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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Former Toro CEO Ken Melrose has established a legacy of service to the golf industry and beyond. That legacy was rewarded recently when Melrose was named the recipient of the Golf Course Builders Association of America Don A. Rossi Award.   The GCBAA's highest honor, the Rossi award recognizes individuals "who have made significant contributions to the game of golf and its growth and who have inspired others by example." It is named for Don A. Rossi, who served as executive director of the National Golf Foundation from 1970 to 1983, was instrumental in forming the National Golf Course Owners Association and served as executive director of the GCBAA from 1984 to 1990.    It was awarded at the recent Golf Industry Show in San Antonio.   Melrose joined The Toro Co. in 1970 as director of marketing for the Consumer Products Division. Three years later, he was appointed President of Game Time, Inc., then a Toro subsidiary located in Litchfield, Michigan. Almost immediately, he was on the fast track to success.   A native of Orlando, Florida, Melrose graduated with honors from Princeton University in 1962, where he majored in mathematics and electrical engineering and was a varsity letterman in track for three years. He also earned a master's degree from MIT and an MBA from the University of Chicago.   By 1976, he was named vice president of the company's Outdoor Power Equipment Group, promoted to executive vice president in July 1980, named president in February of 1981, Chief Executive Officer in December 1983, and chairman of the board in December of 1987. On March 15, 2005, he stepped down as CEO but remained as executive chairman for Toro's board of directors. He retired as chairman and from Toro in 2006.   Under his leadership, Toro became a golf industry monolith through product development and innovation, customer support and service and philanthropy. Melrose helped establish The Toro Foundation that supports community and industry causes around the world.    "By honoring me with the Rossi award, the GCBAA is really recognizing the importance of superintendents to the golf industry," Melrose said. "In the face of ever-changing technology, volatile weather and increasingly demanding golfers, Superintendents are the unsung hero of the game of golf; they ensure that golf always puts its best foot forward.  I am thrilled to accept this award on behalf of our superintendents."   Following his retirement from Toro, Melrose formed Leading by Serving, LLC, whose mission is to advance the principles of servant leadership in organizations. He also remains an active supportive of the golf industry and its future growth. In 2012, he established The Melrose Leadership Academy with the Environmental Institute for Golf to help support the professional development of GCSAA member superintendents providing scholarships to attend the Golf Industry Show.   His legacy of service is long and enduring.   "My parents raised me to understand the importance of giving back to the community especially to those in need," Melrose said. "It is a privilege to give back to the golf industry that has given so much to me."   In 1995, he authored Making the grass greener on your side : a CEO's journey to leading by serving. Published by Berrett-Koehler with a foreward by the late self-help guru Stephen R. Covey, the book details a history of Toro and the role of the company and its leader to serve others.
  • In the world of turf seed, you'd think grass grows on trees.
      Hardly. At least not the cool-season varieties hailing from the Pacific Northwest.   We caught up with Jacklin Seed's Chris Claypool at the Golf Industry Show, who shed some light on seed history, quality and shortages.   "There are so many choices now. It's almost confusing to the end user," said Claypool, general manager for Jacklin Seed by Simplot. "There are some elite Kentucky bluegrass varieties, but those elite varieties don't have prolific seed yield.   "People don't ask much for a specific variety. They just want seed."   One of the biggest factors affecting Kentucky bluegrass varieties, Claypool said, is the absence of field burning.   Torching fields after the annual harvest helped control weeds and pests before the next growing season, and thus minimized the need for chemical pesticide applications.   "It shocks the plant into survival mode to reproduce," Claypool said.    "It cleaned up the fields, farmers saved money and they didn't have to till, spray and replant the field. There were some bluegrass fields in the Willamette Valley that hadn't been sprayed in 20 years."   Field burning also caused concerns about air quality, and it is a practice that has been largely banned on grass fields since 2009.    The effects of that ban are finally starting to trickle down, Claypool said.   "Today, we are realizing the cost of not burning," Claypool said. "Quality is eroding and getting a little worse every year. The impact of not being able to burn every year and clean up those fields, we're now paying the price. The fields are getting dirtier and dirtier every year."   That's unfortunate, says Claypool, in an era when so many turf varieties can help end users like golf course superintendents save money by choosing grasses that can stand up to stressors like drought, heat, cold and wear.   Combine an increasingly weakened field with naturally occurring factors like weather, and the result can be long-term decline in quality and yield.   Complicating matters even further is that, unlike with food crops, growers cannot insure a turf crop against loss. And that is leading some growers in the Willamette Valley to choose crops that make more economic sense.   "That makes it like a high-risk crop," Claypool said. "People are coming out of school with business degrees and realize they can make more money growing something else.   "Just in Oregon, thousands of acres have gone out to blueberries, hazelnut orchards and wineries. When you lose them, they're gone for 40-plus years. You don't get those fields back."   Cultivating Kentucky bluegrass became a viable commercial option in the late 1940s when golf course superintendent Joe Valentine discovered a patch of turf outperforming the common Kentucky bluegrass at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia. The new grass was named Merion and is the forerunner to many of today's commercial varieties.   "The quality, possibly, will never get better in the future of grass seed," Claypool said. "The future of zero weed, no Poa annua, no noxious weeds in fields is going to be more and more difficult. Either prices will go up as growers have to apply more chemicals, or we'll have to live with what is harvested."
  • If you missed this week's TurfNet University Webinar on soils management by Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D. of the University of Kentucky, but still want to hear it, you're in luck. Watching playbacks of past TurfNet University Webinars is free and available on-demand to everyone.    TurfNet has been producing webinars since 2008, and for most of that time Grigg has been on board as a sponsor, supporting online education for golf course superintendents. Near as we can tell, that's longer than anyone else in the golf turf business. We're on our third or fourth user platform since then, so some recordings have been lost over time.    Still, we have an ever-growing library of 171 total recordings on a variety of agronomic and career-development topics, including Getting the most from your PGR program by Doug Soldat, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin that was recorded June 23, 2011, to a webinar by Dara Park, Ph.D., of Clemson entitled Assessing water and soil reports for salinity and sodium issues that was pre-recorded in October 2012 because she was expecting a baby about the time of the live broadcast.   Click here to see the entire lineup. Members simply have to be logged into their account to see what is available. Non-members can get access to all the recordings seminars by registering for a free guest account.   Click here to see our live webinar lineup.  
  • Susan Coldiron was bracing for an emotional evening as she entered the Quarry Golf Club clubhouse Tuesday for the TurfNet Beer & Pretzels Gala, where the first Jerry Coldiron Positivity Awards were to be announced. Little did she expect to shed tears of joy.
    Flashback: Josh Webber, now course manager at Portmore Golf Park in North Devon, England, needed housing for six months while interning at Boca West Country Club in Florida. Jerry and Susan offered their home in nearby Boca Raton. That was ten years ago.
    Fast forward to two weeks ago. Webber and his father Colin were attending the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) Golf and Environment dinner at BTME in Harrogate, England. Jon Kiger was there as well, as part of the 18 person TurfNet delegation to BTME. Serendipity strikes again.

    The 160 people at the dinner selected seats at assigned tables. Kiger sat between Michael Wells, the CEO of Carnoustie Golf Links, and Josh Webber.
    When Jon introduced himself as being from TurfNet, Josh asked, "How well did you know Jerry Coldiron?"
    "Really well," Kiger replied, taken aback. "How do you know Jerry?"
    Josh proceeded to explain how he had come to live at the Coldiron home while interning at Boca West, getting a little choked up at the memories.
    Meeting with Josh and his dad the next morning for coffee, Jon raised the subject of Josh perhaps flying over to San Antonio for Beer & Pretzels to surprise Susan.
    "I told them that if Josh could get there, we would pick up his hotel room and get him into the show," Kiger said.
    Boom.
    Josh met Susan soon after she walked through the door at Beer & Pretzels, and the ensuing hug and tears seemed to last for minutes.

    Later in the evening, Josh gave an enthusiastic summary of his experience at "Casa de Coldiron", as Jerry used to refer to their home, and what the Coldiron family meant to him.

    More on the Jerry Coldiron Positivity Awards here.
  • Jorge Croda, CGCS, and Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS MG, come from two vastly different worlds. 
      Tegtmeier grew up in the Norman Rockwell-esque Midwest, while Croda left his native Mexico to make a better life for himself and his family.   Due to a first-time tie in the judges' scoring, both were named 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year in a presentation in the Syngenta booth at GIS. 2017 was the tenth year of award sponsorship by Syngenta.   Though their stories are forever intertwined, the circumstances that brought Croda and Tegtmeier together couldn't be more different.   Tegtmeier, director of grounds at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa, was recognized not just for staging a virtually flawless venue for the 2017 Solheim Cup. He also won acclaim for the four years of hard work and preparation leading up to the event and, most importantly, how he used the event to help others, including fellow superintendents throughout Iowa and colleagues around the country who had once worked for or with Tegtmeier.   Croda, superintendent at Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, has a reputation that is more grass-roots.   He has been applauded by Southern Oaks members for the manner in which he revived their course. Once an "eyesore" and an "embarrassment" as well as a threat to home values, according to some of the members there, the course now is rated by some among the best courses in the Fort Worth area.   "Jorge Croda is exceptional in possessing all of the talents required. Recently, I marveled at the quality of product he creates as I 'secret shopped' 20 golf courses in the Dallas metroplex. His facility was clearly the finest," wrote industrial strategist and marketing guru J.J. Keegan.   But it wasn't always that way.    "The change from where it was then to where it is today speaks to Mr. Croda's dedication and passion in forming a team that was committed to excellence based on fulfilling the vision of a new owner."    Croda and Tegtmeier were chosen from a field of finalists that also included Mark Hoban of Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, Chris Ortmeier of the Champions Club in Houston and Josh Pope of the Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.   Croda and Tegtmeier each receive a trip for two on the annual TurfNet golf trip to Ireland, courtesy of Syngenta.   Croda began rebuilding distressed golf courses in his native Mexico, and through a management company he started has had a hand in about 20 improvement projects south of the border.   Renovating golf courses represents only a slice of what Croda gives back to the community. And, it is among the least significant of his accomplishments. His passion for helping others symbolize what service is all about.   Like everything he touches, Croda's goal is to make it better, whether it is playing conditions on a golf course or the lifeskills of his employees who him produce those conditions.   "My job is to try to make people better," Croda said.    The consummate ambassador for golf, Croda speaks at chapter, state, national and international events; lobbies elected officials on behalf of the golf industry; and is active on his North Texas chapter board - all in an effort to promote the superintendent profession to those in and outside the golf industry.    Even that doesn't compare to what he does for members of his team, junior golfers and his neighbors in the Fort Worth area.   A certified First Tee coach, Croda is passionate about working to grow the game and instilling in young golfers the values the on which the game is built.   "We can make good choices, or we can make bad choices," he said. "I want to help them make good choices."     Among the jobs Croda is most passionate is that of mentor to members of his team. He provides for them computer classes, training in English language and more.   "I am trying to bring more opportunities to them," he said. "They're in the United States; they need to be able to speak English.    "My goal is to train people to be able to leave for better jobs elsewhere if they choose."   Like Croda, Tegtmeier was singled out because of how his actions affected others.   When it was revealed that Des Moines Golf and Country Club had received the 2017 Solheim Cup, the club already was hip deep in developing a master plan and working toward a four-year-long renovation of the 36-hole DMGCC under the direction of architects Pete Dye and Tim Liddy.    Tegtmeier immediately saw the Solheim Cup as an opportunity to fill a gap for other Iowa superintendents.    Iowa is home to an annual Champions Tour's Principal Charity Classic, but otherwise is without a major professional franchise or event.    Tegtmeier wanted to prove to the world that Iowa superintendents were more than capable of producing a venue that rivaled anything in professional championship golf, so he opened the door for volunteers to any Iowa greenkeeper who wanted to help him prove his point. He also extended that invitation to former colleagues now scattered around the country.   In all, 87 volunteers, all with ties to Tegtmeier, showed up to work. The flawless conditions, large crowds and patriotism turned the Solheim Cup into an experience that almost was surreal.   "I wanted to use this as a stepping stone to show what other superintendents in Iowa could do," Tegtmeier said. "I told them if they wanted to work a major event this was their chance.   "They stepped up."   Their work resulted in more than two-dozen nominations on Tegtmeier's behalf, including one from Team USA Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster.   Two other nominations - one from 2006 Masters champion and Iowa native Zach Johnson and one from Iowa secretary of agriculture Bill Northey - supported Tegtmeier for the award because of what his work did for the people of Iowa as a source of pride for their home and as an economic driver for the local economy.   "Rick's exceptional management has allowed the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and the state of Iowa to gain international attention as they hosted the Solheim Cup," Northey wrote in his nomination. "This put Des Moines on the map and provided other great economic benefits to Des Moines and the state."    
  • The TurfNet Beer & Pretzels Gala was a favorite event in Jerry Coldiron's year, so it was the perfect venue to announce the first four Jerry Coldiron Positivity Awards Tuesday night at the Quarry Golf Club in San Antonio. Jerry's wife Susan and son Jake presented the first awards.
    Named for the late career superintendent turned Caribbean sales pro and long-time friend of TurfNet, the Coldiron Positivity Awards are cash stipends from the Jerry Coldiron Embrace Life! Fund and TurfNet to recognize individuals within the golf turf industry who live lives of positivity, caring, sharing and compassion for others... or who are experiencing personal hardship due to illness, natural events or job loss... or who do something special for the natural world (a special thing to Jerry). 
    More about Jerry here.
    The four recipients announced Tuesday are:
    Marcos "Mike" Morales of the Buccaneer Golf Club in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands John and Peggy Colo, Jupiter Hills Golf Club, Tequesta, Florida Adam and Erin Engle, Lake Shore Yacht and Golf Club, Cicero, NY John and Nick Paquette, Indian Hills Country Club, Northport, NY When Hurricane Maria devastated much of the Caribbean in late September, several members of Mike Morales's staff at the Buccaneer lost their homes. Mike found one living under a tree but with his uniform washed and drying on a branch so he wouldn't miss work the next day. Morales launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his staff members, and Jerry Coldiron picked up on it and promoted it on Twitter. Morales was a customer-turned-friend of Jerry's, who covered the Caribbean for Hector Turf, the Toro/Club Car distributor in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
    Mike and his wife and daughter were on hand at Beer & Pretzels to receive his $2500 check from Susan and Jake Coldiron.

    John Colo is another long-time TurfNet member who many will remember for organizing the globe-trotting "Where's TurfNet" banner program back in 2009/10, for which he was recognized at B&P 2011 as TurfNet Member of the Year 2010 (our only such award).

    Superintendent at the Country Club of York, PA, at the time, Colo ultimately lost his job there. Two days after getting the pink slip at CCY, Colo's wife Peggy was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. With two young sons, John utilized his time off to care for Peggy and their two sons, Robert and Kevin. Long story short, John spent the next several years pursuing his next superintendent job while doing whatever he could to support his family... and keeping a positive attitude the entire time. After a year at a club in his hometown in Ohio, he landed the superintendent position at the Hills Course of Jupiter Hills Club.
    Peggy's health issues persist, but she and John both maintain a positive attitude and serve as role models for Robert and Kevin. All now live in Florida.
    John's identical twin brother Jim, superintendent at Naples National Golf Club, was on hand for the award.  More on the Colo brothers here.
    Adam and Erin Engle lost their 7-year old son Griffin to a rare pediatric brain cancer in 2014. Although devastated by their loss, the Engles formed Griffin's Guardians, a recognized nonprofit 501©(3) organization that provides support and financial assistance to children battling cancer in central New York. In the three years since its inception, Griffin's Guardians has raised over $500,000 to fund cancer research... but also to comfort children and the families of those going through the same battle that Griffin did.
    Griffin's Guardians is now Erin Engle's full-time volunteer job. They have involved the entire Syracuse-area community in it's fund-raising efforts.
    Adam and Erin's daughter Grace created Grace's Sibling Sunshine to make crafts and raise money through school group involvement because the siblings of cancer patients "are going through a hard time, too."
    Adam has played for a dozen years on Team TurfNet in the annual Golf Course Hockey Challenge tournament for superintendents, assistants and suppliers, held in Niagara Falls, Ontario each January.


     
    John Reitman profiled the Engles last year here. Both Adam and Erin were on hand to accept the $2500 check from Susan and Jake Coldiron.
    John Paquette has been a long-time friend of TurfNet and member since our first year in 1994. He and his wife Roxanne's (only) son Nick is a talented basketball player who contracted chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in late April, 2017. John started a thread in the TurfNet Forum (members can follow it here) the following week to seek any help or guidance the TurfNet community could offer. The response was astounding, to all.
    John, Roxanne and Nick's attitude during the summer of chemo and other treatments was WE GOT THIS! Long story short: Nick finished the treatment, returned to SUNY New Paltz in late August and is back on the basketball court. Read about Nick's journey here.

    The story gets better. Less than a month ago, Nick learned that University of Texas Longhorns guard and NBA prospect Andrew Jones had been diagnosed with leukemia, and wrote Jones an open letter via Yahoo Sports. After many local news networks around the country picked up the story, Nick was contacted by ESPN, who visited the New Paltz campus on January 27 to shoot a yet-to-be-aired segment on Nick at the college Athletic Center. Read about that here.

    "While losing a great friend -- one of my best friends, personally -- is devastating, good can always arise out of that," said Peter McCormick, TurfNet founder and organizer of the Coldiron fund and awards. "Jerry was an amazingly positive person, a real cheerleader among men. We are happy to continue that legacy through these awards, and hope to keep shining Jerry's light well into the future."
  • It's never a good thing to be compared to the Titanic regardless of the context.   Nevertheless, that was one of the messages Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp. and Edgehill Consulting's Stuart Lindsay latched onto during their annual state of the golf industry presentation at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.   The comparison between golf and a sinking ship actually was made by Stewart Darling, the non-executive director of Scottish Golf, that country's governing body of golf, during its recent Future of Golf in Scotland conference.    Koppenhaver and Lindsay just recognized the uncanny accuracy of the analogy.   The number of golfers, rounds played and golf courses in the market all were down in the past year in this country, echoing an all-too-familiar trend in place for more than a decade.   According to the Koppenhaver-Lindsay report, U.S. rounds played in 2017 slipped to 447.4 million, down 13.4 million from 460.8 million rounds in 2016 and erasing the gains of 2.7 million rounds from 2015 to 2016. Last year's figures also are down 12 million rounds from the 10-year historic average and a staggering 71 million rounds from the game's high-water mark of 518.4 million rounds played in 2000.   Leading up to the drop in rounds played is a slow leak in the number of golfers. The number of players in the market dropped by 150,000 in 2016 to about 21 million, the latest figures available.   Men comprise the largest single demographic, with 15.4 million players, and their numbers increased up by a modest 1.6 percent in 2016. Women, on the other hand, make up just 26 percent of the golf market. And although they are an audience many golf course operators are trying to court, they left the game in 2016 at a rate of 6.6 percent, more than offsetting any gains made by men.   Equally disturbing is that juniors and those age 18-34 also are dropping out. In 2016, the number of juniors playing golf dropped by 9 percent, while those aged 18-34 were down by 4.5 percent.   Baby boomers, particularly male baby boomers, continue to carry the game on their collective backs, a trend that eventually will reverse for a generation in decline. Millennials overtook baby boomers as the country's largest generation in 2015. As the baby boomer generation's numbers continue to decline, they will be surpassed by Generation X in about another decade, according to the Pew Research Center.   Fewer golfers and fewer rounds played have had a predictable outcome.    Before 2006, one had to revert back 60 years to the Truman Administration to find a year in which more golf courses closed than had opened. Since 2006, golf course closings have outpaced openings for each of the past 12 years. I  
    We can discuss who gets to sit at the Captain's Table or who gets the best deck chair; but at the end of the day, we're all on the Titanic."
     
    Last year, 25 new courses were built and 175 established ones closed for a net loss of 150. Since 2006, there has been a net loss of 1,298 golf courses as the market self-corrects to supply-demand equilibrium.   But is supply really the problem, or is it demand - or lack of it?   In the early 1960s, there were 5,600 golf courses nationwide, and that number swelled to nearly 8,500 by 1970. In those days, there were only about 900 golfers per course. Today, there are about 13,500 golf courses with 1,300 players per course.   The report wasn't all bad news.   For the first time in 2017, the NGF last year began measuring data collected from off-course golf-related activities including Topgolf, Flying Tee and indoor simulators.   In a survey of Topgolf participants show, 29 percent of golfers say that playing Topgolf leads them to play more traditional golf. The survey also shows that 23 percent of golfers follow the game more closely as a result of playing Topgolf. Finally, 53 percent of non-golfers surveyed said that playing Topgolf has positively influenced their intentions of playing golf.   It remains to be seen whether this new data reflect a potentially larger golfer database and an avenue to grow participation, or if it is as hopeless as a stowaway on the Titanic.  
  • The annual Golf Industry Show is the largest single provider of education for golf course superintendents and is a virtual clearing house for all that is new in the way of equipment, chemicals, fertilizers and other products for the turf industry. It also happens to be the best opportunity for professional networking for turf managers.
      Keeping up with all that takes place throughout the week is more than a challenge. You can stay up to date with everything that's happening at this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio by visiting the TurfNet GIS 2018 Blog. Well, almost everything.   We'll keep you posted on new product launches, the most innovative gadgets, promotions and giveaways from the tradeshow floor; news from in and around the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center; and fun stuff and other happenings from around town throughout the week.   From the inaugural Jerry Coldiron Positivity Awards, named in honor of the late longtime friend to TurfNet, that will be named Feb. 6 at the annual Beer & Pretzels Gala, to the winner of the 18th annual TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, who will be named Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth (#16065), and (almost) everything in between, you'll find it on the TurfNet GIS blog.    Whether you're unable to attend this year's show, or just looking for a way tool to help you stay connected with what's happening, TurfNet has you covered.
  • Think you know what companies comprise the list of the top 100 businesses in golf?   Here's a hint: Many of them were on display last week at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. Here's another hint: Many more will be showing their wares next week at the Golf Industry Show in San Antonio.   Mention the phrase "top 100 companies in golf" and immediately attention is focused on the consumer side of the business. Acushnet, Adidas, Bridgestone, Callaway, Cleveland Golf-Srixon, Nicklaus, Nike, Ping, TaylorMade, Under Armour, Wilson and Winn all are on the short list of no-brainers.   But how about BASF, Bayer, Club Car, ClubCorp, CourseCo, Hunter, John Deere, Par Aide, Rain Bird, SiteOne, Standard Golf, Syngenta, Textron, Toro (pictured on front page), Wadsworth and Yamaha? They all made the list, too.   In fact, at least 30 of the companies on the National Golf Foundation Top 100 Businesses in Golf have some or all of their roots on the turf side of the golf business, comprising the second-largest category on the list (behind consumer golf equipment), giving further credence to the fact that managing course conditions is the single most important part of the industry. Without a golf course, there are no sticks or balls to sell; no sweaters, shirts or hats; and no hot dog and a beer at the turn.   The inaugural list, NGF says, was created to recognize and celebrate the most successful, influential and prominent companies, organizations and associations in golf.   Companies were evaluated subjectively on a variety of factors, including revenue, industry influence, growth rate and success, prominence and leadership within a segment, contribution to the growth and vitality of the game, innovation and philanthropy.   The NGF Top 100 in alphabetical order are: Acushnet, Adidas, Ahead/Cutter & Buck, American Golf, Arcos, Arcis Golf, BASF, Bayer, Billy Casper Golf, Bridgestone Golf, BrightView, Bushnell Golf, Callaway, Century Golf Partners-Arnold Palmer Golf Management, Cleveland Golf-Srixon, Club Car, Club Champion, Club Glove USA, ClubCorp, Cobra-Puma Golf, CourseCo Management, Dick's, Ecco, EZLinks, FST-KBS, Fujikara, Full Swing Golf, GCSAA, Global Value Force-Globalgolf.com, Golf Channel-Golf Now, Golf Digest, Golf Genius, Golf Magazine, Golf Pride, GolfTec, Golfweek-USA Today, GreatLife, Greg Norman Co., Hunter, Imperial Headwear, John Deere Golf, Jonas Club Software, Kemper Sports, Lamkin, Landscapes Unlimited, LPGA, Marriott Golf, Mitsubishi-Aldila, Mizuno, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, NGCOA, Nicklaus, Nike, Nippon Shaft, Nivel, Oakley, OB Sports, Par Aide, Peter Millar, PGA of America, PGA Tour, PGA Tour Superstore, Ping, Polo, Prestwick Golf Group, PrideSports, Primera, PXG, R&R Products, Rain Bird, Ship Sticks, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Standard Golf, Summit Golf Brands, Sun Mountain, Syngenta, TaylorMade, Textron (E-Z-GO, Cushman, Jacobsen), TGR-Tiger Woods Ventures, The Golf Warehouse, The First Tee, Toll Brothers Golf, Topgolf, Toro, Touchstone Golf, Tour Edge, TrackMan, Troon, True Temper, Trump Golf, U.S. Kids Golf, Under Armour, USGA, UST Mamiya, Volvik, Wadsworth Golf Construction, Wilson, Winn, Worldwide Golf Shops, Yamaha.  
  • For more than 40 years, Tim Hiers has been practicing environmental stewardship in one of the country's most affluent and intensely competitive golf markets.    He has redefined sustainability by being on the forefront of using new-to-the-market grasses that help reduce inputs and redirect labor and he's incorporated habitat for native plants and wildlife all while producing playing conditions that are second to none in the Naples, Florida area.   On Saturday, Feb. 3, Hier's efforts will be recognized when he receives the 2018 USGA Green Section Award.     Presented annually since 1961, the USGA Green Section Award recognizes "an individual's distinguished service to the game of golf through his or her work with turfgrass, including research, maintenance and other areas that positively impact the landscape upon which golf is played."   A graduate of Lake City (Florida) Community College (now Florida Gateway College) Hiers, has been a golf course superintendent since 1976 and currently serves as the director of agronomy at The Club at Mediterra in Naples. Hiers stands at the forefront of golf's environmental opportunities and challenges, while also driving advances in golf course management. An avid and articulate educator, he frequently hosts visitors ranging from school field trips to scientists and government officials.   Under his direction in 1994, Collier's Reserve in Naples became the first golf course to earn Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary status. Six years later, he joined The Old Collier Golf Club and led the effort to achieve the first designation of Audubon International Gold Signature Cooperative Sanctuary. There, he was the first superintendent to totally grass a golf course with paspalum. There, he chose Platinum paspalum for traits such as shade and cold tolerance and bright green color. When he moved to Mediterra, he regrassed 36 holes there with Platinum also.   "I learned to play golf on a cow pasture and I've been hooked on the game ever since," said Hiers. "In this business, you can never learn enough. There's always a challenge, and that's what I love about being a superintendent. It's a privilege to be recognized for just doing what you love every day."   During his career Hiers has been recognized for his accomplishments with the following awards: > 1986 Florida GCSA Distinguished Service Award. > 1993 Southeastern Environmental Steward Award. > 1994 John James Audubon Environmental Steward Award. > 1994 GCSAA National Environmental Steward Award. > 1995 GCSAA Presidents Environmental Leadership Award. > 1998 Florida Turf Grass Association Wreath of Grass Award. > 2009 GCSAA Excellence in Government Relations Award.   He will receive the Green Section award at the USGA's annual meeting Saturday in Miami Beach.
  • Call it the smalltown golf course with big ideas. Really, really big ideas.   Hickory Sticks Golf Club in rural northwestern Ohio has defied the odds for nearly 60 years, trudging along in an area with a modest population that has always hovered in the neighborhood of 9,000-10,000 people. It's a conservative area where playing it safe can be a way of life.    The golf course entered a new era last month when former owner Mark White, a local businessman who owns a string of nursing homes, donated the 27-hole facility to the YMCA of Van Wert County. And YMCA director Hugh Kocab and new golf course superintendent Mike Fast are ready to usher the course into the future and make the property a regional showcase for golf enthusiasts.   Their strategy includes improvements to the golf course and a business plan that consists of a renewed focus on women and junior players and innovative membership options that target this family friendly farming community. Their plan for the future also includes converting nine holes into a four-hole course that includes free lessons and free play for juniors and an area for footgolf and disc golf, both of which also will be free.   "We're going to embrace those groups," Kocab said. "Everything can't be about money. Sometimes, it's also about providing opportunities for exercise and recreation for the community."   Still, turning a profit shouldn't be much of a problem.   "We don't have a lot of competition here," Kocab said. "We are working hard to include women and juniors. We know what they want and what they're looking for and how to present it to them."   The Van Wert area is anything but a golf mecca.   More than 600 farms occupying nearly a quarter-million acres comprise the bulk of Van Wert County. It is so flat here that it is home to the state's largest wind farm. More cows than people call it home.   Like many farming communities, there is an emphasis here on families and traditional values, which Kocab and the Y's board of directors see as an opportunity for the golf course to reach local residents.   Who can blame them for their optimism?   The Y has about 3,500 members, which equates to a market penetration rate throughout the county of about 35 percent, and that gives the golf operation a pretty good pool from which to start. Membership plans include an option that combines enrollment in both the Y and the golf course. That's something the former owner and other nearby courses - the few that are here - couldn't offer.   When it came to unloading the course, White contacted only the Y.   "I looked at it as a community asset," White said. "And I think the community will rally around it.   "There was nobody ready to write Mark White a check for a golf course."   As White predicted, the community already has embraced the concept of a Y-owned golf course.   In one of the coldest, snowiest winters in northwest Ohio in the past decade, Hickory Sticks has been a hot topic throughout the county. Memberships already are double what they were a year ago under the previous owner. Even non-golfers are buying memberships because, "they want to support what we're doing," Kocab said.  
    We don't have a lot of competition here. We are working hard to include women and juniors. We know what they want and what they're looking for and how to present it to them."
     
    The Y director attributes part of the excitement to the option to join both the Y and the golf course together in one fee, as well as the improvements that are being made to the course under Fast.   A native of Haviland, Ohio about 10 miles from Van Wert, Fast is a 1992 graduate of Ohio State's turf program. For the past 22 years, he was the superintendent at nearby Delphos Country Club. Making the move to a Y-owned property was not a decision he made lightly.   "There are some issues here," Fast said of Hickory Sticks. "There are a lot of dead ash trees and the bunkers aren't in the best shape. I thought 'do I want a change like this?' The YMCA and the board have committed a lot of money to equipment to improve the conditions. I'm up for the challenge. I see this as a good opportunity."   What equipment the club had prior to Fast's arrival was decades old and much of it didn't run. A fairway mower was used to mow tees because the tee mower wouldn't start.   The Y has put up money for a new tee mower, another fairway unit, a sprayer, roller, topdresser, aerifier and blower and just about whatever else Fast needs to bring the course up to standard.   "For chemicals and fertilizer," he added, "they told me 'whatever you need, get it.' "   Discussions about donating the course to the Y began almost a year ago in a local drug store when Kocab and White bumped into one another as each sought a remedy for a late-winter cold. It's one more example of the closeness of this community, where everyone knows just about everyone else - even if your closest neighbor is a mile down the road at the next farm.   Still, this was not a deal the Y entered into blindly just because it was getting a golf course free of debt.   There are only a handful of YMCA-owned courses across the country, making it a unique business model. Before deciding whether to accept or reject White's donation, Kocab and members of the Y's board went to North Carolina, home to at least two such golf courses, to begin the process of conducting due diligence. In fact, Y officials attacked the project like a group of seasoned golf industry professionals.   "We've done our research. We know the golf economy is not good and that courses are closing," Kocab said. "We looked into why they are closing are most are because of market saturation, debt ratio and changing demographics.   "It wasn't just me. Our executive committee had to make sure it was a viable option. Three attorneys, two accountants and all 16 of our board members all looked at it, and everyone had the same reaction: It was a no-brainer. We are debt free. We're reaching out to women and juniors and we're going to develop programs that are exciting for these groups and we're offering knockout membership deals for everyone in our community. All those things combined; that's what's going to set us apart."   Improvements to the golf course will include all new bunkers, including new drainage and new sand, a new agronomic program courtesy of Fast, something the course never had in the past, and a regular greens aerification schedule.   "Down deep, this is a good golf course," Fast said. "It just needs a little TLC, and now the YMCA is backing it.   "We're buying a lot of equipment, and I already have about three-quarters of what I need to get the job done."  
  • There was a day not that long ago when Randy Wilson couldn't wait to jump on a story about damage caused by the emerald ash borer because he thought the name of the tiny, destructive pest sounded indecent.   I'm not sure what obscenities rhyme with "emerald", but the devastation caused by this feral invader from Asia no longer is a laughing matter in Georgia, or, for that matter, nearly two-thirds of the rest of the country.   The emerald ash borer's range once was confined to Ontario and a handful of states that ringed the Great Lakes, but no more. Today, there are confirmed sightings in three provinces in Canada and 31 states, including Georgia. Eight other states, where the threat is perceived as imminent, have made information available about what to do if you spot one.   Few if any people on this continent had ever heard of the emerald ash borer two decades ago. Since the first ones entered Detroit aboard a cargo ship 16 years ago, the pest has wiped out billions of trees causing billions in damage. Much of that damage has been on golf courses, and likewise has affected the game of baseball. The wood bats used by major leaguers for decades are crafted from white ash, and EAB's presence is threatening that industry.   Baseball legend Ty Cobb - a Georgia native - would not be amused.   Native to parts of eastern Asia, the EAB borer burrows into ash trees as an adult where it lays its eggs. The larvae feed on the layer beneath the bark, disrupting the tree's vascular system and its ability to take up water and nutrients and eventually kill the tree.   The ash borer's current range has increased dramatically, according to the web site emeraldashborer.info, and borders Colorado to the west, Texas and the Gulf Coast to the South, the Atlantic to the East and north all the way to New Hampshire. It is found in Canada in Ontario, Quebec and most recently Manitoba. The EAB web site is a news and information portal that is a cooperative effort between Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State universities, the Michigan and Ohio departments of Agriculture; the Michigan, Indiana and Ohio departments of Natural Resources; the USDA Forest Service; the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.   That's a long way for such a small bug to travel. It has had help by those who, by moving infested firewood, have unwittingly violated U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantines.     Think ash borers aren't a big deal for some golf course superintendents? Think again.   Dead and dying trees are more than an eyesore. They are a safety hazard and a legal liability if someone was injured by a falling bough or branch.   The bug has affected golf courses throughout its adopted range. Racine County, Wisconsin has padded the operating budget of its two courses to evaluate, treat and remove infected trees. At least 35 trees there were removed last year, and nearly 100 more are scheduled to be removed.   It's the same story at Hickory Sticks Golf Course in Van Wert, Ohio, where superintendent Mike Fast said 20 trees have been cut down. He plans to take down at least 50 more. At Bowling Green State University, an hour north of Van Wert, the school's golf course lost nearly 200 trees to the ash borer before closing its doors last year.    Scientists believe that the pest eventually will reach the entire ash tree range in North America, an area that covers parts of at least 42 U.S. states and six provinces in Canada. Each ash borer, however, only flies a few miles throughout its lifecycle, so moving firewood, or not, is critical to controlling its spread.   EAB kills ash trees by disrupting the uptake of water and nutrients through the trunk and into the upper reaches of the tree.   Adult females, which grow to about a half-inch in length, create a hole in the bark into which they deposit their eggs. After hatching, the larvae feed on and chew galleries through the tissue beneath the bark layer. In the spring, new adults chew through the bark and emerge leaving behind a D-shaped exit hole before flying into the canopy to ingest ash leaves and the reproductive process begins all over again.   Symptoms of infestation include thinning of the canopy and sprouts growing from holes in the trunk that were created by the pests, along with an scores of hungry woodpeckers that eat them. According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, canopies of mature ash tree typically are decimated within two years of infestation and the trees dead within five years.   Tree canopies can be wiped out within two years, and mature, healthy trees typically are dead within three to four years. All native North American ash species are susceptible to damage.   During the past several years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been studying and raising non-stinging parasitic wasps from Asia to help control EAB.   Four species of wasp, Spathius galinae, Oobius agrili, Spathius agrili and Tetrastichus planipennisi have proven to be effective at parasitizing 50-90 percent of the target EAB ova or larvae.   The wasps are raised at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service facility in Michigan.  

  • It's odd how the meaning of an expression can change over time.   During the 1990s, the phrase I wanna be like Mike referred to those who dreamt of jumping, soaring and dunking a basketball like Michael Jordan.   Fifteen years after his NBA career ended, Jordan is the majority owner in a new golf course construction project in southeastern Florida, giving new meaning to that 30-plus-year-old slogan   Grove XXIII, named to reflect Jordan's 23 jersey number with the Chicago Bulls, will be designed by Ponte Vedra Beach-based architect Bobby Weed and built on the site of a former citrus grove on 227 acres in Hobe Sound.    The area in and around Hobe Sound is a playground for golf's rich and famous, including Tiger Woods and Greg Norman, who live nearby. The neighborhood also is home to some pretty high-falutin' layouts, including Jupiter Hills in Tequesta; The Medalist, built and owned by Norman and where Woods is a member; and The Floridian in Palm City, which was built by garbage and automobile magnate H. Wayne Huizenga and where members include Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.   Jordan owns a home and is a member at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, as are Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Michelle Wie.   Unique in its design, the two nine-hole routings at Grove XXIII will be intertwined, criss-crossing each other. The result for the golfer of this uncommon approach are four possible nine-hole routings.   "This project is an opportunity to update how architects provide all players with a fun and interesting challenge," Weed told Golf Course Architecture magazine. "It will be a course for tomorrow, a course with a refined edge."  
  • It would be a challenge to find two stories in the golf world in 2017 that represented polar opposites on the spectrum like the feel-good story that was the Solheim Cup and the heart-wrenching images of golf courses throughout the Southeast that were plagued by hurricane-induced flooding.   Those are examples of the experiences of just two of the five finalists for the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Finalists are Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, Mark Hoban of Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, Chris Ortmeier of the Champions Club in Houston, Josh Pope of The Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and Rick Tegtmeier of Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.   That group was selected from a list of 42 nominees by a panel of judges spanning the golf industry. The winner of the 18th annual award will be named at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth during this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio and will receive a trip for two and a week of free golf on the TurfNet members trip to Ireland in October, courtesy of Syngenta. CLICK HERE for a full list of nominees.   Jorge Croda
    Southern Oaks GC, Burleson, Texas
      Jorge Croda first made a name for himself restoring the struggling Southern Oaks Golf Course in Burleson, Texas near Fort Worth. There he encountered a layout that in some areas had more weeds than turf, literally. In short order, he turned Southern Oaks around from an eyesore and what golfers there described as an embarrassment into a track that today is showing up on lists of some of the best daily fee courses in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JORGE.   Mark Hoban
    Rivermont GC, Johns Creek, Georgia
      In four decades of managing turf in the Atlanta area, Mark Hoban has embraced a holistic approach to golf course maintenance. A disciple of Palmer Maples, Hoban has been a leader in utilizing native turf to influence the appearance of a golf course as well as minimize the amount of water, fertilizer and pesticides they require. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT MARK.   Chris Ortmeier
    Champions Club, Houston, Texas
      Hurricane Harvey dumped 34 inches in five days at Champions Club in Houston, Texas, where 95 of 150 acres were submerged under as much as 15 feet of water. Near the pump house, water was up to the eaves of the roof, and boat was the best way to navigate the course that was the site of the 1967 Ryder Cup Matches and the 1969 U.S. Open, the LPGA's Nabisco Championship in 1990 and on five occasions was home to the Tour Championship (1990, '97, '99, '01, '03). . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT CHRIS.   Josh Pope
    The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
      Just days before the 2016 edition of the PGA Tour's annual event at The Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, flooding rains washed out the course and led to the cancellation of the tournament. The flood claimed the lives of 23 neighbors, and superintendent Josh Pope and his team spent the next year alternating between preparing the golf course for the 2017 tournament and helping family and friends recover at home. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JOSH.   Rick Tegtmeier
    Des Moines G&CC, West Des Moines, Iowa
      Rick Tegtmeier turned the Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club into more than just a golf tournament between the best women players from the United States and Europe. After a four-year renovation of the 36-hole club in West Des Moines, Iowa, he created a venue that left players and captains raving about conditions, and helped build an atmosphere that was a patriotic feel-good story that showcased all Iowa - including other superintendents throughout the state - had to offer. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT RICK.  
  • Jose Milan has been a familiar face around the agri-chemical industry for 30 years, including the past seven as director of green business operations for Bayer Environmental Science's turf and ornamentals division.   Bayer recently named Milan as the T&O market's global market manager, where he will oversee the company's golf, lawn and landscape and production ornamentals markets worldwide.   "As Bayer continues to expand its role as a global market leader in turf and ornamentals, it's critical that we sharpen our focus on better understanding and meeting the evolving needs of our customers," Milan said. "I'm looking forward to leading the effort to grow mutually beneficial relationships that help ensure the success of our customers and the advancement of the turf and ornamentals industry as a whole."   A graduate of LSU, where he earned a bachelor's degree in dairy science and a master's in agricultural economics, Milan is a founding member of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association, a trade organization for media, advertising and public relations professional in the green industry. He also is active in Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, which represents manufacturers, formulators, distributors and other industry leaders involved with pesticides and, as a trade organization in that industry, promotes the safe use of pesticides to control pests and invasive species that are detrimental to human health and the environment.    Prior to Bayer, Milan held key leadership roles with Syngenta and its previous incarnations, Novartis and Ciba-Geigy dating back to 1987.   "With his deep market knowledge and proven passion for the green industry, Jose is uniquely positioned to bring surgical focus to our global marketing strategy and enhance customer experience globally, so that regardless of geography, our customers have the same world-class experience with Bayer," said Thierry Chenet, head of global marketing for Bayer Environmental Science. "Jose will play a critical role in aligning our sales and marketing teams to deliver the best results for our customers while helping to create a better life in the communities we serve."  
  • It took Alexander the Great 12 years to conquer his vast kingdom nearly 2,400 years ago. It has taken Nick Saban, college football's modern day version of the great Macedonian general, only a decade to vanquish his foes in similar fashion, begging the question: Is it too soon to dub Saban "Nicholas the Great"?   Since 2007, Saban has ruled over the college football realm in much the same way Alexander conquered a swath of land that stretched from modern day Eastern Europe as far west as the Danube all the way to India. Saban's kingdom includes subjugates like the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pac 12, and everything in between.   Including a golf course.   Saban is among a group of investors who recently became part of the ownership group of Waterfall Country Club, the Clayton, Georgia property where Saban is a member and owns a home that rivals many of the fortifications routed by Alexander. Among the others in the new ownership group is Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator and Saban's golf buddy Ken Whisenhunt. The ownership change, announced by the club Jan. 11, came after its co-owner Terry Stiles, the Fort Lauderdale real estate developer, died of cancer last September.   Others joining Saban and Whisenhunt in the venture with Stiles' partner, Rob Hewlett, include Atlanta attorney Marlan Wilbanks, Lafayette, Louisiana real estate developer and contractor Lenny Lemoine and Mike Nixon, owner of Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Atlanta.   To date, no transaction has been recorded at the Rabun County Tax Assessor's office, but the news was announced by the club to its members and employees on Jan. 11.   Saban is reported to have a 10 index and his leadership skills that have helped him conquer the college football world, are legendary. In fact, we'll lay 10:1 that while he is part owner of Waterfall, a 1999 Scott Pool design on Lake Burton in the mountains of northeastern Georgia, the club never will show up on the National Golf Foundation's ever-growing list of closed courses.   It wouldn't dare.   We've come to associate Saban's name with excellence, if not perfection, that it's hard to imagine he's only a 10 index, that he'd ever need a mulligan or that an errant shot might land in a bunker, or worse, a lake. It is even more unfathomable that any business venture with which he is associated would be anything less than the best.   That's how he's wired.   Since returning to the college game from the Miami Dolphins a decade ago, Saban has won five national championships, including a recent come-from-behind win over Georgia in the 2018 title game in much the same way that Alexander laid waste to the Persians in the fourth century BC. Since the College Football Playoff was implemented for the 2014-15 season, his Crimson Tide teams are the only team to be included in the best-of-four series each year.     His six national championships, he won his first in the 2003-04 season at LSU, are matched only by fellow Alabama legend Bear Bryant. There was a time when it was inconceivable that any coach could be mentioned in the same breath as Bryant. Saban, however, has shown no signs of slowing down and, barring unforeseen circumstances, only a fool would bet against him eclipsing the legendary Bryant's mark - and ensuring Waterfall's success into the future.  

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