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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Talk about uninvited guests.
    Two men were arrested after the car one of them was driving was captured on video driving on the golf course at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio.
    Kent Peters of Washington Township, Ohio (located about 15 miles south of Dayton) was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired, reckless operation of a vehicle off the street, failure to stop and a lane violation after, police said, he caused multiple crashes August 21 before being stopped on the golf course in suburban Dayton.
    Police said Peters hit another car at an intersection around 2:45 p.m. on the day in question. Police said he then left the scene and caused another crash near Community Golf Club, a municipal operation owned by the City of Dayton, a mile-and-a-half away. The joyride finally came to an end another 2.5 miles away on the course at NCR, a Dick Wilson design in Kettering.
    In a video that circulated on social media (warning, the video contains graphic language), what appears to be an NCR employee can be seen chasing the car on the golf course. The black Toyota Camry that Peters was driving was pretty beat up by the time police brought the adventure to an end. A voice on the video can be heard remarking at the numerous beer bottles found in the vehicle.
    "The man in the driver’s seat did not react normally," one of the drivers involved in the crash told police. "His front bumper was dragging and was then scraped off as he hit another car while leaving the parking lot."
    Police also charged Wesley Peters, 43, of Centerville, who was a passenger in the vehicle, with intoxication.
  • LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Pennsylvania is flush with wide, sweeping views. Photos by John Reitman As a kid in Ireland, Alan FitzGerald discovered more than 25 years ago that the best route to becoming a golf course superintendent would include going to the United States - at least for formal education. What he did not know at the time was that what was supposed to be a two-year stop at Penn State would turn into something much more permanent.
    FitzGerald, a native of Castlecomer, a small town in the southeast of Ireland near Kilkenny, came to the U.S. in 1996 to attend Penn State. After a stint as assistant working for Rick Christian at historic Pine Valley in New Jersey, FitzGerald has spent the past 18 years as superintendent at vista-rich LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, a remote area near Reading. Two years ago, he made his extended stay permanent when he became a U.S. citizen.
    "It isn't an easy process. At first, I just wanted to get it done, but when I did it, it was very emotional. It was a big moment," said FitzGerald. "I don't get excited much, but that was something that was very exciting."
     
    It was Aidan O'Hara who convinced FitzGerald of the importance of learning the turf management trade at an American turf school. O'Hara, the superintendent at Mount Juliet Golf in Kilkenny, learned the Jack Nicklaus way of greenkeeping under Mike McBride at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin . . . Ohio.
    Something O'Hara said stuck with FitzGerald, who got the assistant's job at Pine Valley in 1998 on the recommendation of Dick Bator, before graduating to LedgeRock in 2004. 
     
    "I did my two years of basic greenkeeping at Mount Juliet, then I got into the two-year program at Penn State," said FitzGerald. 
    "I'm supposed to say I met my wife at Penn State, and that's why I stayed in the States. But I got the assistant's job at Pine Valley, and that made me stay. And here I am 25 years later."
    Bator, a consultant and former superintendent at Pine Valley, had recently returned from Ireland when he met FitzGerald in 1998 and recommended him to Christian.
    "He's from Ireland, so I felt sorry for him," Bator joked. "Seriously, what impressed me about him was his ability at a young age to think outside the box to get things accomplished."
    Nothing FitzGerald learned at Penn State or Pine Valley could prepare him for some of the challenges he has faced for two decades as the construction and grow-in superintendent at LedgeRock. The Rees Jones design has top-to-bottom elevation changes of some 80 feet and severe slopes at every turn that make mowing a real-life adventure.
    "Most superintendents, when they come here, ask 'how do you do that?' " FitzGerald said. "I just shake my head and say 'Don't ask. It just gets done.' Everything here is four-wheel drive."
    Slopes are so severe that one hillside is named in honor of the Toro mowers used to keep it clipped.
    "When they saw it, their engineers panicked," FitzGerald said. "They told me when they designed their machines they never would run on a hill like this. Even though it is within tolerance, they never thought they would be used to mow anything like this."
    FitzGerald, 45, was seemingly destined for life as a golf course superintendent. He's been on one almost for as long as he can remember and pretty much grew up on the golf course named for his hometown.

    "My dad was always involved in Castlecomer Golf Club in Ireland," he said. "Dad was always there. He was on committees, greens committees, whatever. He was that guy."
    He finally considered greenkeeping as a career when at age 16 he got a job at Mount Juliet when his mother was named human resources manager there. By 1996, he was off to Penn State.
    "The first year there was miserable, but then it became fun. That's when I decided I wanted to do this as a career. Aidan told me 'if you want to do this, you need to go to the States.' "
    The transition to life in the United States was difficult at first, mostly due to cultural differences between the U.S. and Ireland, where no one much cares how old you are when ordering a beer.
    "Coming to New York City from Kilkenny was a culture shock," he said. "Then coming to Penn State was a culture shock because I was 20, and I couldn't get into bars. It was awkward the first few months, but then I settled in."
    Because of his rough transition to life in the U.S. his first year in State College, FitzGerald said the late George Hamilton, Ph.D., then director of Penn State's two-year program, wanted him to intern over the summer for a PSU alumnus. Loch Lomond in Scotland where Penn State grad Ken Siems was superintendent, was deemed the perfect fit.
    "He was a Penn State grad, I had friends there and my dad's family was from around there. I was going to my spiritual home," FitzGerald said.
    "I spent the summer there, then went back to Penn State. I had a much better year. I was of age and able to enjoy college life more."
    Crossing paths with Bator changed the trajectory of his career.
    "He called me, and told me to expect a phone call from Rick. He called and told me I was hired," FitzGerald said. 
    "In hindsight, meeting Dick Bator was huge for me. At the time, I was young, and I had no idea how huge it was."
    Bator remembered hearing about the tough transition in FitzGerald's early days at Penn State, and was impressed by his willingness to see it through to graduation.
    "He had a lot of staying power," Bator said. "I had just returned from Ireland when I met him. I have a soft spot for foreign guys who can stick it out."
  • For more than 20 years, DryJect says it has helped turf managers relieve and revive compacted ground by using a high-speed, water injection system to fracture the soil and simultaneously fill holes with sand or amendment.
    DryJect recently introduced AquaPerk, a patent-pending soil amendment comprised of 67 percent super absorbent polymers and 33 percent spent coffee grounds that the company says provide organic nutrients and water savings.
    AquaPerk can be injected or tilled into the soil in established turf, or incorporated into a new seed bed that the company says can add to the field capacity of that soil. AquaPerk is intended to, according to the company, increase field capacity of soils, improve drought resistance and germination rates in turfgrass and ornamental settings. The company also says it reduces leaching, can help reduce water use and watering frequency and can be added to divot mixes to reduce recovery times.
    The water-holding capacity of the polymers is influenced by the salinity concentration in both water and soils. In situations where salinity is high, the holding capacity can drop to as low as 150 times its weight, the company says.
    DryJect research shows that the polymers in AquaPerk should last up to two years when incorporated into sand-based or native soils. That lifespan can potentially be shortened by factors such as freeze-thaw cycles, hydration-dry down cycles and soil microbial activity levels, according to the company.
    Spent coffee grounds will have approximately 1.5 to 2 percent nitrogen and trace amounts of phosphorus and potassium, says DryJect. The bulk density of coffee grounds alone is 33 pounds per cubic foot. The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is 31:1, according to the company.
    Founded in 1998, DryJect has helped turf professionals better manage golf courses, sports fields, soccer pitches and other applications where high-quality turfgrass is desired.
    The vacuum technology simultaneously fills holes to the surface with high volumes of sand or a soil amendment. This means turf managers can relieve compaction, increase water infiltration, reach the root zone with oxygen and amend your soil with high volumes of material all at the same time. Plus DryJect leaves the surface smooth and playable immediately afterward. 
    AquaPerk will be available in 50 pound bags by the end of August 2021.
  • Water levels in Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir by volume, are at historically low levels. News of historically low (and falling) levels in the Colorado River basin has sent shock waves felt throughout the Southwest.
    On Aug. 16, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a Level 1 water shortage for Lake Mead - for the first time ever, prompting mandatory cuts throughout the Southwest beginning in January 2022.
    In a recently released study, the Bureau said that Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir by volume, is expected to be at 34 percent capacity by year's end. The Bureau also projects Lake Mead's elevation to remain at about 1,065.85 feet above sea level in 2022, which is 9 feet below the lower basin shortage determination trigger and 24 feet below the drought contingency trigger of 1,090 feet.
    The river is a main source of water for users in Arizona, Nevada, Southern California and Mexico.
    Under the cuts, Arizona will see an 18 percent reduction of its total Colorado River Supply and Nevada will lose about 7 percent. The government will also reduce Mexico's annual allotment of water from the river by 5 percent. A second round of cuts could go into effect as early as 2023 if Lake Mead levels continue to fall and drop below 1,050 feet above sea level.
    "The Colorado River is sending us a clear message: conserve, reuse and recycle. The river has been a lifeline for Southern California for more than 80 years," said Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
    "While California will not be required to contribute supplies to Lake Mead next year under the Drought Contingency Plan, this is a wake-up call that we need to strengthen our response to continued drought conditions."
    The news reverberated throughout Southern California, where the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California serves 19 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
    In response to the extreme drought conditions, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors declared a Water Supply Alert, calling for consumers and businesses to voluntarily reduce water use and help preserve the region's storage reserves.
    The board's action urges residents, businesses and agencies in the District's 5,200-square-mile service area to lower the region's water demand to stave off more severe actions in the future, which could include restricting water supplies to Metropolitan's 26 member agencies. The declaration comes a day after the Bureau of Reclamation declared a first-ever shortage on the Colorado River, which typically provides about 25 percent of Southern California's water needs.
    In response to the MWD's announcement, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also called for increased conservation. 
    "In the City of Los Angeles, we haven't taken our foot off the conservation pedal. We've kept in place our aggressive watering restrictions, and continued to fund a slew of water-saving measures and programs that help our customers conserve water – even during wetter years," Martin L. Adams, LADWP general manager and chief engineer, said in a news release. "Now, with extremely dry conditions, we're urging all of our customers to redouble their efforts. We're here to support them in saving even more water."
    Pending legislation in Washington would provide funding for several water projects throughout the American West.
    Included in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill recently approved by the U.S. Senate to help rebuild roads and bridges is $8.3 billion for a variety of water projects. 
    The plan would provide $1.15 billion for improving water storage and transport infrastructure such as dams and canals, $1 billion for projects that recycle wastewater for household and industrial use, $300 million for drought measures (conservation and storage projects), $250 billion for studies and projects to make sea water and brackish water usable, $800 million to repair dams, $1 billion to repair water-treatment facilities and infrastructure in rural areas. 
    The bill is awaiting action in the House.
  • Toro Foundation gives back to Ohio Boys & Girls Club 
    Giving back to the community is a longtime tradition at Toro and an enduring legacy of former chairman Ken Melrose. Recently, a new Community Impact Project by The Toro Company Foundation and the American Rental Association Foundation was held at the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio's Broadway Club in Cleveland.
    The project involves both foundations working with local nonprofit organizations to give back to communities across the country through various rental-related projects. The series of projects kicked off by helping the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio, which serves more than 8,000 youths ages 6-18 throughout five counties across metropolitan Cleveland. The Cleveland branch's Broadway Club is home to a robust outdoor horticulture program where youth engage with and experience nature through a variety of hands-on, interactive, and fun program opportunities.
    Through the launch of the Community Impact Project, the local Boys & Girls Club was revamped in a day. Projects included revitalizing a pollinator garden, creating and planting new landscaping beds and refurbishing the baseball infield.
    The inaugural Community Impact Project was made possible by a group of more than 20 volunteers from six rental companies and two Cleveland area organizations: Bobcat of Cleveland – Leppos Rent, North Ridge; Event Source - Cleveland; General Rent-All - Massillon; Handy Rents - Eastlake; Miller's Party Rental Center - Akron; Sun Rental Center - Mentor; Gardeners of Greater Cleveland; Ormiston Landscaping.
    Green Velvet adds technical sales rep
    Green Velvet named Amy Dearinger as a technical sales representative. Dearinger brings nearly two decades of professional turf experience back to the Central Ohio market.
    Dearinger has a long history of technical expertise and helping turf managers solve agronomic challenges on some of the country's best golf courses. She has a background of evaluating NTEP seed trials, researching Roundup-ready bentgrass and conducting research on the efficacy of foliar products.
    Dearinger will be based in Columbus. Click here to contact her.
    PBI-Gordon names new national accounts manager
    Rick Williams recently joined PBI-Gordon as national accounts manager, and Trevor Radford was promoted to regional sales manager.
    Williams, who is based in Ohio, is responsible for managing national accounts, strategic business planning and enhancing customer relationships within the golf and professional lawn care markets. He brings more than 30 years of executive sales leadership to PBI-Gordon. Most recently he was regional account manager for Bayer, where he was responsible for growing and developing strategic relationships with key accounts.
    A graduate of Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in agronomy, Williams also participated in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's innovation program.
    In his new role as regional sales manager, Radford is responsible for leading the PBI-Gordon golf and professional lawn care market sales team in the western U.S. market. He joined PBI-Gordon in 2005 as a sales representative and was most recently national accounts manager.
  • For parts of five decades, Pete Cookingham has been the public face of the world's largest collection of publicly available turfgrass research. That face is about to change.
    Cookingham, the director of Michigan State University's Turfgrass Information Center and the digital Turfgrass Information File since 1985, will retire to the great outdoors Sept. 3.
    "I'm an outside person, and I don't get outside much," Cookingham said. "It's time to get back outside."
    The Center, which was started by the late Jim Beard, Ph.D., is a repository for all things turf, including research studies, articles and anything else published on fine turfgrass that Cookingham can find. It also includes information from the private collections of Beard himself and O.J. Noer.
    Part II of the Beard's private collection recently was added to the Center, which is located in the university's main library. Through an accord with the USGA, the Center converts all published works into a digital format, making all materials available to turfgrass managers, academics and researchers around the world. As paper documents are digitized, nothing is thrown out. The number of physical volumes on hand in the Center is overwhelming, weighing in at about 40 tons.
    "For 30-plus years, the Turfgrass Information File has been the information superhighway for researchers, students, golf course superintendents, architects, manufacturers and simply everyone involved in the turfgrass industry," said Kim Erusha, Ph.D., who spent nearly 30 years with the USGA Green Section, including nine as managing director. "Led by a significant amount of financial support made possible by the USGA, Pete Cookingham and his staff and student workers created and developed the online platform to make available turfgrass scientific and popular content worldwide. With easier access to the turfgrass archives, researchers were able to conduct more thorough searches as they developed their research programs, building upon past research accomplishments, and advancing more focused progress. The results are the improved grasses, management techniques and conditioning enjoyed today."
    Although much of what is cataloged in TGIF now already is in digital format, the task of digitizing published texts is a never-ending task that makes virtually all turfgrass research available to users from Bloomfield Hills to Bangkok and everywhere in between.
    "One of the first things I did after starting the Asian Turfgrass Center and moving to Thailand was purchase a lifetime subscription to the TGIF." said ATC director Micah Woods, Ph.D. "Having all this information available, no matter where I am in the world, has been incredibly useful. I use the service all the time."

    The Turfgrass Information Center at Michigan State University contains more than 40 tons of published works. The contributions of TGIF and Cookingham to the turfgrass management trade have been such that he was the recipient of the 2005 USGA Green Section Award, given annually to someone for "distinguished service to the game of golf through his or her work with turfgrass, including research, maintenance and other areas that positively impact the landscape upon which golf is played."
    The very mission of the award fits Cookingham perfectly, Erusha said.
    "The unsung heroes are those who always show up, are unselfish and focused on their work," she said. "They conquer the challenges many know nothing about. When you consider the impact of Pete Cookingham's career, I put him in that hero category."
    For years, the information behind the TGIF walls has been password protected. The log-in process is now public, and soon will be open-access.
    Cookingham graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in recreation and park administration, was the general manager of an 1,800-acre property owners association in rural central Illinois and later was a park administrator in Africa for the Peace Corps. He has headed the MSU turf library since 1985, when he graduated from the University of Illinois with a master's in library science.
    It is the only job he has coveted in the past 36 years.
    "I am still working at the same job I was hired for 36 years ago," he said. "I told them I didn't want to be promoted, told to do something else or pushed into administration. I wasn't interested. If I stayed here, I was here to do this job and this job only, and that was it."
    Now, it's time to move on, said Cookingham, who spends his free time in outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, canoeing, kayaking and landscaping.
    "I'm a parks person. My real world is parks," he said. "It's time for me to get back outside."
  • For more than a half-century, chlorpyrifos has been effective at eliminating many species of insect pests, some of which are found in finely managed turf. For more than a decade, the chemistry has come under fire from those who want to see it banned because they view it as a toxic threat to humans and non-target organisms.
    Two years ago, detractors of chlorpyrifos lobbied the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cancel its registration. The EPA denied that request, but states are beginning to take matters into their own hands.
    The New York Department of Environmental Conservation canceled registration of chlorpyrifos and more than two dozen other pesticides, effective Dec. 31, 2020. The department announced in July the final regulations prohibiting the sale, distribution, possession and use of products containing the active ingredient.
    Late in 2020, the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced it will begin to limit use of chlorpyrifos, with plans to virtually phase out its use by 2023.
    The Oregon plan will include banning the chemistry, which is effective for controlling armyworms, for use on golf courses. The most common use of chlorpyrifos in Oregon is on Christmas trees.
    A request to ban the chemical was submitted by at least a dozen public advocacy groups as well as the states of New York, Washington, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland and Vermont in 2007. Chlorpyrifos was banned nationwide for use in the residential market in 2000, but still is registered for professional use in 49 states (Alaska). 
    Lawmakers in Hawaii have enacted a statewide ban that will go into effect next year. California enacted a similar ban that became law this year.
    Opponents say long-term exposure to the chemistry, which was patented by Dow in 1966, can cause neurological damage and claim that children are especially at risk. A data sheet published by Oregon State University says it does not bind to the soil and is not commonly taken up by plants, but is a concern in runoff. 
    The EPA in 2015 produced studies it said at the time backed up such claims, but has since reversed its own findings.
  • The career path of Carlos Arraya has been on a trajectory that rivals anything even SpaceX has put on the launch pad in recent years.
    First the golf course superintendent at historic Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, then the club's director of agronomy and later assistant general manager since 2019, Arraya recently was approved by the club's membership to become its next general manager. He will succeed Michael Chase. Chase, who previously worked at Druid Hills in Atlanta, The Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, and The Philadelphia Cricket Club before coming to Bellerive in 2018, is moving on to take another position at Atlantic Beach Country Club, near Jacksonville, Florida.
    Since the early days of his career at Hawks Nest in Vero Beach, Florida, where he was assistant superintendent from 1998-2002 and later returned as general manager from 2005-2014, Arraya has adopted a team-first management style that has helped accelerate his career. It is a philosophy that he learned from his mentor John Cunningham, who in turn picked it up from Dick Gray years ago at Martin Downs in Palm City, Florida.
    But the real turning point for Arraya was triggered by the tragic loss of his son, Isaih, in a car accident in 2016.
    "Isaih's passing was the crossover for me to grow people," Arraya said.
    In the wake of the PGA Championship three years ago at Bellerive, Arraya was named the recipient of the 2018 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award. He spoke then at length about how personal tragedy helped lift him up to appreciate those around, including members of his maintenance team.
    "Losing my son gave me a new perspective," Arraya said in 2018 upon winning Superintendent of the Year. "Tragedies really awaken people, or they make them go down a road they can't come back from."
    Obviously, Arraya chose the former, and folks at Bellerive noticed.
    Upon taking a position with another club, Chase recommended Arraya to Bellerive's members as his permanent successor.
    "I feel strongly there is no better candidate than Carlos," Chase wrote in his recommendation. "Carlos understands and is a key force behind the club's continuing positive trajectory."

    Carlos Arraya, right, with mentor and friend John Cunningham, on the TurfNet trip to Ireland after Arraya was named 2018 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year. Members of the club, its board of governors and a search committee formed to find Chase's replacement agreed.
    "I think with his prior experience as a General Manager, his business acumen, his knowledge of Bellerive and the membership, his respect and love for the golf course and our reputation in the golf world, our traditions, and a sincere appreciation for our community standing and the Club as a whole, as well as his commitment to St Louis, he would make a fantastic General Manager," Bellerive president Rick Walsh wrote in announcing Arraya's promotion.
    Never was Arraya's management style on display more than during the pandemic. He played a key role in developing flex scheduling and selling the "Bellerive experience" to hourly employees, many of whom could have earned more elsewhere, but decided to stay at the club.
    Management avoided layoffs and even attracted a whole new demographic to the workforce - teenagers.
    "The turning point, where we had to make some tough decisions, came when you ask how you are going to compete with Domino's, who is paying $15-plus, or Amazon at $18-plus," Arraya told TurfNet last year. "There is something like $8 billion in construction contracts over the next few years in St. Louis. People are being paid more than $20 an hour just to pour concrete.
    "We have to sell something. How do we make this fun?"
    The Bellerive Experience included team outings and other events to help promote a feeling of unity. Bellerive also became a place that employees could rely on when they could rely on little else during the pandemic.
    "During the pandemic, we didn't cut anyone. We cut hours, but we didn't cut jobs," Arraya told TurfNet. "People here know they have a safe place to work.
    "We've had more young kids apply than ever before. It's not the pay, it's parents saying this is a safe place to work. This is the youngest staff we've had since I've been here."
  • The year was 1964.
    Lyndon Johnson occupied the White House. The nationwide average for gasoline was 30 cents a gallon. The Beatles "invaded" America, and their hit single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" topped the Billboard chart. My Fair Lady won an Academy Award for Best Picture, and Julie Andrews took home an Oscar for her performance in "Mary Poppins."
    And Frank Dobie was just starting as the new general manager and superintendent at The Sharon Golf Club in Ohio.
    Dobie's career at Sharon lasted more than a half-century, making him, upon his retirement in 2020, the country's longest-tenured superintendent. Dobie, 81, points to a long line of positive lifestyle choices for helping provide a long and healthy career and life.
    For the past 60 years, Dobie has been devoted to a lifestyle that includes organic foods, vitamins and mineral supplements.
    "When life choices and opportunities presented themselves, I made positive life choices," said Dobie. "I feel a lot younger than I am."
    Although he can attribute some of his longevity to diet and supplements, some also is just the luck of the draw, Dobie said. 
    "Genes also have a lot to do with it," he said. "My dad lived until he was 95. I had an uncle who lived until he was 90 and an aunt until she was 93. There is a lot of longevity there."
    Healthy life choices have led to a long life off the golf course and a lengthy career on it. Dobie, who studied under Joe Duich and Burt Musser at Penn State, and prepped under Bob Williams at Bob O'Link in Chicago, lasted 56 years at Sharon by equally healthy circumstances - like not having to deal with committees.
    Dobie was the superintendent at Fairlawn Country Club in Akron when one of the members asked him to put together a superintendent's wish list for a new course in the area that was under construction.
    That man happened to be Jerry O'Neil, then the president of General Tire, and the "list" was a ruse to offer Dobie a job.
    "When I got to the meeting, he told me 'I don't care about the list. What we brought you here for was to offer you a job," Dobie said. "I told him I already had a job, but Jerry O'Neil was not used to hearing 'no'."
    O'Neil then dropped the other shoe by offering Dobie the job of general manager, as well. 
    "He told me no one would tell me what to do but him. No boards. No committees," Dobie said. "I told him I would think about it." 
    Eventually, he said yes to O'Neil, and that was the right decision. O'Neil was Sharon's only president from its opening until his death in 2009.
    "The key to my longevity at Sharon was that I showed respect to the members at all times, and Jerry O'Neil demanded that they respect me. It's why I loved my job," Dobie said. "I think the fact that I loved going to work every day had a lot to do with my health."
    Although O'Neil was a one-man committee at Sharon, he never micro-managed Dobie or other employees.
    O'Neil didn't believe in budgets, but rather income and expense "estimates". 
    "From the day the club opened, we had 54 consecutive years of an operating profit. We never had a deficit, and we never assessed the members for anything," Dobie said. "O'Neil's directive was never spend more money than you have in the bank.
    "We always had a full membership, and I think that the fiscal restraints had a lot to do with that. O'Neil always said that we don't need a lot of frills to keep up with the Joneses, because we were the Joneses."
    One thing Dobie learned from O'Neil was the importance of semantics. "He told me don't call it a 'budget', call it a 'cost estimate'," Dobie said. "If it's a cost estimate, and something costs more, then it costs more. And if something costs less, it costs less." 
    Not only did Dobie operate safely within his financial constraints, he managed to do so while also being an innovator.
    Dobie developed the first bunker liner system in 1967 designed to eliminate contamination from the surrounding soil. All the bunkers at Sharon were installed with this system and no bunker sand has ever been replaced due to contamination. Even after his retirement, Dobie is willing to share his bunker construction method with anyone who is interested.
    Dobie had plenty of opportunities to move on from Sharon, but never found a better deal than what he already had. He was even invited to interview for the job at Augusta National and declined. In the end, the culture at Sharon was as beneficial to his mental health as the organic food and supplements have been to his physical health. 
    "Jerry O'Neil's two main tenets were, don't spend money you don't have and show respect to all those you work for and all those who work for you," Dobie said.
    Dobie has a few career guide bullet points of his own: don't work more than 50 hours a week in season or more than 40 hours a week offseason, don't be married to your job and have a partner who is supportive.
    "When it came to life choices," he said. "I always trusted my gut."
  • You knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time.
    As part of its multi-phase approach to resolve its ongoing litigation related to Roundup causing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in thousands of cancer patients, Bayer will discontinue sales of its popular herbicide in the consumer market. Bayer said in the July 29 statement that, beginning in 2023, it will replace its glyphosate-based products in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market with new formulations that rely on alternative active ingredients.
    The news is part of Bayer 's five-point plan released in May to deal with claims alleging Roundup causes non-Hodgkin 's lymphoma in users. The decision to pull Roundup from shelves for everyday consumers is being made exclusively to manage litigation risk and not because of any safety concerns on the part of Bayer, the company says. There will be no change in the availability of the company 's glyphosate formulations in the U.S. agricultural and professional markets, which includes golf.
    Bayer soon will file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court appealing a lower court decision in the Hardeman v Monsanto Co. case. The company claims federal preemption prevents Bayer from complying with some states ' laws asking for cancer warnings on product labeling.
    If the Supreme Court rules in Bayer's favor, it could effectively end U.S. Roundup litigation. But if the court issues a ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Bayer estimates an additional $4.5 billion might be necessary to settle future litigation. In the event of a Supreme Court decision that favors the plaintiff, Bayer will establish a claims administration program with pre-determined compensation values similar to those for current settlements.
    Bayer has, to date, settled about 100,000 lawsuits for an estimated $11 billion. Another 30,000 claims are pending. According to Bayer, about 90 percent of all lawsuits originated in the consumer market.
    In addition to releasing new alternate formulations for the residential market, Bayer plans to start discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about Roundup labels with the goal of providing more information to users.
  • Bayer launches Densicor fungicide
    Densicor, a new fungicide from Bayer is now available for purchase. 
    With the active ingredient prothioconazole, Densicor provides control of many common turf diseases, including dollar spot, brown patch, anthracnose, gray leaf spot, snow mold and more.
    It can be used on warm- and cool-season turf, and just one bottle treats six acres, allowing superintendents to cover more turf with less product.
    Rain Bird names new manager for SE Asia
    Rain Bird recently named Rob Weiks as area manager for its Southeast Asia golf team.
    Weiks will be responsible for sales planning and business development in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Guam and Brunei. He will also establish and manage relationships with distributors, golf course owners, green committees and superintendents while promoting Rain Bird solutions for new golf course projects and renovations.
    A native of Australia, Weiks has more than three decades of experience in the horticulture industry. He will be based in Singapore.
    Turfco compact aerator now powered by Honda
    The Turfco line of TurnAer XT5 compact aerators for small areas now come equipped with the Honda GXV160 engine. 
    The XT5 is powered by a 163cc, 4.3hp gas-powered GXV160, and a 1.5-gallon fuel tank allows for longer use between fills.
    The XT5's hydrostatic controls are designed to make the unit more maneuverable and user-friendly. Operators can turn and reverse direction with the XT5 while keeping the tines in motion, thanks to the hydrostatic drive system coupled to Turfco's patented, steerable aerator technology. Turning with tines to the ground reduces operator fatigue and improves productivity. 
    The XT5's EasyChange tines reduce the amount of time required to change tines. Patent-pending tine wheels enhance steering and increase hill-holding stability. The XT5 also advances aerator durability with a low-profile design and rugged, unibody steel frame. Instead of belts, the XT5 uses drive chains that are covered and located outside of the frame for long-lasting, trouble-free operation.
    Profile Products names new sales manager
    Profile Products named J.R. Stewart as national sales manager for the eastern U.S. Stewart will manage and support the eastern team of regional sales and market development managers.
    Stewart has more than 15 years of experience in the industry, most recently as a national sales manager for Filtrexx International. 
    Stewart earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
  • Robert Muth, who is both the equipment manager and a mower jockey at Allentown Municipal Golf Course in Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2021 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by John Deere. Photos by John Reitman When Robert Muth received the plaque that identifies him as the recipient of the 2021 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by John Deere, he called it "A big plaque for a little place."
    Muth is more than the equipment manager at Allentown Municipal Golf Course in eastern Pennsylvania;. He also is a member of the crew who also rides a mower, sprays, cuts cups and more on a daily basis, all while keeping all equipment in top shape for Allentown superintendent Chris Reverie, who nominated Muth for the award for his ability to innovate and  create solutions, play a leadership role on the staff, finding creative ways to meet budget and helping drive and environmental philosophy at one of the best maintained municipal courses in Pennsylvania - and beyond..
    "It's nice for the little guy to win," Muth said. "We are a very small muni with a small staff; there are six of us for the entire property. I'm not just a mechanic."
    Muth came to Allentown from a background in auto mechanics, so he had a pretty good handle on the job with one exception - grinding.
    "He was a quick study," Reverie said. 
    "He knows he has to stretch things."
    He also now knows his way around reels, and often is able to make bedknives last an entire season on a single grind.
    "As a machinist, I'm about precision. I am about thousandths, not watching for sparks and listening for noise. That doesn't work for me. I'd rather know how much I'm taking off. That's how I save bedknives for a year. If I know how much I'm taking off and how thick the bedknife is, I can account for all of that."
    Muth is active in driving Reverie's goal of achieving Allentown's certification as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Audubon certification. To minimize issues associated with water runoff around the maintenance facility, he blows equipment clean instead of washing it when feasible and built a hybrid filtration system to catch water from the washpad behind the building. Water now moves through rock sediment and moves through grasses, then into a pool. All those materials are getting stopped before entering into the water into the ground."

    Robert Muth build a wash area behind the Allentown Muni maintenance shop that filters impurities from the water. Muth was selected by TurfNet's panel of judges and received the Golden Wrench Award along with a $1,000 cash prize. On hand to present Muth with the 15th annual award were Reverie and Ted Zabrenski, account manager for Finch Turf Inc., a John Deere distributor covering eastern Pennsylvania.
    "I've been coming to Allentown Muni as a sales rep for 11 years, and I've coming here for 25 years overall," said Zabrenski. "You can see the enthusiasm that Chris and Robert bring to the job. These guys eat, live and sleep, Allentown Muni."
    When he is not fixing equipment at Allentown, Muth is operating it, splitting time as mechanic and a member of Reverie's small, but dedicated on-course staff of six.
    "He is the greatest assistant (superintendent) and mechanic any superintendent could hope to have," Reverie said. "Having the golf course in this condition is a direct reflection of Rob and the job he does. If I don't have someone in his position who is able to do what he does, then I don't have a golf course in the condition it's in right now."
    Criteria on which candidates are judged include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.
    Previous winners of the Golden Wrench Award are: (2020) Evan Meldahl, Bayou Oaks GC, New Orleans; (2019) Dan Dommer, Ozaukee CC, Mequon, WI; (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.
  • The Federal Trade Commission recently voted to enforce existing laws around the Right to Repair, ensuring U.S. consumers will be able to repair their own electronic and automotive devices. If you have ever felt like you are being held hostage by a manufacturer when an electronic device breaks down, fear not, you are not alone. From cell phones to cars to mechanized agricultural equipment and everything in between, breakdowns can mean a visit by a factory-certified technician and service call fee, even if a product is under warranty.
    Amid pleas from consumers who say they are tired of being fleeced for repairs they would make themselves - if only they could - the Federal Trade Commission recently voted to enforce existing laws around the Right to Repair, ensuring U.S. consumers will be able to repair their own electronic and automotive devices.
    Proponents of Right to Repair argue consumers should have access to tools, parts and software to make repairs to products they own. Manufacturers say they have a right to protect proprietary software - even if the software is embedded in a product someone else own.
    Right to Repair has its roots in agriculture and could soon branch off into the golf industry.
    The inability to access embedded software or proprietary repair tools prevents owners and independent repair shops from performing some fixes that they say they could do cheaper than factory reps. 
    After its decision, the FTC says it is dedicated to investigating restrictions that might be illegal under the nation's antitrust laws as well as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a consumer protection law governing product warranties.
    The ruling targets small electronics manufacturers, such as Apple, that make phones with inaccessible memory and batteries and seal products with glue. It also targets the auto industry and companies that make large agricultural equipment.
    U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle-D, N.Y., has introduced the Fair Repair Act, legislation that would guarantee consumers and small businesses a right to repair their own products by requiring manufacturers to make diagnostic repair information, parts, and tools readily available. Many states have introduced a similar version of fair repair legislation, and it has been enacted into law in Massachusetts.
  • GroundWorx, a wireless innovations and water conservation company that serves the professional turf market, has teamed with Morey Corp., which partners with other companies to manufacture products for sustainable business practices, have teamed up to offer the GX-1A turfgrass sensor. 
    The GX-1A is an all-in-one turf management platform that includes soil monitoring sensors, a handheld spot-check device, a microweather station and a mobile app that together provide users with real-time notifications on soil moisture, salinity levels and temperature, telling professional turf managers where and when water is needed and how much. These up-to-the-minute notifications can help users streamline operations and reduce costs.
    GroundWorx markets its service as a lease, requiring no up-front costs. Courses may also buy the equipment and subscribe to the AI-powered platform on a monthly basis. For commercial properties, companies can deploy as little as a handful of sensors or scale to thousands of locations, all mapped within the technology with an accuracy of plus or minus 10 centimeters. Properties such as universities and resorts can add a micro weather station that brings critical weather data to their facility. GroundWorx utilizes machine learning and AI, providing predictive analytics for Turf Managers to make informed decisions leading to water conservation and staff efficiency.
    After collecting sufficient data via the soil monitoring sensor, machine learning will continue to model how the turf will adapt so users can deploy sensors elsewhere to maximize coverage. The GX-1A is easy to install, and it works with any irrigation system, the company says.
    Morey, based in Woodridge, Illinois has eight decades of electronics ingenuity enriching lives through connectivity.
  • Former Nebraska turf professor Bill Kreuser is happy managing greens at Jim Ager Golf Course in Lincoln, Nebraska, and growing his business.
    The titles "academic" and "educator" might seem interchangeable, but as Bill Kreuser, Ph.D., reinvents his career, he is proving that those labels are mutually exclusive. 
    After recently leaving the University of Nebraska, where his duties for seven years included teaching, research, writing (and getting published) and extension, Kreuser still is an educator and scientist, even if the classroom where he teaches looks a little different.
    Today, Kreuser is managing turf and conducting research as superintendent at Jim Ager Golf Course, a nine-hole municipal layout in Lincoln. He does his own research there and makes areas of the course available to University of Nebraska turf students looking for a real-world research plot. He also is dedicating more time to growing TurfGrade, the research and education business he owns with his mentor Doug Soldat, Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin, where Kreuser earned bachelor's and master's degrees.
    "My career in academia is over," Kreuser said. "This way, I can keep doing what I love doing: writing articles, teaching, doing research. I'm just doing it in a different capacity.
    "I left the university to be more involved in running my company. I was being pulled in so many directions, I wasn't doing anything well. This is less stressful and more fulfilling. I don't want to be a consultant, but if people need help, I do some of that. This way, I do it on my own terms."
    Through TurfGrade, Soldat and Kreuser manage GreenKeeper. A mobile- and desktop-friendly application that Kreuser developed at the University of Nebraska as a way to help turf managers be more efficient with plant growth regulator use based on a growing degree day model, GreenKeeper monitors weather and employs user data to provide turfgrass managers with information to make informed decisions about applying PGRs, fertilizers and other inputs. 
    Kreuser developed the app while employed at the university, which still owns it. TurfGrade pays the university royalties for exclusive rights to operate it with an option to buy after 10 years. Kreuser and Soldat are four years into that agreement. 
    "It tells you what to spray and when," Soldat said. "We are using research results to make superintendents' jobs easier. That's why people use it."
    TurfGrade is a multi-pronged tool with one simple goal in mind - to help turf managers do their jobs better and more efficiently. Some of that occurs through the GreenKeeper App, and some includes university-level education from some of the brightest minds in the business. Kreuser's new path dovetails nicely with that goal, Soldat said.
    "In academia, you're always doing applied research to help people do their jobs better, but they also need support," he said. "Bill is taking that to the next level. 

    Jim Ager Golf Course is Bill Kreuser's new classroom. "I don't get credit for developing software. I get credit for writing papers no one reads and giving talks that hopefully blow the socks of one or two people who when they go home make changes at their golf course. If you sign up for GreenKeeper, you don't have to remember what I said about PGRs. You need someone to do the applied research, but you also need a way to get the research into their hands so they are not making wholesale changes all by themselves. Bill is a more effective educator by working at a nine-hole golf course and continuing to develop software."
    Kreuser is working hard to grow the business.
    "Any money Doug and I make goes right back into the company. We don't take anything out," Kreuser said.
    "We want to keep seeing it grow. Our mission is to transform the way turf managers make decisions. We are doing that with classes and the app."
    TurfGrade employs three full-time and three part-time developers who, based on Kreuser and Soldat's work, are constantly updating GreenKeeper.
    "We are getting more integrated with hardware and sensors," Kreuser said. "The app won't take the place of superintendents. We want to give them information in a clear way and help them make the right decisions."
    Through GreenKeeper, Kreuser and Soldat are redefining turf education at, no pun intended, a grassroots level. The app allows superintendents and sports turf managers to dial in on best management practices from their laptop or phone 24/7. GreenKeeper University provides those already with an understanding of turfgrass physiology with more in-depth education. Besides Kreuser and Soldat, some of GKU's instructors are Tom Nikolai of Michigan State, Paul Koch (Wisconsin), Aaron Patton (Purdue) and Ben McGraw (Penn State). The GreenKeeper U template is a spinoff of the Great Lakes School of Turfgrass Science model that Soldat runs with Koch, Brian Horgan, Ph.D., now the chair of the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State, and Sam Bauer, Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.
    "We are passionate about helping people do their jobs better," Soldat said. 
    "We expect people to have some general experience in turf. GreenKeeper University offers a more specific curriculum. It's a more focused platform. We are seeing trends in declining enrollment, even in some two-year programs. This is not meant to replace university education, but to get university-level education into the hands of those who don't have the time or money to get a two-year or four-year degree."
    Leaving the university for more time growing TurfGrade and GreenKeeper has not stopped Kreuser from his research.
    As the superintendent at Ager, which might soon be the world's best-conditioned par-3 course, Kreuser conducts research trials just as he did at the university. He also lets UNL turf students use the course that has a long history with the university.
    UNL alumni have served as superintendent there in the past, including Kreuser's predecessor at Ager, Andrew Getty, superintendent at the Prairie Club in Valentine, Nebraska.
    The course also has a legacy in growing the game. It has a vibrant junior golf program Foot Golf is popular there. While working around junior programs, foot golfers and 20,000-plus rounds a year, a lot of research also takes place at Ager. Wetting agents, fertilizers, fungicides and, of course, PGRs, all get tested there, including a current yellow nutsedge trial. A traffic study is meant to simulate conditions during a major championship. And the results of all these trials help feed GreenKeeper.
    "This is a 40-acre test course. It doesn't take a ton to make it look good, but we have high standards for an $11-a-round golf course," Kreuser said. "It's easy to lose touch in academia with all the pencil-pushing. When I got off the grass I felt like I was getting more distant from the industry. Working on the golf course also helps me stay connected to the industry."
  • Chris Claypool, the former general manager of Jacklin Seed Co., was sentenced July 7 in federal court to three years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering for his role in a plot to defraud the J.R. Simplot Co., Jacklin's former owner, and the company's customers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
    Claypool (right) was charged Feb. 24 in the fraud and money laundering scheme. He waived the indictment and pleaded guilty to all charges.
    Under the terms of the plea agreement, Claypool already paid nearly $8.3 million in restitution and has agreed to forfeit nearly $7.8 million in ill-gotten gains. He will face another three years of supervised release after serving his sentence.
    According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon, Jacklin Seed contracted with independent growers for the production of proprietary grass seed varieties and fulfilled orders from a distribution facility in Albany, Oregon. But much of what Jacklin delivered, under Claypool's direction, was not what customers ordered, according to federal documents.
    Claypool, 53,oversaw the company's product sales to domestic and international distributors.
    U.S. attorney officials said Claypool's alleged schemes include packaging seed varieties with false and misleading labels, embezzling more than $12 million while posing as a foreign sales partner and conspiring with a travel agency in Spokane, Washington, to inflate costs of his international travel.
    Throughout the duration of Claypool's plot of fraud and deception, Jacklin Seed was a division of JR Simplot Co. Jacklin was acquired by Barenbrug in October 2020.
    The U.S. Attorney's Office says Claypool and other Jacklin employees, upon recognizing shortages of some lower yield turfgrass varieties, began a process of substituting different varieties of seeds and hiding the substitutions from customers with falsified labels and invoices, all to avoid paying premiums to growers that would adversely affect the company's profits and their own careers. This began in early 2015 and continued at least until 2019, according to the justice department.
    Claypool and a colleague directed Jacklin employees to invoice the customers under the original terms of their contracts, notwithstanding the unauthorized substitutions. As a result of this scheme, Simplot has refunded or credited more than $1.5 million to defrauded buyers.
    As part of the scheme, Claypool directed Simplot's payment of more than $12 million in "rebates" and "commissions" to entities that were posing as foreign sales partners but were, in fact, fronts for Claypool's co-conspirators in embezzling those funds. The co-conspirators then transmitted part of their illegally conceived windfall from accounts in Hong Kong to real estate investments in Hawaii under Claypool's control. Years later, Claypool sold the real estate and wired the proceeds to investment accounts in Spokane as part of an intricate money laundering operation.

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