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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Mike O'Keeffe, far right, brought more than 40 Ohio Program interns to this year's GCSAA Conference and Show in Phoenix. Photo courtesy of Mike O'Keeffe An infamous video once indicated that the best job in the business was that of the golf course dog. If that's true, then Mike O'Keeffe at Ohio State University easily is the industry's runner-up.
    For more than 30 years, O'Keeffe has been director of the The Ohio Program, OSU's international exchange module that brings students from other countries to the United States and sends American students abroad for real-world internship opportunities in agriculture, horticulture and turf.
    O'Keeffe (fittingly pictured at right in front of a world map) is always smiling, and for good reason. To the casual observer, O'Keeffe's job includes jet-setting around the globe, selling the program to turf managers and wining-and-dining prospective trainees. 
    While his job does include much of the above, what is not always so obvious are the countless hours of work that go into running a program that matches hundreds of trainees each year with the right opportunities on the opposite side of the globe from their respective homes and the responsibility that comes with such tasks.
    "These opportunities don't just happen," O'Keeffe said. "They happen because we build relationships."
    A native of Ireland, O'Keeffe, 59, came to the United States in 1986 through the very program he now leads to grow tomatoes for a Heinz processing plant in Ohio. Since taking over the program 35 years ago from former director Mike Chrisman, O'Keeffe says he has helped put upwards of 10,000 students from the U.S. and abroad on their career paths in golf and sports turf and agriculture.
    Alan FitzGerald, CGCS, at Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Delaware, also is a native of Ireland. And like O'Keeffe, he also is a product of The Ohio Program.
    "The amount of people he has helped, they're dotted all over the world," said Alan FitzGerald, CGCS at Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Delaware. "It's amazing the number of people's lives he has touched."
    O'Keeffe was raised on a dairy farm in his native County Cork, and went on to study vegetable production at Warrenstown Agricultural College in County Meath.
    Through The Ohio Program he learned of an opportunity to grow tomatoes in Wilmington, Ohio, a rural area between Columbus and Cincinnati. The farm needed an experienced hand as the tomatoes grown there were to be shipped almost 200 miles north to Fremont for processing in a Heinz ketchup plant.
    O'Keeffe immediately displayed a knack for identifying qualified help and team building.
    "It was hard work," O'Keeffe said. "We worked 10-hour days. It was windy, really hot, or really cold. The locals they hired quit like crazy. They were dropping like flies."
    The best worker, he recalled, was a migrant worker from Latin America. He convinced farm management to hire more experienced and qualified help from south of the border, and just like that O'Keeffe's place in helping people find a path to employment was born.

    Flags on Mike O'Keeffe's office wall that have been signed by past Ohio Program interns remind him of how many people the program has helped. Photo courtesy of Mike O'Keeffe When O'Keeffe came to the U.S., The Ohio Program was strictly for agricultural internships. It was not until after he became involved in running it that the program created opportunities for aspiring turf managers, too.
    Today, Ohio Program trainees are working in jobs at all levels worldwide, including Lara Arias, superintendent at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, site of last year's Ryder Cup Matches. 
    Arias spent a year-and-a-half in the states, interning at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, TPC Scottsdale and Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2017 PGA Championship.
    "Kids from other countries jump start their careers by coming here," he said. "Or kids from here going there."
    When he's not in his office in Columbus, O'Keeffe can be found at some of the world's best golf courses here in the U.S. and elsewhere looking for intern candidates, checking up on those already in the program or selling its benefits to students, assistants and superintendents alike.
    An upcoming trip to Australia and elsewhere will have him visiting 10 southern hemisphere cities in two weeks.
    "People know me, and they know about the program, but you can't ride a reputation forever," O'Keeffe said. "Eventually, you have to show up."
    O'Keeffe says his office walls, which are adorned with golf course flags signed by Ohio Program interns from around the world, speak louder than words to the success of the program.
    "Every name is a past trainee from somewhere around the world," O'Keeffe said. 
    "It's not an ego trip. It's a tool for recruitment. And it's humbling to look at that and see the difference you make in people's lives."
    When Covid all but shut down the program, including international travel, O'Keeffe spent his waking hours planning for when the pandemic was over.
    "We couldn't just sit on our hands. I was on more Zoom calls to colleges and speaking to classes in other countries than I can remember," he said. 

    Mike O'Keeffe, upper right, and a recent group of interns at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. He would speak to classes on the other side of the world by Zoom that would be in the middle of the night in Ohio then go back to bed.
    "I was planting the seeds for when Covid was over," O'Keeffe said. "You didn't know when it would be over, but if I got one kid out of that by Zoom, then that was a success for me."
    FitzGerald is one of those success stories.
    A 1998 graduate of the Penn State turfgrass program, FitzGerald was an assistant at Pine Valley when his visa was set to expire. He was able to stay in the U.S. and at Pine Valley by securing a J-level visa as an Ohio Program intern. FitzGerald, who later spent 19 years as superintendent at LedgeRock Golf Club in Pennsylvania before moving on to Rehoboth Beach last July,  eventually became an American citizen in 2019. 
    "I had heard of The Ohio Program at Mount Juliet (where he was a greenkeeper in the early '90s). Everybody there knew about it," FitzGerald said. 
    "When I was at Pine Valley I called Mike to get help extending my visa. To this day, I joke with him that I got him into Pine Valley. He already had a great relationship there. What he's done for the industry over the years is amazing."
    Today, O'Keeffe remains driven by the impact the experiences The Ohio Program provides to people in countless countries worldwide.
    "The reason why I still do this is when you help someone and see the impact it has on their careers," he said. 
    "These kids jump start their careers by getting internships either by coming here or going over there. What other job can you have when you get to make a difference in so many people's lives?"
  • Scientists from more than a half-dozen universities and research organizations want to learn all they can about winter damage on golf courses. And they want your help.
    Described as a holistic approach to understanding the mechanisms and mitigating the effects of winter stress on turf grasses in northern climates.
    The WinterTurf Grant project is a joint initiative of the University of Minnesota, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Massachusetts, Iowa State, Oregon State, the USDA Ag Research Service and the Norway Institute of Bioeconomy Research. It is focused on collecting data next fall and winter from golf courses in multiple countries to help gain a better understanding of winter stresses of turfgrass leading to more effective solutions for superintendents in cold weather climates. To learn more about the program, scan the QR code at right.
    Michigan State professor Kevin Frank, Ph.D., one of the researchers participating in the WinterTurf initiative, addressed the study in a recent TurfNet webinar on winter damage.
    "One of the strategies I've been involved with," Frank said, "is developing the strategy, mitigation and recovery from winter damage in turfgrass."
    To achieve their goals, researchers will monitor:
    Remote sensing of golf course greens to improve knowledge and management of winter stresses in cold climates. Increase physiological understanding of factors associated with winterkill to inform turfgrass management and breeding approaches. Develop improved integrated snow mold management strategies. Improve creeping bentgrass and perennial ryegrass germplasm for traits associated with superior winter hardiness. Develop strategies for mitigation of and recovery from winter damage in turfgrass systems.  Educate stakeholders about winter stresses. To that end, researchers need cooperation from superintendents at golf courses located in cold climates throughout the world. The program's success relies on staff on the ground collecting data and submitting that along with information on things like agronomic practices, damage history that will be combined with other data (weather, satellite imagery, etc.) to detect patterns that inform us about winter stresses of turf.

    The WinterTurf Grant program is designed to study data from golf courses in northern climates to provide information on winter damage and how to recover from it. Photo from Kevin Frank, Ph.D. Researchers have developed an easy-to-use web application for data entry that works on both mobile devices and desktop computers. 
    Participants will be asked to:
    Take photos of the green before, during and after winter. Share management information. Provide any recent soil test results. Measure snow depth at 4 locations on the green each week and take other notes related to the presence of water and/or ice. "We're looking at a lot of different aspects," Frank said. 
    "And we're really relying a lot on kind of citizen-science projects associated with it, of having superintendents in northern climates help us with some of our data collection." 
    The program is in its second year, and those who participated in 2023-24 can do so again.
    A limited number of sensor nodes will be available for installation to monitor winter conditions such as temperature, light, moisture and oxygen levels in the soil and on the surface of the green.
    Data from these nodes will help researchers learn more about winter stresses of turfgrass so they can predict when it happens and find solutions to reduce risk for the turfgrass managers.
    Nodes are available for a "donation" of $3,000 and will ship in late October or early November.
    For more information, contact Eric Watkins, Ph.D., at the University of Minnesota.
  • Just how long had it been since the GCSAA Conference and Show had visited Phoenix?
    Before this year's show, the last time the event was held in the Valley of the Sun, Ronald Reagan was president, construction on Disneyland Paris was just getting under way and The Simpsons made its TV debut.
    After this year's show, held Jan. 29-Feb. 1 at the Phoenix Convention Center, it might not be such a long time between visits.
    The show attracted 11,000 attendees (about 1,000 fewer than last year's show in Orlando), and a sold out book of 6,600 education seminar spots was the most since the 2008 Orlando show. That schedule also included classes specifically tailored for assistant superintendents, equipment managers and university turf students in classroom and field settings at more than a half-dozen Phoenix-area golf courses.

    A total of 470 vendors covered 352,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, a number that also includes all common areas, including networking areas, meeting and networking lounges, the GCSAA store as well as any demonstration space.
    While the numbers are positive for the GCSAA moving forward, there is little doubt trade shows have lost some of their steam since the pandemic era. Attendance in the 11,000-12,000 range has been the norm for several years, and down from an average of 13,000-14,000 a decade ago.
    The 2008 Orlando show set records with 25,737 attendees and nearly 1,000 vendors. That show was held with the Club Managers Association of American and the National Golf Course Owners Association. The following year's show in New Orleans, a GCSAA solo affair, still boasted 665 exhibitors.
    Some of that attrition can likely be attributed to metrics in the golf market. Since 2001, more than 3,000 golf courses have closed. When figuring new construction into the equation, there has been a net loss of 1,436 courses during that time.
    Next year's show is scheduled for Feb. 3-6 in San Diego.
  • Nos. 10 (left) and 18 at Booone's Trace National Golf Club. Photo courtesy of Chris Rutherford
    Some people upon retirement are content to kick back and wile away their golden years playing golf or fishing. Others are hard wired to do more; to take up a second profession or Plan B, or to undertake something they are passionate about as an occupational pursuit rather than a mere hobby.
    Before "retiring" a decade ago, Chris Rutherford and wife Kelly had been working for Tower Communications Group, the Lexington, Kentucky, technology company started by Chris's father, Lee. Tower Comm was known for, among other things, providing retail vendors with point-of-sale credit card processing systems.
    When the family cashed out of the business in 2014, Rutherford took a year off to play golf. Not content with just playing golf every day, Rutherford had another itch to scratch. 
    The Rutherford clan, to a man, or woman as it were, share a common passion — golf. Multiple generations of the family are lifelong players. Chris and Kelly's son, Cameron, was a four-year player at Lexington Christian Academy and a multiple high school state champion before playing collegiately at Indiana Wesleyan. 
    When the course now known as Boone's Trace National Golf Club near Lexington went up for sale in 2018, Chris and Kelly, with golf coursing through their veins, decided to buy it.
    "I was 47 and retired. I wasn't ready for doing nothing," Chris said. "I have to have a purpose, and I felt like I was just blowing in the wind. My wife and I thought this was a good opportunity."
    The operation truly is a family affair. Cameron, a graduate of the Golf Academy of America in Florida, serves as director of golf, and Kelly acts as general manager. As business owners, all do whatever needs to be done, from riding a mower for superintendent Vince Amonett, to helping in the restaurant and everything in between.
    Kelly said operating a business in something everyone in the family is passionate about felt like a higher calling.
    "We've just always been glass-half-full kind of people," Kelly said. "We're that way with everything.
    "I think if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it."
    Under the Rutherfords' leadership, Boone's Trace has made the transformation from a struggling and neglected daily fee to a vibrant and successful club.
    That has been no simple undertaking.

    No. 11 at Boone's Trace. Photo by Jeff Rogers Photography Kentucky is not the first place that comes to mind when someone mentions high level, private golf. In some ways, Boone's Trace defines life in Central Kentucky. 
    Located 20 miles south of downtown Lexington in the middle of Kentucky's horse and bourbon country, Boone's Trace is accessible from the north only by a one-lane bridge spanning the Kentucky River, and it is just a few miles downriver from the site of Fort Boonesborough, the settlement founded in 1775 by a 20-year-old frontiersman and pioneer named Daniel Boone.
    It does not get much more Kentucky than horses, bourbon, backroads and Boone (the man).
    But Boone's Trace the golf course is more than just 18 holes of golf tucked into an area that is not known much for golf.
    Boone's Trace sits high on a bluff above the river surrounded by a few hundred high-end homes and breathtaking views in all directions. 
    When the Rutherfords bought the course, it was a daily fee with only a handful of memberships. If the dog days of summer were especially hot and play was slow, it could be hard to make ends meet.
    The Rutherfords realized the facility's future was not in daily fee golf. Since going private in January 2023, Boone's Trace has grown from 67 memberships to more than 350 and counting.
    Going private and undergoing a successful membership drive alleviated the challenges associated with cash flow. 
    "If you have three months of drought in summer, the public is not here and there is no revenue," Chris said. "You don't have that problem when you are private."
    The transition has not been an easy one. 
    Covid struck shortly after they bought the facility, and restrictions in place throughout Kentucky forced the Rutherfords to innovate just to survive. Cameron took check-ins for the golf course through a half-open office window from golfers waiting outside to tee off.

    No. 12 at Boone's Trace. The food and beverage operation survived by offering meals for curbside pick-up and even home deliveries to members living in the community.
    "I can tell you, we've never worked harder," Chris said. 
    "We've put a lot of personal funds into this. When you take on something like this, you have to be vested in its success."
    The Rutherfords hardly are satisfied with the status quo, and are committed to making Boone's Trace even better.
    The club has outdoor event space, a renovated restaurant and lounge and future plans include a coffee bar adjacent to the golf shop.
    "What do we have to do to take it up a notch?" Kelly asked, referring to the club's future. 
    "You just do whatever it takes. We didn't have a whole lot handed to us. We've worked hard for everything we have."
     
  • Editor's note: I wanted to link to a video depicting the fan experience at Philadelphia Eagles games, but couldn't find anything that was free of inappropriate language.
    Apologies to Philadelphia Eagles fans. You once wore the title of worst fans in all of sports. And you wore it well.
    After all, pelting Santa Claus with snowballs, holding drunk court - and operating a jail - on Sundays in the bowels of old Veterans Stadium, firing a flare gun at fans of the opposing team and 9-year-old fans flipping the double-bird to former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (right)  is championship-level tomfoolery that goes unmatched outside of Philadelphia.
    Until now.
    It is time to move over, Eagles fans. When it comes to being the drunkest, most obnoxious and rudest sports fans on the planet, there is a new sheriff in town. That title of champion drunkard and poor sport now belongs to the gallery at the Wasted Management Phoenix Open, where the stadium seating on the infamous par-3 16th hole looks (and sounds) more like a scene out of "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."
    I appreciate alcohol-induced fun (in moderation) as much as the next person, and goodness knows tour golf is in need of a little fun to broaden its appeal to new audiences, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
    When fans threaten the safety of others by storming the turnstiles to get to No. 16 like it's the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati (left), you've reached the point of diminishing returns. (Note: I was a high school junior and lived 5 miles from the arena in 1979, had friends at the concert and remember it vividly first hand, so don't @ me on this one.)
    When fans who have no business being partially clad in public start stripping off their clothes and sliding, belly first, downhill on the turf like sled riders on a golf course in January, you've reached the point of diminishing returns. 
    When golfers are jawing on camera with drunk patrons who talk through backswings or feel the need to heckle players over Ryder Cup roster selections, you've reached the point of diminishing returns.
    When the PGA Tour has to close the gates at TPC Scottsdale because the number of crazed drunks on the grounds has become too great, you've reached the point of diminishing returns.
    When the winner of the tournament takes a back seat to the sophomoric antics occurring outside the ropes, you've reached the point of diminishing returns.

    Crews cleaning up so play can resume on No. 16 at TPC Scottsdale. Waste Management Phoenix Open photo When the venue has to suspend alcohol sales because of all of the above, you've reached the point of diminishing returns.
    The atmosphere on No. 16 at TPC Scottsdale is legendary and has become more relevant than the tournament itself for everyone except the players in the field. Drinking to excess is not only tolerated on 16, it is encouraged. Cheering or booing players depending on their score at 16 is good-natured fun that golf needs. It's just one hole, get over it and move on. The celebration that takes place there for the occasional hole-in-one that includes everyone in the 85255 zip code getting a beer shower is good for the game. 
    What is not acceptable is turning every hole on the course into an extension of the 16th hole where bad behavior is not only tolerated, but encouraged and celebrated. That's not good for golf, or any sport for that matter. 
    The future success of golf depends on facilities promoting and ensuring a fun, family friendly atmosphere. The Tour has an opportunity here to help promote this family atmosphere by by playing an active role in dialing back behavior at its tournaments that would likely result in people being charged with public drunkenness and/or disorderly conduct if they occurred outside the gates.
    Where do you think you are anyway, Philadelphia?
  • During the past generation, few names have been as synonymous with high-level championship golf as Bob Farren, CGCS.
    For his accomplishments and contributions to golf and the turfgrass maintenance industry, Farren has been named the recipient of the 2024 USGA Green Section Award.
    Farren's career in turf management has spanned 45 years, including the past 32 at Pinehurst Resort where he has been director of golf course management since 2001.
    At Pinehurst, Farren oversees agronomic conditions for all of the resort's nine golf courses, as well as a par 3 course and 43,000 square foot putting course.
    During his time in the North Carolina Sandhills, Pinehurst No. 2 has been the site of nearly a dozen USGA national championships, including the U.S. Open in 1999, 2005 and 2014; the 2008 and 2019 U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Open in 2014.
    A native of Tornado, West Virginia, Farren grew up working on a golf course alongside his father, Bob Sr. in his hometown.

    Bob Farren, CGCS, has overseen unprecedented growth and multiple national championships at Pinehurst Resort for more than 30 years. Pinehurst Resort photo Since deciding to follow in his father's footsteps, Farren has been a regular speaker at regional and national events and has been on the ground floor of helping prepare assistants for jobs as head superintendents through professional-development events such as the Green Start Academy.
    Farren also has overseen tremendous growth at Pinehurst as well as a return to the facility's rustic golf roots that includes a restoration of the Donald Ross-designed No. 2 course in advance of the U.S. Open and Women's Open played in concurrent weeks in 2014. 
    That restoration, led by the design team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, included converting more than 40 acres of irrigated turf to native grasses, regrassing greens with heat- and drought-tolerant Champion Bermudagrass, eliminating overseeding throughout the property and bringing back a vintage appearance that more resembles what No. 2 looked like when Ross built it in 1907.
    Farren learned much of what he knows about agronomy at his father's knee. He did not attend traditional turf school, and formally studied hospitality at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thus, much of his professional development advice to superintendents and assistants focuses on customer service as well as making yourself an indispensable asset for the property.
    He spoke extensively about his career and promoting the profession in a TurfNet podcast in 2017.
    He also credits his mother, a former school teacher, with helping instill in him a desire to educate and help others.
    The USGA Green Section Award is given annually to one who exhibits service to golf through an individual's work with turfgrass. Farren will receive the award during the USGA annual meeting, scheduled for March 2 in Nashville.
    USGA Green Section Award winners:
    • 1961 — John Monteith Jr.
    • 1962 — Lawrence S. Dickinson
    • 1963 — O.J. Noer
    • 1964 — Joseph Valentine
    • 1965 — Glenn W. Burton, Ph.D.
    • 1966 — H. Burton Musser
    • 1967 — Elmer J. Michael
    • 1968 — James L. Haines
    • 1969 — Fred V. Grau
    • 1970 — Eberhard R. Steiniger
    • 1971 — Tom Mascaro
    • 1972 — Herb and Joe Graffis
    • 1973 — Marvin H. Ferguson, Ph.D.
    • 1974 — Howard B. Sprague, Ph.D.
    • 1975 — Fanny-Fern Davis, Ph.D.
    • 1976 — James R. Watson, Ph.D.
    • 1977 — Edward J. Casey
    • 1978 — Jesse De France, Ph.D.
    • 1979 — Arthur A. Snyder
    • 1980 — C. Reed Funk, Ph.D.
    • 1981 — Joseph W. Duich, Ph.D.
    • 1982 — Charles G. Wilson
    • 1983 — Alexander M. Radko
    • 1984 — W.H. Daniel, Ph.D.
    • 1985 — Victor B. Youngner, Ph.D.
    • 1986 — James B. Moncrief
    • 1987 — Sherwood Moore
    • 1988 — Roy Goss
    • 1989 — James Beard
    • 1990 — Chester Mendenhall
    • 1991 — Joseph Troll, Ph.D.
    • 1992 — C. Richard Skogley, Ph.D.
    • 1993 — Ralph E. Engel, Ph.D.
    • 1994 — Kenyon T. Payne, Ph.D.
    • 1995 — David Stone
    • 1996 — Robert M. Williams
    • 1997 — Paul Rieke, Ph.D.
    • 1998 — B.J. Johnson
    • 1999 — Noel Jackson, Ph.D.
    • 2000 — L. Palmer Maples Jr.
    • 2001 — Patricia A. Cobb
    • 2002 — George B. Thompson
    • 2003 — Houston B. Couch, Ph.D.
    • 2004 — Monroe S. Miller
    • 2005 — Peter Cookingham
    • 2006 — Robert C. Shearman, Ph.D.
    • 2007 — Joe Vargas Jr., Ph.D.
    • 2008 — Ted Horton
    • 2009 — Terry Bonar
    • 2010 — Daniel A. Potter, Ph.D.
    • 2011 — Dennis Lyon
    • 2012 — Wayne Hanna, Ph.D.
    • 2013 — Victor Gibeault, Ph.D.
    • 2014 — Peter Dernoeden, Ph.D.
    • 2015 — Patricia J. Vittum, Ph.D.
    • 2016 — Bruce Clarke, Ph.D.
    • 2017 — Norman Hummel, Ph.D.
    • 2018 — Tim Hiers
    • 2019 — Michael T. Huck
    • 2020 — William Meyer, Ph.D.
    • 2021 — No Award Given (COVID-19 pandemic)
    • 2022 — Frank Dobie
    • 2023 — Roch Gaussoin, Ph.D.
    • 2024 — Bob Farren
     
  • Foley's 642 Quick Spin grinder offers easy-to-use controls, counter balanced spin drive and a front and rear clamping system for quick, touch-up spin grinding. Foley Co. photo For golf course equipment managers who need an easy solution for quick grinding projects, Foley Co. has introduced the 642 Quick Spin reel grinder.
    Described by Foley as the first professional floor-level, roll-on, roll-off grinder, the 642 debuted at the GCSAA Conference and Show and BIGGA's BTME exhibition. The 642 Quick Spin measures 67 inches in width and 41 inches tall. It provides equipment managers with the ability to perform quick, touch-up spin grinding on walk-behind mowers with cutting widths up to 42 inches without removing the bedknife, resulting in considerable time savings with easy-to-use controls, counter balanced spin drive and a front and rear clamping system.
    "(The 642) is a machine that will appeal to all grounds professionals who are looking to improve the performance and efficiency of their grinding programs," said Foley president and chief executive officer Paul Rauker.
    "We have developed and patented simple to use controls to save time without compromising on performance."
    A counter-balanced spin drive makes it easier to position reels as well as transition from one side of the reel to the other while front and rear clamps secure any cutting unit configuration the user needs.
    An adjustable roller clamp can accommodate a variety of rollers and groomers, and the single-clamp design allows for setting the height of the reel using the cylinder height stop.
  • The war on pesticides continues.
    A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday, Feb. 6 canceled the registration of three dicamba-based herbicides used in agriculture and said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency broke the law when it approved them four years ago.
    David Bury, senior U.S. district judge for the District of Arizona, vacated the registrations of Bayer's XtendiMax, BASF's Engenia and Tavium from Syngenta, citing drift concerns affecting non-target crops. All three are key tools in fighting a variety of weeds in genetically modified soybeans and cotton that are resistant to dicamba.
    The registrations of all three products were either granted or renewed in 2020 when the EPA was assured necessary steps had been taken to reduce or minimize the effects on non-target species. 
    In his decision Tuesday, Bury wrote in his decision that before approving the registrations the EPA failed to allow for a public comment period, which is required by law.
    Although the ruling affects only products that include dicamba for use in agriculture, the active ingredient also is the basis for several herbicides in the turf and ornamentals market.
    According to reports, the three manufacturers affected in the Arizona ruling are waiting to see whether the EPA recognizes the decision.

    "The EPA followed a science-based approach to evaluate and manage ecological risks and balance agricultural and societal benefits before granting the current Engenia herbicide registration. Engenia herbicide is generally safe when used according to its label," said a news release from BASF. 
    "BASF is reviewing the Order and assessing its legal options while awaiting direction from the U.S. EPA on actions it will take as a result of the Order.
    "BASF remains committed to working with the EPA and other stakeholders to identify workable, durable weed control solutions for dicamba-tolerant crops and serving its customers by offering effective crop protection solutions."
    In a separate release, officials from Bayer, which  said they were waiting for the EPA to assess the decision.
    dicamba was banned for use in agriculture in June 2020 when an appellate court decided the chemistry was more harmful than stated by the EPA. The agency decided farmers could exhaust existing supplies before the ban went into effect and later reauthorized their use.
    The news is of particular significance to Bayer, which was ordered to pay $10.9 billion in settlements in 2020 to plaintiffs claiming the weedkiller caused their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bayer, which eventually sold its T&O business in 2022 to Envu, has been ordered to pay an additional $4 billion in settlements since November 2023.
    Like Roundup with the active ingredient glyphosate, Bayer inherited its dicamba-based herbicide when it acquired Monsanto in 2018.
    Other pesticides that have been used in golf, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos, have faced partial or complete bans in the recent past, as well.
  • The man who was indicted for the 2021 murder of a Georgia golf professional and two others in a drug-deal-gone-wrong has pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty.
    On Feb. 2, Bryan Rhoden (below right) was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole after pleading guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping in the deaths of Pinetree Country Club golf pro Gene Siller, 46 (above right), Henry Valdez, 46, and Paul Pierson, 76, at the Kennesaw, Georgia golf course in July 2021.
    Siller was found dead near Pinetree's No. 10 green at Pinetree, when he responded to calls about a pickup truck on the golf course. Police later found Valdez, a drug supplier, and Pierson, his associate, slain in the bed of a Dodge pickup that had been abandoned on the property. 
    Investigators say that during a drug deal on July 2, 2021, Rhoden abducted Valdez, of Anaheim, California, and Pierson, of Topeka, Kansas, in Jonesboro, Georgia, bound them with duct tape and zip ties then drove them to the golf course 40 miles away before shooting them in the bed of the pickup. In his plea Rhoden told investigators he intended to sink the pickup in a pond on the golf course. Siller, who was walking down the 10th fairway to investigate the incident, simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time, investigators said.
    "Detectives have learned that Mr. Siller happened upon a crime in progress involving the unknown suspect and the two deceased males who were found in the pickup truck," according to a 2021 police report. "It does not appear Siller was in any way targeted, but rather was killed because he witnessed an active crime taking place."
      Rhoden initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2022.  Last July, Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady said he would seek the death penalty. 

    Cobb County Sheriff's deputies investigate the scene on the 10th green at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Georgia, after the bodies of three people, including club pro Gene Siller, were found on July 3, 2021. Rhoden was arrested the day of the incident on unrelated DUI charges. At the time he was not a suspect in the incident at Pinetree, and was released July 6. Two days later, he was arrested in South Carolina on charges of trafficking cocaine. That investigation eventually linked Rhoden to the events at Pinetree.
    Rhoden has a history of violent crime, according to police. He was arrested in 2016 and charged with assault, attempted murder and possessing a firearm on campus when he was involved in a drug deal gone bad at Georgia State University, where he was a student at the time, police said.
    Pinetree, a Chick Adams design, opened in 1962. Georgia native Larry Nelson was an assistant pro there before embarking on a Hall of Fame PGA Tour career.
  • Good or bad, records are made to be broken.
    In the golf business, many of the records that have been broken in the past 20 years were record lows, not record highs. Record low rounds played, record number of course closings, record low number of people playing golf. 
    However, in the past few years, some of the benchmarks that have been eclipsed have been on the high end of the scale. 
    On the heels of Covid, nearly a million people entered the game and a record 518 million rounds were played in 2021.
    There is more good news this year, according to Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp. and Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors in their annual State of the Golf Industry report delivered Jan. 25 during the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
    The golfer base increased by 4 percent in 2023, from 21.9 million players to 22.8 million. That's a net increase of 2.3 million people since 2019, and is the highest number of golfers in the game since 26 million in 2010. 
    Rounds played reached a record high of 520 million, eclipsing the previous record of 518 million rounds set in 2000 and 2021, and revenue nationwide increased by 7 percent.
    The number of men in the game increased by 800,000 (nearly 5 percent) to 16.8 million, while the number of women increased by about 100,000 (1.9 percent) to 6 million, according to the report. 
    For years, Baby Boomers carried the game on their collective backs, a statistic that is changing rapidly as many in that generation age out.
    The good news is that younger players are picking up the game. The bad news is Gen Xers are not.
    The number of Boomers in the game increased 4.8 percent to 4.9 million players. Those aged 35-54 increased by an eye-popping 8.4 percent to 6.6 million and 18-34s increased by 3.1 percent to 5.5 million. Generation X, or those aged 55-64, however, decreased by 3 percent to 3.7 million players.

    The number of golfers in the game and rounds played were way up last year. File photo by John Reitman "We haven't done a very good job of attracting the generation behind us," Koppenhaver said. "So part of our challenge as an industry is we're starting to age out.
    "We have a big gap in that next generation behind us that didn't take up golf like I did at (age) 24."
    The most-cited barriers to taking up the game and continuing with it have, historically, been time, cost and difficulty. None of which seem to be holding people back now, and Koppenhaver is not sure why.
    "We haven't solved any of the three issues that people said kept them from playing golf," Koppenhaver said. "It still takes four-and-a-half hours to play. It costs more to play today, but we have some cover because everything costs even more than golf. And despite all the equipment we see on the (PGA show) floor and everything else that is supposed to make my game better, I still suck."
    When the number of course closures outpaced openings in 2006, it represented an anomaly that had not occurred since the end of World War II. Since then, a net loss of courses each year has been the rule rather than the exception as closures have outnumbered openings for each of the past nine years - a necessary evil to bring the market toward equilibrium, which is an industry average of about 35,000 rounds per 18-hole equivalent, according to Koppenhaver and Lindsay.
    Equilibrium was reached several years ago, with the average rounds per EHE hovering between 38,000 and 40,000 each of the past four years.
    Last year, a total of 78 courses closed nationwide, with just 26 openings for a net loss of 52. Since 2006, there has been a net loss of 1,436 18-hole equivalents for a total golf supply of 12,783 courses, according to the report.
    With courses, on average, operating above equilibrium, the industry today could tolerate a net gain of another 2,000 EHE's (which is not going to happen) or losing 73 million rounds. Both give the industry, on the whole, with a good cushion.
    Public-access courses led the way, representing 92 percent of all closures. Although closings are trending down, about 80 properties sold last year. That number has hovered between 80 and 110 for the past four years. About 36 percent of those sales were of private clubs, and another 31 percent were considered "premium public" properties.
    That trend, Koppenhaver said, can be attributed to investors seeing little to no return on daily access value properties.
    Another trend that emerged in 2023 is the return of real estate golf that include properties like the Greg Norman-designed Shell Bay course in Miami.
    "There is a place for real estate golf," Koppenhaver said. "But not at the level we were doing it in '05."
  • You too can now have the industry's first smart device designed to test multiple metrics on putting green conditions.
    After bursting onto the scene in the golf industry a year ago, the USGA's GS3 "smart ball" is now available for purchase. 
    Eight years in development, the rechargeable GS3 is outfitted with sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes that collect more than 15,000 data points to provide agronomic benchmarks that superintendents and researchers can use to make agronomic decisions and predict putting surface performance. The rechargeable smart ball that is the same size and weight as a standard golf ball calculates green speed, firmness, smoothness and trueness.
    Used in conjunction with the Deacon app, the GS3 provides immediate data on key surface performance metrics that superintendents can use to facilitate change more effectively on their course.
    Since announcing the product last year, the USGA has focused on quality testing and data validation. The GS3 was used at USGA championships throughout 2022 and 2023 and has been in use in real world conditions by some university researchers and at select golf courses, including Atlanta Athletic Club, Bel-Air Country Club, Longboat Key Club, Merion Golf Club and Pinehurst Resort.
    Priced at $2,750, the GS3 Starter Kit includes the GS3 ball and charger, a Deacon subscription, Stimpmeter, drop fixture, an enkamat and capture tray, clipping yield volume bucket and USGA agronomic support.
  • The turf-breeding program at the University of Georgia has released its latest vegetative seashore paspalum variety that is bred for enhanced resistance to many biotic and abiotic stressors.
    The result of 16 years of R&D, SeaBreeze was developed at Georgia's Griffin facility and can be used on golf courses on greens, tees and fairways. It is the fifth paspalum variety developed by UGA turf breeders and the third under Paul Raymer, Ph.D., professor of crop and soil science at the university's Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics.
    SeaBreeze was bred for improved vigor, drought and shade tolerance, color, turf quality, leaf texture and density, tensile strength and resistance to dollar spot.

    SeaBreeze paspalum was developed by University of Georgia professor and plant breeder Paul Raymer, Ph.D. UGA photo SeaBreeze produces improved quality turf under a range of mowing heights, and can be used on golf courses, athletic fields and lawns. It was tested under the experimental name of UGP 73 and has been evaluated in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program at eight locations from 2016 to 2020. It also was the subject of a USDA Specialty Crops Research Grant to develop improved drought and salinity tolerant warm-season grasses where it was tested at six sites from 2011 to 2013 and in advanced trials at another six locations in 2016-19.
    "SeaBreeze is by far the best paspalum we've developed. It combines vigor and performance with beauty and toughness," Raymer said. "This grass establishes readily and grows-in rapidly. I think sod producers are going to love it because it cycles quickly and It's fun to grow."
    SeaBreeze is licensed for distribution to two Florida sod growers — Creekside Growers in Arcadia and Sun Turf in Fort Pierce.
  • For the past several years, the TurfNet University "Jump start" webinar series has been presented with the hopes of giving career advice to accomplished superintendents as well as aspiring turf professionals.
    Joshua Ziemba (shown at right) had no idea that sitting in on one of those webinars three years ago would actually be the catalyst that would launch his career in golf turf. But that is what happened when Ziemba sat in on "Jump start your career in 2021" presented by Anthony Williams.
    At that time, both were working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Ziemba, a Florida native, was a greenkeeper at Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, Texas, and Williams was director of agronomy at what then was known as the Four Seasons Las Colinas.
    Ziemba had no formal turf education or training and was soaking up as much knowledge as could access.
    At the webinar's conclusion, Williams promised to mail a copy of his book "Noble Habits" to anyone who reached out by email. Ziemba, who had lived in Texas only for about six months at the time, asked if he could stop by the Four Seasons, now The Nelson Golf & Sports Club, and pick up the book in person.
    What followed was an eventual job offer from Williams. Since then, Ziemba has been on the career fast track. Today, he is the superintendent of the Nelson's member course at Nelson for director of agronomy Landon Lindsay.
    "I came across TurfNet and the GCSAA, and really dove into webinars trying to learn as much as I could," Ziemba said. "I had watched the recorded version of Jump start in 2020, then watched it live in 2021. It seemed like (the Four Seasons) was hitting on all cylinders, and it seemed like a place I would want to work."
    After spending an afternoon with Williams touring the operation and discussing the latter's philosophy, Ziemba was sold.
    "We talked about turf, life in general, and he asked for my resume. That was in January 2021," Ziemba said. "In May 2021, I came on board."
    Williams was equally impressed by his soon-to-be protegé.

    Joshua Ziemba, right, on the course with The Nelson Golf & Sports Club Director of Agronomy Landon Lindsay (left) and former colleague Cortland Winkle. Photo courtesy of Joshua Ziemba "No one else before or since has taken such impressive initiative," said Williams, now a regional agronomist for Invited Clubs. "He was working on a public local golf course and wanted to find a job at a private club.
    "Josh sold me on his potential, and he certainly was a self starter that stood out from the crowd. I saw a win-win, I knew he would be great for the property and our team, and the property would be great for Josh."
    Ziemba, 32, grew up in Stuart, Florida on the state's southeast coast about 30 minutes north of West Palm Beach, where he was a horticulturist with a landscape background.
    He worked as an estate gardener on Jupiter Island, a posh gated barrier island community south of Stuart, before he and his wife, Devin, moved to Fort Worth in 2020. After Ziemba hooked on as a greenkeeper at Cowboys Golf Club, Dean Miller, the VP of agronomy at Arcis Golf which manages the property, suggested the new Texas transplant should go to turf school.
    "We had to be at work at Cowboys at 3 a.m.," Ziemba said. "I'd come home, study for my turf certificate from UC Riverside online at night from 7 to 11 p.m., get up at 2 a.m., go to work, come home and repeat all over again. I didn't get a lot of sleep for a long time."
    The hard work paid off for Ziemba.
    "Initially I was hired as a greenkeeper-1 in May 2021, then in May 2022 I was promoted to assistant in training," Ziemba said. "In May 2023 I was made first assistant and just in December I was promoted to superintendent of the member course."
    For Ziemba, among the most important lessons he learned from the Jump start series were goal setting and taking pen to paper to write them down.
    "I liked how there was so much structure to setting goals," he said. "I already had some pretty lofty goals that included being an assistant in three years and a superintendent in five. Those were well beyond what I thought was possible, but I knew that is what I wanted to do.
    "I wrote down my goals and made an organizational chart. That was what was going to get me to those goals."
    Although he left the Nelson before Ziemba was able to realize his goal of being a superintendent, Williams was not surprised by the outcome.
    "When I left Las Colinas, I was hopeful that I had filled the benches with the future leaders of the club and that they were ready to step up," Williams said. "I did not get to promote Josh into his first superintendent job, but Landon Lindsay did, and Landon and I worked together for nearly seven years. And during that time Landon moved from assistant to superintendent to assistant director of agronomy and upon my departure took the reins as director of agronomy at the Nelson. They say it takes a village to raise a golf course superintendent. I am proud that those young men who impacted me so much have continued to meet their goals and will certainly leave their mark on the industry for a long, long time."
    And it all started with a webinar.
    "Three years ago, I was on the outside looking in," Ziemba said. "Now, we get to tell this story. That's pretty cool."
  • A host of improvements are designed to make Toro's GeoLink Precision Spray system more efficient and user friendly. Toro photo Toro has made improvements to its GeoLink Precision Spray system that are intended to improve efficiency and ease of use.
    Updates include a larger display, enhanced cellular connectivity and improved auto-steering technology.
    Since 2015, the GeoLink Precision Spray system has been helping turf managers save by using GPS technology to deliver product where it is needed and minimize overapplication. The GeoLink Precision Spray system also tracks the sprayer’s precise location for repeatable mapping. If an operator covers previously sprayed ground, the sprayer automatically turns individual nozzles on and off to avoid overapplication, helping golf course superintendents save product and money. 
    New cellular technology automatically connects to the best signal on the property, regardless of carrier. The display is 40 percent larger than those on previous models and includes day and night mode for better visibility in direct sunlight. The GeoLink Autosteer feature keeps the sprayer on course to maximize efficiency, and the ExcelaRate control system, which is standard on the Multi Pro 5800 series, lets operators save the two most-used flow rates for repeat use.
    Improved valves deliver even more precise nozzle control. The system also can now track twice as many satellites for improved efficiency and positioning, and also has a fallback feature if real-time kinematic positioning is temporarily lost.
  • The USGA has funded 15 new research projects to advance turfgrass science this year through its Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management. This brings the total of ongoing Davis Program-funded projects to more than 60.
    With this latest round of projects, which are taking place at the University of Florida, Kanasas State, New Mexico State, North Carolina State, Rutgers, Texas A&M and Washington State, the USGA has funded more than $50 million in turfgrass research ventures since 1983. 
    The USGA's long-term goal to support research includes a $30 million pledge to reduce water use announced in April 2023. To that end, more than half of active Davis Grants are focused on projects intended to drive water use efficiency and conservation while also maximizing playing conditions. These projects include optimizing irrigation techniques, improving drought resistance and converting out-of-play areas to conserve water and habitat. 

    The USGA has funded more than $50 million in turfgrass research projects since 1983. USGA photo Other notable projects receiving funding this year include a pilot effort at Texas A&M and Tennessee to analyze Google course review data to better understand what improves, and detracts from, the golfer experience.
    The USGA says the Davis Program research projects have contributed to a 29 percent decrease in water use in the past 20 years.
    Additionally, the USGA-says its overall investment in course sustainability saves the turf industry nearly $2 billion per year, including:
    > $201 million from advancing irrigation with efficiencies in turfgrass water use
    > $529 million from advancing irrigation scheduling with soil-moisture meters
    > $469 million from advancing naturalized rough.
    Click here for a list of current USGA-supported research projects.
  • We are excited to announce that GCSAA Class A superintendent Adam Garr (@CourseCares) is joining the TurfNet content team as a blogger, producer and video host.
    Adam burst upon the social media scene with a series of blogs and GoPro videos highlighting golf course maintenance practices while he was the superintendent at Plum Hollow Country Club in Michigan. Adam jumped over to the supply side of the industry in 2015, serving for seven years as a territory manager for Syngenta Professional Solutions.
    Returning to his literary roots and his BA in English from Michigan-Dearborn, Adam left his career in sales to pursue his dream of becoming a writer and producing original content for the turf industry. He has spent the last year back on a golf course assisting with a new golf course construction, and now is eager to spread his wings. His business, Garr Productions LLC, specializes in creating high-quality, educational and innovative video content for the benefit of golf course superintendents everywhere.
    At TurfNet, Adam plans to combine his unique industry perspective with his passion for storytelling, history, and life lessons to create thought-provoking content designed to challenge and inspire. In many ways his outlook on life and the turf industry blend seamlessly with the core values of TurfNet. His first video series will be Trailing Thoughts, which combines video "hikes" through various National Parks with narration from his life experience within turf and without.
    Adam lives in Novi, Michigan with his wife Michelle and their blended family of five children.
     

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