Divot Mix

Combest to Lead National Auctioneers Association

Hannes Combest, GCSAA Managing Director, Member Programs has been chosen as the new CEO for the National Auctioneers Association based in Overland Park, Kan.

Combest joined GCSAA in May 1996 as a manager of education and quickly climbed the ranks. She has been integral in GCSAA’s efforts to elevate the profile of the membership and the association, and in developing key relationships with a variety of constituent groups. A certified association executive, her last day at GCSAA will be May 28.

“This is a bittersweet day for the association,” GCSAA President David S. Downing II, said. “We are sad to be losing a wonderful team member who has served the membership with dedication, passion and pride. However, we know this is a wonderful opportunity for her. We wish her all the best.”

Sand Creek Station featured on GreenLinks

U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas, is the guest columnist for the May GreenLinks; Highlights from EDGE. In it he relates how an EPA grant to the city of Newton, Kan., helped with the creation of a golf course that diverts effluent gray water away from the Equus Beds Aquifer that supplies water for residential, agriculture and industrial uses for much of southcentral Kansas.

The May GreenLinks is a case study by James Houchen, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Sand Creek Station and is hosted by Bob Farren, GCSAA certified golf course superintendent and director of grounds and golf course management for Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.

U.S. Open entries close, 58 fully exempt

The USGA has accepted 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open, to be played June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif., including 58 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the field.

Ninety-two percent of the total entries were received online, including 1,192 in the final two days. The USGA received 102 entries online in the final hour. The last entry to arrive was from Keith Stone, a 39-year-old amateur from Chelmsford, Mass., who beat the deadline by 56 seconds. The first entry received was from Joseph Tumpach, a 31-year-old professional from Naperville, Ill.

The youngest golfer to enter was 12-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The oldest applicant was 79-year-old Harris Moore Jr., a professional from Los Angeles, Calif. Overall, the USGA received entries from golfers in all 50 states and 68 foreign countries.

Among the foreign applicants were professionals Dawuda Mahama, 40, of Ghana; Lawan Mallam, 28, of Nigeria; and Alejandro Villavicencio, 28, of Guatemala. To be eligible, a player must have no higher than a 1.4 handicap index or be a professional.

Local qualifying at 111 sites will begin May 5. Sectional qualifying at 13 sites will be conducted on June 2, including one in England. A 14th sectional qualifier will be played May 26 in Japan. It is the fourth consecutive year that the USGA has offered these two international sectional qualifiers.

Incoming GCSAA CEO, Mark Woodward, CGCS, is the host of this year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

The Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. Other championships include the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Senior Open and 10 amateur competitions. For a complete list of exempt players click here.

Nominations sought for Intelligent Use of Water Award

Rain Bird Corp. is seeking nominations for its 2008 Intelligent Use of Water Award. This award recognizes innovation, leadership, ingenuity and overall commitment to improved landscape water efficiency that has raised the standard for outdoor water conservation.

Both consumers and professionals are encouraged to submit their nominations for the 2008 Intelligent Use of Water Award by completing a nomination form at http://www.rainbird.com/iuow/award.htm. The deadline for nominations is June 30, 2008.

Following the close of the nomination period, an independent panel of experts will select the finalists and winner based on leadership, innovation and implementation of water-efficient measures. The recipient of the 2008 Intelligent Use of Water Award will receive $10,000 honoring his or her efforts to protect Earth's most precious resource. The winner will also be featured in a short film to be shown at the final screening event of the Intelligent Use of Water Film Competition in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2008.

The award is intended to encourage knowledge and awareness of the need for water conservation.  In 2007, The Water Conservation Garden in San Diego County, Calif., received the first annual Intelligent Use of Water Award in recognition of its training programs and five-plus acres of exhibits that teach the public how to better conserve water in the landscape.

"As more and more demand is placed on the world's supply of fresh water, increased scrutiny of water use spurs us to implement practical solutions that provide economic and environmental benefits," said Dave Johnson, Rain Bird's director of corporate marketing.  "By recognizing these types of achievements through the Intelligent Use of Water Award, we aim to inspire others to do the same."

NGF to present private club study results

The National Golf Foundation has been awarded a grant by the NCA Foundation of the National Club Association. The grant will be used to distribute the NGF's upcoming publication, The Future of Private Golf Clubs in the U.S., to private club presidents, owners and managers throughout the country.

The report, scheduled to be released early this summer, will provide an in-depth look at the state of private golf in the United States. Based on interviews with club operators, financial data provided by clubs and a nationally representative survey of golfers, the report will look at the current state of private golf as well as the future outlook for the nation's 4,400 golf clubs.

"The NGF undertook this research to help clarify the current financial state of private clubs and the outlook for their future," said NGF president and CEO Joe Beditz. "We've read with interest numerous articles over the past several months dealing with the state of private golf. And, while these articles have done a good job of detailing the problems being experienced by private clubs, we felt that a more rigorous effort was called for to accurately quantify not only the extent of the challenges, but also what successful operators are doing to overcome them."

Beditz went on to say that the research was based on hundreds of interviews with club operators and thousands of surveys of private club members, former members and prospective members. Detailed study results will be presented to attendees of the NGF's upcoming Golf Business Symposium in Dallas, May 15.

Sue Wegrzyn, president and CEO of the NCA, said the NGF study fit perfectly into the mission of the NCA Foundation, the NCA's charitable arm which focuses on research and education in the private club field. "The NCA Foundation was established in 1993 in order to fund critical trends studies and underwrite educational programs and research to help clubs prepare for their future. We were glad to be able to provide this grant to the NGF which will be used to ensure that the report achieves the widest possible distribution to private clubs."

Some results from the study:

• For every private club that has closed its doors over the past decade, another 10 have converted to public courses.
• The number of private golf clubs in the U.S. today is equal to the number that existed on the eve of the Great Depression.
• After home relocation, financial reasons top the list of why members are leaving clubs.
• Latent demand still exists for private clubs, and baby boomers may yet join in the years ahead.