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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    When Scott Yates took over as director of operations at West Orange Country Club more than a decade ago, he faced an impossible task.   Thanks to a falling out between construction and club officials during a greens renovation project, work on the putting surfaces was never completed. Every green on the golf course was surrounded by a trench that captured water and prevented golfers from running their ball up to the cup.   "It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. You had to chip the ball over that trench," Yates said. "And they wanted me to sell private club memberships with that."   That's when Yates reconnected with a friend from his childhood who also had spent most of his life in the golf business.   In more than three decades in the golf business, Mark Sauger has done just about everything: aspiring tour pro, superintendent, instructor, golf course builder and shaper.   "There's not a job in the golf industry that I have not done at one time or another," said Sauger, 48.     The son of golf pro and course owner Regis Sauger, Mark Sauger has won numerous amateur tournaments in his native Michigan. He has been driving a tractor and moving dirt on golf courses since he was a teenager and has construction experience on more than a dozen courses in at least five states. Shaping the terrain, fixing the mistakes of others and consulting on ways to save and redirect resources is his passion, and he's pretty good at it, Yates said.   "He stripped off the turf, filled in the material and blended it in to where you couldn't tell the difference," Yates said. "He was a magician on that tractor. He saved our greens.    "It's one thing to build a green. It's another to fix someone else's mistake and make it look like it never happened."   Sauger's eye for design work is only part of the niche he is trying to carve out in the golf business. He also consults financially distressed courses. The entirety of his passion is to help owners and operators make the most of their investment.     "The last 10 years or so, I've seen the industry take a huge hit," Sauger said. "Courses usually close for one of two reasons, they were built to sell real estate and they've been mismanaged, or the owners or management companies are overwhelmed.   "I try to help them find what options they have to keep the doors open, even if it's for a future buyer."   Often, he said, courses have underperforming assets that can be sold to help infuse cash into the operation.   Sauger says his wide breadth of experience in the industry is unique.   "I'm trying to offer the industry something different," Sauger said. "I'm not just a shaper. I'm one of few who has been a shaper and a golf pro. When I create something, I'm thinking of mowing and playing it. It's not just a piece of dirt."   Yates, now at Big Cypress Golf Club in Lakeland, Florida, is a believer.   Three years after fixing the greens at West Orange, Sauger returned to build a new practice green.   "His creativity in moving dirt and understanding of drainage and what it takes to build a green; he's a genius," said Yates. "A hump here, a hump there; he did an awesome job."  
  • So, you implemented your PGR program this year like every other year, but you got annual bluegrass seed head production anyway.   Don't worry. You're not alone and there's nothing wrong with your chemistry. Chances are, say researchers at Michigan State, your timing probably was off.   Efforts to suppress seedheads at the Hancock Turfgrass Research Center in East Lansing were  unsuccessful and, according to reports, superintendents at golf courses throughout Michigan also struggled this year, according to Kevin Frank, Ph.D., associate professor at MSU, and research assistant Aaron Hathaway.   Researchers at MSU applied different combinations of plant growth regulators using the Proxy/Primo GDD timer within the application window of March 30-May 1 based on 200 and 500 GDDs base 32 degrees Fahrenheit, available at GDD Tracker.   First applications were made April 25. The result was some seedhead suppression, however, more than 10 percent of the surface area was covered with seedheads. They waited for the end of the application window because the long, cold spring delayed mowing until late April.   Many in Michigan experienced the same process by waiting for growth before making the first application. In 2017, the application window using the same GDD model ended April 10.   It's difficult to know exactly why many seedhead suppression efforts failed this year. However, here are a few thoughts.   Seedhead production in annual bluegrass can be affected by many factors. MSU researchers use a GDD model that only accounts for the accumulation of heat units. There may be other climatic factors that affect the timing of peak seedhead flush that aren't being measured. Likewise, annual bluegrass is biologically diverse, so seedhead production can vary greatly.   Some research suggests that a PGR application must be timed before a seedhead emerges from the plant. The model is designed to signal application timing before emergence. Seedheads may emerge and not be easily viewed without some hands-on investigation of plants, so investigate. Look closely for emergence in south-facing slopes or other areas that might heat up faster than others. These observations can help fine-tune your application even within the window given by GDD models. In the end, apply early rather than late. Once seedhead emergence begins, it is too late.   Start Proxy plus Primo applications in late fall. If you are spending the time and money in spring to control seedheads, the researchers said, add a fall-timed application for a little insurance. These applications followed by GDD-timed Proxy plus Primo applications in spring have proven to consistently provide better seedhead suppression than spring applications alone.  
  • Reality TV has nothing on the golf business.   When Brooks Koepka walked off the 18th green Sunday, he brought the unnecessary drama at the 118th U.S. Open to a merciful end. So what if Tony Finau and Daniel Berger were still on the course? The book closed on this year's Open the moment Finau's tee shot on No. 18 went astray.   For the record, I have no problem with the way Shinnecock Hills played. You play the course that lays out before you. That's the nature of golf, whether you're putting for $5 or $1 million.   The issue here is conflicting messaging at every turn surrounding this year's Open and the failure of the USGA to consistently recognize the greatest asset at its disposal during its biggest event of the year - the golf course superintendent.   From off-color greens, to tricky pin placements, to a boorish and tiresome New York gallery to one of the game's biggest names making a mockery of the rules for his own benefit - and the chatter that accompanied each - the end to this sideshow, that at times was more like something on TruTV than Fox Sports, couldn't come soon enough.   We have come to accept certain things about professional tour golf, especially USGA championships, namely lightning-fast putting conditions in which greens sometimes are pushed to the brink of failure and really long grass off the fairways.    Was it necessary to push Shinnecock's putting surfaces to the point where calling them "greens" was a misrepresentation of the facts? Regardless of your feelings on how Shinnecock's putting surfaces played, they looked awful and that fed into what the media wanted - a controversial storyline that dominated the weekend.   It's hard not to empathize with Shinnecock's members, as well as superintendent Jon Jennings and his crew, all of whom have invested a tremendous amount of blood, sweat, tears, time and money into preparing for this event, only to have the USGA foul it up. They turned over a perfect golf course to the USGA, which turned around and gave the world what looked on HDTV to be the second coming of the 2004 U.S. Open, when then-superintendent Mark Michaud's team was dragging hoses between Sunday pairings to keep the greens alive.   Shame on the USGA for again wresting control away from a great superintendent, and pretending to know more than the man who eats, sleeps and lives conditions at Shinnecock 365 days a year and proving that you don't by creating a needless subplot about course conditions during the biggest event on your calendar.    What a joke.   The Golf Channel's Brad Klein was on site all week, and said repeatedly that course conditions held up despite how they looked on television. Klein has built a golf course, consulted on others and knows more about golf course architecture than most, so his word is good enough for us.   Not everyone who spent the week at Shinnecock felt the same way.   After Sunday's final round, the Golf Channel's Rich Lerner called Saturday's proceedings "an embarrassment," and Zach Johnson went on record Saturday saying the USGA had "lost" the golf course, Ian Poulter tweeted that perhaps Bozo the Clown was responsible for set-up and the Washington Post called the tournament "carnival golf."   Spanish tour pro Rafael Cabrera-Bello tweeted "... it was not a fair test of golf. Greens were unplayable, with unnecessary pin positions. @USGA found a way to make us look like fools on the course. A pity they manage to destroy a beautiful golf course."   In other words, the narrative on course conditioning at the highest level is being driven by those who have plenty of opinions, but lack expertise in the field. That's not good for the USGA, it's not good for Jennings and it's not good for you.   There is no question some of the pin placements were so close to the edge of Shinnecock's massive greens that they looked more like something from a superintendent's revenge tournament, prompting Phil Mickelson to take a whack at a moving ball on No. 13 on Saturday rather than face the prospect of playing it from the bottom of the hill.       Add in the controversy-driven media, an all-too-willing accomplice despite their absence of knowledge on the subject, and the feeding frenzy was on.   Even David Fay, the former USGA executive director, was on TV saying the course had been taken too far. He went on to say the real problem is that current demands require superintendents to cut greens too short all the time, not just for tournament golf. Other than what aired on The History Channel, those were the only words uttered on TV all weekend that made sense and should be captured for a spot in the next GCSAA marketing piece.   The USGA's Mike Davis finally conceded Saturday that pin placements, coupled with green speed and unexpected afternoon wind resulted in unfair conditions on some holes.   The result is a trickle down that could affect golf course superintendents everywhere.   The reality is it didn't have to be this way. The smart money says that if the USGA tells Jennings, or any other number of superintendents for that matter, what they want, odds are pretty good he's going to deliver it while providing a fair test of golf and without the circus-like atmosphere that seems to follow the USGA.    For decades, the industry has struggled to swim upstream against the Augusta Syndrome. On one hand, we have researchers, consultants and agronomists promoting the importance of sustainability, conservation of resources and acceptance of dry conditions that once in a while might include shades of brown. On the other we have the media and professional golfers who whine every time they don't get pristine conditions and lush green color.   They did it at Shinnecock and they did it at this year's U.S. Women's Open at Shoal Creek.   The game needs a consistent message. Either a little brown is OK, or it's not, and the pro circuit has to recognize how it drives public opinion about the game.   Frank Nobilo said on the Golf Channel on Sunday that the game was at a crossroads, and it's time to make a decision on what is most important, defend par by "tricking up" the golf course, accept high scoring every week or throttle back equipment. David Duval suggested the USGA consult with the PGA Tour on how to develop consistency from Thursday morning through Sunday afternoon.    I've yet to hear anyone suggest consulting the superintendent who works there all the time and produces consistency year-round - that is, until the USGA comes to town.    How does a superintendent stand a chance when he's not even part of the conversation?
  • Call it a bunker renovation on steroids.   That bunker project eventually transformed into a restoration of four Ross holes lost over time to previous renovation projects, reworking all the bunkers on the course, adding new tees and reclaiming the former glory of this Donald Ross classic in Toledo, Ohio, that has been the site of four U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships.   The foundation for this groundbreaking trip back in time was laid more than two years ago when architect Andrew Green walked the course with then-superintendent Chad Mark and members of the club as they conducted their due diligence in the search for an architect to draft a master plan.   On their own, those newer holes were fine - if they had been part of a golf course built in the 1970s, but they didn't fit in a 1916 design.   "It started as a bunker project. I could tell it had been worked on previously. I was blown away by Ross's use of the ground, but the newer holes stood out as different from the rest of the course," Green said. "The fine fescue faces, the wind, it just wasn't a good place for wispy fescue. It was a problem for maintenance and playability, lost balls, pace of play. They needed something to reinvigorate the place."   Changes to reclaim the glory days of Ross included reworking Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 8. The first is a replica of the second hold at Inverness that Ross built in 1916, while 4 is a recreation of the original No. 7, 5 is a replica of the original No. 13 and No. 8 is patterned after the original 6th hole, according to Green.   "I really respect Ross's work," Green said. "In all my time doing this, and that's about 20 years, you hear numerous things about the courses he did. Did he really do this or that, or was it just a whistlestop tour and they just call it a Ross course?    "The places like Inverness where you know he was on the ground and spent time, he did a marvelous job. He was a genius at fitting holes into the ground he had and being creative to build good golf holes. He had a great eye for utilizing the ground. Each piece of ground was utilized in unique ways, and there was a tremendous amount of variety in his designs.   "All the old guys were good. They didn't need a bulldozer to bail them out."   Green's plan included expanding the course onto some available land, so even though the layout isn't exactly the way Ross drew it up 102 years ago, it keeps alive his intent while also stretching the course to more than 7,500 yards to keep relevant in today's game. It also put the course, that will host the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2019 and the Solheim Cup in 2021, back in the spotlight.   If there is anyone who knows about preparing for and staging big events, it's Inverness superintendent John Zimmers, who came to the Toledo classic last April after nearly two decades at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh.     Although getting back on the radar screen for big events is nice, it was not the intent of the renovation work, says Zimmers, who took over when Mark left last year for Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.   "More than anything, this really is about everyday member play," Zimmers said. "We want them to have something they can be proud of."   While Inverness has a bright future, it also has a proud past.   Inverness is where Brit Ted Ray, in 1920, became the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 43, and it's where Billy Burke needed 72 playoff holes to beat George Von Elm by a single stroke in the 1931 championship. A grandfather clock in the clubhouse was gifted to the club's members in 1920 from U.S. Open participants as a display of gratitude for allowing them to use the clubhouse, which, until then was not permitted.   That is the era Green wanted to recapture.   "I play a lot of dirt golf and hit shots during different segments of construction to see what makes sense," Green said. "I used things that in my best guess Ross would have used in making the course come to life.   "I'm my own harshest critic. I want the golfer to step back into the same feel of the 1920 and 1931 U.S. Open. I think we did that. We created some variety around the greens and through the rest of the course. That's what we focused on. The natural flow and rhythm is back to where it should be."
  • It's hard to think about winter the same week the world's best golfers are competing in the U.S. Open - unless you're a superintendent growing Bermudagrass in the transition zone, then there are reminders all over the place.   There were visible blemishes aplenty at TPC Southwind in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Classic and at the U.S. Women's Open at Shoal Creek in Alabama, and, now that the high spring season is over in the Myrtle Beach area, nearly a dozen courses on the Grand Strand are temporarily closed while superintendents there make repairs to their greens.   The long, cold winter of 2017-18 has adversely affected countless golf courses growing Bermudagrass in the transition zone. Just a few months ago, Clemson turf pathologist Bruce Martin, Ph.D., called the winter damage throughout South Carolina the worst he'd seen in more than two decades.   In April, he estimated that 20 to 30 percent of the golf courses in Myrtle Beach had some level of damage on their putting greens, but that it would be two or three months before the full extent of the damage was known.   Today, we know.   According to The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, at least 11 courses in the area are closed, were closed or soon will be for repairs. That list, according to the newspaper, includes Glen Dornoch Waterway Links, the Tradition Club, Myrtlewood Golf Club, Indigo Creek Golf Club, the International Club, Diamondback Golf Club, Panther Run Golf Links, Long Bay Club, Lion's Paw Golf Links, Aberdeen Country Club and Sandpiper Bay Golf and Country Club.   Making matters worse has been a long, cool spring that delayed Bermuda-growing weather, Martin said.   There is enough damage at some other courses that the list of closed courses might grow.   The trials and tribulations of others would be wasted if they didn't serve as a learning opportunity for others.   Recent research at the University of Arkansas shed some light on the use of covers on ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens.   While covering greens protects them from cold weather damage, it also prevents play and requires more manpower to deploy and remove, adding to the course's operating costs.   Master's candidate Eric DeBoer looked into the effects of covers on Champion, TifEagle and MiniVerde greens at 25 degrees, 22 degrees, 18 degrees and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the study, TifEagle and MiniVerde were more cold tolerant than Champion.   According to the study, Bermudagrass greens covered when temperatures reached 15 degrees survived throughout the winter with improved spring green up. Covered greens even survived two days of extreme cold temperatures where overnight lows dropped to 0 degrees on consecutive nights.   According to Martin, courses that used two layers of protection, such as a cover placed atop a blanket of pine straw that promotes airflow, came through the winter better than those with a single layer of cover.  
  • Aqua-Aid has rebranded it's stable of moisture management, soil amendment, nutritional and equipment products under the umbrella of Aqua-Aid Solutions. An entirely new website launched today at aquaaidsolutions.com, with new Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles (@Solutions4Turf) as well.
     
    Long known for high-value or "affordable" surfactant and wetting agent products -- starting with the now legendary Aqua-Aid pellet and proportioner system back in 1986 -- Aqua-Aid has gradually added ancillary product lines to offer golf course superintendents and other turf managers a wide range of solutions to optimize growing conditions.
     
    Within the last decade, AQUA-AID Solutions expanded their portfolio with Verde-Cal products (enhanced lime, gypsum and potassium products), Imants and Vredo turf equipment from Europe and most recently Worm Power Turf vermicompost extract. Rather than disparate websites for each brand, all have now been consolidated into one comprehensive information source at aquaaidsolutions.com
     
    AQUA-AID Solutions current portfolio includes technologies that focus on each element of a turfgrass system: water, air, soil and sunlight. Their range of products provides synergistic moisture management, biological, soil and cultural solutions. Each technology is focused on long lasting agronomic value through improved aesthetics and playability on turfgrass systems in the golf and sports field arena.
     
    "We can touch any part of a turf managers agronomic program and deliver a solution to the challenges they may be facing," explains Sam Green, president of AQUA-AID Solutions. "This new platform will allow us to continue our mission of delivering unique technological advanced products to support agronomic programs while reducing environmental impact." 
     
    Before joining Aqua-Aid in 2013 as director of business development, Green was the golf course superintendent at the Country Club of Landfall and Eagle Pointe Golf Club in the Carolinas. Before his promotion to president of Aqua-Aid Solutions, Green was Chief Operating Officer of Aqua-Aid.
     
    The mission of Aqua-Aid Solutions moving forward is to "continue delivering customized innovations that solve turf and ornamental challenges by improving soil and plant health for agronomic programs around the globe".
  • How many Washington politicians does it take to solve a problem? No one knows: They've never solved one."  
    Part VI in a series of labor issues affecting the golf industry.
    To say the golf industry is facing a labor crisis is as obvious as pointing out that the game needs more players.
      Whether it's finding enough interns, AITs or just hourly employees to mow fairways and rake bunkers, it seems like most superintendents are having a difficult time finding, hiring and/or retaining enough help.    A shortage of labor is not a private club problem and it's not a daily fee problem. It's not a west coast problem or an east coast problem. It's just a problem, and it's not just limited to golf. Washington is in a unique position to help - with at least some of this problem - but don't hold your breath.   According to the New York Times, there were more than 50 teenagers in the labor force for every fast-food restaurant 25 years ago. While the number of restaurants in the marketplace has ballooned by more than 40 percent since then, the number of available workers seeking employment has been cut in half.   A Federal Reserve survey indicates that construction, retail, healthcare and agriculture are industries struggling to find enough help.   In 2000, about 45 percent of teenagers between 16-19 were employed. Today, only about 30 percent of eligible teens have a job.   Sounds a lot like the golf business, where a shortage of applicants has led many superintendents to lean on seasonal help through the H2B program.   Josh Saunders has been hiring temporary workers through the H2B program for the past five years at Longue Vue Club in Verona, Pennsylvania, mostly out of necessity.   He runs ads in the classified section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette not only to comply with H2B regulations, but genuinely in hopes of attracting local workers.   "I would love to hire Pittsburghers. The problem is, no one wants to do this work anymore," Saunders said.    "I post ads and go through interviews, but people don't want to commit to the hours, they don't want to work weekends, and where we are, the opioid issue is a big deal. I would ask people, can you pass a drug test?' because that is a prerequisite of working here, and I'd watch as people would get up and walk right out."   Some newspapers have recognized that employers are facing a labor crunch and have increased the cost of classified advertising exponentially.   Pat O'Brien, superintendent at Hyde Park Golf and Country Club in Cincinnati said the same help-wanted classifieds that once cost him $600 just a few years ago now cost $4,500.   "It's just another piece to the puzzle," O'Brien said.    His luck in attracting local talent through the paper is about on par with Saunders'.   "In four years, I've had just one applicant for an interview," he said. "Nobody (here) wants to do this work. There is a need for temporary seasonal labor."    
    I would love to hire Pittsburghers. The problem is, no one wants to do this work anymore."  
     
    Even for those who apply for seasonal workers, there is no guarantee they will get them. The number of requests the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service receives routinely exceeds the cap of 66,000 workers with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 - March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 - September 30). USCIS stopped accepting petitions in February.   With those petitions for seasonal help approved on a lottery system this year, even some of those who have crossed all their T's and dotted all their I's found themselves on the outside looking in.   "The process is getting harder and harder and harder," Saunders said.   Doug Norwell at Camargo Country Club in Cincinnati experienced a five-week delay in getting his seasonal help this year.   "I like the guys we get. They are fantastic," Norwell said. "I don't enjoy the process. I do it because I have to. We have a serious lack of workers.   "The work is not going to get done otherwise. No one is applying for those jobs."   The need for hard-to-get seasonal H2B employment isn't limited to golf.   On June 5, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 114 undocumented workers at two Corso's Landscape locations in northern Ohio. A raid of a Tennessee meatpacking facility in April netted a similar number of arrests.    Investigations into employers suspected of hiring undocumented workers were up about 60 percent in 2017 compared with 2016.   While the current administration's view on immigration policy and Congress's perpetual inertia at drafting comprehensive legislation is another topic for another day, the above examples help illustrate the fact that there are more unskilled, low-paying jobs in the U.S. than there are legal candidates (either U.S. citizens or guest workers) willing or able to fill them.   And that is something Washington can't ignore, or at least shouldn't
  • Part V in an ongoing series about labor issues affecting the golf industry.
    Cincinnati is known for many things.   It was the birthplace of Steven Spielberg and the childhood home of Charles Manson. President William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati and four other presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and William Henry Harrison lived there at one time in their respective lives. The Reds were the first Major League Baseball team, and in the 19th century the city was the country's leading pork producer and third largest beer maker.   Today, the city that is home to Procter & Gamble and served as the backdrop on the closing credits for the defunct soap opera, The Edge of Night, also is a microcosm for the labor issues facing the golf industry.   Only 7 miles separate Camargo Country Club and Hyde Park Golf and Country Club, and their respective superintendents, Doug Norwell and Pat O'Brien, are longtime friends and one-time colleagues. And for several years, both have utilized the H2B program for seasonal temporary non-agricultural workers. Both use the same consultant to complete and file paperwork and until this year, they shared similar results, securing anywhere from four to 10 guest workers from Mexico to help them get through the golf season.   "I couldn't believe it when Pat got them and I didn't," said Norwell, superintendent at Camargo, a Seth Raynor classic in Cincinnati's posh Indian Hill neighborhood.   The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services set the H2B cap at 66,000 workers this year, 33,000 who begin work in each half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2017-March 31, 2018 and April 1 2018-Sept. 30, 2018).   On May 31, the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor published a temporary final rule increasing the H2B cap by as many as 15,000 additional visas through the end of fiscal year 2018, which does little if anything to help many golf courses this fiscal year.   In the past, many utilizing the H2B system felt reasonably assured they would get some of the workers they needed as long as petitions were submitted before the Jan. 1 deadline. This year, the USCIS conducted a lottery to randomly select petitions for workers. Some who petitioned for workers, including O'Brien, got what he needed. Others, like Norwell, did not."   At Hyde Park, an urban Donald Ross design, O'Brien's staff typically includes a diverse group of retirees, interns, high school students, and, since 2014, as few as four and as many as eight guest workers from Mexico. That was the case this year, because of practice range renovation program this year. In four years, I've had just one applicant for an interview. Nobody (here) wants to do this work. There is a need for temporary seasonal labor." "This year was a little more challenging," he said. "Still, most of the people I know were fortunate."
    Norwell wasn't in that group - at least initially.   Although the consultant he works with submitted his petitions at the first possible moment, Norwell, who petitioned for 10 workers, at first was shut out of the process. He eventually received eight workers, but they came nearly a month-and-a-half after the course opened for the season.   When he thought he wouldn't be getting any guest workers, Norwell planned for dramatic changes at Camargo. That included buying a second triplex because he wouldn't have enough staff to walk mow greens, and a new faster, wider roller to make easier and faster to roll greens.   Whether a golf facility receives workers or not, there is a protocol to follow that can be costly, even for those who hit the lottery. Clubs must exhaust efforts to find American workers first, and that includes placing an ad in the local newspaper for two days, notifying past employees of the openings via U.S. mail, and posting job notices in a visible place at the club for current employees to see. Employers are required to pay the average local wage for the advertised position.    O'Brien paid more than $4,000 to run a help-wanted classified ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer   "In four years, I've had just one applicant for an interview," O'Brien said. "Nobody (here) wants to do this work. There is a need for temporary seasonal labor."   Although he was granted an 11th-hour reprieve this year, Norwell is ready to implement those changes next year.   "We're still planning on it for next year," he said. "It was a difficult process this year, and it's not going to be any easier next year.    "The safest thing is to plan on not having them."  
  • As a research scientist, Brian Horgan spends a lot of time looking for ways to promote healthy turf.   He also is concerned about sustainability and ensuring that the same things that make turf healthy dont harm the environment in other ways.   Horgan, of the University of Minnesota, and Pam Rice, Ph.D., a chemist with the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service in St. Paul are looking for ways to minimize the risk of pesticide and fertilizer runoff into adjacent water bodies, and at least two management practices common on golf courses could help turf managers accomplish just that.   Rice and Horgan compared the effects of two turf management practices - hollow tine coring and verticutting - on controlling pesticide runoff by simulating rain events at the university's research station. The trial was conducted on creeping bentgrass and fine fescue maintained at fairway height. The researchers simulated rain with on-site irrigation and gutters channelled runoff into a flume that allowed them to control precipitation, measure runoff and collect samples for pesticide analysis.   The work was funded in party by the USGA.   "Golf courses can be surrounded by hundreds, or even thousands, of people living right alongside them," said Mike Kenna, Ph.D., director of research for the USGA Green Section, "so it's important to us that they're managed in an environmentally friendly way, and that they are not polluting the air or the water."   Horgan and Rice measured concentrations of five different pesticides in the runoff and found that core aerifying helped the soil absorb more runoff than verticutting and was more effective than coring and verticutting together, possibly because vertical mowing can compact the soil at points where the mower blades cut into it, the researchers said. The take-home message, they said, is go with coring if you are concerned about pesticide runoff at your golf course.   The results, which can help superintendents and researchers develop management strategies to improve environmental stewardship of managed turf while providing desired turf quality, were published in Science of the Total Environment.
  • "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." 
    Ernest Hemingway
      The job of a university extension agent is to tell golf course superintendents what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. The two often are mutually exclusive.   For years, superintendents in South Carolina and beyond could rely on Clemson turf pathologist Bruce Martin, Ph.D., to do just that. After parts of four decades helping golf course superintendents and others diagnose problems and find ways to overcome them, Martin, 64, will retire from Clemson at the end of June.   "His impact here and around the country has been immense," said Tim Kreger, executive director of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. "There are hundreds of facilities here and nationwide that he has helped. One of the keys to the success of that program has been that he is not on campus. He's close to all the courses on the Grand Strand, and that has been critical."   Regardless of which companies were paying him to conduct product trials at the university's Pee Dee Research and Education Center 200 miles east of the main campus, Martin routinely kicked out advice and management programs that were designed to help superintendents save their jobs rather than help distributors sell more of Product X.    For example, his infamous Program 13 includes products from a half-dozen companies and for more than a decade has been widely recognized as the gold standard for helping superintendents manage creeping bentgrass in summer.   "I try to tell them what works best," Martin said. "It's like any medical protocol: If you don't do A-B-C, you're going to die. A-B-C might come from different companies, but your job in extension is to be unbiased. I joke that I try to piss off all the chemical companies equally. Nobody laughs at that."   Scott Ferguson, CGCS at Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, has known Martin for more than 20 years. In that time, Martin has helped him manage fairy ring outbreaks, nematode infestations and conducted trials for new products on the golf course.   It is the concern that Martin has for superintendents that Ferguson says he will miss most.   "Everyone in the Carolinas has leaned on him pretty hard over the years. He genuinely cares about our success," Ferguson said. "Most of the time, he answers the phone when you call him, and if he doesn't answer, he calls you back 100 percent of the time.    "He will be sorely missed."A native of Conway, Arkansas, Martin graduated from local Hendrix College with a degree in biology. He earned a master's in plant pathology from the University of Arkansas and a doctorate in the same discipline from North Carolina State.   He had been working at a research station in Connecticut when his wife was hired at the Pee Dee lab, so he spent his first year in South Carolina working at Horry-Georgetown. A year later, he was hired to work in tobacco and field crops at Clemson.   Because of the importance of tobacco to the local economy, all students in the NC State program learned something about diseases that affected it.   "So, I was prepared for that," he said. "Well, I wasn't totally ingornant. Let me put it that way."   At NC State he studied under Leon Lucas, Ph.D., whom he credits as greatly influencing his career in turf pathology. Lucas, who later became the staff agronomist for the Carolinas Golf Association, brought a sense of humility with him on site visits because he knew the only reason he was there was because the superintendent needed help.   "I visited a lot of golf courses with Leon," Martin said. "You don't realize when you're that young that what you are diagnosing makes a big difference to the superintendent, but it does. Leon helped me understand that."   Along with Larry Stowell, Ph.D., of PACE Turfgrass Research Institute, Martin was the first in 2001 to diagnose and name Rapid Blight (Labyrinthula terrestris), a disease in cool-season turf typically caused by irrigation water high in salts.   "(Bruce) saved the day when a new turfgrass disease was discovered in California," Stowell said. "At the time, the disease had not been observed elsewhere and pathologists around the country had difficulty seeing the organism using microscopes or isolating the pathogen from grass samples using conventional methods. It wasn't until duplicate samples of Poa trivialis arrived at both the PACE lab and Dr. Martin's lab that progress on the nature of the pathogen gained momentum and the disease was named 'rapid blight.' Bruce immediately initiated lab tests, genetic analyses and fungicide trials and quickly identified control options. After several more years and collaboration between Bruce and Drs. Mary Olsen and Robert Gilbertson at the University of Arizona, the causal organism was identified to be a unique and new terrestrial plant pathogen in the genus Labyrinthula. Bruce's knowledge, generosity, curiosity and professionalism were the key to the discovery of the cause and management of this important turfgrass disease."   When it came to other types of cool-season grasses and how to help them make it through summer, Martin was on speed dial for a lot of superintendents. Kreger of the Carolinas GCSA recalled one of his first visits to the Pee Dee lab.   "Boxes were stacked above my head," Kreger said. "When I asked what they were, he told me they were turf samples from superintendents all around the country."   Helping superintendents, regardless of their location, was the norm for Martin, who has been a speaker at events locally, regionally and nationwide for decades.   "He's always been right in the center of research on creeping bentgrass," said USGA Green Section agronomist Pat O'Brien. "If there was a hall of fame for turfgrass pathologists, he'd be in it."   Martin, however, isn't so sure. It's all part of the humble nature that has come to define his career.  
    I'm not a jokester. I appreciate a good joke, but I'm crappy at telling them. I'd rather impart knowledge."
     
    For years, he taught with Rutgers' Bruce Clarke, Ph.D., at the annual Golf Industry Show. It was a long time, he said, before they determined what their audience wanted to hear, and how they wanted the information communicated to them.   "Sometimes you're too familiar with the top. I'd read through my reviews and they'd say things like "Martin needs to up his game.' I'd have to remember that they might be hearing something for the first time, but I'm telling it for the 20th time and you'd have to jack yourself up," Martin said. "That always bothered me. Some people are really good at speaking. I'm not a jokester. I appreciate a good joke, but I'm crappy at telling them. I'd rather impart knowledge.    "Finally, one year Bruce (Clarke) and I asked our (GIS) audience what they wanted us to talk about. Instead of trying to cover every disease, we'd cover the top 10. That made a huge difference in how we presented the material, and it made a huge difference in how they paid attention."   Much of that humility was learned through mistakes, which is yet another tidbit he tries to impart on superintendents.   "I've gotten my clock cleaned plenty of times, and I tell them that the same thing will happen to them once in a while," Martin said. "Once in a while, you run across someone who thinks they are infallible, but most understand this and want to learn how to recover from it."   Currently, Martin is part of the committee searching for his replacement, and although he will continue to consult for superintendents after he retires, he will stay equally busy with his hobbies that include bow hunting, fishing and chipping arrowheads out of pieces of flint.   "Talk about a waste of time, but it is something fun that I enjoy" he said. "I like to make something out of what used to be a rock. But flint is like glass, so you bleed a lot."  
  • It is not likely that Gleneagles Golf Course will ever end up on the golf industry's blacklist of closed courses any time soon.   The city-owned course in one of San Francisco's roughest neighborhoods has had every excuse to fail. It doesn't receive the same support as Harding Park or Sharp Park, the other municipal courses in the city's golf portfolio. Crime in the neighborhood is rampant. Tom Hsieh, who holds the management contract on the course doesn't have near the resources - in equipment or manpower - as other city course.   Despite those challenges, golfers come back day after day, month after month, year after year.   For nearly a year now, disc golfers also have been paying the nine-hole stick golf rate to play at Gleneagles. During the recent Memorial Day weekend, the course, which opened in 1962, was the site of the San Francisco Open professional disc golf event.   And get this, people, hundreds of them, paid Hsieh $10 each over three days to walk the course to watch the event. Hundreds of people, not thousands, walking along and talking with the sport's biggest names, Hsieh thought, might be similar to what other emerging sports went through as they slowly caught on with the masses.   "This is a niche sport with a lot of potential," Hsieh said. "This must be what golf was like in the '50s when you could walk along with people like Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer."   Unlike the city-owned courses at Harding Park and Sharp Park, Gleneagles at McLaren Park has struggled on San Francisco's east side. The city doesn't fund it, like it does the other two courses. So the property that is in one of the city's worst crime zones must stand alone, and Hsieh has tried many different things to make sure it does.   He brought in disc golf about a year ago, after watching a steady stream of players flood into Golden Gate Park on the city's west side. He even started playing it to see what all the hubbub was about.   "I'd been watching it for 10 years. I live next to the only other disc golf facility in the city, and I drive past it every day," Hsieh said. "I watched the crowds grow bigger and bigger, and so I started to play myself to see what I could learn about it. Then I started to wonder if there were any disc golf courses on stick golf courses, and would people pay to play it."   Turns out they will.   After about a year, disc golf comprises 5 percent to 6 percent of Gleneagles' gross income.   "I'm not saying this is for everyone. I'm sure it's not," Hsieh said. "But we've hit a home run.   "It's not a lot, but it's another 40 bags of fertilizer for a second application. It's another few thousand units of water on the grass."   Although Hsieh already is in talks with the Professional Disc Golf Association about coming back to Gleneagles in 2019, getting the course to where it could host an event like the SFO was no small feat.   Setting up an 18-hole disc golf course within Gleneagles' existing routing cost between $15,000-$20,000, none of which Hsieh had just lying around a year ago. Familiar with the concept of crowdfunding, but unfamiliar with it in practice, Hsieh started a page through Indiegogo and to his surprise, raised $10,000 within the first 72 hours. Within three weeks, and against the wishes of park officials, he had the money needed to carve out a course in Gleneagles' out-of-play areas with the help of disc golf course architect Leonard Muise.   Hsieh had three goals when building the disc golf course within Gleneagles.   "I wanted to make it compatible with Gleneagles, I wanted to attract interim to advanced disc golfers, because that is the kind of traditional golfer who comes here, and I wanted to make it championship length so we could attract a major tournament," he said. "This week, we checked off the last of those. We had about 70 percent of the world's top 150 disc golfers, and we've only had disc golf open since June 2017. The locals love it and so did the pros because we have elevation changes and how it winds through the cypress trees. It plays exactly like the stick golf course does, and it sucks players into the out-of-bounds areas where we as golfers never go anyway."   For those curious about who has the right of way when the traditional golf and disc golf worlds collide at Gleneagles, the answer is simple.   "We are a golf course, first and foremost, and we will always be one. Traditional golfers are my first priority," Hsieh said. "We have asked the disc golf community to teel off after 11 a.m., and if they are holding up golfers in any way, to let them through. It has worked extremely well, and our stick golfers have been incredibly supportive."  
    We are one less statistic that gets rung up in 2018, and there are going to be a lot of them. You can take our name off that list."
     
    Hsieh has prior experience with emerging sports. In the 1980s, he founded the first trade magazine to cover the snowboarding industry. In those days, snowboarding was looked down upon by the skiing industry. As interest in traditional skiing waned, and slopes and retailers found it harder and harder to make ends meet, it wasn't long until the fledgling snowboarding industry sport was credited with bailing out its snooty cousin.   "I remember when snowboarding was a new upstart sport, and we were fighting to get onto ski resorts," Hsieh said. "They didn't like kids, the urban influence or the music. That went on for a long time, and we finally started getting on at mom-and-pop resorts. Skiing started losing its appeal, and new generations weren't going skiing. Everyone who was snowboarding was 15 to 20 years old, and that's who was missing from skiing. We knew then it was going to be big, bigger than skiing. Disc golfers feel the same way."   Hsieh lobbed a lot of the credit for the professional disc golf event's success to tournament director Sean Jack, who convinced him Gleneagles was the perfect venue for such an event.   "He told me we could make it as big as we want it to get," Hsieh said. "I'm a guy who's trying anything and everything to survive. We have traditional golf, foot golf and disc golf and a training academy for our workers. Nothing is too outside-the-box for me."   Indeed, Hsieh has a history of doing things differently at Gleneagles.   Since 2015, Hsieh has been working with a local labor union in the Bay area to provide unskilled labor in a pre-apprentice program that provides training and hope for at-risk residents from one of the city's worst neighborhoods. It also provides Hsieh with low- to no-cost labor and the satisfaction that comes with knowing he's doing something to help those who need it most.   And as golf courses continue to close at a startling pace while the industry seeks supply-demand equilibrium, such innovative programs help Hsieh keep Gleneagles off that growing list.   "I'm not saying I have all the answers. But for $20,000 I raised through crowdfunding, I have completely flipped my small business model," he said. "It's also taken some creativity and some risk-taking, but it has ensured that Gleneagles can make it into the near future, and that's a big deal. We are one less statistic that gets rung up in 2018, and there are going to be a lot of them. You can take our name off that list."
  • If you have ever watched a TurfNet University Webinar and wished you could view it again, or if you've ever signed up for one, but were unable to sit in for the live event, don't worry, recordings of the live broadcasts are available anytime, anywhere. And they're free, thanks to Grigg.
     
    Whether it is the "History of Poa annua", delivered May 23 by Beth Guertal, Ph.D., of Auburn University, or her March 12 presentation entitled "Soil tests: What do all those numbers mean?", TurfNet has a bank of nearly 200 recorded webinars conducted by dozens of industry experts dating back to 2011.
     
    Recordings include presenters from Penn State, NC State, Rutgers, Cornell, Ohio State, Michigan State, Kansas State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, Purdue, the Asian Turfgrass Center, the International Sports Turf Research Center and much more.
     
    Just like our live webinars, all recorded archives are free for everyone. TurfNet members should be logged in to their account, and non-members will have to register for a free guest account to view them.
  • There are maintenance shops that carry a lot of inventory, and then there is Saucon Valley Country Club.   With hundreds of pieces of equipment in two shops, Dave Stofanak keeps pretty busy at this 60-hole facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.   "The sheer size of this operation is the most glaring difference. We have 850 acres, 60 holes, 120 golf carts, tennis, a full-service country club and 39 club vehicles all under his responsibility," said Saucon Valley superintendent Jim Roney. "When it just comes to repairs and schedules, he's always prioritizing things so nothing slips through the cracks.   "It's not just golf, and it's not just a fleet of greensmowers. It's four fleets of greensmowers."   Stofanak's ability to see past the doors of the maintenance shop also set him apart, Roney says.   "As superintendents, we want to beat the crap out of the grass and produce the best conditions. In the process, we beat the crap out of the equipment," Roney said.    "It's a joy to work with him. He sees the big picture. We communicate well with each other, I tell him what I want, and he tells me how we can get there."   One might think an operation the size of Saucon Valley would have a virtually unlimited budget, but anyone operating under that assumption would be incorrect.   "One of his greatest attributes is his ability to manage the budget," Roney said.    "That's the biggest thing we talk about. You'd think we have unlimited resources, but that's not the case. The economy in the Lehigh Valley is strong, but this is not Philadelphia or New York. He is never over budget, and that would not be possible except for his vision of how equipment is supposed to operate and how it is supposed to be maintained."   Those are among the reasons that Stofanak has been named a finalist for the 2018 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro.   The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in Toro's Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.  
    We communicate well with each other, I tell him what I want, and he tells me how we can get there."
     
    Criteria on which nominees are judged include: 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.   Stofanak has plenty of experience maintaining Saucon Valley's equipment. He's been doing it since Roney was in the seventh grade.   During that time, Saucon Valley has hosted the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, 2000 U.S. Senior Open, 2009 U.S. Women's Open and the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. The Senior Open will return to the Lehigh Valley in 2022, and rest assured, Roney says, Stofanak will be there to make sure it goes off without a hitch.   "Along with these championships comes a whole other level of challenges," Roney said. "Whether it is identifying areas of need and coordinating loaner equipment with our distributors and local superintendents, or the challenge of doubling your fleet and servicing both morning and evening throughout the championship."   One of Stofanak's most admirable attributes, Roney says, is his ability to stay calm under the most demanding of circumstances.    His ability to fabricate tools and come up with quick solutions on the fly are top notch. When Roney bought new core collectors for aerification days, they quickly noticed the units were rubbing against the tires of the aerifier. Stofanak quickly fixed that problem.   "That's the way it was sold. We would have gone through tires left and right," Roney said. "Dave said 'give me an hour, and I'll come up with something.' He welded on a spacer and the problem was solved. The next day he had five machines done and we were ready to go."   Previous winners include (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.  
  • Terry Libbert survived four superintendents at Old Marsh Golf Club. Don't think for a minute that fact has been lost on any of them.   Libbert, who was hired at Old Marsh in 2000, was nominated for the 2018 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro, by all four of the superintendents he worked for at the course in Palm Beach Gardens.   Because of the impact he has had at Old Marsh over such a long period of time under numerous supervisors, Libbert has been named one of three finalists for this year's award.   The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in Toro's Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.   Criteria on which nominees are judged include: 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.   "It's not often when you can have your equipment manager be as passionate about the golf course as much as the golf course superintendent," wrote former Old Marsh superintendent Jim Colo, who now is at Naples National Golf Club. "Terry Libbert is that individual."   His dedication to the club and willingness to do what was necessary to help provide the best playing conditions for its members made an immediate impact on former Old Marsh head greenkeeper Steve Ehrbar, when he hired Libbert nearly two decades ago.   "When interviewing Terry several years ago for the position of equipment manager at Old Marsh Golf Club, I asked him how he felt about topdressing greens weekly and the damage it causes to mowers, he said 'if that's what it takes to provide great putting surfaces for the members and guests, we'll handle it,' " said Ehrbar, now superintendent at Jupiter Hills in nearby Melbourne. "Right then I told him, 'you're hired.' "  
    It's not often when you can have your equipment manager be as passionate about the golf course as much as the golf course superintendent. Terry Libbert is that individual."
     
    Libbert has lasted as long as he has not only because of his passion but in part because of his ability to repair atypical pieces of equipment, including excavators and bulldozers, and helping his bosses manage water issues in an extremely sensitive environment that is closely monitored by the South Florida Water Management District as well as local and county water officials.   "Terry Libbert has been with Old Marsh Golf Club for over 15 years, working with four different superintendents and every manufacturer of equipment," said Old Marsh superintendent Tony Nysse. "He's gone through two renovations and taken on maintenance for the homeowners association along the way. Terry is a staple of knowledge in regards to historical value and an overall knowledge of machines, engines, cars and pumps. Terry is, without hesitation, the glue that keeps both operations moving in the right direction."    He has fabricated many inventions since Steve Ehrbar, now the superintendent at Jupiter Hills in Tequesta, hired him nearly two decades ago.   His inventions include custom-sized brushing attachments welded to the back of traditional leaf rakes to simplify grooming fairway, and he rides the course nearly everyday to make sure all equipment is working properly and that what he sends out produces the desired conditions, said Al Clements, a former Old Marsh superintendent who today manages the turf at Pablo Creek Golf Club in Jacksonville.   "I've had the privilege to work with many great technicians in my career, and Terry Libbert is one of the best in the business," Clements said. "He is a true team player who is not only passionate about his trade, but genuinely cares about the staff and the club."   Previous winners include (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.
  • We've heard of some clandestine meeting places to interview job candidates, but a hospital room has to take the cake.     Odd as it might seem, that's exactly where Mark Fuller was hunkered down when he hired Bob Fedge, for the second time, in 2013.   Fuller was in the hospital for a couple weeks recovering from a ruptured Dieulafoy lesion when he contacted Fedge about an opening for the position of equipment manager at The Connecticut Golf Club.   The two had worked together previously at Longshore Golf Course in Westport, Connecticut and the Quechee Club in Vermont, so when Fuller needed to hire a new equipment tech, he knew exactly where to start.   "I knew he was hunting and was available, and I needed somebody," Fuller said. "I hired him right from the hospital."   Almost before Fuller made it home from the hospital, Fedge implemented a preventive maintenance program that reduced repair expenses over a four-year period by 51 percent, from $66,636 to $33,337 in 2017.    "This was accomplished despite the fact that we have not kept up with our annual equipment replacement plan," Fuller said. "Through his repair efforts we have been able to extend the life of the club's equipment as well. He is truly a 'Mr. Fix It.' "   Fedge has been named one of three finalists for the 2018 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro.   The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in Toro's Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.  
    He keeps the equipment in such good shape that we've lost the opportunity to buy new pieces. He's become his own worst enemy."
     
    Criteria on which nominees are judged include: 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.   Fedge is not just a skilled mechanic.   "He has a strong understanding of anything having to do with plumbing, mechanicals, electrical or hydraulics," Fuller said. "His talents have saved the club from using outside services for repairs from equipment to building repairs."   But it's on the golf course where he makes his hay.   "His responsibilities include maintaining two pump houses, irrigation electrical needs, range equipment maintenance and repairs, recycled water wash area for equipment and communication equipment service and repairs," Fuller said.   "Where he's really saved us money is repairing large pieces of equipment."   His repair skills have helped extend the life of aging pieces of equipment that otherwise might need replacing or at least the help of an outside service technician. That includes replacing the electronic gears and welding a cracked arm on an aging excavator.   "We have a 1965 wood chipper, and the club will never invest in a new one because he keeps it in such good shape," Fuller said.    "He looks at repairing things as a challenge and he does it."   Recently, Fuller's request for a new fairway mower to replace a 2005 unit with 3,500 hours was denied because Fedge has kept the aging and oft-used piece of equipment in top shape.   "He keeps the equipment in such good shape that we've lost the opportunity to buy new pieces," Fuller said. "He's become his own worst enemy."   Previous winners include (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.  
  • As an assistant superintendent at Oakmont Country Club for many years, David Delsandro always knew the importance of staying up to date on turf and personnel management issues in the golf industry. As the head superintendent at the Pittsburgh-area course that has become synonymous with the U.S. Open, Delsandro also knows how important it is for he and others in a similar position to share their knowledge with the next generation of golf course superintendents.   That's why Delsandro, who was a member of the inaugural Green Start Academy 12 years ago has since become a member of the executive board that leads the education for tomorrows superintendents.    The three-day series of seminars and discussions presented by Bayer and John Deere provides assistants with networking and educational opportunities in subjects such as career development, budgeting and labor management. The event is scheduled for Oct. 24-26 at the the Bayer and Deere facilities in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.    "Attending the inaugural Green Start Academy in 2006 was a defining moment in my professional development," Delsandro said in a news release. "Interacting with and listening to the distinguished panel of contributors was a great opportunity. The ability to network with similar, driven assistant superintendents only provided greater motivation in my daily work. John Deere and Bayer provided a first-class, fantastic experience that proved to be very beneficial. I recommend applying to Green Start Academy to our current assistant superintendents on an annual basis."    Those interested in attending can apply through an online submission form on the Green Start Academy web page. All applicants must submit an application, resume, cover letter, letter of recommendation and an essay that includes three ideas to initiate change in the golf maintenance industry in the next decade.   The advisory panel will choose 50 applicants from the pool to attend this years event. The application period is open through 5 p.m. on June 25.   Other members of the advisory board include: Bob Farren, CGCS, Pinehurst Resort; Pat Finlen CGCS, The Olympic Club; Lukus Harvey, Atlanta Athletic Club; Andy Morris, Country Club of Peoria (IL); Grant Murphy, The National Golf Club of Canada; Tyler Otero, North Jersey Country Club; Michael Stevens, Billy Casper Golf; Billy Weeks, Houston Country Club.    

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