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INDUSTRY news |
The Rhode Island GCSA recently awarded $15,000 in scholarships. Each year, the RIGCSA hosts a golf tournament in which all proceeds go to providing scholarships to deserving students and funding research at the University of Rhode Island. This year the RIGCSA will host its 24th Annual Scholarship and Research Tournament at Agawam Hunt in Rumford, R.I.
The National Golf Foundation reported that same-facility rounds played in the United States were up 29.8 percent in the month of January 2006 vs. January 2005. January data were reported by 1,953 golf facility operators across the country. For more information visit www.ngf.org.
Project EverGreen has launched its Because Green Matters Scholarship Program, which will award $2,500 scholarships to two undergraduate students studying a field related to the green industry. To qualify, students must major or minor in curriculum related to the green industry, such as horticulture, plant sciences, botany, agronomy, plant pathology or water management. Eligibility, as determined by a committee made up of members of the Project EverGreen board of directors, extends to two- and four-year program students attending institutions that offer turf, landscape and golf management curriculums. Applications are due June 1 and may be downloaded from www.projectevergreen.com.
The Irrigation Association is sponsoring its first international irrigation study tour with a 19-day trip to New Zealand and Australia in late September. The tour will include private meetings with leading irrigation professionals, professors and practitioners, with opportunities to see their results in agriculture, parks and the region’s most popular destinations. Australia is known as the world’s driest continent, so the tour provides an opportunity to learn first-hand how a region with vast ranges of precipitation and water has managed its extremes. The trip departs Sept. 29 from Los Angeles and returns Oct. 17, with an optional four-day extension to Cairns in tropical North Queensland, Australia. Contact Doug Fender, (888) 272-6498.
Aquatrols’ booth at the Golf Industry Show in Atlanta featured a mini-seminar series, with six superintendents and four researchers speaking about their experiences and studies with Dispatch and Revolution. Company representatives later presented the Environmental Institute for Golf with a $10,000 contribution to the Aquatrols Robert A. Moore Endowment.
John Deere offered visitors to its booth at the 2006 Golf Industry Show a chance to win a Golden Tee arcade game, and Mike Sutton, assistant superintendent at Byron Hills GC in Port Byron, Ill., beat two other playoff participants by getting his final shot closest to the pin. Sutton said the win was “mostly luck,” noting that while his crew is requesting the game be installed at the course, he’s planning to put it in his game room at home.
people news
Mary Ellen (Cleary) Warwick has been named president of Cleary Chemical Corp. She is a third-generation Cleary family member and succeeds her mother, Barbara Cleary, who has served as president for more than 25 years. The company also added Joe Chavarria as a technical sales representative serving turf and ornamental customers in the Pacific Northwest. He has more than 20 years of industry experience in the turf and ornamental markets, most recently with Simplot Partners.
DLF International Seeds Inc. recently awarded David Carson of Estes Inc. its annual Man of the Year Award. Carson, president of the specialty division for Estes, was chosen for his sound leadership in the marked mutual growth and development at Estes Inc. and with DLF. Past recipients of the award include Dave Mastroleo, Jack Harrell Sr., American Golf Corp., Bob Baker, Bob Maycock, Jim Lapari, Don Naumann, Jack Harrell Jr. and David Carson.
David Brandenburg, CGCS, golf course manager at Rolling Meadows GC in Fond du Lac, Wis., was awarded the Wisconsin GCSA Distinguished Service Award recently. Brandenburg is only the 13th recipient of the association’s top honor in the association’s 75-year history. Brandenburg was nominated for his continuing donation of time and talent to the WGCSA. Starting with volunteering for committee service in 1993, Brandenburg spent 11 years on the elected board of directors, held numerous offices and chaired many committees. Currently Brandenburg is the business manager for The Grass Roots, the award-winning bimonthly publication of the WGCSA.
Mark Urbanowski is returning to the turf and ornamental business as new senior marketing specialist for Dow AgroSciences. He replaces Scott Eicher, who has elected to return to the field as a sales representative. Eicher had held the marketing post since 1997. Urbanowski, who will be responsible for managing the turf and ornamental herbicide product line, has been with Dow AgroSciences for more than 16 years. Doug Van Vooren has been named district sales manager for Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. He has been with Dow for 24 years and is replacing Lisa Bostock, who has taken another position within the company. Patrick Bell is the new sales representative for the lawn care, golf and nursery industries in eastern Florida, south of Palm Coast, Fla. He graduated last year from Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., with a master’s degree in agricultural economics.
RDC Golf Group Inc. has awarded Tuscawilla CC superintendent Chris Cartin the 2005 RDC President’s Award. At Tuscawilla CC, located in Winter Springs, Fla., Cartin recently supervised the second phase of the club’s extensive golf course restoration project. All of the course’s 18 greens were revitalized and expanded by 40 percent, restoring Joe Lee’s original intent for the design; the club’s putting green and chipping green were fully renovated, offering members upgraded practice surfaces; and eight new tee boxes were constructed, lengthening the course from 6,647 yards to 6,850 yards.
The Central Pennsylvania GCSA has presented its Dave Rafferty Distinguished Service and Leadership Award to Greg Borzok of Lawn and Golf Supply in Harrisburg, Pa. Borzok began his career as a crew member at West Shore CC in 1964 and later worked as the assistant superintendent there. He was the superintendent at Colonial CC in Harrisburg from 1976 to 1988 and became a certified golf course superintendent in 1980. He was on the board and served as president of CPGCSA in 1986, during which he was one of the founding members of the Allied Golf Course Superintendents of Pennsylvania.
Clatus “Grit” Griddle has been honored by the city of Orangeburg, S.C., for his work as superintendent at city-owned Hillcrest GC. Griddle received the Dick Horne Foundation employee of the year award for 2005 for his “strong work ethic, good character and sincere dedication to the city of Orangeburg.” A six-year member of the Carolinas GCSA, Griddle has also served on Orangeburg’s city employee committee since 1997 and on the city grievance committee.
The Alberta GSA has given Dean Morrison, superintendent at Calgary G&CC, its 2005 Distinguished Service Award. Morrison has dedicated more than 33 years to the golf course maintenance profession. Morrison achieved Master Superintendent status in 1987, the highest professional designation for Canadian superintendents. He has mentored many young turf management professionals, and more than 15 former staff members have moved on to successful careers as superintendents or professionals within the golf industry.
CB Richard Ellis has appointed Z. Gordon Davidson as president of the California Golf Course Owners Association. Davidson has been involved with the CGCOA, a nonprofit trade association dedicated to addressing issues involving ownership and operations of golf courses in the state of California, for the last three years.
Marriott Golf has named Anthony Williams, CGCS at Stone Mountain (Ga.) GC, its “Golf Grounds Manager of the Year.” Williams, who previously managed Renaissance PineIsle GC and has been a certified golf course superintendent since 1998, was recognized for his excellence in course and grounds maintenance at PineIsle. Under his leadership, PineIsle achieved certification through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. In addition, Williams was a 2005 winner of an ELGA from GCSAA in the national resort category.
Olde York CC in Chesterfield Township, N.J., has named Mark Kriews as the new superintendent of the course. Kriews is a graduate of North Carolina State University, a 15-year member of GCSAA and a member of the GCSA of New Jersey.
Renowned turfgrass breeder Wayne Hanna, Ph.D., has been given the Turfgrass Producers International Honorary Member Award. Hanna, known for his work during a 30-year career with the USDA/ARS, is now retired from ARS but continues to work full-time as a professor and turfgrass breeder with the University of Georgia. Hanna was responsible for the breeding and release of TifSport and TifEagle bermudagrass and TifBlair centipedegrass.
Gary Cantrell has been named vice president and chief information officer of Textron Inc. He was previously with Bank of America, where he held several senior-level roles. He also spent 15 years at Honeywell International.
Troy Von Holdt has been hired as the central region sales manager for Redexim Charterhouse. Von Holdt formerly served in several sales positions with Davis/Sun Turf. Von Holdt is a resident of Sioux Falls, S.D., and has been in the golf and turf business for six years. He has bachelor’s degree in landscape design from South Dakota
State University.
Golf briefs
Golf course architect Barry Jordan of Jordan Golf Design has completed planning and begun the restoration of Teugega CC in Rome, N.Y., considered by many authorities on Donald Ross to be one of the purest of the legendary architect’s designs. Ross lived on-site during the course’s construction, due in part to his engagement to a local woman. Remarkably, few changes have been made to the course since it opened in 1920. Original Ross plans and early photography helped Jordan to plan for an accurate restoration of the original design. The restoration began in the fall with Jordan reclaiming pin placements that had been lost to the shrinking of greens over time. In the coming years, the club will continue implementing the restoration details, which include selective tree removal, the elimination of unoriginal bunkers, restoring original bunkers and the widening of many fairways. Alan Tomlinson, a 23-year GCSAA member, is superintendent at Teugega.
Those who attended the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills CC had the opportunity to experience myLeaderboard, a new technology to enhance a golf fan’s in-person experience. myLeaderboard uses PDAs connected to a wireless network that displays real-time information to spectators, including information about the course and each hole; directions from the spectator’s location to concessions, restrooms, etc.; player tee times, locations and scoring; a customizable leaderboard to track favorite players; weather and important tournament alerts; and crowd “roar” explanations. myLeaderboard is scheduled to appear at the Michelob Ultra Open, the McDonald’s LPGA, Wegmans LPGA, the PGA Senior Championship and the PGA Championship. More tournaments are currently under negotiation.
KSI Services Inc. and Club Corp have entered into an agreement for Dallas-based ClubCorp to manage the Harbor Station GC. Located within KSI’s Harbor Station resort community, situated on the Potomac River in Prince William County, the club will feature a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, which is currently under construction and due to open in 2007. The deal also includes management of the Harbor Station Sports Club.
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