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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Doug Karcher, Ph.D., is returning to his alma mater as professor and chair in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University. His four-year term begins Aug. 1, pending approval by the university’s board of trustees.
    Karcher, currently is a professor and assistant head in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Arkansas and also is the interim assistant director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. He earned a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Ohio State in 1984 and went on to earn master's (1997) and doctorate degrees (2000) from Michigan State in crop and soil sciences. 
    During his career, Karcher has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and 130 articles resulting from his research. He is a founding board member of the European Institute for Turfgrass Science, an organization dedicated to providing research-based recommendations to the European Turfgrass Industry. 
    “We are excited in bringing an engaged leader like Dr. Karcher to OSU,” Cathann A. Kress, vice president for agricultural administration and dean of CFAES, said in a news release. “He has a record demonstrating effective scholarship, a commitment to students, and productive relationships with stakeholders. Further, his leadership regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion are quite welcome, and align with our continued focus on DEI as a college.”
    In his new position, Karcher will lead the department’s research, teaching, extension and international development programs; foster effective, collegial, cooperative and productive relationships among students, staff; promote the department and the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with state, national and international organizations.
    His research at Arkansas has focused on improving the functional and aesthetic quality of turfgrass while minimizing water, fertilizer and pesticide inputs through the refinement of cultural practices. 
  • In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never met Matt Henkel in person. I had the honor of speaking with him on the phone once, but that single moment was enough. Once the superintendent and general manager of PrairieView Golf Club in Byron, Illinois, Matt displayed the kind of personality and openness - at a time when he was most vulnerable - that drew you in and made you feel as if you had known him forever.
    His candor during a time of great personal tragedy was not a typical conversation one has with a stranger. But Matt was not like most people. In a time when "me, myself and I" seem to take center stage for too many, Matt chose to share his life - and death - in a public forum so that others could benefit from his experience. And we are better for it.
    As children, we believe that heroes largely are make-believe characters from comic books, cartoons and television shows. In reality, fictional characters like Superman exist only in our imagination, while real-life heroes walk among us every day. We just have to look for them.
    Matt Henkel, as far as I know, never wore a cape and he never leapt a tall building in a single bound. But for more than a decade he took on something much more imposing, and he handled it in a way that made him as much of a hero as anyone could hope to find, or emulate.
    For the past 13 years, Matt battled brain cancer. That courageous struggle became increasingly challenging during the past year-and-a-half, when, after it appeared he might have beaten his adversary, it returned with a vengeance in the fall of 2019. By now, everyone knows Matt lost that struggle on Wednesday. He was 42, and left behind a wife, Cammie (shown here with Matt); three children, Ashton, Claire and Mara; and a list of life lessons that undoubtedly will help those who followed his story put their own lives into perspective. 
    Throughout the duration of his fight, Matt never gave in or gave up against a foe that gives no quarter, and he took a lot of us along for the ride by chronicling his experience online. Eventually, he resigned his position at PrairieView to devote his full attention to what literally was a fight for his life. Until his death, his very public message in the face of unbeatable odds was one of hope and love, and the example he set for his family and for all of us has been an inspiration and a reminder to never give up and to waste nary a minute of time we have with loved ones. 
    That is Matt's legacy, and that is heroic.
    Through his online journal, Matt shared intimate details of his fight, from trips to the University of Wisconsin Hospital to the UCLA Medical Center and finally into Hospice. 
    As we watched a man awaiting certain death cram in as much quality time as possible with his family, Matt's journey is a sobering reminder of how tenuous life is and how each of us would be better if we heed his message.

    All photos from Matt Henkel via Twitter @mphturf_79 Although Matt is gone, his final moments and the enormity of his experience live on in a haunting photograph of three loving children huddled around their dying father. It is impossible to look at that image and not be moved to heart-wrenching emotion and empathy for his children who undoubtedly knew the outcome that awaited their dad. One can barely imagine their grief as they begin a journey without a father who, at 42, was taken far too soon. The scene is as precious as it is intense, and it symbolizes a deeply personal experience those children will cherish forever.
    Equally great had to be the sadness Matt felt knowing that he was leaving his family behind after his very public fight, while privately accepting he was powerless to change the outcome. It is the nature of fathers to be a rock, to provide for their family a feeling of safety and security and a sense that you have everything under control - even when you do not. 
    Matt had been cancer free for five years when he began experiencing headaches and dizziness in October 2019. He returned to the University of Wisconsin where his neurosurgeon, Dr. Azam Ahmed, gave him the bad news - a grade 4 glioblastoma.
    "It's grown back, and it's big," Matt said last fall when he shared his story with TurfNet.
    Although he had played with house money for five years, Matt now faced insurmountable odds.
    According to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, glioblastoma is a common and aggressively growing form of brain cancer for which there is no cure. The average length of survival is 15-18 months, and the five-year survival rate is 10 percent.
    Those odds did not deter Matt.
    "I'm going to beat this," he told TurfNet.
    He took his fight public, sharing everything, from breakfast with his son (pictured above), to taking part in an experimental trial at UCLA to leaving the hospital to be home in time for daughter Mara's birthday. 
    Until the end, Matt was that rock for his family. It is what husbands and fathers are supposed to do. Even in death, his thoughts were for others, not himself. His obituary states: "Cancer taught Matt many lessons about the value of time, and he would much prefer everyone use the hours that would have been spent attending services to make memories with family, volunteer, or engage in a random act of kindness to brighten someone else's day."
    That is Matt's legacy, and that is heroic.
  • Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses worldwide, including Big Horn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California (above). Photo by Hills, Forrest, Smith Golf Course Architects Arthur Hills, who designed and renovated more than 350 golf courses around the world, was as a pioneer in the field of golf course design.
    A native of Toledo, Ohio, Hills died May 18. He was 91.
    Hills was a graduate of both Michigan State University, where he was a member of the golf team, and the University of Michigan, where he earned a degree in landscape architecture. He formed his golf course architecture firm, which eventually transitioned to Hills, Forrest, Smith, Golf Course Architects, in the 1960s.
    Hills designed more than 200 golf courses around the world and restored more than 150 others. His design portfolio includes Bonita Bay, Naples, Florida; The Golf Club of Georgia, Atlanta; Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert, California; Keene Trace Golf Club, Lexington, Kentucky; and Hyatt Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas. Hills-designed courses have hosted many top amateur and professional tournaments, including U.S. Opens and the Ryder Cup.
    "As a kid drawing golf holes and dreaming about becoming a designer, I would read the magazines and marvel at the articles about new courses," ASGCA president Forrest Richardson told the ASGCA. "One was Tamarron in Colorado, a new course by Art Hills set in a rugged valley with steep cliffs. Eventually I got to see it firsthand, and it inspired me with its bold greens and creative routing."
    An environmental pioneer, Hills designed the first Audubon Signature Sanctuary courses in the United States, Mexico and Europe. ASGCA past president Pete Dye once called Hills "the Mayor of Naples" for the number of private country club courses that he designed in Southwest Florida.
    "He started the business by placing an ad in the Toledo, Ohio, Yellow Pages under 'Golf Course Architect' while operating a landscape contracting business," said his longtime partner Steve Forrest. "I had the great privilege of learning all aspects of golf course architecture from a distinguished professional practitioner and humble gentleman over 42 years. Arthur became a father-like figure to me who was a mentor, an instructor, exhorter and admonisher while always trying to improve his own skills and increase his personal knowledge every day."
    Hills is an inductee into both the Ohio and Michigan Golf Halls of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award from the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association.
    Hills served as ASGCA president in 1992-93. Survivors include wife Mary, eight children, 24 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
    Visitation will be at Reeb Funeral Home, Sylvania, Ohio, on Sunday, May 23, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. A funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sylvania on Monday, May 24, at 11 a.m.
  • Aquatrols taps Albert for eastern Canada
    Aquatrols, a maker of soil surfactants and related technologies, has named Jonathan Albert as the company's territory manager for eastern Canada.
    A former golf greenkeeper, Albert will be responsible for overseeing all sales and marketing initiatives in that region. Albert joins Aquatrols from Bayer, where he worked in product development and trial testing as a field development representative and in sales as a territory manager. 
    Prior to his roles at Bayer, Albert worked in Montreal as an assistant superintendent at Windmill Heights Golf Course.

    Rain Bird names new regional manager in SE Asia
    Rain Bird recently named Mark Donohue as regional manager for the company's Southeast Asia market. 
    In his new role, Donohue will manage the development of Rain Bird's golf, landscape and agriculture sectors in the Southeast Asia region.
    Donohue joined Rain Bird as a regional manager for Canada in 2016. Since then, he built a high-performing landscape sales team, expanded and improved the company's distribution network and delivered outstanding business results. In recognition of his efforts, Donohue received a 2020 Rain Bird Achievement Award for Long Term Growth Orientation.  
    Before joining Rain Bird, Donohue spent five years as the national sales manager for ITW Construction Products, Canada in Markham, Ontario. In 2015, Donohue received his professional certification from the University of Innovative Distribution at Purdue University.
    BASF brings first insecticide for golf to market
    BASF recently introduced Alucion 35 WG insecticide, the company's first specifically for the golf course market. This new dual-action, non-restricted use product provides golf course superintendents with a solution for controlling a wide range of surface-feeding insects.
    With the active ingredients alpha-cypermethrin and dinotefuran, Alucion 35 WG is labled for control of pests such as nuisance ants, chinch bugs, cutworms and annual bluegrass weevil.
    According to BASF, Alucion 35 WG insecticide is the only pyrethroid-containing insecticide for golf courses with a non-restricted use label.
  • Opportunities often present themselves in the oddest of places, like on the first tee during a weather delay.
    While sitting in the car waiting out a frost delay last December at Talamore Golf Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina, Garrett Bastardi realized a moment of serendipity that would allow him to combine two of his passions - golf and forecasting the weather.
    An aspiring tour pro who has been playing professionally for four years, Bastardi, 25, also is finishing his education at Penn State, where he is working toward a bachelor's degree in meteorology. Today, he is partnering with two other meteorologists as well as Herb Stevens, the golf-playing weatherman, on a short-range forecasting system called T3 that can help superintendents know when conditions will be right in a 48-hour window for a host of issues.
    "I was playing between Christmas and New Year, and every day, there was a frost delay in the morning," Bastardi said. "There were 100 guys standing around waiting, and no one, not the starter or anyone in the golf shop, ever knew when we were going to be able to play. Being a meteorologist, I knew there were models to predict this."
    Stevens, known as the skiing weatherman, already has been offering his Grassroots Weather long-range forecasting platform to superintendents. Developed in part from World War II-era technology used by military meteorologists, Grassroots Weather has been providing superintendents with long-term weather trends for 18 years. Bastardi has been involved with Grassroots Weather for the past several years.
    The T3 platform, which stands for Turf Threat Tracker, provides insight into several metrics on a micro level. Users enter their latitude and longitude (which can be easily determined through Google Maps) for precise two-day forecasts for issues such as ET, solar radiation, soil temperature, soil moisture, leaf wetness, frost, wind, visibility and lightning.
    That information not only makes it easier to identify potential frost delays (and when they might be over), but also can help superintendent time spray applications and more.
    "It gives me the ability to time operations, plant-protectant sprays or timing of a project on the golf course," said Rodney Hine, superintendent at Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Massachusetts. 
    "It has saved me when putting down an application that did not need water. If rain is in the forecast, I can change my schedule and get the product washed in."
    Most forecasting models used in traditional platforms, such as The Weather Channel, are built on 18-mile-wide grids, meaning a forecast can be as much as 9 miles from your location. T3 is built on a tighter grid, ensuring a more accurate forecast.

    "Being a meteorologist, I knew there were models to predict this." -- Garrett Bastardi   (USGA Green Section image) "The big difference between this model and point-and-click models has to do with grid size," Stevens said. 
    "Our platform has a grid size of 1.8 miles, so your point of reference is never more than nine-tenths of a mile from the intersection where the forecast is produced for."
    T3 has been in development since January. Several superintendents have been testing it and a few have liked enough of what they have seen to subscribe to the service. Thanks to a 28-day trial period, any superintendent can test it for free.
    "I'm frustrated with weather forecasts," said Sam MacKenzie of Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois. "The only person who can fail as much as a weatherman and more money are baseball players. You can hit .250 and still make a million dollars.
    "No question, having an accurate forecast is important to have. I like the radar, but I'm still evaluating it. I do know already that there is a 90 percent chance of frost tomorrow."
    Also involved in the project are Steve Hallett and Andy Moffitt, fellow meteorology classmates of Bastardi's at Penn State.
    "When superintendents have to make weather decisions on the fly, they might have to go to five or six sites to make a decision," Stevens said. "By the time they get to the fifth one, they've forgotten what the first one said.
    "T3 is an all-in-one component where they get everything they need in one place. It contains tools they've never had at their disposal before."
    Said Hine: "I'd like to be able to get back to focusing on the smaller details. The more efficiently I can do that, the more money I save. I like knowing what to expect. I learned a long time ago, you can't work against Mother Nature. You have to work with her. I've killed a lot of grass trying to work against Mother Nature."
  • From left, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have designed some of the country's most highly regarded golf courses. The renowned golf course design tandem of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore have been named the recipients of the American Society of Golf Course Architects 2021 Donald Ross Award. The award has been given annually since 1976 "to those making a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture." 
    A 19-time winner on the PGA Tour, Crenshaw is a two-time Master's champion (1984, 1995) and captained the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1999. Coore learned the ropes of golf course design under Pete and Alice Dye. The two have been designing courses together since 1985.
    Coore and Crenshaw have teamed to design such highly acclaimed layouts such as Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska, Sheep Ranch Golf Course in Oregon, Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia, Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawaii, Streamsong Resort Red in Florida and Friar’s Head in New York. They also restored Pinehurst No. 2 prior to the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Open both were played there in 2014.
    They will receive the award in October at the ASGCA annual meeting in Cleveland.
    Click here for a complete list of past winners.
  • After a virtual event in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Trade Show will be an in-person event again this year.
    Scheduled for Nov. 15-17, the event will take place at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Seminar and attendee registration will open after Labor Day.
    "We are so glad to be back on track," said Carolinas GCSA president, Brian Stiehler, CGCS at Highlands Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina.
    This year's conference will feature education seminars on the Monday morning. This gives attendees the chance to take as many as four seminars, with education also on Monday afternoon, as well as Tuesday morning and afternoon. General education sessions will take place on Wednesday with the trade show open on Tuesday and Wednesday.
    The Carolinas GCSA will continue to monitor the pandemic and be ready to adapt as necessary, Carolinas GCSA executive director, Tim Kreger said.
    "But given the current trajectory, we expect to offer the kind of Conference and Show that has made this event the largest regional event of its kind for superintendents in the country," he said.
    When the pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s in-person event, the Carolinas GCSA answered with an event known as Conference Comes to You that included a month of online education for turf managers from 35 regional chapters.
    "I wouldn’t be surprised," Kreger said, "if this show challenges attendance records."
  • A former Champions Tour site, city-owned Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Kentucky, has a long history of hosting high-profile events. Photos by John Reitman When talking about the country's most popular golf destinations, Kentucky rarely, if ever, comes up in the conversation.
    Kent Dornbrock, superintendent of one of the state's top municipal courses, would like to see that change.
    "We're not there yet," said Dornbrock, superintendent at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington. "But we have a lot of good superintendents in this state doing some good work."
    Dornbrock has been doing some good work at Kearney Hill for nearly a decade, and his predecessors did the same for another 25 years since Pete and P.B. Dye built the course in 1989.
    A former PGA Champions Tour site, Kearney Hill in 2018 was the site of the Girls Junior PGA Championship, a nationwide championship for golfers 18 and under. In July, Kearney will host the same event for boys, while the girls will be playing 50 miles away at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
    "What does that say? It says come play golf in Kentucky," Dornbrock said. "It says come play in Lexington. We're ready for you."
    Despite its municipal status, Kearney Hill has been one of Lexington's golf hotspots since it was carved out of the rolling central Kentucky landscape 32 years ago. Ranked No. 3 in Kentucky on Golfweek's "Best Public Courses You Can Play" list, Kearney Hill was home to the PGA Champions Tour Bank One Classic from 1990-97, the USGA Men's Public Links Championship in 1997 and the Women's Public Links Championship in 2007. Tour pro Jim Dent held the course record - 62 - for nine years.
    Kearney Hill, like most places, has had plenty of golfers but not enough workers during the pandemic.
    At least 100 golfers per day on weekdays and 300 on Saturdays and Sundays are playing Kearney Hill. Until recently, Dornbrock's crew has been operating at about 50 percent of normal.
    "We get a lot of tournaments. We have a page-and-a-half of events on the books this year," Dornbrock said.
    "We're just trying to keep our head above water. We're finally getting workers back, but it has been hard during the pandemic. It has been easier for people to stay home and make more money. We finally have some college kids coming in, but we just couldn't get people out here."
    A labor shortage has meant cutting back on detail work - at least until Dornbrock's staff is back up to full capacity.
    "Little things were not getting done, things like edging bunkers, raking bunkers and cutting back on how much we mowed the short grass," he said. "We want to mow the greens six days a week, but we can't. We've had to cut back on everything we do by 10 to 20 percent of what we normally would do."
    Dornbrock recently hired an irrigation tech, filling a void that has been open for two years. His new hire is transferring in from another department within the city's maintenance operation and has no golf experience.
    "We can teach that," Dornbrock said. "Just having him will allow me to do superintendent duties again, like walking greens and fairways every morning, so I can be on top of all those issues. In short, it's going to help me be a superintendent again, so then I don't have to be an irrigation tech."
    With some of the country's best junior golfers due at Kearney Hill in July, , more help could not have come at a better time.
    "A little more intense maintenance, more PGR use - we're working on getting this place into shape," he said. "My philosophy is to have this course in the best shape possible every day, and we do a very good job of that. Now, with more staff, we will be very good by mid-June. By July, we will be great.
    "We're going to produce and maintain a great golf course, not just for the boys, but for our public golfers, because we need them to continue to come back."
  • CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR TECH

    Robert Smith of Merion Golf Club (above) won Technician of the Year in 2015. Tony Nunes (below) of Chicago Golf Club, won the award in 2017. The past year has been a challenge for just about everyone in the golf industry. This time a year ago, many courses were closed, and no one was quite sure when they would be reopened and what things would look like then. 
    By the time things reopened, many places had sent workers home and golfers began to descend on shorthanded golf courses in record numbers, resulting in added pressure and stress to superintendents and their teams, including equipment managers. 
    With more golfers on the course and shorter windows to conduct daily maintenance, technicians were asked to do more and more, often with fewer and fewer resources. 
    If you have an equipment manager who has gone above and beyond the call of duty during the past year - and there must be a lot of deserving candidates since the implementation of Covid protocols - nominate him or her for the TurfNet 2021 Technician of the Year Award, sponsored by John Deere. The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award along with their choice of a spot in a Deere training session in North Carolina or a chance to assist with equipment maintenance at next year’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Either will result in an equipment manager who is better trained and more motivated and will make your property better.
    CLICK HERE to submit a nomination.
    Nominees are considered by our panel of judges on the following criteria: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.
    Deadline to submit a nomination is June 1.
    Previous winners include (2020) Evan Meldahl, Bayou Oaks at City Park, New Orleans, LA; (2019) Dan Dommer, Ozaukee Country Club, Mequon, WI; (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.
  • Assembly Bill 672 targets publicly owned golf courses in California, such as Balboa Park in San Diego (above), for conversion to high-density housing and open space. The bill died in committee last month, but many expect it to resurface in January. Public golf is under attack in California. Although municipal golf has weathered the latest offensive in a battle waged by the state's legislature, it appears this struggle is only beginning.
    A bill introduced by a member of the California assembly that targets municipal golf courses as potential sites for low-income housing units and open space died in committee in April. However, the bill likely will be reintroduced in January as a two-year bill and, despite the most recent outcome, is representative of how many in California (and elsewhere) feel about golf's place on publicly owned land.
    AB 672 was introduced in February by Cristina Garcia, who represents California's 58th district in Los Angeles County, and had been referred to the Assembly's Housing and Community Development Committee and Local Government Committee, but did not meet the April 30 deadline to pass through both and is dead for the rest of this year. It is expected to be reintroduced in January, said Craig Kessler, government affairs director of the Southern California Golf Association in a recent podcast.
    "It will come back alive on January 1 as is, or amended. This issue won't go away," Kessler said.
    "The thinking that underlies it, it is a wake-up call to the golf industry. We have certain problems that are related to our use of the land that we need to pay closer attention to."
    About 22 percent of California's approximately 1,100 golf courses are publicly owned, Kessler said. The bill, if passed, would remove zoning protection afforded to all of the state's publicly owned golf courses by the California Park Preservations Act and California Environmental Quality Act as well as local zoning entitlements and would "require a city, county, or city and county to rezone, by the date the 6th regional housing needs assessment cycle applicable to the city, county, or city and county ends, certain sites used as a golf course to also allow for residential and open-space use in accordance with specified requirements." 
    Currently in California, golf courses, along with other public recreational amenities such as parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and athletic fields, are afforded the above zoning protections. AB 672 only targets publicly owned golf courses to be repurposed for housing and open space.
    The bill targets any course that meets any of the following criteria: is located in a park-poor area; is owned by a city, county or city and county and is funded by moneys from the city, county or city and county; or is located in a high-density area.
    According to Kessler, at least 40 percent of all golf played in California is played on publicly owned golf courses. Those facilities are also home to other initiatives designed to grow the game, such as First Tee, Youth on Course, regional junior events and high school tournaments.
     
    "All of those kinds of things that the golf industry has invested so much time, so much resources in in long-term growing the game, the game would lose those sites potentially," he said.
    "What is more insidious, among all those recreational activities available in California, all of those things would continue to be protected, but not golf. I don't think golf would object to giving up a little bit if everyone had to give a little bit in order to solve what is a genuine problem in this state - housing. But to be the only one that gives is discriminator and is almost evidence of the anti-golf animus that is out there."
    The California Alliance for Golf, a non-profit advocacy group for the state's golf industry, currently employs a lobbyist, but is hoping to become better organized to help the industry in such legal battles.
    "It (AB 672) will be around next year as it is a two-year bill. It will surface in some form next January," said Alliance president Jim Ferrin. "We currently are trying to create a stronger coalition, especially one that's funded at the legislative and legal level so that such legislation can be stopped."
    Between now and next year, Kessler is urging proponents of public golf to contact their state legislators in Sacramento and make sure their voices are heard.
    "Golf became complacent, because it thought its value was self-evident," Kessler said. "It is time for golfers to make that case and make it long and loud. And this would be a good moment to do that.
    "(AB 672) is a clumsy bill, but a lot of things that are law today began as clumsy bills because they reflected thinking or ideas. Keep in mind, if golf takes from that death (of 672) on Friday and somehow takes a victory lap, it will have drawn the wrong less. If golf takes from this that we had enough in our arsenal to deflect a poorly aimed shot in what promises to be a very long battle, and we've been given a little breathing space to come up with some longer-term strategies to deal with the thinking that underlies AB 672 and begin to address it, golf will have learned the right lesson."
  • George Nickolaou, above and below right, came to the U.S. in 1951 and after owning a series of restaurants built his own golf course in the 1970s that, according to his son, boasts some of the best playing conditions in the Battle Creek, Michigan area. No question about it; Oakland Hills Golf Course in Michigan has a riveting history that is a shining example of the American Dream.
    Not the Oakland Hills in suburban Detroit that was designed 100 years ago by Donald Ross and has been the site of several major championships, including six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup. This Oakland Hills is 120 miles away in Battle Creek. Although not quite as famous as its upper crust namesake, the Battle Creek version of Oakland Hills is just as important to the game's history as well as its future, and its story is equally compelling.
    Oakland Hills was founded 50 years ago by George Nickolaou, an ethnic Macedonian immigrant from Greece who, like something out of a Horatio Alger novel, came to America in 1951 with little more than the clothes on his back and became a prosperous businessman. 
    "He came to this country penniless," said Nickolaou's son, also named George. "He became a multi-millionaire by working hard and listening to people smarter than him."
    A successful restaurateur, the elder Nickolaou built a daily fee golf course that became immensely popular with the Battle Creek community because of its superb playing conditions and fair price. It is the kind of place where most people first take up the game and where the unwashed masses play it.
    Nickolaou died in 2017 at the age of 86, but his legacy lives on thanks to his son, who now owns the course that still plays an important role in the growth of the game at a grassroots level. 
    After arriving in the U.S. during the Korean War, the older Nickolaou established a series of eateries, first a drive-through, then an Italian restaurant and finally a club that became a local Battle Creek hotspot for drinking and dancing. He knew nothing about golf until patrons of his restaurant invited him to play at their club. He was so smitten with the game, he took a few lessons and soon became a nearly scratch player. 
    In the 1970s, there already were about a half-dozen golf courses - a mix of public and private - operating in the Battle Creek area. A true renassaince man, Nickolaou was a man of many talents. A successful restaurant owner, he also taught lessons at an Arthur Murray dance studio. When it came to operaing a golf course, Nickolaou thought he could do as well or better than others in the Battle Creek area, and he bought 200 acres of farmland to prove it. 
    With no knowledge of how to build a golf course or maintain one, Nickolaou read everything he could get his hands on with plans to build a course that anyone could play. 
    "He was tired of the long hours of the restaurant business and thought he would like to be outside," Nickolaou said. "There were two ways of looking at it - he could build a Nicklaus or Palmer course and charge a lot, or he could build something challenging that people would enjoy visiting and playing rather than crossing it off a bucket list."
    Rather than invest in a Nicklaus design, he saved his money and went with an original Nickolaou, building the original nine holes in 1973 and adding the second nine four years later. His son, now 65, was a sophomore in high school then and helped his father with all the dirty work. Much of their work was done overnight after the family restaurant closed.

    "He was looking for an architect to design a golf course," Nickolaou said. "When I found out what that cost, he learned to do it himself. If the course was too difficult or too expensive, who is going to sustain that?
    "He rented the equipment - a front end loader and bulldozer. He read books on design and soil structure. He was a scratch golfer with a green thumb and a wallet. I was a boy scout who could read a topographic map. This course does not have the right to be as good as it is."
    The older Nickolaou developed his own soil mix when building putting greens, and his son insists that the composite still holds the key to Oakland Hills' playing conditions. Just like KFC's 11 herbs and spices, the mix remains a closely guarded secret. All he will share is "it was atypical for golf courses in the 1970s."
    "Only three people know how we did it," Nickolaou said. "If I told you, the secret's out, so I still won't tell anyone."
    Nearly a half-century later, Nickolaou subjectively says his father's dream still has the best greens in the area. 
    "We're still here and doing well in a challenging market, because he built something with legs that has endured through good times and bad. He made it straightforward and easy to maintain. This course is all about the grass, the bunkers and the trees," Nickolaou said. "He started with nine holes and never cut corners. When he had enough money he built the second nine. His reach never exceeded his grasp. He never went for the unattainable. They don't make them like him anymore."
  • Yale finally has its man.
    Jeffrey Austin, who spent seven years as superintendent at Quail Hollow Country Club in Painesville, Ohio, including the last four as director of agronomy, has been named the new superintendent at Yale Golf Club in New Haven, Connecticut. A former assistant at Augusta National for four years where he helped prep for the Masters, Austin succeeds Scott Ramsay, who left more than a year ago after 17 years at Yale for the Country Club of Farmington.
    "I am honored to accept the superintendent position at the Yale Golf Course," Austin said in a Yale University news release. "To become the next steward of such a historically important course like the one at Yale is exactly what I have worked for throughout my career. The lessons that I have learned will ensure that I provide the best available conditions on a daily basis to our golfers. I am looking forward to joining (general manager) Peter (Palacios) and the entire Bulldog family."
    At Augusta, Austin trained interns and oversaw the pesticide application program.
     
    "Jeff spent his formative years within our industry working as a core member of my team," Augusta's Brad Owen said in a news release from Yale. "While here, he demonstrated agility in his ability to listen and learn, strengthen his understanding and application of agronomy practices and a passion for our sport and the cathedrals on which it is played. We are proud to call Jeff an Augusta National alumni and look forward to seeing him every year when he returns as our invited guest to assist us with our tournament."
    Yale Golf Club reopened on April 13 after being closed almost exclusively since the end of the 2019 season. Before the course could open in 2020, the Yale campus, including the golf course, was shuttered last March due to the pandemic. All employees across all sectors of campus operations were sent home. According to Vicky Chun, the athletic director at Yale since July 2018, what she described as a "skeletal crew" was permitted to stay on and work a minimal number of hours to maintain the golf course.
    A $400,000 drainage-improvement project had recently been completed when Ramsay left. With the course closed for most of a year-and-a-half, whoever replaced Ramsay would have his work cut out for him.
    Austin earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Dayton and is a graduate of Penn State's two-year turfgrass program.
    "We already knew what we needed," Yale Golf Course general manager Peter Palacios told the Yale News. "We needed to find someone who not only had the economic [knowledge] but also was able to be someone we can put in front of our distinguished alumni or administration or those individuals who are supporters of the Yale Golf Course when the time comes to really talk about how we're going to maintain the golf course."
    A 1926 C.B. MacDonald classic that is ranked as the No. 1 campus golf course in the Golfweek's Best list, Yale opened for the season April 13.
  • Ascernity fungicide from Syngenta has been approved by the Department of Environmental Quality for use in California.
    Launched in July 2020, Ascernity combines the advanced SDHI Solatenol technology (benzovindiflupyr) with a DMI (difenoconazole), the proven cooling DMI, to bring broad-spectrum disease control into focus. It is labeled for control of anthracnose, large patch, gray leaf spot and more in warm- and cool-season turf. Syngenta launched this dual-action fungicide in the United States in 2020.
    Ascernity offers long-lasting control as the cornerstone of the GreenTrust 365 Large Patch Assurance Program and is safe to use on turf with no heat restrictions even in the summer when disease pressure is high.
    For resistance management and broad-spectrum disease control, the Syngenta technical services team has developed agronomic programs that strategically rotate Ascernity with other trusted products. To find recommendations for incorporating Ascernity into an existing agronomic program, visit GreenCastOnline.com/Programs.
    “We saw amazing results with Ascernity in our trials in Northern California,” said Jim Baird, Ph.D., turfgrass specialist, University of California, Riverside. “Ascernity was not only combative against anthracnose and rapid blight, but also restored overall turf health. We saw perfect turf in those plots surrounded by disease in the untreated areas.”
    To help superintendents in California and across the country learn about Ascernity, Syngenta is launching the #Time4Ascernity Video Challenge. To qualify, participants must watch two of six videos at GreenCastOnline.com/AscernityChallenge from April 26 to May 26, 2021. Each video will feature customers and/or leading industry researchers discussing their experiences using Ascernity to control key turf diseases. Upon completion of an entry form, participants will be entered for a chance to win one of 50 randomly awarded KOOZIE Kamp hammocks. 
  • Once synonymous with a 1929 gangland shooting in the back of a north side Chicago garage, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre has taken on new meaning for golf course superintendents in Texas.
    It is entirely likely that before last winter there were many in the turf business in Houston for whom desiccation was such a rarity that it was relegated to urban legend status, a myth, an illusion. That changed in mid-February, when a weeklong cold snap left a trail of damage that many Texans had not seen in quite a while.
    According to local legend, it has been more than 30 years since winter damage this bad has been part of the conversation in Houston. In fact, the last time serious winter damage was an issue in this part of Texas, Kevin Cooper, who has been superintendent at Lochinvar Golf Club in Houston for the past 13 years, was a sophomore in high school in his native Flemingsburg, Kentucky.
    "I have had members tell me that no one here has seen anything like this since at least 1989," Cooper said. "This is going down as a record-setting event no one has seen in a long time."
    Leading up to Valentine's Day, the forecast throughout Texas called for conditions unfriendly to Bermudagrass. Temperatures flirted with the freezing mark for a week or more, depending on location, including two days in single digits in Houston and as much as minus-5 degrees Fahrenheit farther north in Dallas. On Feb. 15, the high at George Bush Airport in Houston was 25 degrees, the lowest daily high in February in Houston since 1969, according to the National Weather Service. Despite by-the-book efforts of superintendents statewide to protect putting surfaces, the result has been winter damage and desiccation from Abilene to Zavalla and everywhere in between. More than two months later, many golf courses are still playing catch up while simultaneously dealing with record amounts of play.
    "Some courses fared better than others. From my standpoint, I'm fortunate I have a very understanding ownership and understanding membership," said Eric Bauer, superintendent at Bluejack National, an hour north of Houston. "My choice is to let the grass do what it needs to do to recover on its own. There is some winter injury out there, but the plant is healthy, so let it recover when the weather is favorable. We still had below-average temperatures for most of March and it started the same way in April. We're still waiting for that hot, humid weather. It just hasn't arrived yet. We don't expect to be out of this until the end of May. I feel bad for my guys. They work so hard to put out a great product, but ultimately you realize that Mother Nature is in control of everything. She definitely won."
    Bringing back stressed turf while hundreds of golfers day trample it daily has been a challenge.
    "We're being patient and smart. We're not pushing green speeds, and we're not being overly aggressive with our cultural practices," Bauer said. "We're just trying to put out a good product, but golf is booming. Play has been unbelievable, and that makes it that much more stressful. When there is a lot of play and you're trying to recover, it's stressful."
    In the Dallas area, Anthony Williams manages bentgrass greens at the TPC Four Seasons, so, overall, he has fared better than others growing Bermudagrass, but he was not immune to damage from the storm. 
    Like Bauer, Williams is bringing back 36 holes at the Four Seasons amid record play. Signage around the property (pictured at the top of this page) urges golfers to exercise some patience while he and he team work toward recovery.
    "We've had the pandemic, closures, craziness and all of this for a whole year," Williams said. "Then there is a sense of optimism and you can't wait for spring, then we have this unparalleled winter storm. On top of that, we have had record rounds in March, and April looks like it is going to be the same."
    Damage to turf has been minimal at the Four Seasons. All repair work is being completed in house, a decision made in part due to a shortage of sod and available contractors.
    "We have some damage on north-facing slopes and knobs that were exposed to a north wind that came through," Williams said. "The sod supply is overtaxed, and fuel prices have gone up. If you put those two things together, not only was it the perfect winter storm, it was the perfect financial storm, as well."

    The mid-February weather forecast shows a wild swing of temperatures on tap for Houston. In the days leading up to this year's winter anomaly, superintendents throughout the state dusted off their rarely used checklist for winter prep that included watering the greens and applying wetting agents to keep moisture in the plant and a light feeding before covering them. Both Bauer and Cooper said the process felt eerily similar to preparing for a hurricane.
    Superintendents faced weather-related issues at the golf course and at home. When the weather finally arrived, much of the Houston area lost power for several days. Rolling blackouts became part of the local vernacular as utility providers tried to give everyone at least some electricity, but often that meant going days without power. Burst pipes in homes and businesses - including golf course maintenance shops and clubhouses - made a bad situation worse.
    "I think a lot of people in Texas are now in agreement that they'd rather have a hurricane than a blizzard," Cooper said.
    At Lochnivar, only about 15 minutes north of downtown Houston, much of the damage was confined to ornamental flower beds. Losses in ornamental beds totalled more than $100,000, but finding replacement plants - mostly wax myrtle and bottlebrush - has been difficult.
    "The hardest part is finding plant material," Cooper said. "It's all shipping out of California and Florida."
    In Irving, Texas near Dallas, snow arrived on Valentine's Day, which was a Sunday. By Tuesday and Wednesday, temperatures overnight were below zero.
    "We had nine days of killing weather. That's unheard of," Williams said. "It had been a mild winter up to that point. In my four years in Texas, we'd never had a bad winter, so I thought we were due.
    "On Wednesday, it was minus-2 degrees and the wind chill was minus-18 in Dallas. Eleven days later, it was 80 degrees. I don't know how a plant can be that resilient. Superintendents were busy for days beforehand getting ready, and thank goodness they did, or it would have been much worse."
    Like Cooper, Williams lost a lot of ornamentals. 
    "I've removed about 3,000 shrubs and trees, and probably have at least that much more to go," Williams said. 
    When the resort's horticulturist went to find replacement plants, the scene was surreal, according to Williams.
    "There was an hour-long wait at the wholesaler, and there was an armed policeman at the gate," he said. "You could only buy so much because there was such a limited supply. We have to be creative. If you can grow areas back in, that is ideal, because there is not enough sod."
    There was more damage unrelated to turf. Shifting soils resulted in the collapse of some retaining walls and partial tunnel failure.
    "Temperatures were up and down so erratically and there was so much moisture," Williams said. "It was epic soil movement."
    At Bluejack, affected areas included approaches and fronts. Even under covers, the club's TifEagle greens received some damage. Although it might be another 30 years before such damage occurs again in Texas, Bauer said there were some lessons to learn this year, including multiple cover layers, or covers used in tandem with other materials.
    "It is deflating to pull off the covers and feel good about everything you did to prepare and still seeing winter injury occur," Bauer said.
    "We have some of the newer zoysias around greens, which is supposed to be more cold tolerant. When you see damage on zoysia, what chance did that Bermuda have?"
    When the covers came off, Bauer knew he would need more time to get the course back on the road to recovery before opening it for play.
    "When we took the covers off, I really wanted to aerify and get some oxygen in there," he said. I asked for an extra day to solid tine, and they gave me that (pictured at right). The frustration is what more could we have done? We prepared and we planned and we did all the right things that needed to be done to avoid catastrophe. When things don't work out that way, you wear it on your sleeve. We'll get things back to where we want them, but it won't happen overnight."
    Williams, who also is a certified arborist, agreed - golfers will have to be patient to see the conditions they are accustomed to throughout Texas.
    "We're going to get through this.  Everyone has to have some faith and hang in there," he said. 
    "It was really strange to see live oaks with leaves on them and snow. Then there was a massive leaf drop. I picked up more leaves from Valentine's Day to mid-March than I did all of last year. I still have some concerns about that. If we have a hot, dry summer, casualties (among trees) won't be known for four or five months. It might really be a two-year process to find out what has to be replaced."
  • Now this is what you call grassroots activism.
    Tom Kaplun, superintendent at North Hempstead Country Club in Port Washington, New York, recently penned a letter in opposition to proposed legislation that would, if it becomes law, ban the use of neonicotinoids statewide.
    Senate Bill 699-A, for now titled The Birds and Bees Protection Act, was co-sponsored by state senators Brad Hoylman, Alessandra Biaggi, Leroy Comrie, Andrew Gounardes and Pete Harckham.

    Tom Kaplun Currently in committee, according to the New York State Senate, SB 699-A would ban the use of any products containing the active ingredients clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran or acetamiprid by July 2023. Clothianidin, dinotefuran and imidacloprid are common insecticides used on golf courses to control pests including white grubs and mole crickets.
    The proposed legislation seeks to protect pollinating insects and birds by prohibiting the sale of seeds coated with these chemistries as well as the sale and application of such products on turf, sod or ornamentals. In his letter, Kaplun informed Hoylman that these products are critical tools in the superintendent’s arsenal to control destructive pests, and that greenkeepers have worked hard to develop BMPs in an effort to be responsible pesticide applicators.
    Wrote Kaplun: "These BMPs and the (Department of Environmental Conservation) should govern our usage in turf. One well timed application of imidacloprid in conjunction with BMPs has proven to have no adverse effects on pollinator populations. Why have legislators not acknowledged the work done in the scientific community related to BMPs and integrated pest management? I find it so incredibly deflating that despite the countless efforts golf courses make to demonstrate their environmental stewardship and best management practice efforts legislators continue to fail to acknowledge the vital role they play in New York's communities and economy."
    Kaplun, the government affairs chair for the Long Island GCSA, concludes by suggesting that legislators work with turf managers in their shared quest for environmental sustainability. "As turf managers, we continue to invest and evolve in how we can maintain some of the greatest golf courses in the world while being at the forefront of environmental stewardship. As we balance this task and acknowledge that we must evolve we ask lawmakers to work with us on this task and leave chemical bans in the hands of the Department of Environmental Conservation upon complete, known scientific research."
  • CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR TECH

    Jamie Worsham (center) of Beard Equipment, a Baton Rouge John Deere distributor, and Ryan McCavitt (right), director of golf course operations at Bayou Oaks at City Park, congratulate 2020 Golden Wrench winner Evan Meldahl. The past year has been a challenge for just about everyone in the golf industry. This time a year ago, many courses were closed, and no one was quite sure when they would be reopened and what things would look like then. 
    By the time things reopened, many places had sent workers home and golfers began to descend on shorthanded golf courses in record numbers, resulting in added pressure and stress to superintendents and their teams, including equipment managers. 
    With more golfers on the course and shorter windows to conduct daily maintenance, technicians were asked to do more and more, often with fewer and fewer resources. 
    If you have an equipment manager who has gone above and beyond the call of duty during the past year - and there must be a lot of deserving candidates since the implementation of Covid protocols - nominate him or her for the TurfNet 2021 Technician of the Year Award, sponsored by John Deere. The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award along with their choice of a spot in a Deere training session in North Carolina or a chance to assist with equipment maintenance at next year’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Either will result in an equipment manager who is better trained and more motivated and will make your property better.
    CLICK HERE to submit a nomination.
    Nominees are considered by our panel of judges on the following criteria: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.
    Deadline to submit a nomination is June 1.
    Previous winners include (2020) Evan Meldahl, Bayou Oaks at City Park, New Orleans, LA; (2019) Dan Dommer, Ozaukee Country Club, Mequon, WI; (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.

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