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Superintendent joins champs at White House
Bill Sessums, CGCS at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C., was included in a group from the university to visit the White House recently to meet President Bush. Sessums, superintendent at the school’s course since 1999, was invited by the Duke women’s golf team, reigning three-time NCAA champions.
“It was quite an honor,” Sessums said after the visit. “It was very moving for me to be looking out from the White House and see the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. To be included in the trip by the coaches and Ed Ibarguen (DUGC general manager) was an honor in itself.”
The Duke team’s visit was part of an ongoing program at the White House where leading college teams and athletes are recognized for their achievements. Among other teams at the recent visit was the University of Alaska’s rifle team.
“President Bush made a joke about the fact that they beat West Point to win the championship,” Sessums said.
The athletes and their guests were given tours of the White House before each team met individually with the president. Later the president addressed a crowd of about 250 on the South Lawn and shook hands with each team captain.
“The tour was really neat and very enlightening,” Sessums said. “It was wonderful to hear the stories that go with the different rooms at the White House, but I also think it was very good for the girls to see that it is very much a place of action and that it is part of the real world, not just something they see on television.”
Sessums, a 25-year member of GCSAA and a longtime member of the Carolinas GCSA, said the president’s address to athletes and their supporters, including many dignitaries from each of the states represented, focused on the complementary nature of sports and academics and how the world of athletics can round out an individual’s experience, with the business of setting goals and striving for success helping shape athletes into the leaders of tomorrow.
Sessums describes himself as “old school” and remembers topdressing with a shovel and fertilizing with “an old wooden drop spreader.” But he achieved his certification in 1985 and is widely respected in the industry.
“It’s been a wonderful travel,” he said, paying tribute to outstanding support from his wife, Bonnie. “I have seen over the years that this profession has no ceiling. There is always going to be room for growth and advancement in the profession and in the science of maintaining a golf course.”
— Information provided by Trent Bouts,
editor, Carolinas Green
Joseph M. Duich, Ph.D., professor emeritus of turfgrass science at Penn State University and GCSAA’s 2006 Old Tom Morris Award winner, is among those receiving the university’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Dramatic links to host 2015 U.S. Open
The USGA has awarded the 2015 U.S. Open to one of the country’s most stunning venues, Chambers Bay Golf Course, which is perched on the scenic shore of the lower Puget Sound near University Place, Wash.
Chambers Bay will be just the third municipal facility to host the Open, following New York’s Bethpage Black (2002 and again next year) and San Diego’s Torrey Pines (this June). It’s also the first time the tournament has been held in the Pacific Northwest.
The USGA also announced that Chambers Bay will be the site of the 2010 U.S. Amateur — a kind of dress rehearsal for the spectacular links layout that opened just a year ago and features fine fescue grasses, including the greens — another first for the national championship. Chambers Bay also will be the first U.S. Open site with Audubon International Signature status.
“We are excited to take the U.S. Open Championship and the U.S. Amateur to such an awesome site,” Jim Hyler, chairman of the USGA Championship Committee, said in a media announcement of the selection. “This is the first time the U.S. Open has been to Washington, and we are confident that the golf course will provide a challenging test for the best players in the world, as well as a great spectator experience for those who attend the event and watch it online and on television.”
Chambers Bay was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Bruce Charleton. David Wienecke, a 13-year GCSAA member, directed the construction and grow-in and is now superintendent at the facility.
The USGA also announced that another young, heralded venue, Erin Hills Golf Course, a links-style layout near Hartford, Wis., will host the 2011 U.S. Amateur. Erin Hills also is the site of this summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
Golf course development continues to reflect more prudent activity, in the words of the National Golf Foundation. The NGF reports that in 2007, 113 new courses, including 18-hole equivalents, came on line, while closures for the year numbered 121.5. Meanwhile, a 14 percent decline in golf rounds played in the U.S. in December caused the year-end number to dip to -0.5 percent.
Take that, Mother Nature
When an ice storm and an ensuing heavy snow buried the greens at Wayne (Neb.) Country Club in early December, superintendent Ken Dahl wasn’t worried, figuring Mother Nature would take care of things like she usually does in her fickle fashion in the Great Plains. But when she didn’t within a prudent period of time, the 24-year GCSAA member took matters in his own hands.
“Usually, the climate changes from time to time during the winter and warms up, melting such an accumulation of ice and snow, but not this year,” Dahl says. “Our concern was that the ice could cause a real problem if it stayed on the greens more than 75 days. So we decided to remove it.”
Dahl removed the snow first with a small tractor and two snowblowers, then with the greens resembling small skating rinks, he applied a dose of Milorganite to melt the ice.
“Anyway, it worked, and with the help of a couple of warm days, we cleared the greens,” Dahl says.
Water, turf on EGR winners’ minds
GCSAA honored three superintendents at the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Orlando with its 2008 Excellence in Government Relations Awards for their exceptional commitment to government relations advocacy.
The awards went to Michael Maffei, CGCS at Morefar Golf Course in Brewster, N.Y.; Peter McDonough, Class A superintendent at The Keswick Club in Keswick, Va.; and Richard Staughton, CGCS at Towne Lake Hills Golf Club in Woodstock, Ga.
Long an advocate for communicating golf industry views on legislative and regulatory issues, Maffei, a member of GCSAA for 36 years, was instrumental in the formation of the New York State Turfgrass Association’s Turfgrass Advocacy Day.
McDonough, an 18-year GCSAA member, has played an integral role in helping shape Virginia’s water laws by informing legislators about golf course management and water conservation practices. Most recently, he was involved in the development of state regulations on the use of reclaimed water.
For the past three years, Staughton has had a key role in negotiations among the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the Georgia GCSA Water Task Force, chapter members and state officials to improve water conservation in the state. Ultimately, the 31-year GCSAA member led the way in creating and implementing unprecedented statewide best management practices for golf course water conservation.
The GCSAA Government Relations Committee recently set its 2008 Priority Issues Agenda, with particular focus on six issues — the Americans with Disabilities Act, fertilizers, labor and immigration, land use, pesticide laws, and regulations and water management.
Third edition of
ASGCA book available
The commitment of Bill Love and the American Society of Golf Course Architects to provide a valuable source of information on the environmental issues involved in the design, construction and subsequent management of a golf facility continues with the third edition of Love’s “An Environmental Approach to Golf Course Development.”
The 57-page, full-color publication, introduced at the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, follows the inaugural edition in 1992 and an updated publishing seven years later. Love, who runs a design firm out of College Park, Md., is chairman of the ASGCA’s environmental committee and was the society’s president in 2004-05. He says the book’s content has evolved over time, from the first edition’s basic approach to the idea of golf course design and the environment to becoming more specific — “What the issues are and how we deal with them,” he says. “... I think (the 2008 edition) will be a very useful tool for decision-makers.”
The Golf Course Builders Association of America Foundation is the chief underwriter of the latest publication, with additional funding support coming from the ASGCA Foundation, GCSAA, the USGA Foundation and the Toro Foundation.
More stringent construction requirements and the emergence of worrisome water issues have led to expanded content, plus the publication’s popular case studies about new courses or renovations that embody environmental principles and a great golfing experience have increased to 18 such stories in the 2008 edition.
But for Love, the book is an ongoing resource to bolster a bigger story, one that all of golf needs to continue to tell at every chance — that golf courses really are compatible with Mother Nature.
“Our three organizations (ASGCA, GCBAA and GCSAA) are great environmental stewards, and this is a great way to get the message out,” he says.
“An Environmental Approach to Golf Course Development,” Third Edition, is available by contacting the ASGCA at 262-786-5960, or visiting the ASGCA Web site, www.asgca.org.
Former Lake City professor lands honor
The inaugural Edwin Budding Award, presented by the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association and sponsored by the Textron company Ransomes Jacobsen, has been given to retired Lake City (Fla.) Community College professor Ed Combest for his role in the success of the school’s turf equipment technology program.
Combest is credited with the creation of Lake City’s turf equipment technician classes and assisted with the actual design and construction of the school’s new classrooms that house those classes.
The award was created to honor those in the turf equipment industry whose work has helped shape the industry. Edwin Budding is credited with designing the first reel mower.
Golf maintains economic clout
The results of a World Golf Foundation-commissioned study of the economic impact of golf in 2005 were released during the PGA Merchandise Show in late January. The study is the second one since 2000.
For the most part, the newest research (by SRI International) confirms that golf continues to be a big player in the nation’s economy. Golf’s direct impact on the economy in 2005 was $76 billion, $14 billion more than five years ago. Moreover, golf’s total impact on the economy in 2005 was $195 billion, with two million jobs created with an income of $61 billion.
Paced by facility revenues, real estate and golf-related tourism, the game’s annual growth rate was 4.1 percent.
“Golf is a meaningful contributor to this nation’s economic engine and it’s important to everyone here, important that everybody in the industry and everyone who plays golf is aware of these statistics,” said David Fay, WGF chairman, in announcing the study’s findings. “But I would say it’s equally important, if not more so, that this information about the economic impact has been circulated to those 270 million Americans who don’t play golf, because we all know they are people who will definitely be in a position to affect and influence golf’s future well-being.”
For a Q&A session about golf’s impact in America featuring Fay, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka and former GCSAA CEO and World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona, visit www.pga.com/2008/news/other/01/23/econ_forum/index.html.
Growing the game
The PGA of America’s Play Golf America Days continued to show increased participation in 2007, the program’s fourth year.
A record 79 Play Golf America Days were held at 7,000 facilities across the country, a 55 percent increase over the previous year, with more than 803,000 people participating. Also, a record 27,472 consumers attended the PGA Days compared to 19,025 in 2006. More than 1,000 PGA Professionals gave free instruction nationwide.
Donald Ross Award to noted editor
George Peper, former editor-in-chief of Golf magazine, is the 2008 recipient of the Donald Ross Award given annually by the American Society of Golf Course Architects in recognition of significant contributions to golf and golf course architecture.
Peper, who led the magazine for more than 25 years and is noted for being the first to publish the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World lists, is also the author of 17 books on golf and golf courses. He currently is editor-at-large for Links magazine and lives in St. Andrews, Scotland, which is where the ASGCA is holding its 62nd annual meeting this spring and will present Peper with the award on April 3.
DeLozier joins consulting firm
Henry DeLozier, vice president of golf for Pulte Homes the last nine years, recently became a principal of Global Golf Advisors, an international golf consultancy.
In his time as head of Pulte Homes’ golf portfolio, he oversaw the development of 27 golf courses in 10 states and became a leading proponent of integrating golf assets within real estate holdings. DeLozier is immediate past president of the National Golf Course Owners Association and also serves on GCSAA’s Strategic Communications Committee.
Top job woos Vlach back to Sawgrass
Tom Vlach, CGCS, a former intern and assistant superintendent at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., will take over as head superintendent at the course following its Players Championship in early May. Vlach is replacing longtime Sawgrass superintendent Fred Klauk, who is retiring and will become a project manager for the PGA Tour.
Since 1999, Vlach has been golf course maintenance director at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., where he directed the construction of the club’s second Rees Jones-designed course and also prepped for seven Bruno Memorial Classics on the Champions Tour. Vlach is a 17-year member of GCSAA.
Four leading companies in the golf course industry have joined GCSAA’s Partner Recognition Program, all at the Silver level — BASF Turf & Ornamentals, Club Car, Rain Bird Corp. and E-Z-Go.
Trio earns Watson Fellowships
The latest Watson Fellowships have been awarded to three graduate students in turfgrass studies.
The program, funded by The Toro Co. and The Environmental Institute for Golf, will award $5,000 postgraduate grants to Aaron Johnsen, who is working on a master’s degree in applied plant science with a turfgrass science emphasis at the University of Minnesota; Brian Schwartz, who is working toward a doctorate in turfgrass breeding at the University of Florida; and Bradley Sladek, who is working on a master’s in turfgrass germplasm evaluation at Texas Tech University.
Landscapers address H-2B consequences
As many small businesses in America struggle while Congress continues to stall legislation that would extend the returning H-2B worker exemption, the landscape industry has revealed some interesting facts.
In a labor survey conducted recently by Lawn & Landscape magazine, responding companies gave the following answers when asked what steps they would have to take in 2008 if the exemption is not renewed:
• 52 percent said they will not purchase equipment/trucks they planned to buy this year.
• 50 percent said they will recruit employees from their competitors.
• 43 percent said they will cancel contracts, refuse business or otherwise stifle growth.
• 36 percent said they will raise wages and increase benefits to attract seasonal workers.
• 29 percent said they will hire workers with potentially fraudulent documents.
Other responses included layoffs of permanent management-level employees and selling the company and trying another business.
Mona goes home to receive HOF honor
Steve Mona, CAE, former GCSAA CEO, will be inducted into the Tri-Valley Sports Hall of Fame April 2 in his hometown of Pleasanton, Calif., one of a half-dozen communities that make up the Tri-Valley region of the San Francisco East Bay area. The event, which has honored such sports figures as former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden and Major League Baseball pitcher Randy Johnson over the last 17 years, benefits the Easter Seals Bay Area Kaleidoscope After-School Program for children with disabilities.
Correction
Christopher S. Hayman’s information was incorrect in the “On the move” section in the February issue of GCM. Hayman, formerly Class C at Pauma Valley Country Club, is now Class SM at Oaks North Executive Golf Course in San Diego.
In the news
New hope blooms in the desert
An article in the January issue of Club & Resort Business reports on the unique consortium of municipal leaders, golf management company experts and major resort operators that built Indian Wells (Calif.) Golf Resort outside of Palm Springs, featuring Casey Conlin, CGCS.
Short courses in success
A feature in the National Recreation and Park Association’s official publication, Parks & Recreation, written by Angela Nitz, GCSAA corporate communications manager, explores the service and atmosphere driving successful municipal golf courses. The article includes interviews with GCSAA past president Mark Woodward, CGCS, director of golf operations for the city of San Diego; Edward Fisher, CGCS, park services director for Hamilton County, Ohio; and Dennis Lyon, CGCS, golf division manager for the city of Aurora, Colo. Included is a sidebar, “Successful community, successful golf,” about Spring Creek Golf Club in Seneca, Kan., and how the community recognized the value of recreation and supported the nine-year construction project, written by Amanda Howard, GCSAA employment administrator. Interviewed in the sidebar was Terry Durst, superintendent at Falconhead Resort & Country Club in Burneyville, Okla., and former superintendent at Spring Creek.
Opportunities abound for HGTC students
The Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News reports on Horry-Georgetown Technical College’s annual career day on the Conway, S.C., campus for its approximately 75 golf and sports turf management, horticultural technology and turf equipment technician students, featuring Brad Owen, Class A superintendent at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club; Mark Wilson, CGCS at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.; and Paul Daniel, HGTC professor.
Feeling good about getting wet
A story in the “On Course” section of the National Golf Course Owners Association’s official publication, Golf Business, profiles the Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, and how it solved a maintenance problem and secured a lucrative real estate sale by transforming a waste area to a water feature, featuring Eric Bauer, GCSAA Class A superintendent.
Don’t wait until the well runs dry
Tom Werner, CGCS at Shadowhawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas, writes in the January-February issue of the USGA Green Section Record about proactively seeking water resources.
Passing noted
Gene Nutter, executive director of GCSAA from 1959 to 1965, died Jan. 16. He was 85.
Renowned as a visionary and leader of the turf industry in the 1950s and ’60s, Nutter developed the turf research and teaching program at the University of Florida in 1951 and a year later helped found the Florida Turfgrass Association.
In his six-year tenure as executive director of GCSAA, as well as editor of Turfgrass Times, an unoffical predecessor of GCM, Nutter ran the association’s business out of his office in Jacksonville, Fla. In 1967, he was hired by Lake City (Fla.) Community College to direct its new two-year turf and ornamental program.
At the time of his death, Nutter was living in Lawrenceville, Ga. Survivors include his wife, Rose, a daughter and a son. He was preceded in death by another son.
Miller steps down as Grass Roots editor
Monroe Miller recently retired as the longtime editor/publisher of The Grass Roots, the official magazine of the Wisconsin GCSA and GCSAA’s perennial award-winner for best content in a chapter publication with an unpaid editor.
Miller has been the Class A superintendent at Blackhawk Country Club in Madison, Wis., since 1973 and has been a member of GCSAA for 36 years. He is a former president of both the Wisconsin GCSA and the Wisconsin Turfgrass Association. He won his chapter’s Distinguished Service Award in 1989 and the USGA Green Section Award in 2004.
“I’ve done it for 24 years at the great expense of a whole lot of things that didn’t get done,” Miller says of his decision to end his watch with The Grass Roots. “When I started I was in my 30s, and now I’m in my 60s. That says it all.”
Vernon new USGA president
James F. Vernon of Pasadena, Calif., a longtime leader of golf in Southern California, is the new president of the USGA. He was elected to a one-year term at the USGA’s Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.
Vernon is a past president of the board of directors of both the Southern California Golf Association and the California Golf Association. He currently serves on the board of directors of the SCGA Foundation. He started his volunteer work with the USGA as a member of the USGA Sectional Affairs Committee in 1998.
Vernon is the owner of Frank Vernon Diamond Brokers and Wholesale Jewelers, a family business in Los Angeles that was started under his father’s name more than 50 years ago.
Face of golf struggles with change
Rafael Martinez, who was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in New York City, admits he got into golf “by accident.” He was a financial professional and realized he was leaving a lot of business on the table by not using golf as a business tool, so he picked up a club and gave it a go.
“I’m the poster child of what can happen when you introduce a person like me to the game of golf,” he said during the Changing Face of Golf Forum at the GCSAA Education Conference in Orlando. “I got into golf because I saw it as a business opportunity and got hooked.”
As Martinez’s library of golf-related books and magazines began to grow, he came to an uneasy realization: “Something was missing — brown faces,” he recalled.
So Martinez began publishing his own magazine, The Green, which targets the affluent golfer, or, as Martinez put it, “The good life, well-lived for people of every color.”
Now, after three years and numerous affluent product advertisers like Cadillac, but not a single buy from a golf-related advertiser, Martinez told the audience his second uneasy realization: “We have a serious problem. Minorities are bringing $11 billion to golf — with zero investment. Here we are, trying to grow the game, and there’s a whole group of people out there who want to come in, but there’s no one there to open the door for them.”
Martinez’ publication sponsors clinics that introduce new players to the game — all aspects of the game, not just how to swing a club, and he encouraged the golf industry to do the same.
“We have to do a better job of communicating with these people,” he said. “Golf has a problem; they just can’t admit they have a problem, and they’re leaving a lot of business on the table.”
— From the GCM blog by Bunny Smith, managing editor
“Of the 10 highest paid employees of Troon Golf, a majority are superintendents.” — Jeff Spangler, senior vice president of science and agronomy, Troon Golf, speaking at a forum on multi-course companies at the Orlando GIS.
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