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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    The USGA grant initiative known as the Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program has been renamed the Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management. Davis, shown here at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, is retiring this year. Photo courtesy of USGA/Darren Carroll The U.S. Golf Association has renamed its sustainability initiative to recognize the contributions of retiring CEO Mike Davis.
    Formerly the Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program (TERP), the initiative has been renamed the Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management. Davis, who joined the USGA in 1990, is retiring at the end of the year.
    The longstanding initiative represents the single largest private grant program in golf dedicated to advancing innovation in sustainability and improving the on-course experience. The USGA invests nearly $2 million in the program each year and today has contributed a total of $45 million to the initiative that  to date, which has resulted in better playing conditions, dramatic cost savings and a more environmentally friendly game.
    "Throughout his time at the USGA, Mike Davis' vision to lead the game forward through golf course sustainability has propelled the success of this program, ensuring that every golfer has a great playing experience and every owner has access to the latest innovations to manage their course," said USGA president Stu Francis in a news release. "With his passion for golf courses and data-driven decision-making, we could not find a better program to share his name and inspire a sustainable future for golf."
    Founded in 1920 in response to a need for agronomic advice in the run-up to the U.S. Open that year at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, the USGA Green Section has initiated and fostered sustainable practices that have benefited the entire game. Through it, the USGA has dedicated golf’s largest investment toward research focusing on science-based management practices, turfgrass innovation and environmental stewardship. Land-grant universities and researchers from California to New Jersey, and from New Zealand to the United Kingdom are among the primary recipients of the 50-70 Davis Grants dispersed annually.
    The research program has significantly contributed to the development of sustainable golf maintenance practices that have driven a decrease in water use of more than 20 percent, a 40 percent decrease in nutrient inputs during the past 10 years and a savings of $1.86 billion each year through incorporating more natural areas on golf courses that result in smarter use of water and pesticides.
    Widely used golf turfgrasses such as bentgrass and bermudagrass were first selected and improved through the USGA program, in an effort to improve drought resistance, promote recycled water and smart irrigation use and improve playing conditions on golf courses and playing fields worldwide.
    The published research is directly shared through the free USGA Green Section Record, as well as through Course Consulting Service visits by USGA agronomists and at regional and national industry conferences.
    A native of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Davis was the 1982 Pennsylvania State Junior golf champion and played NCAA Division I golf at Georgia Southern University. In September 2020, he announced his intent to leave the organization’s top post to pursue a personal career goal in golf architecture and design.
    Applicants for a USGA Davis Grant must demonstrate how their work will achieve one of the three main USGA strategic program objectives: 1 – optimizing sustainable golf course management and playing conditions; 2 – protecting and conserving water resources; or 3 – identifying and developing novel plant materials. The program is managed by Cole Thompson, Ph.D., director of USGA turfgrass and environmental research. The current deadline for grant funding is June 25. Click here for more information.
  • Wake Forest's Bill Davis, Ph.D., leads a session on negotiating in 2017 (above), while (below) Paul Latshaw (left) and Chad Mark negotiate a deal during the 2015 edition of SBI. Photos by John Reitman The 13th annual Syngenta Business Institute will be a virtual event in 2021.
    The Syngenta Business Institute is a multi-day event that is part of Syngenta's ongoing effort to grow the professional knowledge of golf course superintendents and assist them with managing their courses. Through a partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Business, the program provides graduate school-level instruction in financial management, human resource management, negotiating, managing across generations and cultural divides, impact hiring and other leadership- and professional-development skills.
    Applications for the 2021 SBI are open for golf course superintendents through Sept. 2. The event is scheduled for Dec. 2, 6-10. Click here to apply.
    “Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the SBI class of 2020 and with the health and safety of our customers in mind, we will be hosting the Syngenta Business Institute virtually for another year,” said Stephanie Schwenke, turf market manager for Syngenta. “From our survey of the 2020 attendees, they all wanted more education, so we are increasing the class hours to 15 hours."
    The 2021 program will be held via Zoom, beginning with an introductory social networking session on Dec. 2. Educational courses will then be hosted in three-hour sessions Dec. 6-10. Faculty from the Wake Forest University School of Business will present the curriculum, which will cover the following topics: work/life balance, negotiations, financial management, tools for managing employees, leading across cultures and generations.
    “The Wake Forest and Syngenta teams couldn't have been happier with the level of participation, energy and involvement from superintendents in the first virtual SBI last December,” said Ken Middaugh, faculty director for SBI. “The faculty were impressed that many were eager to stay ‘overtime’ to discuss issues with them and other participants, adding significantly to the experience. A post-event survey showed they wanted even more time and virtual opportunities to learn and a desire to expand the scope of the program. Based on that feedback and the active engagement of the cohort, we decided to expand the length and scope of the 2021 Syngenta Business Institute to allow for more education, more time with professors, and more time with each other.”  
    Alumni of the SBI class of 2020 also shared praise for the virtual program. 
    “[SBI 2020 was] beyond my expectations,” said Amos Stephens, superintendent at Settlers Bay Golf Course in Wasilla, Alaska, and SBI class of 2020 alumnus. “I questioned the Zoom format; and surprisingly, with it being my first time using the technology in this format, it was more than above my expectations. I learned aspects in each of the sessions that I have already brought to our operation. If you are serious about your career, you should look seriously at SBI to advance your knowledge, network and resume.”
    To facilitate deeper interaction among attendees, the class size for SBI 2021 will be limited. The program is only open to individuals employed in the U.S. as a superintendent, director of agronomy or at an equivalent level. 
    Applications must be submitted online by midnight PDT on Sept. 2. Click here to apply.
  • Today, superintendents have more resources than ever before to help keep bees on golf courses. Photo by Ohio State University. Photo below by the University of Florida. A decade ago, bee hives were scarce on golf courses and about the only resource for superintendents who did dabble in raising them was the occasional university field day presentation.
    Things have changed since University of Kentucky entomologist and former USGA Green Section Award recipient Dan Potter, Ph.D., helped establish the first Operation Pollinator zone on a U.S. golf course at Griffin Gate Golf Club in Lexington in 2011. At the UK turfgrass field day the following year, Potter and his graduate students promoted to a spartan audience  the benefits of keeping bees and shared the challenges facing them, such as parasite pressure, habitat loss and pesticide use. 
    Since then, beekeeping on golf courses is more popular than ever, and growing native pollen-producing flowers to feed them and attract other species has been a growing trend. has been a and fortunately the resources available to superintendents (and others) on the topic is voluminous. 
    Web sites, like Honey Bee Health Coalition offer resources for keeping bees and managing pests. And university bee labs at the University of Florida and Ohio State provide a wide range of tools, such as bee-identification guides, scientific research and outreach efforts including workshops and webinars.
    "It's great to hear that beekeeping and supporting pollinators is becoming more common on golf courses," Ohio State entomologist Reed Johnson, Ph.D., said. "This is something that probably requires more research – how to best manage bees and bee forage on golf courses."
    While some keep bees on golf courses no doubt to monetize honey production, others do it to help struggling bee populations, and many do it for some combination of both.
    Jeff Sexton has been keeping bees at Evansville Country Club in Indiana for five years. His hives are thriving, and his members love having them and learning more about them. He also educates the rest of the Evansville community on how he and his team work to promote environmental stewardship on the golf course, not destroy it.
    "My members have always trusted my judgment on various projects," Sexton said. "We educate them through email and newsletter writings. We have also educated the public through news media. We have even had Congressman Buschon here on site as well. We have had ours since 2016 and never had a golfer stung! Hive location relative to golf is important. We sell honey to our membership every year. They love it."
    Honey bees are responsible for pollinating a host of common foods that many take for granted yet would cease to exist without their help. That list includes almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cashews, cherries, chocolate, coconut, coffee, cranberries, grapes, grapefruit, kiwifruit, mangos, melons, papayas, peaches, pears, pumpkins, raspberries, strawberries tomatoes and vanilla, just to name a few.
    For all the good they do, bees also are threatened by pesticides, parasites and loss of habitat. 
    Imagine for a moment a world without coffee.
    Agriculture is a $50 billion industry in California. The state produces one-third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts, and relies on the work of honey bees for much of that output.
    Bee decline in the U.S. began in the mid-1980s, according to Purdue University entomologist Greg Hunt, Ph.D. That's about the same time the invasive Varroa mite, public enemy No. 1 in the western honey bee world, arrived in the U.S. Native to the Korean peninsula, where it parasitizes the Asian honey bee. The Asian honey bee can tolerate the mite, but its western cousin cannot. 
    Within two years of their arrival in the U.S. in 1987, the mites wiped out an estimated 90 percent of the non-native bee populations in California. The parasites are so deadly that they have become known as Varroa destructor. 
    Female mites lay their eggs in the honey bee cells where they feed on the pupae and are attached to the adult bees when they emerge. Left unchecked, they can overwhelm and eventually wipe out an entire bee colony.
    "Varroa is a serious and deadly pest of honey bees and needs to be controlled," Johnson said. "In colonies where Varroa are left unchecked, the colonies generally die in November (through) January.
    "Summer management of Varroa is critical so that the bees reared in late summer are healthy and stand a good chance of surviving into the following spring."
    Wild native bee populations are more hardy than their domesticated cousins. According to Bee Informed, managed colonies lose an average of 10 percent to 50 percent of their population each year. Losses are attributed to mites, weather and starvation.
    "Starvation has always been a killer of bees over winter, and even before Varroa beekeepers would generally lose 10 to 20 percent of colonies because the bees ran out of accessible food," Johnson said. "Making sure the colony has a full deep box of honey - about 70 pounds - will help them survive the winter. We also feed bees with sugar bricks or cake fondant to make sure they don't run out of calories before spring flowers start to provide nectar.
    "The rule of thumb is that one colony needs one acre of blooming plants, flowering throughout the season, in order to sustain themselves. Having enough flowers nearby can help ensure that the colonies have that 70 pounds of honey going into winter. Many colonies make a lot more honey, if they're in a good environment, making it possible for the beekeeper to collect honey for extraction and sale."
     
     
  • The FC Cincinnati Foundation and The Motz Group got together to build a playground and a soccer facility near Cincinnati for children with special needs. A professional soccer franchise and a leading installer of artificial and natural turf athletic fields recently partnered to enhance ADA-compliant services in a Cincinnati-area park that accommodates children with special needs.  
    Last August, FC Cincinnati Foundation, The Motz Group, Cincinnati TOPSoccer and the City of Mason worked together to bring a high-performance sports field to Makino Park, an accessible facility in Mason. The vision was to create an inclusive place where children could enjoy a playground and sports field experience that is similar to any other park, while being ADA-compliant. That vision culminated in the creation of Common Ground Playground at Makino Park. While the pandemic and weather created some challenges, the complex was completed by early summer.
    FC Cincinnati Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the FC Cincinnati MLS franchise, and The Motz Group has installed more than 500 natural grass and artificial turf athletic fields, including surfaces for FC Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Ohio State, Baltimore Raven and Indianapolis Colts. TOPSoccer is a competitive play league for children with special needs.
    The Makino Park complex consists of a Motz InPlay five-a-side system, as well as a butterfly-shaped playground and a connecting sidewalk to the concession stands and other facilities. Before the project began, representatives from both FC Cincinnati Foundation and The Motz Group met with TOPSoccer athletes who provided insight to challenges they have experienced at other ADA-accessible locations. The group built a facility that is conducive to the needs of participants in wheelchairs. Based on athlete feedback, and lab testing that was completed to validate the system, it was determined that a slit-film synthetic turf product on the InPlay system, paired with a shock pad and SafeShell infill, would create an ADA-compliant system that would be high performing and have low rolling resistance. 
    Each year, The Motz Group, which is an employee-owned company, takes a day away from the office and building fields to join forces for a community-based project in the Cincinnati area. Common Ground Park was intended to be a 2020 service project for all employees and partners, but the Covid pandemic changed all that. Instead, a truncated team of field installers completed the project, with help from Shaw Sports Turf and Schmitz Foam Products, both of whom donated product for the project.
    Makino Park is a multi-sport complex that has Common Ground (a butterfly-shaped playground), a soccer field and three baseball fields, all of which are ADA-compliant facilities.
  • Greens grade 'Poa' surrounded by creeping bentgrass. Photo by David Huff Poa annua possesses transgenerational memory, or the ability to "remember" whether its parent was mowed or not mowed, a trait that actually becomes part of the plant's DNA, according to research at Penn State.
    The discovery is part of ongoing research by David Huff, professor of turfgrass breeding and genetics at Penn State, to breed Poa annua to produce seed for use on golf course putting greens.
    "We learned that mowing Poa annua increases global DNA methylation, a process allowing it to pass on the environmental effects of mowing to its unmowed offspring," Huff said in a news release by Penn State. "The transgenerational 'plasticity' in Poa annua — the ability of the grass to adapt to changes in its environment — is conferred, in part, by an epigenetic mechanism that modifies the function of the genes and affects gene expression."
    The ability of Poa to "remember" (and "forget") mowing explains why his efforts to breed the species to develop and enhance qualities valued on golf course putting greens have repeatedly failed, Huff said. In 1994, he began breeding Poa annua with the goal of developing a commercial variety for use on golf course putting greens. The USGA awarded funding for about a decade to do this breeding.
    "After 10 years or so, I had some beautiful lines — about a dozen elite lines — and I went into seed production," Huff said in the news release. 
    One of those lines was a dwarf type that would have been ideal for use on putting greens, Huff said. After about two or three generations of seed increase and collection and no mowing, the dwarf type reverted back to its weedy roots. The process repeated itself several times.
    "I asked myself, 'what the heck happened?' " Huff said. "At first, I thought my lines must be breeding with weeds in a nearby field." 
    He fumigated his plots and grew the next generation of Poa on plastic. He put a graduate student on the project and together they did more cross-breeding and performed more genetic studies. 
    "We found out the dwarf phenotype that we loved so much for the putting green surface is unstable," he said. "And that's what led us to this research."
    After extensive genetic analysis and comparison of mowed and unmowed Poa annua clones over several generations, researchers saw that the "stress" from mowing affected the development of the turfgrass. In recently published findings, they reported that they have observed that the transgenerational inheritance of close mowing stress is correlated with heritable patterns of DNA methylation. 
    "The lack of mowing stress enabled Poa annua to reduce the transgenerational memory of mowing stress, that is, 'forget' the memory of mowing stress, presumably by removing epigenetic marks," said Chris Benson, a doctoral candidate in plant biology who spearheaded the research. "We believe that such transgenerational memory would be further entrenched or relaxed across additional generations of continued or relaxed mowing stress. We think we can use this knowledge to overcome the genetics and produce stable cultivars."
    The transgenerational memory of Poa probably stems from the plant's need to adapt to the stress of grazing animals over time, Benson said. Such stress, Benson said, can be vary based on differing degrees in grazing pressure.
  • Photo by The Olympic Club The Olympic Club has a history with the USGA that dates nearly 70 years. 
    With 45 holes spread across the renowned Lake Course, the Ocean Course and the nine-hole Cliffs Course, the historic club in San Francisco has been the site of nine USGA championships, including five U.S. Open championships, since 1955. Something the club has never hosted is a women's event. Until now.
    The best women's players in the world will tee off at Olympic on June 3 when the 76th edition of the U.S. Women's Open comes to San Francisco.
    "This is huge for our club," said director of golf maintenance Troy Flanagan. "Our partnership with the USGA is a long one that has benefitted both sides.
    "It is receiving a lot of attention because it is at Olympic. It is going to be great for the game in general and great for women's golf."
    Flanagan, 52, came to Olympic seven years ago after eight years at Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nevada. When he arrived in San Francisco, the Olympic Club was two years removed from its last U.S. Open in 2012. 
    Since then, Flanagan has focused on creating the same processes, standards and programs across all 45 holes. The greens throughout are a mix Tyee and 007 creeping bentgrass, the fairways and tees are predominantly Poa annua with some ryegrass, and the roughs are mostly rye with a little Poa.
    "We started spending more money on the Ocean Course to make sure our programs were the same," Flanagan said. "Now, greens construction and grasses are nearly identical, and the experience on the Ocean Course is just as good as the experience on the Lake. It took five years to accomplish that."
    When players arrive for the Women's Open, they still will find a formidable foe in the Lake Course.
    "With the sloped fairways, the challenge at Olympic is even if you hit it straight that might not be the play," said USGA agronomist Darin Bevard. "They might have to pick one side to hit it so it doesn't run out of the fairway. That's the interesting thing about Olympic, you might have to hit it to the left side of the fairway to get it to stop on the right side of the fairway."
    When Flanagan came to the Olympic Club, the width and breadth of what is billed as the country's oldest and largest athletic club took a little getting used to.
    The Olympic Club was founded in May 1860, a full year before the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It boasts 11,000 members who participate in a variety of sports, including basketball, swimming, soccer, rugby and golf.
    "The biggest thing for me was learning the Olympic Club," Flanagan said. "It's such a big club, and I didn't understand how big it was. At most clubs, the golf course is king. At the Olympic Club, golf is big, but it is a sport among many others. We have 11,000 members, and 1,000 are golf members. It is a different dynamic than what I was used to."
    Jack Fleck won the first U.S. Open played at Olympic in 1955. Since then, Open champions there include Billy Casper in 1966, Scott Simpson (1987), Lee Janzen (1998) and Webb Simpson (2012). Next week will be the first time the Women's Open will be held at the 1924 Willie Watson-designed Lake Course where Thom Irvin is in his last lap as superintendent before heading to Claremont Country Club across the Bay in Oakland.
    For the Women's Open, Olympic's greens will be mowed at 0.95 inches with a target Stimpmeter reading of 12-12.5 feet, and fairways will be maintained at 0.4 inches, Flanagan said.
    "We would like to bring them down," Flanagan said. "But because of the steep slopes, we don't want shots on those slopes to roll off the fairways."
    There will be no intermediate rough, and all areas outside the ropes will be kept at 4.25 inches, nearly 3 inches taller than what Flanagan and Irvin produce for member play.
    "This is a hard course. We've made the fairways wider because of the slopes. There will be a premium on hitting fairways."
    This year's Women's Open will be the third in the past 11 years held on a course synonymous with the men's national championship, including Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 and Oakmont Country Club in 2010.
    "From my perspective, this is a great venue and a great location, and it has a great history in the game and a great history with the USGA," Bevard said. "The Olympic Club has been a great partner for a lot of years, and it is always in immaculate condition.
    "This event is receiving a lot of attention because it is at Olympic. It is going to be great for the game in general and will continue to raise the stature of women's golf."
  • "Jon Scott - what a talented guy and a great friend." - Jack Nicklaus

    Some of Jon Scott's happiest moments were when he was behind the controls of his 1965 Cessna 172F. Jon Scott was one of the most accomplished agronomists of his generation. A superintendent at a long list of golf properties, Scott rose to the top of his profession, growing in Valhalla and serving as vice president of agronomy for both the PGA Tour and Jack Nicklaus before finally starting his own consulting firm. 
    A graduate of Michigan State and a lifelong learner and teacher, Scott died Sunday after battling pancreatic cancer for almost two years. He was 72. Survivors include wife Anne; daughter Brenda (Brian); stepsons Joel and Tom Krause; and sisters Jan (Ed) and Jyl (Jim).
    Upon news of his passing, the outpouring of remorse and respect from colleagues and peers across the turf industry was evidence of the regard people had for him not only as an agronomist, but also as a person.
    "Jon Scott - what a talented guy and what a great friend," Jack Nicklaus said. "Jon worked with us and the Tour and back with us for parts of 40 years. He was as talented an agronomist as there ever was. Not only was he talented, but he knew how to deliver his message to make everybody happy. Including me."
    Scott was remembered as an accomplished agronomist; proficient communicator; dedicated husband, father and friend; and skilled pilot who saw in his Cessna a portal into a world of escape from the stress of everyday life.
    Scott worked with a lot of superintendents during his time with the Tour and Nicklaus, including Paul B. Latshaw, CGCS.
    The director of golf course operations at Merion since 2017, Latshaw spent nearly 14 years as director of grounds operations at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, home of The Memorial Tournament. Latshaw's tenure at Muirfield intersected with Scott's time both with Nicklaus and the PGA Tour, so the pair have worked side by side for many years and developed a very close relationship.
    "This is just really tough for me," Latshaw said. "He was a wonderful person and extremely passionate about everything he did. Everything he did was about the greater good and producing the best conditions on the golf course and the betterment of the superintendent. He could be hard on you, but he was hard on you because he cared. He was a straight shooter, and you always knew where you stood with him."
    Scott worked as a superintendent at six golf courses over a 14-year span before he was hired in 1986 to grow in Valhalla Golf Club, a Nicklaus design in Louisville, Kentucky. He was at Valhalla for about a year when Nicklaus hired him to head the agronomy team for his North Palm Beach, Florida-based golf course design firm.
    Although he was at Valhalla only a short time, Scott set the table for a property that has been the site of the 2008 Ryder Cup Matches and three PGA Championships (1996, 2000, 2014). The PGA is scheduled to return to Valhalla in 2024. Scott eventually spent a total of 19 years as VP of agronomy for Nicklaus Design, succeeding Steve Batten and the late Ed Etchells, in two phases that were sandwiched around nine years with the Tour. In 2014, he returned to his native Michigan, where he set up shop with his own consulting service, and continued to work with Nicklaus on select projects until his death.
    For all of Scott's accomplishments, his career in golf almost never made it to the first tee.
    Fresh out of Michigan State with a degree in park management in 1972, Scott had accepted a position with Miami-Dade County Department of Parks and Recreation, but the job he had been promised was given to someone else before he could start. As the saying goes, "when one door closes, another opens." In this case, that open door was at Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne.
    "They told him they didn't have a job in parks, but they had a golf course that needed a superintendent," said Scott's stepson, Joel Krause, the superintendent at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan. "So, if he wanted to work there he would have to take that job, so he did, and the rest is history." (Finally, a government snafu that worked out!)
    Scott had been working for Nicklaus for about 10 years when he was offered the opportunity to head up the Tour's agronomy division.
    "I told Jon, 'you need to take that job, it's the best thing for your career,' " Nicklaus said. "He took the job and worked for the Tour for nine or 10 years, and one day I saw Jon and said 'if you're ever tired of this, we'd love to have you back one day.' I got a call the next Monday morning - 'I'd love to come back.' "

    His career with the Tour and Nicklaus allowed him to help superintendents meet the demands imposed by some very insistent people. And when he showed up at your golf course, there was no question about whose word was final come decision time, said Phil Shoemaker, who spent nearly his entire career on Nicklaus-designed courses before retiring in 2019, including the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, Muirfield Village, TPC Scottsdale and 24 years at Desert Highlands in Scottsdale.
    "Once or twice a year he would pop in at all the Nicklaus courses to make sure they were up to Nicklaus' standards," Shoemaker said. "He was stern but respectful, and I admired that about the man. When Jack would visit, it was more about design than agronomy, so he built a team to make sure the agronomy was up to his standards. And that standard was perfection - all the time."
    As he rose to his profession's highest level and helped superintendents around the country produce the best playing conditions possible under what often were extreme and difficult circumstances, Scott never stopped learning.
    Throughout his career, Scott was a speaker as well as an attendee at regional and national conferences, enjoyed attending the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition and soaked up as much knowledge as he could through outlets for non-traditional education such as TurfNet webinars and this year's virtual Golf Industry Show.
    "He was committed to continuous education and learning," Latshaw said. "He wanted to bring information to anyone and everyone he worked with. The only way to do that was to stay cutting-edge. He knew there wasn't just one way, that there might always be a better way to do things. His concerns were producing the best possible conditions and using the best construction techniques. That's why he was always learning.
    "He made you think about different ways of doing things: soil, water, construction techniques. He always questioned the process in a way that made everyone question whether the way they were doing something was the right way of doing it. He always made you think. His stance was to build something that was sustainable after the construction was finished."
    When Desert Mountain and Desert Highlands brought in help from academia to speak with city officials in Scottsdale about water issues 20 years ago, Scott, who then was with the Tour, showed up just to listen - and learn.
    "He wasn't there to take over," Shoemaker said. "He respected the process in place with the scientists. He just wanted to learn how to deal with water problems."
    Scott also excelled at communicating what he learned to others. 
    "One of his greatest skill sets was his people skills. He could talk to anyone," Latshaw said. "He could communicate with CEOs of companies and turn around and talk to the person running irrigation. Not a lot of people have that skill, but Jon truly cared about people he worked with. When doing a tournament, you always get stressed out. Jon always was good at keeping things in perspective. 
    "His writing skills were unbelievable. He'd write these five- and six-page emails to me. It would take me an hour-and-a-half to respond to him. They were very technical. I learned a lot from that man."
    As accomplished as Scott was an agronomist, he is remembered as an even better person. There is the side of Scott who was a great agronomist, mentor and teacher, and the side who made enough of an impact on a 10-year-old stepson that eventually he, too, became a golf course superintendent.
    "At work, he could be tough on you, but if you made a mistake, he would pull you aside and explain to you what you did wrong. He never berated you in front of others," said Krause, who crewed for his stepdad. "At home, he was much more relaxed. He let me make mistakes and figure them out on my own. It was like two different people. He was a great superintendent and manager, and he was very kind and understanding as a dad."
    Then there was the gregarious side that was not always so serious, Nicklaus said.
    When the Nicklaus Design contingent was in India on a construction project, the locals warned them to be careful about what they ate. One evening, the group dined at an outdoor buffet where the food had been out for quite some time when they arrived.
    "They had a buffet and had about 14 dishes. We all sort of looked at it and said 'we're in a foreign country, be careful what you're eating,' " Nicklaus said laughing. "Not that the food was bad, but we all were careful. I think I ate some lamb chops, and that was it. Jon ate all 14 dishes, and went back for more. We all got the greatest kick out of that. He had a cast-iron stomach."
    In the end, Scott was very private about his fight with cancer. Even many of his close friends had no idea how serious it was, or even that he was sick at all. Scott found escape and solace in piloting his 1965 Cessna 172F. He sold the plane on Feb. 2, which was an indicator that his days were numbered.
    "I just spoke to him a few months ago, and he didn't say anything," Latshaw said. 
    "He was just a remarkable individual. He was a mentor to me and almost like a second father figure. We didn't just work together; we were friends. When you spend that much time together, it's impossible not to be. This really hurts. I can't believe he's gone."
  • Doug Karcher, Ph.D., is returning to his alma mater as professor and chair in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State University. His four-year term begins Aug. 1, pending approval by the university’s board of trustees.
    Karcher, currently is a professor and assistant head in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Arkansas and also is the interim assistant director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. He earned a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Ohio State in 1984 and went on to earn master's (1997) and doctorate degrees (2000) from Michigan State in crop and soil sciences. 
    During his career, Karcher has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and 130 articles resulting from his research. He is a founding board member of the European Institute for Turfgrass Science, an organization dedicated to providing research-based recommendations to the European Turfgrass Industry. 
    “We are excited in bringing an engaged leader like Dr. Karcher to OSU,” Cathann A. Kress, vice president for agricultural administration and dean of CFAES, said in a news release. “He has a record demonstrating effective scholarship, a commitment to students, and productive relationships with stakeholders. Further, his leadership regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion are quite welcome, and align with our continued focus on DEI as a college.”
    In his new position, Karcher will lead the department’s research, teaching, extension and international development programs; foster effective, collegial, cooperative and productive relationships among students, staff; promote the department and the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with state, national and international organizations.
    His research at Arkansas has focused on improving the functional and aesthetic quality of turfgrass while minimizing water, fertilizer and pesticide inputs through the refinement of cultural practices. 
  • In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never met Matt Henkel in person. I had the honor of speaking with him on the phone once, but that single moment was enough. Once the superintendent and general manager of PrairieView Golf Club in Byron, Illinois, Matt displayed the kind of personality and openness - at a time when he was most vulnerable - that drew you in and made you feel as if you had known him forever.
    His candor during a time of great personal tragedy was not a typical conversation one has with a stranger. But Matt was not like most people. In a time when "me, myself and I" seem to take center stage for too many, Matt chose to share his life - and death - in a public forum so that others could benefit from his experience. And we are better for it.
    As children, we believe that heroes largely are make-believe characters from comic books, cartoons and television shows. In reality, fictional characters like Superman exist only in our imagination, while real-life heroes walk among us every day. We just have to look for them.
    Matt Henkel, as far as I know, never wore a cape and he never leapt a tall building in a single bound. But for more than a decade he took on something much more imposing, and he handled it in a way that made him as much of a hero as anyone could hope to find, or emulate.
    For the past 13 years, Matt battled brain cancer. That courageous struggle became increasingly challenging during the past year-and-a-half, when, after it appeared he might have beaten his adversary, it returned with a vengeance in the fall of 2019. By now, everyone knows Matt lost that struggle on Wednesday. He was 42, and left behind a wife, Cammie (shown here with Matt); three children, Ashton, Claire and Mara; and a list of life lessons that undoubtedly will help those who followed his story put their own lives into perspective. 
    Throughout the duration of his fight, Matt never gave in or gave up against a foe that gives no quarter, and he took a lot of us along for the ride by chronicling his experience online. Eventually, he resigned his position at PrairieView to devote his full attention to what literally was a fight for his life. Until his death, his very public message in the face of unbeatable odds was one of hope and love, and the example he set for his family and for all of us has been an inspiration and a reminder to never give up and to waste nary a minute of time we have with loved ones. 
    That is Matt's legacy, and that is heroic.
    Through his online journal, Matt shared intimate details of his fight, from trips to the University of Wisconsin Hospital to the UCLA Medical Center and finally into Hospice. 
    As we watched a man awaiting certain death cram in as much quality time as possible with his family, Matt's journey is a sobering reminder of how tenuous life is and how each of us would be better if we heed his message.

    All photos from Matt Henkel via Twitter @mphturf_79 Although Matt is gone, his final moments and the enormity of his experience live on in a haunting photograph of three loving children huddled around their dying father. It is impossible to look at that image and not be moved to heart-wrenching emotion and empathy for his children who undoubtedly knew the outcome that awaited their dad. One can barely imagine their grief as they begin a journey without a father who, at 42, was taken far too soon. The scene is as precious as it is intense, and it symbolizes a deeply personal experience those children will cherish forever.
    Equally great had to be the sadness Matt felt knowing that he was leaving his family behind after his very public fight, while privately accepting he was powerless to change the outcome. It is the nature of fathers to be a rock, to provide for their family a feeling of safety and security and a sense that you have everything under control - even when you do not. 
    Matt had been cancer free for five years when he began experiencing headaches and dizziness in October 2019. He returned to the University of Wisconsin where his neurosurgeon, Dr. Azam Ahmed, gave him the bad news - a grade 4 glioblastoma.
    "It's grown back, and it's big," Matt said last fall when he shared his story with TurfNet.
    Although he had played with house money for five years, Matt now faced insurmountable odds.
    According to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, glioblastoma is a common and aggressively growing form of brain cancer for which there is no cure. The average length of survival is 15-18 months, and the five-year survival rate is 10 percent.
    Those odds did not deter Matt.
    "I'm going to beat this," he told TurfNet.
    He took his fight public, sharing everything, from breakfast with his son (pictured above), to taking part in an experimental trial at UCLA to leaving the hospital to be home in time for daughter Mara's birthday. 
    Until the end, Matt was that rock for his family. It is what husbands and fathers are supposed to do. Even in death, his thoughts were for others, not himself. His obituary states: "Cancer taught Matt many lessons about the value of time, and he would much prefer everyone use the hours that would have been spent attending services to make memories with family, volunteer, or engage in a random act of kindness to brighten someone else's day."
    That is Matt's legacy, and that is heroic.
  • Arthur Hills designed more than 200 golf courses worldwide, including Big Horn Golf Club in Palm Desert, California (above). Photo by Hills, Forrest, Smith Golf Course Architects Arthur Hills, who designed and renovated more than 350 golf courses around the world, was as a pioneer in the field of golf course design.
    A native of Toledo, Ohio, Hills died May 18. He was 91.
    Hills was a graduate of both Michigan State University, where he was a member of the golf team, and the University of Michigan, where he earned a degree in landscape architecture. He formed his golf course architecture firm, which eventually transitioned to Hills, Forrest, Smith, Golf Course Architects, in the 1960s.
    Hills designed more than 200 golf courses around the world and restored more than 150 others. His design portfolio includes Bonita Bay, Naples, Florida; The Golf Club of Georgia, Atlanta; Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert, California; Keene Trace Golf Club, Lexington, Kentucky; and Hyatt Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas. Hills-designed courses have hosted many top amateur and professional tournaments, including U.S. Opens and the Ryder Cup.
    "As a kid drawing golf holes and dreaming about becoming a designer, I would read the magazines and marvel at the articles about new courses," ASGCA president Forrest Richardson told the ASGCA. "One was Tamarron in Colorado, a new course by Art Hills set in a rugged valley with steep cliffs. Eventually I got to see it firsthand, and it inspired me with its bold greens and creative routing."
    An environmental pioneer, Hills designed the first Audubon Signature Sanctuary courses in the United States, Mexico and Europe. ASGCA past president Pete Dye once called Hills "the Mayor of Naples" for the number of private country club courses that he designed in Southwest Florida.
    "He started the business by placing an ad in the Toledo, Ohio, Yellow Pages under 'Golf Course Architect' while operating a landscape contracting business," said his longtime partner Steve Forrest. "I had the great privilege of learning all aspects of golf course architecture from a distinguished professional practitioner and humble gentleman over 42 years. Arthur became a father-like figure to me who was a mentor, an instructor, exhorter and admonisher while always trying to improve his own skills and increase his personal knowledge every day."
    Hills is an inductee into both the Ohio and Michigan Golf Halls of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award from the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association.
    Hills served as ASGCA president in 1992-93. Survivors include wife Mary, eight children, 24 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
    Visitation will be at Reeb Funeral Home, Sylvania, Ohio, on Sunday, May 23, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. A funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sylvania on Monday, May 24, at 11 a.m.
  • Aquatrols taps Albert for eastern Canada
    Aquatrols, a maker of soil surfactants and related technologies, has named Jonathan Albert as the company's territory manager for eastern Canada.
    A former golf greenkeeper, Albert will be responsible for overseeing all sales and marketing initiatives in that region. Albert joins Aquatrols from Bayer, where he worked in product development and trial testing as a field development representative and in sales as a territory manager. 
    Prior to his roles at Bayer, Albert worked in Montreal as an assistant superintendent at Windmill Heights Golf Course.

    Rain Bird names new regional manager in SE Asia
    Rain Bird recently named Mark Donohue as regional manager for the company's Southeast Asia market. 
    In his new role, Donohue will manage the development of Rain Bird's golf, landscape and agriculture sectors in the Southeast Asia region.
    Donohue joined Rain Bird as a regional manager for Canada in 2016. Since then, he built a high-performing landscape sales team, expanded and improved the company's distribution network and delivered outstanding business results. In recognition of his efforts, Donohue received a 2020 Rain Bird Achievement Award for Long Term Growth Orientation.  
    Before joining Rain Bird, Donohue spent five years as the national sales manager for ITW Construction Products, Canada in Markham, Ontario. In 2015, Donohue received his professional certification from the University of Innovative Distribution at Purdue University.
    BASF brings first insecticide for golf to market
    BASF recently introduced Alucion 35 WG insecticide, the company's first specifically for the golf course market. This new dual-action, non-restricted use product provides golf course superintendents with a solution for controlling a wide range of surface-feeding insects.
    With the active ingredients alpha-cypermethrin and dinotefuran, Alucion 35 WG is labled for control of pests such as nuisance ants, chinch bugs, cutworms and annual bluegrass weevil.
    According to BASF, Alucion 35 WG insecticide is the only pyrethroid-containing insecticide for golf courses with a non-restricted use label.
  • Opportunities often present themselves in the oddest of places, like on the first tee during a weather delay.
    While sitting in the car waiting out a frost delay last December at Talamore Golf Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina, Garrett Bastardi realized a moment of serendipity that would allow him to combine two of his passions - golf and forecasting the weather.
    An aspiring tour pro who has been playing professionally for four years, Bastardi, 25, also is finishing his education at Penn State, where he is working toward a bachelor's degree in meteorology. Today, he is partnering with two other meteorologists as well as Herb Stevens, the golf-playing weatherman, on a short-range forecasting system called T3 that can help superintendents know when conditions will be right in a 48-hour window for a host of issues.
    "I was playing between Christmas and New Year, and every day, there was a frost delay in the morning," Bastardi said. "There were 100 guys standing around waiting, and no one, not the starter or anyone in the golf shop, ever knew when we were going to be able to play. Being a meteorologist, I knew there were models to predict this."
    Stevens, known as the skiing weatherman, already has been offering his Grassroots Weather long-range forecasting platform to superintendents. Developed in part from World War II-era technology used by military meteorologists, Grassroots Weather has been providing superintendents with long-term weather trends for 18 years. Bastardi has been involved with Grassroots Weather for the past several years.
    The T3 platform, which stands for Turf Threat Tracker, provides insight into several metrics on a micro level. Users enter their latitude and longitude (which can be easily determined through Google Maps) for precise two-day forecasts for issues such as ET, solar radiation, soil temperature, soil moisture, leaf wetness, frost, wind, visibility and lightning.
    That information not only makes it easier to identify potential frost delays (and when they might be over), but also can help superintendent time spray applications and more.
    "It gives me the ability to time operations, plant-protectant sprays or timing of a project on the golf course," said Rodney Hine, superintendent at Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Massachusetts. 
    "It has saved me when putting down an application that did not need water. If rain is in the forecast, I can change my schedule and get the product washed in."
    Most forecasting models used in traditional platforms, such as The Weather Channel, are built on 18-mile-wide grids, meaning a forecast can be as much as 9 miles from your location. T3 is built on a tighter grid, ensuring a more accurate forecast.

    "Being a meteorologist, I knew there were models to predict this." -- Garrett Bastardi   (USGA Green Section image) "The big difference between this model and point-and-click models has to do with grid size," Stevens said. 
    "Our platform has a grid size of 1.8 miles, so your point of reference is never more than nine-tenths of a mile from the intersection where the forecast is produced for."
    T3 has been in development since January. Several superintendents have been testing it and a few have liked enough of what they have seen to subscribe to the service. Thanks to a 28-day trial period, any superintendent can test it for free.
    "I'm frustrated with weather forecasts," said Sam MacKenzie of Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois. "The only person who can fail as much as a weatherman and more money are baseball players. You can hit .250 and still make a million dollars.
    "No question, having an accurate forecast is important to have. I like the radar, but I'm still evaluating it. I do know already that there is a 90 percent chance of frost tomorrow."
    Also involved in the project are Steve Hallett and Andy Moffitt, fellow meteorology classmates of Bastardi's at Penn State.
    "When superintendents have to make weather decisions on the fly, they might have to go to five or six sites to make a decision," Stevens said. "By the time they get to the fifth one, they've forgotten what the first one said.
    "T3 is an all-in-one component where they get everything they need in one place. It contains tools they've never had at their disposal before."
    Said Hine: "I'd like to be able to get back to focusing on the smaller details. The more efficiently I can do that, the more money I save. I like knowing what to expect. I learned a long time ago, you can't work against Mother Nature. You have to work with her. I've killed a lot of grass trying to work against Mother Nature."
  • From left, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have designed some of the country's most highly regarded golf courses. The renowned golf course design tandem of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore have been named the recipients of the American Society of Golf Course Architects 2021 Donald Ross Award. The award has been given annually since 1976 "to those making a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture." 
    A 19-time winner on the PGA Tour, Crenshaw is a two-time Master's champion (1984, 1995) and captained the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1999. Coore learned the ropes of golf course design under Pete and Alice Dye. The two have been designing courses together since 1985.
    Coore and Crenshaw have teamed to design such highly acclaimed layouts such as Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska, Sheep Ranch Golf Course in Oregon, Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia, Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawaii, Streamsong Resort Red in Florida and Friar’s Head in New York. They also restored Pinehurst No. 2 prior to the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Open both were played there in 2014.
    They will receive the award in October at the ASGCA annual meeting in Cleveland.
    Click here for a complete list of past winners.
  • After a virtual event in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Trade Show will be an in-person event again this year.
    Scheduled for Nov. 15-17, the event will take place at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Seminar and attendee registration will open after Labor Day.
    "We are so glad to be back on track," said Carolinas GCSA president, Brian Stiehler, CGCS at Highlands Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina.
    This year's conference will feature education seminars on the Monday morning. This gives attendees the chance to take as many as four seminars, with education also on Monday afternoon, as well as Tuesday morning and afternoon. General education sessions will take place on Wednesday with the trade show open on Tuesday and Wednesday.
    The Carolinas GCSA will continue to monitor the pandemic and be ready to adapt as necessary, Carolinas GCSA executive director, Tim Kreger said.
    "But given the current trajectory, we expect to offer the kind of Conference and Show that has made this event the largest regional event of its kind for superintendents in the country," he said.
    When the pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s in-person event, the Carolinas GCSA answered with an event known as Conference Comes to You that included a month of online education for turf managers from 35 regional chapters.
    "I wouldn’t be surprised," Kreger said, "if this show challenges attendance records."
  • A former Champions Tour site, city-owned Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Kentucky, has a long history of hosting high-profile events. Photos by John Reitman When talking about the country's most popular golf destinations, Kentucky rarely, if ever, comes up in the conversation.
    Kent Dornbrock, superintendent of one of the state's top municipal courses, would like to see that change.
    "We're not there yet," said Dornbrock, superintendent at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington. "But we have a lot of good superintendents in this state doing some good work."
    Dornbrock has been doing some good work at Kearney Hill for nearly a decade, and his predecessors did the same for another 25 years since Pete and P.B. Dye built the course in 1989.
    A former PGA Champions Tour site, Kearney Hill in 2018 was the site of the Girls Junior PGA Championship, a nationwide championship for golfers 18 and under. In July, Kearney will host the same event for boys, while the girls will be playing 50 miles away at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
    "What does that say? It says come play golf in Kentucky," Dornbrock said. "It says come play in Lexington. We're ready for you."
    Despite its municipal status, Kearney Hill has been one of Lexington's golf hotspots since it was carved out of the rolling central Kentucky landscape 32 years ago. Ranked No. 3 in Kentucky on Golfweek's "Best Public Courses You Can Play" list, Kearney Hill was home to the PGA Champions Tour Bank One Classic from 1990-97, the USGA Men's Public Links Championship in 1997 and the Women's Public Links Championship in 2007. Tour pro Jim Dent held the course record - 62 - for nine years.
    Kearney Hill, like most places, has had plenty of golfers but not enough workers during the pandemic.
    At least 100 golfers per day on weekdays and 300 on Saturdays and Sundays are playing Kearney Hill. Until recently, Dornbrock's crew has been operating at about 50 percent of normal.
    "We get a lot of tournaments. We have a page-and-a-half of events on the books this year," Dornbrock said.
    "We're just trying to keep our head above water. We're finally getting workers back, but it has been hard during the pandemic. It has been easier for people to stay home and make more money. We finally have some college kids coming in, but we just couldn't get people out here."
    A labor shortage has meant cutting back on detail work - at least until Dornbrock's staff is back up to full capacity.
    "Little things were not getting done, things like edging bunkers, raking bunkers and cutting back on how much we mowed the short grass," he said. "We want to mow the greens six days a week, but we can't. We've had to cut back on everything we do by 10 to 20 percent of what we normally would do."
    Dornbrock recently hired an irrigation tech, filling a void that has been open for two years. His new hire is transferring in from another department within the city's maintenance operation and has no golf experience.
    "We can teach that," Dornbrock said. "Just having him will allow me to do superintendent duties again, like walking greens and fairways every morning, so I can be on top of all those issues. In short, it's going to help me be a superintendent again, so then I don't have to be an irrigation tech."
    With some of the country's best junior golfers due at Kearney Hill in July, , more help could not have come at a better time.
    "A little more intense maintenance, more PGR use - we're working on getting this place into shape," he said. "My philosophy is to have this course in the best shape possible every day, and we do a very good job of that. Now, with more staff, we will be very good by mid-June. By July, we will be great.
    "We're going to produce and maintain a great golf course, not just for the boys, but for our public golfers, because we need them to continue to come back."
  • CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR TECH

    Robert Smith of Merion Golf Club (above) won Technician of the Year in 2015. Tony Nunes (below) of Chicago Golf Club, won the award in 2017. The past year has been a challenge for just about everyone in the golf industry. This time a year ago, many courses were closed, and no one was quite sure when they would be reopened and what things would look like then. 
    By the time things reopened, many places had sent workers home and golfers began to descend on shorthanded golf courses in record numbers, resulting in added pressure and stress to superintendents and their teams, including equipment managers. 
    With more golfers on the course and shorter windows to conduct daily maintenance, technicians were asked to do more and more, often with fewer and fewer resources. 
    If you have an equipment manager who has gone above and beyond the call of duty during the past year - and there must be a lot of deserving candidates since the implementation of Covid protocols - nominate him or her for the TurfNet 2021 Technician of the Year Award, sponsored by John Deere. The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award along with their choice of a spot in a Deere training session in North Carolina or a chance to assist with equipment maintenance at next year’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Either will result in an equipment manager who is better trained and more motivated and will make your property better.
    CLICK HERE to submit a nomination.
    Nominees are considered by our panel of judges on the following criteria: 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.
    Deadline to submit a nomination is June 1.
    Previous winners include (2020) Evan Meldahl, Bayou Oaks at City Park, New Orleans, LA; (2019) Dan Dommer, Ozaukee Country Club, 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.

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