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 From the News Desk...Oakmont crew receives visit from Stanley Cupby John ReitmanJohn Zimmers’ staff at Oakmont Country Club received a rare treat recently when a member of the Pittsburgh-area club with a minority interest in the NHL champion Pittsburgh Penguins stopped by the shop with the Stanley Cup trophy. Robbie Hoffman, a former grounds chairman and past president at Oakmont called Zimmers on Sept. 15 and asked whether he could gather his crew within 20 minutes for the surprise visit. “I called them all in and said it was a staff meeting, so they were pretty surprised to see it was the Stanley Cup instead,” Zimmers said. “Mr. Hoffman is such a great guy and a huge supporter of mine. He truly has an appreciation for the golf profession and is constantly doing something nice for my staff and/or me.” Hoffman thought enough of Zimmers chance to hold the cup to let him drink a beer from it – a Labatt Blue to be exact. There was no word on what Penguins majority owner Mario Lemieux – also an Oakmont member – thought about the cup being used as a tankard. The Penguins came back from a 3-games-to-2 deficit to the Detroit Red Wings to win the 2008-09 Stanley Cup playoffs and the second professional sports championship of the year in Pittsburgh. The Steelers also defeated the Arizona Cardinals in this year’s Super Bowl. “What a sport and a great year for sports in Pittsburgh,” Zimmers said. “It really was interesting to see all of our interns who aren’t from Pittsburgh actually start to follow and support the Pens during the playoffs.” The real good news for Zimmers this year, however, was the career advancement of some of his protégés. Brett Bentley, first assistant superintendent, recently was named superintendent at Pikewood National Golf Club in Morgantown, W.Va., former assistant Brendon Clark in June was named superintendent at West Shore Country Club in Camp Hill, Pa., and second assistant Dave McCaffrey accepted the position of assistant superintendent at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, Fla., where he works for superintendent Tony Nysse. 
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 In other news... Greens of envy Olympic Club members and 2012 U.S. Open reap benefits of converting from Poa annua to bentgrass. Posted: 11/19/2009 Read more » News and people briefs Register now for New England turf show, Toro introduces walk-behind trencher, Sipcam adds to sales staff Posted: 11/19/2009 Read more » A better divot digger Motorized device developed at the University of Arkansas produces uniform damage quickly and could help advance turf recovery research. Posted: 11/19/2009 Read more » Currier moving on from Bethpage Site of this year's U.S. Open to get new superintendent and 15th green. Posted: 11/18/2009 Read more » Economic struggles mean finding more fat to trim Superintendents look for ways to cut due to shrinking budgets. Posted: 11/16/2009 Read more » Complete news index »
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