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From the TurfNet NewsDesk
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We don't have a lot of competition here. We are working hard to include women and juniors. We know what they want and what they're looking for and how to present it to them."
The Y director attributes part of the excitement to the option to join both the Y and the golf course together in one fee, as well as the improvements that are being made to the course under Fast. A native of Haviland, Ohio about 10 miles from Van Wert, Fast is a 1992 graduate of Ohio State's turf program. For the past 22 years, he was the superintendent at nearby Delphos Country Club. Making the move to a Y-owned property was not a decision he made lightly. "There are some issues here," Fast said of Hickory Sticks. "There are a lot of dead ash trees and the bunkers aren't in the best shape. I thought 'do I want a change like this?' The YMCA and the board have committed a lot of money to equipment to improve the conditions. I'm up for the challenge. I see this as a good opportunity." What equipment the club had prior to Fast's arrival was decades old and much of it didn't run. A fairway mower was used to mow tees because the tee mower wouldn't start. The Y has put up money for a new tee mower, another fairway unit, a sprayer, roller, topdresser, aerifier and blower and just about whatever else Fast needs to bring the course up to standard. "For chemicals and fertilizer," he added, "they told me 'whatever you need, get it.' " Discussions about donating the course to the Y began almost a year ago in a local drug store when Kocab and White bumped into one another as each sought a remedy for a late-winter cold. It's one more example of the closeness of this community, where everyone knows just about everyone else - even if your closest neighbor is a mile down the road at the next farm. Still, this was not a deal the Y entered into blindly just because it was getting a golf course free of debt. There are only a handful of YMCA-owned courses across the country, making it a unique business model. Before deciding whether to accept or reject White's donation, Kocab and members of the Y's board went to North Carolina, home to at least two such golf courses, to begin the process of conducting due diligence. In fact, Y officials attacked the project like a group of seasoned golf industry professionals. "We've done our research. We know the golf economy is not good and that courses are closing," Kocab said. "We looked into why they are closing are most are because of market saturation, debt ratio and changing demographics. "It wasn't just me. Our executive committee had to make sure it was a viable option. Three attorneys, two accountants and all 16 of our board members all looked at it, and everyone had the same reaction: It was a no-brainer. We are debt free. We're reaching out to women and juniors and we're going to develop programs that are exciting for these groups and we're offering knockout membership deals for everyone in our community. All those things combined; that's what's going to set us apart." Improvements to the golf course will include all new bunkers, including new drainage and new sand, a new agronomic program courtesy of Fast, something the course never had in the past, and a regular greens aerification schedule. "Down deep, this is a good golf course," Fast said. "It just needs a little TLC, and now the YMCA is backing it. "We're buying a lot of equipment, and I already have about three-quarters of what I need to get the job done."
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Southern Oaks GC, Burleson, Texas
Jorge Croda first made a name for himself restoring the struggling Southern Oaks Golf Course in Burleson, Texas near Fort Worth. There he encountered a layout that in some areas had more weeds than turf, literally. In short order, he turned Southern Oaks around from an eyesore and what golfers there described as an embarrassment into a track that today is showing up on lists of some of the best daily fee courses in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JORGE. Mark Hoban
Rivermont GC, Johns Creek, Georgia
In four decades of managing turf in the Atlanta area, Mark Hoban has embraced a holistic approach to golf course maintenance. A disciple of Palmer Maples, Hoban has been a leader in utilizing native turf to influence the appearance of a golf course as well as minimize the amount of water, fertilizer and pesticides they require. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT MARK. Chris Ortmeier
Champions Club, Houston, Texas
Hurricane Harvey dumped 34 inches in five days at Champions Club in Houston, Texas, where 95 of 150 acres were submerged under as much as 15 feet of water. Near the pump house, water was up to the eaves of the roof, and boat was the best way to navigate the course that was the site of the 1967 Ryder Cup Matches and the 1969 U.S. Open, the LPGA's Nabisco Championship in 1990 and on five occasions was home to the Tour Championship (1990, '97, '99, '01, '03). . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT CHRIS. Josh Pope
The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Just days before the 2016 edition of the PGA Tour's annual event at The Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, flooding rains washed out the course and led to the cancellation of the tournament. The flood claimed the lives of 23 neighbors, and superintendent Josh Pope and his team spent the next year alternating between preparing the golf course for the 2017 tournament and helping family and friends recover at home. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JOSH. Rick Tegtmeier
Des Moines G&CC, West Des Moines, Iowa
Rick Tegtmeier turned the Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club into more than just a golf tournament between the best women players from the United States and Europe. After a four-year renovation of the 36-hole club in West Des Moines, Iowa, he created a venue that left players and captains raving about conditions, and helped build an atmosphere that was a patriotic feel-good story that showcased all Iowa - including other superintendents throughout the state - had to offer. . . . CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT RICK.
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"My biggest challenge was when I was let go from Hartefeld National Golf Club in August 2013 and then found out two days later that (wife) Peggy was diagnosed with stage III esophageal cancer," said Colo, now superintendent of the Hills Course at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Florida. Rather than let such life-altering challenges keep him down, Colo, 46, prefers to be defined by how he gets up. His wife's cancer has progressed to stage IV and she continues to undergo treatment. Meanwhile, his seemingly endless supply of energy and positivity provide the couple's two teenage sons with an in-your-face lesson about overcoming misfortune that would make Norman Vincent Peale and Steven Covey blush. "I'm just a glass half-full guy," Colo said. "I've never looked through rear-view mirror. My philosophy is to always look out the windshield and be better tomorrow than you were today." To help keep him pointed straight ahead, Colo also has the luxury of a solid support network buoyed by a sibling. Jim Colo is not just any brother. As twins, Jim and John are close. As twins who happen to be golf course superintendents, they share a bond that others hardly can understand. When John worked in Pennsylvania at Hartefeld National or the Country Club of York and Jim worked at The Alotian Club in Arkansas, they talked on the phone nearly every day on everything from labor and agronomics to club politics to checking on each other's children and spouses. "We don't get too far away from each other in thought," said Jim, superintendent at Naples National Golf Club in coastal Southwest Florida since 2012. "We talk at least once a day. I've already talked to him once, and I'll talk to him again this afternoon. I'll ask 'What did you do at the course. How's Peggy? How are the boys?'We are both at clubs that demand perfection. It's about work and family, and we share that pretty closely." The "elder" Colo echoed those sentiments - nearly verbatim. "We talk once, sometimes two times a day," John said. "We talk shop every day. We talk about crew, hiring, equipment. Jim and I already have talked this morning, and I'll call him again this afternoon on my way home. "Jim and I have always talked with each other - I think it's the twin thing happening - just about every day. We are always talking shop. It feels like the golf course has an extra superintendent working for them with the information and advice we discuss. We text and share pictures. We have great conversations on the phone on our way home from work - very open and honest. Seems like Jim and I are leaving work just about at the same time. "Jim has given me a lot of advice, guidance and a ton of support. It has been great to have Jim to lean on and discuss things with. We challenge each other." Natives of Painesville, Ohio, which is along Lake Erie northeast of Cleveland, the Colo brothers share a similar career path as well. Both are graduates of the two-year turf program at Rutgers.
I never lost my passion for the golf course," John said. "I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do. I stayed true to what I knew, and I believed the right opportunity would be there to get back in the saddle as a golf course superintendent.
John prepped early in his career for legendary Jim Loke first at Quail Hollow Country Club in Painesville, and again during the construction and grow-in of Bent Creek Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was a grueling time that served John well in the years since both on and off the golf course. "Jim showed me the ins and outs of the business then," John said. "He showed me a lot about turf - the hard way. And I learned. "I learned how he dealt with the many chiefs in the clubhouse. I read his newsletters to the membership and I modeled what I learned from him and all the things that are thrown to you at one time. You have to keep moving forward." Jim learned the trade in Florida under Steve Ehrbar, another Loke disciple and now his brother's supervisor at Jupiter Hills. "Steve was Jim Loke's assistant at Quail Hollow," Jim said. "Steve worked for Loke, John worked for Loke and I worked for Bob Blaylock who worked for Loke, then I was Steve's assistant for seven years at Old Marsh." Those experiences working for Loke and his prodigies helped toughen the Colo brothers for life on and off the course. When job loss struck John for the second time four years ago, he did what he had to do to get buy, staying busy driving a limousine and a UPS truck, plowing snow in the winter and working a landscape job in the summer so he could spend time at home taking care of his wife and their two sons. Still, he never waffled from what he believed to be his true calling - being a golf course superintendent. "I never lost my passion for the golf course," John said. "I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do. I stayed true to what I knew, and I believed the right opportunity would be there to get back in the saddle as a golf course superintendent. I had been away from the golf course for 20 months before landing a job as a superintendent, so I knew the challenge to get back after being away would be tough, but I knew I had the knowledge and the experience and a solid network to help me succeed." That includes his brother. Although they live in the same state, the Colo brothers are separated by 175 miles, so it's not exactly easy to pop in on each other, but they do see on another more often than they did when they lived 1,000 miles or more apart. "We try to see Peggy as much as possible, and that's comforting," Jim said. "And we're there if they ever need help or help with the boys." Said John: "We used to see each other only once or twice a year. We see each other a lot more since moving to Florida. One of the reasons we moved here was to be closer to Jim and his family." It's a twin thing.- Read more...
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The course was set for a redesign by Jack Nicklaus and, it was thought at the time, would open about a year-and-a-half later as the centerpiece of the resort. First Fidelity Bank thought otherwise."
Few expenses were spared in building Emerald Falls, site of the high school state championships in Oklahoma in 2010. The greens were an A-1/A-4 bentgrass mix (no doubt a challenge to manage in Oklahoma's hot summers) and fairways were Zorro zoysia. Native rock mined during construction was used throughout the property to line ponds and as features on tees on the course that was named one of the best new layouts of 2008 by Golf Digest. Like many real estate golf courses, the Emerald Falls was built not as a golf experience first, but to entice people into buying real estate and building homes in the surrounding development. When home sales lag and the brand new golf course does not turn an immediate profit, things have a way of spiraling out of control quickly in this business. Indeed, the writing was on the wall. The ensuing economic woes led owners Lucia Carballo Oberle and her husband, David, to close the course just seven years later, and those who played there have been waiting for a savior ever since. The new owner of the real estate development recently put to rest any thoughts of reopening the golf course. Instead, Capitol Homes, which bought the development last fall, plans to start building new homes on vacant lots around the golf course, which is being repurposed as a park that can be utilized by residents of the community and surrounding area. Emerald Falls closed in 2014 when the Oberles announced plans to begin construction on an adjacent $122 million resort. The course was set for a redesign by Jack Nicklaus and, it was thought at the time, would open about a year-and-a-half later as the centerpiece of the resort. First Fidelity Bank thought otherwise. With the Oberles already saddled in debt over the project - only 35 homes had been built on the 200 available sites - foreclosure proceedings ensued shortly after the closing, squashing plans for the resort and the redesigned golf course. Loss of jobs is regrettable, but repurposing the golf course was the right move, albeit one that was avoidable. It's a sad story we've heard hundreds of times and will hear a hundred more on the course to self-correction.
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