Jump to content

From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR TECH

    Jamie Worsham (center) of Beard Equipment, a Baton Rouge John Deere distributor, and Ryan McCavitt (right), director of golf course operations at Bayou Oaks at City Park, congratulate 2020 Golden Wrench winner Evan Meldahl. 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.
  • A study under way at multiple Midwestern universities will one day provide turfgrass managers with a tool that can help them identify the threat of winterkill and give them time to take action before damage sets in. At least that is what scientists are hoping for.
    Researchers at Michigan State and the University of Minnesota are using subsurface sensors planted at several golf courses in both states to measure soil moisture and temperature at three depths as well as oxygen and carbon dioxide levels just below the surface to learn how that data might one day help predict the threat of winterkill. Data measured by the sensors is transmitted to the user through a cellular connection.
    The sensors, which were developed at the University of Minnesota were installed at 10 courses in that state, six in Michigan and one in Norway, said Kevin Frank, Ph.D., of Michigan State.
    "The hope is that we can develop a model that will tell people in real time that they might have an issue," Frank said. 'We believe it is anoxia underneath ice cover that causes winterkill. It might be soil moisture and temperature and a combination with freeze-and-thaw cycles."
    The study is part of a larger multi-university research project under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, but in two previous tries it has yet to be approved by the USDA for funding. The cost of the sensors, at least those in the ground on golf courses in Michigan, was funded by the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation.
    "Hopefully, the third time is the charm," Frank said. "Our challenge has always been winterkill is unpredictable. Seven years ago, there was mass turf death in this area. It might be another seven years before we see anything like that again. It might be 20 years, or we might never have that kind of death again."
    Placing the sensors in different locations that include Detroit, Grand Rapids, Gaylord and Petoskey areas in Michigan, increase the chances of encountering some adverse conditions.
    "I know this is going to sound awful, but placing them in different locations gives us a better opportunity to see some death," Frank said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to pinpoint data on gasses, or temperature or moisture levels. It will be helpful to show that the research is working before getting funding."
    The sensors were installed last autumn. The research is still in its early stages.
    "The first year, we're just trying to find if they work and do they give a continuous data stream," Frank said. "Half were working here, the others are a mystery until I get them in my hands and see if they recorded data. 
    "After several years of doing this, we want to find if there are there specific thresholds of temperatures, gasses, moisture, and in real time can it tell superintendents that they have an issue and there might be something they can do about it. That is the goal."
  • For the past several years, Matthew Woodcock saw Old Erie Golf Course as a place where everyone in his family, adults and children alike, could have fun and feel welcome. Now that he owns it, he plans to keep it that way, and not just for his family, but everyone else's, too.
    Woodcock, 31, and wife Jill bought Old Erie, a nine-hole mom-and-pop operation in Durhamville, New York, on March 1. Built in 1968, Old Erie will not show up on anyone's top 100 list and it does not have bocce courts. It does have a Thursday night cornhole league that plays on a vacant area behind the clubhouse, and the jeans-wearing crowd that is the facility's bread and butter think the playing conditions here are plenty good.
    If the game is going to build on its renewed popularity of 2020, continue to grow and attract new players, it has to be, more than anything else, fun, and the atmosphere customers find at their local course has to be inviting.
    "We're not going to be the best course in the area, but one thing we can do is provide a great atmosphere where everyone feels welcome, where they don't have to worry about wearing a collared shirt," Woodcock said. "That's not who we are.
    "We want to provide a fun atmosphere where people can come and not be judged about what they are wearing, or about their game. That's who we are."
    Woodcock, his wife and their family spent many a day at Old Erie long before they bought it. They had become so at-home at Old Erie that when David Niemann and John Stewart, who bought the course in 2012, considered retirement, they asked Woodcock on several occasions if he was interested in buying it.
    "We all hung out here all summer," Woodcock said. "The owners really cultivated a family atmosphere here.
    "They saw we were invested in the property, and he wanted someone who was going to continue to run it the way he did. I guess they saw that in us."
    As owner-operator, Woodcock also is the course superintendent. He has no turf degree, and his experience includes four years of golf course maintenance at Old Erie and before that, Turning Stone, a multi-course resort in nearby Verona that was a PGA Tour stop for a brief time.
    He ended up in the turf business only because he was looking for a job after he lost his position in the payroll processing sales industry. 
    "I am not a salesman," he said. "I should have been fired. When someone said 'no' I'd just leave and tell them 'have a nice day."
    It was wife Jill who saw a help-wanted ad for seasonal maintenance work on the crew at Turning Stone.
    "I fell in love with it," he said. "I fell in love with the work: mowing, weed-eating, being outside all day. I loved it.
    "I have an associate's degree in science. I applied to the turf program at Penn State, but I had to put those plans on hold - because I bought a golf course."
    The day after closing on the golf course, Woodcock delivered a presentation to the Penn State Turf Club in a virtual conference.

    Running Old Erie Golf Course is a family affair for Matthew Woodcock and son Ezra, 6, who also is shown below. "I told them that I felt funny talking to them because they knew more than I did," he said. "I talked to them about how hard work and luck make people successful. You need both, because hard work doesn't always get you there. Sometimes you need a little luck. That's where I'm at."
    The nondescript but family friendly course opened in 1968. Conditions and expectations are 180 degrees at the opposite end of the spectrum from those at Turning Stone, which was home to the Turning Stone Resort Championship from 2007 to 2010.
    "Our tolerance for disease pressure at this golf course is pretty high," Woodcock said. 
    "If there is disease on a tee, we probably have to live with it. We focus on the greens. People come here and pay $20 to play nine holes. They don't care if there is disease in the fairways. I learned that from the owner, and that was a culture shock coming from Turning Stone. We have to live with flaws, because we can't afford to fix them, and our clientele does not demand that we fix them. They come here to have fun."
    The decision to buy a golf course - during a pandemic - was not one the Woodcocks entered into lightly. Matthew's parents, David and Susie, and Jill's mother, Michelle Vance, helped with the down payment, making the purchase of a golf course a true family affair.
    At least 11 family members help with everything from accounting and marketing to tending bar and managing special events to working in the clubhouse and assisting with course maintenance.
    "The previous owners really promoted a family atmosphere. When they had tournaments, everyone would stay after and have dinner together," said Woodcock's dad, David, an MRI technician during the week and now part-time golf course employee on weekends. "Sometimes they'd have live music. It's just been a lot of fun. When they talked to Matthew about buying it, it just seemed right for them to take it over and for us to help him.
    "I travel a lot for work, but I'm home on weekends and I'll help out when I can. I was always there anyway."
    The course has about 100 members. Woodcock says he'd like to grow that number to about 150 or so, but not much more.
    "We can't support 250 or 300 members," he said. "If people come out here on a Saturday and it's packed wall to wall, we'll lose members anyway."
    There are no illusions of getting rich off Old Erie. Woodcock is renovating a house on the property that he and Jill and their four children eventually will occupy. That will help them with expenses.
    "He knows he's not going to get rich doing this, running this kind of golf course," David Woodcock said. "We figured if you make a decent living, have fun and all are OK and we can make a go of this, I think that is the way to do it.
    "It's never going to be Augusta, but the fairways and greens are always very good."
    The experience also is a legacy the Woodcocks can pass down to their four children.
    "We want to do outreach with our local charities to make our local area better," Woodcock said.  "I grew up a mile from here. I'm super proud of this area. I am fully invested in it, and I want to make it an area our kids can be proud of, as well."
  • The USGA will invest nearly $2 million into turf research grants this year through the Green Section Turfgrass and Environmental Research program.
    The annual investment in the program, which this year totals $1.8 million into 70-plus grants, is part of the USGA's contined effort to support the sustainability of golf, which, the USGA says, saves the industry an estimated $1.8 billion annually.
    During the Green Section's 100-year history, which was marked last year, the USGA has invested more than $46 million in research aimed at improving the golfer experience and reducing inputs. The program represents the largest private turfgrass and environmental research effort in the game's history.
    The 2021 grant recipients – including 16 new projects – will receive an average of $25,000 in funding this year. Projects include an innovative multi-year effort with the University of Minnesota to improve irrigation efficiency, while ongoing support to the University of Nebraska will advance the development of new cultivars of buffalograss that require fewer inputs. 
    Another grant of $25,000 will be invested in a collaborative effort between North Carolina State University, Purdue University and the University of Georgia-Tifton to develop new cultivars of zoysiagrass with improved heat, drought and traffic tolerance.
    Since the founding of the Green Section in 1920, the USGA has led the effort to enhance golf course sustainability through the development and support of research that produces a healthier environment and improved playing conditions.
    Led by Cole Thompson, Ph.D., the research program is one way in which the USGA brings to life its mission to champion and advance the game. Universities and research companies submit grant applications that are reviewed by 17 scientists on the TERP committee. In addition to the TERP, the USGA invests in research that benefits other areas of course sustainability and golfer experience.
    Through the program's emphasis on sustainable turfgrass management and environmental protection, combined with research and educational efforts, the USGA has improved the efficiency of key areas of golf course management. These areas include advances in putting green construction methods, the use of naturalized rough, precision irrigation strategies and best application practices for fertilizers and pesticides, all of which have been adopted at about half the country's golf courses.
    Overall, these efforts have resulted in an industry-wide reduction in water use of about 19 percent from 2005-2013, a 37 percent decrease in fertilizer use from 2006-2014, and the development of more than 30 turfgrass cultivars that use fewer inputs.
    Click here to view complete summaries of current research projects. Summaries from research conducted in 2020 will be updated next month.
  • 2020 TurfNet Technician of the Year Evan Meldahl of Bayou Oaks at City Park in New Orleans. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR TECH
    As far as city-owned municipal golf courses go, Bayou Oaks at City Park in New Orleans is about as nice as it gets. A Rees Jones design, the golf course is the centerpiece of an effort to fund an urban renewal project for a vulnerable part of the city that struggled to get back on its feet in the years following Hurricane Katrina, which crippled the city in 2005.
    Providing great playing conditions is about more than just meeting the needs of local residents and tourists who play the course. There is a deeper goal. Much deeper.
    Revenue generated by the golf operation helps fund a variety of projects on that city’s east side that directly impact the residents, such as low-income housing, a school and an emergency clinic.
    Keeping equipment in top shape so superintendent Ryan McCavitt and his team can give golfers the conditions they demand and so they continue to come back and spend their money, thus funding these various initiatives, is the responsibility of equipment manager Evan Meldahl. Without the golf course to help fund them, many of these programs struggle to survive - if they survive at all. Talk about going above and beyond.
    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.
  • As a captain in the U.S. Army, Matt Pope knows all too well the importance of motivating a team. Success depends on everyone working toward a common goal. That experience inspiring and leading others in difficult situations is what makes building a post-military career in a John Deere production facility, with hundreds of other people, such a good match.
    As he transitions out of the Army, Pope is interning at John Deere's Turf Care manufacturing facility in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Skills Bridge program through John Deere's Career Skills Program.
    "In the Army, you're leading teams and creating buy-in, values and protecting lives," said Pope (at right). "Hard work and dedication drive our soldiers. At Deere, it's the same thing: We're dedicated to hard work and values and delivering products to our customers."
    A native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Pope, 26, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He is transitioning out of the Army after five years to achieve a little more work-life balance with his wife of two years, Katherine. Deere's CDP allows him to do just that.
    Deere's Career Skills Program, which was started 11 months ago, partners with the DoD SkillBridge program to allow transitioning service members the opportunity to match their leadership and technical skills with Deere's needs. The SkillBridge program thus allows servicemen and women to begin their transition by working with  during the last five months of their military commitment by interning at one of Deere's many production facilities or dealerships.
    Since April, Deere has placed 74 interns transitioning out of the service, including 59 at dealerships and 15 in the company's production facilities.
    "We, at John Deere, are passionate about finding a way to give back to those who have served our nation," said David Ottavianelli, labor relations director at John Deere and himself a USMA graduate. "We understand that the transition for many service members can be difficult, and we can play a key role and make an impact through programs like this."
    Capt. Pope was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and in 2019-20 was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Freedom Sentinel. His experience as an officer in an overseas theater of operations left him imminently qualified to lead a production floor in a Deere manufacturing facility.
    "My desire is to work with teams," Pope said. "When I found John Deere, that is what attracted me to them.
    "How to lead a team in a manufacturing facility, that's what I wanted to learn, take my skills from the Army and bridge that gap."
    Although the program helps Deere fill a need, the program goes much deeper than that. Transitioning out of the service can be a challenge for many, "and we feel this program helps make that transition easier for the service members," according to Ottavianelli. "Our internal skills program is designed to match veteran's technical and leadership skills to open positions."
    William Duquette (at right) retired a year ago after 23 years in the Army. As a first sergeant working as a Brigade Maintenance Supervisor, also at Fort Bragg, Duquette, 41, was in charge of as many as 200 technicians who serviced more than 2,000 wheeled vehicles operating in at least 10 countries.
    Last April, he began a SkillBridge internship at Deere's Quality Equipment facility in Dunn, North Carolina. By July, Deere hired him full time as a service technician for the company's large agricultural equipment. 
    A chance like the one provided by Deere was the right opportunity at the right time for Duquette and his wife Leah.
    "When I retired, she told me she didn't want to move," Duquette said. "We had moved enough. This was perfect."
    There are a lot of differences in vehicle repair work for the Army and at Deere. In the Army, vehicle repair for Duquette and his team consisted mostly of parts replacement. Full scale repairs were sent off to what Duquette called an "upper echelon" unit. 
    "Here, we do it all ourselves," Duquette said. 
    Although there is a learning curve moving from wheeled military vehicles to combines, tractors and bailers, there are soft skills that the military teaches that any industry would welcome.
    "The discipline," Duquette said. "You have to be at work on time, and you need self-motivation for that. If you don't have that skill, you're not going to make it."
  • In the waning hours of the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio, Chris Claypool of Jacklin Seed couldn't wait to talk to TurfNet about shortages in the seed industry. Little did we know at the time that it appeared he might be trying to solve those shortages all by himself.
    Claypool, the former general manager of Jacklin Seed Co., is facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering against the company's former owner, J.R. Simplot Co., according to the U.S. Justice Department. If convicted, Claypool faces up to 70 years in prison and fines of more than $15 million.
    The U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon says 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, 52, (at right) 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 elaborate matrix of 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 practice of deception began in early 2015 and continued at least until 2019, according to the justice department.
    At the 2018 GIS, Claypool told TurfNet that because of all the turfgrass varieties on the market today, customers were not too choosy about what they bought - or at least what he shipped.
    "There are so many choices now. It's almost confusing to the end user," Claypool told TurfNet from the tradeshow floor in San Antonio. "There are some elite Kentucky bluegrass varieties, but those elite varieties don't have prolific seed yield.
     
    "People don't ask much for a specific variety. They just want seed."
    Whether that is true, the U.S. Attorney says whatever is in the bag must match what is on the label. Throughout the duration of this dastardly seed plot, Jacklin invoiced customers for $1.1 million in seed it did not deliver, the U.S. Attorney's office wrote.

    The turf seed market once was dominated by a few varieties and price was about all that mattered. As turf management has evolved with lower heights of cut leading to more and more stress issues, the market has become overrun with an increasing number of varieties as turf breeders seek to develop grasses with improved resistance to various biotic and abiotic stress factors. Factors like price and high yield that once were attractive, have taken a back seat to increased resistance and other traits that might be more costly up front, but can help users save money in the long run.
    As a result of low yield, more acres are taken out of turf production and transitioned into agricultural crops with higher profit.
    Bilking customers for product they never received is only the tip of Claypool's intricate and elaborate scheme.
    Claypool's elaborate plot of deception grew faster and more vigorously than the grass he was awaiting to produce seed. According to the justice department, under Claypool's urging, an accomplice created a limited liability corporation to act as an independent seed broker. Claypool is charged with funnelling Jacklin sales through the newly created LLC, charging mark ups and taking kickbacks. Over the course of eight months from December 2018-August 2019, Claypool generated more than $369,000 in fraudulent commissions.
    As the GM of a seed company that did a great deal of international business, Claypool traveled extensively overseas. According to the justice department, he generated another $500,000 in kickbacks from a travel agent who inflated the costs of Jacklin-paid international travel.
    The coup de grace of Claypool's elaborate plan of deception and fraud was, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, when he funneled $12 million in rebates and commissions to entities established to appear as foreign sales partners but in reality were front organizations for Claypool and his co-consipirators. Those funds were distributed to accounts in Hong Kong to real estate investments in Hawaii that Claypool himself controlled and eventually sold, sending the money ultimately, as part of a money-laundering scheme, to investment accounts in Washington.
    This case is being investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Ryan W. Bounds, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
  • Think of influential people in the turf business, and the name Ed Etchells is not exactly a household word - even among golf course superintendents. But there are plenty who believe no conversation about the giants of turf is complete without mentioning his name.
    A native of Philadelphia and a 1964 graduate of Rutgers' turfgrass management program, Etchells was the first superintendent at Nicklaus's Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. He later oversaw agronomic programs at Nicklaus-designed courses worldwide for 29 years before spinning off his own turfgrass consulting business in 2001 in Tequesta, Florida.
    Credited with jumpstarting the careers of dozens of golf course superintendents, Etchells died Feb. 13 in Lake Worth, Florida, after being diagnosed with Covid-19. He was 78.
    Those who worked with him during the past six decades remember him as a great agronomist and a no-nonsense manager.
    "He developed a lot of cultural practices that today are common," said Mike McBride, the former Muirfield Village GC superintendent and co-developer of the Brandt iHammer line of turf nutrient products. "He taught me cultural practices to maintain turf, but he also taught me how to deal with personalities, which is probably more important. 
    "If you asked Ed questions, you got really good answers, but you had to know when to ask him questions - and when not to. He was a very intense, very detail-oriented guy."
    Jim Sprankle has a long history on Nicklaus-designed courses, including the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, where he has been superintendent since 2007. He recalls when Etchells hired him as superintendent at Cabo Del Sol, a Nicklaus design in Mexico.
    "Ed told me 'This is a big job, don't **** it up. Don't make me look bad,' " Sprankle said. "Every day in the back of my mind I thought 'Don't screw it up.' 
    "He was stern and direct. That's the way he was - business was business. But outside the office, he was a good friend and would do anything for you."
    When Nicklaus was building Muirfield in 1972, it was with a PGA Tour event in mind. And he wanted a golf course superintendent who could push the turf and coax out of it the conditions that both Nicklaus and his fellow pros would demand for an annual tour stop. Nicklaus saw the conditions he was looking for at Brookside Golf and Country Club in nearby Worthington, where Etchells was superintendent.
    "He was one of the original guys, who said we can stress a green and get speed out of it," Nicklaus told TurfNet.
    After six years as superintendent at Nicklaus's home course, Etchells turned over the reins at Muirfield to his assistant, Charlie Hutson. 
    But Etchells did not move on, he moved up, as vice president of Golfturf, the agronomic division of Nicklaus's Golden Bear International. In that role, he consulted on or developed agronomic programs for all Nicklaus-designed courses around the world. That made him the person to know for anyone aspiring to be a greenkeeper on a Nicklaus course. In 2001, he struck out on his own, migrating Golfturf into his Tequesta-based Greens Management consulting firm.
    Jon Scott is one of those agronomists who credits Etchells with launching his career. 
    Over a 27-year period, Scott, principal of his own Traverse City, Michigan-based consulting firm, worked two stints with Nicklaus sandwiched around a nine-year career as vice president of agronomy for the PGA Tour. He began his career as a superintendent at various locations, including Grand Traverse Resort in Michigan, and Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, both Nicklaus designs. 
    "My goal was to become a superintendent at a Jack Nicklaus golf course," Scott said. "I remember someone telling me 'if you want to do that, you have to know Ed Etchells. He taught me the business side of golf course consulting, and he taught me more about relationships than I knew anyone could. 
    "He gave me the opportunity to advance myself, and that is what I needed at the time. My career with Jack led to a career with the PGA Tour and it ended with Jack. And it is all because of Ed. I can't say enough about how he influenced my career."

    Ed Etchells (far right) with (from left) Ivor Young, Jim Gerring, Pandel Savic, Jack Nicklaus and Bob Hoag playing the first round of golf at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, in 1973. Photo courtesy of Muirfield Village Golf Club Etchells' reputation as a mentor was a reflection of his personnel management skills and his abilities as an agronomist. He turned to foliar fertilizer programs and light frequent applications of sand topdressing and lower amounts of fertilizer in granular form when few if any other superintendents were, says McBride. Because of his pioneering ways, Etchells was called in to consult when Augusta National converted from Bermudagrass to creeping bentgrass putting greens before the 1981 Masters.
    "He developed techniques with green quality, green speed, green firmness and green resilience," McBride said. "Ed had to figure out how to do that stuff. You don't realize how much work there is to do to get a golf course to the expectations of Jack Nicklaus."
    Etchells was able to meet or exceed Nicklaus' expectations - most of the time. However, Nicklaus himself pointed to the 1979 Memorial Tournament as an exception. Damp and gloomy weather dominated the tournament, and those conditions were expected to last through Sunday's final round. When the weather broke, the combination of sun and wind, and Etchells' handiwork, left Muirfield's greens more like trying to hold a putt in a bathtub.
    .
    "I remember one year, I gave Ed hell because he got the greens too fast at Muirfield Village," Nicklaus said. "I think it was '79. He had the greens cut, triple cut them at one-sixty-fourth of an inch or maybe it was three-sixty-fourths. It was really tight, and we ended up getting a lot of wind that was not forecast, and sunshine, and on the golf course, the greens got over 17 (on the Stimpmeter). Watson won the tournament. I think I shot 79 the last round - and moved up.
    "That was Ed. He liked to take things to the edge. Not always to the edge does it work. He was a very creative and innovative guy in golf course maintenance, and he did a good job."
    Sprankle first met Etchells when he was hired as superintendent at Damai Indah Golf and Country Club, a Nicklaus design in Indonesia. They remained lifelong friends.
    "I was 25 and green as green can be," Sprankle said. "I'd heard rumors of Ed Etchells, and that he was all this and that. I wondered 'Who is this guy? He sounds like someone I don't want to mess with.'
    "I was cocky, but we hit it off. He was my agronomist. He came in once a month, and we'd walk the golf course and go to dinner and it was 'see you next month.' He took to me, and I accepted him as my mentor, and we hit it off as friends."
    A great mentor and friend, Etchells also had a hard side that made him and those around him successful.
    "He was direct and stern, and that rubbed some people the wrong way," Sprankle said. "He was a good friend and would do anything for you, but business was business."
    Said Scott: "He was the right person at the right time for me to make the jump from a good superintendent into agronomy consulting that launched my second career. My career with Jack led to a career with the PGA Tour and ended with Jack, and it's all because of Ed. He helped me understand what it took to be successful."
    Survivors include son Edward, Jr., (Kimberly) and grandsons Michael and Christopher.
    Due to the Covid pandemic, the family is planning a future memorial service to celebrate and honor his life.
    "I just talked to him on his birthday," McBride said. "He was a mentor obviously, but he was a great friend, and we stayed in contact. I will miss the guy."
  • The turf business enjoys the reputation of being a small group of players where everybody pretty much knows everybody else. That tight-knit is about to get a little cozier with today's news that the part of Bayer's portfolio that includes its turf and ornamental business is officially up for sale.
    The company announced today its intent to divest the professional arm of its Environmental Science business, a division of Bayer Crop Science. In an industry where the agri-chemical side is dominated by a few companies, the chances are pretty good the eventual buyer will already be intimately aware of the golf turf business and the needs of superintendents.
    The decision to divest Bayer Environmental Science includes its professional turf and ornamental business, but does not include the segment's agricultural  or commercial units, which are among its most profitable divisions. In fact, the company's Crop Science division plans to focus heavily on growing its presence in the agriculture industry. To help drive growth in the division's most important commercial region, Bayer named Jacqueline Applegate, Ph.D., currently head of Environmental Science's vegetable seeds business, to lead the Crop Science North America region effective March 1.
    In addition, Bayer appointed Gilles Galliou, currently head of commercial operations for Bayer Vegetable Seeds Americas, to lead the Environmental Science business through the planned divestment. The global Environmental Science business will move from Germany and be headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, effective June 1.
    A spokesperson for Bayer said the sale is not related to the company's ongoing efforts to settle thousands of lawsuits each blaming glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer's Roundup herbicide, for causing cancer.
    Bayer acquired Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, in 2018. Shortly after the acquisition, Bayer began answering charges filed by litigants that Roundup was responsible for causing their non-Hodgkins lymphoma. 
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released studies indicating that Roundup was safe if used according to label instructions. The courts, however, sided with those who cited World Health Organization data and a document known as the Zhang paper that merely state glyphosate could be a carcinogen. Since then, the world's most popular weed killer has been the target of countless lawsuits, and Bayer has agreed to settle thousands of them for $11 billion.
    Bayer Environmental Science Professional had sales in 2020 of more than $700 million.
    No interested buyers have been identified yet, and there is no official timeline for a sale. Even when a deal is reached, such mergers are subject to regulatory review and can take several months to complete. Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto, announced in 2016, took two years to complete.
  • Superintendent of the Year winner Stephen Rabideau credited his crew with pulling off a successful 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Getting ready for one of golf's major championships is a process that begins years in advance. When the pandemic cast a shadow over the 2020 U.S. Open, last spring became a time of serious angst around Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, where Stephen Rabieau is director of golf courses.
    "No question, that was the most stressful time here I can remember," said former Winged Foot green chairman Dave Staudinger. 
    "Steve and I talked a couple of times every day, and he was at an all-time low. He and his team had worked so hard, and we didn't know if we were going to have the Open or if there was even going to be an Open."
    Options entertained by the USGA including postponing the event, canceling it or moving it to later in the year at a warm-weather location. Ultimately, the Open was held in September at Winged Foot, and players raved about the conditions that Rabideau and his team provided after record play through the summer. For the way in which he held his team together through times of uncertainty, met member demands during a busy summer and provided Open conditions in September in New York, Rabideau was named the winner of the 2020 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.
    "I think 2020 is a year nobody's going to forget," Rabideau said after being named the winner of the award. "Everybody faced things we didn't expect being thrown at us."
    Rabideau was selected by a panel of judges from a list of finalists that included Alan Brown of Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida; Chris Reverie of Allentown Municipal Golf Course in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Justin Sims of Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas; and Anthony Williams of TPC Four Seasons in Irving, Texas.
    Criteria on which nominees are judged typically include: labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions. However, this year, managing against Covid was the only challenge that mattered.
    The winner typically is announced live at the Golf Industry Show, but was announced this year on Zoom due to Covid. As the winner, Rabideau will receive a Sonos Cinematic Surround Sound Audio System and Weatherproof Outdoor Sound System courtesy of Syngenta.
    Before most knew anything about Coronavirus, Rabideau, his team and folks from the USGA were busy prepping Winged Foot for the Open. By mid-March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had ordered non-essential workers to stay home, a decision that included the turf team at Winged Foot. Just like that, preparations for the Open stopped and the people from the USGA stopped work and left.
    During the next month, the fate of the Open was unknown. The Masters and the PGA Championship rescheduled, and no decisions had yet been made on the British Open. There was talk of postponing the Open and leaving it at Winged Foot, canceling it outright or moving it to later in the year to a warm-weather location with Open experience, like Torrey Pines or Pebble Beach. It was not until the first week of April when the USGA settled on playing the Open at Winged Foot, but postponing the tournament until September.
    "Later in the year, and a west coast host site was on the table right up until we announced we would shift to September," said Craig Annis, director of brand management for the USGA. "The September date came with the presumption that Winged Foot was the host site. There were certainly times with the eb and flow of Covid that we had to consider alternatives after that, but our goal was always to have it at Winged Foot."
    Winged Foot was like so many other places that enjoyed record play throughout 2020. Producing Open conditions on cool-season grass at the end of summer is another matter entirely. Rabideau directed credit to his crew, calling his current unit "the best I've ever had."
    "It was a long summer, when guys were trying to get ready for the U.S. Open, all the letdowns, but at the end of it we were able and fortunate to have the Open and a successful Open," Rabideau said. 
    "I couldn't have done it without my staff and the support of friends and the support of volunteers who helped us throughout the Open."
    Perhaps greater than growing lush U.S. Open rough in September in New York was the way Rabideau kep his team focused on daily play for members while first awaiting the fate of the tournament and second preparing for it.
    "Hopefully, the game of golf is better for this. A lot more people played golf and we were fortunate enough to provide that service for people," Rabideau said. "We all did it with less staff, and all the other obstacles thrown at all superintendents, we persevered through it."
    Previous winners of the award are:
    Matt DiMase, The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Cherokee, Great Abaco, Bahamas (2019)
    Carlos Arraya, Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, MO (2018)
    Jorge Croda, Southern Oaks Golf Club, Burleson, TX, and
    Rick Tegtmeier, Des Moines Golf and Country Club, West Des Moines, IA (2017)
    Dick Gray, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, FL (2016)
    Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, KS (2015)
    Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, NC (2014)
    Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, OH (2013)
    Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club (2012), Flourtown, PA
    Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, TN (2011)
    Thomas Bastis, The California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, CA (2010)
    Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club (2009)
    Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields (IL) Country Club (2008)
    John Zimmers, Oakmont (PA) Country Club (2007)
    Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, CT (2006)
    Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, CA (2005)
    Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, FL (2004)
    Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, IL (2003)
    Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario (2002)
    Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, MA (2001)
    Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas (NV) Paiute Golf Resort (2000)
  • The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation named Cameron Stephens, Ph.D., the recipient of the 2021 Award of Excellence.  
    Named in honor of the late H. Burton Musser, Ph.D., the foundation presents "the award of excellence and a significant financial gift to the best doctoral candidates who, in the final phase of their graduate studies, demonstrated overall excellence throughout their doctoral program."
    Stephens earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture with a focus on turfgrass science from Ohio State University. He went on to earn a master's in agronomy from Penn State, where he focused on turfgrass pathology and fungicide resistance. Stephens earned his doctorate in plant pathology at North Carolina State University, where he pursued a dissertation entitled, "Etiology, Epidemiology, and Management of Take-all Root Rot on Golf Course Putting Greens." His research is focused on detrimental turfgrass pathogens and optimizing disease management solutions. 
    "Earning this prestigious award has been a professional goal of mine since studying turfgrass science as an undergrad at Ohio State. It is an absolute honor to receive this accolade and to be considered among such elite company," Stephens said. "I am extremely grateful to all of the people who have helped shape who I am as a turfgrass scientist and plant pathologist and hope to faithfully carry on the legacy of Professor Musser."
    Stephens has accepted a position as the technical market manager for BASF's turf and ornamental division. 
    "The primary pillar of my academic journey has always been to solve challenging disease problems that turfgrass managers encounter by improving our knowledge of turfgrass pathogens and providing practical management solutions," he said. "It's always been about helping the end users and I will strive to fulfill that mission throughout my career."
    The criteria on which applicants are judged include graduate work, academic record, dissertation, publications, leadership and extracurricular activities. To date, awards have been granted to doctoral students from universities including; Arizona, Auburn, Cornell, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Tennessee, and Texas A & M.
    Naming a winner this year was a tough choice, according to Musser International Turfgrass Foundation president Frank Dobie.
    "The qualifications for applicants are very high for the doctoral candidates that apply for the Foundation's Award of Excellence, so all of the applicants are of the highest caliber," Dobie said. "We strive to select the one candidate that we feel is the best of the best."
  • "Follow the science" has been a common theme for the past year. It is impossible to turn on the TV or scan social media without being reminded of our duty to help protect others and ourselves during a time of global crisis.
    Like the medical community, the agri-chemical industry too has its roots in science, however its future is being dictated more by pure emotion than the scientific method. 
    Herbicides, insecticides and fungicides used on golf courses are coming under increased scrutiny, which is fine, as long as such scrutiny is based on science. But that is not always the case.
    Despite scientific studies that have concluded that glyphosate is safe when used according to label directions that have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, decisions in U.S. courts say the science does not matter. And Bayer, the maker of Roundup, is staring at $11 billion in settlements to prove it.
    The World Health Organization, with only the discredited Zhang paper as proof, has determined that glyphosate "probably"  is to blame for thousands of cases of non-Hodgkins lymphoma reported by users of Roundup. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but maybe it could.
    The EPA says there is no scientific proof that glyphosate is a carcinogen. Maybe it causes cancer, maybe it doesn't, but there is no proof it does. But "maybe it does" is also why there are instructions for safe usage on the label.
    So much for innocent until proven guilty.
    For the past year, our lives have been dictated by scientists trying to outguess a new viral strain. They implore us to "follow the science" to reduce the risk of spreading a disease that has been blamed for more than 2 million deaths worldwide, including 500,000 here in the U.S.
    That science includes wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others and washing your hands. And it sounds a lot like the "keep your hands to yourself, wash them and don't hack on others" drum that my kindergarten teacher, Miss Wincup, dished out way back in 1967.
    The only one saying definitively that glyphosate causes cancer has been the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Three cases, three verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs in excess of $2 billion translate into "no doubt about it, glyphosate is a carcinogen."
    Courtroom decisions regarding the safety of glyphosate were made based on opinion, conjecture and speculation, foreign concepts to those in the scientific community.
    The narrative is being driven by ambulance-chasers, late-night television commercials and email spammers all employing scare tactics to influence the opinions of the public and mainstream media that has lost its way and its objectivity and hand picks stories and themes to fit its cause du jour.
    One law firm citing the dangers of glyphosate references on its web site the threat to golf pros "who spend a lot of time on golf courses treated with Roundup." That same site automatically opened a chat window asking site visitors if they want to speak to someone about possible litigation.
    There are limited needs for glyphosate on golf courses, but golf has been low-hanging fruit in the war on chemicals for a long time, largely because no one fights back, so the truth matters little. Specific uses for glyphosate in golf include renovations and repair projects that require removing wide swaths of turf and would drastically limit the need for a golf pro anywhere in the area. But hey, follow the science.
    A recent webinar by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland notes that there are many commonly used products that have toxicity levels that far exceed glyphosate. That list includes salt, aspirin, caffeine, sodium fluoride, vitamin D3, nicotine and botox, almost all of which a child can purchase.
    A highly respected weed scientist at a very large U.S. university has said it is absurd to think the EPA would shill for a chemical company, or that there is anything for the agency to gain by falsifying data. And that's what we are talking about here ultimately - lawyers and media accusing the EPA of providing false data. And with no science to support such claims, we've swallowed it, hook, line and sinker.
    Follow the science - but only when the science reinforces our unscientific beliefs.
    At least now you know what you are dealing with.
  • Cheryl and Matt Crowther during the 2018 TurfNet members trip to Ireland. Write a book about Matt Crowther's career as a superintendent during the past quarter-century, and it might as well be titled "A Tale of Two Golf Courses."
    In that time, Crowther, 53, has honed his craft on exactly two Massachusetts golf courses. Although they are a short Cape Air flight from each other, they are worlds apart.
    Crowther spent the first 23 years of his career developing environmentally sound best management practices at Mink Meadows Golf Club, a semi-private, nine-hole waterfront layout on Martha's Vineyard, and the tidal saltwater marsh that intrudes on the property from Vineyard Sound. 
    For the past two years, he has been dodging hoards of golfers while trying to grow grass at daily fee Cape Cod Country Club, a 90-year-old Devereux Emmet-Alfred Tull design in Falmouth on the Massachusetts mainland. 
    In 2020, the course was especially busy. Opening was delayed a little more than a month and was packed through October.
    "I don't know how many rounds we did (in 2020), but I know that we did 200 rounds a day, seven days a week every month," Crowther said.
    During this year's virtual Golf Industry Show, Crowther received the GCSAA President's Award for Environmental Stewardship for his work at Mink Meadows, where he worked from 1995-2019. He and wife Cheryl lived in an apartment above the clubhouse, making it difficult to divorce himself from the job.
    "At Mink Meadows, I worked 45 hours a week. If you asked my wife she'd probably tell you it was 75," Crowther said. "The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I lived above the clubhouse, so I worked the job. After I'd come home, I might go back out on the golf course at 7 o'clock."
    Long before organic turf management became a trend on Martha's Vineyard, Crowther was practicing minimalist agronomics.
    "I was out there doing that before Vineyard (Golf Club in Edgartown) was even built," he said.
    At Mink Meadows, Crowther says he went years without spraying fairways. 
    "Spraying insecticides or herbicides wall to wall always bothered me when you don't get weeds wall to wall, or grubs wall to wall," he said. "And it always bothered me that any weeds at all on a golf course is perceived as a failure. How hard is it to deal with weeds?
    "I'd rather fix a little damage than spread chemicals everywhere for no reason."

    Cheryl Crowther hits out of a bunker at Royal Portrush while Matt watches during the 2015 TurfNet members trip to Ireland.  A Rhode Island native and a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Crowther credits Cornell professor Frank Rossi, Ph.D., a fellow URI alum and GCSAA President's Award winner, with helping cultivate some of his minimalist tendencies. He listened to every education conference talk given by Rossi that he could, whether in person or online.
    "Rossi has that counter culture mentality," Crowther said. "He makes you think outside the box."
    Crowther's environmental stewardship was not limited to the fairways at Mink Meadows; it extended off the course and into the swampy tidal marsh.
    He worked closely on the marsh project with Lindsey Lawrence, a retired banking executive who split time between homes on the island and in the Boston area.
    "One or two times a year, they had to dredge and refurbish the channel. If you don't dredge, it just fills in. I worked on getting the permits, and Matt was on site overseeing the work," Lawrence said. 
    "It was a project that Matt just took on. He appreciates the environment, the local wildlife and what we have here. I spend most of my time on the mainland. Matt was an islander, and we were not. He could be here to watch over this when we couldn't. I can't imagine how that whole thing would have worked if we did not have him."
    Budget and revenue concerns and the amount of play that occurs on a daily basis prevent adopting the same approach on a wholesale basis at Cape Cod.
    "Here (at Cape Cod Country Club), my goal is consistency," Crowther said. "It's a busy golf course. I understand my role; it's not to make it perfect. It's to make it as good as I can."
    The Emmet-Tull design was built in 1928, and has since undergone several transactions and name-changes. Despite Cape Cod's daily fee background, Crowther remembered it as a challenging layout, so the job caught his eye when it became open.
    "I became a fan of classic architecture. I remember playing this course about 15 years ago, and I knew it had the bones and a layout that everyone raves about," he said. "It can stand with any of the other courses here. Everyone who plays it loves it."
    His goal is not to turn Cape Cod into a remake of Mink Meadows. Rather, he just wants to make it better.
    "My claim to fame is that I can do a better job than most with the money you are giving me," he said. "What I want to hang my hat on at the end of the day is to be that guy who puts out a damn good product without the most financial resources."
  • Metacomet GC in East Providence, Rhode Island, closed last September. Metacomet Golf Club had a long and storied history. It has, however, no future. Not as a golf course, anyway.
    Rebuilt in 1926 by Donald Ross, the course in East Providence, Rhode Island, closed last September. Just what to do with it is a question that so far has no answer.
    Amid years of declining membership, mounting debt and tax issues, the private club went through two sales in little more than a year in 2019-2020, including a short-lived purchase in 2019 by an investment group led by PGA Tour player and Rhode Island native Brad Faxon. That group sold the club in 2020 to Marshall Properties, a Pawtucket real estate developer that wants to transform the 138-acre property into a mixed-use site that includes green space, retail and residential space.
    That plan has not been met with enthusiasm by some, and now, the city is exploring ways to buy the property and retain it as open urban greenspace.
    Last month, two state lawmakers proposed a plan that would tap public money to help the city buy and preserve the property.
    The course originally was built by architect Leonard Byles in 1919. Ross rebuilt it five years later, and the 6,500-yard layout, a modest length by today's standards, has stood the test of time due primarily to its tight quarters that placed a premium on shot-making over distance.
    The likes of Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen have walked Metacomet's fairways.
    The club had been struggling financially for years, and when the investment group led by Faxon, Rhode Island's favorite (golf-playing) son bought the property in April 2019, many thought the club's worries were over. According to published reports, the group bought the property for a song, but also incurred its debt and unpaid taxes. Plans by the new owners included opening a few tee times to daily fee play.
    After a colder-than-usual spring in 2019 delayed the start of the season. Sparse play led the new ownership group to open even more tee times to public golfers, a sure sign that those struggles were only beginning. By year's end, the new owners were answering questions by jilted members about plans to redevelop the property.
    By early 2020, they announced plans to sell the property. Dozens of potential suitors were courted, and few had plans to keep Metacomet as a golf course. By the end of February, just 10 months after buying Metacomet, the owners had struck an agreement to sell the property to Marshall Properties, according to published records. After the sale was completed last summer, the course finally closed for good on Sept. 30.
    Statements by Marshall told Met members all they needed to know: "The Metacomet property is a special place to many in East Providence, and it is equally as special to us. For decades, the property has been fenced off to the public as a private golf course, and we are proud of our plan to take down those fences, and open up Metacomet as an amenity to the people of East Providence.
    "Marshall plans to redevelop the site into an exciting first-class mixed-use property that will bolster both commerce and community in the upper bay. In the coming months, a vision for the property will be unveiled—a vision that will further strengthen East Providence and Rhode Island's economy through investment, job creation and the development of a vibrant center of activity in one of the state's top communities."
    Late last summer, a state legislator proposed the city buy the property to preserve it as greenspace. By late January, that proposal included soliciting state and possibly even federal funds to help the city by the acreage. 
    Time will tell what will become of the property, but this much is sure, Metacomet's future as a golf course is over.
  • Typically, the winner of the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, is judged against a laundry list of criteria.
    In a normal year, that list would include labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions.
    Covid-19, and how it affected day-to-day operations, was THE story of golf in 2020.
    Golf courses nationwide were faced with record play, labor shortages and the challenges of keeping guests and employees safe while also helping to keep the business running.
    Five superintendents have been named finalists for the 2020 Superintendent of the Year Award based on their responses to the Covid-19. They were chosen by our panel of 12 judges from throughout the golf industry from a field of 32 nominees.
    Click on each link to learn more about this year's finalists.
    Alan Brown, Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Florida
    Stephen Rabideau, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York
    Chris Reverie, Allentown Municipal Golf Course, Allentown, Pennsylvania
    Justin Sims, The Alotian Club, Roland, Arkansas
    Anthony Williams, TPC Four Seasons, Irving, Texas
    The winner usually is announced live at the Syngenta booth during the Golf Industry Show, but will be announced at 1 p.m. EST Feb. 18 on Zoom. The password to enter the event is 505599. The winner will receive a Sonos Cinematic Surround Sound Audio System and Weatherproof Outdoor Sound System courtesy of Syngenta.
    Previous winners of the award are:
    Matt DiMase, The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Cherokee, Great Abaco, Bahamas (2019) Carlos Arraya, Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, MO (2018) Jorge Croda, Southern Oaks Golf Club, Burleson, TX, and Rick Tegtmeier, Des Moines Golf and Country Club, West Des Moines, IA (2017) Dick Gray, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, FL (2016) Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, KS (2015) Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, NC (2014) Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, OH (2013) Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club (2012), Flourtown, PA Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, TN (2011) Thomas Bastis, The California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, CA (2010) Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club (2009) Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields (IL) Country Club (2008) John Zimmers, Oakmont (PA) Country Club (2007) Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, CT (2006) Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, CA (2005) Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, FL (2004) Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, IL (2003) Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario (2002) Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, MA (2001) Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas (NV) Paiute Golf Resort (2000)
  • Covid brought many people to the golf course in 2020, including a lot of new faces. For nearly two decades, Jim Koppenhaver and Stuart Lindsay have been labeled as the golf industry's malcontents. The respective principals of Pellucid Corp. and Edgehill Golf Advisors, Koppenhaver and Lindsay have delivered the unvarnished truth about the state of the golf industry since 2006 at the PGA Merchandise Show. 
    Being marked as an industry firebrand is a badge that both wear with pride because they know their unfiltered message is what folks in the golf business need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear. Until this year.
    For much of the past 15 years, this duo has not had much good news to report on the business of golf. Declining rounds played, fewer and fewer players and even fewer golf courses have been the story since 2006.
    That's not the case this year, as the pandemic sent people to the golf course in droves seeking some sort of outdoor activity.
    "If we looked at the scorecard for the entire industry," Koppenhaver said, "we would call it bogey-free.
    Rounds played were up by 14 percent in 2020 compared with 2019, the number of people playing the game was relatively flat, but golf attracted a lot of newcomers and a lot of women, and course closures were at a minimum.
    "Covid did what Stuart and I said 10 player-development programs couldn't do. It kick-started golf," Koppenhaver said. "Rounds started going up and kept going up throughout the year.
    "As we went into fall, we wondered if it would continue or not, and fortunately, it did."
    The question is, how long will the Covid bump last.
    "(There is) lots of happier news to report this year," Koppenhaver said. "Now, if we can only keep some meaningful portion of the gains in '21. Easier task, we'll still be Covid-constrained at least for the opening half of the year in my crystal ball, tougher in the back half as things open."
    Rounds played, according to Koppenhaver's report, were up to 493.5 million rounds last year from 433.3 million rounds in 2019. That's an increase of a whopping 60 million rounds. It was the most rounds played since 498 million in 2002, but still short of the industry highwater mark of 518 million rounds in 2000.
    While utilization, or rounds played, were up by 14 percent, rounds per course were up 15 percent to an average of 37,900 rounds at each 18-hole equivalent, and play rate, or rounds per capita, also were up to 1.4 rounds per person. 
    "We hit the trifecta," Koppenhaver said. 
    The pandemic bump was felt equally among private and public courses.
    Play on daily fee facilities was up from 344 million rounds in 2019 to 387 million rounds last year, an increase of 12 percent. The news was even better at private clubs, where play was up by 20 percent, from nearly 86 million rounds in 2019 to almost 103 million rounds.
    From 2006 through 2019, 605 courses opened and 2,007 have closed for a net loss of 1,472,  bringing the net supply of courses nationwide to 13,408, according to the study. In 2020, a total of 155 courses closed (in 18-hole equivalents), while there were 19 new openings, for a net loss of 136 properties, and bringing the net loss since 2006 to 1,627 18-hole equivalents. Of the 19 openings, most were reopenings of courses that had previously closed, Koppenhaver said.
    Of the 155 closings, 110 were public, 18 were private and 27 were learning and practice facilities.
    The number of people playing the game held steady at about 21 million, a number that includes about 100,000 new female players, many who returned after dropping the game and lot of newcomers who played for the first time in 2020.
    "The question is, can it be sustained?" Koppenhaver said.
    "This proves to the naysayers that we can deliver good news - when it is warranted."

×
×
  • Create New...