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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • Peter McCormick
    Unknown to many prior to the Black Desert Championship PGA event in October when four blue autonomous fairway mowers silently groomed the fairways, the engineers at FireFly Automatix have quietly challenged and in many cases discarded the traditional conventions of fairway mower and cutting unit design.
    FireFly Automatix dates to 2008 when co-founder Steve Aposhian and a small group of fellow mechanical engineers decided to fabricate replacement parts for the sod harvesters used on Aposhian’s family’s turf farm in Salt Lake City. The parts were of such high quality that they began selling them to other sod farms, some of which encouraged them to build their own complete harvesters.
    In 2011, Aposhian and his engineer buddies quit their day jobs and jumped into manufacturing of sod harvesters, but not the same-old-same-old.
    "We were the first to implement a lot of electric technology on a piece of mobile equipment like this," said Aposhian in a recent TurfNet podcast interview with Dave Wilber and Peter McCormick. "Traditional machines used hydraulics and traditional control mechanisms. My background as a mechanical engineer is in automation, so we implemented a lot of factory-type automation on a sod harvester. Since then we've become the largest producer of automated turf harvesters in the world."

    The Black Desert Championship launched the AMP L-100 into the industry limelight. Mark LeBlanc started with FireFly Automatix six years ago, doing mechanical design on those sod harvesters.
    "Sod being an adjacent industry to golf, and knowing that a lot of our customers provide sod to to golf courses, we always envisioned ourselves expanding into that market," LeBlanc said in the podcast interview. "After a couple years Steve gave me a team and a blank board and said, go design an automated fairway mower."
    LeBlanc's design team started by looking at what was out there in autonomous mowers at the time, and of course there was nothing other than early prototypes.
    "We wanted to make an autonomous mower, but we didn't want to just make a fairway mower that's autonomous," LeBlanc said. "We decided to make the best fairway mower on the market from the standpoints of cut quality, drive system, and operational efficiency. Let's just make it as good as we can make it, and incorporate autonomous technology in the process."

    Eliminating a combustion engine and operator station opened up design freedom for FireFly Automatix engineers. LeBlanc and his team started with a blank sheet of paper and redesigned a mower platform without a conventional combustion engine and operator station.
    "When we took those two pretty big design constraints out of the equation, we realized that to make the best mower on the market for fairways, it would have to be electric. Designing it from the ground up to be autonomous gave us the design freedom to go back whenever we needed to and change the way things worked mechanically and electrically to better support the autonomy," he said.
    Within three months they had a working prototype, but that was just the beginning. After mowing with it manually for a few months, they made it autonomous using software that they had developed for a previous, larger mower.
    "We went back to the drawing board, erased the whole thing and started over. We took everything we didn't like about the first prototype and designed another one, and then we did that three more times. So, here we are."
    Drive and control systems are one thing, but golf course superintendents want to know about the cutting units, where the mower meets the grass.
    "The big mower companies have done a lot of homework for us," LeBlanc quipped." We didn't ignore all of the great things that they've done in the world of cutting units. But we saw some things that we thought that we could improve on. So we took a stab at designing one ourselves that that could make the the job of the mechanic easier, that could make the the job of the superintendent easier, and that that could make the course look better."

    Simple knob HOC adjustment and locking down the bedknife and adjusting the reel to it simplify life for the mechanic and superintendent. LeBlanc and his team developed a simple hand knob adjustment where height of cut can be standardized across all cutting units in 45 seconds.
    "We know that because our parts are designed and machined in a certain way that if we make the same number of clicks on both sides of the cutting unit to adjust that height, the cutting unit is still square," LeBlanc said.
    Geometry of the bedknife within the cutting unit also came under scrutiny. The FireFly design locks the bedknife down and adjusts the reel to it, again with a hand knob and .00065" adjustment per click.
    "We designed our cutting unit to lock the bedknife down in a really rigid way to make sure that bedknife never moves. And it's always square, and it's always as flat as possible, and there's no flex in that system," LeBlanc said. "We have gotten feedback from our customers that the bedknives hold their adjustment a lot longer and don't have to be adjusted as often."
    Even with a current price tag of $160,000, the operational efficiencies of the AMP L-100 contribute to an ROI as low as two years or even lower in some cases. Efficiencies in capital expenditure, maintenance costs, energy and labor costs all contribute.
    What's the lead time for one ordered today? "About 60 days," said Steve Aposhian.
    Watch or listen to the complete conversation here or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
  • The golf business is alive and well in northern Michigan.
    Forest Dunes, a three-course resort near Roscommon, recently announced plans to add a fourth course to its lineup. 
    The architectural team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner have been hired to design SkyFall at Forest Dunes. Unlike the other three courses at the resort in the Huron National Forest, SkyFall will be a private club with limited resort guest play.
    SkyFall will be the first project in Michigan for Hanse and Wagner, who also designed the highly regarded Black Course at Streamsong Resort near Bowling Green, Florida. Both facilities are owned by Rich Mack and Tom Sunnarborg.
    "The opportunity to have Gil and Jim craft their first original design in Michigan on what is the most compelling property at Forest Dunes is really exciting," Mack said in a news release. "I'm also pleased that we will work with Gil and Jim a second time in our career and create something really special here in Michigan."

    Rich Mack and Tom Sunnarborg, left to right, own the Forest Dunes resort in Michigan and Streamsong in Florida. The duo has hired Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner to design the private SkyFall course at Forest Dunes. Forest Dunes photo Other 18-hole courses at Forest Dunes are the property's namesake course designed by Tom Weiskopf and The Loop – a reversible Tom Doak layout. Both courses regularly show up on the various Top 100 lists of Best Courses You Can Play. The resort's Bootlegger layout is a 10-hole par-3 course designed by Riley Johns and Keith Rhebb. The Hilltop is Forest Dunes' 18-hole putting course.
    The project is a homecoming of sorts for Hanse, whose early experience includes working for Tom Doak at High Pointe Golf Club 70 miles away in Traverse City.
    The new course will be routed through 300 acres of forest adjacent to the resort's  other three courses and will feature elevation changes of up to 70 feet.
    "Gil and Jim are two of the most influential golf course architects of our era and are entrusted to advance projects of golf significance across the globe," Sunnarborg said. "We know they will find the best of the land to work with and turn it into something unforgettable that members and guests are going to thoroughly enjoy, hopefully many times."
    Construction on SkyFall is expected to begin later this year or in early 2026.
  • For nearly a half-century, Tamas "Tom" Tanto was a fixture in the golf course maintenance business.
    A native of Kormend, Hungary, Tanto (right) was a golf course builder and the founder of Tanto Irrigation, the namesake firm that specializes in golf course irrigation design and installation and course construction. He died Jan. 25 in Fort Myers, Florida at age 86.
    Tanto emigrated to the United States in 1957 as an 18-year-old in the aftermath of World War II, learned English and later served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. 
    "I hardly spoke a word of English, and I knew I would have to work hard to make it," Tanto told the GCSAA in 2019 when he was named the recipient of the association's Col. John Morley Award. "I got a job washing dishes, and I have had a job every day since."
    In 1967, he earned a degree in civil Engineering from the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. While working for the Dravo Corp., a shipbuilder that had operations in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware, he became interested in golf and in 1969 built a municipal golf course on land owned by the family of his wife, Susan. Soon after, he borrowed $5,000 and set about the task of organizing the construction and irrigation company that bears his name and has served the golf industry for more than 50 years.

    A native of Hungary, Tamas Tanto was the founder of the golf course irrigation design and installation firm that continues to bear his name. Tanto Irrigation photo His work and that of his company could be found on dozens of the country's top 100 golf courses, including Oakmont, Baltusrol and The Country Club. Even after retiring and selling the company he founded, Tanto remained active serving as an industry mentor.
    Tanto's experience serving the golf industry cut a wide swath. He also was involved in Turf Care Products, an Atlanta-area Toro distributor that eventually came under the Jerry Pate Turf and Irrigation umbrella.
    Tanto received many honors and awards throughout his career. In 2013, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. The American Association of Irrigation Consultants named him the recipient of the 2019 Roy Williams Memorial Award. That same year, he shared the GCSAA's Col. John Morley Award with legendary superintendent and golf course owner Ted Horton, CGCS.
    A quote from Tanto on the company website reads: "How can you not feel good about being part of something that you believe in and that continues to represent the solid values upon which it was founded. I love going to work every day and enjoy those with whom I am associated both within the organization and the golf industry itself."
    Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Susan; son Dan (Karen); daughter Anne Gamble (Mark); sisters Eva Czéh and Zsuzsa Tanto Németh, both of Hungary; and many grandchildren, nieces, nephews who live around the globe.
  • Envu is unveiling several initiatives at this year's GCSAA Conference and Show in its efforts to help superintendents produce healthier turf.
    Aside from new product offerings at its booth (No. 2637), Envu will offer virtual tours, a chance to win on-site expert advice and the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a goose-chasing dog. The show is scheduled for Feb. 5-6 in San Diego.
    Envu's Green Solutions Team will be on hand to help superintendents find plant-health solutions for their respective golf courses. Superintendents visiting the Envu booth can register for a chance to have one of those GST members conduct a site-visit for an in-depth analysis report and a personalized solutions plan for the winner.

    Visitors to the Envu booth at the GCSAA Conference and Show will have a chance to enter to win a goose dog from Fly Away Geese, a North Carolina company that offers humane solutions to controlling many types of birds in a variety of environments. Fly Away Geese photo Visitors to the Envu booth also can take a virtual tour of the company's facilities in North Carolina. That includes an inside look at Envu's product-development process at its facility in Morrisville and how products then go through testing at the research facility in Clayton that includes 10.5 acres of warm- and cool-season turf research plots, an 18-acre research golf course and a 1-acre putting green built to USGA specifications.
    Envu also is sponsoring a dog giveaway at the show in conjunction with Fly Away Geese. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fly Away Geese trains and provides goose-chasing border collies to golf courses, airports, businesses, corporations and military installations for humane and effective solutions to manage many types of birds, such as geese, ducks, seagulls, cormorants, coots and wading birds.
    Envu launched in October 2022 out of the acquisition of Bayer Environmental Science by London-based private equity firm Cinven, and is a provider of chemical solutions for the professional turf market. In November, Envu (short for Environmental Science U.S.) finalized the acquisition of FMC's Global Specialty Solutions division of FMC that includes its golf turf business.
    The company will introduce new additions to its portfolio at the show, including its lineup of products formerly under the FMC label.
  • Bunker performance is only as good as the sand that goes into it. But all sand is not created equally. 
    The wrong sand, or degraded sand can lead to a host of issues in golf course bunker performance. For superintendents who want help, or at least confirmation, in choosing the right sand for any of a variety of golf course projects, Capillary Flow recently launched an AI tool that helps remove the guesswork from the selection process.
    Capillary Flow's AI Sand Agent deciphers sand analysis reports, generates easy-to-read gradation curves and compares them to industry standards in a matter of seconds to help superintendents choose a product that meets the specific needs of any project.

    Capillary Flow's AI Sand Agent deciphers sand analysis reports to help make sand selection easier for superintendents. Capillary Flow photo Factors such as particle hardness and shape, composition and color greatly influence sand performance, stability and drainage. Sand analysis reports that quantify these factors come in many versions: metric or imperial, in passing particles or retained particles. This language can be difficult to evaluate. The Capillary Flow tool allows users to see the gradation curve, which makes it easier to compare a product to industry standards and other sands during the selection process.
    The USGA guidelines for particle size distribution can be plotted on a curve that illustrates how any given sand compares to the range recommended, and therefore show the sand’s ability to drain or hold moisture.
    Users can upload numbers manually, or drag and drop an analysis report into the calculator. In a matter of seconds, the calculator generates data to help superintendents make the correct sand choice.

    The Capillary Flow tool compares specific sands to recognized industry standards. Bunker performance hinges on precise sand management, with moisture content playing a pivotal role in playability and maintenance. Although USGA guidelines provide a framework for selecting and installing sand, maintaining its quality over time remains a significant challenge. 
    Sand performance declines over time due to the following factors:
    Sand movement within the bunker Contamination Natural degradation Degraded sand or the wrong sand can lead to a host of performance issues:
    Wet floors Inconsistent moisture Layering within the bunker sand column Discoloration Poor playability Player dissatisfaction Increased maintenance costs The tool stores previous analysis results for future reference and comparison.
    Capillary Flow offers a variety of products and services and moisture-management solutions for a variety of markets including golf, athletic fields, equestrian facilities and public areas.
  • Mach 1 ultradwarf Bermudagrass on a green at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina. Modern Turf photo Modern Turf recently named Jamey Jackson as regional director of sales. Based in LaGrange, Georgia, Jackson (below) is responsible for sales initiatives and supporting clients in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
    Based in Rembert, South Carolina, Modern Turf specializes in cultivating and planting a diverse range of grass types for the golf, sports turf and landscaping sectors. The company was founded by a group of former superintendents with experience ranging across the United States and Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and Bermuda. 
    The company also offers other products, including compost materials, mulch, soil, sand, stone and gravel for the professional and residential markets.
    "His proven sales expertise will undoubtedly strengthen our efforts and expand our reach across the South," said Hank Kerfoot, president of Modern Turf. "More importantly, Jamey’s good nature and unwavering professionalism perfectly align with the values that have made Modern Turf a respected name in the turf industry. We are certain his enthusiasm for golf and willingness to listen and provide customized solutions will benefit our customers."
    Jackson, who will join the Modern Turf team in San Diego at the GCSAA Conference and Show (booth #2510) built a career in talent acquisition, placing superintendents and general managers in employment opportunities.
    Among the products to be highlighted in the Modern Turf booth is Mach 1 ultradwarf Bermudagrass that boasts finer and shorter leaf blades and dense texture bentgrass-like putting conditions.
  • The PGA Tour told players that it will be moving the Genesis Invitational from Riviera Country Club in fire-torn Pacific Palisades, California to another location. According to reports, the event will now be played on the North Course at Torrey Pines near San Diego.
    Riviera, which was to host the tournament Feb. 10-16, has been spared from fire damage, but the surrounding area has been evacuated and has been devastated with the loss of thousands of homes and businesses. At least 27 deaths have been blamed on the fires that have been burning since Jan. 7.
    A statement released by the Tour on Thursday read: "The PGA Tour's focus continues to be on the safety and well-being of those affected by the unprecedented natural disaster in Greater Los Angeles. We are grateful for the life-saving efforts of first responders and the tireless work being done to put an end to the tragic wildfires.
    "In collaboration with Genesis, The Riviera Country Club and TGR Live, and out of respect for the unfolding situation, we have determined that the 2025 Genesis Invitational will be played at an alternate location the week of February 10-16."
    CBS Sports reported Monday that the Tour has settled on Torrey Pines, 125 miles down the coast, as a replacement. The course in La Jolla also is the site of this week's Farmers Insurance Open. It will be a busy time in the San Diego area with the GCSAA Conference and Show is scheduled for Feb. 3-6.

    Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California, has been identified as the likely landing spot for the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational next month. The tournament has been displaced by fires in the Los Angeles area. Torrey Pines photo Other sites reportedly under consideration as a replacement for the Genesis event were La Quinta Country Club, which was host to the American Express earlier this month, Shadow Creek in Las Vegas and TPC Scottsdale, site of the WM Phoenix Open Feb. 6-9 immediately before the Genesis.
    Riviera has been the on-again, off-again home of the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational, formerly the Los Angeles Open, since 1929 and every year since 1999.
    Golf courses cover about 2.3 million square acres of land across the United States. That is almost the size of Los Angeles County, so it is not uncommon for them to be affected when natural disasters strike.
    That is the case in metro Los Angeles as the course burns around several golf courses, including in a riverbed that runs through southern Ventura County and right past three golf courses, River Ridge, Oliva Links and the much maligned Buenaventura that has been closed since 2023.
    Altadena Golf Course near Pasadena was not as lucky. The clubhouse there burned to the ground in the fires two weeks ago.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released its interim registration review on chlorothalonil.
    The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act mandates a periodic review of existing pesticide registrations every 15 years.
    During registration review, the EPA determines whether a registered pesticide continues to meet FIFRA registration standards. Where appropriate, the EPA might issue an interim review decision before completing a final registration review decision. 
    Issuing an Interim Decision is not a decision on whether a pesticide's registration continues to satisfy the FIFRA standard for registration. Instead, the Interim Decision might include mitigation measures and changes to labeling that the EPA has identified that would address risks of concern, identified data or information needed to complete registration review, and include schedules for submitting such data, conducting the new risk assessment and completing the registration review. 
    The EPA issued this Interim Decision for chlorothalonil on Dec. 26, 2024 to identify risk mitigations that would address risks of concern for chlorothalonil.
    One of the world's most widely used turfgrass fungicides, chlorothalonil was first registered for use in the United States in 1966. It also is used to manage fungal diseases in row crops, primarily peanuts, potatoes and tomatoes, according to the EPA.

    One of the most widely used fungicides on golf course turf, chlorothalonil first was registered for use in the United States in 1966. Photo by John Reitman In October 2023, EPA published the Proposed Interim Decision for registration review of chlorothalonil. Since then, the EPA has identified the need for changes to the annual application rates for non-vulnerable soils for some crops, clarified and updated vulnerable soil language to exclude most cranberry bogs and turf putting greens and included the option to use a vegetative filter strip for turf instead of the ground buffer to aquatic areas as a result of comments received on the PID. 
    The Interim Decision also addressed changes for vulnerable soils in turf (pages 81, 121), soil organic matter (page 81) and spray drift management (page 124).
    Spray boom application rules:
    During application, the sustained wind speed, as defined by the National Weather Service (standard averaging period of 2 minutes), must register between 3 and 10 mph. Wind speed and direction must be measured on location using a windsock or anemometer (including systems to measure wind speed or velocity using application equipment). Wind speed must be measured at the release height or higher, in an area free from obstructions such as trees, buildings and farm equipment. Do not release spray at a height greater than 3 feet above the ground or crop canopy, except for applications to turf. For golf course, sod and turf applications, do not release spray at a height greater than 2 feet above the ground. Applicators must select nozzles and pressure that deliver medium or coarse droplets in accordance with American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Standard 572 (ASAE S572). Do not apply during temperature inversions. Chlorothalonil also has some activity as a bactericide, microbiocide, algaecide, insecticide and acaricide. Its exact mechanism of action is not known. Chlorothalonil is registered on a wide variety of sites including turf and row crops and as a mildewicide to be added to paint and other surface treatments. 
    Click here to read or download the entire EPA Interim Decision.
  • Ice cover on Poa annua greens and cold temperatures on warm-season turf are common threats during winter. USGA photo With a winter storm blasting across the country early in the week and another one expected to continue throughout the weekend, thoughts naturally turn to the threat of winter damage on golf courses.
    Snowfall totals this week in Cincinnati totaled more than 10 inches, and 7 inches of new snow were recorded in Washington, D.C., and more is on the way this week. However, the greatest threat to golf course turf might not be snow that fell throughout much of the country, but cold weather in areas where it did not. Some areas of the transition zone received several hours of freezing rain on top of the recent snow layer.
    "I'm more worried about the cold and less worried about the snow," said turfgrass pathologist Wendell Hutchens, Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas. "I think we're getting some insulation from that layer of fluffy snow at the base. That should help some."
    Sweeping in between snow events in much of the country was a blast of unseasonably low temperatures, even for early winter.
    "This isn't an exact science, and we still don't have all the data on this," he said. "If this was December this would probably be a more serious issue, but turf has had six weeks to harden off for winter. The hope is we get some melt but not a refreeze, back to back to back."
    Overnight temperatures dipped into the teens several days this week in Fayetteville, Arkansas, conditions that were duplicated throughout much of the country in areas where both warm- and cool-season grass are managed, such as Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
    "I'm not worried about low 20s," Hutchens said. "If it gets to 10, 12, 13 degrees, then I'm more worried."
    Winter damage often varies between sites on the same course and from one course to another in the same area. Variables like growing environment, soil conditions, grass species, traffic patterns, maintenance philosophies and other factors all can affect winter injury, according to the USGA. 
    Winter damage on cool-season turf, most notably Poa annua is most often associated with ice cover, while warm-season turf is susceptible to extreme low temperatures. A recent example of the dangers of extreme cold came in the form of a Christmas 2022 cold snap that caused havoc on golf courses throughout the transition zone and parts of the South.
    The USGA recommends covering Bermuda greens when temperatures drop below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Hutchens, who played a key role in a recent research project on winterkill on warm-season turf, said Bermuda probably can sustain temperatures more in the 17- or 18-degree range.
    "But why risk it?" he said. "We have a lot of ultradwarf (Bermudagrass) greens here in Arkansas. They're going to have damage if they're not covered."
    Hutchens suggests using permeable greens covers during sudden temperature drops and sustained periods of extreme cold.
    Causes of winterkill in warm-season turf include:
    extreme low temperatures sustained low temps that leads to carbohydrate exhaustion rapid temperature drop in late fall or early spring desiccation caused by too little soil moisture anoxia caused by too much soil moisture Fairways and rough-height turf should fare much better under the current circumstances.
    "Zoysia fairways will be fine. Even Bermuda fairways should be fine," Hutchens said.
    "I'm not worried about that unless we get a week straight of really cold weather. Fifteen degrees doesn't worry me, but 10 degrees does."
    Whether this week's weather leads to any damage in warm-season turf remains to be seen.
    "This is so hard to predict," Hutchens said. "If this is the only event we have and there is winterkill, then we'll be able to point to this week as the cause. If we have another snap in February or March then we won't be able to point to this single event. It's not super cold. If we have areas where there is no snow and it gets down to 5 or 10 degrees, then we'll have significant damage."
  • The Aquatrols Co., recently named Josey Groenveld to its sales team. Groenveld, who has many years on the chemical side of the turf and ornamental industry, is Aquatrols' territory manager for the Pacific Northwest and western Canada.
    His responsibilities include overseeing sales initiatives throughout the region by working closely with customers and the company's network of distributors, as well as helping identify growth opportunities.
    His experience most recently includes seven years as territory manager with Bayer/Envu in western Canada. 
    Most recently with Bayer/Envu for more than seven years as Territory Sales Manager for Western Canada, Josey brings significant agronomic knowledge as well as a deep understanding of the particular needs of customers located in this geography.
    "Josey's wealth of experience and customer-focused attitude make him a great asset for both our customers and distributors, and he will be an excellent addition to the Aquatrols team," said Wes Hamm, Aquatrols' director of North American sales.
    Based in Paulsboro, New Jersey, Aquatrols is a developer of soil surfactants and other water-management technologies that is part of Lamberti, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer headquartered in Italy.
  • One does not last 32 years in the same job without doing something right.
    Jim Husting, CGCS, developed a reputation for producing some of the best Poa annua greens in California's Central Valley during a 32-year run at Woodbridge Golf and Country Club in Lodi. That is no small feat in an area where summer temperatures often can top 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Husting (right), who retired from Woodbridge in 2019 after more than three decades as the club's superintendent, died Dec. 20 after battling pancreatic cancer.
    "I just talked to him last week, and he told me he was in Hospice," said Corey Eastwood, CGCS, a retired superintendent who gave Husting his first job in the golf industry in 1983 at Green Hills Golf and Country Club in Millbrae, California. "He was upbeat and positive."
    In a 2019 TurfNet Living Legends podcast (below), Husting said communicating with the pro shop and maintaining a relationship with the membership helped him be successful during his career at Woodbridge.

    Husting was a past president of three GCSAA chapters (California, Sierra Nevada and Northern California) and served as an adjunct professor of horticulture, and turf and landscape maintenance at San Joaquin Delta College for 15 years. He also played an active role in advancing the profession and fellow superintendents by serving as government relations director for the NorCal association from 1997 to 2010.
    "He was a pillar of the industry in this area," said Lou Silveira, a former assistant to Husting at Woodbridge and now the club's head superintendent.
    When Woodbridge had an opening for an assistant in 1998, Silveira knew immediately after his interview that it was where he wanted to be.
    "When I came here, I saw Jim had a presence in the industry," Silveira said. "He was a go-getter. He was spunky. He was known as the 'Poa dude' because he grew it better than anyone else in the Central Valley. I knew right away he was the person I wanted to mentor me."
    Husting came to California in the early 1980s after earning a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies in 1976 from Kent State University in Ohio. After discovering he could earn a living working outdoors on a golf course, he earned a technical degree in turfgrass management from Cal Poly in 1983.
    Eastwood and Husting both were interviewing at Green Hills at about the same time in 1983 — Eastwood for the open superintendent's position and Husting for assistant.
    "He and I started at the same time at Green Hills," Eastwood said. "I was interviewing with the GM and they told me they'd already been talking to Jim. The GM said 'We really like him. Look him over, and see what you think.' He did a great job here.
    "It was almost a second career for him. He'd gotten his degree at Kent State, then he jumped in his Volkswagen and came west. He didn't want to teach, and he went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to get a degree in turf management."
    By 1987, Husting moved on to Woodbridge as head superintendent where he remained for 32 years until his retirement in 2019. By then, Husting already had been teaching remotely at San Joaquin Delta for a decade.
    "In all those years at Woodbridge, I don't think he ever lost a blade of grass," Eastwood said. "He had the best Poa greens I'd ever seen. I don't know how he kept those damn things alive. That's a miracle out here."
    Two years after retiring, Husting moved to Camano Island, Washington, a 40-square-mile strip of land on the eastern end of Puget Sound. There he became active in and served on the board of directors of Sound Water Stewards, an environmental advocacy group comprised of trained volunteers working in and around Island County, Washington "for a healthy, sustainable marine environment through education, science and stewardship," according to the group's web site.

    Jim Husting, CGCS, had a reputation for producing great greens under grueling conditions in California's Central Valley. Lodi News-Sentinel photo Husting hired Silveira as his assistant at 27-hole Woodbridge in 1998. By 2003, Silveira moved on to multiple opportunities as a head superintendent, including stops at Brookside Golf and Country Club in Stockton and The Club at Castleton in Pleasanton.
    Husting prepped him well to go off on his own.
    "Whenever I took the weekend off when I was his assistant, I'd come back in and my desk would be covered in Post-It Notes from Jim about things I missed," Silveira said. "My last day working for him, I came in and there was one Post-It Note in the corner of my desk. It said 'You'll do great' and 'Go check the station on 27.' "
    Silveira returned to Woodbridge in 2023, this time as head superintendent. On his first day back at Woodbridge, Silveira received a call from Husting who offered his congratulations, but also to tell him he had cancer.
    When he learned of his mentor's death, the news hit Silveira hard.
    "I took the weekend to soak it in," Silveira said. "When I came in on Monday and sat at the same desk he had used for all those years, it was very emotional. Jim molded my career."
    Peter McCormick, TurfNet founder, remembers Husting from his attendance at the TurfNet Beer & Pretzels Gala events at GIS for many years, and for sporting a Jackson Browne-ish hair style.
    "Jim was a TurfNet member for a very long time, one of the first superintendents in California to sign on, as I recall," McCormick said. 'He was very active on our Forum and I got to know him from that. Being on opposite coasts, however, the only times we saw each other face to face was at the Beer and Pretzels events. He usually brought his wife and two young kids with him. They would come up to me at the end of the night so the kids could shake my hand and say thank you. That said a lot. Jim was a great guy."
    Survivors include daughter Erica of Boston and son Harrison (Marissa) of Portland, Oregon.
  • Mark Hollinger got a late start in his career as a golf course architect, but once he started he became known for designing some of the most highly regarded tracks in the U.S. and abroad.
    Hollinger died Dec. 24 near his home in Winter Garden, Florida. He was 70.
    A native of Pennsylvania, Hollinger (right) was raised in Warner Robins, Georgia, and earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia. He worked in landscape architecture, resort development and planning for 13 years on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It was there, on Hilton Head Island, where Hollinger developed an interest in golf architecture, and soon went to work with Willard Byrd and Associates in 1986. Four years later, he joined JMP Golf Design Group, where he served as partner and principal until his retirement three years ago. 
    Among his original designs are Juizhaigou Golf Club in Sichuan Province, China; Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club, Shanghai, China; Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club, Hainan Island, China; Wildhawk Golf Club, Sacramento, California; Iwate Numakunai Golf Club, Iwate, Japan; and Las Lomas Golf and Habitat, Guadalajara, Mexico. Along with JMP colleague Brian Costello, Hollinger was selected in 2015 to restore historic Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club. 
    Of his work at Juizhaigou Golf Club, Hollinger said: "This site is the culmination of my career designing golf courses throughout China. We carefully constructed this project within very difficult terrain and under difficult circumstances, but did it in a way as to protect, embellish and emulate the rugged mountain theme of the golf course."

    Among Mark Hollinger's work in the U.S. was a 2015 restoration of Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club in California. PAHGCC photo His design philosophy centered around sustainable practices and incorporating existing landforms into strategic design principles.
    "Mark retired from JMP in 2021, but his legacy will live on, in particular, with the significant number of highly regarded golf courses that he designed for the firm in China," said Costello, co-principal at JMP and current president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
    Survivors include his wife, Kimbo, and two daughters.
  • Drs. Rick Brandenburg and Fred Yelverton helped golf course superintendents in the Carolinas, throughout the country and around the world solve their turfgrass management challenges for parts of five decades.
    Naturally, it was a big deal when both retired from North Carolina State University on the same day last June 30.
    The announcement of their concurrent retirement was the most-read story on TurfNet in 2024.
    Click here to read the story in its entirety.

    Brandenburg and Yelverton each earned his doctorate degree at NC State, then returned to work there in 1984 and 1985, respectively.
    Since then, each has become a recognized leader in his respective field, Yelverton in weed science and Brandenburg in turf pathology and entomology and have logged a combined 79 years in the field in Raleigh.
    "To be honest, I don't know if I can even put them into words," said Matthew Wharton, CGCS at Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington, Kentucky, who spent 17 years at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte. "They're recognized around the world."
    Both men entered the turf industry almost by chance.
    Yelverton was ready to enter medical school after earning a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology from NC State, but a hunting accident in North Carolina opened the door to a series of events that led him to change his mind while recuperating in the hospital.
    "After two weeks in the hospital, I decided a hospital was the last place I wanted to be," he said.
    Brandenburg's journey into turf was equally unexpected. 
    "I had no experience in turf. My training was in field crops," Brandenburg said. "When I had the opportunity for this job, it was in forage crops, grains, peanuts and a little bit of turf. It didn't make any sense. It was a real mixed bag."
    Each soon quickly became a recognized global leader in his respective field.
    "Both have been pillars of the turf faculty group," said NC State professor and extension specialist, Grady Miller, Ph.D. "They have been here a long time. It's going to be a shock to the system that it's not Rick and Fred anymore."
    Click on the headlines below to read each story that make up the rest of the top 10 most-read stories of 2024.
    Owen oversees his final Masters
    After parts of five decades overseeing conditions at the world's most famous golf course, Brad Owen called it quits at Augusta National Golf Club after the 2024 Masters.
    Owen had worked at Augusta for 37 years, including the past 27 as superintendent.
    His achievements and dedication to Augusta National and the Masters Tournament were acknowledged by club chairman Fred Ridley four minutes into a 40-minute pre-tournament news conference on April 10 that also recognized the contributions of Lundquist and former Masters champion Jack Burke.
    No. 3: Historic Detroit Golf Club gets a makeover
    There was a time when the layout at Detroit Golf Club was a model for moving surface water. For years, a system of ditches, gullies and drains that was built into the design by Donald Ross a century ago was a critically important feature of a nearly dead flat golf course with barely 5 feet of total elevation change.
    Over time, thanks to things like cart paths and architectural changes in the modern era, those features became lost or partially obstructed. As a result, superintendent Sam Moynihan and his team lose a great deal of valuable time after almost every rain event.
    Reintroducing those land features is an integral part of a $16 million master plan and restoration of North and South courses at Detroit Golf Club by architect Tyler Rae that is scheduled for completion in 2026. 

    Detroit Golf Club superintendent Sam Moynihan has a wealth of previous construction and project experience. No. 4: Emergency use suspension leads to cancellation of 60-plus-year-old herbicide
    Following an emergency suspension of all uses of the herbicide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is initiating a voluntary cancellation of registration of the weedkiller that has been in use for more than 60 years.
    First registered in 1958 for control of broadleaf weeds in ornamental turf and row crops, DCPA is the active ingredient in the herbicide Dacthal. The EPA initiated the emergency order in early August in response to years of concerns affecting both end users and others exposed to the chemical.
    The EPA contends DCPA poses a threat to applicators and those exposed to it for long periods and is a particular threat to pregnant women and unborn babies.
    No. 5: It's back! Velocity herbicide returns with new formulation, use directions
    For more than a decade, Velocity herbicide from Nufarm was a standard for control of Poa annua and Poa trivialis in cool- and warm-season turf on golf course tees and fairways. The next iteration, Velocity PM, hit the turf market in March.
    With the same active ingredient as original Velocity SG, the new formulation, Velocity Poa Management, is a low-use-rate herbicide labeled for use on creeping bentgrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue and dormant Bermudagrass on golf course tees and fairways. 
    It is a compatible tank mix partner with plant growth regulators, fertilizers and fungicides.
    No. 6: After 25 years, Nagle starts own golf course design firm
    After a quarter-century working side by side with Ron Forse, golf course architect Jim Nagle launched his own design firm, Nagle Design Works.
    Among Nagle's work is the recent restoration of Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, site of the 2024 U.S. Women's Open.
    Nagle will hit the ground running with a handful of ongoing and upcoming projects on his schedule. His projects include rebuilding the back nine on Philadelphia Country Club's Spring Mill Course, and soon will begin work on a renovation of Westwood Country Club in the Cleveland area.
    No. 7: Running Boone's Trace is a true family affair
    When Chris and Kelly Rutherford, then of Lexington, Kentucky retired in 2014 from the family business started by Chris's father, Lee, they turned their attention to playing golf, taking an entire year off to do nothing but hit the links.
    Four years later, when the course now known as Boone's Trace National Golf Club in nearby Richmond went up for sale in 2018, the Rutherford's decided to buy it.
    The operation truly is a family affair. Chris does whatever is necessary, wife Kelly is general managerCameron, a graduate of the Golf Academy of America in Florida, serves as director of golf, and Kelly acts as general manager. As business owners, all do whatever needs to be done, from riding a mower for superintendent Vince Amonett, to helping in the restaurant and everything in between.

    No. 11 at Boone's Trace. Photo by Jeff Rogers Photography No. 8: Debby weakens as it moves ashore, heads north
    Tropical Storm Debby continued to ravage the Southeast with heavy rainfall as it made its second landfall in early August. Debby came ashore about 2 a.m. on Aug. 1 near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, with winds of 50 mph. The storm was tracking northward at 10 mph with winds of 40 mph.
    The storm made landfall July 29 on the west coast of Florida near Steinhatchee as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80 mph and moved out to sea again Tuesday east of Charleston at 5 mph with winds of 65 mph before coming ashore again Thursday.
    Debby was blamed for multiple deaths, spawned a tornado that heavily damaged a school in central North Carolina. The storm left rainfall totals of a foot or more and flooding throughout parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
    No. 9: 2024 fungicide guide is now available
    The bible for fungicide use to control diseases in turfgrass has evolved quite a bit in the past three decades. 
    When Paul Vincelli, Ph.D., began his career in plant pathology at the University of Kentucky in 1990, the publication titled Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases, was little more than a diagnosis guide and a catalog of products available at the time. The guide quickly became much more soon after his UK colleague Bill Nesmith, Ph.D., told Vincelli that turf managers wanted to know what works best for a specific disease, not just what is available.
    Eventually, Vincelli devised a rating system that graded product efficacy and the publication has become the go-to guide for diagnosing and controlling diseases in turf, and since 2017 has been administered by plant pathologists at other universities, namely Bruce Clarke, Ph.D., at Rutgers and Paul Koch, Ph.D. of the University of Wisconsin.
    The guide, available as a free download through the University of Kentucky, contains information on more than two dozen common turfgrass diseases and how to control them.
    No. 10: Man pleads guilty in triple murder at Georgia golf course to avoid death penalty
    The man who was indicted for the 2021 murder of a Georgia golf professional and two others in a drug-deal-gone-wrong confessed to the crime to avoid the death penalty.
    Bryan Rhoden was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole after pleading guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping in the deaths of Pinetree Country Club golf pro Gene Siller, 46, Henry Valdez, 46, and Paul Pierson, 76, at the Kennesaw, Georgia golf course in July 2021.
    Siller was found dead near Pinetree's No. 10 green, when he responded to calls about a pickup truck on the golf course. Police found Valdez, a drug supplier, and Pierson, his associate, dead in the bed of a Dodge pickup that had been abandoned on the property. 
  • The U.S. Senior Amateur is still eight months away, but the U.S. Golf Association already has decided to move the event because of the effects of Hurricane Helene.
    Originally scheduled for Aug. 23-28 at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, North Carolina, the event instead will be played at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio. 
    The U.S. Senior Amateur is being moved due to the impact of Hurricane Helene, which caused extensive flooding and damage to the Asheville area after making landfall in Florida on Sept. 26. In 2017, a Florida hurricane forced the relocation of the scheduled U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Quail Creek Country Club, in Naples, and the championship was shifted to Champions Golf Club, in Houston, Texas.
    "Our thoughts are with Biltmore Forest and the entire Asheville community as it continues to deal with the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene," the USGA's Mark Hill said in a news release. "While they focus on important recovery, we really appreciate Oak Hills stepping in to host next year's U.S. Senior Amateur."
    Oak Hills, one of the oldest private member-owned country clubs in the country, was originally scheduled to serve as the host site of the 2028 U.S. Senior Amateur but agreed to move up in the championship order. Biltmore Forest will now host the 73rd U.S. Senior Amateur in 2028.

    The U.S. Senior Amateur will be played in August at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio (above) because of flooding and damage from Hurricane Helene at Biltmore Forest in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1922 as the Alamo Country Club, Oak Hills was designed by A.W. Tillinghast. The club hosted its second USGA championship earlier this year when Asterisk Talley and Sarah Lim won the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball on May 15. It also was the venue for the 2001 U.S. Junior Amateur when Henry Liaw posted a 2-and-1 victory over Richard Scott. The PGA Tour's Texas Open was played at the club from 1961-66 and 1977-94 and lists U.S. Open champions Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Hale Irwin among its winners. The 1987 Tour Championship, won by 1982 U.S. Open champion Tom Watson, and the PGA Champions Tour AT&T Championship (2002-10) also was played there.
    "We are honored to welcome the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur to Oak Hills," said Scott O'Brien, Oak Hills Country Club president. "Our members and staff are dedicated to providing an exceptional experience for competitors, and we're proud to support the USGA in ensuring this prestigious championship has a fitting stage, even in the face of unforeseen challenges. We are thinking of all those impacted by Hurricane Helene and look forward to celebrating the game's finest senior amateur players here in San Antonio."
    "We are grateful to Oak Hills and the USGA for working with us through this difficult time," said Biltmore Forest president Ken Hughes. "Our priorities are with our community here in Asheville as we look to rebuild and restore. We know Oak Hills will be a tremendous venue for the world's best senior amateurs, and we look forward to hosting that group in just a few years."
    The U.S. Senior Amateur is open to any golfer who is 55 years of age or older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 5.4. Louis Brown won the 2024 championship at The Honors Course, in Ooltewah, Tennessee near Chattanooga. 
  • A lot has changed during James Drinkard's long career as a superintendent — except where he went to work every day for nearly a half-century. 
    Drinkard (right) of Athens Country Club recently was named Superintendent of the Year by the Georgia GCSA. He has worked at the club for 45 years.
    Drinkard's career began at Athens, a 27-hole Donald Ross design, when he was in high school, working for $1.85 per hour.
    When accepting the award, Drinkard credited his father-in-law, Buzz Howell, longtime colleagues Bill Hunt and Chris Thornton, and many turfgrass students from the University of Georgia for his success.
    The award was one of many presented at the association's recent annual meeting and banquet at King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort on St. Simons Island.
    Also recognized at the meeting that was attended by nearly 250 people was outgoing executive director Tenia Workman who will retire at the end of the year after 22 years heading the association. Georgia GCSA president Tim Busek, the former superintendent at St. Ives Country Club in Johns Creek, will take over for Workman, who was presented with an E-Z-Go golf car in recognition of her years of service.

    Tenia Workman is retiring at the end of the year as executive director of the Georgia GCSA. She has headed the association since 2002. Georgia GCSA photo At the annual meeting, members also elected Brad Tremmier of RiverPines Golf in Johns Creek as vice president and Scott Slemp of Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta as secretary-treasurer.
    Members also renewed Heath Allen's turn on the board of directors for another term. Allen is superintendent at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta. Also elected to the board were Lucas Walters of Ocean Forest Golf Club on Sea Island and Ronald McWhorter of Reynolds Lake Oconee.
    In other association news:
    The late Jim Dusch, who spent much of his career at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, was inducted to the Georgia GCSA Hall of Fame. Chris Steigelman, CGCS at The Landings Golf and Athletic Club in Savannah, received the Distinguished Service Award. Travis Goss, also from The Landings Golf and Athletic Club, was named Assistant Superintendent of the Year. Steve Gonyea, CGCS at Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa in Young Harris, won the Environmental Leader in Golf Award. Jud James of Whitewater Creek Country Club in Fayetteville, and Mike Waldron, former executive director of the Georgia State Golf Association, each received a 30-year membership pin. John Leach of Bent Tree Country Club in Jasper, and Rocky Dreibrodt of Corbin Turf and Ornamental Supply, each accepted 25-year pins. Philip Soukup of The Landings Golf and Athletic Club in Savannah, won the hashtag competition with the slogan #NEWBEGINNINGS2025.
  • Advanced Turf Solutions and The Aquatrols Co. recently released a new co-branded soil surfactant.
    HydroPak Adapt is an infiltration and hydration surfactant designed to help users prolong hydration by maximizing absorption of water from rain or irrigation.
    Adapt's formula addresses hydrophobicity and water acceptance in soils during drought periods, helping users conserve water and minimize their labor needs. It allows water to infiltrate fast, reducing the risk of runoff and standing water while creating firmer surfaces.
    Adapt is the latest addition to the HydroPak line of soil surfactants created through collaboration by Advanced Turf Solutions and Aquatrols.
    Based in Fishers, Indiana, Advanced Turf Solutions is an employee-owned distributor of turf and ornamental products, including fertilizers, pesticides, seed and ice melt for the golf, sports field and lawn care markets. The company was founded in 2001 and today has 26 outlets across the country serving customers in 30 states.
    Aquatrols is a solutions-based company that is part of Lamberti, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer headquartered in Italy, engaged in the development and production of innovative solutions for a variety of application markets including the golf turf market.

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