2006 GIS in review

GCM staff

Scott Winling, superintendent at Cherry Hill GC in Fort Wayne, Ind., takes a shot at $1 million as a part of FMC Corp.'s Million Dollar Shootout promotion in Atlanta. Winling's three-quarter-court shot missed, but he did walk away with a $1,000 consolation prize.

Editor's note: During the 2006 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Atlanta, staff members from GCM spent their days literally scrambling from one end of the Georgia World Congress Center to the other, attending education sessions, meeting with superintendents and industry clients, checking out the latest buzz on the trade show floor and manning GCM's own booth on the floor.

This month's GCM Web exclusive features reports and photos from some of the most interesting events that took place in Atlanta. For more stories on events in Atlanta, read the April GCM feature "Rave Resolve."

Science for the golf course
GCSAA’s 2006 conference education program saw the return of the research session, where seven researchers presented the results of their recent studies of problems in turf management, including research funded by The Environmental Institute for Golf.

In a three-year EIFG-funded study, “Organic and microbial product evaluation,” Frank Rossi, Ph.D., compared microbial and organic-based products from 13 companies to traditional nutrient and pest management programs. Rossi found few meaningful differences among treatments under the conditions of the study.

Sarah R. Thompson, a doctoral student at North Carolina State, said that laboratory results show promise for biological control of mole crickets using two strains of the soil-borne fungus Beauvaria bassiana.

The last five presentations focused on problems in turfgrass, including a weed (Poa trivialis), injury, cultural practices and disease. According to Zachary Reicher, Ph.D., controlling P. trivialis is very difficult, but superintendents should make sure any seed they use is tested for P. trivialis contamination; they should avoid contamination through aerification; and they should use herbicides like Velocity or Certainty for spot control.

Results of EIFG-funded research on winter injury on creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass greens were presented by David Minner, Ph.D. Winter injury to turf occurs on most greens and fairways north of the transition zone. Among other things, Minner suggested that superintendents photograph the greens in winter to compare the location of ice and snow with the location of the damage revealed in the spring.

In another study funded by the EIFG, Shawn Askew, Ph.D., found that choice of bermudagrass cultivar had an “overwhelming” effect on the success of fall and spring transition.

Dollar spot is the most common, most expensive and most economically important disease on golf course turf. David Gilstrap, Ph.D., suggested that superintendents should consider using the older, less expensive chemistries first instead of starting with the more expensive, newer fungicides.

Paul Vincelli, Ph.D., wrapped up the session with a discussion of the performance of phosphite (= phosphonate) fungicides for turf disease control and the differences between phosphite fertilizers and phosphite fungicides.

Thinking like the boss
The premise for the Career Management Forum intrigued a roomful of superintendents: Gather several types of golf course employers and get them to explain what they want from their superintendents and why.

Chris Borders, general manager of the Atlanta Athletic Club; Bill Greenwood, green committee chair, Merion Golf Club; Joe Guerra, founder, president and CEO of Sequoia Golf Holdings LLC; Michael Leemhuis, CCM, COO, Congressional Country Club; and Jim Stegall, senior vice president, Kemper Sports Management led the 90-minute session to help superintendents

enhance their job security and advance their careers by learning “How to Think Like Your Employer.”

Borders presented a “compilation of mistakes that superintendents should never make,” and Greenwood told the superintendents to “keep it simple” when communicating with their bosses. “You talk in code,” he said. “Find a way to explain the acronyms – and be accessible.”

Guerra said that owners want superintendents who are team players, willing to be of assistance to all departments at the facility. “There’s no place for ‘not my job’ in the maintenance department,” he said.

Stegall said his company, which owns or operates 75 facilities across the country and employs 170 assistants, superintendents and directors of agronomy, wants superintendents who strive to make their facilities the “best in class” in their competitive set by staying on top of technology, seeking continuous improvement, being hands-on in all aspects of maintenance, being open-minded to new ideas and staying in touch with their customers.

Leemhuis told the superintendents, “I’d like you to think of yourself as the lead mentor. You will be judged one day in this industry by how many young people you have developed.”

Forum focus on short-hitters
As the golf industry searches for ways to increase rounds and interest in the game, David Stone, superintendent at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., said it was imperative to embrace the short-hitting player.

“The fact is today courses need every golfer and round they can get,” he asserted during the Women’s Forum: "Golf Course Design and Management for the Short-hitting Player.”

Acknowledging that “as many people give up the game as take it up,” he said golf facilities needed to make sure players have fun, positive experiences on playable courses in order to keep them coming back. Stone, along with speaker Karen Davis, director of golf education and player development for the Executive Women’s Golf Association, and forum moderator Andrea Bakalyar, superintendent at the Wee Course at Williams Creek in Knoxville, Tenn., all agreed that long, forced carries can often make or break the experience for new and short-hitting players.

Bakalyar encouraged superintendents to decrease the distance from forward tees to the fairway when possible by mowing the rough closer to the tee. When course architecture prevents such an easy solution, Davis suggested placing the tees ahead of the carry and assisting players with drop areas.

“Women players like to follow the rules,” she revealed. “Give them a legal way to play. Drop areas make a big difference.”

“As superintendents, we have a lot of power with course set up,” Bakalyar said, maintaining that when you are aware of how your course plays, you can address the aggressiveness of your greens, daunting obstacles and unrealistic carries. “These are little things you can do everyday.”

Tribal golf plays to a different beat
Golf course management and Native American ownership is all about communication and building relationships, according to the participants in the Tribal Golf Forum at the GCSAA Education Conference.

Chaired by Mike Skenandore, superintendent at Wanaki Golf Course in Menomonee Falls, Wis., the session explored several issues that superintendents at tribal-owned venues are likely to encounter in a setting that usually entails multiple resort facilities that include casino and hotel operations.

Golf course architect Michael J. Hurdzan signs copies of his new book at the bookstore during the conference and show in Atlanta.

Forging far-reaching communications and teamwork are two major keys to success, according to one of the panelists, Sandy Clark, CGCS at Barona Creek Golf Club near San Diego, Calif., which hosts more than 100 events annually, many of them high-profile, some specific to the tribe and its customs and all of them aimed at enhancing the resort as a whole.

“Tournament events are very critical to us, working with the golf shop, the hotel and the casino and other facilities to ensure success,” he said. “We do it in the most professional way we can. It boils down to we all succeed or fail by our ability or lack of ability to communicate.”

Three-year GCSAA member Geoff Jordan, assistant superintendent at the Meadows at Mystic Lake Golf Course in Prior Lake, Minn., which hosts such things as pow wows and other tribal ceremonies along with potlucks and fireworks, noted that it's vital that a superintendent and the maintenance staff are well-versed on Native American cultural issues and customs because of the special events. Staff education is also important to help dispel or better understand the negative perceptions and stereotypes that often are connected to reservation life.

A successful tribal golf operation is all about everyone getting along as opposed to a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, said panelist Pat Brockwell, superintendent and part-owner at Black Mesa Golf Course near Espanola, N.M., recently developed on Santa Clara Pueblo land.

“That's been the key for us – survival of the co-operative, a unity of partnership and relationships. We've been able to put together something pretty unique and spectacular because of that,” said Brockwell, a 14-year GCSAA member.

The panelists agreed that golf's relationship with casino operations is the major issue in tribal golf, which has one true mission – to support gambling as the financial lifeblood of a reservation facility. The golf course is the carrot, so to speak, that attracts the action.

“It's basically the same for tribes nationally: Golf is a tool to enhance gaming revenue,” Skenandore said of the obvious bottom line.

Hot topics cover turf, spreadsheet
Three traditional turf management practices and a valuable tool for the modern superintendent were the topics GCSAA members wanted most on the education bill of fare at the GIS.

The seminar “You Asked for it ... You Got It!” featured the top four issues members selected in a survey on the GIS Web site during several months leading up to the show. The hottest topics and their speakers included:

• “Managing Your Budget with Excel” – Brian Holland, superintendent at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park. Holland, a 19-year GCSAA member, traced the many options available to golf course management in Excel, such as its day-to-day features and constant updating of information inputs. “The greatest thing about Excel is the amount of work it does for you,” Holland said of the popular computer spreadsheet program.
• “Cool Trends in Cool-Season Putting Green Fertilization” – Cale Bigelow, Ph.D., Purdue University. Noting that three-quarters of the strokes in golf are on or around the green, Bigelow said superintendents should establish their goals for their putting surfaces, such as cultivar selection, stress and pest tolerance and recovery from traffic and maintenance, and develop a strategy from there. He said that the optimum periods for fertilization usually are in the spring for boosting growth and in the fall for aesthetics and for storing nutrients. He added that the main trends today include relatively low nitrogen levels for healthy turf (2 pounds per thousand square feet per year); a desire for environmental responsibility; and a pursuit of ultimate ball roll control.
• “Current Trends in PGR Use” – Ron Calhoun, Ph.D., Michigan State University. Calhoun pointed out that 10 years ago the popular regimen was to use PGRs to reduce clippings, increase green speed and hasten ball mark or divot closure. Today the trend leans toward suppression of P. annua seed heads, species conversion and increased density and uniformity. He added that despite the many versatile products currently available, tests have shown that PGR use produces no dramatic increases in ball roll, but does produce a more consistent speed.
• “Winter Time Blues ... Managing Winter Covers” – Jim Skorulsky, USGA Green Section, senior agronomist, Northeast Region. Skorulsky said one of the greatest challenges superintendents face is emulating Mother Nature's snow cover with man-made permeable or impermeable covers while being confronted by such threats as winter kill, desiccation and hydration injury. His suggested that management beneath the covers include monitoring both air and canopy temperatures, checking for excess water, measuring carbon dioxide levels and topdressing during warm-ups.

Tour lights fuse for shot-making
After considerable gripping and re-gripping in recent years, the PGA Tour hopes to set an example of how to deal with the so-called length problem in high-level tournament golf and how it relates to golf course setup and conditioning.

That was the highlight of a revealing Current Issues in Golf session, “Preparation for Major Golf Events,” at the GIS. Panelists included Tom Lively, CGCS, director of grounds at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill., site of the PGA Championship, Aug. 17-20; Tom Marzolf of Fazio Design, who has directed much of the renovation of historic Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., which will host the U.S. Open, June 15-18; and Jon Scott, CGCS, vice president of agronomy for the PGA Tour.

Absent from the panel was Winged Foot superintendent Eric Greytok, who left the show early because of the illness of his eight-month-old daughter.

The session focused on Scott's report that the Tour will play a more definitive role regarding the issue of course length vs. strategic setup at its tournament venues and especially on one of its biggest stages, the newly scheduled 2007 Players Championship at the TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Both of the 2006 major venues featured in the session reflect the current trend for longer, narrower and deep rough. Marzolf, who has been working on Winged Foot off and on since the late 1980s, said the biggest change for the famed West Course is length. The club's fifth Open will play at 7,267 yards (four par 4s over 500 yards) and the fairways have been narrowed three times since it last hosted a major, the 1997 PGA.

Yet, Marzolf said he tends to play down the length issue.

“I'm not that worried about it,” he said. “Great courses with great architecture, great shot-making strategy, great greens and great hole locations will hold up very well. It's not about length.”

Lively, who came to Medinah CC a couple of years after it hosted the '99 PGA, noted that the club's No. 3 Course, the site of this year's championship, is at 7,561 yards, almost a 200 more than seven years ago.

“You consider the additional construction (tees) and added maintenance and you have to consider length as an issue,” the 24-year GCSAA member said.

It’s more than turf maintenance
The USGA Green Section’s educational conference deviated from its usual emphasis on turf management to consider other areas of concern to superintendents.

Jim Skorulski, senior agronomist for the USGA Northeast Region, enumerated the virtues of naturalized areas on the golf course, but warned superintendents of the potential pitfalls that could turn an asset into a liability. Besides considering proper site selection, cooperation with the club pro and architect, plant selection and management, Skorulski suggests, “Let people know what you’re doing!”

USGA’s director of research, Mike Kenna, Ph.D., spoke about the benefits and risks of genetically modified organisms and addressed the issues surrounding Roundup Ready creeping bentgrass. Kenna says that ultimately biotechnology will provide better turf.

According to former superintendent and current instructor at Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College, Bill Griffith, golf course management is really about managing people. Employees will be motivated when they are praised as individuals for their successes and when they have clear instructions – in advance – about what they are supposed to do.

Dave Oatis, director for the USGA Northeast region, flatly stated, “Trees are bad for golf.” Oatis said that courses that have followed his advice have removed thousands of trees, thereby improving golfer safety and turf health, revealing once-hidden topography and enhancing play.

Four USGA agronomists, Pat Gross, Bud White, Chris Hartwiger and Darin Bevard, presented turf tips picked up from superintendents, and Jim Moore, USGA’s director of construction education, ended the forum by describing innovative irrigation and drainage technologies that he is testing.

Midway through the presentations, Lew Blakey, chairman of the Green Section Committee, presented the 2006 Green Section Award to Bob Shearman, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska. “I have the best job in the world,” says Shearman. He also expressed his gratitude to his wife, Linda, and the University of Nebraska turf team.