Attends Southern Nevada GCSA Education Seminar and makes site visits to numerous area golf facilities

GCSAA Board Member Jeff White, CGCS, made a board outreach visit to Southern Nevada January 17-19.  White, who serves as the Superintendent at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission, Kan., will be running for the position of Secretary/Treasurer at the upcoming GCSAA Annual Meeting being held on Feb. 10 in San Diego, CA. 

White started the trip by attending the Southern Nevada GCSA Annual Education Seminar held at Wildhorse Golf Club in Henderson, Nev. The event featured a great lineup of education including Dr. Billy Crow of the University of Florida, Gina Rizzi of Radius Sports Group, Brian Whitlark of the USGA and Dr. Jim Baird of UC Riverside.  Crow spoke to the group on the growing issue of nematodes in the desert, Rizzi discussed BMP facility adoption, Whitlark provided a year end update from the USGA, and Dr. Baird discussed research trials that he is conducting in Southern Nevada.  Jeff was able to play 9-holes of golf with members following the education. 

The second day was made up of site visits to Shadow Creek Golf Club, TPC Las Vegas and The Summit Club. 

Greg Niendorf serves as the Superintendent at the exclusive Shadow Creek as well as President of the Southern Nevada GCSA and we were able to tour the course and discuss conference and show as well as certification which Greg has an interest in. 

The next stop was TPC Las Vegas to meet with Superintendent Josh Minson.  Josh is a new board member and one of the rising young stars in the profession.  Jeff was able to discuss some of Josh’s career ambitions and how GCSAA can assist with those. 

The final stop on the first day was at The Summit Club to visit with Director of Agronomy Scott Lewis and Superintendent Kory Kirk.  The visit included a full tour of the Discovery Land Company facility that is spread over 550 acres.  The club is in the middle of construction of a 132,000 square-foot clubhouse and hosted the PGA TOUR’s CJ Cup this past fall. 

The final day of the outreach visits included stops at Cascata Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev., as well as Rio Secco Golf Club and Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nev. 

Superintendent Scott Delpiere played host at Cascata giving us a tour of the Rees Jones designed golf course and maintenance facility.  Scott serves as Vice President of the Southern Nevada GCSA, and he was able to discuss some ideas on the labor difficulties that facilities throughout the country are currently facing. 

Jordan Block welcomed us to Rio Secco for a tour of the great daily fee facility located in the foothills of Henderson.  Jordan took the position in July and its his first stint as a superintendent after serving as an assistant at both Cascata and The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.  Great playing conditions highlighted the tour and Jordan was able to discuss some of the challenges as a first-time superintendent with Jeff. 

The final stop was at Anthem Country Club with Superintendent James Symons.  James provided us a tour of the facility as well as a stop at his nursery which he is using to determine what variety of bentgrass surface he will be renovating with this summer.  James is a devout Buffalo Bills fan and Jeff a fan of the Chiefs, so they made plans to meet up and tailgate at the AFC Divisional Playoff game in Kansas City. 

The outreach visit was a great opportunity for local superintendents to get a better understanding of GCSAA initiatives as well as just talk turf and open up further networking opportunities and channels of communication.  We thank Jeff for coming out to visit and thanks to all of those who hosted us and provided great hospitality at their facilities.