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Stihl Inc. presented a custom chopper inspired by the company’s MS 441 Stihl Magnum professional chainsaw to a winner selected out of 700,000 entries at the Golf Industry and Equipment Expo in Louisville, Ky., last fall. The Street Boss chopper is a virtual Stihl MS 441 on wheels, the company says, with a chainsaw starter handle, guide bars mounted on each side, authentic Stihl saw chain design accents and the trademarked Stihl orange and gray color scheme. Team Stihl member and world champion lumberjill, Erin LaVoie, made a special appearance at the presentation event. The chopper was produced by Ron Cimorose of Cimorose’s Custom Cycle.
Doosan Infracore recently completed its acquisition of Bobcat, Utility Equipment and Attachments businesses from Ingersoll Rand Co. Ltd. The three entities will operate as individual businesses of Doosan Infracore International, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Doosan Infracore. Those businesses will be known as Bobcat, Doosan Infracore Portable Power (formerly Ingersoll Rand Utility Equipment) and DII Attachments (formerly Ingersoll Rand Attachments). In July 2007, Korea-based Doosan Infracore paid $4.9 billion for the companies, the largest overseas acquisition in Korea’s history. The company now has a combined network of 3,500 dealers worldwide; 20 manufacturing plants in the U.S., Europe and China; and approximately $7.5 billion in pro forma sales, it says.
Harrell’s Inc., a producer of custom-blended fertilizers and pesticides in the eastern U.S., is expanding its distribution to the Midwest. Two new distribution locations recently opened in New Hudson and Gaylord, Mich., to launch the company’s Midwest expansion. The company also has hired Michigan-based turf and pesticide specialists who will report to Jim Davis, director of Midwest turf sales. The sales staff consists of Kimberly Olson, Ken DeBusscher, Kevin Fuchs, Marc McCoy and Mike Rupp.
Earlier this month at GCSAA’s Golf Industry Show, the Golf Course Builders Association of America Foundation raffled off a 105th anniversary Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Motorcycle to raise money for its Sticks for Kids and Scholarship programs. Only 3,000 raffle tickets for the limited edition Harley (only 3,000 of these bikes were manufactured) were sold for $20 each. The bike is listed with a suggested retail price of $20,270.
The Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association learned last fall it will receive funding through USDA’s Risk Management Education Partnerships. The group will receive a total of $30,000 from the USDA-RMA Small Session Education Partnership Agreements. The agreements fund projects to develop new risk management tools. FNGLA says it will use the funds to strengthen the quality of risk management education offered at three of its educational programs.
TeeJet Technologies wants to alert purchasers of its GPS receivers shipped over the last five years that they may need a configuration change in order to continue receiving the Wide Area Augmentation System signal from new satellites. The products affected that will require a configuration change are: CenterLine 220 (part number 75-30021); RX350P receivers (part numbers 78-50104, 78-50077 and 95-78057); RX360P receivers (all units and part numbers); RX370P receivers (part number 78-50148); and R400P receivers (part numbers 78-50063 and 95-78023). The company urges customers to bring their GPS receivers to trade shows where it will be exhibiting to have them configured, or to contact a local dealer at 217-747-0235 (www.teejet.com).
Becker Underwood, a company that started with two entrepreneurs renting a 640-square-foot building in Ames, Iowa, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year in addition to its accomplishments. Today, the company operates 12 facilities on four continents and employs more than 300 people. Plans for a second facility in Ames also were recently announced. Becker Underwood manufactures specialty bio-agronomic and colorant products for a variety of applications in the agricultural and horticultural markets.
As a way to reach out to U.S. military families with a major breadwinner serving overseas, Project EverGreen devised its GreenCare for Troops campaign. The program sent volunteers to do lawn work and landscape care for military families missing a member overseas. In the second year of the program, Project EverGreen says it’s expanded aid to more than 4,300 families who requested help from GreenCare for Troops. The inaugural program in 2006 helped 2,500 families. The nationwide program drew more than 1,000 volunteers, some as young as 12 years old, the group says. For more information on GreenCare for Troops, contact Project EverGreen at 877-758-4835 (www.projectevergreen.com).
The Toro Co. has extended its sponsorship support of the National Golf Course Owners Association and will continue as the group’s preferred supplier of irrigation and turf equipment through at least 2012, it says. Toro has served as the association’s preferred supplier for the past five years. The two entities announced plans to develop an integrated marketing program, including print and online media, events and promotions.
A charity drive by Troon Golf collected more than 200,000 golf balls that were sent to Arizona soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq over the holiday season. Called Operation White Christmas, the drive was launched last summer and gathered golf balls from Troon Golf, the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Valley Hotel & Resort Association and Kierland GC at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa. The project was intended to help local soldiers pursue a favorite recreational pastime — hitting golf balls — in an environment where golf balls are hard to come by. Some bases in the Middle East build makeshift driving ranges, the company says. The balls were shipped by Packages From Home and Proud Patriots, two nonprofit groups dedicated to delivering mail and care packages to American troops stationed abroad.
The Keep America Playing Tour offers field day seminars across the nation for attendees to work with and learn from professional grounds-keepers. Three events took place in 2007 in Athens, Ga.; Bourbonnais, Ill.; and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Featured guest speakers included Larry DiVito, MLB groundskeeper for the Washington Nationals; Ken Mrock, NFL groundskeeper for the Chicago Bears; Barney Lopas, head groundskeeper for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; and Kyle Waters, head turf manager for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Sessions included turf management and aerification techniques for football or soccer fields, discussions of natural versus synthetic turf fields, and game-day preparation on an infield. Visit www.keepamerica playing.com for more information.
New Jersey-based LidoChem Inc. announces an expansion of its Performance Nutrition Division into the southeast region’s turf and ornamentals markets. As part of the expansion, the distributor of fertilizers and disease control products has hired Glen Thompson to serve as Southeast regional sales manager for the turf and ornamental markets. Thompson will manage sales for the Performance Nutrition Division’s products for golf courses and sports turf management and also expand the company’s network of local dealers in the Southeast.
The Georgia GCSA elected new leadership at its annual meeting last fall. Mike Crawford, CGCS at TPC Sugarloaf, is president; Anthony Williams, CGCS at Stone Mountain GC, is vice president; Richard Staughton, CGCS at Towne Lake Hills GC, is immediate past president; and Lane Ferguson, superintendent at Creekside G&CC, is secretary/treasurer. The 2008 GGCSA board of directors was also selected to include: Barry Bennett, CGCS at Valdosta CC; Berry Collett, CGCS at Sea Island Co.; Craig Conner, superintendent at Summit Chase CC; Ivey Dyal, superintendent at Green Island CC; Lee Fillingim, superintendent at Canongate at Healy Point; Ray Meredith, superintendent at Fort Benning GC; Jerry Matthews, CGCS at Brookfield CC; and Brad Owen, superintendent at Augusta National GC.
The 33rd Certified Builder member of the Golf Course Builders Association of America is Total Golf Construction, a Middle Eastern company that built the first three all-grass golf courses in Dubai. The company started its United States-based operations in 1992 and has also built and renovated numerous courses worldwide.
More than 150 ClubCorp golf clubs opened their doors to the public recently to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary and to raise money for a variety of charities. The ClubCorp Charity Classic raised more than $1.6 million, which was divided among the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Augie’s Quest, the PGA Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and ClubCorp’s Employee Partners Care Foundation. The multiple fundraising events included dinners, live auctions, golf and tennis tournaments and other activities.
Customers of DTN, a manufacturer of weather forecasting, display and decision support technology, now can benefit from a new service from the company that gives access to a public forum with experienced meteorologists. Users of DTN’s MxVision WeatherSentry service can now consult with meteorologists via online chats and post weather questions specific to individual location and industry. DTN meteorologists will provide customers with answers to questions, twice-daily narratives evaluating weather challenges for each particular industry and region, and situational industry analysis to help businesses plan and schedule activities. For more information, contact DTN, (www.dtn.com).
Michigan State University students Francisco Javier García Ircio, Jimena Blanco Jaschek and Juan Muñoz Puro have won $10,000 scholarships from the Royal Spanish Golf Federation. Funded by The Environmental Institute for Golf, GCSAA’s philanthropic arm, the scholarships are two-year grants presented to students from Spain pursuing a turfgrass management degree from Michigan State University. Winners received an all-expenses-paid trip to the recent GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Orlando. García Ircio, who hails from Zaragoza, Spain, received an agronomy engineering degree from Madrid Polytechnic University’s crop science program. Blanco Jaschek, a native of Salamanca, Spain, earned an agricultural engineering degree from the University of Salamanca and took the Higher Greenkeeper Course at The Autonomous School of Business Management. Muñoz Puro, from Sevilla, Spain, has been working for The Royal Spain Federation at the Centro Nacional de Golf.
People news
William G. Teufel, a Fellow of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and a member of the association since 1984, died Nov. 5, 2007, at the age of 82. After founding the landscape and golf course architecture firm William G. Teufel and Associates Inc. in 1956, he designed several courses primarily in the northwestern U.S. Some courses in his repertoire include Fairwood G&CC, Renton, Wash.; Hat Island (Wash.) G&CC; Useless Bay GC, Whidbey Island, Wash.; Tam-O-Shanter G&CC, Bellevue, Wash.; and Wing Point G&CC, Bellevue, Wash. Mr. Teufel is survived by a son, Mitch Teufel, and two daughters, Sandy and Shaye Teufel.
J.R. Simplot Co. has announced Chris Claypool as its senior leader of Jacklin Seed Co. Claypool will also retain his duties as general manager of Jacklin Seed within Simplot AgriBusiness. He’s worked for the past 10 years as the company’s director of sales.
Britton Harold is the new product manager for parts and accessories for Jacobsen. Harold previously worked for Husqvarna as a product marketing manager and for Ingersoll Rand as a quality assurance supervisor and marketing manager.
Cleary Chemical has added Josh Ogden to its sales team. Once an assistant superintendent at several courses in the South including TPC Sawgrass, Ogden previously worked for Trugreen Chemlawn. His territory will cover Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
In a group of changes in its marketing and sales group, Bayer Environmental Science has restructured its Green Professional Products division to include four sales regions: Northeast, North Central, Southern and Western. Mike Ruizzo is the new sales manager for the Northeast region; Jim Fetter is the sales manager for the North Central region; Brian Tepper remains regional sales manager for the Western region; and Eric Kalasz remains the regional sales manager for the Southern region. In addition, the company announces Jason Kuhlemeier as its business manager for fipronil and classic insecticides. Matt Bradley will assume responsibilities of marketing services/project manager, and Joe Burke has been named business manager for imidacloprid and the greenhouse/nursery market lead. Bryan Gooch is the new national accounts manager.
Jeff Feldman is E-Z-Go’s new regional sales representative for California. He’ll be responsible for maintaining current fleet golf car accounts and pursuing new business at courses and resorts in a territory north of Los Angeles. Previously, he held a position with ProLink Solutions.
Scott Ligon is the new Mid-Atlantic territory representative for SynaTek. A superintendent at The Country Club of Virginia for 10 years, Ligon previously worked for Landscape Supply. He will be responsible for sales and service of new and existing golf accounts from York, Pa., south to the Washington, D.C., metro area.
The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association recently welcomed Steve Zwilling as the newest member of its board of directors. Zwilling is the eastern U.S. market development manager for Profile Products LLC. An at-large member, Zwilling will work to educate people in the Mid-Atlantic region about the IECA. He also is a past board member of the Erosion Control Technology Council.
Gordon Wagner has recently been named vice president of acquisitions for IRI Golf Group LLC. Previously, Wagner, a 22-year golf industry veteran, served as vice president of operations for the company’s Texas region clubs. In the new role, he’ll focus on acquiring new business ventures and management contracts nationwide.
Syngenta Professional Products names Todd Loecke its district sales manager for the Midwest turf and ornamentals markets. A 15-year veteran of Syngenta’s sales staff, Loecke previously worked for the upper Midwest sales area as a territory manager. The company also announces Diana M. Nisbet as its territory manager for northern California’s golf, lawn care and ornamental markets. Nisbet, a 30-year veteran in crop production, governmental and public affairs, previously worked in sales for SePro Corp. She also has held a pest control adviser license since 1975.
Golf briefs
The work of three American golf course architects was commemorated in the recent restoration of Bedford Springs (Pa.) Old Course. Despite its evolutions through original contributions by Spencer Oldham, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross, the course now still features elements of the original designs with updated turf management technology. The par-72 course ranges from 5,050 to 6,795 yards and features bentgrass greens, fairways and tees and a rough of bluegrass and fescue. Forse Design Inc. directed the project, LandStudies restored more than a mile of Shobers Run stream channel and floodplain, and Frontier Golf was the construction contractor.
The Aerie at The Club at TwinEagles, a new championship course in Naples, Fla., has received certification as an Audubon Internatnional Silver Signature Sanctuary. The Gary Player-designed course is the 20th course in the world to earn Audubon’s Silver designation. TwinEagles, a 1,115-acre community developed by Bonita Bay Group, was created around existing site features and developed with minimal environmental impact, says Bob Volpe, CGCS, director of golf course operations. The golf course comprises 80 out of 295 acres on the property, and course construction included removal of exotic, non-native plants that compete with native wetland species. The course also features 30 acres of restored wetlands and 30 acres of natural bunkers and waste areas that require little maintenance.
Ballyhack Golf Club in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Roanoke, Va., will feature a Scottish highland-style course over 190 acres that will play as long as 7,250 yards and as short as 4,900 yards. Expected to open in fall 2008 or spring 2009, the club is part of a 370-acre campus including housing, fishing and hunting amenities, a clubhouse and cottages. Designed to offer members an experience where they never need to leave the property, Ballyhack is developed by Landscapes Unlimited. Jonathan Ireland is Ballyhack’s director of golf operations.
Arnold Palmer Design Co. is building its first Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course in greater Los Angeles with Los Valles Club in the Hasley Canyon of Santa Clarita, Calif. With 400-foot elevation changes from mountaintops to valleys, the 433-acre property and housing community will accommodate an eventual 375 private club members. The design of the stormwater drainage off the hillsides will allow it to be transferred into a variety of water features meandering throughout the course. The front nine holes were expected to be grassed last month, while the back nine will be completed later this year with an opening scheduled for March 2009. Landscapes Unlimited is the builder of the course.
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