around lawns, landscapes, golf courses and many other turf and landscape sites. Contact Arysta LifeScience, 866-761-9397 (www. arystalifescience.us). ChemView, launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a Web-based tool designed to signifcantly improve access to chemical-specifc regulatory information developed by the EPA and data
submitted under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). The ChemView Web tool displays key health and safety data in an online format that allows comparison of chemicals by use and by health or environmental effects. The search tool combines available TSCA information and provides streamlined access to EPA assessments, hazard characterizations and information on safer chemical ingredients. Additionally, the Web tool allows searches by chemical name or Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number, use, hazard effect or regulatory action. Go to (www. epa.gov/chemview).
PortaPump from PumpBiz Inc. is designed for pumping wastewater with ease from footings, trenches, pits, bunkers and foundations. There is no need for electricity supply or separate pump units. The Honda 4-stroke propane-converted engine provides hassle-free opera-
November 2013 GCM 99
PHOTO quiz answers
John Mascaro President of Turf-Tec International
PROBLEM A It’s common knowledge that grass never dies in a straight line, so obviously this problem is man-made. This resort course in upstate Michigan hosts a Kids Day Adventure Camp during the summer, and on one hot day, the camp counselors decided to put down a heavy plastic tarp for use as a slip-and-slide on the bentgrass/Poa annua lawn area located behind the resort’s hotel. The problem was they put the tarp down at 9 in the morning but didn’t use the slip-and-slide until mid-afternoon. At that point, the temperatures had climbed into the low 90s, causing the grass to bake under the tarp. What's interesting about this photo is that the shorter grass was not affected by the heat as much as the taller grass. The turf recovered on its own in about a week and a half, and the lawn was back to normal before the same area hosted a large reception that was a part of a convention that was taking place at the resort. All water activities at future camps will be restricted to the pool area from this point forward. Photo submitted by Tom Alonzi, the GCSAA Class A superintendent at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Mich., and a 23-year GCSAA member.
PROBLEM B This practice green was the frst to be hand-watered on this particular day. The utility vehicle that carried the hose also carried a small poly tank flled with a selective herbicide. The standard practice on this course, which does require quite a bit of hand watering, is not to allow hoses in the same utility vehicle as herbicide tanks. However, at the end of the previous day, one of the maintenance workers had parked his utility vehicle on a slight incline, causing trace amounts of the herbicide to leak from the tank onto the hose in the vehicle bed. When the water hose was dragged across the wet green during the hand-watering process, the herbicide was reactivated and caused burn spots to appear the following day. Since this was the frst green that was hand-watered that day, it is the only green where these marks appeared; the marks on the putting surface healed completely in about four to fve days. Picture submitted by James Newton, the superintendent at Dataw Island Club in Beaufort, S.C., and a three-year member of GCSAA.
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 john@turf-tec.com. Presented in partnership with Jacobsen
100 GCM November 2013
If your photograph is selected, you will receive full credit. All photos submitted will become property of GCM and GCSAA.
SUPERIOR QUALITY-OF-CUT. SURPRISINGLY AFFORDABLE. LF510
™
The new Jacobsen LF510™ fairway mower offers affordability from the start, simplifed maintenance and a reliable Kubota diesel Tier 4 fnal engine – making it easy to afford, use and maintain through its entire life. The LF510’s clean and consistent quality-of-cut is provided by the new TrueSet™ cutting units with Classic XP™ reels that boast an industry-leading 425-lbs. of holding power. Mow your fairways without scalping your budget with the new Jacobsen LF510. See your local Jacobsen dealer for more information.
1.888.922.TURF | www.jacobsen.com ©2013 Jacobsen, A Textron Company/Textron Innovations Inc. All rights reserved.
DEMAND SPECS EXPECT RESULTS
When choosing your renovation materials, demand product specifications and expect results.
tion and, in comparison to gasoline, uses less fuel, has reduced emissions and does not require mixed fuel. PortaPump is light, balanced and ftted with an adjustable handle and carry strap for user comfort and complete control. It features a convenient on-off switch and throttle control built into the handle. Contact PumpBiz Inc., 800786-7249 (www.pumpbiz.com).
True RMS measurement technology that is critical to installing and troubleshooting modern electronic lighting systems. Pro91 provides accurate measurement of the complex currents and voltages found in LED lighting systems, allowing quick verifcation of installations and location of problems. Contact Armada Technologies, 616803-1080 (www.armadatech.com).
Starting Time Golf has launched mini Golf, a golf game that can be played indoors, outdoors or on any smooth surface. The product is manufactured in Germany and is durable, lightweight and portable. It includes an interactive training aid to help improve the skills of both veteran golfers and newcomers to the sport. It is designed to appeal to any age. Contact Starting Time Golf, 800-8515442 (www.myminigolf.us).
Civitas One is now OMRI-listed (Organic Materials Review Institute). Civitas One is a pre-mix of the Civitas mineral oil synthetic isoparaffn and Civitas Harmonizer in one convenient 2.5-gallon jug, which, when used at label rates, can be expected to protect about 18,000 to 37,600 square feet of turf. Contact Civitas, 866-335-3369 (www.civitasturf.com).
ArborSystems introduced Pointle Palm, a new quickconnect injection tip for its Wedgle Direct-Inject Tree Treatment System. The tip, according to ArborSystems, was designed to get into the toughest plants and place the chemical or nutrient in the right spot. Treatment is delivered fast and effectively at a known dose rate with virtually no environmental exposure associated with foliage spray, soil injection or drenching. The 3-inch Pointle Palm Injection Tip has a pointed end that aids the tip getting into the palm. The chemical ports are recessed to minimize plant material from clogging the tip. The tip design was developed to penetrate a palm’s outer husk and deliver chemicals into the inner active layers. Contact ArborSystems, 800-698-4641 (www. arborsystems.com).
Since the advent of bunker liners, Sandtrapper has been there, delivering consistent quality and performance that professionals rely on. We’ve made reliability the hallmark of our manufacturing and customer service processes so the facility can make renovation project decisions easily and with confidence. Contact us today for the details of bunker liner dynamics and product specifications.
888-970-5111
www.sandtrapper.com
Armada Technologies released a new electrical meter tailored to the needs of landscape lighting professionals. The digital clamp-on multimeter known as Pro91 combines simple button control with advanced
Spectral Evolution released its PSR-3500 spectroradiometer for ground truthing and correlating satellite data with feld data. According to the company, accurate data can be collected quickly and easily using PSR-3500 with DARWin SP Data Acquisition software, and the spectra are saved as ASCII fles for immediate use with ENVI software. In addition, DARWin SP provides access to more than 19 vegetation indices to highlight particular vegetation properties of interest. Contact Spectral Evolution, 978-687-1833 (www.spectralevolution.com). Larson Electronics released its LM-20-3S-TLR TrailerMounted Light Tower that features a single-axle trailer and heavy-duty steel construction and can elevate light fxtures or electronic equipment to 20 feet in height for maximum coverage of large areas. Contact Larson Electronics, 800-369-6671 (www.magnalight.com). Golf GameBook, the free smartphone app featuring a golf community, live scoring, tournament manager and social chat, joined forces with BlackBerry. Via its mobile live scoring function, golfers can keep score in multiple groups and track leaderboards hole by hole. An in-app chat-style commenting option, similar to Facebook, allows users to interact with friends while they stroll the fairways. Golf GameBook offers an online service where all games and larger
tournaments can be recorded from the app for live tournament scoring, all for free. Contact Golf GameBook, 561306-1777 (www.golfgamebook.com).
GCM Submit items for “Product News” to hrichman@gcsaa.org
ON course Nov. 7-10 — PGA Tour, The McGladrey Classic, Sea Island Resort, St. Simons Island, Ga., Berry Collett, CGCS, Golf Course Maintenance Director. Nov. 7-10 — European Tour, Turkish Airlines Open, The Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Antalya, Turkey. Nov. 8-10 — LPGA, Mizuno Classic, Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Shima-Shi, Mie, Japan. Nov. 14-17 — PGA Tour, OHL Classic at Mayakoba, El Camaleon Golf Club at Mayakoba Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Nov. 14-17 — LPGA, Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamax and Jalisco, Guadalajara Country Club, Guadalajara, Mexico. Nov. 14-17 — European Tour, DP World Tour Championship, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nov. 18-24 — PGA Tour, World Cup of Golf, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria, Australia. Nov. 19-22 — Champions Tour, Q School, TPC Scottsdale Champions, Scottsdale, Ariz. Nov. 21-24 — LPGA, CME Group Titleholders, Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Fla., Dale Conzelmann, CGCS, director of golf course maintenance.
COMING up Nov. 4-8 — Irrigation Show and Conference, Austin, Texas Phone: 703-536-7080 Website: www.irrigationshow.org Nov. 5 — Environmental Seminar, Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Ore. Phone: 877-375-1330 Website: www.ogcsa.org Nov. 6-8 — November Turf Conference, Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, Md. Phone: 410-548-1599 Website: www.esagcs.org Nov. 7 — GCSAA Webcast: My Best Feature is Fairways Contact: GCSAA Education Phone: 800-472-7878 Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/ webcasts.aspx Nov. 7-8 — Virginia Turf Summit, Wintergreen Resort, Wintergreen, Va. Phone: 804-747-4971 Website: www.vgcsa.org Nov. 12-14 — Texas Turfgrass Conference, Dallas Sheraton Hotel Phone: 800-830-8873 Website: www.texasturf.com Nov. 13-14 — 2013 Turf and Ornamental Seminar, West Lafayette, Ind. Contact: Jennifer Biehl Phone: 765-494-8039 Email: biehlj@purdue.edu Website: www.agry.purdue.edu Nov. 14 — GCSAA Webcast: Planning for Replacement: How Long Does This Stuff Last? Contact: GCSAA Education Phone: 800-472-7878 Website: www.gcsaa.org/education/ webcasts.aspx Nov. 14 — Midwest Turf Clinic, Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Ill. Phone: 630-243-7900 Website: www.magcs.org Nov. 14 — Seven Rivers Toys for Tots Fundraiser, Juliette Falls, Dunnellon, Fla.
Phone: 800-732-6053 Website: www.foridagcsa.com
Email: info@virginiaturf.org Website: www.vaturf.org
Nov. 19-20 — Carolinas GCSA Annual Trade Show, Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Phone: 800-476-4272 Website: www.carolinasgcsa.org
Dec. 16 — 22nd Annual Duff Shaw Classic, North Ranch Country Club, Westlake Village, Calif. Phone: 310-320-6400 Website: www.californiagcsa.org
Nov. 20 — Bunker Renovation Seminar, Location TBA Phone: 480-609-6778 Website: www.cactusandpine.com Dec. 3 — Toy Drive at Avery Ranch Golf Club, Austin, Texas Phone: 512-388-2874 Website: www.ctgcsa.com Dec. 3-5 — Kansas Turfgrass Conference, Kansas Expocentre, Topeka Phone: 785-532-6173 Email: cdipman@ksu.edu Website: www.kgcsa.org Dec. 3-5 — Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Phone: 614-285-4683 Email: info@ohioturf.org Website: www.ohioturfgrass.org Dec. 4 — Iowa GCSA Seminar, Cedar Rapids Country Club Host: Tom Feller, CGCS Phone: 515-635-0306 Website: www.iowagcsa.org Dec. 10-11 — Wisconsin Turfgrass Symposium, American Club, Kohler, Wis. Phone: 920-643-4888 Website: www.wgcsa.com Dec. 10-12 — 38th annual Green Expo, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City, N.J. Phone: 973-812-6467 Website: www.njturfgrass.org Dec. 11-12 — Pesticide Seminar, Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Ore. Phone: 877-375-1330 Website: www.ogcsa.org Dec. 11-13 — Virginia Tech Turfgrass Short Course, Fredericksburg Expo Center Phone: 757-464-1004
Dec. 16-17 — Common Ground Conference, Overland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, Kan. Phone: 816-561-5323 Website: www.hagcsa.org Jan. 6 — First Annual G.C. Horn Memorial Turfgrass Education Seminar, Gulf Coast Church of Christ, Fort Myers, Fla. Phone: 239-513-8016 www.evergladesgcsa.com Jan. 22-24 — Ontario Golf Course Management Conference and Trade Show, The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto Phone: 519-767-3341 Website: www.ogsa.ca Jan. 27-30 — VTC Conference & Show, Fredericksburg Expo Center, Fredericksburg, Va. Phone: 757-464-1004 Email: info@virginiaturf.org Website: www.vaturf.org Jan. 28-30 — Iowa Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show, Downtown Des Moines Marriott Phone: 515-635-0306 Website: www.iowagcsa.org ——— To learn if you can receive education points for any of these upcoming programs, visit the External Education Listings in the education section at www.gcsaa.org/education/ externaled/current.aspx. ——— We want to know about your event in advance. To submit an entry for “Coming up,” please send your information five to six months before you'd like to see it in the magazine. We run event information for three months. Send a contact name if all details are not final. Contact Golf Course Management, Attention: Coming Up, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-3859; 785-832-3638; fax: 785-832-3665; email: hrichman@ gcsaa.org.
NEWmembers ALABAMA Joshua A. Slaven, Supt. Mbr., Troy ARKANSAS Denver K. Cooper, Student, Fayetteville Robert D. Forsyth, Class C, Little Rock CALIFORNIA Dillon Griffth, Supt. Mbr., Fresno COLORADO Joshua L. Hess, Student, Fort Collins William Seese, Student, Fort Collins FLORIDA Ryan P. Cannon, Class C, Pompano Beach Tony J. Italiano, Class C, Naples Joseph W. Schopp, Class C, Fort Myers Daniel Yates, Class C, Tequesta GEORGIA Anthony A. Wright, Class C, Atlanta ILLINOIS Trevor A. Elliott, Student, Malta IOWA Desmond S. Decker, Student, Ames Daniel R. Irons, Student, Ottumwa Blake K. Nelson, Student, Ames KANSAS Tyler D. Henley, Student, Manhattan Quentin H. Waite, Student, Manhattan MARYLAND Zachary D. Callahan, Student, College Park Steven M. Smith, Class C, Chevy Chase Garrett Sterling, Student, College Park MASSACHUSETTS Greg M. Bennett, Supt. Mbr., Winchendon David H. Bradford, Student, Amherst MINNESOTA Josh Blenker, Class C, Monticello Joshua D. DeRosier, Student, Anoka NEBRASKA Brett B. Lacey, Affliate, Lincoln
NEW JERSEY Chase Christiaens, Student, New Brunswick Michael D. Elliott, Associate, Pine Valley NEW YORK Norman W. Hummel, Affliate, Trumansburg Aaron W. Storace, Class C, Verona NORTH CAROLINA Jesse D. Cigary, Class C, Cornelius Patrick R. Fitzgerald, Student, Raleigh Michael J. Fouweather, Class C, Whittier James R. McGinnis, Student, Supply OHIO Jonathan Brownsell, Student, Columbus Patrick C. Carroll, Student, Columbus Brandon R. Hoover, Student, Wooster Thomas R. Parker, Class C, New Philadelphia Josh Stewart, Student, Columbus Craig A. Stout, Student, Salem Xinyu Tian, Student, Columbus PENNSYLVANIA Jack R. Blythe, Student, State College Robert E. Bond, Student, State College Ryan J. Budd, Student, University Park Hunter A. Keech, Student, State College Sarah A. Ongaro, Student, Doylestown Ryan L. Schroeder, Student, University Park Andrew D. Zook, Class C, Millersville SOUTH CAROLINA Riley F. Boyette, Class C, Johns Island Alex P. Cauthen, Student, Conway Charles M. Wideman, Supt. Mbr., Newberry Daniel W. Woolley, Student, Conway TENNESSEE Jeremy Niederklein, Class C, Waverly TEXAS Kevin D. Cloud, Student, College Station Garrett G. Parker, Student, College Station WISCONSIN Adam J. Freeman, Supt. Mbr., Nekoosa Tyler J. Gerritts, Student, Madison
AUSTRALIA John P.W. Mann, ISM, Melbourne CANADA Chris J. Copeman, Student, Guelph, Ontario Justin J. Heptinstall, ISM, Port Carling, Ontario Sean Van Beurden, Student, Guelph, Ontario DENMARK Jeppe Krogh Kristensen, ISM, Kerteminde
GCM Editor’s note: The information in this report was pulled from GCSAA’s member database on Sept. 24, 2013.
ON THE move ALABAMA John H. Freeman, CGCS Retired, formerly (AA) at Turtle Point Yacht & Country Club, is now (AA) at Blackberry Trail in Florence. ARIZONA Peter Ferlicca, formerly (SW) at College of the Desert, is now (C) at Tonto Verde Golf Club in Rio Verde. Ryan M. Howell, formerly (S) at Penn State University-University Park, is now (C) at Desert Highlands Golf Club in Scottsdale. CALIFORNIA Ryan R. Hardin, formerly (C) at Seascape Golf Club, is now (C) at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. Jacob M. Valentino, formerly (C) at The Lincoln Hills Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Ashwood Golf Club in Apple Valley. COLORADO Robert W. Walt, formerly (C) at Uintah Parks & Recreation, is now (C) at The Black Bear Golf Club in Parker. CONNECTICUT Christopher M. Konow, formerly (SW) at Penn State University, is now (C) at Black Hall Golf Club in Old Lyme. FLORIDA John V. Andersen, CGCS, formerly (A) at Serenoa Golf Club, is now (A) at Ocean Breeze Golf & Country Club in Boca Raton. 106 GCM November 2013
Benjamin S. Crum, formerly (A) at TimberCreek Golf Club, is now (A) at Tiger Point Golf and Country Club in Gulf Breeze. Harold L. Davis III, formerly (I), is now (A) at The Polo Club of Boca Raton in Delray Beach. Jeffrey L. Johnson, formerly (SM) at Southern Wayne Country Club, is now (C) at ChampionsGate Golf Club in Davenport. Joseph R. McColgan, formerly (S) at Florida Gateway College, is now (C) at Naples Grande Golf Club in Naples. Shane B. Schutte, formerly (SM) at Cane Garden Country Club, is now (C) at Mallory Hill Country Club in Lady Lake. GEORGIA Matthew E. Ayer, formerly (C) at Sedgefeld Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Doublegate Country Club in Albany. Jason C. Edwards, formerly (A) at Pine Hill Country Club, is now (A) at Lion Golf Club in Bremen. K.R. Buege, CGCS, formerly (A) at Misty Creek Country Club, is now (A) at Esplanade Golf and Country Club at Naples in Naples. HAWAII Seril Shimizu, formerly (C) at The Club at Kukui'Ula, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at The Challenge at Manele Bay in Lanai City. IDAHO Benjaman D. Wilmarth, formerly (C) at White Tail Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Osprey Meadows at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly. ILLINOIS Nicholas S. Marfse, formerly (C) at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont. Ross W. Page, formerly (I), is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Weber Park Golf Course in Skokie. William A. Sharp, formerly (C) at Chicago Highlands Club, is now (C) at Effngham Country Club in Effngham. INDIANA Alex J. Hamberg, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at Avon Fields Golf Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Grand Oak Golf Club in West Harrison. KANSAS Josh C. Thomas, formerly (C) at
Shadow Glen Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Country Club of Leawood in Leawood. Ron Wright, CGCS, formerly (A) at Blue Tip Course, is now (ART) at Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in Lawrence. KENTUCKY Collin R. Murphy, formerly (AS) at Mineral Mound State Park, is now (C) at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park in Gilbertsville. MASSACHUSETTS Joshua D. Beland, formerly (C) at Sharon Country Club, is now (C) at Hawthorne Country Club in North Dartmouth. MICHIGAN Matthew P. Chapman, formerly (C) at Cascade Hills Country Club, is now (C) at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor. Jesse M. Sholl, formerly (A) at Chandler Park Golf Course, is now (A) at Michigan State University in Brimley. MINNESOTA Randy Juliar, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at Mississippi National Golf Links, is now (SMRT) at Turf Solutions Management LLC in Red Wing. NEVADA William D. Rohret, CGCS, formerly (A) at the Legacy Golf Club is now (AA) at Highland Falls Golf Course in Las Vegas. NEW JERSEY Kevin N. Smith, formerly (C) at Scotland Run Golf Club, is now (C) at Medford Village Country Club in Medford.
SOUTH CAROLINA James I. Brown Jr., formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at Eagle Nest Golf Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Black Bear Golf Club in Longs. Jason Wallace, formerly (C) at Colleton River Plantation Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Colleton River Plantation Club in Bluffton. TENNESSEE Bill Davis, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at The Country Club of Sebring, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Poplar Meadows Country Club in Union City. TEXAS Robby G. Boyd, formerly (C) at Hawks Creek Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Timarron Golf Club in Southlake. Christopher Bussard, formerly (SM) at Penderbrook Golf Club, is now (C) at Longwood Golf Club in Cypress. Justin LaRue, formerly (C) at Sammons Park Golf Course, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Sammons Park Golf Course in Temple. UTAH Charles L. Hansen, formerly (C) at Flagstaff Ranch Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Moab Golf Club in Moab. VIRGINIA Steve Brohawn, formerly (A) at Piankatank River Golf Club, is now (A) at Kiskiack Golf Club in Williamsburg. AUSTRALIA Brittney Goldsworthy, formerly (AS) at Lake Karrinyop Country Club, is now (C) at Lake Karrinyop Country Club in Karrinyup.
NORTH CAROLINA Shane Harrelson, formerly (C) at Carolina Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at The Lake Course in Hickory.
CANADA Adam M. Zubek, formerly (Supt. Mbr.) at Capilano Golf & Country Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Mississauga Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, Ontario.
OHIO Charles K. Day, formerly (C) at Heatherwoode Golf Club, is now (Supt. Mbr.) at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro.
JAMAICA Matthew W. Voluse, formerly (C) at Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall Jamaica, is now (ISM) at White Witch Golf Course in Rose Hall, St. James.
PENNSYLVANIA Donald G. Dodson Jr., CGCS, formerly (A) at Hunt Valley Golf Club Inc., is now (AFCR) at Genesis Turfgrass Inc. in Glen Rock.
GCM Editor’s note: The information in this report was pulled from GCSAA’s member database on Sept. 24, 2013.
AD index Advertiser Telephone
PARTNERS
AMVAC (888) GO-AMVAC PLATINUM PARTNER
Page number URL
Advertiser Telephone
Page number URL
35 www.amvac-chemical.com
Lely USA Inc (888) 245-4684
110 www.lelyusa.com
Aqua-Aid Inc. (800) 394-1551
69* www.aquaaid.com
Milorganite (800) 287-9645
106 www.milorganite.com
John Deere Co. (800) 257-7797
4-5 www.johndeere.com/Golf
BoardTronics (800) 782-9938
6-7 boardtronics.com
Neary Technologies (800) 233-4973
The Toro Co. (800) 752-0463
67, IFC-1 www.toro.com
Bos Sod Farms (800) 267-7763
110 www.bossod.com
Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, Inc. (604) 408-6697
Champion Turf Farms (888) 290-7377 FMC Professional Solutions (800) 235-7368
GOLD PARTNER
Peat, Inc. (800) 441-1880
111 www.peatinc.com
93, 95, 97 www.fmcprosolutions.com
Phoenix UPI (888) 250-8856
47, 55 www.phoenixenvcare.com
Pifer (888) 442-8442
110 www.pifergolf.com
Foley United (800) 225-9810
53 www.foleyunited.com
Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC Cover tip, Cover 4 (909) 308-1633 www.syngentaprofessionalproducts.com
Frost Services (800) 621-7910
99 www.frostserv.com
GCSAA Services (800) 447-1840
8-9*, 65, 71, 73, 75, 107 www.gcsaa.org
Pure Seed (503) 651-2130
GE Capital, Equipment Finance (469) 586-2010
Cover 3 www.gecapital.com/golf
Rogers Sprayers Inc. (800) 975-8294
SILVER PARTNER
PlanetAir Turf Products (507) 446-8399
Barenbrug USA (800) 547-4101
39 www.barusa.com
Georgia Seed Development Commission (303) 431-7333
69* www.tifeagle.com
Sand Trapper (IVI-Golf) (888) 970-5111
Baroness (707)283-0610
19 www.baroness.us
Golf-Lift Div. Derek Weaver Co., Inc. (800) 788-9789
111 www.golf-lift.com
Select Source
Civitas Fungicide (a.k.a.Petro Canada) Club Car (800) 445-6680 Floratine Products Group (901) 853-2898 Lebanon Turf (800) 350-6650 Par Aide Products Co. (513) 470-0160 PBI Gordon Corp. (800) 971-7233 Precision Laboratories, Inc. (800) 323-6280 Quali-Pro (888) 584-6598 Tee-2-Green Corp. (800) 547-0255
57 www.civitasturf.com 76-77 www.clubcar.com 79 www.foratine.com 14-15 www.lebanonturf.com/ 2-3 www.paraide.com
Greenjacket (888) 786-2683
98 www.ostara.com
8-9* www.championturffarms.com
31, 60-61, 101 www.jacobsen.com
Jacobsen (800) 232-5907
49 www.nearytec.com
111 www.greenjacket.com
The Andersons, Inc. (800) 253-5296
GreensGroomer Worldwide, Inc. 59 (888) 298-8852 ext. 500 http://www.greensgroomer.com/
TRIMS Software International Inc. (800) 608-7467
Grigg Bros. (888) 623-7285
Turf Screen (267) 246-8654
33 www.griggbros.com
29 www.planetair.biz 11 www.pureseed.com 111 www.rogerssprayers.com 102 www.sandtrapper.com 37 http://selectsourcellc.net/ 25 www.AndersonsPro.com 110 www.trims.com 51 www.turfmaxllc.com
Growth Products Ltd. (800) 648-7626
17 www.growthproducts.com
Winfeld Solutions (855) 494-6343
J2 Golf Marketing (877) 263-1614
94, 104 www.j2golfmarketing.com
Wood Bay Turf Technologies (800) 661-4942
99 www.woodbayturftech.com
*Denotes regional advertisement
Denotes affliate member
21, 103, 105, 108 www.pbigordon.com
King Ranch (800) 445-2602
27 www.miniverde.com
23 www.precisionlab.com
Kochek (800) 420-4673
110 www.kochek.com
13 www.winfeld.com
90-91 www.quali-pro.com 40-41 www.tee-2-green.com
November 2013 GCM 109
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110 GCM November 2013
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November 2013 GCM 111
the fnal shot
Photographer: Zach Bauer Title: Golf course superintendent Course: The Broadmoor Resort, Colorado Springs, Colo. GCSAA membership: 14-year GCSAA member The shot: The superintendent for the West Course at the Broadmoor, Bauer snapped this photo of a plume of smoke rising far behind the resort’s clubhouse in June of this year. The smoke was a result of the Black Forest Fire, a wildfire that destroyed more than 14,000 acres, 509 homes and claimed two lives. It was the most destructive fire in the state’s history. The Broadmoor, fortunately, was spared damage from this fire. Do you have a photograph that you’d like the GCM staff to consider for The Final Shot? You can submit photos for consideration by e-mail to thefinalshot@gcsaa.org or to GCM editor-in-chief Scott Hollister at shollister@gcsaa.org.
The early bird gets year-long-rebates-andrewards-on-top-performingproducts-with-beautifullong-lasting-results. And the worm. Planning ahead means more than proactively maintaining healthy turf, it’s also about managing your budget. With the GreenTrust™ 365 Early Order Program you can maximize your buying power by purchasing leading products now, while earning rebates for the entire year. GreenTrust 365 runs from October 1, 2013 to December 9, 2013. Earn up to 3x the amount of GreenTrust Rewards points by ordering Qualifying Products in October, 2013. Keep track of your total savings and rebates easily with our new agronomic calculators. Visit GreenTrust365.com to learn more.
© 2013 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties. Please check with your state or local extension service to ensure registration status. GreenTrust™, the Alliance Frame, the Purpose Icon and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. MW 1LGG3069-P1-R1 09/13