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Presented in partnership
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Superintendents we laud
Each year, GCSAA presents its Distinguished Service Award to deserving superintendents nominated by their peers. This year’s awards honor three GCSAA members for their leadership, mentorship, research and service to the industry.
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Donald Hearn, CGCS, grew up in Massachusetts and started caddying at age nine for his father. He served as president of GCSAA in 1987. Also president of the New England GCSA, Hearn won that association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2004. |
Donald Hearn, CGCS
Though Donald Hearn, CGCS, first started caddying at age nine and enjoyed being on the golf course, he had no real desire to get into the golf business. But then as a 15-year-old, he started working at Woburn CC in Massachusetts: He spent summers working the golf shop and his springs and falls working the golf course.
From there, it “got in my blood,” says Hearn, who went on to attend the University of Massachusetts’ Stockbridge School.
While president of GCSAA in 1987, Hearn modernized the association’s certification program. He also served as president of the New England GCSA and won its Distinguished Service Award in 2004.
Hearn has been a friend, mentor and adviser to numerous people in the industry across the nation, says Bob DiRico, superintendent at BraeBurn CC, who has known Hearn for 26 years and adds, “I don’t know how many times I’ve called on Don for advice and just for support.”
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It was in his fourth year at Ohio State University, and his fourth major, that Jim Loke, CGCS, took an elective course called Soil Agronomy and asked his professor what he could do with a degree in agronomy. Known for his fertigation practices and a Poa-free golf course, Loke has been a mentor to many. |
H. James “Jim” Loke, CGCS
Pure chance led Jim Loke, CGCS, to golf course management.
It wasn’t until his fourth year at Ohio State that he discovered the industry that could satisfy his yen to be involved with golf in some way.
He began his career in 1969 at Scioto CC in Columbus, Ohio, and went on to serve as president of the Central Pennsylvania GCSA and Northern Ohio GCSA. He also hosted several professional events, including the 1975 PGA Championship and seven World Series of Golf tournaments at Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio.
In 1992, he went to Bent Creek CC, Lancaster, Pa., (where he still works today) and took on the challenge of fertigation, a practice that few superintendents in northern climates had previously tackled.
That achievement, along with the Poa annua-free environment Loke created at Bent Creek, had colleagues continually calling him for advice.
“I welcome those phone calls because I cherish the opportunity to share freely,” he says.
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Oscar Miles, CGCS and a 45-year GCSAA member, spent decades researching soil temperatures and also is recognized as one of the first in the industry to use triplex mowers on fairways. Miles is one of three recipients of GCSAA’s 2008 Distinguished Service Awards. |
Oscar Miles, CGCS
Oscar Miles, CGCS, set the tone early on in his career for a lifetime of remarkable accomplishments. He moved up the ranks from a caddie to grounds crew to head greenkeeper at Cedar Crest CC in Quincy, Ill., all by the age of 17.
Miles boasts a portfolio of renowned Illinois courses, including The Merit Club in Libertyville, Olympia Fields CC and Butler National GC in Oak Brook, and has hosted a number of professional golf tournaments such as several Western Opens and the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open.
A member of the second graduating class of Penn State’s turfgrass program, Miles is well-known for his research. He spent decades researching soil temperature, and his course at Olympia Fields became known as the yellow stripe course for its test plots.
A mentor to more than 75 interns over his career, Miles also is recognized as a pioneer of using triplex mowers on fairways and maintaining them like greens.
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