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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    The rain gauge at Shady Grove Golf Course had captured 3.75 inches during a raucous early morning thunderstorm Thursday that was as inconspicuous as a family of hungry raccoons ransacking a garbage can in the middle of the night.   By the time Shady Grove owner Scott Malloy arrived at the course Thursday morning, the gauge at the course in Findlay, Ohio might as well have read 3.75 feet.   The storm that caused flash flooding in area creeks and rendered many roads - and basements - impassable had several golf course operators in northwestern Ohio, many of whom already have been inundated with rain this summer, pleading for a mulligan as the Blanchard River blew past its 11-foot flood stage and flirted with record highs.   By dawn Thursday, the creek that bisects Shady Grove had spilled over its banks onto the golf course. When Malloy ventured out to assess the damage, what he saw was almost surreal.   The creek, which enters the course from north of U.S. 224 and meanders along Township Road 237 before eventually emptying into the Blanchard River south of State Road 568, flooded several fairways and formed an impromptu island green on No. 13.    "There were fish swimming past me on the golf course," Malloy said.   The flooding creek slowly receded throughout the day. By Friday, the course was open for walkers only, but the practice range will remain closed until it dries enough that balls don't plug and Malloy can mow it.   "Putt-putt's open," Malloy said with a chuckle on Thursday. "The good thing is I've had plenty of time to do paperwork. Payroll is already done for this week. Today was data-entry day."   Golf course operators typically welcome rain because it gives their irrigation system, and thus their bottom line, a breather. Shady Grove is among several courses in the area that have reached a point of diminishing returns with Mother Nature. Red Hawk Run and Findlay Country Club also experienced major flooding this week. A phone call Friday to Birch Run in North Baltimore yielded a voice mail message indicating the course was closed due to flooding.   So far this year, a total of 27.57 inches of precipitation have fallen in Findlay, including 6.19 inches in the first 14 days of July, according to the National Weather Service. Those figures, according to NWS, are well ahead of the respective historic averages of 18.5 inches for the first seven months of the year and 3.54 inches for all of July.   Minor flooding is a common occurrence at Findlay Country Club. But what happened this week was anything but minor.   According to Brian Heydinger, the club's new director of grounds, the club has taken on 11 inches of rain in the past 14 days, including 4.25 inches on Thursday alone. The course already was closed on Wednesday when the rising Blanchard River floodwaters had made the bridge on No. 18 impassable.   By Thursday, parts of Nos. 1, 8, 9 and 18 were under water, including the greens on 1, 8 and 18.   Although 14 holes at the course will be open for play while repairs are under way, the club has had to postpone an outing scheduled for Monday, and its club championship slated for this weekend has been delayed a week, said Chad Bain, the club's director of golf, membership and marketing.   Rescheduling play has been a regular occurrence this year, Bain said. The men's opening day was rescheduled twice and an outing that was to take place July 10 also was delayed.   "It's been a tough year," Bain said. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time we've had to reschedule something this year. In fact, it's been a year of schedule changes."  
    If the water is moving, (bentgrass) can probably tolerate three-four days (of flooding)."
     
    Debris cleanup will begin once floodwaters have receded, and Heydinger and his staff will aerate the affected areas Tuesday to promote air exchange in the soil profile. The Findlay Area Golf Association, which had events rained out Wednesday and Friday, is set to play its season-ending championship Wednesday at FCC, and Bain hopes it will go on as scheduled.   According to the National Weather Service forecast on Friday morning, the Blanchard was expected to crest at 16.4 feet late Friday and drop below the major flood stage level of 13.5 feet about 2 a.m. Sunday. It is not expected to drop below the 11-foot flood stage until Sunday night, according to the NWS. The river's record-high crest was 18.50 feet in 1913, which was slightly ahead of the mark of 18.47 feet that caused catastrophic flooding in August 2007.   The bentgrass greens at FCC should be able to withstand moving floodwater for a few days, says Zane Raudenbush, Ph.D., professor of turfgrass science at Ohio State Universitys Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster.   "If the water is moving, (bentgrass) can probably tolerate three-four days (of flooding), but they need to be prepared to get all the silt off the greens immediately with flat shovels," Raudenbush said via text. "If the water is stagnant and shallow, then it could potentially bake the greens in a few hours."   Red Hawk Run experienced what Anthony Brock, the club's manager, described as "severe flooding" Thursday on Nos. 4, 5, 12, 13 and 15 when the creek that runs through the property spilled over. By Friday, the water had receded and superintendent Ben Taylor and his crew had the course cleaned up and ready for play. Cart paths only, of course.   "Yesterday, the water was over the bridges," Brock said. "Today, if everyone stays on the cart paths, we should be OK, and we'll be open for play all weekend. We don't like to close if we don't have to.    "When people have free time and want to play golf, we do whatever we can to open up as soon as possible."
  • Giving customers a country club experience on a municipal golf budget requires a true team effort. For proof, just look at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Kentucky.   One of five courses in the city's robust portfolio, Kearney Hill has a brief history, but a deep legacy. Built in 1989 by Pete and P.B. Dye on 200 rolling acres in central Kentucky's bluegrass region, Kearney Hill is one of only nine courses throughout the state to be certified by Audubon International.    PGA Tour player Tim Clark won the 1997 US Amateur Public Links championship at Kearney Hill in 1997, and Mina Harigae, now playing the LPGA Tour, won the women's Publinks there 10 years later.   Ranked in the top 10 on the Golfweek list of best courses in Kentucky, it was home to the PGA Champions Tour's now-defunct Bank One Classic from 1990 to 1997, where past winners include names like Isao Aoki and Gary Player. Jim Dent's 62 in the 1992 event stood as the course record for nearly a decade.    Even though the pro circuit is gone, the course is a hit with locals - as well as those passing through town - to the tune of about 25,000 rounds per year, which is pretty good considering it is well off the beaten path in rural northern Fayette County. The views throughout the property are nothing like what anyone would associate with a $30-per-round golf course. Kearney Hill pro Justin Mullanix said much of Kearney Hill's renown is due to the work of superintendent Kent Dornbrock.  
    If you've been around this business enough, you know it's a thankless job. People think anyone can grow grass and that irrigation is just screwing a head onto a piece of pipe. There's a lot more to it than that. We're not just mowing the front lawn."
     
    "I would put this place up against a lot of country clubs that have much larger budgets than we do. A lot of that is on Kent. He shops for the best deals on chemicals and he uses his labor wisely," Mullanix said. "This is a special place.   "Thirty percent of our play comes from out of state, mostly from people in Canada, Michigan and Ohio. Some of that is people passing through on their way to Florida, but we've also gotten big in some golf packages. Kearney has become a stop for people from out of state."   The course is proof that city government and public golf not only can coexist, but can thrive. At the core of Kearney Hill's success is a team atmosphere created by Mullanix and Dornbrock.   "The big thing for us here is Kent and I are in each other's face every day, and I don't mean that in a bad way. We talk every day about what needs to be done, not only on his end, but my end as well," Mullanix said. "My assistant and I, we all go out and fix divots if we can. I'll even get on a mower: Whatever it takes to get customers coming back. To keep them coming back means doing all we can do, and that takes all of us. If I have to go to the maintenance shop and help, or if Kent has to come up here and answer phones when we are shorthanded, whatever it takes, that's what we do."   A former golf pro at a private Lexington-area club, Dornbrock, 54, realized more than two decades ago that he was more suited to work outside on the golf course rather than in the golf shop. So, at age 30, he went back to college at Eastern Kentucky University, where he studied turf management.   Part of providing that country club experience is a minimalist approach to turf management by Dornbrock, a 14-year veteran of city golf in Lexington, including the past five as superintendent at Kearney Hill. That philosophy fits in with the surrounding rural and rustic landscape. The property includes 60 acres of native area and what is believed to be a centuries-old family cemetery.   "We're trying to do the best we can to do the right things and take care of the planet and leave this place a little better each day," said superintendent Kent Dornbrock. "We don't inherit the planet from our parents; we borrow it from our children.    "I'm lucky that I have a bunch of guys working on the golf course who care as much as I do."   Wildlife, including geese, skunks and raccoons that are considered a nuisance elsewhere, are viewed as part of the landscape here.   "They're part of nature's plan," Dornbrock said. "Everything has a purpose."   Although he keeps spraying to a minimum, his greatest challenges are dollar spot and ants on the original Penncross greens, some tasks can be rather intense, like mowing the mounds and swales that have become a Dye trademark. That job falls mostly onto the shoulders of Rick Chapley, a retiree who has been operating an eight-wheel Ventrac for years.   "That's what it takes to mow them in a consistent way," Dornbrock said. "You can't just get a regular mower to do that. I've been on that thing, and even I don't like driving it where it needs to go.   "If you've been around this business enough, you know it's a thankless job. People think anyone can grow grass and that irrigation is just screwing a head onto a piece of pipe. There's a lot more to it than that. We're not just mowing the front lawn."   At Kearney Hill, everyone in the golf shop understands that.   "This is my second home. I care about this place, and I try to instill that in our employees as well," Mullanix said. "If you work here, you should be proud of it.    "If we can help Kent and his crew by doing things like putting down mulch around the clubhouse, we're going to do it. That way, they can concentrate on the golf course, because that is the product that is getting people here. It's a pretty good product. I have a biased opinion, but I think I'm correct."  
  • Paige Boyle has one of the best Twitter handles ever. Her ID @BoyledWorms isn't just humorous and clever, it also provides a glimpse into her graduate research at the University of Arkansas.
      Boyle, under the direction of Mike Richardson, Ph.D., is in the second year of a study that she hoped would yield information for golf course superintendents looking to minimize worm castings on golf course. But so far, preliminary data have provided more of glimpse into what Boyle believes are differences in adaptability and behavior between earthworm species.   Her hypothesis is simple.   "The goal of my research is to see if topdressing is a viable control option for earthworms, since they are a such a pest on golf course turfs and there are no pesticides labeled for use to control them," Boyle said.    "We were hoping to see if different rates of sand topdressing can help control earthworm activity, specifically surface casting. The idea behind it is the more sand you put out the more the earthworms would not want to be in that system because the sand is abrasive and they are soft-bodied organisms."   Boyle earned a bachelor's degree at Arkansas in environmental soil and water sciences. Her study on earthworms and topdressing combines her undergraduate work in soils with her graduate focus on turfgrass management.   Her study that includes 16 Patriot Bermudagrass plots at the university's research farm, includes two topdressing treatments - one-quarter inch once annually and one-quarter inch four times per year. Both treatments are applied to sand-based and native soil rootzones. She also is collecting worm samples from four golf courses in Arkansas and Oklahoma.   She had hoped to prove that the increasing presence of topdressing sand would irritate the soft-bodied worms and send them in search of a more friendly, less sandy environment.   "When I go to the golf courses to collect samples, the superintendents are so frustrated by earthworms," she said.    "I thought topdressing would move them farther down into the soil or move them off onto the collar."   With less than a half-year left in her study, the preliminary results have not been what she expected.   "Actually we're seeing the opposite results so far," Boyle said. "With the heavy topdressing, we're experiencing more worm casting -- counter to what we are expecting initially.   
    "With the heavy topdressing, we're experiencing more worm casting -- counter to what we are expecting initially..."
      "In the soil rootzone, there is less casting activity than in sand root zone regardless of topdressing treatment. It's been an interesting project, just not what we were expecting."   Although her final data might yield different findings, Boyle has a few theories on why her study is showing different results than what she expected.   There are more than 2,700 earthworm species known worldwide, according to the University of Illinois. Only a handful of those are found in the United States, and many of them are nonnative species brought here from other countries.   Those theories include varying population densities from one species to another depending on local soil conditions, varying levels of adaptability to sand abrasion between species or even a need for the earthworms to consume more organic matter to get full in a sandy environment, thus resulting in more castings.   She is collecting worm samples in hopes of studying their DNA to help round out her study and shed more light onto the behavior of worms. That includes boiling them and storing them in ethanol to preserve the integrity of their DNA. It also is what led to her Twitter handle.   "A lot of the ones that people are used to seeing, the big, dark red ones are actually European and Asian earthworm species," she said. "We think, but we don't know yet, is what we have are native earthworms and maybe they are more adapted to the temperatures we have here, or soil conditions. And maybe they are persisting in the system better than nonnatives. That's just a theory. We have to run the DNA."  
  • A longtime volunteer at the PGA Tours John Deere Classic died Friday from injuries sustained during preparations for the tournament at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.   Charles Austin, 68, was killed in an accident that occurred involving a utility vehicle, according to police reports. He had volunteered for the event for the past 27 years.   According to the Quad-City Times, Austin was driving a four-wheel-drive utility vehicle when the accident occurred.   "It is our belief that he was under the impression that the vehicle was in reverse when in fact it was in forward or drive," Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson told the Times. "When he hit the gas it lurched and went up under a parked refrigerated semitrailer."   Austin was pronounced dead at 12:50 p.m.    Silvis police were called to the maintenance area at 11:46 a.m. on July 7, according to reports.   According to police reports, officers arrived at the scene and helped volunteers try t revive Austin. An investigation is ongoing and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday.   "Chuck was a very special member of our volunteer force," said tournament director Clair Peterson. "On behalf of Chuck's 1,750 fellow volunteers, title sponsor John Deere, the tournament staff, the players, and the PGA Tour, I want to express our deepest sympathies to Chucks wife, Ann, and all of his loved ones."   Austin was a math teacher for 33 years in Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois, where he coached high school golf for 16 years. He was survived by a wife, two adult children and several grandchildren.
  • The maintenance facility at Medinah Country Club is so filled with messages of motivation and inspiration that it is not immediately obvious whether it is the hub of one of the country's most prestigious golf facilities, or if a wrong turn led to a Tony Robbins self-help seminar.
     
    The high expectations we place on ourselves are driven by a philosophy of continuous improvement." ... "Our goal is to be the best, without question." ... "Each one of us will take pride in our work and be held accountable to the highest degree."
     
    Motivation, inspiration and teaching all represent a big part of the job for Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS, who manages three golf courses and 90 employees at the nearly 100-year-old club just west of Chicago.   "Being a motivator is a key and integral part of our day-to-day operation," Tyrrell said. "I have all these talented superintendents and young managers, and I'm coaching and developing them. I teach them agronomy, teach them club politics, teach them organization and planning skills. And that all gets overwhelming when you have to deliver three championship golf courses at the same time you're trying to do all that."   Medinah's signature No. 3 course has been the site of six major championships, including the U.S. Open in 1949, 1975 and 1990, the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006 and the 2012 Ryder Cup Matches.   During Tyrrell's nearly decade-long tenure at Medinah, all three courses have been rebuilt with a cumulative cost of about $15 million.   "I love being out here. They're all my babies. I've rebuilt all of them, and I'm really proud of them," Tyrrell said. "This is an amazing property, and for the members to invest that kind of money and have that kind of confidence in me to lead that, that motivates me. That is a huge responsibility to deliver on."   Tyrrell, who is in his ninth year at Medinah, thrives in an atmosphere of controlled chaos that comes with running this three-course behemoth.   "I love the action," he said.   He learned multi-course management as a course superintendent from 1997-2000 at Desert Mountain under director of agronomy Shawn Emerson, who oversees the massive six-course operation in Scottsdale.    "Shawn used a lot of sports analogies. He talked about a team environment and coaching philosophy with everything he did," Tyrrell said. "He always called himself the 'Bobby Knight of golf course superintendents.' I loved that. Like Bobby Knight, Shawn might yell at you from time to time, but you learn a lot and appreciate him. I always told him 'if you're Bobby Knight, then I'm going to be Coach K (Mike Kryzewski). Coach K went on to win more games.' "   Emerson recognized Tyrrell's talent as a manager when the two first met in the 1990s. That was when Tyrrell, a 1996 graduate of Penn State's two-year turfgrass management program, was working at PGA West in La Quinta, California, then home to the PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic.   "I knew then he was special," Emerson said. "The Nicklaus private course in between superintendents, and he ran a PGA Club pro championship like he was a veteran."   He made enough of an impact that Emerson hired him as a superintendent.   "He was always a hard charger who wanted to have an impact," Emerson said.   Just like Emerson, Tyrrell now is in the role of teacher, coach and motivator. And he goes to such lengths in an effort to help his team be the best it can be, as well.   "They are my No. 1 motivation. I feel obligated and have a responsibility to be the best I can be for them, because they're here to learn from me and learn from Medinah. And I have to deliver on that," he said. "Absolutely, I have to be as good as I can be and make the best decisions for the club and for my team. They're here because they want to get that information and build their own careers."   It's not just talk coming from the Tony Robbins-esque maintenance shop. Tyrrell's team buys what he is selling. Interns who started their careers at Medinah often come back for more. Two of three course superintendents interned there as did three of the club's four assistant superintendents.  
    The excitement to me is to coordinate and manage and organize all of this and manage three courses at championship quality. I'm never bored."
     
    A second-generation superintendent, Dane Wilson knows a thing or two about successful greenkeepers. His father, Mark Wilson, was the host superintendent for the PGA Championship in 1996 and 2000 as well as the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.   "With the amount of people working here, more than anything this job is about communication," said Dane Wilson, a former Medinah intern in 2009 and superintendent of the No. 2 course since 2014.    "I didn't come back just to Medinah just because it was Medinah. I came back to work for Curtis."   Three courses, a 90-person crew and the demand to produce championship conditions daily makes for an excellent teaching and learning environment.   Each week, Tyrrell produces a laminated calendar for his managers that details everything that will take place on all three courses. Several pages in length, the calendar includes mowing heights for every part of each course, mowing frequency, topdressing schedules, spray programs, details and schedules for all ongoing projects and more.   There isn't room for anything other than being the best at a place with nearly 1,000 members and a long tradition of championship golf and championship conditions.    "The excitement to me is to coordinate and manage and organize all of this and manage three courses at championship quality," he said. "I'm never bored."
  • The upcoming International Turfgrass Research Conference is a one-stop shopping event for all things turf.
     
    Presented by the International Turfgrass Society, the event is held every four years. This years event will be the show's first return to the United States since 1993 and only its third appearance here since it was founded in 1969.
     
    Scheduled for July 16-21, the event will be hosted by Rutgers University and will feature keynote addresses on phytobiomes, sustainable water management, turfgrass breeding for climate change and sustainability, and climate impacts on crops and turfgrass. It is expected to draw more than 500 people from 26 countries.
     
    Presentations will include a variety of topics, including:
    > Conservation/Environmental Quality/Pesticide and Nutrient fate.
    > Diseases (Plant Pathology and Microbiology).
    > Biodiversity.
    > Establishment and Maintenance (Seed quality, establishment and overseeding/reseeding, irrigation, mowing etc.).
    > Genetics and Breeding/Biotechnology and Molecular Biology.
    > Information Technology/Education/Communications.
    > Insect and Nematode Pests.
    > Physiology, Stress Physiology and Ecology.
    > Soil Biology, Chemistry and Plant Nutrition.
    > Soil Physics and Rootzone Construction.
    > Weed Science.
     
    The program also will include technical field tours of New York City-area venues like Yankee Stadium, USGA headquarters and self-guided tours of research plots at Rutgers.
  • Mike Fidanza, Ph.D., professor of plant and soil sciences at Penn State Berks, recently was named a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy. No more than 0.3 percent of the society's active and emeritus members may achieve such an honor. 
      Fidanza teaches undergraduate courses in turfgrass science, soil science, botany and pesticide education for Penn State Berks, as well as a graduate course in turfgrass physiology for Penn State World Campus. He also advises undergraduate students in agricultural science majors.   His research involves turfgrass ecology, turfgrass integrated pest management with an emphasis on diseases and weeds, plant health and soil ecology, seed germination biology and ecology, evaluation of mushroom compost for agricultural crops and ornamental horticulture, the biology and management of fairy rings in turfgrass ecosystems, and teaching and learning technology.   At Penn State Berks, he has developed and serves as director of a 30-acre research and education facility, the Center for the Agricultural Sciences and a Sustainable Environment.   In addition, Fidanza has served as president of Northeastern Branch of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America since 2013.   ASA Fellow is the highest recognition bestowed by the American Society of Agronomy. Members of the society nominate colleagues based on their professional achievements and meritorious service.    Fidanza will be formally recognized at the ASA Awards Ceremony on Oct. 25, in Tampa.  
  • For Barenbrug USA, getting a new turf variety from the experimental stage to market is a long process that can take years. And for most of the company's seed varieties, that journey starts not at a university test plot in some far flung location, but on a privately owned 20-acre farm in central Kentucky.   For the past decade, Mike Harrell's Southeastern Turfgrass Research Center in Lexington has been an important test site for potential new seed varieties, herbicides, fungicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, overseeding trials, zoysia seedhead suppression, putting green firmness studies and more. Much more.   "The SETRC is our keystone location," said Barenbrug USA turf breeder Miles Barrett. "Of all the packets I pack up and send out throughout the year, about 70 percent of all the packets come through Lexington, Kentucky. So, it's here that my experimentals are screened in their first turf trials, and if they don't meet minimum quality standards, a lot of time that's the end of the line. So they really need to shine in Lexington to advance on to a secondary location. The pathway to NTEP goes through Lexington, Kentucky. Likewise, our European colleagues screen their experimentals here in Lexington at the SETRC."   For the past four years, Harrell has been sharing some of the results of his studies with vendors and dozens of golf course superintendents from throughout central Kentucky eager to stay on the turf industry's cutting edge. Attendance has grown from about 30 people four years ago to about 60 this year.   Clay Stewart, superintendent at nearby Idle Hour Country Club has been to all four of Harrell's field days.   "These are real-world applications. This is really tailored toward golf course maintenance," said Stewart, who grows 38 acres of creeping bentgrass and 80 acres of bluegrass/fescue rough. "I think with Miike being an independent researcher, he can follow the guidelines given to him by the vendors, and he can tailor all these things more to what we're going to see on a golf course.   "It's a huge help to us in the transition zone trying to grow cool season grass."   Among the trials on display during Harrell's field day was one on overseeding Bermudagrass with Kentucky bluegrass to combat winter damage in warm-season turf in the transition zone.  
    We're not employees of these companies, but we've worked for them longer than many of their employees have. Our goal is to be their employee of the month every month."
     
    A graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees, Harrell started his operation in Lexington a decade ago, shortly after completing his doctorate in 2005 at the University of Kentucky.   Since then, he gradually has earned the trust and recognition from vendors across the turf industry spectrum who seek unbiased research in a real-world setting and secrecy, at least until they are ready to share news about their products.    For Harrell, his research and field day are all about providing value to his clients who want information on their products, and a service to golf course superintendents in his native Lexington.   "We're not employees of these companies, but we've worked for them longer than many of their employees have. Our goal is to be their employee of the month every month," Harrell said.   "This isn't something I started overnight, and it's something I plan on doing for a long, long time," Harrell said.    The SETRC also has attracted a lot of attention from those who want data on potential new products not only before they have a label, but before they have a name.   "Any time we have a numbered compound, we have to enter into a confidentiality agreement so they don't share any information before we are ready to share that," said Kyle Miller, senior technical specialist with BASF. "At universities, it's a very long process to get them to approve that. Here, I send (the agreement) to him, he signs it and sends it back right away. The working relationship is much more seamless."   A few years ago, he teamed with former University of Missouri weed scientist Travis Teuton, Ph.D., who has a similar but smaller operation on his farm in Anthony, Florida. With Harrell coordinating all projects on both sites because he already has earned the trust and favored business partner status with so many vendors, the pair can offer clients the ability to test multiple products under a wide range of conditions.   "We can screen a lot of things earlier in the process here, and this allows us to do both warm-season and cool-season in different geographic areas ahead of time," said Alan Estes, research manager with PBI Gordon. "What we go to universities with a lot of time is a lot further down the line in the research."   Harrell would like to see the event grow in the years to come, but not too much. There is an air of southern hospitality and coziness to Harrell's field day, where the entire group tours each station together, not in shifts.   "The goal for me is to stay plugged in to what superintendents are dealing with and do trial work that relates directly to the issues they are dealing with," Harrell said.    "The golf side of the business is what I am interested in and what I want this to be about. If we could get to 100 people, then mission accomplished. I don't want to get bigger than that, then we get into capacity issues where we eat lunch and you lose the connection with the people you're talking to. This way, we can all walk around together and we don't have to split the group into different tours."
  • For nearly a century, golf at Medinah Country Club has been synonymous with a long, brutish golf course that has tested the world's best players and beat up the rest. Today, the Chicago-area club also is identified with a track that deemphasizes length in an attempt to help revive the game.   In mid-June, Medinah celebrated the grand reopening of its No. 2 course after a $3.5 million restoration by Rees Jones who relied on 1930 aerial imagery when widening fairways, removing trees (a lot of trees) and expanding greens (and in a few cases contracting them) to make the course look more like it did when Tom Bendelow built it in 1925.   More than 600 trees were removed to allow for expanding fairways by more than 60 percent, from 21 acres to 34 acres. As a result, fairways connect on some holes, with some separated only by bunker complexes.     "This was a true restoration," said Jones, who is credited with the first true classic era restoration of The Country Club at Brookline for the 1988 U.S. Open. "We used the old photos and brought the greens back to their original sizes by enlarging them and shrinking them.   "Restoration is a term that has been overused to sell projects, and people are not really restoring golf courses. But this was an opportunity to bring back a Bendelow design that was well thought out, because he was a Chicago native and he wasn't just 18 stakes on a Sunday afternoon. In many cases, he actually did a lot of the detail work on his designs, and Medinah was the beneficiary of that."  
    Our goal was to create a golf course that that challenged the good player, but embraced the developing player. Depending on the type of player you and where you are in your game, you play from a certain set and graduate back. As you get older, you graduate forward."
     
    The restoration also includes Medinah's Golf for Life tee system that was developed by the club's director of golf Marty de Angelo and is a derivation of the Longleaf Tee System. Developed through an alliance between the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation, the Longleaf system offers seven sets of color-coded tees based on a player's ability to drive the golf ball. The system was rolled out earlier this year at Longleaf Family & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. The course is owned by U.S. Kids Golf.   The Medinah version of the Longleaf system also features seven sets of tees on the newly restored No. 2 course that now plays from as few as 2,000 yards to as many as 6,412 depending upon a player's age and skill level.   "Our goal was to create a golf course that that challenged the good player, but embraced the developing player," said Curtis Tyrrell, Medinah's director of golf course operations.    "Depending on the type of player you and where you are in your game, you play from a certain set and graduate back. As you get older, you graduate forward."   For years, Medinah No. 3 has been synonymous with championship golf throughout the Chicago area and around the world. More than 7,600 yards in length, the Bendelow design has been the site of six major championships, including the U.S. Open in 1949, 1975 and 1990, the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006 and most recently the 2012 Ryder Cup Matches. But it is the club's No. 2 layout that could play a key role in helping save the game, says the architect who recently restored the track to its classic era look.   "When we restored No. 3 (2009), the objective was to keep it as one of the great courses in the world, which would preclude some beginners from enjoying playing there," said Jones.   "The objective on No. 2 was just to make sure every player in the club could have an enjoyable experience. No. 2 was built as the ladies' course and higher handicappers course. We added the Golf for Life tee program, which i think is going to save the game, because it's going to bring people in and keep them in the game. A lot of times, we take people to the practice tee and teach them how to hit the ball, then take them out onto the golf course and they're hitting their sixth shot into a par-4 green, and that's not going to keep them in the game. These tees allow you to have some sense of success and then move back as you get more proficient."   The restoration work also included in many cases false fronts on several of No. 2's greens that allow high handicappers, newcomers or even the accomplished player to putt rather than chip from in front of the green.   "It's not like No. 3 where you have to hit driver and 3-iron into every hole, and it's not tight like No. 1," said No. 2 superintendent Dane Wilson.   "Here you're going to use every club in your bag. Better players are always going to play shots the way they always do, but this style of green makes it more fun. If you're a high-handicapper you can eliminate the wedge from the fairway. If you're 30 yards out, just putt it."  
  • GCBAA launches new web site
      The Golf Course Builders Association of America recently launched a newly redesigned web site to improve the online experience for its members, clients and visitors.   The new site offers faster navigation, easier accessibility, smarter interface and other new features.  Created with the user experience in mind, the web site has been designed for improved compatibility with today's browsers and mobile devices.   The new site makes it easier for visitors to find builder members, and includes an interactive calendar, online forms, social media integration, enhanced member profiles and is compatible with mobile devices.   Rain Bird names new sales manager
      Rain Bird Golf recently named Andy Burns as its new district sales manager for Georgia and the Carolinas.    He will be responsible for working with Rain Bird Golf's distribution network in that region to further develop and enhance the company's current market presence. Rain Bird Golf added this new district sales manager position to increase distributor support and facilitate stronger partnerships with golf facilities.    Before joining Rain Bird Golf, Burns was a territory sales manager in Walterboro, South Carolina for 12 years. There, he focused on golf irrigation sales and project management in South Carolina and Georgia.   
    Georgia GCSA awards scholarships to nine students
      The Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association recently awarded scholarships to nine students through its legacy program. The scholarship offers educational aid to children and grandchildren of Georgia GCSA members. The awards are funded by the Georgia GCSA and sponsored by Jerry Pate Turf and Irrigation.   Applications were reviewed independently by the Georgia GCSA scholarship committee. Criteria for selection included: academic achievement, extracurricular and community involvement, leadership and outside employment. Students were required to submit two essays. One or more of the applicant's parents or grandparents must have been a Georgia GCSA member for five or more consecutive years and must be a currently active Georgia GCSA member in one of the following classifications: A, B, C, Retired A, Retired B or AA Life. Students must be enrolled full-time at an accredited institution for the next academic year.   This year's recipients were: Karli Durden (daughter of Joe Durden, Savannah Lakes Golf Village, McCormick, South Carolina); Joshua Abrams (Mark Abrams, Wolf Creek Golf Club, Atlanta); Austin Geter (Jimmy Geter, CGCS, AA Life); Hannah Kepple and Morgan Kepple (Ralph Kepple, CGCS, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta); Lydia Connally (Steve Connally, CGCS, Fox Creek/Legacy Golf Links, Alpharetta); Megan McCord (granddaughter of Ron Sinnock, AA Life);  Ashley Wilder (Gary Wilder, Club Corp, LaGrange); Tabitha Williams (Fred Williams, Apple Mountain Golf Club, Clarksville).
  • Once in awhile someone comes along with a message that really resonates. For some of us, though, some things take longer than others to stick.
     
    It was nearly 15 years ago when Henry DeLozier, then an executive with Pulte Homes' golf division, made a statement likening people who work in the golf industry to those who earn a living peddling narcotics. 
     
    OK, on the surface, that sounds like a pretty abrasive comparison, but context is everything.
     
    "People who work in the golf business are like drug dealers: We only sell it, we don't use it," he said. "We wear it like a badge; like we're proud that we don't play more."
     
    In 2004, the golf business still was chugging along, so DeLozier's comment did more to generate laughter than it did deep thought. In retrospect, it was prophetic. People in golf don't play enough golf. We didn't then, and we don't now.
     
    Although rounds played have nudged up the past two years, there were 60 million fewer rounds played in 2015 than in 2000; about 9 million fewer people are playing the game today than in 2002; and we're doing it on about 1,000 fewer courses than there were dotting the landscape in 2005. 
     
    Ask people who work in the business what they are most concerned about, and the answers are pretty consistent across the board: water, labor, budget and are there enough players to keep the game moving along and cash running through the register.
     
    Generally speaking, the last item can fix just about any problem facing the industry, except access to water.
     
    If everyone whose job is affected or influenced by the game of golf paid to play just five rounds every year at a daily fee facility, the results would be dramatic.
     
    There are superintendents, assistants, technicians and those who write about golf who don't play the game, or at least don't play as often as they should. When pressed on the matter, the objections are pretty similar to those expressed by the general consumer public: it takes too long, and it's too hard if you don't have a lot of time to devote to it.
     
    Playing golf on Saturday morning means time away from the family, and that's a problem for those who have children who have a seemingly endless choice of travel league sports of their own that demand our time on weekends.
     
    Phrases like "necessary market correction" became en vogue throughout the industry as course closures outpaced openings during the past decade. There is no question that, barring an influx of new players, more courses will close than open in coming years so the market can reach supply-demand equilibrium. That said, raise your hand if you want to be the next necessary market correction.
     
    Every course that closes is much more than just a piece of land that goes to seed or is converted to housing or retail. It's jobs that affect real people. It's one less course that will buy product. It's one less course to join a turf industry web site
     
    As an industry, what are those who work in golf doing to help themselves? The unscientific answer is: probably not enough.
     
    The one objection the public often cites as a barrier to playing more golf, but one that is not usually voiced by those in the golf industry is "it is too expensive." That's because many people in the golf world play for free. And playing for free doesn't really help anyone other than the person who is playing, not to mention there is a financial cost associated with playing golf, even free golf. Traffic, divots, ball marks and spike marks all hasten the threat of disease without the benefit of money coming in the door to help offset those costs.
     
    It's disingenuous to grouse about the state of affairs in the industry when we all hold the power to effect change at the grassroots level but we choose not to do it. This isn't a call for the end of free golf. Heaven forbid. But if everyone in the business coughed up a couple hundred dollars to play five more times each year, the cumulative results would be hundreds of thousands of rounds and millions in new revenue spread throughout the industry annually.
     
    Everyone can find that kind of time and that kind of money.
  • For the second consecutive year, TurfNet is providing a small-but-dedicated crew to help prepare for the Irish Open.   Four people with TurfNet connections will volunteer for superintendent Bernard Findlay at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, scheduled for July 6-9 at Portstewart Golf Club in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.   David Escobedo, golf course superintendent at Westbrook Village Golf Club in Peoria, Arizona, is being sponsored by membership donations from the members of his club. Westbrook is a 36-hole facility, and temperatures should be topping 100 degrees there when Escobedo is experiencing the milder climate in Ireland.    Marty Richardson is already in Ireland as the TurfNet/TOCA student intern. He will take a brief leave of absence from The Island Golf Club near Dublin to help work the Irish Open. Richardson already has major tournament experience at the 2016 Ryder Cup Matches at Hazeltine National Golf Club.   Dana Chase is a equipment manager from Glen Ellen Country Club in Millis, Massachusetts. He was on last year's TurfNet Irish Open trip and crewed for the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales. He said the focus this year should be on equipment maintenance rather than repairs, as was the case last year.    Rounding out the team will TurfNet's Jon Kiger, who will spearhead the 2017 TurfNet on Tour blog that will chronicle the group's activities on and off the course.   The TurfNet contingent will be part of a group that also includes volunteers from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland and the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association.   "This will not only be a huge help for us," Findlay told Greenkeeper International magazine, "but it also means members of the separate organizations, who don't often get the chance to mingle, will be able to come together to exchange ideas and build friendships."   The blog is which is sponsored by IVI Golf and Tru-Turf. Kiger will tackle bunker maintenance in the morning, divots throughout the day and debris cleanup in the evening.   "Most of the coverage of maintenance at tournaments in the U.S. focuses on the majors where there are literally hundreds of volunteers and dozens of full time staff," Kiger said. "While we understand and respect that those numbers are needed in many cases, the reality is in much of the rest of the world tournament conditions are delivered with a smaller combined crew. Our goal in going to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and hosting the blog is to have our members experience this smaller volunteer setting and understand where this event fits into the local superintendent community. We're also looking forward to making friends from around the world and seeing some of the top golfers play just a few weeks before the next major."    The TurfNet on Tour 2016 Irish Open blog won second place (to another TurfNet blog on Olympic Golf preparation) in the recent Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual communications contest.   
  • Tony Nunes dispels the stereotype of a typical golf course mechanic, so much so that the equipment manager at Chicago Golf Club might be due a new title.   "A lot of people who walk through that door understand his value," said Chicago Golf Club superintendent Scott Bordner.    "He is extremely diverse with his capabilities," said superintendent Scott Bordner. "If there is a fire (alarm) issue in the clubhouse, everyone calls Tony. If there is a leak in the clubhouse, everyone calls Tony. If we have an issue on the golf course, he's right there. He watches everyone come out of the shop every day and picks up on mistakes before they happen. He understands the entire operation, not just his position, and he pays attention to everything."   His is an attention to detail befitting a course billed as the oldest 18-hole layout in the country and one of the original five clubs that banded together to found the USGA.   On Wednesday, Nunes, 45, was honored for his willingness and drive to do anything and everything throughout the Chicago Golf Club operation when he was named the recipient of the 2017 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro.    He was chosen by a panel of judges from a field of three finalists that included Trent Manning of Ansley Golf Club in Atlanta, and Aaron Brown of Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina.  
    He understands the entire operation, not just his position, and he pays attention to everything."
     
    Nunes was the benefactor of a half-dozen nominations, including one from a CGC member.   "Tony has played a significant role in maintaining all of our facilities and structures at CGC," Immekus said in his nomination letter. "As one of the founding members of the USGA and the oldest 18-hole facility in the country, maintaining our operation is no small task."   A celebration in Nunes' honor was disguised as a congratulatory staff luncheon in the afterglow of a recent successful member-guest tournament. Not only was Nunes nominated by a member of CGC, a handful of other members sat in the shop with Bordner's crew on a hot, sweaty afternoon dining on hot dogs, hamburgers and bratwurst to show their appreciation for Nunes and the work he does.   "It was an honor to be remembered by all these people who took it upon themselves to write a letter or mention my name," Nunes said.    As the winner, Nunes received the Golden Wrench Award and a weeklong training session at 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.   Previous winners include (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.   Every nomination submitted on behalf of Nunes mentioned his preventive maintenance program that Bordner said is extremely important considering the short window of Chicago's golf season.   "Equipment is just like a car: the better you are at taking care of it, the longer it will last. Tony understands that," Bordner said. "He takes responsibility for the equipment, and he treats everything like it is own vehicle. He makes sure everything is done preventively to try to make sure when our short golf season is here that nothing breaks down."   By keeping everything running smoothly, Nunes is able to make sure that everyone on the crew is able to get on the course to do their job, which is providing the best playing conditions possible for the club's members.   "I don't just sit inside and do nothing every day," Nunes said. "I like to get out and drive the golf course every morning and look at the place. I take it to heart how the golf course looks, and I feel proud when the golf course looks good."  
  • If the world's best women players wanted to know in advance what awaits them at the next major championship of the season, they could have played the North Course at Olympia Fields on pretty much any day since it opened in the spring.   "To be honest, we really haven't changed too much on the golf course," said Sam MacKenzie, CGCS, director of grounds at the club in suburban Chicago. "They're going to playing it the way our members do every day."   A par 70 at nearly 7,400 yards, the North Course at Olympia Fields already is a grind for members throughout the playing season. MacKenzie and his 40-person crew have to keep it tournament ready every day anyway, so when the women's PGA (formerly the LPGA Championship) came calling, there wasn't much prep work to be done.   The biggest difference the women will see during this years KPMG Women's PGA Championship, scheduled for June 29-July 2, is a reversal of holes 2-8 and 10-18.   Holes 1 and 10 will remain the same. Holes 2 through 9 will become 11 through 18, and 11 through 18 will be 2 through 9. The change is mostly for logistics, not strategy, MacKenzie said.   "The finishing holes on our front nine are slightly stronger," MacKenzie said. "But we're mostly changing them because there is more room for bleachers and pavilions behind the finishing holes on our front nine."   For example, a grove of oak trees behind the North Course No. 18 would have to be removed to put bleachers there for the gallery. But that grove of trees has been there since the Willie Park Jr. design opened in 1924.   "We're happy with those trees the way they are," MacKenzie said. "They leave us enough light to grow grass on that green, and they've been here since the club was built. We don't want to take those out."   Olympia Fields has a long history of championship golf dating back to its early beginnings.   The site of two U.S. Open Championships and a pair of PGA Championships, the North Course opened with a bold statement in the early '20s.   In the first four years after the North Course opened, Walter Hagen won the 1925 PGA Championship and the 1927 Western Open, and Johnny Farrell beat Bobby Jones in a playoff to claim the 1928 U.S. Open.   When the Women's PGA Championship comes to town, LPGA No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn will try to do something even Hagen never accomplished - win a major championship on Olympia Fields' North and South Courses.   Jutanugarn, who has won six times in the past 13 months, including last week's Manulife LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Ontario, and last year's Women's British Open, won the 2011 U.S. Girls Junior Championship on Olympia Fields' South Course.   She and the rest of the field will find in the North Course, a beast of a layout that doesn't need to be tweaked or tricked up to be hard.   Fairways will be cut at .400, rought height will be down from 2015 when the U.S. Amateur was here and way down compared with what the USGA wanted for the 2003 U.S. Open on the North Course that was won by Jim Furyk.   "We'll be targeting green speeds of about 11.5 (on the Stimpmeter). That's what the PGA wants," MacKenzie said. "We might be able to go a little faster. But if they ask me to back off, I'm fine with that. It's easier to back off than go the other way. The USGA asked us to back off for the 2015, and that was OK with me. We gave them what they wanted, and the golf course held up. That's our goal this year."  
  • Every year since 2002, the TurfNet Superintendent's Best Friend Calendar has showcased 14 golf course dogs and their tireless contributions to golf courses across the country and around the world.   Nominate your canine friend for a place in the next TurfNet Superintendent's Best Friend Calendar, presented for 2018 by Syngenta.   Some tips to improve your chances of winning: > Shoot at your camera's highest resolution setting. > Images should be taken in a horizontal format; we can't use vertical photos. > Get down to the dog's level; don't shoot down at them from a standing position. > Fill the frame with the dog as much as possible, but try not to center your dog in the frame. Left or right orientation often can result in a more dramatic photograph. > Avoid clutter and distracting backgrounds. > A scenic course background is fine as long as the dog is featured prominently. > All dogs must belong to the course or to a course employee and spend significant time there. Submit your best photo; multiple entries are discouraged.   A panel of judges will select the 14 dogs for the calendar, including the cover and December 2017. To nominate your dog, use our online submission form. Be sure to include the dog's name, age and breed; photographer's name; owner's name, phone number, email address; and the name of the golf course where the owner and dog both work. Email John Reitman for more information. Deadline for nominations is July 31.  
  • At age 59, John Cook might be among the last people anyone would expect to see cruising down the fairway, standing on a GolfBoard and music blaring from his golf bag. But the former PGA Tour player and current member of the Champions Tour is a forward thinker when it comes to golf. So, on June 6, when he had a chance to play Red Hawk Run, the course in Findlay, Ohio that he and his father bought last December, that's where Cook could be found, surfing the front nine - along with Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top.    A member of the broadcast team at the Golf Channel, Cook had just spent the previous week in the Columbus suburb of Dublin working the Memorial. The trip back to his native Ohio gave Cook, who played his college golf at Ohio State, a chance to catch up with family and play for the first time the course his father, Jim Cook, had been managing for four years before they decided to buy it.    As an owner-operator of Red Hawk Run and Cooks Creek near Columbus, Cook recognizes where the GolfBoard and other out-of-the-box ideas fit in today's golf model where players of nearly every demographic are fleeing the game and mom-and-pop operations are closing to make way for strip malls and apartments. The industry has lost (net) more than 1,100 golf courses and 8 million players in the last 15 years.   "The GolfBoard appeals to kids who skateboard, or surf or wakeboard. Now, we're starting to connect different sports together," Cook said. "We're coming up with innovative ways to grow the game."   Many in the golf business failed to recognize a need to change, failing to notice the world changing before its collective eyes. Video games forced many a kid into a near-permanent location on the couch. And those who did venture outside were choosing travel sports, like soccer, baseball and volleyball over golf, while their parents went along for the ride - literally.  
    Golf became stagnant. It was always the same with no breaks - 18 holes and a cart. Not everyone has five hours to spend on the golf course."
     
    Golf provided three options to this changing world: nine holes, 18 holes or a windmill through which one could only putt.   "Golf became stagnant. It was always the same with no breaks - 18 holes and a cart. Not everyone has five hours to spend on the golf course. But just about everyone has two hours. People are coming up with 12-hole-golf and six-hole golf. Give people a GolfBoard and let them play a few holes in an hour at a cut rate."   Cook's Columbus-area golf course has four GolfBoards, which are in high demand. Joe Jiamechello, the local GolfBoard rep, was on this day, too, as the Cooks negotiate a deal for Red Hawk.   "If they're all taken, or one of them is broken down and under repair, people get upset," Jim Cook said. "They're new, and people want to ride them."   The Cook family has a long history of growing the game - or at least trying to - long before it became a necessity across an industry with a history of being resistant to change. John Cook's sister, Cathy Cook, is a pioneer in the First Tee program and developed Ohio's first chapter nearly 25 years ago at Cooks Creek. She also was a key figure in writing the curriculum that today is used to teach life skills to more than 5 million children at 1,200 golf facilities around the world.   Both were on hand at Red Hawk to teach a clinic that attracted about two-dozen players from elementary school high school.     "Junior golf was good to us growing up in Ohio and Southern California. It was a big part of our lives and it's what we did in the summer growing up," Cook said.    "To have programs that get kids out and about and active rather than indoors and inactive is important, and golf is a game you can play for a lifetime. You don't have to be great at golf to enjoy it. You have to be exposed to it in the right way. Cathy has helped grow the game for thousands of kids. She teaches them something they can enjoy for the rest of their lives. It's all about growing the game and teaching kids life skills."   The Cook family started the First Tee of Hancock County in 2015 as part of the larger First Tee of Lake Erie. Today, the Red Hawk chapter includes nearly 220 members, up from the 150 or so who started with the program three years ago.   "Sports is the greatest classroom for life," Cathy Cook said. "No one ever perfects any of it. I think bowling is the only one you can perfect, even then no one can do it all the time. And that is what is so important about this, sports helps kids make difficult decision under pressure and under control."   The program also is a way to introduce kids who years ago might have gotten their start in the game as a caddie.   "That's the way I learned the game," John Cook said. "I had to caddie before I was able to get full golf privileges at a club where my father was a member. I had to take tests to earn yellow cards, green cards and blue cards. I had to get a blue card before I could play by myself, and I never questioned it. That's how golf was then.   "Golf was big, but it became so saturated with product: 'Here's the course, now go play.' There was no competition for business. Now, you have to offer more amenities, better service and a better experience. We get that. We know what works and what doesn't. At the end of the day, people will say they had a great day, or they didn't, and here's why. That's what we bring to the table. And we're opening programs that promote the game to kids and gets their families involved. If we give them the experience and the tools to play, it can only help grow the game. It's a start."  
    - Note: Part III in a series of business-development issues affecting the golf industry

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