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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Aquatrols has donated more than $1 million to environmental projects around the world since 2019 through The FairWays Foundation. The FairWays Foundation, established five years ago by Aquatrols to help fund environmental initiatives, will distribute $119,040 to 11 environmental projects worldwide in 2024. 
    Established in 2019 by former Aquatrols president and CEO Matt Foster, the FairWays Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing conservation and environmental stewardship. By providing grants to both small and large-scale projects, the foundation addresses environmental challenges and supports educational initiatives worldwide.
    Withe the latest round of grants, the foundation has now donated a total of $1.1 million to 59 conservation initiatives across the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa.
    The 2024 grant cycle included a diverse range of projects, from the GreenerGolf Network conference that serves to inspire golf clubs throughout the United Kingdom to meet the industry's environmental challenges and the AquaArborAware project that focuses on river and forest conservation education in the Anumle community in Ghana. Other notable projects included eco-pond restoration, heathland regeneration and various on-course ecology and sustainability initiatives. You can view a list of all this year’s successful projects here.
    "The FairWays Foundation is extremely proud of this year’s grant recipients," said Gregg Lovell, president of the foundation and Central East territory manager for Aquatrols. "They represent three continents with an increased focus on public outreach and education. 
    "We can’t wait to see the finished projects and observe the positive impacts they are having within their communities."
  • As the son of a football coach, Joe Wachter spent much of his life outdoors playing sports as a child, so it might seem only natural that he chose a career that allowed him to spend time outdoors. As it turns out, that career outside on the golf course happened mostly by coincidence.
    Wachter was working as a school bus contractor in the St. Louis area in 1990 when he was at a fundraiser golf tournament at Glen Echo Country Club. While there, he overheard a man nearby discussing his need to hire an assistant golf course superintendent. Wachter, who was already considering a career change to the landscaping industry, thought he just might have stumbled onto the perfect opportunity. 
    Two days later, after discussing things with his now ex-wife and brother Ed, who was superintendent at Innsbrook Resort in Missouri at the time, Wachter called the man who happened to be Lee Redman, superintendent at Sunset Country Club in suburban St. Louis.
    "He hired me on the spot," Wachter said. "I immediately lost the company car and about 30 percent of my salary. After talking about it with my wife, she said 'OK, if you think it's the right thing to do.' I said 'I think it is.' "
    Thirty-four years later, at the end of October, Wachter is closing the books on that career that happened purely by being in the right place at the right time. And it is ending right where it (sort of) began — Glen Echo, an 1896 Jim Foulis design that was the host site of the 1904 Olympic golf competition.
    "I'm ready," Wachter said.
    "As you get older, you realize you've given up a lot of personal time. Now you want to take advantage of what's left. In the end, this is the best thing."
    Wachter is a graduate of the business school at Southeast Missouri State, and later completed his turf education at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, where he took 11 horticulture classes.

    An 1896 Jim Foulis design, Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis was the host course of the golf competition during the 1904 Olympic Games. Photo courtesy of Joe Wachter He spent the last 16 years of his career at Glen Echo, where he was superintendent and also doubled as general manager from 2016 to 2018. 
    "I was supposed to spend about 20 percent of my time on the golf course," Wachter said. "But there was so much going on in the clubhouse at that time that I was buried up there. I was never getting out to the golf course.
    "I needed to focus on what I was best at, and that was the golf course."
    Wachter is a get-your-hands-dirty superintendent, and his career on turf has been a real-world lesson on how to do more with less. He got a crash course in that when he took his first head superintendent job in 1993 at New Melle Lakes Golf Course.
    "I wanted to go to the public side to learn the business," he said. "I've learned how to drive a truck and a backhoe. All those things you dream of doing as a kid, but never thought you'd get to do.
    "Looking back, I think I was a little too impatient to become a boss, because I immediately faced a 60 percent reduction in budget and a 70 percent reduction in staffing."

    Joe Wachter, standing at far right on the porch, was the organizer of a 2009 TurfNet Habitat for Humanity project in Hurricane Katrina-torn New Orleans. Photo by Jon Kiger He was superintendent at Eagle Springs Golf Course in St. Louis from 1996 to 2003 and then spent the next five years at Spencer T. Olin Golf Course in Alton, Illinois, before moving on to Glen Echo in 2008.
    In that time, much has changed in the profession of being a golf course superintendent, including technology and chemistries. But an often-overlooked change, Wachter says, is how the Internet brought the turf community together.
    "It has made the world smaller for us by being able to communicate with people in other places," he said. "Because of that, I've been able to talk with people like Ted Horton, Oscar Miles, Gordon Witteveen, Jerry Coldiron. All giants in the industry. And it has allowed me to exchange ideas and information with them. That would not have been possible before.
    One thing he learned, and that became a constant at each stop throughout Wachter's career has been trying to make the golf course a fun place to work for his team, while working together to improve playing conditions for golfers.
    "I've always tried to make their jobs easier," he said. "The easier you make their jobs, the easier yours becomes. And our customers appreciate our hard work if we make the golf experience enjoyable for them. I try to throw a few flowers out there and make the grass look good."
    Many superintendents look back on their careers and want that reputation of providing the best-possible playing conditions on the golf course as their defining legacy. Wachter hopes his is something much more meaningful.
    "I'd like to be remembered for how I treated people, and how I think I've put their needs ahead of mine," he said. "If you do that, your needs will be taken care of."
    To that end, Wachter was the driving force behind organizing a Habitat for Humanity project during the 2009 GCSAA Show in New Orleans. The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina were still evident throughout New Orleans four years after it made landfall southeast of the city in Plaquemines Parish.
    Thanks to Wachter, about two-dozen TurfNet members participated in putting the finishing touches on a Habitat for Humanity home in the city's badly damaged Ninth Ward.
    "I like doing things for other people. It's more satisfying than just taking care of your own needs," he said. "If you help others have success, then others will think well of you."
    Joe was recognized back in 2022 as the first TurfNet All Star of Turf.
  • Golf course owners and operators, or at least their attorneys, are no strangers to the inside of a courtroom. In fact, golf courses, and those who run them, have a history for being the subject of lawsuits for a variety of reasons, including errant golf shots and golf car mishaps.
    In an effort to help support owners and operators, the National Golf Course Owners Association recently launched its Champions Circle, an advocacy initiative aimed at assisting golf course owners and operators facing litigation.
    The NGCOA, like many other allied golf associations, has a history of advocating on behalf of owners and operators since it was founded nearly a half-century ago.
    Golf courses often are the subject of lawsuits for reasons, such as errant shots that strike golfers, nearby homes and passing cars. Others have been sued when golfers crash after losing control of their golf car. Earlier this year, a group of golfers sued a municipality over selling tee times for the city's seven public golf courses to a foreign third-party purveyor. In 2022, a man sued a Massachusetts golf course when he was denied an SUV he says he won as a hole-in-one prize after recording an ace on the hole.
    As part of its commitment to help golf industry professionals navigate through legal waters, the association recently stepped up to assist Indian Pond Golf Club in Massachusetts and Cazenovia Golf Club in New York, both of which became embroiled in litigation as a result of errant shots by players.

    An advocacy initiative by the NGCOA helps golf course owners and operators who are the subject of lawsuits. According to the NGCOA: "In more recent years, we've faced a rising tide of litigation targeting the golf industry, and NGCOA's advocacy department has remained vigilant, responsive and victorious."
    In the Indian Pond case, homeowners are seeking relief after their home reportedly has been hit by a barrage of golf balls. The couple initially was awarded a $3.5 million settlement, which was set aside by a Supreme Judicial Court judge. 
    In the Cazenovia case, a golfer filed suit after saying he was injured upon being struck in the eye by an errant shot from another participant during a tournament.
    The goals of the Champions Circle program are:
    Support emergency legal and advocacy needs; Support ongoing golf industry organizations and their initiatives to amplify our collective voices, and provide greater influence, exposure and guidance in complex external factors; Build a network of legal professionals in areas of liability, human relations and property management; Support future and yet-to-be-determined advocacy work. According to the association: "Our fight has continued as more policies and laws have arisen that have negatively impacted the golf industry — many at the state and local levels. More will come. And though NGCOA continues to assist, we'll need the industry to help build our offense and defense to assist directly in these fights — and to continue providing our member courses with timely and effective legal and emergency response."
  • The Georgia GCSA should probably have been renamed a generation ago.
    "Our chapter became known as the Atlanta chapter," said Georgia GCSA president Tim Busek, superintendent at St. Ives Country Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. "All the board members were from Atlanta, 98 percent of all of our events were held in Atlanta. It really alienated superintendents around the rest of the state."
    That isolation from the rest of the state ended when Tenia Workman took over as the association's executive director in 2002. Workman focused on making the association more representative of the needs of superintendents throughout all of Georgia, not just those in the metropolitan Atlanta area. And it worked. In her time as executive director, Workman ran an association that saw its membership nearly double as it literally became a model for government relations work and environmental stewardship.
    "She brought the association together as one," Busek said. 
    Workman, a 2019 recipient of TurfNet's Jerry Coldiron Positivity Award, announced recently that she will retire at year's end. Busek, who has served on the chapter board of directors for the past 14 years, will take over as executive director.
    Busek's last day at St. Ives is set for Nov. 10, and he is scheduled to begin his new post the following day. Workman will stay on through the end of the year to help Busek get acclimated to his new position.
    As Workman strived to bring superintendents throughout Georgia under the chapter umbrellla, membership grew from 400 about 20 years ago, to more than 700 today. As the wife of a retired superintendent and mother of a working superintendent, Workman has a keen insight into the needs of the association.
    Scott Lambert, superintendent at Atlanta Country Club, has been a chapter member since 2007, when he still was studying turfgrass management at the University of Georgia. He was immediately impressed with Workman's tireless work on behalf of association members.
    "She treats everyone like she's known them for years," Lambert said. "She gives everyone that personal touch.

    Tim Busek, right, will take over next month as executive director of the Georgia GCSA chapter from Tenia Workman, who will retire at the end of the year. "She is a lot like a superintendent. She does things behind the scenes that not everyone notices, and she does it not because she has to, but because she wants to be the best she can be."
    To that end, Workman played a key role in helping superintendents draft a BMP plan in the face of water-use restrictions that were imposed during drought conditions in 2007. That plan has become a blueprint for other chapters as well as non-golf industries nationwide by forging a positive relationship with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
    "She helped establish that relationship with the Georgia EPD that is still there to this day," Busek said. "When people from other industries call them about best management practices, they give them our number."
    During her tenure, results like establishing a BMP program that government officials and agencies recognize helped cement the Georgia GCSA's place among the country's leading chapters.
    "There is no doubt we are now seen as a leader in this industry nationwide," Busek said. 
    Busek, 51, spent the past five years as golf course superintendent at St Ives Country Club. Prior to his time at St Ives, Busek spent 15 years as superintendent at The Manor Golf and Country Club in Milton, and 10 years before that as an assistant superintendent at Atlanta Country Club. He is currently closing out a second term as Georgia GCSA president. His first term was in 2020-21.
    Among his goals is working with schools throughout Georgia to promote careers in turfgrass management.
    "Realistically, I know I can't fill her shoes," Busek said. "I'm just going to try to build on where she left off."
  • According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports of mental health issues are on the rise — and at an alarming rate.
    There are several contributing factors.
    Most recently, many of us know friends, family or colleagues whose lives have been disrupted by hurricanes Helene and Milton. 
    Toss in the uncertainty that accompanies an election year marked by ugly rhetoric and slander, partisan media reporting, identity politics, an uncertain economy and ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, and it is no wonder why so many people report having concerns about their own mental health.
    Forty-three percent of adults say they feel more anxious than they did last year, up from 37 percent last year and 32 percent in 2022, according to the CDC. Seventy percent of adults report feeling anxious about current events, and 77% are stressed about the election. About 1:4 adults report feeling persistently sad or hopeless, according to the CDC.
    Superintendents might not feel lucky when confronted by angry golfers or committee members, but during times of high stress off the golf course you should consider yourself fortunate. Research indicates you have chosen a profession that, although not stress proof, is naturally insulated more than others against such difficult times.
    To that end, ask any superintendent how and why they started in the golf business, and one of the responses that almost always comes up is some form of a desire to be outdoors.
    Thomas Bastis, CGCS, spent nearly 20 years as a superintendent before becoming a PGA Tour agronomist in 2017. When he is not on a golf course, Bastis (at right) spends much of his free time competing in extreme sports, and says he was always destined for a career that allowed him to spend time outdoors.
    "(It was) pretty much everything," Bastis said when asked what role working outdoors played in his vocational choice.
    Indeed, there are seemingly countless anecdotes and similar responses about the perceived benefits of working outside vs. an indoor career where one is insulated from the sunrise, fresh air, the sound of birds chirping and just being able to reach down and touch grass, both figuratively and literally.
    Paul MacCormack, general manager and superintendent at Fox Meadow Golf and Country Club on Prince Edward Island, has built a brand on helping superintendents reduce stress and knows all too well the benefits of his profession.
    "Working outside played a huge role in my decision to become a superintendent," MacCormack said. "I had always loved working outdoors as a teenager, and after trying my hand at a few indoor gigs I knew that I needed a bigger office space. 
    "Working on a golf course offered me that and then some. The connection to the natural world and the seasons is vitally important to me."
    That therapeutic feeling that comes with working outdoors is not all in your head. There is science-backed evidence of the curative and restorative effects of working in the great outdoors.
    Biophilia is the term for the idea that people have a natural connection with nature and other living things. Few jobs allow people to get in touch with their inner biophilia than working on a golf course. 
    There are a variety of benefits that come with working outdoors, according to several research studies on the topic, including improved energy and focus, increased productivity and fewer days lost to sickness, reduced stress, better teamwork and creativity and reduced stress.
    "I'm glad I chose this type of job," said Joe Wachter, who is retiring at the end of the month as superintendent at Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis. "Being involved in organized athletics from 6 to 21 years (of age), I sold my soul to the outdoors, along with hunting, fishing, camping and floating during my kid and young adult years."

    Even damage, like this downed tree caused by Hurricane Fiona in 2022 is not enough to keep Paul MacCormack down. A 2020 study by researchers at the University of Montana and Penn State University showed a link between being in a parklike setting and positive wellbeing.
    Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Sports Medicine Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, linked the sedentary lifestyle of working indoors with a host of health concerns, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Likewise, researchers in Australia published a study in 2016 indicating that those who spend extended time in green spaces had lower rates of depression and high blood pressure and stronger social interactions than those who did not get outside regularly.
    "I never thought about it, and it would be hard to quantify how much, but I absolutely have had a preference for being outdoors my entire life," said Carlton Henry, superintendent at Dedham Country and Polo Club in Massachusetts. "The only other job I have ever worked was washing dishes in a Greek restaurant in high school, during the winter, and I quit. I don't know if it's particularly because I was indoors, but it wasn't for me."
    Although there is no scientific evidence about the detrimental effects that come with being exposed to rude restaurant customers or irate golfers, a University of Michigan study shows that spending just one hour outside can reduce levels of the hormone that can cause stress by 20 percent.
    Bastis knew early on that he likely would be working in some vocation where he could spend time outdoors. Unlike many children today who are more at home wiling away the hours indoors with a gaming device or cell phone, Bastis spent much of his childhood outdoors.
    "I was an Eagle Scout and loved being outside," he said. "Loved exploring, traveling, digging in the dirt and having a dollar in my pocket."
    When you think the stress of current events is becoming too much, go outside and touch some grass, and be grateful you can, because not everyone is so fortunate.
  • STEC Equipment has added the TarpDevil turf cover management system to its portfolio of products designed to help golf course superintendents do their jobs more efficiently.
    The TarpDevil system was invented in 2017 by Jordan Kitchen, then the assistant superintendent at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario, and manufacturing engineer Ian Trepte. Kitchen has been superintendent of Hamilton GCC since 2020. The course was the site of this year's RBC Canadian Open, a PGA Tour event that rotates through sites in Canada.
    Kitchen developed the TarpDevil to make rolling and unrolling turf covers easier, not just at 27-hole Hamilton GCC, but for superintendents everywhere. The system allows superintendents to roll up and store covers faster and with fewer people, freeing up workers to spend time on other tasks. TarpDevil says its customers report reducing the time spent on cover management by 30 percent using the device.

    TarpDevil, which was invented by golf course superintendent Jordan Kitchen and manufacturing engineer Ian Trepte in 2017, is designed to make retrieving and storing turf covers easier. TarpDevil photo The hydraulically driven device can mount to any tractor and can be used to deploy and remove any permeable or impermeable tarp or cover. Fold the cover to the same width as the roller, and the TarpDevil rolls it up and squeezes out any excess moisture for easy storage.
     
    When he invented TarpDevil, Kitchen said it used to take 12-14 people four days to remove 54 covers. With the help of the TarpDevil, six people were able to remove all 54 covers in three days.
    Removing water during a steady and consistent retrieval also helps extend the life of the covers, according to TarpDevil.
  • For superintendents seeking control of a host of summer and perennial weeds on some cool- and warm-season grasses, Nufarm recently launched Allstar, a broad spectrum herbicide with four active ingredients.
    With the active ingredients 2, 4-D; quinclorac; triclopyr; and sulfentrazone, Allstar is labeled for control of 223 weeds on golf courses, athletic fields, cemeteries, parks and sod farms as well as a variety of residential and commercial applications.
    Because it has four active ingredients, Allstar can provide visible results within a few hours of application. With 2,4-D, Allstar offers more consistent control of tap-rooted perennial weeds. Quinclorac targets crabgrass and increases overall control of broadleaf weeds, while triclopyr provides  control on tough summer annual and perennial weeds, and sulfentrazone gives turf managers a tool for nutsedge control.

    Allstar herbicide from Nufarm combines the benefits of four active ingredients. Allstar is registered for use in annual bluegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, tall fescue and annual ryegrass, all of which have high tolerance to each of the four active ingredients. It also can be used on creeping bentgrass, Bermudagrass, rough bluegrass, chewings fescue, fine fescue, hard fescue, red fescue and Zoysiagrass, all of which exhibit moderate tolerance to Allstar's ingredients.
    All star should not be used on colonial bentgrass, seaside bentgrass, bahiagrass, buffalograss, carpetgrass, centipedegrass, dichondra, seashore paspalum or St. Augustinegrass.
    Available in 64-ounce, 2.5-gallon and 30-gallon sizes, Allstar should not be applied in the following uses:
    Do not apply this product through any type of irrigation system. Do not apply this product aerially. Do not use on golf course greens, tees, or aprons. Do not use in or near greenhouses. Do not pour spray solutions near desirable plants. Do not exceed specified dosages for any area; be particularly careful within the dripline of trees and other ornamental species. Do not add adjuvants, oils, wetting agents, fertilizers, surfactants or other pesticides to the spray solution unless the tank mixture will not result in turf injury. Do not exceed more than 8 pints of product per acre per application. Do not apply more than 2 broadcast applications to the same treatment site per year, excluding spot treatments.  Do not apply more than 16 pints of product per acre per year. The minimum retreatment interval is 28 days. This product might persist in treated plant materials for more than 30 days after application, therefore, do not remove grass clippings off-site for compost distribution or mulching until 30 days after application. Likewise, clippings should not be used as mulch or compost around flowers, ornamentals, trees or in vegetable gardens.
    New York law allows for only one application per year, and cannot be used in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
    California law allows for use only between March 1 and Sept. 1, except for spot applications.
    Use of Allstar is prohibited on sod farms in Arizona.
  • Winter can be a stressful period for warm-season turf on golf courses and even athletic fields.
    As winter approaches, warm-season grasses go into dormancy to conserve energy. According to the book Turfgrass: Science and Culture by James Beard, Ph.D. (Pearson, 1972, 672 pages) "warm-season turf turns brown in winter because as light intensity increases, the rate of breakdown of chlorophyll increases and the total content of chlorophyll in the leaf decreases. As temperatures decrease, the growth rate of the plant decreases, which includes the production of chlorophyll. When light intensity is high and temperatures are low enough, the rate of chlorophyll breakdown exceeds the rate of chlorophyll synthesis and the turfgrass plant leaves turn brown." In other words, chlorophyll breaks down faster than the plant can produce it.
    Managing fertility, moisture and mowing practices are critical in setting up turf to withstand winter damage and help ensure a successful spring green-up.
    A recent study conducted by researchers in the Southeast has yielded tips for preparing warm-season turf for winter and minimizing the chances for winterkill damage. And some of their findings might come as a surprise.
    The study, conducted on sites in Arkansas, Maryland and Virginia, compared Bermudagrass plots that were fertilized with late-season nitrogen, mowed, irrigated and treated with wetting agents with untreated control plots. The study showed that raising mowing heights and application of more nitrogen in the late summer/early fall provided the greatest green color for hybrid Bermudagrass with no negative effects on winter survival.
    The study was conducted on a handful of Bermudagrass varieties, including Tahoma 31, Latitude 36, Tufcote and Tifway 419, from 2019 to 2023 at outdoor and indoor locations by researchers in Arkansas, Maryland and Virginia. Results of the study were published in the August 2024 issue of Crop, Forage and Turfgrass Management. Comprising the research team were Michael Battaglia, Jordan Booth, Ph.D., Eric DeBoer, Ph.D., Joseph Doherty, Ph.D., Wendell Hutchens, Ph.D. (right), David McCall, Ph.D., and Joseph Roberts, Ph.D. 
    Based on previous research, late-season nitrogen applications were not recommended with the thought being it would result in a flush of growth with all the nutrients going into the leaf and not into the roots. This project, however, showed that use of a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer either resulted in no impact or helped improve root health.
    "We weren't trying to prove anybody wrong. Some data says nitrogen in fall actually helps increase winterkill," said study co-author Wendell Hutchens, Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas. "There are conflicting reports, and we wanted to do the research to answer that question."
    Hutchens will present a webinar on TurfNet titled Preventing winterkill in warm-season turf on Nov. 19. Click here to register for that event.

    Wendell Hutchens, Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas, will present a TurfNet webinar on preventing winterkill on Nov. 19. University of Arkansas photo Applications of a 44-0-0 slow-release fertilizer were applied at varying intervals in early to late summer in each year of the study at rates of 2 pounds and 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet on plots mowed at 0.5 inches, 0.8 inches and 1 inch. 
    "Conventional wisdom has been not to apply nitrogen in fall," Hutchens said. "But slow-release fertilizer didn't seem to hurt it, and sometimes was beneficial."
    Because of mild winter conditions throughout the study, samples from the test plots were placed into a freeze chamber to simulate harsh winter conditions. Chamber conditions were 5 degrees Fahrenheit for five hours, and 15.8 degrees for two, four, six or eight hours.
    Results of the study showed that late-season applications of slow-release nitrogen can help retain fall color without compromising cold hardiness through winter. Those findings were consistent with other studies conducted by Mike Goatley, Ph.D., at Virginia Tech, Mike Richardson, Ph.D., at Arkansas and Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D., at Mississippi State. 
    The study also showed that fall mowing height at 0.5 inches increased green color retention going into dormancy and increased spring green-up. No negative effects associated with adjusting mowing heights or schedules were noted in the study.
    Plots were irrigated to levels less than 15 percent volumetric water content and more than 19 percent VWC. Data from the multi-site study showed that irrigation at the higher rate and applications of wetting agents before short-term freeze events reduced winter injury or winter winterkill. 
    Those findings, which are contrary to some studies conducted previously, leading the research time to conclude that more research on the subject is needed. Hutchens reminds turf managers that areas with chronic agronomic issues, including poor drainage and excessive shade, should be addressed to prevent winter damage.
    Many golf courses throughout the transition zone will open when conditions are conducive for golf, and too much play on dormant turf also can lead to plant stress. 
    "Areas where shade is an issue or are chronically wet are more prone to winter kill," Hutchens said. "Certain areas die every year, because the turf doesn't have time to mature."
    Hutchens said undue stress can be minimized by taking measures such as prohibiting single-rider golf cars, managing fairway entry and exit points.
    "It is important to try to get the plant as vigorous, healthy and happy as possible," Hutchens said. "The best fungicide is healthy turfgrass."
  • As a longtime golf course superintendent and general manager, Pat Finlen logged countless hours providing ongoing education to colleagues and aspiring superintendents in locations both near and far.
    He taught at events throughout Europe and Asia and has been a regular lecturer at national, state and regional events, including the GCSAA Conference, Green Start Academy in North Carolina and the Northern California Golf Association's Assistant Superintendent Bootcamp. Finlen (at right) also served his profession as a past GCSAA president, sat on 29 association committees and is a past president of three different GCSAA chapters.
    For his many contributions to the turf maintenance industry, Finlen has been named the recipient of the GCSAA's 2025 Col. John Morley Award. Named for the GCSAA’s founder, the award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession. 
    He will be presented with the award on Feb. 5 during the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego.
    "Personally, I have learned immensely from Pat's leadership and commitment during his tenure on the board and as GCSAA president," GCSAA president Jeff White, CGCS at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kansas, said in a news release. "His approach has profoundly influenced the way I serve and guide our association."
    Currently the vice president of Denehy Club Thinking Partners, a Connecticut-based executive search firm, Finlen was a superintendent for 27 years at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Bayonet and Black Horse in Seaside, California, and Lake Quivira Country Club in Kansas. He also was general manager at Olympic and Winchester Country Club in Meadow Vista, California for nearly 10 years combined. 

    Pat Finlen, CGCS, at left, has served the golf industry for nearly 40 years. Photo courtesy of GCSAA At Olympic he was the host superintendent for the 2012 U.S. Open, a U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur and the inaugural U.S. Four-Ball Championship.
    "His strategic thinking and visionary leadership have been invaluable to our success," said GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans.
    Finlen, who was selected from a list of other candidates, was GCSAA president in 2013 and was named chapter superintendent of the year in 1996 by the Heart of America chapter and in 2004 by the Nor Cal chapter.
    At Denehy Club since 2022, Finlen leads executive search opportunities nationwide with a regional focus on the West Coast and supports Club Thinking Partner's many consulting projects and still is available for editorial development and education programs.
  • Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall, carving a path of destruction through North Florida, and parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, some areas along that route look like a war zone and will for some time. 
    Homes, businesses and roads have been washed away. Helicopters hover overhead still searching for survivors in the wake of the storm that has been blamed for more than 200 deaths, and left an unknown number of people missing or homeless. Trucks bringing everything from supplies to linemen working to restore power sport license plates from states near and far. 
    As a small army has mobilized to help however it can, golf industry professionals from throughout the area also are reaching out to provide assistance to those in need.
    To that end, the Carolinas GCSA is accepting donations of much-needed items for superintendents, their families and their teams affected by Hurricane Helene.
    "We're just trying to get back to normalcy," said Mark Semm, a former superintendent in Texas who now is a strategic account manager for BASF's turf and ornamentals division in Charlotte. "Whatever normalcy is."
    Several drop-off and pick-up locations have been established throughout North and South Carolina for Carolinas GCSA members, their families and their teams impacted by the storm that has been blamed for at least 227 deaths in six states.
    "There were a lot of industry professionals who initiated a group chat, gathering and transporting supplies to communities in (western North Carolina)," said Nate McKinniss, superintendent at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte. "I donated to the group they started, but really my donation was minuscule compared to those whose efforts truly made an impact for folks that had been affected by Helene.""
    The Carolinas GCSA says there is a need for non-perishable food and water as well as the following items: coats and jackets, blankets, wool socks, gloves, toboggans, sleeping bags, toys, hand warmers, extension cords, duct tape, laundry detergent, N95 masks, flashlights and batteries, lamps and oil, lighter fluid, propane heaters and propane tanks, charcoal grills and charcoal, motor oil and premixed fuel.

    Supplies are loaded onto a truck at the Carolinas GCSA office for delivery to those in need. Carolinas GCSA photo Donations can be dropped at the following locations:
    South Carolina
    Inman – Helena warehouse – 120 Settle Road. Please contact Marc Allen (864) 706-3977 – open 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday. Liberty — Carolinas GCSA — 103 Edgemont Ave. Please contact Tim Kreger (864) 616-2910 to arrange drop-off time. Hilton Head Island/Bluffton – Please contact William Brooks (910) 968-6751. He is arranging transport to the Charleston location. Charleston — Smith Turf and Irrigation Store — 1110 Jack Primus Road. Please drop off during normal business hours. Columbia – Please contact Lori Carey (770) 375-6527 to arrange. North Carolina
    Winston-Salem – Green Resource warehouse – 191 Budd Blvd. Donations can be left anytime. After hours leave on loading dock Winston-Salem — Advanced Turf Solutions — 1136 Louise Road #120. Contact - Matthew Carver (336) 829-0511 Charlotte — Smith Turf & Irrigation — 4355 Golf Acres Drive. Durham — Hope Valley Country Club Maintenance Shop — 3803 Dover Road. Contact Ford Baker (919) 614-4376 for directions to shop and coordinate drop off. Pinehurst – SiteOne – 4930 US 1. Please drop off during business hours. Raleigh — Site One warehouse — 8890 Park Drive. Please make drop-offs during normal business hours.
    The crew at Bobby Jones Golf Links in Alpharetta, Georgia, works to remove silt and debris from the turf after Hurricane Helene. BJGL image Those in need can pick up supplies at Southern Ag warehouses at 395 Brook Hollow Road in Boone, North Carolina and at 511 Maple St. in Hendersonville North Carolina. For more information, contact Brandon Hicks at (336) 906-0803, or Nathan Biggs at (802) 999-4510.
    Volunteers are transporting donations from the drop-off to pick-up locations. More locations will be added for those in need as they become available, said Carolinas GCSA executive director Tim Kreger.
    "It's overwhelming when you see it," Semm said. "Where do you start? I've never seen anything like it. This area is going to look a lot different when the pieces get put back together."
    Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm Sept. 26 near Perry, Florida with sustained winds of 140 mph, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since Katrina resulted in 1,392 deaths in 2005. Officials still are unsure how many people are missing in Helene's wake, according to The Associated Press.
    "This one just hit differently," Semm said. "You just help where you can help."
  • Desert Highlands in Scottsdale is a 1983 Jack Nicklaus design. Photo courtesy of Curtis Tyrrell Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS MG, considers himself a superintendent from a bygone era. So it might come as no surprise that he is retiring at year's end as director of agronomy at Desert Highlands Golf Club in Scottsdale.
    After all, what more does Tyrrell (at right) have to prove? Throughout his 30-year career, Tyrrell, a graduate of the two-year turfgrass management program at Penn State, has restored and rebuilt the equivalent of almost 10 golf courses at stops that include Desert Mountain and Medinah Country Club, where he was host superintendent for the 2012 Ryder Cup Matches.
    Although he no longer will be a working superintendent, Tyrrell is not exactly leaving the golf business behind for a life of fishing in the Florida Keys. Instead, Tyrrell, 54, is focused on the next phase of his career under a new boss — himself — as the principal of Molasses Kings, an organic fertilizer business he launched, and his consulting firm that operates under the Canon Golf label.
    At each stop throughout his career, Tyrrell used a molasses-based nutrient product pioneered by legendary superintendent Gary Grandstaff to help him produce the best possible playing conditions. 
    "I'm an old-school superintendent," Tyrrell said. "I still believe in core aerification, amending the soil and filling holes with a quality organic fertilizer material, like manure and molasses."
    After Grandstaff retired and that product no longer was available, Tyrrell began experimenting with his own molasses-based plant nutrient, and for the past year he has been busy putting the finishing touches on launching his own commercial entity — Molasses Kings.
    The company offers a line of sugar cane molasses-based organic nutrient products that currently includes three products — Sweet Heat, Mojo and Sea Sugar — and programs for warm-season golf turf, cool-season golf turf, athletic fields, houseplants and gardens as well as custom program options.
    "I went back to the drawing board," Tyrrell said. 
    "I found a reliable supplier of molasses and put it in the mix tank and made my own."
    According to the company's web site, short-term effects are improved plant strength and color. Long-term benefits can include deeper rooting, denser stand of turf with improved color, consistent yield, reduced supplemental inputs, improved resistance to drought and pests, he says.
    He made enough of his products through the Beta period to share the concoctions with colleagues, and the reception has been so positive that he is ready to go out on his own in this new venture.
    "People like it, and it's starting to grow," Tyrrell said. "It's time to pivot and focus on that."
    Before being named director of agronomy at Desert Highlands where he succeeded longtime superintendent Phil Shoemaker in 2019, Tyrrell was head superintendent at Bonita Bay Club in Florida, Medinah Country Club, Lake of Isles Country Club in Connecticut, Anthem Country Club near Las Vegas and Desert Mountain in Scottsdale.
    A 1983 Jack Nicklaus design, Desert Highlands is on the threshold of a $10 million renovation by Nicklaus Design that will include coring out and rebuilding all putting surfaces, rebuilding bunkers and tweaking at least two holes from tee to green. Tyrrell will help find his replacement and has agreed to stay on and consult on the project if needed, a service he offers through his other business, Canon Golf.
    Through Canon he offers project management, project development and agronomic master planning services. Some of his large-scale works so far include restoration projects at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California, and Great Hills Country Club in Austin, Texas. He specializes in helping manage projects for superintendents who might not share his level of experience when it comes to renovations, handling details like permitting and ensuring all the proper players are in place.
    "I've built 140 USGA greens in my career. This project is pretty similar to projects I've done at Medinah and in L.A.," he said. "I'm here to help navigate through the project as much as they might need me. I really do enjoy that."
  • After moving on from life in the corporate world, Larry Stowell, Ph.D., and Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., started what eventually became PACE Turf Information Center nearly 40 years ago with one simple goal — help golf course superintendents do a better job at managing turfgrass.
    Together, the pair has provided superintendents with independent, science-based information and advice for maintaining fine cut turfgrass.
    Now retired after passing the PACE torch to Micah Woods, Ph.D., Stowell and Gelernter have been named the recipients of the GCSAA 2025 Outstanding Contribution Award, that is given to an individual(s) who has made a significant contribution to golf course superintendents through outstanding contributions for the golf course industry. That contribution must be significant in both substance and duration, and it may be or have been regional in nature, according to GCSAA. Stowell and Gelernter will receive the award at next year's GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in their hometown of San Diego.

    PACE Turf Information Center founders Larry Stowell, Ph.D., and Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., will be honored at the GCSAA Show with the association's Outstanding Achievement Award. GCSAA photo "It's really humbling. We certainly were not expecting anything like this," Stowell said. "We've always been satisfied contributing what we could. To win an award like this is icing on the cake."
    As an agronomist with the Asian Turfgrass Center, Woods had been a devoted follower of PACE before acquiring it when Stowell and Gelernter retired. Taking over what they had started only seemed to make sense, he said.
    "Because I was following what they were working on, in a way, and collaborating some, and really using them as a resource and asking them questions about particular issues, and invariably they would have two or three management guides or research summaries they'd written about the topic, so I was a student of theirs too," Woods said. "And I knew that the PACE Turf website has this wealth of information, and I didn't want that to go away.
    "When Larry and Wendy were ready to retire, I had the opportunity to acquire PACE Turf, and I did so because I wanted all this information to continue to be available, and I wanted to try to share some of it more widely, and make sure that others could have the same type of beneficial learning experience that I had. And that this type of practical and actionable information, still scientific, based on careful and rigorous research, but also directly applicable to solving real problems that turf managers face every day, I wanted to keep that information available and try to add to it as best that I can."
    Stowell founded PACE in 1986 after leaving the corporate world behind, and Gelernter joined him seven years later. The pair officially retired in January after a transition period that has Woods of the Asian Turfgrass Center now running PACE.
    In the pre-PACE years, Stowell and Gelernter worked for Mycogen, then a San Diego-based company that conducted seed work for the agriculture industry. The company has since been acquired by the Dow Chemical Corp.
    "I was not satisfied at my job in the corporate world. Wendy was still working there for several years after I left, and I wanted to stay in San Diego," Stowell said. "I was looking for a way to market my skills as a plant pathologist, and the turf market happened to be underserved."
    Since then, according to GCSAA, Gelernter and Stowell were responsible for much of the second phase of the association's Golf Course Environmental Profile, tweaking survey questions, analyzing data from the survey, writing reports for distribution to superintendents, writing articles for GCM and outlining the results. The project was extensive, spanning three years until its completion.
    Their intention throughout their work with PACE Turf was to help superintendents solve many of the problems they face in the day-to-day operations of managing a golf course. Their work, along with Woods, the current PACE director, on Minimum Levels of Sustainable Nutrition has become seminal work in sustainable fertilizer practices.
    "What always impressed me about their work was how practical it was," Woods said. "Take the growth potential concept, for example. This is now used all over the world, for things like nutrient prediction, aerification timing, sand topdressing rate estimates, overseed timing assessment, turf stress indices, etc. And they had the insight to see the turf seasonal growth curves that we are all familiar with, and to realize that they could use an equation to generate those curves from the temperature.
    "They were always doing research on things that were practical. Firmness of Torrey Pine greens prior to the U.S. Open there in 2008. Really taking a deep dive into soil oxygen and soil CO2 levels. Leading the way in identifying and coming up with effective management of rapid blight. Knowing more about algae than anyone I know. Then in 2011 Larry had the main idea for what would eventually become MLSN."
    Gelernter and Stowell also were instrumental in developing an Integrated Pest Management program for GCSAA that was completed in 2010 and has served as a blueprint for many IPM programs used at golf courses across the country today. The IPM program is continually updated and required several years of focus and attention to create.
    "Our goal was to provide an honest, independent service to clients that mimics university extension services and research in an education-type model," Stowell said. "We did our best to do a good job, and I hope people were helped by our work and that the industry is better off and more sustainable because of people properly using our advice."
    Previous winners of the award are: 2024 — Tenia Workman, Georgia GCSA; 2023 — Fred Yelverton, Ph.D., North Carolina State University; 2022 — Jack Fry, Ph.D., Kansas State University.
  • For years, Sipcam Agro has helped turf managers offset the effects of heat and drought stress as well as potential damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays through the company's Enhanced Turf Quality line of products.
    The technology in Sipcam's ETQ line of fungicides is now available on its own under the name ETQ Flex.
    ETQ is a proprietary blend that is absorbed by the turf and provides protection throughout the plant from the effects of UVA and UVB radiation during high-stress weather events.
    Until now, Sipcam's ETQ technology only could be found in its fungicide products Adrenalyn ETQ, Downforce ETQ, Echo Dyad ETQ, Eclipse ETQ, E-Scape ETQ and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ.

    Sipcam Agro's ETQ Flex provides protection throughout the turfgrass plant from the effects of UVA and UVB radiation during high-stress weather events. Because of its history as an add-on to other products, ETQ Flex on its own is designed to be mixed with a wide range of other common products for enhanced protection at rates of 1 ounce per 1,000 square feet every 14 days, or 2.5 ounces per 1,000 square feet every 21 days.
    The launch of ETQ Flex as a standalone product is in response to customer feedback, said Todd Mason, Sipcam's senior director of sales and development for the company's turf and ornamental division.
    "Our customers realized the added benefit of the ETQ technology in our fungicides but wanted to have the option of the product with their other plant support products, so they asked for this flexibility," Mason said. "We listen to our customers’ needs and this product is going to offer significant, flexible turf protection and benefits for a broader range of customers."
    ETQ technology, the company says, promotes plant health by supporting and maintaining healthy root mass development and maintaining leaf water and chlorophyll content under stress.
  • Retirement is supposed to be a time for relaxation and activities like playing golf.
    While Frank Dobie has been doing plenty of both since he retired in 2020 after 60 years as a superintendent, he is still busy serving the industry that has given him so much.
    As far back as 1999, more than 20 years before his retirement, Dobie began creating a system for collecting and cataloging biographies of golf course superintendents throughout the Northern Ohio GCSA chapter and elsewhere. Although Dobie, 84, considers the job a labor of love, make no mistake it is first and foremost labor.
    "I have 146 in various stages. Some gave me a little; some gave me a lot," Dobie said. "Some individuals just are not willing to talk about themselves. They don't want to blow their own horn. Some think they haven't done much, and some say they're just too busy."
    Dobie graduated in Penn State's second-ever class to go through what then was the school's new two-year turf program launched in 1957 by Joe Duich, Ph.D. He became a superintendent in 1960 and four years later was named superintendent and general manager at Sharon Golf Club in northeast Ohio, a job he held until his retirement four years ago. 
    Throughout the duration of his career he was and remains active in several other capacities. He has been president of The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation that promotes turfgrass management as a profession. He also oversees the Joseph M. Duich Scholarship, which operates under the Musser Foundation, and each year recognizes a doctoral student in turfgrass studies. He was named the recipient of the 2022 USGA Green Section Award — two years after he retired.
    Dobie sees recording the history of Northern Ohio chapter superintendents as just another way to serve his profession.
    "If you turn on any sports program, commentators refer to all sorts of figures and statistics," he said. "It doesn't matter if it's golf, football, baseball or tennis; the sports media has been compiling history for years. Every rookie has his history recorded on his first at-bat, but no one is doing this for superintendents who prepare these courses for their enjoyment, and that's a shame. It galls me, and that's why I started doing this."
    In hopes of collecting personal and professional accomplishments of other Penn State graduates as well as fellow superintendents in the Northern Ohio chapter, Dobie developed a questionnaire that superintendents can populate with their professional history. The questionnaire continues to undergo change in hopes of producing better information and making it easier for superintendents to respond.
    He recalls speaking at a conference and seeing only five hands shoot up when he asked if anyone in the audience of superintendents recognized the name Eberhard Steiniger, the longtime superintendent at Pine Valley. Recording the history of greenkeeping, Dobie believes, also can be an educational resource for other superintendents.

    After 60 years as a superintendent, Frank Dobie's legacy of giving back is anything but over. "It's hard to know where we're going when we don't know where we've been," he said. "There are so many things we can learn from each other.
    "I'm the self-appointed historian of the northern Ohio chapter, and I'm really pushing for superintendents to write in. I did mine first to see how it would work, and I've changed the format and added some things as time went on. How difficult is it to write a bio?"
    Among those who have responded to Dobie's plea for biographical information is Ross Miller, CGCS, director of agronomy at the Country Club of Detroit, and a 2004 Penn State graduate.
    "I think keeping records/archives like this is an often-overlooked important item that can be useful for resources on a number of fronts: Bounce ideas off of other counterparts that you know dealt with a similar challenge as you, reconnect with classmates, make connections/network with various generations of turf alumni to allow them to gain additional mentorship than the course/GCS they are currently working for," Miller said. "I also did this out of respect for Frank, as this is a large undertaking to try to build a database like this, and I respect the digging in on the challenge."
    Dobie not only would like to get better participation from within the Northern Ohio chapter, he would like to see other chapters take on such a project, as well. His ultimate goal is to kickstart a movement that leads to a superintendent's hall of fame, and you cannot nominate someone for induction into any hall of fame if you don't know what they've accomplished.
    "Capturing the history of these people is important," Dobie said. "My mind hasn't changed on that. Superintendents belong in golf's history."
  • It was not that long ago that robotic mowers seemed like something straight out of the Jetsons — interesting and intriguing, but not realistic. In fact, it was only 15 years ago when the RG3 autonomous greens mower appeared on the trade show floor at the 2009 GCSAA Show in New Orleans.
    Many of those circling the RG3 display at the Ernest P. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans had a similar message: "Looks interesting, but I'm not turning my greens over to a robot."
    Technology changes quickly, and the turf industry is no exception. Today, robotic mowing technology is gaining acceptance rapidly in the golf market, with many players in that arena. And there is officially a new face in that arena — Firefly Automatix.
    Based in Salt Lake City, Firefly Automatix recently launched its 5-gang mower for use on managed turf.
    Initially launched last year as the M100-AV, the mower has been rebranded as the AMP L-100 for use on golf courses, sports fields and sod farms.

    The Firefly Automatix robotic mower for managed turf is now available as the L-100. Firefly Automatix photo Powered by four 3.3 kilowatt motors, the Firefly mower can achieve a top speed of 6 mph. Combined with a lithium-iron battery pack that has a charge of up to 2.5 hours and a 100-inch cutting width, the unit can mow up to 25 acres on a single battery charge.
    Firefly Automatix was founded in 2010 as a provider of parts, equipment and machinery to the sod-harvesting industry. The company has a history in autonomous technology and developed the L-100 after 10 years of research and development. The company recently announced a lease program for the L-100.
    Two different cutting units, the Pitchride and Rolorocker, offer height of cut ranging from 0.25 to 2.5 inches.
    With no hydraulics or engine oil, turf-killing spills and leaks are not an issue.
    The AMP's four motors are synchronized with two independent steering motors for precise steering and maximum traction while minimizing turf stress.
    The wide profile and low center of gravity help ensure weight is equally distributed over each wheel and maximize the L-100's ability to safely and effectively tackle sloped surfaces.

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Aquatrols adds 2 to management team
    The Aquatrols Co. recently welcomed two new team members.
    David Libby is the new territory manager for the Northeast, and Kate Garassino joins the company as marketing manager for the golf market and Aquatrols' new sports field marketing team. 
    Libby is a former superintendent with more than 25 years of industry experience and joins Aquatrols after a successful tenure at Prouts Neck Country Club in Maine. 
    Garassino previously worked as the Clay Technology Solutions marketing manager at Profile Products. She will manage social media, public relations and other aspects of the company's communications and marketing efforts.
    Envu taps Gore for its GST
    Envu Turf and Ornamentals recently named Adam Gore, Ph.D., to its Green Solutions Team.
    Before joining Envu he was a horticulture extension agent for Clemson University for six years, where he specialized in turfgrass agronomy and weed control.
    A South Carolina native, Gore earned bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from Clemson. His research included weed control and plant-health products on cool- and warm-season greens and the potential impact of copper within industry products. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles.

    RISE names 2 new board members
    RISE named two new members to its board of directors.
    Joining the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment board at the group's annual meeting Sept. 20 in San Diego were Blaine Pinkerton, vice president of sales for Nufarm's turf and ornamental division, and Brian Rowan, SiteOne Landscape Supply's vice president of category management. They replace Scott Reasons of Syngenta and Kathy Bishop of Lebanon Seaboard Corp.
    The group's executive committee is:
    Neal Cleveland, PBI-Gordon Corp., chair Todd Mason, Sipcam Agro USA, vice chair  John Johnson, Prokoz Inc., treasurer Karen Larson, Clarke, immediate past chair  Continuing on the board are Barbara Aguiar of BASF, Jeff Bunting of Growmark Inc., Sam Barrick of SePRO Corp., Dan Carrothers of FMC Corp., Steven Farrington of Gowan USA, Brent Stauffacher of Corteva Agriscience, Mark Schneid of Envu, and Shayne Wetherall of Amguard Environmental Technologies.
    RISE also presented awards at its annual meeting. Recipients were:
    RISE Volunteer Service Awards 2022-2024
    Darryl Blakey of BASF, Julie Schlekau of Valent and Heidi Deja of BASF
    Strategic Driver Award 2024
    Brittany Wilkerson of PBI-Gordon Corp.
    Grassroots Advocacy Award 2024
    Buddy Freund, New Jersey Green Industry Council.

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