Divot Mix

“Every time you swing you have a chance for greatness.”
-- Actor Kevin Costner on the attraction of golf

Rocky Mountain superintendents head to New Orleans

A group of 30 golf course management professionals, primarily from the Rocky Mountain region, will head to New Orleans, March 12-19, to help four golf courses recover from Hurricane Katrina. The group will be accompanied by a pair of journalists covering the event.

Lead by Vail (Colo.) Golf Club superintendent Steve Sarro, the group will meet in Colorado Springs and caravan to the Mississippi Delta, March 11. The TPC of Louisiana, English Turn Golf & Country Club and two municipal facilities (Audubon Golf Course and Brechtel Golf Course) have been targeted for clean up. English Turn is hosting the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, April 27-30.

“What is nice about this industry is we are used to helping each other out. We are all friends and want to help,” Sarro said. “Our peers have faced significant challenges. Labor is in short supply, so we saw this as a means to provide expertise in helping golf courses get back open.”

In addition to removing debris, the volunteers will rebuild bunkers and engage in the various cultural programs to prepare the turf for spring play.

Seth Jones, associate editor of Golf Course Management magazine, is accompanying the group, and will be doing a blog on the trip, at http://gcm.typepad.com. Larry Aylward, editor of Golfdom, is also going to accompany the group.  

Jones said of the trip blog, "It's my goal to document this road trip so readers will get the feeling that they packed a bag and joined us. Everything from what we see at these golf courses in New Orleans to the smell of the hot links sausage, cooked up by Syngenta's Tim "Cookie" Klein -- the reader will be right there along for the journey. It will be light on minutia and heavy on the experiences." 

The project has even attracted the attention of the New Orleans media. Times-Picayune writer Brian Allee-Walsh featured it in story that's available online at www.NOLA.com.

The trip is being funded by a variety of businesses and organizations including the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and its affiliated chapter, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association; Syngenta Professional Products, Ewing Irrigation, Colorado Golf, Turf and Ellen Equipment, L.L. Johnson and Golf Enviro Systems.

Sarro will be joined by the following GCSAA member golf course superintendents: Andres Arrietta, Mad Russian Golf Club, Milliken, Colo.; Tom Harston, South Suburban, Littleton, Colo.; Rick Wisotzkey, Indian Peaks, Lafayette, Colo.; John Hoofnagle, RMGCSA, Englewood, Colo.; Greg Blew, Wellshire Country Club, Denver, Colo.; Joe McCleary, Saddlerock Golf Course, Aurora, Colo.; Mike Osley, Aurora Hills Golf Course, Aurora, Colo.; GCSAA assistant golf course superintendents making the trip include: Scott Ellis, South Suburban Golf Course, Littleton, Colo.; Joe McBurney, Fox Hollow Golf Course, Littleton, Colo.; Doug Schroeder, Fox Hollow Golf Club, Lakewood, Colo., and Jason Fisher, Gleneagle Golf Course, Lakewood, Colo.; Kevin Sjursen, Homestead Golf Course, Lakewood, Calif.

College students pursuing a degree in agronomy making the trip include Zach Evans, Justin Luthy, Jared Stanek, Bart Goodrich, Andrew Zuback, Charlie Hansen and Thomas Coe, all from Wyoming University; Jed Davis, Tim Schunk, Scott Redder, Mitch McClary, Chad, Strahlo, Ryan Hasten, J.D. Wise and Blake Scott, all from Colorado State University; Benjamin Needham from Oklahoma State.

Termite-infested mulch rumors untrue

Bob Odom, Louisiana commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry says "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet," in response to as an email rumor about Formosan termite-infested mulch that is apparently circling the globe.

The email warns consumers not to purchase “cheap” wood mulch at major home improvement chains because it may be infested with Formosan termites.

“The email is not accurate and doesn't even mention the quarantines this department put in place last fall to keep Formosan termites from spreading,” Odom said. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry issued quarantines following the hurricanes for woody debris in Cameron, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes. Woody debris cannot be moved out of these areas without first submitting a plan for treatment to the department.

“I've had my people out looking into these claims to make sure there are no violations of the quarantine. I've also had our invasive pest expert contact the stores mentioned in the email and we've yet to find any validity to the claims in the email,” Odom said.

“In my opinion, someone is using the Internet to cause hysteria about a problem that doesn't really exist. If there are people out there who know about someone violating the quarantines, then they need to report it to us. We'll shut the culprits down real quick but it has to be reported,” Odom said. “I think the quarantines are doing the job, though. We've worked with the debris contractors, the Corps of Engineers and FEMA to handle the debris and quarantines.”

More on the issue, and the quarantine, is available online at The Department of Agriculture and Forestry's Web site and the LSU AgCenter's Web site.

USGA offers online applications for all 2006 championships

Applications are now available online at www.usga.org for the 2006 U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open. Entrants may either apply online or download an entry form and mail it to the United States Golf Association.

Entry forms for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship will be available online in mid-March. The remaining eight amateur USGA national championships will be available online during April.

This year for the first time, applications for the Junior Amateur and Girls' Junior can be submitted online by a parent or guardian. Prior to this season, entries for those two championships could only be received by mail due to considerations regarding the entrants being under age. A parent or guardian may also complete an application online for a junior golfer choosing to enter another USGA championship, such as the U.S. Open or the U.S. Women's Amateur.

In another change this year, paper entry forms will not be mailed to the previous year's championship entrants, since more than 70 percent of all entries are now filed online. To receive a paper entry form, call (908) 234-2300.