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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Who knew there was so much overlap between golf and local politics?   As a former superintendent and the owner of Innovative Drain Technologies, a company that specializes in fixing drainage issues on golf courses, Jim Hill works to maintain the integrity of putting greens and bunkers by keeping perforated pipe free of muck and debris that impedes the flow of water through the soil.   As a longtime member of the city council of Sebastian, Florida, Hill works equally hard to maintain the integrity of local politics and the laid-back lifestyle that residents of this laid-back waterfront town have come to cherish.   Sure, the population of 23,000 people who call the town home is far greater than the 2,800 who lived there in 1980, but the sleepy lifestyle that helped keep this municipality largely invisible compared with its neighbors up and down Florida's east-central coast.   And that's a good thing, says Hill, who cannot mask his love for hometown.   "Sebastian today is a great town. If you were there in the 1990s, it was a great town. It's even better now than it was then, and not a lot of places can say that," said Hill, 48.   "If you go north and south on the coast, the growth has really taken off. We don't want that."   Hill's first foray into local politics came in 2000 when he won a city council seat in Sebastian. After four years on the council, including serving as vice mayor in 2002 and 2003, Hill stepped out of the public eye from 2004 to 2008, and has been on the council since, including two years as mayor (2010-11).   Before he was a public servant, Hill was a superintendent, including stops at Sun Tree Country Club in Melbourne and the Majors Club in Palm Bay. It was during his tenure at Pointe West in Vero Beach from 2003 to 2007 that the idea of being an entrepreneur first entered his mind.   "I established it out of necessity," he said. "At Pointe West, about 15 greens had severe drainage problems. I looked in the industry for a solution, and the only answers I received were to dig up the outfall pipe, put a 1-inch hose in to find out where the outfall is and that tells me if it is draining or not. That wasn't suitable for me at the time, so I started looking outside the industry."   What he eventually found was a high-pressure water jet system used by the landfill industry to keep leachate pipes free of debris and contamination so water seeping downward through the system could travel unimpeded to leachate ponds.   "Landfill construction is almost identical to a USGA spec green," Hill said. "There are pipes and gravel layers on the bottom. All the water travels down through goes into pipes into leachate ponds. For them to work, they conduct high-pressure water jetting. That keeps the landfills up and running. They're jumbo-sized greens that stink."  
    Landfill construction is almost identical to a USGA spec green."
     
    He left his job as a superintendent behind a decade ago to pursue running his own company.  Today, he uses ground-penetrating radar to locate drainage and outflows, and his high-pressure water jet powers through clogs at 3,000 psi, breaking up nearly everything in its path, creating a system that is virtually 100 percent clog-free. By comparison, the alligators that dot the Florida courses on which he works, have a bite force of about 2,200 psi.   "That's going to eliminate just about anything that is in that pipe," he said.   Although many of his customers are around Florida, he has expanded his service throughout the Southeast.   The business of golf and the business of running a city overlap on occasion.    The Indian River is one of the area's great economic engines. It is a world-class fishing destination, attracting people from around the globe. The town's small riverfront shopping and dining district also attracts tourists who come to town, spend their money and go home.   Hill's background comes in especially handy in matters involving management of city parks and athletic fields, as well as more in-depth issues like agriculture runoff and other issues affecting the river and operating a city-owned golf course.   "My expertise in those areas goes a long way to helping others understand what needs to take place on those facilities," he said. "I am able to provide people the information they need to make an informed decision."   Biologists have done little to shed light on the problems facing the river, that have included algae blooms, fish kills and native seagrasses that provide habitat disappearing at an alarming rate. Scientists have pointed to a variety of contributors, including climate extremes, runoff, pollution, drought and freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee, which is connected to the river through a series of canals.   Such issues provide an opportunity for discourse between Hill and other local officials with their colleagues at the county and state levels to effect change for their constituents.   But he points to issues that directly affect the people of Sebastian as a source of pride, including an extension of the public sewer system through the town last year and an economic grant program that helped individual homeowners and businesses transition to the system from septic.   It's because he knows, as a former superintendent, what it feels like to have greens and bunkers that don't drain, that he shows the same compassion for greenkeepers who need his help.    "The result is a healthier plant that can fend off disease much better," he said. "The plant is better equipped to deal with a host of stresses, like disease, wear and traffic, compaction, heat and cold. If we can remove one stress, which is excessive moisture, it makes it easier for superintendents to deal with those other stresses."  
  • Aquatrols names new president 
      Aquatrols has named Matt Foster president and chief executive officer.   Formerly the company's chief operating officer, Foster is responsible for company performance in product development and manufacturing, marketing, sales, human resources, operations and logistics, financial management and other business functions.    His new role follows a transition period during which longtime president Tracy Jarman and director of sales Andy Moore have been shifting from operational duties to help guide strategy as directors on Aquatrols' executive board.   Following its acquisition by Rural American Fund in 2015, Aquatrols has expanded the leadership team, streamlined operations, instituted an aggressive research and development plan, and expanded product distribution.   A former superintendent, Foster has 25 years of experience in the green industry where he was most recently global director of plant health for FMC Corp.  
    TPI taps TAMU's Reynolds
      Turfgrass Producers International recently named Casey Reynolds, PhD, as the association's executive director.   Reynolds most recently was an assistant professor and turfgrass extension specialist at Texas A&M, where he coordinated statewide turfgrass research and extension programs. He was the creator and editor of the program's website, AggieTurf.tamu.edu, and developed much of its educational content. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served as a turfgrass research and extension associate for North Carolina State University from 2003-2013.   A native of rural North Carolina, he earned a bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. all from North Carolina State. His wife, Diane, has a doctorate in entomology and works for Adama, an agrichemical company.    Reynolds can be contacted at creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org.  
    Redexim adds to staff
      Redexim Turf Products named Tim Schwierjohn to its staff.   Based in Imperial, Missouri, Schwierjohn has more than 15 years of real world experience in the turf business either as a superintendent, general manager or assistant superintendent at golf courses throughout the St. Louis area.   "Tim has been a valuable resource as a superintendent and we are thrilled to have him join our sales team," said Paul Hollis, executive vice president.  
    UofA's O'Brien earns tag as future leader
      Daniel O'Brien, a graduate student in the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, has earned a Future Leaders in Science Award from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.   O'Brien, who is working on his master's degree in horticulture with a concentration in turfgrass management, was presented the award at the annual ASA, CSSA and SSSA Congressional Visits Day in Washington, D.C., March 14. He was one of only 18 recipients for 2017. The awards are in recognition of interest and engagement in science advocacy.   O'Brien is a horticulture program technician working with professor Doug Karcher, assisting in turfgrass research. O'Brien's research focuses on adapting technologies used in turfgrass management, particularly as they relate to golf course putting greens.   O'Brien earned his bachelor's degree in agronomy and soils from Auburn University and joined the U of A Horticulture Department in 2013.   ASA, CSSA and SSA are scientific societies helping members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy, crop, soil sciences and related disciplines.   UTA names new CEO
      United Turf Alliance announced the appointment of George Furrer as its chief executive officer. United Turf Alliance markets turf protection products under the ArmorTech and Optimizer brand names exclusively through its members and dealer partners.   Furrer's career in the industry spans nearly 30 years and includes management positions at both the distribution and manufacturing levels of the turf and ornamental industry.   In January, UTA also appointed Aaron Goy to fill the newly created position of Director of Sales and Marketing. The new role was created to support the growth of UTA and better support its members and dealer partners.   SipcamRotam recently named Michael Maravich as its vice president for specialty business. He replaces George Furrer, who was is the new CEO of United Turf Alliance.   Maravich will oversee the specialty business comprised by turf, ornamental and material preservation business segments.   Maravich is a graduate of the turfgrass management program at Ohio State. He is based in La Quinta, California.
  • Sometimes talking a good game just is not enough.   There are some initiatives that take place in golf that sound good, but the results are difficult to quantify. But it's hard not to recognize the benefits of providing a habitat for pollinating insects.   "They need our help because their numbers are declining," said Matt Ceplo, CGCS at Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, New York. "(They) pollinate food crops, (are an) environmental indicator - canary in coal mine kind of thing, (they are) good PR and a food source for many birds and larger predators. It's fun and interesting."   The bee population, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, dropped steadily from 1989 to 2008, but has been on the rise ever since. There were 2.66 million commercial bee colonies in 2015, which is just slightly less than the 2.7 million in 2014 that represented a 20-year high, according to the USDA.   Ceplo has spent the better part of two decades, 19 years to be exact, providing habitat for butterflies, birds, caterpillars (moths) and now pollinating insects. The course is home to wood-boring and ground-nesting bees, and he helps them along by providing nesting habitat in the way of wood blocks and sandy ground.   His ongoing work was the subject of a recent case study by the New York State Turfgrass Association.   About 10 percent of Rockland's 140 acres are dedicated to natural or non-managed areas.   The first step in the process, says Ceplo, is identifying desirable insects to attract and the right plant life that will accomplish that goal. Native plants seem to make the most sense because they require the least amount of care, but all native plants are not created equally.   In some plants, like forsythia, Ceplo said, it is difficult for insects to get to the pollen, so they ignore it. There are others, like purple loosestrife which is not native to New York, that are like catnip to pollinators.   "The subject is far from black and white," Ceplo said. "There is a world of gray."   What is certain, said Fred Gehrisch, CGCS at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina, are the benefits of attracting pollinators.   "We're doing it to protect the environment," Gehrisch said.   "You can talk about doing the right thing, but sometimes you just have to step up and do the right thing."   Gehrisch has maintained several acres of low-maintenance native areas for years. Last year he started two bee hives on the property and added three more this year.   Emily Dobbs is the manager of the Brosi Lab at Emory University in Atlanta. She also helped plant and manage the first Operation Pollinator plot in the United States when she was a graduate student for Dan Potter, Ph.D., at the University of Kentucky.    She says there are many advantages to using native plants to attract beneficial insects.   "I would suggest using as many native wildflower species as possible, because they generally support a more diverse group of our native bees, both nutritionally and in terms of nesting habitat, and are often lower maintenance than non-natives," Dobbs said via email.    Golf courses make great pollinator habitats, she said, because superintendents who manage them have horticultural expertise, and the properties are protected from large numbers of people. Also, so many golf courses in urban and suburban areas often provide the only large swaths of habitable landscape for some insects. Bees can travel for two to three miles from their hive in search of pollen.   Dobbs suggests checking with local extension agents to help identify plants that are both hearty and will support pollinators.    "Having all native plant species is also useful if you are trying to get certification with the Audubon Society, etc. That doesn't mean that non-native wildflower species are terrible for bees," she said. "For example, many members of the mint, aster, and rose families are excellent perennials for bee plantings, most of which are not native to eastern North America."   Raising bees on the golf course also can be good public relations for an industry that needs it, and is a positive way to further engage members on the good works of their greens staff.   "I can't tell you how much goodwill it has established with members. They love them," Gehrisch said. "They're always asking 'how are they doing?' "   That acceptance, at least from some members, didn't all come automatically. Bees are non-aggressive, almost aloof insects - as long as you don't antagonize them.   "It took a little education," Gehrisch said. "A few people were worried about being stung and swarming bees. Before I could say anything, other members told them that the bees were already here, and that we were not just harvesting them. They see me go to the apiary with no protective clothes on and then realize they are not aggressive at all."
  • Historically, anthracnose is a problem on golf courses during middle and late summer when cool-season turf is most vulnerable to stress. This year, it already is a problem in some areas where mild conditions prevailed throughout the winter.   Once turf becomes infected with the anthracnose pathogen, it usually is a problem for the rest of the season. It is prevalent so early this year in areas that either had it last summer or have a history of it and where winter temperatures were so mild that it never really left, according to  Ohio State University plant pathologist Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D.    "To clarify, this is on greens on Poa annua. Most likely, it infected those plants last year, because of the mild conditions in continued right on through the winter months," Rimelspach said.    "This is a nasty disease and one you want to get under control now before the heat of summer. You don't want crowns weak and infected going into the the summer."   The average daily high temperature in Columbus in January was nearly 45 degrees, which is 6 degrees above the historic average, according to the National Weather Service. In February, it was 54, which is 12 degrees above normal.   "If you have it, or have a history of it, make sure you are doing proper scouting," said Todd Hicks, program manager in OSU's turf pathology department in a video published on the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Turf Tips page. "Once you have it, it's going to be with you for the rest of the season."  
    So long as it's going to stay wet you're going to have leaf spot. It doesn't matter if it's warm or cold. It likes both."
     
    Ohio State's turf pathology department has published an anthracnose management guide that offers preventive tips, curative strategies and the role of cultural practices in avoiding the disease entirely or at least minimizing the risk.   A total of 12 inches of precipitation was recorded in central Ohio through the first quarter of 2017, and about 99.999 percent of that has come in the way of rain during what was an abnormally warm winter.   The wet ground has made it difficult for superintendents in many areas to find windows where it has been dry enough to pull plugs, spray or even mow.   "What this has caused is a lot of spraying nightmares," Hicks said. "People have had a hard time getting out trying to make their applications, trying to mow, trying to do aerations on golf courses and get those cores up without it being a sloppy, muddy mess."   Those conditions have joined forced to give way to a few other problems as well, including leaf spot.   "If this has been a problem for you, you need to get it under control now because it's only going to get worse," Hicks said.   "So long as it's going to stay wet you're going to have leaf spot. It doesn't matter if it's warm or cold. It likes both."   Rimelspach and Hicks have observed dollar spot only on a couple of occasions, but said it will be a full-blown problem soon. Fortunately, they added, there are several new products on the market that offer good control.   Check out their family of fungicides chart for more information on control options and how to avoid resistance issues.  
  • Global Turf adds new sales director
      Global Turf Equipment, an independent seller and exporter of pre-owned golf course equipment, named Garry Callahan as director of strategic accounts.     Callahan most recently served as a regional manager for Jacobsen.   Based near Tampa, Florida, GTE serves golf facilities in 50 states and more than 80 countries. The company offers products from a variety of manufacturers, including Toro, John Deere, Jacobsen and Club Car. Its inventory includes fairway green and rough mowers; top dressers and spreaders; trim mowers; turf aerators, sprayers, vacuums and blowers; utility vehicles and more.   Anuvia receives sustainability award
      Anuvia Plant Nutrients recently were named Edison Award winners by Edison Universe for its organic MaTRX technology.   The company received Bronze Award recognition in the Sustainability category.   Its GreenTRX for turf is a slow-release delivery system that mimics what happens to organic matter in the soil. It places up to 17 percent organic matter back in the soil. It does not use any of the current chemical or poly coating technologies used by other slow release products.  Anuvia products reduce nutrient losses in the environment and deliver a balanced nutrient package for crops and turf.   The Edison Awards and Edison Universe recognize innovation that creates a positive impact on the world.     PBI-Gordon names new herbicide manager
      PBI-Gordon named Jay Young as its herbicide product manager. He is responsible for planning, developing and directing product strategies and marketing programs for the company's herbicide brands.   Young has almost 20 years of experience in the professional turf industry, and most recently was global specialty solutions product manager at FMC Corp.    Prior to that, he was assistant superintendent and director of agronomy at several prominent golf courses, and was a territory manager for Harrell's LLC.
  • In a world overrun with political correctness, Dick Gray is an exhilarating breath of fresh air.
     
    After 50 years as a superintendent, including the past four at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the 74-year-old Gray still approaches every day on the job with old-school style. He pushes the envelope every day on playing conditions and doesn't believe you have to spend a ton to do it.
     
    "My philosophy is terminal velocity every day," said Gray, who in February received the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta. "We don't always get there, but we try.
     
    "I always thought the best guys came from upper low-level clubs, or lower mid-level clubs, because you couldn't hide behind a budget. You can hide behind a budget and be mediocre. It looks like you did something, but really it was the money that got you there. Then there are other guys, you go to their golf course and wonder 'how in the hell did you get this done for this amount of money?' "
     
    He holds in the highest regard golfers who entrust him with their course and members of his team who help him maintain it.
     
    "I always remember him telling me 'you have to water your horses. You have to take care of your people and treat them with respect,' " said John Cunningham, CGCS, a former assistant under Gray in the late 1990s at Martin Downs Country Club in Palm City, Florida, and now the assistant general manager and director of agronomy at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. "He believes in treating everyone equally and treating everyone like they are important."
     
    Admittedly Gray has a history for being a bit salty toward those who get in the way of his passion - building a great team that can produce great greens. When he was the superintendent at a private club in Palm Beach County, a member asked him if it was necessary to keep the greens running so fast all the time. His reply cut to the chase: This is Jupiter Hills. Get your game in shape.
     
    Gray's career spans parts of six decades and a handful of courses around Florida's southeastern coast, including Jupiter Hills and the Dye-designed Loblolly Pines in Hobe Sound where he was the project manager for Pete and P.B. Dye during construction in the 1970s and where he returned years later as superintendent.
     

    He is the total package. He can build it, he can grow it, he can maintain it and he can grow a crew."
     
    "The one thing that Dick has that makes him different is great compassion for the people who work for him," said longtime Loblolly pro Rick Whitfield. "He treats his crew like family. That's what people don't see in Dick. He knows the product that he produces is only as good as his crew. And wherever he worked, that's what stood out, the product that he produced."
     
    While he has showed a deep reverence for his crew everywhere he has worked, his feelings for general managers, whom he calls "bartenders who have taken some night courses", have been a different story.
     
    A graduate of Wabash College in his native Indiana where he earned a degree in botany, Gray went back to school years later and earned a master's degree from Texas Tech in restaurant, hotel and institutional management, not because he wanted to become a general manager, but because he didn't trust them.
     
    "A lot of general managers come from that program," he said. "I thought I might have to report to them one day, and I want them to know damn well that I'm every bit as educated as they are. I can do their job and manage the asset. They can't manage the asset.
     
    "It gives me credibility that is undeniable. I know their language and their formula. I'm not just mouthing words like a parrot."
     
    Gray's tell-it-like-it-is philosophy has cost him a two-stroke penalty on occasion, but he goes to bed each night with a clear conscience.
     
    His professional career essentially began at Crooked Stick in Indiana, where he first met Pete Dye. Along with Martin Downs, Jupiter Hills and Loblolly Pines, he was the superintendent at Sailfish Point, an oceanfront Jack Nicklaus design near Stuart, Florida. He dabbled in architecture, designing and building the nearby Florida Club where he also was the GM. Over a long and storied career managing some of South Florida's finest layouts, Gray has never had to move even once.
     
    "He is the total package," Whitfield said. "He can build it, he can grow it, he can maintain it and he can grow a crew."
     
    At PGA, he has rebuilt two of the club's four courses (one of which is for sale), is working on a third with plans to rework the fourth in the future. Only now is he coming around on his view toward GMs, thanks to Jimmy Terry, who brought a small army to this years Golf Industry Show in Orlando to support Gray at the superintendent of the year announcement.
     
    Id heard (the stories), but Ive never seen any of that here, Terry told TurfNet in February. We have a great relationship.
     
    When Gray accepted the job as superintendent at PGA Golf Club, he did so with the understanding that he wouldn't work for a general manager. When the PGA of America, which owns the property, hired Terry, Gray told the association's Darrell Crall "This wasn't part of the deal. (GMs) are incompetent and they're insecure, and that's a bad combination."
     
    He quickly learned that Terry, who stands head and shoulders above him, is no pushover.
     
    "I've had to temper myself since I've made those statements about bartenders taking night courses," Gray said.
     
    "Jimmy's a 6-foot-6 golf pro from Texas. He's not incompetent and he sure as hell ain't insecure. We get along well, and the good part is he gives you the ball and lets you run with it."
     
    How others view Gray's style depends on whom you ask.
     
    "He is a very smart man with a great sense of humor. He knows what the hell he's doing, but he doesn't know s--t about dealing with people," Whitfield said.
     
    "A lot of people take Dick the wrong way. I've been to his wedding, and we're still good friends.  He doesn't make time for idle chatter. He has a job to do and he's going to do it."
     
    Those who have worked for him paint a different picture of the hard-nosed superintendent underneath the brim of his trademark cowboy hat.
     
    When Gray started at PGA he described his crew as a rag-tag group who wore whatever they could pull out of their closet. He got them uniforms and turned them into a laser-focused team. That uniform included wearing the same hat to shield them from the Florida. He allowed his team to pick their hat, with the understanding they all wore the same one. The mostly Spanish-speaking crew, who showed instant respect for Gray, chose a cowboy hat just like his.
     
    "He's the best communicator and motivator I've ever worked for," Cunningham said.
     
    "He and I forged a relationship from Day 1. He talked, and I just shut my mouth and listened. Ever since, he's been my mentor for turf and other things. I think those are the best mentors, who you not only can talk turf with, but talk life with."
     
    To this day, when he passes members of his team on the course, Gray stops to check in on each and the status of the job they are performing. He calls them by name, asks about their families.
     
    "Dick sees himself as a coach," Terry said. "And he coaches them up every day."
     
    It was while working for Walker Hood at Dykeman Park Golf Course in Logansport, Indiana during summers home from college that Gray learned the true role of a superintendent.
     
    "I played that golf course all through high school. On my first day, Walker takes me out to mow greens. He was 56 and I was 20," Gray said. "He says, in this razor-thin drawl, 'Diiiick. You see this here file? Take care of this here file, and this file will take care of you.' That meant don't lose the file. Then he reaches up and grabs a mowing scythe and says 'Diiiick. Take care of this here mowing scythe and this here mowing scythe will take care of you.' I've never forgotten that. That's my mantra: 'Take care of your job, and your job will take care of you.' "
     
  • Golf course superintendents often say the only thing separating them from farmers is the crop each grows.   Superintendents can look to traditional farmers in one of the world's most fertile food-producing regions for a valuable lesson on water use.   According to research conducted by NASA and Stanford University, underground aquifers in some parts of California's San Joaquin Valley have been so overtaxed that the ground's ability to hold water has been irreversibly damaged. Overpumping from 2007 to 2010, researchers say, has led to the ground subsiding by as much as 3 feet in some areas. Subsidence occurs when water is extracted from the earth, causing underground pockets that once held water to collapse.   If too much water is extracted from clay layers, the compaction becomes so great that the soil's ability to retain water is permanently diminished, according to Stanford researchers.   Thanks to an abundance of rain and snow in the the higher elevations that have helped recharge surface water reservoirs around the state, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared on April 7 that the state's most recent drought was over. Lakes that once were nearly dry now are full. Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California's complex matrix of surface water impoundments that move water around the state, was in the news daily when it came crashing through its spillway this winter.   That news has done little to alleviate concerns in areas where groundwater supplies remain sparse.   Thanks to overpumping of groundwater and ensuing subsidence, the San Joaquin Valley alone has permanently lost underground water-storage capacity of 336,000-600,000 acre feet, according to the study. For perspective, the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which delivers drinking water to San Francisco and is the 22nd largest water-storage impoundment in California, has a capacity of 360,000 acre feet.   Researchers say they expect at least that much underground water-storage space was lost again in California's most recent drought.    Folks in the Coachella Valley have taken notice. The Palm Springs area, which receives only about 5-6 inches of rain per year, gets its water from a variety of sources, including groundwater and the Colorado River.    According to the Coachella Valley Water District, more than 20 courses in the valley use recycled water or a mix that also includes Colorado River water. Twenty-nine courses take water directly from the Colorado and 73 others pump groundwater. The goal is to eventually get at least 50 courses in the valley on recycled water.   Recently, the CVWD announced its third "cash for grass" program for golf courses that pays water users to convert irrigated turf to non-irrigated land.   Just as it did in the previous cash for grass programs the CVWD will pay $15,000 for each acre of irrigated turf that is converted to desert xeriscape. The program is funded through a $5.24 million grant from California's Proposition 84 Implementation Grants program.   A total of 16 golf courses took part in one or both of the previous rebate programs, including and removed 129.5 acres of turf resulting in an estimated saves of 800 acre feet of water per year, or enough to provide water for 1,000 homes for one year, according to the district.   The cap for the third rebate program is a total of $1 million. At least six courses so far have signed up to take part in the latest cash for grass program, totaling $420,000 in rebates.   
  • For nearly two decades, more people than not who work in the golf business have been fixated on finding ways to draw people into the game.    That drive started in 2000 with the lofty goal of adding 20 million new golfers and increasing rounds played to 1 billion per year by 2020. Since then, it has been one industry-driven program after another, all with the promise of attracting new players and convincing those already in the game to play more often.   Almost 20 years later, all there is to show for these efforts are 8 million fewer golfers playing 60 million fewer rounds than when this all began.   Here are the facts: Men in Generations X and Y are leaving the game. Minorities are walking away in droves. After showing several years of marginal growth, women too are finding other ways to spend their leisure time - and money. Even kids are opting for other sports over golf. According to the NGF, the only people holding up the game and preventing anything short of an all-out collapse are white male Baby Boomers and Traditionalists who came in the generation prior to World War II.   Although it is good that those groups are supporting the industry, it does not bode well for the future of the game . . . or those who work in it.   So much for the success of broad, sweeping, industry initiatives.   A lot of people try golf, but few stick with it. It is expensive, takes a long time to play and it is very difficult to learn, offering zip in the way of immediate positive reinforcement for millennials, who, according to study after study, are a needy generation in constant need of validation of its self worth. And golf is not a game for those who struggle with adversity or self-confidence and choose a "safe space" over outdoor space.   There is no escaping the fact that the future of the game depends on getting children involved. Just how best to do that has been a mystery as they (and their parents) seek travel sports over golf.   Since 1997, The First Tee has been introducing the game to children - many of whom are at-risk and otherwise would not have an avenue to golf. It does much more than just give them an opportunity to learn and play the game, it acquaints them with the game in the right way, but teaching nine core values that are key to succeeding not only on the course, but in life: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment. Try getting that with free lessons.   According to a report by Springfield College conducted for The First Tee in 2015, 90 percent of the players who went through the program, including 80 percent of teenagers, consider themselves lifelong golfers. Likewise, 90 percent of First Tee alumni credit the program for improving their golf skills, 85 percent said it made them a better student and more than 70 percent said they are active in community service because of their experience in The First Tee, which has introduced the game to more than 4 million youths since since 1997.   If those statistics are accurate, that means about 3.5 million First Tee participants and alumni are still in the game.   Introducing the game to adults who never have played is a daunting task. With so much competition for people's time and attention, convincing them to spend four hours on a golf course at a game that might take years to learn is a big ask. In previous generations, scores of kids were introduced to the game through caddying. That created a pipeline of lifelong golfers, but today caddies are found only at private clubs and resorts, and even there the numbers are dwindling.    The demise of this demographic has created a vacuum, eliminating a natural bridge to the game for thousands of kids every year.   Jim Koppenhaver, the owner of Pellucid Corp., the Chicago-based company that crunches all of the data in the golf business, got it right at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show when he said the first priority for golf courses everywhere should be to coax the customers they already have to play more. Only after that has been accomplished should they chase new money.   The success of industry initiatives designed to grow the game are difficult at best to quantify, especially when the overall numbers - of both golfers and rounds played - continue to spiral downward like they have during the past decade. One thing is clear, introducing the game to children has to a lot easier than convincing people in their 30s and 40s - with young kids at home playing travel soccer, baseball or volleyball - to give up their Saturdays to play nine or 18 holes (or even just three or six for that matter).   Although it is important for every golf facility to maximize its current customer base, i.e., get existing golfers to play more, the future of the game and the health of the industry require making the game more attractive to more people. Period.   There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter solution to growing the game. By now, the many PGA-led initiatives that have come down the road in the past two decades have provided enough of a menu that golf courses can order items a la carte to try to grow the game. Whether it involves attracting more women by making the course and the overall operation more inviting to them, offering free lessons, or creating short-hole loops or other ways to ferry people on and off the course as quickly as possible, every course seeking to grow the game has to find a solution that works for them.   At some point, those efforts will have to include finding ways to introduce the game to more children. Now, you have the data, both bad (that shows how adults are abandoning the game) and the good (which highlights the positive effects of youth programs) to prove it.  
  • Beating an old disease foe is going to require a new way of thinking. That was take-home message in a recent TurfNet University Webinar by Rick Latin, Ph.D., plant pathologist at Purdue University.   Reliance on fungicides is the rule, not the exception when it comes to managing dollar spot. Over the past several years, however, many of the older chemistries, including DMI fungicides and iprodione, have developed resistance issues with the dollar spot pathogen, Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. Likewise, modern management practices often can reduce fungicide efficacy.   Maximizing fungicide effectiveness, Latin said, means incorporating other methods to reduce disease pressure. That includes incorporating things such as cultural practices and the use of biological products that can "help" reduce the threat of dollar spot.   "So, if we can use our knowledge and our skill to reduce disease pressure by attacking these different aspects (that influence fungicide efficacy)," Latin said during the Webinar presented by BASF, "we can get more effective and efficient use out of our fungicides."   CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WEBINAR   Dollar spot is an old disease that is active throughout most of the growing season. And it has been a challenge for golf course superintendents for decades. Although it seems to be more aggressive in its behavior today than several years ago, it actually hasnt changed much, Latin said. What has changed are management practices that make turf more susceptible and threaten the efficacy of fungicides.   "I always get the question about how has dollar spot changed over time; it seems so much more aggressive, so much more severe when it does occur," Latin said during the webinar presented by BASF.   "When we look at the isolates, look at the cultures, they look the same. We can pull some from the '70s and some that are current and they look kind of the same. What isnt the same is management practices."   When Latin was in turf school in the 1970s, fairways were maintained at cutting heights of up to an inch and native soil greens were mowed as high as 0.375, with nitrogen applications as high as 6 pounds.   Turf that is mowed much lower and maintained with much less N is more susceptible to the disease. Throw in a host of other factors that influence fungicide efficacy and the result is a disease that is becoming more of a challenge thanks to manmade issues rather than evolution by the pathogen.   "More fungicide is required for control when disease pressure is high," Latin said.   "When we reduce diseases pressure, fungicides and fungicide programs work more efficiently."   Cultural practices that can help maximize fungicide efficiency include mowing less often and rolling more and increased fertility applications. It also includes mowing in the morning and removing morning dew to dry the leaf blade.   "All fungi require free moisture for infection," he said. "If we can influence that by even a few hours we can turn something that might be a serious problem to something that is more or less of a nuisance."   Fungicide resistance also is a barrier to dollar spot management. This affects many of the older chemistries, especially single-site penetrants such as iprodione and DMI class fungicides.   Newer chemistries like SDHIs and multi-site inhibitors including chlorothalonil and fluazinam are better options today, but should be used in a program to guard against future resistance issues.   "(T)he likelihood that a pathogen strain is going to evolve to the point of resistance to chlorothalonil is as close to zero as we can get in biology," Latin said.   "Now we have SDHIs. What have we learned from handling those older compounds that we can use to preserve the SDHI (class) for a longer period of time?"  
  • A picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, home of one of the South's most highly regarded turf programs, its Forest Lakes Golf Club is a picture that - for obvious reasons - must be preserved like an art museum would dote over a masterpiece.   For fifth-year superintendent and ABAC alumnus Austin Lawton, some generous industry supporters have helped him paint the golf course - and the university - in a positive light.   "We're not Augusta, but we're way better than we used to be," Lawton said.    Nestled in the historic hotbed of Bermudagrass research, nine-hole Forest Lakes was donated to the university 15 years ago by Dr. Larry Moorman, a Tifton-area ophthalmologist. Since then, keeping the course in top shape has been a financial challenge.   Recently, Forest Lakes received several donations that have helped Lawton make improvements to the course that he otherwise could not.   Hunter Industries stepped up with about $10,000 in new sprinkler heads and satellite system. Pennington Seed contributed $2,200 in perennial ryegrass seed and the University of Georgia Tifton campus chipped in $3,500 worth of TifTuf sprigs for an ongoing practice range-improvement project.    Moorman, the property's original owner, paid the $3,000 bill for clearing trees necessary for other course-improvement projects. Other contributions include free use of a Bobcat the past two years from Brown & Cox, a well-drilling company in nearby Oxford, Georgia.    "For all the time I've used that Bobcat, it would have probably cost me another $10,000 to rent one," Lawton said.   Hunter has been contributing irrigation equipment since east coast sales manager Kevin Johnson and Lawton met at the 2013 Golf Industry Show in San Diego. Johnson had heard about ABAC's plight and thought helping the course was a good way to showcase his company's products. Since 2014, the company has donated $30,000-$35,000 in sprinkler heads, controllers and tools to service them.     John Layton was Forest Lakes' second superintendent, serving from 2008 until 2012. He went on to earn a master's degree from ABAC where he now is an assistant professor of environmental horticulture. Lawton has been the superintendent ever since. It was under Layton that the course's slow-but-steady revival began.   When Lawton took over as superintendent in 2012 only about 60 percent of the property's 170 irrigation heads were functioning. Thanks to Hunter, he has been able to fix or replace all the non-working parts and has 100 percent coverage. Another 50-60 heads are scheduled to arrive in a few weeks, and Lawton's goal is to eventually replace all of Forest Lakes' irrigation components with Hunter parts as the donations roll in.    "When the school took over the golf course, it wasn't in very good shape," Lawton said. "(Layton) first turned around the golf course and got it into good shape. From 2012 to the present, I've been able to get it into what I would consider excellent condition. I've just be building on what John started."   Presenting the course in the best light possible is important not only for Forest Lakes' operations, but for ABAC's turf program, as well, said Lawton, who employs seven ABAC turf students on his crew. After all, if a college can't manage its own golf course, what would that say about the quality of its turf program?   "It helps with the recruitment of students for the turf program," Lawton said. "It also helps recruiting for the golf team, because they practice here."   The savings allow Lawton to undertake other improvement projects, like an expansion of the practice range, including a new teeing area and practice bunker that his ABAC students are building, including grading the floor and installing new drainage.   "We are now one of the best golf courses in the area," Lawton said, "and we're going to keep making it better. It's an ongoing process."  
  • While many of the agrichemical giants that dominate the turf market have made news in recent years for mergers, two other companies that service the golf industry are making headlines for a more unique relationship.   Philadelphia-based FMC Corp. and DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.) of Wilmington, Delaware, have reached a deal April 3 in which each will trade or sell parts of its respective company to the other.   Under the deal, FMC will buy part of DuPont's crop protection division that includes a line largely comprised of chewing insecticides and cereal broadleaf herbicides that generated $1.4 billion in revenue in 2016. The deal also includes DuPont's 470-acre research facility in Delaware. In return, DuPont will acquire all of FMC's health and nutrition line of drug additives, which had sales of $700 million last year.    As part of the deal, FMC will pay DuPont $1.6 billion to compensate for the difference in value of the respective assets.   The transaction, which is expected to clear regulatory review late this year, will satisfy DuPont's commitments to the European Commission in connection with its proposed $130 billion merger with Dow Chemical announced in 2015. The Dow merger was expected to close in the first half of this year, but has been delayed likely until the third quarter, marking the third delay in the transaction's closing.   According to DuPont, the new company that will emerge from the Dow merger will retain a presence in insecticides and herbicides in its agriculture division after the transaction is complete.   The deal will make FMC Agricultural Solutions the fifth largest crop protection chemical company in the world by revenue, with estimated annual revenue of approximately $3.8 billion. 
  • Despite a name that some view as the butt of a joke (Randy Wilson, you know who you are), the emerald ash borer and the threat it poses to trees and forests throughout the country is no laughing matter.   Although the EAB has no natural predators in North America, it is slowly moving across the country. Once a problem confined to parts of the upper Midwest and Mid Atlantic regions, this tiny invasive pest is causing big problems in ash trees across a range that now includes 30 states, including 10 west of the Mississippi.   The culprit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is you. Well, not necessarily you, but maybe someone you know, namely those who are moving it - literally - by the truckload.   The ash borer is native to eastern Asia and was first discovered in the Detroit area in 2002 after it is believed to come to the U.S. in wood packing material aboard a Chinese freighter. It has no natural predators in North America to stop its slow, but deliberate spread across the continent.   Today, its range stretches from Quebec and Ontario in Canada east to New Hampshire, south to Georgia and westward as far as Colorado and Texas. To date, EAB has killed billions of ash trees in North America, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.   Its rapid spread has been blamed largely on moving infested firewood. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has limited or prohibited interstate movement of firewood in an effort to restrict or at least slow the movement of the pest.   Fines for moving infested firewood can range from $1,000 up to $250,000 with violators also facing as much as five years in jail.   That has done little to stop EAB or those with whom it hitches a ride.   States where the ash borer's presence has been confirmed include: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachussets, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.  
    Fines for moving infested firewood can range from $1,000 up to $250,000 with violators also facing as much as five years in jail."
     
    Scientists believe that the pest eventually will reach the entire ash tree range in North America, an area that covers parts of at least 42 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. Each ash borer, however, only flies a few miles throughout its lifecycle.    EAB kills ash trees by disrupting the uptake of water and nutrients through the trunk and into the upper reaches of the tree.    Adult females, which grow to about a half-inch in length, create a hole in the bark into which they deposit their eggs. After hatching, the larvae feed on and chew galleries through the tissue beneath the bark layer, disrupting the tree's ability to move water and nutrients through its vascular system. In the spring, new adults chew through the bark and emerge leaving behind a D-shaped exit hole before flying into the canopy to ingest ash leaves and the reproductive process begins all over again.   Symptoms of infestation include thinning of the canopy and sprouts growing from holes in the trunk that were created by the pests, along with an scores of hungry woodpeckers that eat them. According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, canopies of mature ash tree typically are decimated within two years of infestation and the trees dead within five years.   Tree canopies can be wiped out within two years, and mature, healthy trees typically are dead within three to four years. All native North American ash species are susceptible to damage.   It has been problematic on golf courses with heavy ash tree populations as dead or dying trees become not only an eyesore, but a safety concern as well.   During the past three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the use of four species of parasitic wasps, none of which are native to North America.   According to the USDA, which raises the parasitic wasps in a Michigan laboratory, Spathius galinae, Oobius agrili, Spathius agrili and Tetrastichus planipennisi are non-stinging natural predators of EAB that are native to Asia and do not parasitise other hosts.   There are several chemical control options available for EAB, but the massive range and mobility of the pest make widespread use of pesticides an expensive choice. According to research conducted by scientists at Purdue University, municipalities have elected to either remove healthy trees to reduce the threat or at least target specific trees for chemical control of the pest due to the cost involved.   
  • Life as an early adopter of new technology often means walking a fine line between being a cutting-edge turf manager and someone perceived as a someone who just likes the latest gadgets.
      Thomas Bastis, CGCS, is one of those early adopters. Every time some company comes up with a new way to help him maximize resources and playing conditions at the California Golf Club of San Francisco, he tries to be cognizant of how the latest technology will be perceived by members. Some of the things he's used on the golf course, including multiple drones outfitted with a GoPro and an Air2G2 compressed-air aerifier, he has bought with his own money because, while nice to have, they are not essential for day-to-day maintenance.   "I have to be careful what I ask the club for," Bastis said. " Is this something he needs, or is this just another toy for Thomas? All he wants are gadgets and gizmos.' I get that a lot."   The latest tech tools soon to make their way to the Cal Club are no toys, and the way they will help Bastis better utilize his resources is not a game.   In June, he will acquire a pair of RG3 robotic greensmowers from Cub Cadet. He has been intrigued by the technology since it was launched about seven years ago by Precise Path, and even attended demo events in Florida and San Diego. But it wasn't until Precise Path was acquired by Cub Cadet's parent company, MTD Products, in 2015 that he started to give it serious consideration.   "I always knew what it was capable of doing," he said. "For me, it was more about the company than the product. Now I know I'm not going to get stuck with these things"   Convincing dues-paying members of the benefits of such technology is a bit more challenging, especially since the pervasive trickle down of a slow golf economy. To get buy in Bastis had to prove the RG3 could do much more than just mow in a straight line every time.    As the saying goes, money talks, and with the cost of labor on the rise in California where minimum wage is rising and is expected to hit $15 per hour in the next few years - a 33 percent jump compared with last year - the economics of golf is an increasingly easy case to make.   "Members can smell that change is coming, but they're not close enough to it to know what to make of it," Bastis said. "The cost of labor is going up, and the days of adding more staff in the future are gone. We have to prepare ourselves with technology. We have to find ways to make the staff we have now more effective.  
    The turns it takes are the types turns I want my guys to make. It's not whipping it around and getting done as fast as possible."
     
    "The hard part about technology is proving to people that these things work. There is a lot of trust that you have a superintendent who can handle this. This is not a drone. They want to know what the return is on their investment and where are we going as a club."   The answer to that question, Bastis says, is toward greater overall efficiency.   The RG3 mows consistent lines and boundaries thanks to a system of beacons and underground wires that that create the equivalent of an invisible fence. It also does the jobs of several workers, Bastis says.   His crew is organized into groups of four members each, with each group assigned a different part of the golf course, and each member of each group assigned a specific set of tasks. One blows and mows greens and rakes bunkers, another rolls greens, another changes cups and another carries a TDR meter and is responsible for hand-watering.   Although the RG3 still needs a chaperone on every green, the idea, Bastis says, is that it eventually will allow him to economize labor.   "What I'm trying to do is eliminate two of them," he said.   "I can reassign them to do other things. That, to me, is going to pay for itself."   For Bastis, the RG3 is more than an acceptable replacement for an operator manning a walk mower. Although it is slower than a human operator, it mows in straight lines all the time, and more importantly, is better on turns, he said.   "The turns it takes are the types turns I want my guys to make. It's not whipping it around and getting done as fast as possible," he said.   "I don't mind that it mows slower. We need that time for the guy who is with it to finish what he is doing."    As with any new technology, the $64,000 question is how relevant will it be in the future.   "There is an economics in the game of golf that rears its head," Bastis said.    "This is a slippery slope. Where are we going to be with this stuff in 10 years? The hope is 10 to 15 years from now that we are less five laborers. Maybe we have one or two more mechanics, and maybe one of them will need an engineering degree."    
  • It's that time of year again. No, we're not talking about the run-up to rapidly approaching The Masters. We're talking about the lead-in to the summer weed season, which is coming just as quickly.   Each spring, as turf breaks free from its dormant slumber, other things are awakening underground.   The positive attributes of yellow nutsedge begin - and end - with its vibrant, lime-green color. After that, it's all downhill for this invasive and hard-to-control plant.   There are two types of nutsedge that are problematic for turf managers in the United States - yellow and purple.   Nutsedge germinates usually in April or May, depending on geographic location and climate. Both yellow and purple varieties grow from tubers, or nutlets, that grow at the end of rhizomes, and a single plant is capable of producing hundreds of new tubers in a single growing season.  According to research at Penn State, each tuber has numerous buds, each of which can produce several new plants.    Yellow nutsedge is at home in wet conditions, so eliminating overwatering and improving drainage in trouble spots can help, but it can survive just fine in drier conditions, too. After germination, the plant thrives throughout summer as it works to outcompete cool-season turf. It is prolific at reproduction and spreads rapidly to other areas defined by poorly draining soils.   Sedges are tolerant to mowing, and although they often look like many grass species, they can be easy to spot, according to information from Purdue University, not only due to their bright, lime-green color, but because they grow faster than the turf they invade.   By mid-summer, plants begin to add new tubers that set the stage for recurring problems in the future, according to data published by North Carolina State University.   While it typically is considered a summer problem, yellow nutsedge is a cold-tolerant pest and often hangs on until the first frost, according to Penn State data. Frost will kill the lush, leafy plant above ground, but does nothing to thwart the tubers below the surface.   Preventive and post-emergent control options, according to university research include mesotrione or a combination of sulfentrazone and prodiamine. Post-emergent control recommendations include halosulfuron and flazasulfuron.   Purple nutsedge is a different animal. Unlike yellow nutsedge, which is native to the U.S., purple nutsedge is an invasive species that made its way over from India. Confined mostly to the southwestern and southeastern parts of the U.S., it thrives in warm-season turf. As is the case with other sedges, it thrives in wet soils, but isn't limited to damp conditions.   It is unique in that tubers often are connected underground by a matrix of rhizomes, making it much more difficult to control, as per University of Arizona research.   The same products that work to control yellow nutsedge also are effective against purple nutsedge, according to North Carolina State University data. 
  • For more than five decades, children throughout northwestern Ohio had a love-hate relationship with Dr. Charles Spragg.   The pain they might have endured as patients  with Spragg's dental practice in Findlay, Ohio, was only temporary, but the opportunities he provided to generations of kids as an advocate for youth golf will last a lifetime.   Now, that relationship is relegated to memory.    Spragg, who co-founded the Findlay Area Golf Association more than 40 years ago and served as its only president, died March 27 at his winter home in Bradenton, Florida. He was 76.    "The news of Doc has been pretty tough to swallow," said University of Cincinnati men's golf coach Doug Martin, a former PGA Tour professional who grew up playing in the association Spragg started. "His legacy is that he will go down as one of the most influential people in Hancock County.   "Anyone who met Charlie was touched by Charlie."   Known simply as "Doc", Spragg arguably impacted the game in northwestern Ohio more than anyone short of Jack Nicklaus. He loved kids and he loved golf, and he recognized the importance of growing the game through youngsters years ahead of industry initiatives. Long before The First Tee, the youth golf league that Spragg founded in 1975 introduced the game to hundreds of children, providing them with instruction and a competitive environment. He also spent the past four years as Findlay High School's boys golf coach.   Martin's father, Lynn, was a local high school coach and golf legend, and was among a small group of civic leaders who helped co-found the Findlay association that also produced former University of Michigan women's coach Cheryl Stacey.   "Look at Charlie. Whatever he touches is done in a first-class manner. There was no doing things second-rate with him," Martin said. "The Findlay Area Golf Association wasn't about Charlie; it was about growing the game. There was no financial interest. It was strictly about boys and girls in northwest Ohio playing golf."   The FAGA also promotes life skills such as sportsmanship, integrity, honesty and respect. Hard work and perseverance are recognized with player-of-the-year and sportsmanship awards as well as scholarship assistance for graduating high school seniors who have played in the system for at least three years.   "He loved the game, loved the kids and he enjoyed watching us grow up," Martin said. "He helped keep us out of trouble. It was known that if you played in his association, you were going to do it the right way. He demanded that."   Through the years, the Findlay association touched hundreds if not thousands of local youths.   "My greatest reward was that we started something that has survived for 40 years," Spragg told TurfNet in 2014. "We've had some of the greatest kids you could ever want. It's been rewarding to watch them play, go on to college and succeed in their lives. It's always a reward when you see young people succeed."   Jordan Schroeder, head pro at Findlay Country Club, was the recipient of the association's Dr. Charles Spragg Male Player of the Year Award in 1999. Two years later, he received FAGA's Walt Whithaus Male Sportsmanship Award, which is named for the local Pizza Hut restaurateur and longtime supporter of youth golf. When handing out credit for those who helped shape his career in golf, Schroeder deferred to Spragg.   "Dr. Spragg has been a long time contributor to the development of many junior players in the area, including myself. He has donated his time over the years guiding the kids and helping them become the people they are today," Schroeder said. "As a former FAGA Sportsman of the Year and Player of the Year, FAGA gave me the opportunity to compete at local golf courses, develop my skills, and have fun playing golf with my friends. I truly thank him for all of the time, work, and effort he has put in for junior golf in the Findlay area."   The association was started by a group of civic leaders that included Spragg initially as a way to promote the game to players of all ages, but organizers soon realized the association's future was in promoting the game to children. Each year, the association conducts 10 tournaments at local courses, with boys and girls players segregated by age rather than a USGA index, followed by a season-ending championship at Findlay Country Club. Registration fees are $30 for the year, with tournament fees of $16 per player for 18 holes and $14 for nine holes (for younger players), including a hotdog and drink.   The program has been equally economical for local sponsors who are asked to pay $300 each, the same fee they paid in FAGA's inaugural year of 1975, to help keep the association afloat.   A native of Bridgeport, Ohio, Spragg graduated from Ohio State's dental school in 1965 and joined the Army soon after. He spent four years and two months in the service, including three years at a military hospital in Germany. He says he learned a lifetime of dentistry in those four-plus years. It was during his last year of dental school at Ohio State that he learned an appreciation for golf.   His most memorable playing experiences include Augusta National, Pebble Beach and Olympia Fields. "My wife doesn't ask me anymore if' I'm playing," Spragg told TurfNet. "She asks when is my next tee time."   While early FAGA tournaments were on the brink of 100 players, today tournaments boast 30 to 40 participants as golf clubs take a back seat to travel sports leagues, video games and other distractions.   Those who come out to play each week do so, Spragg said, for the love of the game.   "You'll see some kids who've just taken up the game come out and shoot 140 or 150 over 18 holes, but they don't quit," he had said. "The next week, there they are again, trying to get better. To me, that is the best reward of all, to keep them involved in doing something positive and trying harder each week."
  • Long before the phrase "fake news" became part of the pop culture vernacular, stopping the spread of misinformation was an oft-used tactic in golf.   Before anyone waives a finger at the turf media crying "fake news,", let it be known that the purveyors of false truths in this business often are golfers who do not have the correct information about what is going on at their golf course. Uninformed and left to their own devices, they will draw their own conclusions about why there is dead turf on No. 3 or dry spots on the 15th green. If there are issues with irrigation coverage or an onslaught of anthracnose sweeping through the Mid-Atlantic, they don't know the truth if someone does not take time to tell them. All they know is it appears someone is not doing their job, and that's when trouble can begin.   John Cunningham, CGCS, the director of agronomy and assistant general manager at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis always believed he was pretty good at communicating with members during a career that has included stops at handful of top clubs across three states. Today, he knows he's a great communicator, and he has a golfer at the Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas to thank for it.   "I had a green chairman at the Four Seasons who was a communications executive with a Fox affiliate, and he always told me, 'John, you can never over-communicate,' " Cunningham said. "That has always stuck with me."   That ability also has come in handy for Cunningham, as well as many other professional turf managers.    Nowadays, Cunningham writes a newsletter and sends out numerous emails to his members about what is taking place. Whether it is something simple about the ins and outs of hand-water or hydrojecting, and how both can help him and his team maximize playing conditions or what is being done to repair bentgrass greens that didn't make it through the summer, Cunningham keeps his members in the know about everything.   "Communication is like managing turf: It can be preventive or curative," he said. "I prefer preventive over curative. I'd rather spend time on the front end. For those who say they don't have time to always send out emails ahead of time, tell me when you're having to put out fires how much time that takes.   "Our job is to put out fake news."   Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, email, a newsletter or some other avenue doesn't much matter, as long as it reaches members, Cunningham said.   "You have the ability to snap a picture with your phone and in five minutes let everyone in on what is going on ," he said.   "A lot of members here don't play golf every week. They don't know what is going on here all the time. Our approach is to take everyone along for the ride," he said. "When you do newsletter, do you print it put it on wall in locker room? Is that old school? I don't think so. It's just another platform."   His members appreciate being kept in the loop about everything that is taking place on their property.   "I just want to know what is going on said Tom Schneider, M.D., a St. Louis-area surgeon and a former green chairman at Bellerive. "People are always asking questions. It's better for everyone to see what is going on. That helps keep the rumors away.   "Surprises are terrible in this kind of environment."   Josh Clevenger also learned the fine art of communication from a golfing member at Claremont Country Club in California.   When Clevenger was hired as an assistant about seven years ago under longtime superintendent Randy Gai, Claremont's green chairman was an advertising executive "who would bang his hand on the table and say 'you can't communicate enough,' " Clevenger said.   To that end, Clevenger maintains a blog, sends out periodic emails, writes a weekly report for the club web site and, just as important, spends time where golfers can have access to him.   "On Saturday mornings, I spend time in the golf shop," he said. "Blogging is one thing. It's another to be face to face with people who don't go on the blog.   "I should have minored in communication for all the writing I do."   Communicating with golfers is a journey, not a destination, says Matt Ceplo of Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, New York, because no matter how much information a superintendent tries to share with golfers, a sizeable chunk of the target population won't ever see it.   "I'm not saying it's not important. I'm not saying don't do it," Ceplo said. "Do more. Just don't assume it is all read. That's why it's also important to be visible and answer questions."   It is equally important, Ceplo said, to communicate all of your good news. When the course is purring along on all eight cylinders, that is when superintendents often have freedom for pet projects and other things.   "If you are hosting a girl scout troop and that gets picked up in the paper, members get a kick out of that. They enjoy that. As long as you have good greens, tees and fairways you can do things like that," Ceplo said. "You don't want them to see you hosting a bird count if you have dead greens. You have to pick and choose places and be aware that everything fits in a pecking order."   There is more to being successful than communicating only with golfers. Since superintendents largely operate behind the scenes, at least compared with other departments within a golf facility, it is important to educate those who might be asked to speak on your behalf.   "I have a pro who is a great communicator and is very supportive of me," Clevenger said. "Keeping him in the loop is important, making sure he and his staff have the right information and answers for golfers."   Communicating across departments was imperative when Cunningham was at the Four Seasons, a resort property with a hotel, two golf courses, an annual PGA Tour event and 800-plus employees.   "The reservations department has to know what was planned for the golf course 16 months from now when someone is booking it," he said.    "Everyone knew what was going on. Everyone worked together."   That's good, because fake news and surprises are terrible in this business.

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