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The Assistant Superintendent Committee of GCSAA met April 11-12 at association headquarters in Lawrence, Kan. The group discussed recommendations on the strategy and direction for GCSAA’s relationship with assistant superintendent members, including its membership programs, education and recruitment/retention strategies. Committee members are (from left): Jeff Wichman, Petty Jewel GC, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Graeme Calder, The Cutten Club, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Dave Fearis, CGCS, GCSAA director of membership; Sherry Dahlin, Watertown (S.D.) Municipal GC; Monica Fuit, Wolf Creek GC & Resort, Eden, Utah; John Ekstrom, Hinsdale (Ill.) CC; Darren Harris, Lakewood CC, Dallas; Sandy Queen, CGCS, Overland Park (Kan.) GC, GCSAA Board of Directors; and Loren Frost, Wade Hampton GC, Cashiers, N.C.
National Golf Builders Inc. has changed its name to Genesis Golf Builders Inc., it recently announced. Much consideration went into the change from a branding and identity viewpoint, the company says. The golf course construction contractor specializes in new golf courses and existing courses’ renovations and also offers irrigation installations and GPS mapping services. It operates offices in Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois and California.
Traverse City, Mich.-based Tri-Turf has joined United Turf Alliance, becoming a part-owner of the company and distributor of its ArmorTech brand of products in Michigan. United Turf Alliance, a consortium of distributors selling post-patent and chemical technologies under the ArmorTech brand, also includes Advanced Turf Solutions, Fishers, Ind.; Seeton Turf Warehouse, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; and TurfLinks Inc., Hudson, Mass. The ArmorTech line includes fungicides, insecticides, plant growth regulators and fertilizers, and the company says it anticipates expanded product lines this year.
To combat the problem of ball marks on greens, the TPC Network has joined forces with GreenFix Golf to launch a campaign that mandates the use of patented ball mark elimination systems at 15 TPC courses. Traditional ball mark repair tools have been banned, and members and guests must use the patented GreenFix Ball Mark Elimination System from GreenFix Golf. On top of the 15 TPC courses, more than 100 golf courses nationwide, including Medinah CC, Southern Hills CC and Bulle Rock GC, have adopted the GreenFix system, the companies say. In a joint release from the companies, they say that using a traditional divot repair tool to fix a mark lifts the grass and kills the roots under the mark, which can result in dead grass, brown spots and an extended healing process.
Arborists for The Care of Trees recently donated services at Mosholu Golf Course in the Bronx, N.Y., to benefit The First Tee of Metropolitan New York. The arborists donated a day of their services to help with the upkeep of the golf course. Mosholu GC has served as a junior training facility for The First Tee since 2001. Several thousand youth have already benefited from the program at the course, according to The First Tee, and more growth is expected. Erik Feldman, a four-year GCSAA member, is superintendent.
Spindler Enterprises Inc. has purchased Plant BioTech’s CytoGro product, an EPA-registered rooting biostimulant. Developed by former Colorado State University professor Jerry Meyeux, CytoGro received EPA registration after work to demonstrate that it effectively functions as a biostimulant promoting greater root mass and density, the company says. Jim Spindler, president of the company, says it plans to increase distribution of CytoGro, increase promotions and incorporate it into more combination products. The product is also said to improve salinity tolerance, retard turf senescence and increase fertilizer efficiency.
To celebrate its 25th year of providing irrigation controllers, handheld remote controls and central computerized control systems to the golf irrigation market, Rain Master Inc. kicked off its 25th anniversary grand prize giveaway. Winners, who were announced during the International Irrigation Show last year, included Jim Sieminski, president of Rain
Master; and Deborah Hamlin, executive director of the Irrigation Association. Sara Kistan of Kistan Landscape Management won the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii. Other winners received Rain Master custom leather jackets.
Ewing Irrigation, Golf & Industrial has acquired A&T Sprinklers, a Sacramento, Calif.-based company that has targeted the irrigation needs of the agriculture industry. The purchase allows Ewing to offer landscape and irrigation professionals in two new locations, Rancho Cordova and Roseville, bringing the total number of Ewing branches serving the greater Sacramento area to six. Ewing operates 170 branches nationwide. Ewing has retained A&T Sprinklers’ employees in the transaction and also has appointed Vince Gallina, the company’s president, to serve as manager of the Rancho Cordova branch. Matt Contreras will manage the Roseville location.
After a two-year process of acquiring and integrating with Pursell Technologies Inc., and Nu-Gro Technologies, Agrium Inc. has officially unveiled a new logo and new name for its specialty division, Agrium Advanced Technologies. The logo, which will appear on materials, documents and products this year, is designed to promote brand awareness of Agrium and create a distinct look for the integrated business segment, the company says. The unified company offers a selection of slow- and controlled-release solutions such as Polyon, Nitroform, SCU and Duration CR.
The Golf Course Builders Association of America has added nine new charter members to its organization. Newly inducted members are: Aspen Corp., Daniels, W.Va.; Cal Olson Golf Architecture, Aliso Viejo, Calif.; JCB Inc., Pooler, Ga.; McDonald & Sons Inc., Jessup, Md.; Mid-America Golf & Landscape, Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Profile Products LLC, Buffalo Grove, Ill.; SEMA Golf LLC, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Shapemasters Inc., Southport, N.C.; and T.D.I. International Inc., Stuart, Fla.
The Rhode Island GCSA recently presented its annual Distinguished Service Award to Peter Lund, CGCS, of Rhode Island CC. A third-generation superintendent, Lund has worked at a variety of New England courses, including Farmingberry CC in Wolcott, Conn.; Berkshire Hills CC in Pittsfield, Mass.; and Taconic GC in Williamstown, Mass. A GCSAA member since 1977, Lund served on the association’s Tournament and Education committees and was awarded the group’s Environmental Stewardship Award in 2005 for his work with Save the Bay. He also served the Rhode Island GCSA as education chairman and treasurer.
People news
Les Kennedy Jr., CGCS, has been named the 2006 Superintendent of the Year of the Connecticut Association of Golf Course Superintendents. Kennedy, a 27-year GCSAA member and 23-year member of the CAGCS, served on the chapter association’s board of directors for three years as the government relations/public relations director, two years as treasurer and also as a voting delegate to GCSAA. At GCSAA’s conference and show in 1987, Kennedy presented a speech titled “Major Renovation in a New Position,” and also published an article on washed sod in the USGA Green Section Record. A certified golf course superintendent since 1986, Kennedy is a lifetime member of the Golden Tee Club. He started in the industry when he began working for his father on the grounds crew at Pawtucket CC. He went on to work at Ledgemont CC, Belmont CC, Oak Lane CC, CC of Waterbury and The Blind Brook Club, where he’s currently worked for eight years.
Steve Spotts has been named vice president and general manager of Perfect Fit Glove, the hand protection business unit of parent company Bacou-Dalloz. Spotts has worked with the company for nine years and has experience in product management, product engineering and marketing.
Dow AgroSciences announces Brett Garrard as its new sales representative for its turf and ornamental markets in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Garrard will serve distributors and customers in the golf, lawn care and nursery industries. He joined the company in 2005 as a sales representative for the pest management business.
Denny Davenport has been appointed to business development director of Esler Golf Designs LLC. A 35-year veteran of the golf business, Davenport has worked with the Northern California Golf Association and the Chicago District Golf Association.
The Broyhill Co. has named Lee Stone its senior product and division manager for golf and turf equipment. Stone will manage the company’s specialty equipment group in sales and product development and support. He joins the company with more than 20 years of experience in the golf sprayer industry.
Ryan Roche has been hired as director of golf operations for
Marriott Golf’s Griffin Gate Resort, a Rees Jones-designed championship course in Lexington, Ky. Roche will oversee all golf operations, including sales and marketing, food and beverage, and group outings business. He previously worked at Rancho Las Palmas Resort & CC in Rancho Mirage, Calif., as director of golf operations.
Eric Tietig was recently honored as 2007 Young Nursery Professional of the Year by the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association and Farm Credit Associations of Florida. Tietig, vice president of Miami-based Pine Island Nursery & Tree Farm Inc., has been active in FNGLA’s Dade chapter and currently serves as president.
Golf briefs
Half Moon Bay (Calif.) Golf Links reopened its famous 18th hole on the Old Course recently, marking the completion of a project involving a larger green and remodeled tees. The par-4 No. 18 sits on the cliffs of the Pacific coastline along Highway One. The new green is 25 percent larger and 2 yards shorter than its previous version.
The Toro Co. has teamed up with the Baseball Tomorrow Fund to promote youth participation in baseball and softball. BTF, an initiative between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, supports field construction and renovation, uniforms, equipment and selected programming expenses for youth baseball and softball. Toro’s involvement designates the company as a preferred supplier of irrigation systems and turfgrass maintenance equipment. Eligible BTF grant recipients will receive preferred discounts on Toro products, and The Toro Giving Program will donate up to $10,000 in equipment to selected grant recipients.
Golf Digest magazine has named Sunday River Golf Club, Newry, Maine, one of its top 10 new public courses in the U.S. for 2006. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the par-72 Sunday River GC spans 7,130 yards and serves as part of a 350-acre facility that includes a driving range, a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse and 57 housing lots. The facility is owned and operated by Harris Golf Group.
The Golf Club Star Ranch, the course managed by GCSAA President Ricky Heine, CGCS, in Hutto, Texas, just outside of Austin, recently enlisted the help of Bechtol Russell Golf to move its driving range. Austin’s growth and development drove the need for the repositioned driving range, which was landscaped with native gulf muhly, Mexican feathergrass and different native salvias. The new range also features a short game area and a new putting and chipping green with angles, lies and grass heights to simulate real on-course conditions.
Dye Designs has opened its first golf course in Turkey for the
development company Lykia Links Golf. Shepherd Links at Turtle Beach in Antalya, Turkey, is a links-style course set along the Mediterranean Sea with five holes seaside. Designed by Perry Dye of Dye Designs, the 250-acre facility will be a hotel and resort complex that includes a 450-unit hotel with villas, apartments and suites. Shepherd Links, the first links-style, seaside course in Turkey, is set to open this September with a grand opening in November.
Jeffrey D. Brauer has been commissioned by city officials in Wichita Falls, Texas, to transform the style and image of its Weeks Park Golf Course. Brauer, who owns architecture firm Golfscapes, designed the renovation of nine greens at Weeks Park in 1984. City officials stressed the desire to return the public golf course to self-sufficiency. Brauer plans to rearrange six holes of the front nine and add a driving range and short game practice area to the course. He also will reroute the back nine to improve course flow and lengthen distances from five sets of tees. The city has given $3.6 million toward the reconstruction and $700,000 to improve the clubhouse, cart barn and maintenance complex.
America’s first golf course is about to make another first. Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., is opening a new 18-hole course, making it the state’s first private community to feature a Nicklaus Design 18-hole golf course. Built in 1884, Oakhurst Links is an 800-acre resort community three miles from the Greenbrier Resort that offers a golf practice facility, a private downhill ski run with a snow-making system, equestrian center, kid’s cabin, nature trails and fishing ponds as additional amenities.
CNL Income Properties Inc. has acquired Bear Creek Golf Club in Dallas from Bear Creek DFW Associates Ltd. The real estate investment trust has leased the club’s two 18-hole courses to an affiliate of Billy Casper Golf LLC for operation under a 22-year, triple-net lease. Billy Casper Golf has brought in new staff to work with Bear Creek’s existing staff and planned several capital investments to enhance course conditions, food and beverage operations, the clubhouse and infrastructure projects, the company says. Bear Creek is the first course in the Dallas-Fort Worth market for Billy Casper Golf.
Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates announces a series of international design commissions. The firm will lead the designs of golf course projects breaking ground this year in Moscow and Heidelberg, Germany, in addition to other golf courses in eastern Europe, the Turks & Caicos, Canada, Mexico and Belize. The firm says it also remains active in national projects, including the construction this spring of Anne Arundell Mannor near Annapolis, Md.; Belle Isle golf community in Nashville, Tenn.; Pechanga in Temecula, Calif.; and TPC Treviso Bay in Naples, Fla.
Troon Golf has been selected to manage Rochester Golf and Country Club, Rochester, Minn., 75 minutes south of Minneapolis. The Rochester G&CC is an A.W. Tillinghast design built in the 1920s that includes a newly rebuilt and expanded clubhouse, a 1,350-square-foot pro shop and meeting space, and a successful junior golf program with a two-hole practice area.
Owners of Providence G&CC have selected CK Golf Partners, an affiliate of KemperSports, to manage operations of its championship layout near Walt Disney World in Orlando. Once completed, the 2,200-acre facility will include more than 4,800 luxury homes, an 8,000-square-foot clubhouse, a complete practice facility, two swimming pools, tennis courts and a par-72 semi-private, links-style course designed by architect Michael Dasher.
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