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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    When Liam Doherty, an assistant in training, nominated Kevin Seibel for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, he described him as an excellent teacher and mentor to his staff. A deeper look into Seibel's resume reveals a pedigree that explains his outlook on education and professional development.   Seibel, 45, has been superintendent at Century Golf Club in Harrison, New York for 14 years, and surviving the Met for that long alone should qualify for some sort of award. The time he spent on the job before joining this Westchester County club prepared him for almost anything and everything. He spent time working at Pine Valley while studying at Rutgers, and worked for Paul B. Latshaw, Greg Armstrong and Matt Shaffer all at Merion Golf Club.   "We're in the heart of the met. Expectations are high, and there is a lot of competition," Seibel said. "There are great courses and superintendents all around you in Westchester County."   That learning period early in Seibel's career was an amazing opportunity to grown, and he's tried to share what he learned then with his own assistants and crew.   "Early on in my career, I was allowed to do my own thing and make mistakes and learn from them. And that was a good experience for me," Seibel said.     "I guess I'm not afraid to let them make mistakes, within reason. If there is anything they are too nervous to do the first time by themselves, I stay with them and help with it. It's just grass. We can fix that."   For his expertise as a greenkeeper, personnel manager and educator, Seibel has been named a finalist for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   "Kevin has provided one of the greatest educational experiences a 20-year-old could ask for in the turf industry," Doherty said. "As a superintendent, he takes the time to engage with his staff in their lives inside and outside of work, showing a true compassion for those that compassion for the industry. Kevin never hesitates to tell you exactly why you are doing a greens application, why one pin position is better than another on certain days.   "But it is also more than teaching to him. It is like each of his assistants and interns are his favorite football team, the Eagles. He roots for you, he wants you to make decisions, he wants you to become a successful superintendent no matter what it is you want that success to be."   His expertise as a teacher comes in handy during projects, like an ongoing restoration of this 1927 Harry Colt-Charles Alison design near New York City.   The project, Seibel declined to call it a restoration, includes an aggressive tree-management plan.    The first nine holes of the Keith Foster-led project were completed after Labor Day 2016. The other nine will be completed after the 2017 golf season. Trees were removed before the first half of the project began.   "In 14 years, we've been taking a few trees here and there. We've been selectively taking them out where it was not noticeable," Seibel said. Anything around the greens that affects the turf, we've always had the green light to take those down. It's just evolved. So many other clubs in the area have gone on tree-removal plans and been successful. Keith came in and sold the members on it. He really sells it. He only does two to three projects a year, so each one is high on the priority list. If you hire him, that expertise comes with the territory."   Expertise comes with the territory when hiring Seibel, as well.   "The industry is really changing. There are fewer young people involved and going to turf school," Seibel said. "If we don't keep them in the fold and engages, they will go elsewhere.   "I like to develop my own assistants. I feel like I know the correct distance to keep so they can make mistakes but still be under some guidance from me. I tell them my door is always open. In fact, I need for them to ask me questions. That way, I know they are thinking about what they are doing and thinking about the process."  
  • The word complex does not begin to describe Dick Gray.   A superintendent for parts of the past six decades, Gray is immensely proud of his profession. He has known Pete Dye almost since the day he got started in the 1960s and counts the renowned architect among his personal friends. He also is humble when he thinks about his place in the industry. The director of agronomy at the mammoth, 54-hole PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Gray's business card simply reads "greenkeeper."   Given the choice between a day on the golf course with his crew and a chance to do anything anywhere, Gray will, more often than not, choose the golf course, and he's likely to bring pizza for his staff to boot.   During the past quarter century, perhaps no one has made a larger footprint on the South Florida golf scene than Dick Gray. He has been superintendent at some of the top private clubs on Florida's Treasure Coast that includes Martin and St. Lucie counties, and he is the architect of record on a highly regarded daily fee layout near Stuart, Florida. Today, the 73-year-old still is going strong while he oversees daily maintenance at the PGA of America's largest property that includes courses designed by Dye, Tom Fazio and Jim Fazio, the Jim Fazio-designed St. Lucie Trail course and a massive, 35-acre learning center.   When he learned he was nominated for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, the Gray asked "What are the criteria, age?" After he was told he had been named a finalist for the award, his hinted at declining the honor, stating: "I'm sure the guy who finished seventh is just as deserving."   "Ever since joining PGA Golf Club, superintendent Dick Gray has been instrumental to the growth and success of the flagship facility of the PGA of America," wrote Andy DeKeuster of Buffalo Communications, who nominated Gray for the award after visiting the property during the Dye Course restoration in 2016.   When Gray arrived in Port St. Lucie after several years selling biological soil amendments to superintendents, conditions at the property were not up PGA of America standards. Greens showed wide patches of dead turf and broadleaf weed infestation was a problem everywhere.   He oversaw a restoration of the Wanamaker Course in 2015, the Dye Course in 2016 and the Ryder Course will be redone this year. Although interest in golf has been on the wane for more than a decade, golfers have taken note of the work.   "Under Gray's direction, the club's iconic Dye Course underwent a complete re-grassing and renovation," DeKeuster said. "The end result is nothing short of spectacular, not surprising given the success of a similar re-grassing project Gray directed the previous year on the resort's Wanamaker Course.   "As a result of his unwavering attention to detail, leadership, encouragement and education of fellow grounds crew, conditions at the south Florida resort have never been better, leading to a 10.5 percent increase in membership and an all-time high in members satisfaction."   Shortly before the reopening of the Dye Course, Hurricane Matthew grazed Florida's east coast on Oct. 7, a day before making actual landfall in South Carolina. Matthew uprooted trees throughout the PGA Village complex, caused power outages all along the coast. Gray, who has worked along Florida's coast for more than 25 years at Loblolly Pines in Hobe Sound, Jupiter Hills in Tequesta and Sailfish Point, an oceanfront property on the end of a peninsula in Stuart, has hurricane-preparedness down cold.   "Thanks to a quick response, plenty of preparation and cool head, the course renovation kept on schedule and opened on time," DeKeuster said. "A very impressive feat given Matthew's impact along the East Coast."   Throughout his career that started at Crooked Stick in Indiana decades ago and includes designing the Florida Club in Stuart, Florida, Gray has recognized he only is as good as the people who work on his crew. To that end, he is fiercely loyal to them and takes their contributions to his success very seriously. At a property with dozens of people on his crew, including immigrants and guest workers, Gray knows every one of his employees by name. When he encounters them while riding the course, he stops, calls them by name and checks on the status of whatever project they are working on that day.   While touring the property with Gray to study the Dye renovation, DeKeuster saw firsthand Gray's dedication to his crew.   "He called each by name, thanking them, having fun with them, constantly reminding me that they are the real magicians," he said. "It felt like family out there more than a bunch of co-workers. It was amazing."    
  • Brian Green probably would be right at home in Las Vegas. After all, he's been playing against a loaded deck at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State University for nearly five years - and winning all the while.   As other golf courses throughout North Carolina continue to make the shift toward ultradwarf Bermudagrass putting greens, Lonnie Poole is sticking with bentgrass, and likely will do so into the foreseeable future.   Standing in the way of any talk of a conversion is timing.   Lonnie Poole opened in 2009 at the height of the economic bust and just as contraction in the golf industry was getting into full swing. At that time, most if not all courses in the Raleigh-Durham area still were growing bentgrass, but many soon made the switch. Today, closing a public golf course that still is less than 10 years old for an entire season to grow in Bermudagrass greens is not economically feasible - even in the face of near-record summer heat.   "Not many golf courses in the area then had ultradwarf. There were still questions about it," superintendent Brian Green said. "We're so new, it would be hard to pull the trigger.   "Doing that would mean about $500,000 in lost revenue. That makes it tough."   Turns out, there is no reason to pull the trigger anyway as Green has proven to be a master of managing bentgrass even in the hot Carolina summers.   For the manner in which he is able to manage bentgrass in the summer in the transition zone, as well as implement sustainable management practices, and manage a modest budget and labor force, Green has been named a finalist for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   "Managing bentgrass in summer is a challenge in the transition zone. The hallmark of Brian's approach to bentgrass management is proactive decision making," said Dan Adams, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor at North Carolina State and Green's director supervisor. "He closely monitors current and long-range weather forecasts and adjusts mowing height and frequency, cultivation practices, and water management ahead of heat stress periods."   For example, last year was in the top five for all-time hottest summers on record in the Raleigh area, with daytime highs above 90 and overnight lows topping 70 for virtually all of July and August. That made for an incredibly challenging environment for growing bentgrass. To prevent all-out turfgrass failure, Poole closed the course for an eight-day stretch to give the turf a much-needed break.   "It was to keep traffic off the course and let the greens recover," Green said. "I came in that Monday and while walking the course I could see the pin placements from the weekend. I knew if we didn't do something it was going to be catastrophic turf loss."   Green also was nominated for his sustainability efforts at Lonnie Poole, which he directed to Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status shortly after it opened.    When Green noticed localized dry spots on greens, he mapped the root zone of all greens throughout the course and learned that the depth of root zone mix was inconsistent throughout the course. By adopting use of moisture meters he was able to get water where it was needed most and limit it where it was not needed. The results included more consistent putting conditions and annual water savings of 55 percent, or 3 million gallons.   He has been equally proactive as a manager of people. Green has developed a scheduling system that ensures that he or one of his two assistants are on hand at the golf course every day. That's important on a golf course that utilizes cheap student labor throughout the academic year.   "When have to rely on student labor, they're not as experienced as others," Green said. "This system bridges the gap in that experience level."  
  • To hear golfers at municipal Longshore Golf Course tell it, Michael Golden might have made a good magician in another life. After all, it was quite a trick to bring the course in Westport, Connecticut, back from the dead.
      Years of neglect at this municipal course in Westport, Connecticut, resulted in fairways that displayed more dirt than turf, unplayable rough and a subsurface layer of organic matter right smack in the rootzone of Longshore's putting greens.   The course is home to the annual Chappa Golf Tournament, which is billed as the country's largest high school tournament, attracting nearly 100 teams. Conditions were bad enough at Longshore that the city decided to get out of the golf maintenance business altogether and call in professional help. Enter Golden (and Valleycrest) who turned fairway dirt into a fast and firm playing surface, and dying greens into some of Connecticut's best putting greens.   "Michael took over maintenance of our course three years ago," said Longshore member Richard Donoghue. "Our greens were essentially dead, the fairways and teeing grounds were terrible. Under the same skimpy municipal budget he has transformed the grounds. The greens are as good as the private courses in our area. The fairways have been dramatically improved and the tee boxes provide a comfortable stance. We are all amazed by the transformation."   For his ability to bring back Longshore like a cat with nine nine lives, Golden was named a finalist for the 2016 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Among the factors contributing to problems at Longshore were a series of freeze-thaw-freeze cycles resulting in two consecutive years of dead greens in 2012-2013.    Playing conditions had become so bad at Longshore that some players left to find greener pastures elsewhere. Even after the first year of the recovery process, turf was still thin.   Year after year of dead turf on the greens caused a layer of organic matter that rested just 3-4 inches below the surface.    "The dead and decaying matter was just sitting there, and the roots were getting caught up in that layer," Golden said. "We had to get the roots past 1 inch where they were stuck at. That has been the main focus."   Said Longshore member Mike Durkin: "They smelled like rotten eggs."   Getting the greens back meant breaking up that layer as much as possible. Golden put into place a program of hitting the greens with needle tines on a weekly basis, deep tining several times per year and tons and tons of topdressing.   Valleycrest merged with Brickman Sports Turf in 2014 to form a turf and landscape management company known as BrightView, and the city, as well as Longshore golfers, have been nothing but pleased with the new direction the company has taken the golf course. BrightView even uses it as its East Coast model for trying to attract new business, said Durkin.   "He would bring core samples from the greens to our golf advisory committee, allowing us to see the effects of years of neglect and improper aeration techniques," said Longshore member Gary Solomon. "This has led to the approval and installation of proper drainage systems under our greens and purchase of a deep-tine rake to allow for bi-annual deep tine aeration which will allow for proper root growth for each individual "plant".   To see Longshore before and after Golden started work there, it is difficult to comprehend how far it has come in the past few years.   "Not only has Mike provided us with an excellent golf experience, he has also provided the membership with continuous education with regards to the needs of a golf course and has helped us make important decisions to ensure course excellence in the future," Solomon said.   "While restoring the course and greens, Mike has still been able to provide us with true and fast greens, particularly on tournament and club championship weekend when he has been able to bring green speeds up to U.S. Open standards rarely seen on a public course. Mike and his crew have been seen out before sunrise double-cutting, rolling and sanding each green, creating challenging course conditions worthy of a club championship."
  • Cedar Rapids Country Club is not unlike a lot of classic-era golf courses. So many share a history that includes a long line of members, chairmen, architects and superintendents who wanted to put their own stamp on the course approving an equally lengthy list of disparate and disconnected changes over a period of years and years. Eventually, the result is a golf course that barely resembles the one put in the ground by the original architect.
      When Dutch Elm disease ripped through the Midwest in the 1970s, folks at Cedar Rapids compensated for the loss with a tree-planting spree. Hundreds of new trees, combined with years of other design changes and greens that had shrunk over time produced a course that was a Donald Ross design in name only.   When Cedar Rapids didn't have the money for a full-blown renovation to restore the course to what Ross intended when he completely redesigned the Tom Bendelow layout in 1915, superintendent Tom Feller supervised a multi-year, in-house rebuild that saved the Iowa club about 75 percent of what the project would have cost if completed by outside help.   "We redid every tee box, removed the old cart paths, widened fairways, took the greens back out to their original pad," Feller said.   "We put in all new bunkers. Bunkers either were eliminated, shifted, moved, removed or added."   For his work at giving Cedar Rapids members their course back for pennies on the dollar, Feller has been named one of six finalists for the 2016 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   "We shared the fate of many Golden Age pre-Depression era courses. Tree management had been pushed to the back burner. Our once expansive and asymmetrical putting surfaces had succumbed to rounding and shrinkage from efficient circular mowing patterns inherent with triplex riding greens mowers. Additionally, a number of our putting surfaces had been suffocated by years of significant tree overgrowth," wrote Cedar Rapids green chairman Vaughn Halyard in a letter nominating Feller for the award.   "Over the course of our three-year restoration, Tom and his crew delivered a meticulous expansion and reclamation of roughly 17,000 square feet of putting surface. The reconstruction of the putting surface complexes for Nos. 6, 15 and 16 elevated those putting surfaces and bunkers out of the floodplain and added an additional 5,500 square feet . . . ."   Feller began communicating to the club's membership the merits of a master plan and a large-scale restoration almost since the day he arrived at Cedar Rapids 16 years ago, but economics always seemed to get in the way.   "I was hired in 2002 to return the course to a classic Ross golf course," Feller said. "We brought in architects, but the plans never went anywhere. We continued to manage course with no direction, and I pushed for master plan so I could quit coming and asking for everything in meetings."   Finally, the plan gained traction a few years ago, and architect Ron Prichard was brought on board to give his views on a master plan and put together his thoughts for the restoration.   The project included rebuilding greens, blowing up the bunkers and starting from scratch, and thanks to some quick thinking by Feller, a tree-management plan to remove many of the trees that had been planted some 40 years ago.   Feller hired an arborist to inventory and "grade" all the trees on the course, a move that helped convince members that many trees - an estimated 2,500-3,000 of them - needed to go.   Holes 1, 4 and 10 near the clubhouse were the first to be completed in 2014, followed by the rest of the front nine in 2015 and the back nine last year.   In-house work by Feller and his crew, which ranges from six to 20 depending on the time of year, was critical to getting the project approved and completed.   The cost of the project was about $700,000. Others in the industry have told Feller the cost would have been around $3 million if he'd hired outside help.   "If would had thrown out a $3million bid," he said, "this never would have went anywhere."   Prior to the restoration, Cedar Rapids had 26 bunkers. Today, thanks to Prichard and his knowledge of Ross architecture, the course has 59.   "His philosophy was to put bunkers in areas where they fit," Feller said. "If there was a depression, he'd say 'Ross would have put a bunker there.' He put them where he thought they fit."

  • Learning curve

    By John Reitman, in News,

    One superintendent's trusted standby tool for completing a job is another's new-fangled gadget that takes a lot of getting used to.
      For years, superintendents through much of the country have been leaning on flurprimidol, the active ingredient in Cutless, to control growth and seeding of annual bluegrass in creeping bentgrass putting greens. Many of their colleagues in California, where the chemistry only has been OK'd for sale for the past two years, are still getting acclimated to it.   Austin Daniells at Monterey Pines, a U.S. Navy golf course in Monterey, has been using Cutless since it was approved in 2014. He says he's still tinkering with full rates, half rates and using it in combination with various nutritional products to help promote the bentgrass.   "I think I've probably been the most aggressive with it in this area, but I had a good stand of bentgrass to start with," he said.    "The Poa can't fight off the bentgrass. The bentgrass just comes right up through the middle of it. I never saw that before."   Producing a naturally healthy stand of bentgrass helps Daniells save elsewhere, including on fungicide applications. That's a bonus for a modest golf course that is surrounded by some of the country's most renowned layouts.   "If I can manage the bentgrass and limit my fungicide use, I'm going to do that," Daniells said. "(Bentgrass) is a better surface to play on than a mixed stand.   "My Poa troubles are mine personally. Golfers here aren't like Oh my gosh!. There's Poa out here.' They're paying 20 to 30 bucks to play golf. They just want to play golf."   About 60 miles north of Monterey Pines in Los Gatos, Kevin Breen also has been working with flurprimidol to control Poa annua at La Rinconada Country Club.   He has used other PGRs to help manage Poa in the past, but began using flurprimidol as soon as it was approved for use in California.   As with any herbicide, Breen said it is important to be accurate when estimating the percentage of Poa in the A4/T1 greens at La Rinconada, which is just south of San Jose.   "You have to be conservative. You don't want to underestimate how much Poa you have, because it has a real strong effect," Breen said.    To that end, Breen has been taking it slow, primarily with the half rate. That program hasn't eliminated any Poa, but it has helped him manage it.   "I'm using the half-rate, trying slowly to convert so I'm not compromising playing conditions," Breen said. "I haven't gone high enough to kill it, and I don't know if I could anyway. It's like the Freddie Krueger of grass: Just when you think it's dead, you turn around and there it is again. It just keeps coming back."

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Standard Golf names new sales manager
      Standard Golf has named Lind Hunemuller as its national sales manager.   Hunemuller, who has been with the company since 2011, will replace Steve Tyler, who will be retiring. Tyler will continue to serve the company as a sales consultant.   Hunemuller previous worked in sales with Texas-based BSN Sports before joining Standard Golf.     Georgia GCSA honors award winners
      Courtney Young, CGCS at Ansley Golf Club was named the Georgia GCSA Superintendent of the Year.   Young, who has been at the 36-hole club since its Settindown Creek course opened in 1988, received the award at the association's annual banquet on Dec. 12. He was just one of several superintendents honored during the event.   Billy Fuller and the late George Kozelnicky were inducted in the Georgia GCSA Hall of Fame. Fuller is a former superintendent at Augusta National Golf Club and now principal of his own golf course design firm. He also is the inventor of Better Billy Bunkers.   Kozelnicky was a professor at the University of Georgia and Georgia GCSA executive secretary for more than 20 years. He is a member of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and a recipient of GCSAA's Distinguished Service Award.   Also receiving awards during the event were Anthony Williams, CGCS, formerly of Stone Mountain Golf Club, who received the chapter's Distinguished Service Award, Philip Soukup of The Landings Club, who won the Assistant Superintendent of the Year award; Aaron Saunders from Jekyll Island Golf Resort on Jekyll Island received the Environmental Leader in Golf Award; L.J. Robinson from Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta won the Golden Pen Award for the best superintendent written article of the year for his piece Drones Give Superintendents Their Own Eye In The Sky.   In other news, Wally Gresham from Sunset Hills Country Club in Carrollton was elected to the chapter's board of directors.   Anuvia reaches deal with Andersons
      Anuvia Plant Nutrients will be a distributor of GreenTRX 16-1-2-17S-3Fe, a plant-nutrient product produced by The Andersons.   Anuvia's sales team in Florida will be representing Anuvia in the Florida golf, sports turf and lawn and landscape markets.   Anuvia began commercial production earlier this year at its new facility in Zellwood, Florida. The company's processing system uses organic materials to create enhanced efficiency plant nutrient products.
  • There hasn't been much in the way of rainfall throughout much of California the past few years, but there are dark clouds on the horizon, just not the kind golf course superintendents have been hoping for.   Looming challenges like escalating labor and health care costs, along with the all-too-familiar hurdles associated with years of drought are presenting obstacles that are largely unique to golf course operators in California.   Other states have faced prolonged drought, and operators throughout the country will have to deal with increased health care costs thanks to, oddly enough, legislation known as the Affordable Care Act. But few, if any, places across the country are faced with all three of these challenges - at the same time.   "I feel like there is a storm coming in golf in California," said Justin Mandon, superintendent at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz.    "It starts with the water, which has been on everyone's mind the last five years, and it's at the forefront of what we have all been struggling with and we will continue to struggle with. It's not going away."   Although state-imposed restrictions on urban water use implemented in June 2015 were lifted in May, drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, still persist across much of the state prompting officials in Sacramento to leave it up to the California's 408 water districts to develop their own conservation plans.   The outcome is predictable as water purveyors are passing their losses - as usage statewide decreases - onto their customers. Even challenges like the ongoing water crisis can bring opportunities.   "The escalating cost of water has changed the landscape in California for ever, and I think it's for the better," said Kevin Breen, superintendent at La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, a well-to-do Silicon Valley community southwest of San Jose. "Just about every golf course out here has reduced the amount of acreage of irrigated turf to native areas, and I don't see anyone going back. The price per unit of water is just so high."   Labor costs are equally concerning. The statewide minimum wage stands at $10 per hour, will rise to $10.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2017. It will jump to $11 on Jan. 1, 2018 and again to $15 by 2022. The hourly rate also affects the state's minimum salary for exempt employees, which is twice the minimum wage, so when one goes up, so does the other.   "You can take labor and healthcare, and say all businesses have to deal with that in California, but you add the water, and that is the kicker," Mandon said.   "I don't know how revenue is going to keep up with expenses, so what do you do? For a lot of facilities, it's just going to become too overwhelming."   Factor in the cost of living in California, and some are wondering how they will make ends meet without making drastic changes to their respective operations.   "It's hard to find people, and I don't know if it's going to get any better in finding them or being able to pay them," Breen said.   "One of three things can happen: Golfer expectations will have to go down, they will have to start paying more to play or they'll have to pay for workers and take it on the chin."   Years of unrealistic expansion have left the golf business vulnerable, and by now, most have accepted that culling the weakest properties from the supply is, barring an unexpected rise in the game's popularity, a necessity. There has been a net loss of nearly 1,000 courses nationwide in the past decade, according to the National Golf Foundation, and self-correction will continue until the market reaches equilibrium between supply and demand.   "At least in California, it's going to continue to shake out after many years of growth," said Craig Kessler, director of government affairs for the Southern California Golf Association. "We're just scratching the surface of things that ail the golf industry in California. It is going to be a challenge going forward on all fronts."   Kessler, who has written volumes on the relationship between drought and golf in California, remembers all too clearly the game's glory days in his state, when labor, like land, was cheap, or at least stable, the environmental regulatory culture was less stringent and water ran like manna from heaven.   "The golf industry underwent incredible growth in an era when water and energy were cheap and plentiful, and infrastructure was new," Kessler said.    "Land costed much less, and groundwater was unregulated. You could stick a straw in the ground with impunity and with no regard for your neighbor and pump out what you wanted."   Those days are a memory, and, like Breen in Northern California, Kessler says that's not a bad thing.   In Southern California, where water often is in greater supply than it is in the northern tier of the state, many courses jumped on cash-for-grass programs that paid golf courses for each square foot of managed turf converted to unirrigated native area.   That program along with years of voluntary and mandated cutbacks have changed the look of golf throughout Southern California. And in a state widely known for environmental activism, many players have embraced the change.   "There has been a radical transformation in the look of golf in Southern California, and it's being led by well-heeled private clubs," Kessler said. "They're taking turf out of irrigation and changing overseeding practices. It's a different look and a different feel.   "There has been a race to 'my club looks more like a Mediterranean climate than yours.' It's a good signal to the rest of the industry."   Cash for grass hasn't caught on to that extent in Northern California, but converting managed turf to native plants certainly has. So has the search for cheaper sources of water.   At Pasatiempo, the cost of potable water from Santa Cruz has skyrocketed, including a 40 percent rate hike in October.    Pasatiempo soon will be getting most of its water through a new recycled system that is due to go online in mid 2017. The club paid neighboring Scotts Valley up front for a guaranteed 35 million gallons of recycled water per year for 30 years. It will go into effect once construction is complete on infrastructure, including a massive underground storage tank.   That project, which was overwhelmingly approved by Pasatiempo's membership, had been discussed for about a decade. The drought and the long-term damage it could mean for Pasatiempo finally helped sell city and water officials on its merit.    "When you start talking about jobs with city council and people in the community, I think that's when you start to get some reaction," Mandon said. "This is a historic golf course that has been in Santa Cruz for 85 years and employs over 100 people. There aren't too many businesses here that have been around that long and employ that many people."   With nearly 900 golf courses, California, like most places is overbuilt, said Ted Horton, a retired superintendent and consultant who founded the state's chapter of the golf course owners association. Properties that haven't prepared for the future, like Pasatiempo has, will be hard pressed to meet the mounting challenges, he said.   "Golf did not do itself any favors during the era when it allowed the real estate industry to totally control the development of golf," Horton said.    "Then the golf courses, when the houses are built, are sold for pennies on the dollar, and they put the mom and pop courses that you and I and everyone loves to learn to play on, out of business.    "Golf has has gone through two world wars and survived them. I'm sure it's going to get through this crisis and survive this, also."
  • Who says "municipal" golf can't work?

      In the ultimate holiday week vacation mix up, TurfNet's Jon Kiger landed in, of all places, Cuba. We're pretty sure his side trip was more about seeking robust cigars and some pretty good baseball more than it was about gaining political asylum in a communist regime. While there, he stumbled upon what turns out to be Cuba's only 18-hole golf course. Who knew?   Owned by the Cuban government's Ministry of Tourism, Varadero Golf Club is located on a peninsula in north-central Cuba, about 90 miles east of Havana and about 150 miles southeast of Key West, Florida. The head greenkeeper was absent during this visit, but GM Jose Tovar Pineda was happy to fill in to tour the property and proved to be quite knowledgeable on all things agronomy, discussing everything from pest and disease pressure to turf management challenges associated with local weather conditions .   Green fees at Varadero run about 80 Cuban pesos, which translates to about 100 bucks American. So with an average salary equivalent to about $25 per month, not many Cuban nationals are teeing it up at Varadero. A clientele comprised largely of Canadian snowbirds, as well as some Western Europeans, play upwards of 35,000 rounds per year there.    The only other course Pineda knew of on the island was a nine-hole facility in Havana, but said more - many more - are on the way as Cuba looks to cash in a growing global tourism market. He said at least 13 new construction projects soon will begin with future plans to include almost twice that number.   Sound familiar?  

    We didn't have greens, we had sand. . . . We fought with the golfers, 18 temporary greens is not a golf course."
     
    "One day, we will have 20-25 golf courses on the whole country. That will be an open door to attract a different quality of tourists," Pineda said in a heavy Cuban accent.   "(That will) give the opportunity of new jobs of Cuban peoples (and) open opportunities to increase tourism and quality of life for Cuban peoples. That is our point of view."   The property has a rich history. The land on which the course is located was owned nearly 100 years ago by Irene DuPont de Nemours of THAT DuPont family. The golf course, which originally was built in the 1930s, has had an up-and-down history that coincides with the ferocity of passing hurricanes.   Today's version of Varadero underwent a renovation from 1996-99 that was led by Canadian architect Les Furber. Greens were regrassed in 2010-11 with Seaspray paspalum after greenkeeper Amaro Aramis faced some of the same offseason issues as his colleagues in the southern United States who were growing Bermudagrass. Cooler temperatures combined with high winds and salty ocean air proved to be a disastrous combination for the Bermuda.   Because of the decades-long trade embargo imposed by the United States, finding anything for the golf course can be a challenge, but Aramis was able to secure enough Seaspray seed from a supplier in the Dominican Republic for the project. He opened temporary greens throughout the course, which was unpopular with golfers since they had nowhere else to play."   "We didn't have greens, we had sand," Pineda said.   "We fought with the golfers, 18 temporary greens is not a golf course."   Mowers and equipment, most of which are Toro and John Deere and all of which are used, come largely through Canada, as do parts and a fleet of refurbished Club Car vehicles. And although Varadero is on an island by itself, it's not isolated from help when it needs it.   U.S.-based turf researchers, including Clint Waltz, Ph.D., of the University of Georgia, and Auburn's Beth Guertal, Ph.D., are, on occasion, called upon for help. Aramis also stays on top of what is new in the industry through research projects under way at Cuba's Experiment Station - Indio Hatuey. Auburn also has entered research agreements with its Cuban counterparts to further support turfgrass research and education in Cuba.   "They have excellent mechanical equipment," said Beth Guertal, Ph.D., professor of crop, soil and environmental science at Auburn University. "And I'm amazed at how well they keep it all running, given their shortages of parts and supplies."   Among the other challenges there, according to Pineda, include "lombrices," which translates to earthworms (thank you, Google Translate).   With a crew of 30, Varadero appears to have better luck in attracting and retaining help than many of its U.S. counterparts. The course is a bit rustic, but the few Canadian golfers Kiger spoke with said they loved the place. Not bad for Cuba's vision of municipal golf, though we are not advocating a communist takeover of the U.S. golf economy.    The same conditions that drive golf in the U.S. also are important to people who play Varadero.   "Well, we're here two weeks not, and we're probably going to have seven rounds or more," said Nelu Toma, a Canadian tourist from Brampton, Ontario. "We have been here four or five years, and we love this course. I love the greens, they're usually in great condition."
  • It's not easy to get excited about nematodes, but Syngenta is ready to get superintendents jazzed about eliminating them with a host of events scheduled around the launch of the company's new nematicide, Divanem, at the upcoming Golf Industry Show.   Also during GIS, Syngenta will roll out its new GreenCast Turf App, a mobile tool that will be available for Apple and Android devices, that helps users keep records to simplify tasks such as tank mixing and allows users to generate a tank-filling plan that can be shared with their teams.   Opening night
    Syngenta will help GCSAA honor Paul R. Latshaw, recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award, as well as Environmental Leaders in Golf Award winners during the opening ceremony, scheduled for 5:15-6:45 p.m. on Feb. 7 in the Valencia Ballroom of the Orange County Convention Center with a reception to follow from 7-8:30 p.m. at Harry's Poolside at Rosen Centre.   Divanem nematicide launch
    Stop by the Syngenta booth (#2618) to learn more about Divanem, a nematicide that delivers excellent turf quality through proven, broad-spectrum control of nematodes on all turf types found on golf course tees, greens and fairways. Check out the nematicide trial plot at Orange County National Golf Center in nearby Winter Garden during the GCSAA Golf Championship.   Answers on the Hour
    While on the tradeshow floor, learn more about Divanem at 11 a.m. on Feb. 8 at booth #609 during a 30-45 minute discussion led by Lane Tredway, Ph.D., from Syngenta and Billy Crow, Ph.D., from the University of Florida.   Test your turf knowledge
    Syngenta booth #2618 Attendees can test their turf knowledge by playing the Syngenta in-booth trivia challenge. Syngenta will donate $10 to the Wee One Foundation for the first 500 people who play, and the top scorer each day will win a YETI Hopper 30 cooler. Everyone who plays will be entered for a chance to win one of 10 random drawings for a YETI Rambler tumbler.   Health in Action 5K sponsored by Heritage Action
    Begins at 6 a.m., Feb. 9 at the Hyatt Regency. Register online and all registration proceeds will benefit the EIFG. Tweet to #TurfInAction.   GCSAA certification luncheon
    Syngenta and the GCSAA will recognize the Class of 2016's newly Certified Golf Course Superintendents as well as those celebrating 25- and 40-year anniversaries at a luncheon from 12:30-2 p.m., Feb. 8 at a location to be determined.   TurfNet Superintendent of the Year
    Last but certainly not least, Syngenta and TurfNet will announce the winner of this year's Superintendent of the Year Award at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 at the Syngenta booth (#2618). The award recognizes the accomplishments of an outstanding golf course superintendent nominated by his or her peers. Pictured on home page are past winners Chad Mark (2013), Paul Carter (2011), Anthony Williams (2009) and Fred Gehrisch (2014).  
  • Each time he is invited to speak on someone else's turf, Jim Kerns, Ph.D., makes it a point not to be what he calls a "seagull pathologist."   "That's someone who flies in, makes a lot of noise and leaves a lot of crap," said Kerns, a turfgrass pathologist at North Carolina State University, during this year's Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference. "And I don't want (Ohio State pathologist Joe) Rimelspach to have to go clean it up."   When he was asked to speak on a hot-button topic like "the influence of fungicides on turf health," Kerns decided, thankfully, to simplify matters, changing his presentation to a more general "maximizing turf health." Besides, as Kerns noted, a lot more than just fungicide is required to produce a healthy turfgrass plant.   Weather, cultural practices, mowing heights and drainage all play an important role in growing and maintaining healthy turf.   "For a pathologist, I still get that geeked out moment when I walk up and everything is dead," Kerns said. "The fun part is the challenge of helping you to fix that.   "The things that kill turf fastest are soil, you and Mother Nature. Disease is a distant fourth. It's not that they're not a problem, but we have to keep in mind that sometimes fungicides are not going to help us."   For 60 minutes, Kerns provided some quick tips that when used in concert with the right fungicides, can help maximize turf health. And much of the hour was spent discussing sand.   "Any time I make a site visit, I pull a plug and hope to see the crown buried in sand a quarter-inch below the mow line," Kerns said. "That's an indication of a good topdressing program."   Although some superintendents are able to topdress throughout the summer, many, at least in North Carolina, cease in late summer. That is a mistake, Kerns says, especially when there is no overnight break from extremely hot summer conditions.   "You can topdress all summer long, and it's not going to have an adverse affect," he said. "Yes, you might have to skip that 100-degree day, but you don't have to stop, because conditions can go backwards very quickly when you get those really warm days and warm nights."   He suggests light and frequent topdressing every two to four weeks.   "I think this is the most important thing we can do to make sure our fungicide program works well," he said. "We are helping water infiltrate the system and it keeps it away from the crown. You will see a vast difference if you commit to a program like this now. In the summer, you'll see things you've never seen before.   "The guys in North Carolina who do this rarely see me."   His claims are supported by anthracnose research conducted at Rutgers University that showed light topdressing brushed in every 14 to 28 days not only helped prevent disease, but also modified the thatch layer, helped provide a smoother putting surface, protects the crown of the plant and provides additional protection through the winter months.   Since the groundbreaking work at places like Michigan State and Tennessee on the benefits of lightweight rolling, it's no secret that rolling more and mowing less can help promote healthier turf. Kerns said superintendents doing that should also consider slightly rising the height of cut. The effect on ball-roll speed will be minimal, he said, but the difference in turf quality will be significant.  
    For a pathologist, I still get that geeked out moment when I walk up and everything is dead," Kerns said. "The fun part is the challenge of helping you to fix that."
     
    "Slight increases in mowing height could be the difference between a fungicide program working, or not," he said.    "You might lose some ball-roll speed, but what you make up for in plant health is worth it when you consider (putting on) dirt is really fast."   Because of the inconsistencies achieved when setting mowing heights, Kerns said he never leaves home without a prism gauge, and suggested superintendents do the same.   "Mowing is the single biggest stress we place on turf," said Kerns, who had extension data to back up his statement. "I spend 80 percent of my time with you guys in golf, and the other 20 percent with sports, sod and homeowners. Why is that? Mowing height."   Just as important are limiting shade cover, especially on warm-season turf and slight increases in nitrogen.   "There was a time when we were applying 6 to 7 pounds of N per year," Kerns said.    "I'm noy asking you to go up a pound, or two, or three or four. There is 10 to 12 years of research that shows if N rates were between .125 and 1.25 per 1,00 square feet per month per year, it had no effect on ball roll. What I'm asking is if you are at a tenth of a pound per week or every two weeks, they go up to an eighth. You're not going to see a dramatic decline in ball, but you're going to see a dramatic improvement to combat disease."   He also suggests using a growing degrees day model, like the one developed by Nebraska's Bill Kreuser, Ph.D., to track plant growth regulator applications.   Likewise, the benefits of aerification, whether it involves pulling a core or not, cannot be overstated.   "The more you can pull cores, the better you'll be," he said. "Pathogens thrive when soil becomes anaerobic."   Those who come from Roch Gaussoin's school of solid tining without pulling cores also can achieve great benefits, Kerns said.    That can include cooling the soil by allowing air in.   "If you punch holes every few weeks, it's like an apple a day: It will keep the doctor away," Kerns said. "It's not that labor intensive when you think of the difference vs. core aerification, and you're going to reap the dividends because you're going to keep that soil temperature down more than somebody who isn't doing it."   If, after trying all of this, turf still is under stress, Kerns said don't cut corners when it comes to sending samples to the lab.   "Our diagnostics lab usually receives about 500 samples a year. This year, we're at about 660 to 670, and the year's not over yet," Kerns said. "And 53 to 60 percent of what we see is not disease.   "If you want us to be accurate, submit and give us the most information you can. That's the key thing with making a diagnosis; it's an art."    
  • The marriage of Monsanto and Bayer AG took a step closer to becoming reality on Tuesday when shareholders of St. Louis-based Monsanto approved the latter's takeover bid. Under terms of the $66 billion deal, which is expected to close in late 2017, Monsanto shareholders will receive $128 per share. The deal still must pass regulatory review.   "This is an important milestone as we work to combine our two complementary companies and deliver on our shared vision for the future of agriculture," said Hugh Grant, Monsanto chairman and chief executive officer. "By bringing together our expertise and our resources to drive this shared vision, we can do even more together to benefit growers around the world and to help address broad global challenges like climate change and food scarcity."   Getting to this point hasn't been automatic.   A deal was reached in September, but that came four months after Monsanto shareholders rejected a similar proposal in May.   "The acquisition of Monsanto is driven by our strong belief that this combination can help address the growing challenges facing farmers and the overall agriculture industry today and in the future," said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG.   The buyout follows other similar deals, including a $130 billion merger between Dow and DuPont and a $43 billion buyout of Syngenta by the China National Chemical Corp.   Monsanto has long been considered a coup for any chemical company in a takeover bid because of its presence in the ag seed market. Monsanto is the world's largest seed producer and a leader in genetically modified foods and seeds. Bayer AG, whose subsidiaries include Bayer Environmental Science, makes a host of products for the healthcare, agriculture and chemical industries.   Once the deal is completed, the combined agriculture business, according to Bayer, will have its global Seeds and Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, its global Crop Protection and overall Crop Science headquarters in Monheim, Germany, as well as its presence in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.  
  • The game of golf and its global image has a lot riding on the honesty and integrity of the mayor of a city in a Third World country.
      That's a long shot, even by Vegas standards.   The looming question, at least in golf circles, prior to and during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil was what was to become of the Olympic golf course after the games were over. Privatize it, play on it, plow it under were the three main options. More on that in just a bit, because those choices might seem minor compared with the latest political fallout related to the Olympic golf course.   Last Friday, a judge in Brazil ordered that the assets of Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes be frozen while authorities investigate allegations that he waived environmental fees required for building the course in the country's coastal wetlands.   According to records, developers should have paid impact fees equal to about $1 million for building the course in a coastal nature reserve. Paes, according to records, waived those fees to speed up construction of the course, which came in at $20 million.   Problems associated with the Olympic course only begin with environmental fees. Play has been slow, and the future of the course remains in doubt. Progolf, the company chosen to maintain the course, said it needs $80,000 per month just for upkeep. Problem is, that group hasn't been paid since the Olympics concluded.   The 2016 Olympics have been wrought with controversy. The games were largely unpopular with many in Brazil. The world's fifth-largest country by population, Brazil also is one of the poorest countries in the world and has the largest concentration of rural poverty in Latin America.   Many thought the billions used to stage the Olympics, including $20 million to build the golf course, could have been used to improve the lives of the people of Brazil.   Paes said developers have been charged for all the necessary fees for construction of the golf course. They just have not paid them, he has said. Let's hope he's right.   Sidestepping impact fees to expedite construction of a golf course in an environmentally sensitive area is in direct conflict with the standards established by those who build and maintain golf courses, including owners, architects, builders, contractors and superintendents.   Ignoring the law and compromising wetlands at a high-profile project like the Olympic golf course gives every naysayer of golf one more rock to throw; one more opportunity to say "I told you so" in defense of their argument that golf is bad for the environment.   The judge, hoping to collect some of the funds, decided to freeze Paes' assets after it was learned the mayor, whose term ends this year, would be leaving the country in 2017 for a temporary teaching assignment at Columbia University in New York.   Alleged shenanigans surrounding construction of the Olympic golf course are not the first time such indiscretions have arisen in Brazil. In fact, they're not even the only misdeeds currently under investigation there. In November, police arrested another public official after he was charged with overbilling on construction contracts for projects associated with the 2014 FIFA World Cup, also held in Brazil    Competition that brings together the world's best players in any sport is a good thing, but the price cannot be fraud and graft by politicians that will overshadow these events for years.   Let's hope this Third World politician is telling the truth, but I wouldn't bet on it, and if you would, then I have some waterfront property for sale . . . in Brazil.  
  • Bearing the weight of the world does not sound like a pleasant experience, but as director of agronomy at Oakland Hills Country Club, Steve Cook has felt the sensation in the figurative sense on many occasions. As a seasoned mountain climber, Cook wanted to feel that pressure in the literal sense as well. As it turns out, he'll never know that feeling, and that's OK, too.   Cook spent three years preparing the mountain climber's trip of a lifetime - ascending the Himalayan peak of Ama Dablam in Nepal. Located just a dozen miles from Mount Everest, Ama Dablam has a summit of 22,349 feet.   At that elevation, the air is thin and it takes days in camp at a lower elevation just to get acclimated to what lies ahead.   "At 22,000 feet it is going to feel like someone is standing on your chest," Cook said last year while preparing for the trip that occurred over a three-week span in October and November 2015.   Three weeks into the trip, his group, which included two other climbers, a guide and three sherpas, cut the climb short some 2,000 feet from the summit due to unsafe conditions.    Organizing another Himalayan excursion to satisfy his quest for the thrill is no easy task. Finding the motivation to train for such a trip again has been an even harder challenge for the 57-year-old Cook, who says the only climbing he's done since Ama Dablam is off the couch to get to the refrigerator.   "I never thought I'd say it, but when I got back, I'd lost the adrenaline," said Cook, a speaker at this year's Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show. "I could never find the energy."   That's understandable after knowing the emotional commitment it took to prepare for the climb.   "I recognize the commitment necessary to make that trip is so intense, and I've not found that commitment again," he said. "It's just not something you take on lightly. First, it's super dangerous; second, everyone else is dependent on your fitness level and commitment level. You don't want to get anyone else hurt, much less yourself. As I look back, I was thinking about the trip every second of every day for a year-and-a-half. I would get up at a quarter-to-four to go to work, work out my meals for the day, work on training for the day, leave work early, work out in the afternoon, get home, eat, shower, set up my meals for the next day, get up in the morning and do it all over again. If it was an off day, I'd spend all day looking at my gear, buying gear or switching out gear, trying different things. I spent four to five hours a day doing something to get ready for that trip, and I'd spend every waking moment thinking about it. I'm just not there now. I'm not in that space. I know what it took to do it successfully, to be a safe member of the team, to be physically fit to do it, and I don't have the motivation to put in that commitment again."   Cook says he does not miss climbing. If he does, he's not letting on.    "I like a quote by the Dalai Lama: 'We must learn to let go of the things that are not meant for us.' I'm not sure (climbing) is meant for me, at least not now and maybe not anymore, and that's OK."   What he misses is another avenue for staying active and fit.   Climbing, and the requisite workouts that come with such an endeavor, were as much about creating a release for on-the-job stress as they were about getting to the top of a Himalayan peak. The problem is he hasn't found the motivation for a replacement activity, and that's not OK, says Cook . . . and his doctor.   "I found that when I climb, there is no time in my head to be thinking about anything other than where I am putting my hands and my feet, so it is total and complete focus on what I am doing. It's clarifying for me, and I was able to take that back to work," Cook said. "It gave me the confidence to solve problems at work. I've discovered that a lot of things on the golf course aren't that big a deal after I've had my ass hanging out over the side of a mountain at 20,000 feet.  
    We must learn to let go of the things that are not meant for us. I'm not sure (climbing) is meant for me, at least not now and maybe not anymore, and that's OK."
     
    "Climbing has allowed me to travel and see some stuff, and it's kept me fit. That's probably the biggest down side. I'm genetically disposed to high cholesterol, but I've always kept it below the borderline of medication through physical fitness. My doctor, prior to the trip, used me as his shining star for patients in their 50s and how physical activity can keep you away from meds. After my last physical three months ago, my cholesterol was off the chart, and I'm not my doctor's poster boy any more.   "I'm not a huge drinker, so to give up alcohol for a year-and-a-half (for the climb) was easy. Through the course of the summer, I'd have a drink every day. I'd come home from work and have a gin and tonic, which I like, and I'd eat anything that was in the kitchen, pizza, whatever. I paid no attention at all to my diet, I know that is taking place of what I gave up."   In the first few months after the climb, Cook put on 30 pounds, which he felt immediately on his slender 6-foot-1 frame. He's started working out some to at least manage his weight. What he lacks is a reason to work out.   "I'm missing the motivation to be physically fit. I'm not a guy who can go to a gym and stand on a Stairmaster for an hour. That's torture for me," he said. I'm better if I have a goal, and I have to figure out what that is."   That's a far cry from the flurry of activity that dominated Cook's life before heading to Nepal.   Before taking on Ama Dablam, Cook spent years hiking, trekking and climbing rock and icy faces, eventually graduating to U.S. summits like Mount Rainier in Washington and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. None of that could quite prepare him for the Himalayas.   He learned after climbing Mount Rainier at age 50 that there are no short cuts in mountain climbing. That's true whether it's a 14,000-foot summit in Washington or a 22,000-foot climb in Nepal.   "Mount Rainier in 2009 was my first climb. I remember because it was my 50th birthday to climb that," Cook said. "I'd been trekking and hiking for years, and I knew if I was to go higher I'd have to learn to climb.   "(Mount Rainier) was a bridge too far for me then. I was probably not qualified to do that climb, but I decided to do it. It gave me an appreciation for the effort and commitment it took to do something like that. I'd missed two or three steps getting ready for that. They can drag anybody up the mountain, which is essentially what they did with me at the time. It made me take a step back to get better prepared for the next climb."   In preparation for an extreme climb on Ama Dablam, Cook camped out in his yard in sub-zero weather in anticipation of weeks of extreme cold that lie ahead. He practiced working with his gear in a pitch-dark basement until he knew every square inch of every piece like the back of his hand, and he even learned how to go to the bathroom while wearing what is perhaps a climber's most essential equipment - gloves.    "A guide told me to make sure you work in the winter on going outside and peeing with all your clothes on and my harness on and my gloves. Otherwise, you'll pee in your pants," said Cook. "You can't unzip at 20,000 feet and take everything off to pee.   "Last winter, on the coldest night of the year at 17 below (zero), I went out and set up my tent at midnight, put my gear on and was moving around in the tent with all my gear on, getting in and out of the sleeping bag with all my gear on and moving in cold weather and seeing where do you put your water bottle, where do you put your pee bottle, because in a tent you're peeing in a bottle, you're not going outside on the side of a mountain. At night I'd go down in basement, turn all the lights off, put all my gear on and work with stuff in total darkness. Can I tie a knot in total darkness? Can I put gear on in total darkness? When packing food in all of my pockets, what does it take to get food out of my pockets with my gloves on? How does that all work? Every bit of energy you use to take your backpack off are calories you are going to need to finish that climb. It was really important in all this training to go through that."   Clearly, life at 20,000 feet and above is an experience that is not for everyone. Cook never figured that would include him, but he's learning to live with it.   While on Ama Dablam, Cook's trek to the top stopped dead in his tracks while navigating a section of the mountain called the Grey Tower. The group encountered a rocky chute that typically is covered in snow that holds loose rocks in place. With no snowpack, rocks were coming loose and falling below as the guide climbed ahead searching for a safe route.   "It's typically snow-packed, but there was not a lot of snow in the chute, and there was a lot of rock fall. The sun was hitting the soil and warming it up, rocks were coming loose and falling down that chute," said Cook, who was speaking this week at the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show in Columbus. "The guide was not comfortable moving us through it, so we turned around at about 20,000 feet. You could look up and see the summit. It was right there, so that was disappointing, but we got home safely."   He later learned that a Chinese expedition coming up the mountain decided to attempt to ascend the Grey Tower when one of the climbers was struck by falling rock and broke an arm. When even a minor injury like that occurs, it's trip over for everyone in the climber's party. The emphasis changes from summiting the peak to getting the injured down the mountain to safety.   "I could hear the sherpa next to me saying 'mountain bad mood; mountain bad mood,' " Cook said. "I wouldn't consider a broken arm a serious injury. If you suffer a serious injury, there is no rescue at 20,000 feet."   Return climbs to Washington and Wyoming, his wife, Robin, suggested, would require far less training would still allow Cook to stay active while he preps for the easier climbs. But after climbing a mountain in the Himalayas, anything short of that would be like choosing meatloaf over filet mignon.   "The views were just beautiful. I can't put it into words," he said.   "I'm sure I'll climb or trek or backpack again, or do something, but it's a big undertaking. Maybe for someone who's 27 it's not such a big thing, but I'm 57. My feet hurt, my knees hurt. When I try to pick up the training intensity, I'm now icing my knees.   "Maybe biking is my next thing. I don't know. I have to find something to fill that void."  
  • In an effort to streamline its golf turf operations, Textron is integrating Jacobsen into its Augusta, Georgia-based specialized vehicles division. As part of that transition, the mower manufacturer will move next year from its current base in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Augusta, where it will be closer to sister company E-Z-GO.    During the migration, Jacobsen will move into a repurposed Procter and Gamble facility located on 240 acres about a mile from the E-Z-GO campus. The 80,000-square-foot facility allows Jacobsen to plan the space in the most efficient way possible.   The move, which is planned for next year, will be done in phases. Fabrication will make the move first. Parts and service will move last. During that time, Jacobsen branch locations will be on standby for any parts that are needed during the move, ensuring the process is a seamless one for customers and demonstrating Textron's commitment to the Jacobsen brand.   Besides combining Textrons specialized vehicle division into a single location, other advantages include collaboration between E-Z-GO, Cushman and Jacobsen brands.   To that end, the new plant will allow Jacobsen to simplify its manufacturing process, going from nine assembly lines in Charlotte to three flexible lines in Augusta that will be able to adjust quickly adjust to accommodate different product lines.    Jacobsen has been operating in Charlotte since 2001, when the company moved from its former home in Racine, Wisconsin.
  • Years of work by turfgrass researchers on behalf of golf course superintendents managing some of the country's most revered courses finally has come to fruition.   Recently, the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association published its Best Management Practices for Carolinas Golf Courses, a nearly 300-page text that provides a turf management blueprint for hundreds of superintendents in North Carolina and South Carolina. The publication was co-authored by researchers from Clemson University and North Carolina State University.   "We are extremely proud of this manual and what it stands for," says new Carolinas GCSA president Adam Charles of The Preserve at Verdae in Greenville, South Carolina. "It is an excellent reference tool for superintendents, but just as importantly it clearly demonstrates just how committed we are to the environmental and economic sustainability of the game. The two go hand in hand."   "They will see from their very first glance just how seriously we take our responsibilities, not just to our facility but to the surrounding community," Charles said. "The vast majority of superintendents are already conversant with the contents of the manual. It will serve as an excellent reference for them. But it will be an eye-opener for many others I'm sure."   The collaborative efforts of authors Bert McCarty, Ph.D., of Clemson and Jim Kerns, Ph.D., of North Carolina State are reflective of an industry-wide spirit in the region, said Bill Kennedy CGCS at Chechessee Creek Club in Okatie, South Carolina, and a past chapter president.   "For the professors at these two institutions to work so closely together on this is a tribute to their professionalism and their commitment to the work we do," Kennedy said. "We see that spirit play out all the time whether it's from our industry partners on the sales and service side or amongst our members helping each other out as they did with the recent hurricane. It's something very special."    The cost of the project was offset by funds raised through the Rounds 4 Research program that generates funds by selling donated tee times online. Manuals were delivered in November to superintendents and their assistants throughout both states.  
     

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