Michael J. Hoffman has been named president and chief operating officer for The Toro Co. A 27-year veteran with the company, Hoffman most recently was the group vice president of the consumer, landscape contractor and international business division, which represents more than 65 percent of Toro’s revenue. Kendrick B. Melrose will continue as chief executive officer and chairman. Hoffman, 49, joined Toro in 1977 and spent his first 12 years with the company in sales, service and marketing roles for the commercial and consumer businesses. During the past 10 years he has held a number of top executive positions, including managing the commercial and consumer businesses.

Doug Fender, the longtime executive director of Turfgrass Producers International (TPI), has retired (see Fore Questions). During his tenure, TPI has grown to more than 1,100 members in 40 countries. He also played a role in the creation of the International Turf Producers Foundation (ITPF) in 1994, which has raised more than a $500,000 to fund turfgrass-related research. “Our admiration, respect and appreciation for all that Doug has done for TPI, ITPF and the turfgrass industry as a whole is difficult to put into words,” says TPI President Art Campbell. “His leadership, dedication, commitment to excellence and the manner in which he has represented producers, suppliers and consumers alike will have a lasting impact on everyone associated with our industry.” In 2002, Fender was named the Environmental Communicator of the Year by the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association.

Rick Brandenburg, Ph.D., a turf entomologist in the department of entomology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, has been elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. The honor was awarded in November during the group’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City.

Past GCSAA President Paul McGinnis, CGCS, has been elected to the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame. McGinnis, the superintendent at Eagles Nest Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz., served as the association’s president in 1997. He is a lifelong resident of Arizona and has been superintendent at a number of courses throughout the state. The induction ceremony was Nov. 22 at Camelback Golf Club.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of Nakheel, has agreed to serve on the advisory council of The Environmental Institute for Golf. Nakheel is one of the world’s premier property developers and the promoter of Dubai’s most prominent real estate projects, and has launched a golf course development division. Greg Norman, the head of The Institute advisory council, is working with Nakheel on the development and design or four golf courses in Dubai focused on environmentally sound principles and practices. “I completely agree with Greg’s point that the environment and its relationship to golf is the most important issue facing the game’s global development today,” Sultan bin Sulayem says.

First Tee comes to FarmLinks

The newest First Tee facility has opened its doors at FarmLinks at Pursell Farms.

Located at the headquarters of Pursell Technologies Inc. in Sylacauga, Ala., FarmLinks’ First Tee facility will focus on servicing area children between the ages of 7 and 17 with an after-school program. The First Tee at Pursell Farms will be working with the Sylacauga and Fayetteville, Ala., school districts, the Boys Club of Sylacauga and S.A.F.E. on this program, and hopes to have 350 children involved with the program within five years.

FarmLinks is the world’s first research and demonstration golf course that involves some of the top companies in the golf course management industry, including The Toro Co., Syngenta and Club Car. The First Tee is a national, nonprofit organization founded by the World Golf Foundation that is dedicated to providing young people of all backgrounds with an opportunity to develop life-enhancing values through golf and character education.

Lost greens cost Orlando course Champions Tour event

Orlando’s Metro West Country Club has lost a Champions Tour qualifying school event it has hosted each of the last eight years after the course’s greens began dying after a routine fertilizer application.

But the club avoided an even bigger headache — the complete resodding of those greens — thanks to a Herculean effort by superintendent Jim Kernohan and his maintenance staff.

“We discussed it (closing the course and resodding all 18 greens with TifEagle bermudagrass), but decided against it,” the nine-year GCSAA member says. “We’ve been fortunate that the greens have healed up nicely. They’re not perfect; we’ve got four or five greens that are still a little bumpy. But we’ve been doing some light topdressing and they’re getting smoother every day.

“It’s been a long process, but we’re getting close.”

The greens at Metro West began dying in late August following a regular fertilizer application to all 18 greens and the club’s practice green. The Orlando Sentinel reported that club officials believed a herbicide was intentionally mixed with the fertilizer, and asked Orlando authorities to investigate the incident as a possible case of vandalism.

But Kernohan told GCM he is skeptical of those charges. “That’s an easy thing to say, but we really don’t have any evidence (of vandalism),” he says. “It would have taken a very creative effort to make that happen. All of those bottles are in a locked cage, and I really don’t believe there are any ‘disgruntled former employees’ out there right now. It’s all just a mystery.”

Kernohan says the loss of the Champions Tour qualifier was “unfortunate,” but the club’s biggest concerns were the impact the incident could have on revenue generated by everyday play on the course. “We never closed the course, but we did have to reschedule some tournaments,” he says. “We reduced rates and just tried to explain to golfers what was going on. For the most part, they were very sympathetic.”

Kernohan says the whole experience has changed the way he approaches tasks around the golf course. “I’m certainly going to check things twice any time I put something in a sprayer,” he says.

“I’m just glad that whole thing is almost over. I know this has all taken a few years off my life. I’m sure my wife and kids are glad it’s over too,” he laughs.

Play sags in third quarter

After three consecutive quarters of increased play, National Golf Foundation statistics showed play dipping slightly in the third quarter of 2004, although overall numbers remain up for the year.

Decreases in the summer months of July (minus 3.5 percent) and August (minus 1.6 percent) led to an overall decrease in rounds played of 0.9 percent for the third quarter. Rounds played had been up 2.5 percent through the first two quarters of 2004 and remain up 1.3
percent overall for the year.

Along with an increase in rounds played, facilities are also reporting increased revenues for 2004. Overall, NGF figures show an overall increase in revenues per round of 2.7 percent, while revenue per round at public facilities are up just under 1 percent.

The strongest gains so far this year have been reported in the Mid-Atlantic region, with rounds played up nearly 12 percent compared with 2003. Even in the Central/South Florida region, where rounds dropped almost 20 percent in August and 30 percent in September because of a record hurricane season, overall rounds played numbers are up 2 percent for the year.

U.S. Open headed to Congressional

Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., has been awarded both the 2009 U.S. Amateur and the 2011 U.S. Open, the USGA announced in October.

The Amateur will use Congressional’s Gold and Blue courses for the two rounds of stroke play during that tournament before shifting the tournament to the Blue Course for the six rounds of match play. The U.S. Open will be played entirely on the Blue Course.

Originally designed by Devereux Emmett in 1924 and renovated by Rees Jones in 1990, Congressional has played host to five previous USGA events, including the 1964 and 1997 U.S. Opens, won by Ken Venturi and Ernie Els, respectively. Michael Giuffre, a 20-year GCSAA member, heads maintenance operations at Congressional.

“We are excited about having the U.S. Open return to Congressional Country Club,” says Paul Klinedinst, a Congressional member who will serve as co-chairman for the championship along with Ben Brundred III. “The nation’s capital area and golf’s national championship are a perfect pairing. We look forward to again showcasing Congressional Country Club on the sport’s main stage.”

In 2005, the U.S. Open visits Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort and Country Club, while the U.S. Amateur will be contested at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

Green Section recaps record hurricane season

The record hurricane season of 2004 left superintendents across the state
of Florida scrambling to recover from the effects of one devastating storm, sometimes while preparing for the onslaught of the next storm.

Four named storms — Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne — struck the state in the span of less than two months. John Foy, the director of the Florida Region of the USGA Green Section, has prepared an extensive recap of the impact these storms had on the state.

“Essentially, every Florida golf course was impacted as a result of the hurricanes,” Foy writes. “The exception to the rule were the lucky few who were on the outer edges of the storms and experienced only minor wind damage and periods of heavy rain. For the vast majority, extensive tree and landscape plant material damage was experienced.”

To read Foy’s complete recap, visit the USGA Web site at www.usga.org/
turf/regional_updates/regional_reports/florida/10-19-2004.html.