2 TURF LINE NEWS
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 3
12 Cam Watt Pursuing Career Outside of Turf Industry, Resigns as WCTA President
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Never a Doubt First Ever WCTA Virtual Conference and Trade Show a Huge Success!
TOP STORIES 14
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2021 Dues Notice 75% of Members Have Already Paid
AGA-BC Reminds Golf Courses to Review Covid Bmp's as Season Gets Underway
Another 2021 First ? Silent Auction for Turf Research Goes Online
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Cam Wat t , seen at t he 2020 W CTA Conference and Trade Show (left of phot o), has decided t o pursue a career out side t he t urf indust ry and has resigned as W CTA President . See st ory page 12. PG 05 | APRIL 2021
On t h e cover : Jenn Rozek (left) and Dena Gent (right) have climbed to top of golf associations Image credit: TURF & RECREATION MAGAZINE
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BC Women Leave Mark on Industry as Association Heads
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Another 2021 First ? Silent Auction for Turf Research Goes Online
Feat u r e St or y
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AGM Minutes
GaryPerks- A FriendWho Cared AboutOthers WCTA New s
Regu lar Colu m n s 05
Image Of The Month
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Board of Directors
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President's Message
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Look Whose Joined - March 2021 Report
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Cam Watt Pursuing Career Outside of Turf Industry, Resigns as WCTA President
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2021 Dues Notice - 75% of Members Have Already Paid
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Never a Doubt - First Ever WCTA Virtual Conference and Trade Show a Huge Success!
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WCTA Presents Life Memberships
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Membership is for everyone
In du st r y Br ief WSU Turf Legend - Dr. Bill Johnston Dies AGA-BC Reminds Golf Courses to Review Covid Bmp's as Season Gets Underway Cam pu s New s 28
2021 Patrick Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament Postponed
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Olds College Teams Excel at 2021 Turf Bowl
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 17
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NEWS BY GA RY BA RTLEY
M essage from t he W CTA President M ar/Apr 2021 I?ll start this message with the question that many of you are going G ARYBARTLEY to be asking ? ?What have I done to UBCAt hl et ics Cameron Watt, our elected President?? In a short answer, Cameron has decided to take advantage of an exciting offer and opportunity to change direction in his life and is leaving the Turf Industry. Having worked with Cameron for the last couple of years, it came as both a shock and with optimism. I was shocked to learn of his new direction and the fact that I and the Turf Industry is losing a dedicated and selfless advocate, but optimistic for the chance of helping people realize their potential. PG 08 | APRIL 2021
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news BY W CTA STA FF
Look W hose Joined M arch 2021 Report As a unified voice for the professional golf and sportsturf management industry in western Canada, the WCTA is currently 706 members strong! We're seeing a great start to the 2021 membership year, cracking the 700 mark for the first time since 2016 welcome and thank you for your support and confidence in our association! We also appreciate the 1500+ non-WCTA members on our mailing list for your interest in WCTA activities. PG 09 | APRIL 2021
2021/2022 WCTA Board of Directors
pr esident Gar y Bar t l ey
v ice PRESIDENT t o be named
past PRESIDENT Tr av is Ol son
UBC At hl et ics (604) 970- 1417
Kaml oops G&CC (250) 554- 1441
cl ick t o send an email
cl ick t o send an email
DIRECTOR of f inance Dav in Mar r
t wo YEAR DIRECTOR St u Car michael
one YEAR DIRECTOR Andr e Dionne
Hil l v iew Gol f Cour se (250) 549- 4653
Cit y of Cour t enay (250) 338- 1766 x7643
Cit y of Coquit l am (604) 927- 6246
cl ick t o send an email
cl ick t o send an email
cl ick t o send an email
one YEAR DIRECTOR Jed McGeachie
one YEAR DIRECTOR Jesse Cowan
one YEAR DIRECTOR John Per r y
Ov er t on Env ir onment al (604) 807- 6768
Gal l agher ?s Canyon GC (250) 862- 1540
poppy Est at es Gol f Cour se (778) 809- 1607
cl ick t o send an email
cl ick t o send an email
cl ick t o send an email
PG 10 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 11
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IMAGE CREDIT: MAYOW ILL PHOTOGRAPHY
news BY JERRY ROUSSEAU
Cameron Wat t Pursuing Career Out side of Turf Indust ry, Resigns as W CTA President One of the first steps for me after every 2nd AGM, is to email the new President a note of congratulations and orientation. We then setup a call to start things moving, like drafting the coming year?s meeting schedule, doing a conference debrief, discussing finer points of the Presidency role and going through a wide-ranging association status and activities update. PG 12 | APRIL 2021
LEARN MORE
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news BY W CTA STA FF
2021 Dues Not ice - 75% of M embers Have Already Paid Dear WCTA Members, If you haven?t already, it?s now time to take care of your 2021 membership dues. Nearly 75% of members have paid and we?re hoping to catch the rest of you before another busy season is upon us. All dues invoices were emailed last November. There are several ways to make payment - the quickest is giving Leslie Carnell a call with a credit card at (604) 372-3530. If you have not received your dues invoice via email, please let Leslie know and we?ll get it sorted out. Thank you for taking care of this. If you have any questions regarding membership benefits, programs, activities of the association, becoming a board member or have any sort of feedback, please feel free to contact me at exec.direct or@wct at urf.com. Sincerely, Jerry Rousseau Executive Director Western Canada Turfgrass Association PG 14 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 7
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W SU Turf Legend Dr. Bill Johnst on Dies Dr. Bill Johnston, emeritus professor of Turfgrass Management at Washington State University and a great friend of the Northwest Turfgrass Association, died Sunday, Feb7, 2021 according to a letter released by WSU. Details of his death were not released. He did, however, suffer a serious fall in his home on New Year?s Day. Dr. Johnston was a faculty member at WSU for 35 years. Besides leading the WSU turfgrass program for many of those years and mentoring countless golf course superintendents in the Northwest, Dr. Johnston was a frequent speaker at the NTA annual conference and kept NTA members informed with his numerous research studies over the years. PG 16 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 9
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NEWS V IA AGA-BC
AGA-BC Reminds Golf Courses t o Review COVID BM P?s as Season Get s Underway With many seasonal golf courses open or preparing to open, the Allied Golf Association of British Columbia is encouraging all BC golf businesses to: 1. Refresh yourselves on the COVID-19 Protection - Best Practices for the Responsible Operations of BC Golf Courses as there are a few new requirements since some courses closed last fall, such as daily health checks for all employees. PG 18 | APRIL 2021
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news W CTA STA FF
Never a Doubt - First Ever W CTA Virt ual Conference and Trade Show a Huge Success!
For the first time in our 60+ year history, the annual WCTA Conference and Trade Show was held virtually. It was a nail biter trying to anticipate attendance uptake, how well the new format would be received by both delegates and sponsors and whether or not the tech would work properly but with 260 total participants, the platform running as it should and tons of amazing feedback, as they say, there was never anything to worry about! PG 20 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 21
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st or y V IA TURF & RECREATION M AGA ZINE
BC W omen Leave M ark on Indust ry as Associat ion Heads More and more women are entering the golf and turfgrass management profession in Canada, and more and more of them are reaching some of the highest pinnacles in the industry. They are golf course superintendents, owners of lawn care and landscaping businesses, sports turf managers, respected academics, key figures of industry supply companies and Presidents of industry associations. PG 22 | APRIL 2021
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news BY W CTA BOA RD
W CTA Present s Life M emberships Each year, the WCTA Board of Directors undertakes a nomination process to recognize and thank individuals for their outstanding achievements and service to the professional sportsturf management industry. These, our highest level awards, are presented annually at the AGM. According to our bylaws, there are a few pre-requisites: a) Must be retired from membership occupation. b) Retired past presidents will automatically receive life membership. c) Must have been a member for at least 10 years (exceptions may be considered relative to service). PG 24 | APRIL 2021
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st or y BY PAT DIFFER
L to R : Richard Krahn - Jim Dickie - Brian Houston - Gary Perks - Ben Funk. Penticton Interior 50th, image taken by Jerry Rousseau
Gary Perks (1946-2021) A Friend Who Cared About Others Only a few people over my time as an adult have made a difference in my life, my career, Gary Perks was one of them. Gary Perks is a name that today, few may know. We lost Gary in early March 2021 and our turfgrass industry lost an early influential giant. PG 26 | APRIL 2021
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news BY KPU TURF CLUB
2021 Pat rick Dooley M emorial Golf Tournament Post poned
Postponed to Friday, October 8, 2021 Mayfair Lakes Golf Course Details TBA this summer PG 28 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 29
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news BY JA SON PICK
Olds College Teams Excel at 2021 Turf Bowl
Olds College students competed in the annual TurfBowl, an annual event hosted by the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America. The annual test, which takes place at their international conference, is a competition based test inviting undergraduates of Turfgrass programs from all over the world. PG 30 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 31
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br ief BY ISCBC
ISCBC t o Hire 200 People t o Help Prot ect BC from Invasive Species ISCBC will be hiring 200 people to help tackle invasive species in BC thanks to $8 million in funding from the BC Economic Recovery Plan, StrongerBC. The jobs will include training and skill development to support invasive species outreach, public campaigns, and on-the-ground management of invasive species. ISCBC will begin hiring for this program immediately and ongoing. Check our Careers for job postings. PG 32 | APRIL 2021
PG 33 | APRIL 2021
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news BY W CTA STA FF
Anot her 2021 First ? Silent Auct ion for Turf Research Goes Online At 9:00am Pacific time on Friday, January 8th, our first ever online auction officially opened to bidders. ?WHOA?, short for WCTA Hub for Online Auctions, was made possible by generous turf management industry suppliers and service providers who contributed various goodies with a total retail value of nearly $13,000! The auction, hosted by the Charity Auctions Today platform, ran through this year?s virtual conference and trade show, closing at 5:00pm on February 11th. PG 34 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 35
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Changes t o BC Pest icide Licencing Procedure Aut horizat ion t o sell or use pest icides Pesticide exams, certificates, and authorizations are affected by the pandemic. IPM Response to COVID-19 An authorization may be required to sell pesticides, apply pesticides to public or private land, to apply pesticides as a service, or for specified industrial uses or water. Under the Integrated Pest Management Act and Regulation there are four types of authorizations: - Certificates are issued to individual pesticide applicators - Licences, confirmations and permits are issued to businesses that have certified pesticide applicators Before using any pesticides, find out which authorization is required for your specific situation. Please refer to the sector review paper to help determine which authorization you need. PG 36 | APRIL 2021
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 37
PG 38 | APRIL 2021
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