Ma rc h / A p ri l 2 0 1 0
FORE YOUR INFORMATION STEPHEN MCVEY,CGCS MORGAN CREEK C .C .
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
President’s Message
2
Meeting Schedule
3
Wilber’s News
4
California GCSA News
5
Government Relations
7
Dr. Wong Goes to Washington
8
Telegraphic Dynamics
12
Highlights from National
14
GrassRoots Highlights
15
Dates to Remember June 15, 2010 Sevillano Links July 12, 2010 Annual Scholarship and Research Tournament Woodbridge Golf & C.C.
Sierra Nevada GCSA An Affiliate Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
BY SEAN O’BRIEN
Established in 2003, Morgan Creek Country Club was one of the later arrivals to the golf and housing boom in the Greater Sacramento area. Although a relatively young venue, Morgan Creek C.C. has earned a good reputation as a quality facility in our area and one that should be on everyone’s list to check out and experience for themselves. Stephen McVey, CGCS is a big reason for that reputation, having been there from the beginning to nurse the Club through those tentative break-in years and now into an established mem-
ber of the golfing community. This is no surprise though, given Steve’s prior experiences as the Assistant Superintendent for 6 years at the well-known Sherwood Country Club and moving up to Superintendent at the Virginia Country Club before settling here in our neck of the woods at Morgan Creek. Working isn’t the only thing Stephen does well on the golf course either, as he sports a very capable index of 6.1. Like many in this field Steve rose out of the ranks of the landscaping business. Describing his early ventures in land-
scape architecture as a “political clusterbomb,” he relished the opportunity to get out of the office and work outside where he really wanted to be. For the dedicated hard worker golf affords that chance. Having graduated with a BS in Ornamental Horticulture from Cal Poly Pomona in 1989, Steve had the necessary credentials to move into the golf side and pursue his new career path. Topping the long list of enjoyable aspects of his profession, Stephen cites the variety that comes with each new day and the great group of people (Continued on page 6)
A DEAR FRIEND HAS LEFT US. IN MEMORY
OF
JIM BIRCH
BY ADRIAN BERTENS Jim Birch, a member of the SNGCSA since 2008, had just checked in at his hotel in Haiti on January 12, 2010 when the quake hit. Jim had texted his wife Lisa and daughter “Miss Megan” as he used to call
her to let them know that he had arrived safely. It was the last communication they would ever have with their husband/father. Jim was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1959, earned a degree in Landscape Architecture
from the University of Arizona and was hired by Jack Nicklaus just 6 weeks after graduation. This was Jim’s start in the golf course construction business. Soon thereafter Jim found himself building golf courses for Jack in (Continued on page 10)
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Fore Your Information EDITOR Jim Alwine Stockton Golf & Country Club 209-462-6734
OFFICE SNGCSA 5322 N. Leonard Clovis, CA 93619 559-298-6262 Fax# 559-298-6957 sngcsaa@aol.com PRESIDENT Scott Dickson Saddle Creek Resort 209-785-3701
VICE PRESIDENT Jim Alwine Stockton Golf & Country Club 209-462-6734
SECRETARY/TREASURER Jeff Couwenhoven Woodcreek Golf Course 916-771-7370
PAST PRESIDENT Frank Putnam Mace Meadows Golf & C.C. 209-295-7773
DIRECTORS Scott Koski Incline Village Championship Course 775-832-1309 Jeremy Payne Empire Ranch Golf Course 916-817-8106 Colby Gunsch Tahoe Paradise Golf Course 530-577-0547 Phil Brown Spring Creek C.C. 209-599-3747
Affiliate Representatives Justin Fowler CPS 916-606-5553 Dave Wilber Sierra Pacific Turf Supply 916-630-7600
FORE YOUR INFORMATION Published by the Sierra Nevada Golf Course Superintendents Association
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Greetings! After watching the first two Red SoxYankee baseball games of the 2010 season, I started thinking how expectations seldom Scott Dickson equal reality. During the off season, the Red Sox made several acquisitions that had people expecting their defense and pitching to improve while the bats were not going to be as strong. The first game the Red Sox scored plenty and beat the Yankees by two runs. The second game, the Red Sox made a key error in the eighth inning that was followed by the winning run being walked home. The season is still very young, but to say I was disappointed by the loss would be an understatement. As a manager, I expect my staff to show up to work every day on time and to work their hardest following the rules and standards that have been set in place. The reality is that everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes; from waking up late to forgetting that the bunker rakes all need to be placed in their proper location. Without proper training and discipline, I have no right to expect anything better. The consumer who comes to my golf course expects immaculate condition. He cares very little that it was 100 degrees for the last 20 days and that the fairways lost some turf from heat stress and/or disease. She doesn’t care that aerification is necessary for the long term health of the greens. If that person isn’t informed prior to their arrival, their disappointment will lead to anger, followed by the course losing future business.
SCOTT DICKSON
Some of my boss’ expectations are that the golf course is maintained to a high standard, I stay within the budget, and projects and plans are completed in a timely manner. Murphy’s Law, that states anything that can go wrong, will, was probably written by a golf course superintendent. Proper and timely communication goes a long way in ensuring that the boss is informed of all situations. As a member of the association, you have expectations as well; such as, the association is financially stable, that quality education is held at meetings, and meetings are reasonably priced. I tell you now that thanks to the hard work of previous and present board members, the SNGCSA is on solid financial ground. The present education committee is working hard to line up speakers for many of our upcoming meetings and thanks to host superintendents for doing their best to keep costs down and donations from our affiliate members, our meetings continue to be priced well below many other local chapters. Unfortunately, thanks to my Dad and Grandmother, my devotion to the Red Sox continues to border on unhealthy and somewhat twisted. I need to remind myself that I have no control over them and what will be, will be. But if I continue to work hard at my job and for the association, I can ensure that most if not all expectations will equal the reality.
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MEETING SCHEDULE April 21, 2010
August 9, 2010
Morgan Creek Country Club Host Superintendent Stephen McVey, CGCS
15h Anniversary of the Joint Meeting with the Central California Chapter Del Rio Golf & C.C. Host Superintendent David Bermudez
May 19, 2010 Wildhorse Golf Club Host Superintendent Wes Leith
June 15, 2010 Sevillano Links Host Superintendent Mathew Hoyt
July 12, 2010 Annual Scholarship Tournament Woodbridge Golf & C.C. Host Superintendent Jim Husting, CGCS
September 23, 2010 Annual President’s Cup Gray’s Crossing Host Superintendent Mike Cornette
October 2010 Meeting Location to Be Confirmed
November 2010 Annual Election
December 2010 Annual Holiday Event
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W I L B E R ' S S I E R R A N E VA DA N E W S By Dave Wilber Andy Wallace takes over as superintendent at Coyote Moon G.C. in Truckee which is now being operated by the original developer/owner, Chris Steele of Catta Dave Wilber Vedera fame. Andy comes from the Resort at Squaw Creek, where Jeff Hegland will take over. Jeff comes to us from McCall, Idaho where he was the Super at Osprey Meadows Golf Club at the famed Tamarac Resort. Jeremy Payne at Empire Ranch in Folsom has been busy with construction of a new hitting tee on his practice facility and will
be doing some expansion work on one of his greens. All this and being a Sierra Nevada Board Member and a new Father. Nice! We are really blessed to be able to have a great slate of upcoming meetings for the Sierra Nevada Chapter. Stephen McVey's Morgan Creek (Roseville, CA) in April, Wes Leith's Wildhorse (Davis, CA) in May and Matt Hoyt's Sevillano Links (Corning, CA) in June. And we have some great educational opportunities to go along with these "don't miss". Special thanks to all who have let us know that they would like to host an event. Believe me, we will be calling! Speaking of events, we'd like to encourage everyone to feel free to bring a guest. This is a great
opportunity to show someone from your facility what our group is all about. But please, do Irene Cline (our AMAZING Executive Director) and our association a favor and make sure you register your guest when you register yourself and indicate that person will be coming as your guest. This insures you will get to play with them and that we know they are coming.
2010 Scholarship Applications Available Online www.california.gcsa.org Chapters
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CALIFORNIA GCSA NEWS BY
The California Hospitality room was the happening place at the San Diego GIS. Over 650 members and guest attended the event. I want to thank all of you for your patience in the beginning, this was the first year we had pre-registration so the line was a little long early on, but it flowed well due to our very helpful chapter managers and the CGCSA Board of Directors who all chipped in. Troy Mullane, Committee Chairman and San Diego chapter member along with his committee did a great job of finding a location near the GIS, (right next door), that afforded us great views, plenty of room inside and out, and great company. The CGSA Board wants to thank all it’s members and affiliates for their continued support of the event. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando. SURVEY SAYS….CGCSA eblasted a list of survey questions to all members back in January. Please let Bob or your chapter manager know if you did not receive it. Sometimes your computer or e-mail filter will spam this type of mail, so we want to make sure everyone can get their opinions in when we send out the next one. We had approximately 130 members fill out the survey out of 950 that were sent out. Although we would like to get that number higher, we have been assured by experienced survey takers that this is about average. Please fill out these surveys, they are one of our best tools for improving this association. I’ll try and hit some of the highlights of the survey without getting to in depth. If anyone wants a more in depth look please contact Bob Tillema, the California GCSA
KEVIN FRIESEN, CGCS
Association Manager or your local state representative. The first question asked was...What would be the best month for you to attend the CGCSA annual conference? November accounted for over a quarter of the results with May coming in a distant second at twelve percent. So for the time being the conference will remain in November. The second question asked was...What kind of educational programs would interest you? You all gave us a large variation of topics and they will be given to the 2010 chairman of the conference. Even with some new topics brought up, for the most part they were all topics that have been offered in the past. We will continue to offer updated and new programs that will give you optimum DPR and GCSAA PDI Points. The third questions asked was...How can CGCSA better serve you? Answers varied greatly on this question as well, from “you’re doing a great job” to “tell me what your are currently doing for me”. The CGCSA definitely needs to work on getting out the message of what we do for our members. This will be done over the next couple of months in the form of articles in newsletters, e-blasts, and personal contact at chapter meetings. The fourth questions asked was...What are your suggestions to improve the CGCSA Web Site? Again answers varied, but for the most part members wanted a cleaner updated version similar to both San Diego and Northern California Chapter’s web sites.
The California GCSA board is currently in discussion with web site programmer for pricing and implementation of a improved web site, with links to other chapters, faster updates, and registrations with confirmation. The fifth questions asked was… What are your suggested improvements to the hospitality room? For the majority they were satisfied with the current set up. Comments ranged from more room, less noise or some quiet spaces, to it’s getting too expensive. Suggestions ranged from go back to like it was in the old days in a hotel suite with a couple of ice chests full of beer, to bring in a live band for entertainment. The CGCSA board will take all comments into consideration. It is difficult to satisfy everyone. We will continue to look for the best venues with cost always being a consideration. We will try to find a balance between vendor support and member support, and we look forward to comments on the San Diego Hospitality Room The CGCSA Board of Directors is made up of representatives from the six chapters in the state of California. We are here to represent and serve all our members, please feel free to let us know how we can better serve you.
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STEPHEN MCVEY CONTINUED
F R O M PA G E
he works with to meet those challenges. Appreciative of what this profession has afforded him, Stephen has given much back in the form of serving as President of the So Cal Association. He counts among his achievements earning his Certification in 2004. In addition to his coworkers Steve gives a lot of credit for his success to his trusted companion and wife of 19 years, Lee Ann, and to their two boys Trevor and Tanner who are in their mid teens. Of course life can’t be all roses as he adds that “people find it very easy to complain, while extremely hard to compliment” and further asks “Why is a golf course the world’s largest ashtray?” Both common laments in most Superintendent’s experiences, I’m afraid.
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Kyle Phillips designed the 18hole configuration at Morgan Creek which ranges in tee lengths from 5431 to a very respectable distance for the accomplished golfer of 7303. Cultivation of cool-season grass varieties in the heat of a Sacramento Valley summer is enough to stress anyone out. Thankfully, Steve says he has the best dirt in the valley and it makes his job really easy. NOT! In reality he has the same lousy dirt the rest of us do and says “soil would be a gift.” Great, now we all know what to give him for his birthday this year.
Steve plans on implementing a few bunker renovations and he adds “like everyone else, we’ll be spending less and doing more” Thanks Steve, for inviting us over and we’re all glad you and your family are a part of our community.
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CALIFORNIA GCSA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS NEWS By Jim Husting, CGCS This is our first, in hopefully a series, of articles updating the membership of Sierra Nevada GCSA as to the government relations work we are/have been doing for the California GCSA, of which, by the way, the GCSA of Sierra Nevada is a part. I will start this series off for now, but eventually someone else will continue. Currently, the California GCSA has formed a “new” Government Relations Committee as I am about to “officially” resign my chairmanship of some 13 years. The Government Relations Committee is currently composed of me, Jim Ferrin, CGCS, Kevin Breen, CGCS, Jim Alwine, Kevin Friesen, CGCS, Rafael Barrajas, CGCS, and Stuart Rowland. Most all of the six California GCSA chapters are represented and as the process moves forward I am quite confidant that these individuals will do a great job. And just what is it that I have been doing for 13 years and the committee will continue doing? The California GCSAA Government Relations Committee monitors legislation emanating out of Sacramento and also responds to the different regulatory agencies that affect our profession. We work closely with our lobbyist George Steffes and Dennis Loper of
Floratine
Capitol Partners. George has been advising us on the different issues over the years, and now Dennis is eventually going to take George’s role over as well. Both George and Dennis are certified golfing nuts, and their love of the game has gravitated them to us and vice versa. Our relationship is one of mutual respect and I have had the pleasure to see George in action on our behalf many a times. This relationship that we have is quite unique in that there are not many GCSAA chapters that even have a lobbyist. The California GCSA realizes this and will continue to benefit from this relationship as the years progress. Quite frankly, and I am a bit prejudiced, but it is the most important benefit that the local state chapters receives from the state organization. Without us, you would go it alone in the government relations arena. Currently, we are monitoring some 40 bills that have been introduced this year in Sacramento. They range from pesticide usage, to water usage and reporting as well as a myriad of others. Just about anything that we feel our membership and profession needs to know and be informed about. The bills are generated by Susie Steffes, George’s daughter, from a system that we
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formed some 13 years ago with the appropriate buzzwords. From there, legislation is reviewed and the committee decides which bills to monitor and watch as they migrate from the various committees and legislative chambers. If there is a particular bill or regulation we feel needs to be announced, the CGCSA Government Relations Network sends out an email notice to all those members that are on the Network. Many of you are on that Network and do receive those notices. Currently we are well over 400 from all around the state, so notices do get out there. This is a “grassroots” network and sometimes it requires a response. Legislators do take notice when one of their constituents responds to an issue….so yes you do and can make a difference. We are also monitoring very closely, and have responded to a California DPR proposed new regulation concerning pesticide applications near surface waters of the State. This one is a biggy! The California GCSA, with the help of GCSAA, drafted a response to this proposal and we actually got a personal audience with the officials from DPR about these proposed regulations. There may not be any(Continued on page 11)
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DR . W ONG GOES TO WASHINGTON BY FRANK WONG,
Greetings to everyone from the nation's capitol! In case you've been wondering where I've been, I'm on sabbatical from UC Riverside and spending this year in Washington DC as a Public Policy Fellow for the American Phytopathological Society and fighting the good fight here for all things related to moldy plants. As it happens, my wife Caroline took a fellowship position here in DC with AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) working on biofuels policy with the EPA. Being a new husband and all of that, I decided to take a short break from sunny California and headed east to join her. Being an APS Public Policy Fellow has given me some interesting opportunities like meeting our State Secretary of Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, at National Invasive Species Awareness Week in January. Surprisingly, Sec. Kawamura was pretty "with it" with regard to some issues we face and asked me about red imported fire ant issues on California golf courses. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised, he's still an active strawberry and vegetable grower in Orange County on top of all of the other stuff he has to do. I also got to "accidentally"
meet the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at a USDA budget meeting in February. It's a long story, but let's just say that I can totally understand how those two party crashers got into the White House a few months ago: if you kind of look like you know what you're doing in DC, everyone's too embarrassed to ask you who you are for fear that you actually might be someone important that they don't know about. I also ran into a professor of mine from Cornell at another USDA budget meeting who happens to now be the Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics at the USDA. I told her, "Damn, if I knew you were going to be in charge of all of the USDA agricultural research, I would have gotten way better than a C- in your class." Other than that, I've also been working on pesticide issues here, most recently on a joint response by the Weed Science Society of America, Entomological Society of America and American Phytopathological Society to some recent proposed changes to pesticide labels that could severely restrict applications because of more stringent drift control requirements. All I have to say about that is going through some 50 pages of proposed legislation
about spray drift, line by line, can give you a serious headache. That reminds me of a joke I heard here that goes something like this, "why are there only 4500 words in the U.S. Constitution but 28,000 words in that law regarding how much salt you need to put in pickle juice?" There's some other projects I'm starting on now related to pesticide issues that we'll hopefully be able to meet and work through with the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, but I'd hate to put you guys to sleep while reading this in the bathroom. I've also been able to keep active in the golf course industry while out here. In January, I got to speak at the Eastern Pennsylvania Turf Conference in Valley Forge outside of Philadelphia, about Waitea patch. Recently, I was in Providence, Rhode Island giving a talk to the New England Regional Turf Conference on anthracnose and meeting with the NE 1025 regional USDA workgroup. "What's NE 1025?" you may ask. It’s the "supergroup" of over 24 scientists from all over the U.S. formed by Bruce Clarke at Rutgers to battle anthracnose and annual bluegrass weevil. We're working hard to keep
(Continued on page 9)
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DR. WONG GOES CONTINUED
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TO
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your Poa alive – see this link for more info: http:// archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/gcman/ article/2008aug42.pdf Finally, I can't say that life here hasn't been "exciting". Soon after getting back to DC from the GCSAA Conference in San Diego, I had quite the adventure on the DC Metro subway system. I was sitting on a train, minding my own business when a thief grabbed my iPhone and ran for it when the train came to a stop at one of the stations. Being a native Fresno boy, there was no way I was going to let him get away with it, and gave chase to get my iPhone back. After a T.J. Hooker style foot chase, jumping over barriers and racing through the crowded station, I caught him on the escalator. Unfortunately, we rolled 20 feet down the escalator and I lost some skin and a little bit of my ear on the metal steps, but I got my
WASHINGTON
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from here in DC. I'm going back and forth regularly between DC and California to keep my lab going on research projects. Best of luck this spring with your disease management programs and I'll look forward to seeing you guys at future GCSA events this year!
2010 Membership Directories available in electronic file or hard copy.
iPhone back and the DC Metro Police took him away in handcuffs. I bet that he was a little surprised that turf pathologists can run that fast. In the meantime, I'll try to stay out of trouble here and keep an eye on turf diseases in California
Call the Association Office to place your order 559-298-6262
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IN MEMORY
OF
JIM BURCH
Jim pictured with wife Lisa and daughter Megan
Spain and Italy. Back in the U.S. again, Jim was in charge of building courses for Jack and Elon Construction Co. In 2007, Jim decided to start his own company “ JB Golf Renovations”. Because of Jim’s extensive knowledge and experience in golf course construction, JB Golf became known for quality and performance.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
In 2008 Jim was awarded the contract for the redo of 6 holes at the upscale Almaden Country Club in San Jose, Ca. Jim hired us for the installation of the irrigation system at this project. Jim’s personality, people skills and patience are what I remember most. It was like working with a friend and his experience came through time and time again especially at a project as complex as this one. The size and depth of the new-to-build lake was a challenge even for Jim. The results put a feather in Jim’s hat! Our industry lost a great professional and a terrific person in Haiti this year. Anyone interested is encouraged to make a donation to Unicef, Doctors without Borders or the American Red Cross in Jim Birch’s honor. Jim, we will miss you a lot.
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Welcome New Members Eric Grady, Horizon Dist. Affiliate Member Travis Hoiseth, Mineral Resources Affiliate Member Gordon Mann, Fallen Leaf Tree Service Affiliate Member Bob Kelnadfer Hastie’s Capitol Sand And Gravel Affiliate Member
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THANK YOU
FROM FRANK PUTNAM Today, Sharon and I sit in our newly rebuilt home on an unwanted rainy and snow mixed Sunday night. It is one of the first times in many months that we were able to cook dinner and relax with everything needed at hand. The support of the SNGSAA, GCSAA, community, friends, and family has kept us very much grounded. I am proud to be associated with so many great individuals that have impacted our lives in a profound positive manner. A very heart warmed thank you and a salute for the unwavering support is definitely in order. You’re the greatest. Frank Putnam
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Government Relations News Continued from Page thing we can do about these “proposed” will continue on into the future. The regulations, but at least they now know individuals that have volunteered to who we are. The CGCSA GR Commit- carry on the CGCSA GR Committee tee will continue to respond to DPR as and Network are fine professionals and the regulations have not been officially adopted yet. If they are adopted look for individuals! We will continue on in the some very strict restrictions on certain government relations arena to represent pesticides that golf courses are currently our profession in the best way possible. using. These would most certainly inUntil next article, stay involved and be clude some type of “buffer zones” along vigilant! waterways, which they (DPR) interpret as any stream, river, pond, lake, ditch etc.etc. Well, I hope I have not been too boring in this first California GCSA GR Update! It has been too long since I have written anything to inform this chapter on just what I have been doing these past 13 years. I apologize for that. I am excited however, that what has Jim Husting, CGCS receiving the Distinguished Service Award from GCSAA President Mark Kuhns, CGCS been established in the past
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THE TELEGRAPHIC DYNAMICS SUCCESSFUL SUMMER
OF A
BY DAVE WILBER Here is Spring and that means Summer has the throttle twisted and is headed our way. Summer means all kinds of things to turfgrass managers. Long days, different grass types and their needs, kids out of school and their needs, long days, golfers, irrigation issues, long days and of course, long days. For almost all of us, it is make or break time. I have seen clearly that successful summer survivors are always months ahead of the game as it comes to preparing. One superintendent who was always way ahead of the curve explained that if he didn’t start sending his turf “Telegrams” way before the dog days, then the turf would never get
the message. Brilliant. Think about it, when the environmental stress of the Spring is low, you have control of how and what kind of pre-stress conditioning to implement. The need for accuracy isn’t as great. It’s a great time to experiment a little and see how far you can take things. It’s an important time to plan and be real about what your current situation is. Water. Here is where I have seen more sins committed than almost any area of springtime agronomy. Too much, too soon and too often can put a total stop to any kind of pre-stress conditioning for the plant. “Oh, it needs a little bit of water”, is a warning sound for trouble to come. Don’t give into the temptation to do this and you’ll see that not babying turf
as cool weather pays off in spades later. Now, there are always exceptions, but they are rare. Nitrogen Fertility. Spring Springs and so does the Lely. It’s true, after a long and rainy (or snowy) winter we turfheads are always anxious to get our grow on. Yet, so often application timing too early, leads to issues. Yes, nutrient management often dictates some growth being needed, but remember, as soil temps are coming up, biological activity is getting on the next train. So for many, that overzealous fert application is soon followed with a cry for help to keep up with the mowing. Easy does it always works. (Continued on page 13)
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THE TELEGRAPHIC DYNAMICS PAGE 12 Mineral Fertility. On the other side of the coin is the fact that pre-stress conditioning can mean a need to fix or enhance soil nutrients in need of restocking. Your energies in getting materials out before summer are totally worth it. Be it Potassium or Calcium or Phosphorous or whatever other corrective treatments, doing it now is never a bad idea. Plant Protection. Call me crazy, but I think the days of application of any kind of plant protection “Just Because We Always Do” are long over. Careful consideration of the dollars available, the total program possible, the real stress that you have at your property is necessary. If indeed you battled Anthracnose or other Spring/ Early Summer Disease last year there is no guarantee that things will be the same. A watchful eye? Yes. Proper timing of
OF A
SUCCESSFUL SUMMER CONTINUED
applications? Of course. Fear, because you might end up like the course down the road did last year? Absurd. Expecting a material to suddenly work when it should have been applied earlier. Just as Dumb. Confused? Seek help. It’s all around. Growth Regulation. I love the many options we have with Growth Regulation these days. Specific, targeted materials and programs that make our efforts to grow grass a whole lot of fun when the growth needs to slow down or the seedhead just has to go. But like anything else, these materials need proper application timing, correct selection and an understanding of what they will and will not do. Again, “just because” can’t be the way to approach the use of tools that are amazing in their ability to help us move into summer stress periods.
FROM
Again if you are confused…help is out there in many forms. There are no dumb questions. You. Spring can be a great time for you to look in the mirror. Are you OK? Is your family OK? What health things can you address before the Dog Days come? Where are your priorities? Who is in your support network? How is your Faith? When is the last time you really laughed? All of these things are important. When we talk about pre-stress conditioning, this has to be an area of critical factor. Preparation for anything is key. Take a moment and map out your world a bit. Look deep and see what the possibilities are for doing things better and different. Don’t procrastinate. It won’t help you when the heat is really on.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM SAN DIEGO Pictured at left enjoying the California Room are Bill Kissick, Matt Moore and Stephen McVey, CGCS
Above are Adrian Bertans, with Scott Murrey of Christensen Irrigation and Brett Staples of Par Consultants having a great time at the California Room
Below are Irene Cline, Jim Alwine, Kevin Breen, CGCS, Scott Furtak, and Kevin Friesen, CGCS Pictured above are Dean Kinney, Jim and Caroline Husting At right are Bill & Erica Davis with Jim and Carrie Alwine
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HIGHLIGHT
FROM THE
2010 GRASSROOTS
Pictured above is Turf Grass Manager of the Year honoree ,Kyle Jones, Yocha-De-He Golf Club The Sierra Nevada Golf Course Superintendents Association honored Kyle for maintaining his facility to a standard that reflects consistent, high quality playing conditions while displaying excepPictured above is Wes Leith, winner of this tional agronomic and management skills. year’s GrassRoots Trophy. Above right, Bob
Cline received his award as the Distinguished Member of the Year. At bottom right is Affiliate Merit Award winner for 2009, Dave Macy of CPS. Congratulations to all winners and thank you for your contributions to our association and to the golf course industry.
Pictured at left is Bob Neal who donated a beautiful picture for our Silent Auction
2010 Grass Roots Tournament Sponsors Thank You Grass Roots Agronomics West Coast Sand and Gravel Synthetic Turf Brown Sand Reed Equipment DOW Agro Turf Star Ewing Irrigation Bayer Environmental Science Anderson Golf Products Commercial Pump First Tee of California Arrow Golf Construction Simplot Target Wilbur Ellis Co. Fallen Leaf Tree Service CPS Aquatrols Ryerson Construction Eagle One Golf Products