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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    For crew members seeking grassroots education in golf course management science and principles, the GCSAA recently launched its Greenkeeper Certificate program.
    The entry-level program is part of the GCSAA's workforce development initiative.
    To earn the certificate, crew members must successfully complete six webinars, pass an exam and demonstrate proficiency in turfgrass prep and maintenance, equipment use and safety, teamwork, communication and golf course etiquette.
    "Labor continues to be a top challenge for the golf course management industry, and GCSAA is committed to helping our members find, train and retain qualified crew members," said GCSAA chief executive officer Rhett Evans. "The Greenkeeper Certificate program offers the opportunity to train crew and recognize high performers, which we hope will encourage them to continue along a career path in the industry."

    The GCSAA Greenkeeper Certificate program provides entry-level employees with basic instruction on golf course management science and principles, as well as equipment use and safety. Photo by John Reitman Key concepts of the entry-level instruction program are:
    Turfgrass prep and maintenance Equipment use and safety Teamwork, communication, golf course etiquette Webinar instruction, an exam and skills demonstration No time limit to complete the program Click here for more information, or to register.
    In other news, Steven Spatafore, (right) director of agronomy at Los Altos (California) Golf and Country Club, has been named the recipient of the GCSAA's 2026 Emerging Leader Award.
    The award recognizes an individual "who serves the industry as a superintendent with less than five years of experience" or a student or assistant superintendent "who displays continuous growth in service and leadership".
    Spatafore interned at Valhalla, Cypress Point and Pasatiempo. After graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, he spent one year as an assistant-in-training at Pebble Beach and as an assistant superintendent at Contra Costa Country Club in Pleasant Hill, California.
    He was promoted to superintendent at Contra Costa in September 2020 and served in that position until June of 2025 when he was named as the director of agronomy at Los Altos Golf and Country Club.
    A past president of the Northern California GCSA chapter, Spatafore serves as a mentor for associates just as former supervisors did for him. He is active in the GCSAA Grassroots Ambassador program, Government Affairs Committee and PAC Board and has participated in meetings with members of Congress and their surrogates during the past two editions of National Golf Day.
    Spatafore will receive the award during the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in February in Orlando.
  • Last month, the PGA Tour was exploring options for an alternate location for its season-opening event in Hawaii after drought conditions rendered the event's regular venue unplayable. 
    On Oct. 22, the Tour decided to cancel The Sentry outright, citing logistical challenges that included shipping deadlines, tournament infrastructure and vendor support. The event was scheduled for Jan. 5-11 at The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina. Instead, the Tour's official season will begin the following week at The Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
    "Since it first became a possibility that the PGA Tour would not be able to play at The Plantation Course at Kapalua due to the ongoing drought conditions on Maui, we worked closely with our partners at Sentry to assess options for contesting The Sentry in 2026," PGA Tour Chief Competitions Officer Tyler Dennis said in a Tour news release. "While it is unfortunate to arrive at this decision, we are appreciative of the collaboration and dedication from Sentry Insurance, a tremendous partner of ours."

    Extreme drought conditions on Maui led the PGA Tour to pull its 2026 season-opening event from the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina last month. The Tour intended to secure an alternate location, but announced Oct. 22 that the tournament has been canceled for next year. Photo courtesy of Kapalua Resort and Alex Nakajima The Sentry field was to include the top 50 players from the previous year's FedExCup standings, plus those players who won a PGA TOUR event in 2025.The tournament was the Tour's season-opening event from 1986 to 2013, a slot it filled again in 2024. Sentry Insurance became the tournament's title sponsor in 2018.
    The PGA Tour announced Sept. 17 that The Sentry would not be played at Kapalua after Tour officials visited the site and concluded the condition of the Plantation Course had been "significantly compromised" by the drought and water limitations.
    Early in September, Maui County Water Supply imposed Stage 2 water restrictions, which call for a cease of all non-essential for commercial and industrial purposes, according to the county's rule, which does not specify restrictions for golf. 
    A Stage 2 water shortage is enacted when anticipated demand in an area is projected to exceed available water supply by 16 percent to 30 percent.
    The resort said last month it had used almost no water throughout September.
    TY Management Corp., the owner and operator of the Kapalua Resort and its two golf courses, along with a local homeowners association and a commercial farm operation filed a lawsuit last month in Maui Circuit Court against Maui Land and Pineapple, a land and real estate development company, that manages a series of ditches and streams that supply the resort and other users in the area with water. The suit alleges that Maui Land and Pineapple has allowed the ditch system to fall into disrepair, leading to a lack of water for users.
  • Not everyone would climb aboard a plane, fly half way around the world just to work for a few hours then head back to the airport and return home without ever checking into a hotel.
    Bruce Martin, Ph.D., not only would do that, he did do that.
    A plant pathologist and extension service specialist at Clemson University for more than 30 years, Martin's expertise in diagnosing, preventing, treating and diagnosing turf diseases built a following among golf course superintendents in the Carolinas, throughout the country and around the world.
    A native of Conway, Arkansas, Samuel Bruce Martin died Oct. 16. He was 71.

    Longtime Clemson University plant pathologist Bruce Martin, Ph.D., (right) was a pioneer in disease identification and management. USGA photo "He was in high demand around the world because of his applied knowledge," said Martin's colleague at Clemson, weed scientist Bert McCarty, Ph.D. "He got a call from a golf course in Hawaii. They had a disease they'd never seen before, and they wanted him out there. He flew all day, spent three or four hours on the golf course, caught a red eye, and was home again the next day."
    It was that kind of expert knowledge and accessibility paired with his respectful, down-home Arkansas nature that made Martin a giant in the industry with superintendents and colleagues alike. In September, Martin was inducted into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame.
    "There are guys you respect and who you want to hear talk. He was one of them," said Fred Gehrisch, CGSA at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina. "When he spoke, you shut up and listened. In fact, all the Ph.D.'s, they shut up and listened to him, too."
    Martin was a 1976 graduate of Hendrix College, located in Conway, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology. He earned master's and doctorate degrees in plant pathology from the University of Arkansas and North Carolina State University, respectively. 
    He had been working at a research station in Connecticut when his wife was hired at Clemson's Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence, South Carolina. He spent his first year in South Carolina working at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. There he established a turfgrass diagnostics lab in 1987 to help superintendents in the Myrtle Beach area.
    The next year he started his 31-year career at Clemson University, where he began work in tobacco and field crops.
    He studied under Leon Lucas, Ph.D., at NC State, and credited his mentor with influencing his career in turf pathology and how he worked tirelessly to help superintendents.
    "I visited a lot of golf courses with Leon," Martin once told TurfNet. "You don't realize when you're that young that what you are diagnosing makes a big difference to the superintendent, but it does. Leon helped me understand that."
    Carolinas GCSA Executive Director Tim Kreger remembers Martin for being accessible to superintendents and dedicated to helping them. He recalled a visit to Martin's Clemson office at the Florence research center.
    "There were boxes stacked chest high," Kreger said. "I asked what they were and he told me 'those are soil samples that I have to get done by the end of the weekend.' "

    Bruce Martin, Ph.D., (right) with Clemson colleague Bert McCarty, Ph.D., (left) and retired North Carolina State weed scientist Fred Yelverton, Ph.D. Photo courtesy of Bert McCarty From providing diagnoses of turfgrass issues to conducting cutting-edge trials, Martin became noted for developing a host of fungicide programs to combat myriad diseases under a variety of conditions.
    "He was the first turfgrass pathologist in the South in the sense that he not only looked at traditional diseases, but also issues we were not so sure about," McCarty said. "And he got stuff figured out."
    When Martin delivered webcasts or spoke at events, it did not matter if superintendents were growing warm- or cool-season turf. He usually came with fungicide programs designed to help superintendents everywhere.
    "What he did was give you options," Gehrisch said. "He had programs for cool-season, warm-season or a mix, because that was his clientele. He came armed to give everybody options, and that's a powerful tool."
    Martin was the first in 2001, along with Larry Stowell, Ph.D., the founder of PACE Turf, to diagnose and name Rapid Blight (Labyrinthula terrestris), a disease in cool-season turf typically caused by irrigation water that is high in salt content.
    When Martin recommended fungicides to prevent or recover from disease, superintendents knew they could trust that he was providing them with solutions that would work. And those solutions typically included chemistries from a wide range of chemical companies.
    "His impact will be felt for decades. He solved problems that nobody else could, like when he identified Rapid Blight," said Carolinas GCSA Executive Director Tim Kreger. "His programs are used all over the world."
    Martin and McCarty, his Clemson colleague and schoolmate from their time at NC State, almost single handedly saved golf for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. When the golf course was overwhelmed with a fungal disease weeks before play in the Summer Games was to begin, officials in Brazil called Clemson.
    "The course was slammed with what turned out to be Mini Ring," McCarty said. "Few people outside South Carolina knew about it and how to work on it. He and I went down there, and he knew what was going on right away. We developed a management plan and had that solved in a few weeks."

    Bruce Martin (right) playing croquet with J. Bradly Shaver, Ph.D., of Helena Agri-Enterprises (left) and Fred Gehrisch, CGCS, COO and general manager of Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina, during a site visit to the course with Clemson University students. Photo courtesy of Bert McCarty His expertise drove attendance at regional and national shows and educational events.
    "Everybody wanted to hear him," Kreger said. "His seminars always sold the most seats, and that was because of the information he was sharing. And it was always updated and current."
    Martin was always searching for news solutions to old problems while also searching for fixes to problems no one had yet identified.
    As a turf pathologist, he took it upon himself to learn all he could about turfgrass nematodes that plagued superintendents throughout the Carolinas and elsewhere. 
    After speaking at the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show on nematology for a few consecutive years, he suggested the show bring University of Florida nematologist Billy Crowe, Ph.D., in to share his expertise with attendees.
    "He had no ego at all," Kreger said. "He was very collaborative."
    In 2005, Martin was named one of the 10 most influential people in the South Carolina golf industry by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel. His accolades include the Carolinas GCSA Distinguished Service Award, the Clemson Alumni Award for Distinguished Public Service and the GCSAA Col. John Morley Award in 2014.
  • Talk about taking the road less traveled.
    Bryan Barrington's career started more than 20 years like that of many other superintendents: turf school, followed by a couple of stints as an assistant before finally becoming a head greenkeeper. 
    For the past five years, his career as an agronomist has been anything but ordinary.
    A graduate of the University of Rhode Island turfgrass management program, the 57-year-old Barrington (right) is co-founder of Alliance Golf, a Farmington, Connecticut hospitality management company founded in 1999 with partners Josh McKim and Phil Craft. The company owns three New England golf courses and manages a fourth. Barrington not only is co-owner of the company, he also is vice president of agronomy overseeing conditions and superintendents at all four properties.
    One of those courses is The Club at Oxford Greens, a daily fee in Oxford, Connecticut where Barrington was superintendent since grow-in in 2005.
    Fast forward to the Covid era, when golf was still in a spiral, and the club's owners were looking to sell.

    Bryan Barrington has been associated with The Club at Oxford Greens since grow-in 20 years ago.   "One of the owners stayed in as an owner, and he asked me and my now partner Josh McKim if we would be interested in owning it," Barrington said. "I thought, well, if I'm going to be doing this I might as well get a piece of the action."
    Before Oxford Greens, Barrington grew-in Red Tail Country Club, a Brian Silva design in Devens, Massachusetts that opened in 2002. He swore then he would never do another grow-in.
    "I was getting married while doing the grow-in. I was stressing, losing weight and there were the sleepless nights," Barrington said. 
    "So, when it was all done, I was like, 'whoa, I'm not doing that again.' "
    Against his own advice, Barrington followed with the Oxford Greens project. It was the allure of starting with a blank canvas and creating something from it that drew him back in.
    "I told myself I wasn't going to do it again, but, you know, I loved it. I loved every part of it," he said. 
    "So, when another one came up, I threw my hat in and ended up doing my second one. I think it was the whole process of forest to dirt to seeding to fertilizing to grow-in and then to opening. The attraction for me was the whole scenario of seeing something come out of a blank piece of land."
    Alliance Golf has since made other acquisitions.
    The company also owns Silo Point Country Club (formerly Heritage Village) in Southbury, Connecticut and Red Tail, and manages Tunxis Country Club in Farmington, Connecticut. The group recently sold the private Blackhawk Country Club in Stratford, Connecticut.
    It was at Blackhawk where Alliance adopted autonomous mowing technology with a fleet of Husqvarna units.
    When the group purchased Blackhawk, the property was facing labor challenges and to that end needed some attention. It also needed new equipment. It was the perfect opportunity to explore new technology.
    "If you buy a traditional fairway mower, you have to put a body in it. You have to find someone to sit in that seat," Barrington said. "We would have needed two mowers, and that is two bodies just sitting. Blackhawk only has 18 to 20 acres of fairway. It's not a massive amount, so that's where we dug our heels in.
    "If we could get two more bodies, then great. But, we could also have them doing other things."

    Silo Point Country Club is one of three courses owned by Alliance Golf. It made more sense financially and from a conditioning standpoint to go autonomous and have employees paying more attention to the golf course.
    "Do we want someone sitting on a fairway mower every day, or do we want someone edging bunkers and weed-whacking?" he asked. "It made sense to have people dedicated to detail work."
    None of Alliance's other properties have the infrastructure on the golf course to support charging stations for autonomous mowers, Barrington said. However, he thought enough of the technology that he would utilize it again if he could.
    "We don't have the power to ever station throughout the golf course, which is a limiting factor," he said. "You need 110 (volt) to power the charging system. We would have to run new line throughout the golf courses, which would be a pretty big expense."
    So what is next for Alliance?
    Golf in Connecticut has been strong since Covid, so the group is focused on growth.
    "We've thought every year after Covid, 'when is play going to drop?' We're not seeing the drop," Barrington said. "Golf has been up at all of our properties. 
    "We recently sold Blackhawk, but we are pursuing another one to make up for that. We own three right now, but we'll be back at owning four golf courses and managing all five."
  • No one can accuse architect Dave Zinkand of drawing up cookie-cutter golf course designs.
    Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Zinkand Golf Design recently completed work on The Reversible, a unique nine-hole layout at Medina (Ohio) Country Club that is designed to appeal to scratch golfers while simultaneously providing an experience that should appeal to higher-handicap players as well as newcomers to the game.
    As its name suggests, The Reversible features a pair of nine-hole loops that can be played in opposite directions. Built on the site of Medina's former nine-hole Lilac Course, The Reversible's Purple course is played in a clockwise direction from the first tee while the Green course runs counter-clockwise.
    Each par-31 routing at the club near Cleveland begins with a downhill par-3 to one of two large double greens and continues in opposite directions along a collection of par 3s and 4s spread over rolling terrain before concluding with par 3s with double greens for the finish. 
    Da
    A rendering highlights the unique layout of the Purple and Green courses at The Reversible at Medina Country Club in Ohio. Graphic by Zinkand Golf Design Strategic bunkering and multiple routes to hole locations provide a test for low-handicap players, while wide landing areas provide plenty of room off the tee for less-experienced golfers. Ample green surrounds and rugged bunkering with fescue brows hearken to the game's past.
    Zinkand said the idea for the reversible layout was not initially part of the plan, but was a design change he made after being hired by Medina to build a new nine-hole layout in a floodplain with a creek running through it.
    "The land has just enough movement to make it ideal for reversible golf," Zinkand said.
    Construction began in summer 2024 with Majestic Excavating of Seville, Ohio handling the earthwork, and Frontier Golf of western Pennsylvania completing the construction.
    The project is part of a Zinkand-led master plan at Medina that also includes an overhaul of the club’s practice facilities complete with a state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor teaching academy. Construction has begun on a new clubhouse and the plan eventually will include a restoration of Medina's 18-hole golf course that opened in 1967.

    The Reversible includes numerous teeing options as well as double greens to provide golfers with a unique experience. Photo by Zinkand Golf Design Owner Bill Cosgrove, CEO of Union Home Mortgage, acquired Medina in 2022, and was the club's third owner in less than two years. The club had fewer than 60 members then and today boasts more than 400. Changes have been afoot at Medina ever since. A year after Cosgrove bought the property, the former Lilac course lost three holes to a training facility and other projects.
    Zinkand Golf Design leans on three principles in its golf course projects: strategic options, sense of adventure and sense of place.
    Mission accomplished.
    It took club management time to even comprehend the plan when Zinkand approached them with the idea of a reversible layout.
    "I remember seeing the renderings for the first time and it almost takes you a minute to wrap your head around it," Medina general manager Kirby Manown told Crain's Cleveland Business last year. "You see how it flows in one direction and you’re like, 'All right? What are the sight lines for the other direction?' It’s really almost like one big loop and the concept is just so unique about how you can come to the greens from different angles and different directions."
  • Aquatrols recently named Ben Pease, Ph.D., as territory manager for its Midwest region.
    Pease (at right) has several years of experience in turfgrass science, research and applied agronomy. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees, before earned a doctorate in turfgrass management at Iowa State University.
    A former greenkeeper, he worked on the crew at Whistling Straits in Mosel, Wisconsin, and was an assistant golf course superintendent at Cherokee Country Club in Madison.
    His experience also includes positions as a research specialist at the University of Wisconsin, North Carolina State and Iowa State, and most recently spent the past four years as an agronomist for The Andersons.
    A highly respected turfgrass physiologist, he has dedicated his career to advancing turf performance and sustainability through innovative research and education.
    Pease's expertise is in turfgrass physiology, soil science, nutrient management and stress tolerance. Throughout his career, he has authored many peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Agronomy Journal, Applied Turfgrass Science and Crop Science.
    "His industry experience coupled with the strong relationships he’s built with distributor partners and industry leaders will assist in securing Aquatrols' leadership position well beyond the borders of his Midwest territory," said Wes Hamm, Aqualtrols' director of sales.
    Based in Paulsboro, New Jersey, The Aquatrols Co. is part of Lamberti, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer headquartered in Italy.
  • Recovery from winter damage on a golf course can be a costly endeavor in more ways than one, but developing a program to minimize the threat can be, financially speaking, as expensive or more.
    According to a multi-university study, the average cost to recover from winter injury caused by factors such as crown hydration, desiccation, ice encasement, exposure to low temperatures, snow mold and winter stress ranges from $6,000 to $8,999. Expenses associated with preventing that damage can cost twice as much, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts.
    The study comprised responses to an online survey from 96 golf course superintendents. The results were published recently in the Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science.
    "This wasn't scientific, peer-reviewed research, but it gives us good numbers to work from moving forward," said study co-author Paul Koch, Ph.D., at the University of Wisconsin.
    Other authors attached to the study were Doug Soldat, Ph.D, Eric Watkins, Ph.D., Chengyan Yue, Ph.D., and Uma Parasuram, Ph.D., of Minnesota; Kevin Frank, Ph.D., of Michigan State; and Michelle DaCosta, Ph.D., of Massachusetts. Click here to read the complete results of the study.
    Creeping bentgrass was the predominant turf on greens, tees and fairways, with Kentucky bluegrass comprising most of the rough area acreage. Annual bluegrass, among the most susceptible varieties to winter damage, covered 33 percent of the greens in the survey, 23 percent of fairways, 20 percent of tees and 16 percent of rough areas.

    A survey of nearly 100 golf course superintendents revealed ice encasement is a common concern during winter. Photo by Kevin Frank, Ph.D., Michigan State University Even in areas growing cool-season turf, winter damage is only an occasional issue.
    "It's been 12 or 14 years since the last big winter damage event in Wisconsin," Koch said. "Winter damage is probably not on anyone's radar until there is a big ice event."
    Ice encasement was the most common cause of winter damage reported, with 70 percent of the respondents citing it as an issue, followed by crown hydration (59%), snow mold (54%), desiccation (46%), low temperatures (26%), de-hardening (15%) and other (6%).
    It should come as no surprise that the survey revealed that annual bluegrass is more susceptible to winter damage than other cool-season turfgrasses. 
    Specific to annual bluegrass, de-hardening was reported by 71 percent of respondents, followed by crown hydration (56%), low temperature exposure (48%), ice encasement (46%), desiccation (40%) and snow mold (27%).
    Methods of prevention vary not only from one turf variety to another, but also between types of damage. Ice encasement can be prevented by removing ice after a long period of time, other crown hydration, and a one-time investment in greens covers can help minimize the threat of crown hydration, exposure and desiccation. Snow mold prevention is a recurring expense that can have limited effectiveness.
    A recent snow mold event affected fairways on golf courses throughout southern Wisconsin.
    "Fairways got hammered, but most of it was gone by May," Koch said.
    "They're probably thinking why spend $10,000 on snow mold prevention in fairways if I only get it every 10 years."
    Incidence of snow mold is weather dependent, and treatments can have limited effectiveness depending on local conditions. Efficacy can be shortened by repeated rain or snow events, especially early after applications are made, and by extended winter conditions at the end of the season.
    "Any time there is snow melt or rain, (fungicides) can wash away pretty quickly," Koch said. "It's not like we didn't get any impact, but at some point it is going to dissipate and won't persist all winter. How much injury there is from fungus also depends on how much snow we get late in the season when the product is out of reserves."
    The goal of the study was to assign costs to recovering from winter damage as well as trying to prevent it.
    On average, the costs of preventing winter injury ranged from $12,000 to $17,999 per year per golf course, according to the survey. Additional costs of inputs to recover from winter injury were between $6,000 and $8,999 per year per golf course and included weed-control products, seed, fertilizer, equipment and labor.
    Survey respondents were asked to report average annual revenue loss due to delays in golf course openings caused by winter injuries and revenue loss due to delayed openings in years with considerable winter injuries. 

    According to survey results it can cost more to prevent winter damage than it is to recover from it. USGA photo The average annual revenue loss in normal years ranged from $3,000 to $5,999, and $6,000 to $8,999 in years with considerable winter injury. About half of the courses reported no revenue loss due to delayed openings from winter injuries, and about a quarter of respondents reported revenue losses of less than $5,999. A total of 3 percent of those responding reported revenue losses exceeding $75,000.
    Researchers also attempted to identify the cost of winter injury per acre by using the self-reported acreage data from the survey. On average, the cost of preventing winter injuries was approximately $200 per acre, with a median of $121 per acre. However, some golf courses spent more than $3,000 per acre. 
    The additional cost to recover from winter injuries in years with normal winter injuries was about $89 per acre on average and went up to $147 per acre on average in years with considerable winter injuries. 
    Finally, the revenue losses averaged about $115 per acre in years with normal winter injuries and $159 per acre in years with considerable winter injuries. Some courses reported no revenue loss, while some reported higher losses up to $3,055 per acre.
    The research team concluded that the study can help superintendents make informed decisions when managing turf for winter damage. They also wrote that further research with a larger sample size would result in better data.
    "We would have liked more respondents," Koch said. "We probably could fix that by making a shorter survey. If they're too long, people don't want to do it."
  • When considering golf's most historic layouts, city-owned Delray Beach Golf Club probably is not top of mind for many.
    With nine holes designed by Donald Ross in the 1920s and a second nine added three decades later by Dick Wilson, the course in South Florida has a history that stacks up against many more well-known tracks. And it is due to get a needed facelift. 
    Plans are in the works for a $27 million restoration of the course that opened in 1926. City officials say the project will be funded through a revenue bond and repaid over 25 to 30 years from green fees, not taxpayer dollars, according to the proposal. That plan goes before city boards for finance and contract approval on Oct. 14 and Oct. 21, respectively, according to city manager Terrence Moore. 
    Golfers and residents of Delray Beach have lobbied for an update of the course for several years. A host of proposals submitted by several developers were rejected by the city commission in 2023. Many of those proposals included some sort of public-private development that involved constructing residential housing or a hotel to help offset the cost of the project.
    "Quite frankly, this has been a well-regarded plan for a number of years, since before I got here," said Moore, who has been city manager since 2021. "This is a tremendous push to bring the course up to current standards."
    Led by the Jupiter, Florida firm of Sanford Ferris Golf Course Design, the restoration will include a complete overhaul of the golf course, including everything from tee to green as well as the clubhouse. The project is expected to begin in November, and will take about a year to complete, Moore said.
    With green fees priced at just $33 for 18 holes and $18 for nine, Delray Beach stays busy, with more than 50,000 rounds annually. That brisk business is why officials are confident the city can repay the bond using revenue derived solely from green fees.

    With nine holes designed by Donald Ross and nine by Dick Wilson, city-owned Delray Beach Golf Club is set to get a $27 million renovation. DBGC photo   "There is a great deal of excitement surrounding this project," Moore said. "We look forward to providing the city and residents the golf course they deserve."
    Delray Beach has a long and storied past.
    The original Ross-designed nine holes at Delray Beach opened in 1926. 
    By the 1930s, Delray Beach hired Wilson, then an aspiring architect, as club pro and head greenkeeper in the early days of his golf course design career. Closed during World War II, Delray Beach reopened in 1945, and city officials elected to add a second nine holes and commissioned Wilson for the job, with the routing opening in 1950.
    After the opening of the second nine, Delray Beach Golf Club became a favorite of many Tour Pros, such as Tommy Armour, and celebrity Jackie Gleason, who was the namesake of a PGA Tour event from 1972 to 1980 at Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, Florida, was a regular there.
    Wilson's original designs include the North and South courses at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio and the Blue Course at Trump Doral in Miami, which was a fixture on the PGA Tour from 1962 to 2016. He completed restoration projects at many other well-known facilities, such as The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts; Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) in Mamaroneck, New York; Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia; Bel-Air Country Club in Southern California; and Cog Hill Country Club (courses 3 and 4) in Lemont, Illinois near Chicago.
  • There is good news, and there is better news for the golf industry through August.
    The good new is rounds played in August were up in every state in Golf Datatech's Monthly Rounds Played Report. 
    The better news is that after a record-setting year for rounds played in 2024, the golf business appears headed for another year in the black as the season begins to wind down in much of the country.
    According to the report by Golf Datatech, rounds played were up in every state for August, compared with the same month in 2024. The report measures rounds played in 49 states — sorry, Alaska — and Washington, D.C. Not one state, nor the nation's reported a drop-off in play for the month.

    Golf rounds played were up in August in every state in the country compared with the same month last year, says Golf Datatech. Photo by John Reitman Leading the way were Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, D.C., New Jersey and Texas, all reporting a 14 percent year-over-year increase in rounds played, compared with August 2024. Other states with double-digit increases were Nevada (13%), Iowa and Missouri (12%), Virginia and West Virginia (11%) and Michigan (10%).
    With what historically are about 80 percent of nationwide rounds played in the books by the end of August, according to Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp., nationwide rounds played through August are up 1.4 percent, compared with the first eight months of last year. An increase in participation, even if it is a slight one, is a positive sign for an industry coming off a record 532 million rounds played in 2024.
    Favorable weather conditions likely played a role in the game's coast-to-coast popularity in August. 
    According to Koppenhaver, there was a 4 percent increase in Golf Playable Hours in August. GPH is a metric compiled by Pellucid Corp. to measure the total number of daylight hours suitable for playing golf, taking into account weather factors like precipitation and temperature.
  • For nearly a decade, Brentsville District High School in Virginia has been leading the way in preparing high school students for possible careers in turfgrass management. 
    "We want to teach students the basics of turfgrass science and get them prepared to earn a degree," said Drew Miller, Ed.D. (right), director and founder of the Brentsville Turf Toro Grounds Academy in Nokesville, Virginia. "I don't want it to be like when I went to school where on the first day I was like 'What's a stolon?' "
    The academy is now on a trajectory that Miller once could only dream about.
    What started in 2017 with 63 students, has grown to 240 members with support from the school district as well as Toro and its Washington, D.C., area distributor Turf Equipment and Supply Co. In July, work began on a new 6,000-square foot building that will include lab space, workshops and multi-purpose areas. Construction is scheduled to be completed before the start of the 2026 school year. Also planned is a research putting green and trial plots for research projects in addition to the 30 acres of athletic fields and other grassed areas Brentsville students already maintain. The program has carried the Toro name since last year when the company and Turf Equipment and Supply stepped forward with support.
    The new building was made possible by support from the school, Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent LaTanya McDade and school board members who put a capital-improvement project on the proposed budget, as well as school board members and local elected officials who approved the plan.
    The school board approved the plan at its February meeting, and local government officials did the same in May.
    "We spent a lot of time going to different people, companies and even hedge funds trying to find philanthropic dollars to fund the facility," Miller said. 
    "I was at the (2024) SFMA (Sports Field Management Association) conference in Daytona when I got the call from a school board rep that they were going to put it on the capital-improvement plan.

    The Brentsville Turf Toro Grounds Academy in Virginia is training the next generation of professional turfgrass managers. All photos by Drew Miller "It was a surreal moment. I thought 'This is really going to happen.' This is something before I never dreamed would happen."
    The academy has a state-of-the-art equipment fleet thanks to Turf Equipment and Supply, and only a 26X26-foot steel shed in which to store it.
    The program had outgrown its facilities in more ways than one.
    "We had gotten to the point where people in the industry took notice of what we were doing," Miller said. "We have students who three years out of college are head golf course superintendents. Our graduates are working in Major League Soccer, the NFL and Major League Baseball."
    Solar panels will be placed on the roof and the building will have a water-retention-and-filtration system that will be a source for everything from an equipment wash pad to flushing toilets. The program’s goal is to achieve LEED Platinum environmental certification while teaching students to become environmental stewards. It would be the first facility in Prince William County to attain LEED status.
    The new building will help attract more students, and a shop with a lift, reel grinder and welding station will help expand the program to train future golf course and sports field equipment managers.

    A new 6,000-square-foot building will include an equipment manager's shop complete with lift and reel grinder, lab space and multi-purpose rooms to host events. Multipurpose facilities in the building can be used to host field days and a variety of other events, Miller said.
    Currently, all turf at Brentsville is one of several varieties of Bermudagrass. Research plots will offer the chance to grow cool-season grasses, as well, and Miller says plans will include partnering on university research trials. He already has sent out or received interest from Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ohio State and Tennessee.
    "We've been in touch with Mike Goatley at Virginia Tech," Miller said. "We've heard from John Kaminski at Penn State, and we have reached out to John Sorochan at Tennessee, who is doing research for the World Cup. We would like to be involved in something like that."
    "This will give our kids the opportunity to work with university professors and graduate students. We want to connect our students with the people who have seen the research in the field."
  • With the president watching the final round of the Ryder Cup Matches on Sunday from behind bullet-proof glass at Bethpage, the Donald called out boorish fan behavior that culminated with a can of beer bouncing off the hat of Rory McIlroy's wife.
    But it wasn't "that" Donald who told the media that fan behavior "crossed the line" after Europe defeated Team USA 15-13 to retain the Cup.
    "What I consider crossing the line is personal insults and making sounds when they are trying to hit on their backswings or very close to when they are trying to go into their routines," Team Europe captain Luke Donald told the media afterward. "That did happen a little bit."
    Fans shouted during backswings and hurled insults at European players and worse, much worse. McIlroy even asked security to remove one fan after an insulting comment.
    Was anyone really expecting differently from a crowd of ginned up New Yorkers . . . dressed as Uncle Sam, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, a bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty . . . at a site 30 miles from one of the earliest conflicts of the American Revolution?
    Come on, now.
    Not everyone was guilty of such outlandish behavior, but as long as sporting events hitch their wagon to revenue derived from alcohol sales to thousands of people, behavior like that which took place at Bethpage will continue.
    Northern Ireland's McIlroy seemed to take the brunt of the abuse, which reached its low point when a beer can from the gallery hit the brim of his wife's hat as the couple strode to the 18th green to watch the end of Sunday's competition.
    Video of the event showed that the can was not actually thrown at McIlroy's wife. Rather, a spectator flipped the can from another onlooker's grasp. Surprisingly, no one could be heard slurring "good shot."
    Regardless of the intent, the airborne beer was the exclamation mark on an already black eye for the game.
    As McIlroy stated to the media at the conclusion of play, golf is bolstered by virtues such as sportsmanship, fair play and character.

    Golf fans at Bethpage made headlines for all the wrong reasons at this year's Ryder Cup. PGA of America photo That lecture in etiquette, mind you, came from a man who, when he reached his boiling point, implored spectators to "shut the f*** up," reportedly flipped the middle finger when they did not and demonstrably mouthed "f*** you, f*** you, f*** you" while walking off a green. The scene had become so tense Sunday that New York State Troopers accompanied McIlroy's group.
    Whether such bravery from the crowd is the by-product of mob mentality, or is fueled by a concoction sold at Bethpage called "The All-American Transfusion," or a combination of both, such behavior at sporting events should not come as a surprise to anyone. Alcohol sales generate huge amounts of revenue, and many who attend these events have yet to master the art of responsible drinking. Has anyone ever checked out Europe's Premier League or any NFL game recently?
    It was estimated that about a half-million cans of beer would be sold throughout the event that drew about 225,000 attendees. There was no information on how many All-American Transfusions were sold at $19.59 per cup, but they most assuredly helped stoke the flames of European resentment, some of which apparently have been burning non-stop for the past 250 years.
    The Guardian, a newspaper with headquarters in London, went so far as to blame spectator behavior at Bethpage on The Donald, the one behind the bulletproof glass and who lives in Florida, not the one from England who captained the visiting team, but played collegiate golf in Illinois — and lives in Florida.
    There is no excuse for the behavior exhibited by fans at Bethpage, but good sportsmanship often is hard to come by at the Ryder Cup, by players and fans. But it also should not be a surprise, either. After all, many fans feed off the same sort of trash talk that Ryder Cup participants often direct at each other. 
    Prior to the 1997 matches at Valderrama, European captain Seve Ballesteros famously proclaimed he had 12 players who could beat Tiger Woods. 
    Two years later, at the Country Club in Brookline, USA captain Payne Stewart said his European counterparts were barely good enough to carry his team's bags. Things worsened throughout the event when European captain Mark James said fans spat on his wife and Colin Montgomerie's father left early and returned to England rather than listen to the relentless heckling.
    Montgomerie, who was shutout throughout his career in pursuit of a major championship, was one of Europe's better Ryder Cup players. He also excelled at throwing barbs at American players. While some were simple gamesmanship, some were downright cruel, including the time he said he hoped the cup-deciding putt would fall on the shoulders of Scott Hoch, referring to a missed putt on No. 18 at Augusta that cost him the 1989 Masters. Even worse, he said he didn't think Brad Faxon would be up to the task in the ‘97 matches at Valderrama because of his pending divorce.
    Even Tommy Bolt, who was known for his hot temper, complained of treatment by fans in England during a U.S. loss in 1957.
    The pro golf circuit also shares some blame, by promoting and encouraging rude behavior at some events, namely the par-3 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale where players are roundly booed or cheered and sometimes showered with beer by oiled up fans based on how they fare on that hole. It's a simple fact that there is going to be trouble of some sort by combining crowds that size with freely flowing alcohol. Period.
    If the game's stakeholders — and players — can't understand why fans who are encouraged to throw a beer in the Arizona desert one day color outside the lines the next, maybe they should look in the mirror.
  • Performance Nutrition has added a trio of new products to its Prudent plant-health lineup.  
    Prudent Turf, Prudent Turf Plus and Prudent Green all are based on the Performance Nutrition urea phosphite technology platform, formulated to promote rapid foliar uptake, support natural plant defense pathways and help turf tolerate environmental stress. All three are available through the company's nationwide distribution network.
    Performance Nutrition's urea phosphite platform delivers phosphite efficiently in a low-salt package. The charge-neutral formulation promotes foliar entry and mobility while maintaining tank mix compatibility and minimizing scale or residue. 
    Prudent Turf (2-0-0) is formulated to supply readily absorbed phosphite (PO₃) to increase rooting, improve nutrient efficiency and support the plant's natural defense mechanisms. It is a good tank mix partner with most fertilizers and plant protection products. 

    Prudent Turf Plus (3-0-0) combines urea phosphite with Pennamin amino acids to enhance nutrient transport and recovery for faster response and improved visual turf quality.
    In trials at Clemson University, Prudent Turf increased root weight versus both potassium phosphite and untreated control at equal application rates on a seven-day interval. 
    Prudent Green (2-0-0 + green pigment) pairs urea phosphite nutrition with a green pigment for color enhancement while providing clearer spray pattern visibility to support uniform application. 
    All three products are designed for foliar use on greens, tees, fairways and athletic fields. 
    Founded in 1999 with headquarters in Hazlet, New Jersey, Performance Nutrition is a provider of plant-health solutions for the turf, ornamental and agriculture markets. The company's portfolio includes biostimulants, nutritional blends, plant growth regulators, polymer adjuvants and other plant-health products.
  • As the Ryder Cup Matches take center stage in golf this weekend in New York, the event is a reminder that research that began more than two decades ago on the same site has helped reshape the way golf courses are managed today.
    The matches are to be contested Sept. 26-28 on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island. The park's Green Course became a living laboratory beginning in 2000 as researchers in New York began exploring ways to manage golf courses with few inputs.
    The impetus for the research was a confluence of events that could have had significant consequences for superintendents. As Bethpage was preparing the Black Course for the 2002 U.S. Open, several counties in New York implemented some level of pesticide bans, said Jennifer Grant, Ph.D., (right) a retired Cornell University professor and the former director of the New York State Integrated Pest Management program.
    "Nobody knew if you could actually manage a golf course without pesticides," said Grant, now a scientific liaison with Global Organic Partners. "We saw some changes happening in New York that often affected golf courses.
    "The question we had was what would you do if you didn't have pesticides. In my role as IPM specialist, that was a question I wanted to answer.
    "Grass on putting greens is under so much stress, anything we can do to reduce that stress is going to pay off."
    To find answers to those questions, launching a research project on one of the five golf courses at Bethpage State Park made perfect sense. Suffolk County on Long Island, where Bethpage is located, was among those implementing rules governing pesticide use. Likewise, the state also was considering pesticide bans on the 27 golf courses across New York's 19 state parks.
    The study included six separate treatments, each of which was replicated three times:
    Standard Culture (ball roll > 9 feet)
    Unrestricted Chemical Usage (Greens 1,6, 17) Integrated Pest Management (Greens 3, 5, 12) No Chemical Usage (Greens 2,4, 16) Alternative Culture (ball roll > 8 feet)
    Unrestricted Chemical Usage (Greens 8,9, 13) Integrated Pest Management (Greens 11, 14, 18) No Chemical Usage (Greens 7, 10, 15)
    The Green Course at Bethpage State Park was the site of research that has helped shape sustainable golf course management. Bethpage State Park photo The standard treatment included height of cut from 0.110 to 0.140 inches (mowed four times weekly), light applications of topdression every three weeks, rolling to maintain green speed and verticutting as needed.
    The alternative program comprised height of cut from 0.170 to 0.185 inches (double cut five days per week), light applications of topdressing weekly, rolling three times weekly and verticutting every two weeks.
    Conducting such trials at a public multi-course property made sense economically, as well, so as not to adversely affect revenue for the host site.
    The Green Course remained open throughout the duration of the research, getting up to 50,000 rounds annually.
    According to a statement from Cornell: "In 2000, when communities on Long Island, New York, restricted pesticide use and the state later tightened chemical regulations, a debate erupted over the environmental impact on lawns and golf courses. Encouraged by the legislation, state park golf courses were eager to demonstrate environmental stewardship or risk turf decline and lost revenue under stricter regulations."
    Project success depended heavily on getting buy-in. Getting Cornell colleague Frank Rossi, Ph.D., (right) on board gave the project that needed credibility.
    "Probably my biggest accomplishment was getting Frank on board," Grant said. "I asked him: 'What would you do if you were managing a golf course and couldn't use pesticides?' " Grant said. "Probably my biggest accomplishment was getting Frank on board."
    The project showed that it was possible — at Bethpage — to produce results very similar to a traditional turf management program with 30 to 60 percent fewer inputs.
    During the research phase of the project, there were plenty of doubters. 
    "People have to want to make it work to make this program work," Grant said.
    Throughout the duration of the project, Cornell researchers hosted an annual open house for golf course superintendents as well as lawmakers and other public officials from throughout New York.
    "We invited not only superintendents who wanted to learn management strategies, but we also wanted people who set policy to come and see what a golf course might look like under these types of practices and what the cost might be."
    There is no cut-and-past management program that will work everywhere all the time. But the work conducted at Bethpage has produced results and helped lead the way to subsequent projects that have opened many doors to researchers as well as superintendents.
    "I wish there were 100 Bethpage projects going on around the country, because every site is different. Climate is different. There are different things that impact what will work and what won't," Grant said. "Really good integrated pest management is never cookbook. People tend to underestimate cultural practices and go to their chemical bases first. 
    "There were things 25 years ago that were not normal practices then, but are now. Rolling greens for disease management: People know they can do that now. Light, frequent topdressing: Any superintendent now will say that's a no-brainer. But 20 years ago, people weren't talking that way."
  • For professional turf managers seeking to maximize water use without compromising turf quality, Toro recently introduced the Eagle Plus Series commercial-grade irrigation controller.
    Designed for centralized, internet-based irrigation management, the Toro Eagle Plus Series is an expanded version of the Rain Master Series controller and includes an enhanced user interface, expanded Smart Alerts and full iCentral and mobile maintenance app connectivity. 
    The Toro Eagle Plus Series is designed specifically for professional use on a variety of properties from the smallest city parks to golf courses and athletic fields.
    Eagle Plus simplifies system management while helping to maximize water efficiency. Toro Eagle Plus users can easily connect to the iCentral web-based platform that allows two-way remote control and monitoring. The ProMax Connect app allows maintenance control, diagnostics and monitoring from anywhere via smartphone or tablet. Users also can run tests, activate stations and programs, and troubleshoot in real time from a mobile device.
    The Eagle Plus Series also features Smart Alerts that notify users by text or email of any faults, errors or shutdowns, and ET-based scheduling adjusts irrigation based on local weather with ZipETTM to optimize water usage without compromising turf quality.
    Eagle Plus supports conventional and two-wire configurations with support for up to 200 stations and is available in a variety of enclosure options, including a more economical plastic cabinet to suit a wide range of needs.
    Customers with the Rain Master Eagle Plus controllers will receive added support, service and replacement parts.
    New Toro Eagle Plus customers will receive a 60-month free subscription to the iCentral system when purchased with an iCentral card. The ProMax app is available as a free download on the App Store and Google Play.
  • The Verti-Cut Flex 2000 is designed for de-thatching on uneven. For turf managers who need verticutting units for use on uneven, hard-to-navigate or compact areas, Redexim recently introduced the Verti-Cut Flex 2000 and the Turf-Tidy 1100.
    The Verti-Cut Flex 2000 is designed for de-thatching on uneven and curved terrain, while the tractor-mounted Turf-Tidy 1100 combines flail mowing, scarifying and sweeping in a compact clamshell design, allowing for the quick release of material.
    Redexim's Passive Pivoting Suspension system with multiple points of flexibility and floating wings that combine to simulate a spherical range of motion, enable the Verti-Cut Flex 2000 to work continuously across uneven terrain to remove thatch on contours and around curves with less chance for scalping. 
    Its compact build and agile turning radius work in tight spaces, while its 6.6-foot width can handle larger areas.
    The Verti-Cut Flex 2000 requires a tractor with a minimum rating of 30 hp, cuts to depths from 0 to 40 mm and can operate at speeds up to 3.1 mph. A belt-driven system ensures simple operation, and a single grease point makes maintenance straightforward. The rear debris guards can be removed for cleaning, while the floating wings can be folded up for compact storage.
    The Turf-Tidy 1100 (above right) is a tractor-mounted, close-coupled cut-and-collect unit that utilizes a flail rotor with 48 hardened knives and 18 wind paddles that sweeps to de-thatch, flail mow and scarify. It requires a tractor with a minimum of 38 hp, and its design makes it easy to pick up, take tight turns. The clamshell hopper has a capacity of 290 gallons and its low-dump design means no lifting is required. Quick-release knives enable fast switching between either a flail or a scarifier.
  • When measuring the effects of drought on golf, Hawaii might not be the first place that comes to mind, however, with more than 130 islands comprising the nation's 50th state, Hawaii has a multitude of microclimates. 
    Extreme weather on the island of Maui has resulted in the PGA Tour pulling its 2026 season-opening event, The Sentry, from the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina. The event was scheduled to be played at Kapalua from Jan. 5-11.
    Rainfall totals on Hawaii's second-largest island historically range from 180 inches per year on the windward (upwind) side of Maui and a foot or less on the leeward (downwind) side. The western side of the island, where Kapalua is located, has been water-starved for most of the year. 
    Located on Maui's arid western coast, Lahaina typically receives about 12 inches of rain per year. About 4 inches of rain fell on the area in January. Since then, the area has received less than 1.2 total inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service, resulting in stringent water-use restrictions imposed by the county's water authority.
    The PGA Tour made its announcement that The Sentry will not be played at Kapalua on Sept. 17 after Tour officials made a site visit. 
    According to the Tour's web site, officials concluded the condition of the Plantation Course had been "significantly compromised" by the drought and water limitations.
    "(T)he PGA TOUR has determined the 2026 playing of The Sentry will not be contested at The Plantation Course at Kapalua due to ongoing drought conditions, water conservation requirements, agronomic conditions and logistical challenges," the Tour said in a statement.
    No information is available yet on an alternate location for the tournament.

    Extreme drought conditions on Maui have led the PGA Tour to pull its 2026 season-opening event from the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina. Photo courtesy of Kapalua Resort and Alex Nakajima The event was the Tour's season-opening event from 1986 to 2013, and resumed that position on the schedule in 2024. The event has been contested at Kapalua's Plantation Course since 1999. 
    Early in September, Maui County Water Supply imposed Stage 2 water restrictions, which call for a cease of all non-essential for commercial and industrial purposes, according to the county's rule, which does not specify restrictions for golf. 
    A Stage 2 water shortage is enacted when anticipated demand in an area is projected to exceed available water supply by 16 percent to 30 percent.
    The resort says it has used almost no water throughout September. The results have been predictable, leading the resort to close both the Plantation and Bay courses for play and ending with the Tour's decision to move the tournament for next year.
    TY Management Corp., the owner and operator of the Kapalua Resort and its two golf courses, along with a local homeowners association and a commercial farm operation have filed a lawsuit in Maui Circuit Court against Maui Land and Pineapple, a land and real estate development company, that manages a series of ditches and streams that supply the resort and other users in the area with water. The suit alleges that Maui Land and Pineapple has allowed the ditch system to fall into a state of disrepair, leading to a lack of water for users downstream.
    The drought in western Maui is so great that a saltwater marsh has changed color. Water at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is saltier than usual because of the lack of rain, and has turned pink because of a bacteria that thrives in very salty water, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  
    Moving The Sentry to a yet-to-be-determined location marked the second time in less than a year the PGA Tour has had to pivot due to extreme weather.
    In January, the Tour moved the Genesis Invitational from Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, to Torrey Pines in San Diego due to fires in the Los Angeles area.

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