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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Some golf course superintendents wear jeans and boots to work, while others opt for slacks and loafers. Mark Hoban might want to think about adding a lab coat to his wardrobe.   In four decades of managing turf in the Atlanta area, Hoban, 63, embraces what he describes as 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.   Since 2005 when he was named superintendent at Rivermont Golf Club in the Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek, Hoban has expanded his quest toward sustainability to include research into and use of biological nutrients, including vermi-compost and organically enhanced topdressing.   If Rivermont is the barometer by which Hoban's success is measured, it would appear that he has discovered the end-all be-all of organic turf maintenance. He admits, however, that his program still is a work in progress as he continues to test the limits of how much water and synthetic additives he can withhold and still produce one of the Atlanta area's best golf courses.   "I can't wait for tomorrow. I want to do more of it, Hoban said of his drive to achieve sustainable turf management. "Unfortunately for me, I have my hands in a lot of different things. I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none. I can't wait that long for the answers. I want to find them on my own. I'm impatient.   Because of his role as a leader in sustainable turf management, Hoban has been named as a finalist for the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Other finalists include Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Course in Burleson, Texas, Chris Ortmeier of Champions Golf Club in Houston, Josh Pope of The Old White Course at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and Rick Tegtmeier of Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.   The winner of the 18th annual award will be named at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth during this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio and will receive a trip for two and a week of free golf on the TurfNet members trip to Ireland in October, courtesy of Syngenta.   Hoban has developed a worm farm for use in creating compost that he brews into an organic tea fertilizer that introduce beneficial microbes, fungi and nematodes into the soil. He even has established an onsite classroom to further study the benefits provided by earthworms.   Those attending his classes have included Rivermont members, the club's junior golf camp participants, members of the community and scores of people from throughout the golf industry.     Hoban's latest work, in cooperation with University of Georgia microbiologist Mussie Habteselassie, Ph.D., has focused on trials to enhance microbial populations to determine the impact of synthetic chemicals used on golf courses. He also has several trials under way on tees, greens and fairways involving products from companies from throughout the country and around the world.    He also shares what he has learned through presentations at golf, garden and agricultural conferences at the local, state and national levels.   Hoban has a long history of practicing environmental stewardship on golf courses long before it was chic, cool or a public relations necessity.   He was the construction and grow-in superintendent at The Standard Club in Atlanta when the club physically moved to a new location in 1986-87 and guided the course to Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status, the first course in the Southeast to do so.   A year after he took over as superintendent at Rivermont in 2006, he, in accord with architect Mike Riley and owner Chris Cupit, led a renovation that included converting almost 30 acres of turf to native grasses and sedges. It was the beginning of transforming the 1971 Joe Lee design from a typical suburban layout to an organic golf course that stood out from the rest in Atlanta.    "Mark has continued his research and has been a pioneer in organic approaches to turf grass care.  The University of Georgia and other researchers have descended on Mark's office and course to look at his worm farm, his compost tea brewer and his microscopes laden with Trichoderma and other unpronounceable critters, Cupit wrote in nominating Hoban for Superintendent of the Year. "A typical morning may see Mark on a tractor, looking through a microscope, brewing compost tea or on the phone with any of a number of scientists and researchers from across the country.   Despite his work during all or part of the past five decades, Hoban's work is hardly done. In fact, with pesticide regulations in place in many parts of the country and more sure to follow, he is barely scratching the surface.   "I still think this is the future of golf course maintenance, Hoban said. "Fortunately, I have just one owner and not 400 members with ownership, so that gives me the freedom to do this. Now, we still have to maintain a golf course, so if the greens die it will be 'to hell with that organic crap'. I'm more jazzed no about this than ever and what it holds, and it makes me want to get more into the research end of it.  
  • Overcoming the effects of a single major weather event might be enough of an experience to last a lifetime for many superintendents. But in just three years at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Chris Ortmeier has experienced not one, but two 500-year flood events. The second hardship came in the way of Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in southeastern Texas on Aug. 25, 2017, then stalled over land and dumped rain on Houston for several days.   By the time the rain had stopped, Harvey had dumped 34 inches in five days at the golf course, 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.   It was a similar scene a year earlier when 15 inches of rain fell in a single day in Houston in April 2016, causing businesses and schools to close. By the time Ortmeier and his crew dealt with the effects of Harvey, they had the course back open for play 12 days after the rain had stopped.   "The good thing about Harvey was that by then we had refined the process of dealing with a flood," said the 33-year-old Ortmeier.   "As a superintendent, I am always looking forward. But looking back at what we've overcome, we did overcome some rather difficult things. So much of what we've accomplished is due to the hard work of the entire team here."   For the way he and his crew were able to spring into action and have things back to normal at Champions, Ortmeier was named a finalist for the 2017 Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Other finalists include Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, Mark Hoban of Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, Josh Pope of The Old White Course at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and Rick Tegtmeier of Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.   The winner of the 18th annual award will be named at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth during this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio and will receive a trip for two and a week of free golf on the TurfNet members trip to Ireland in October, courtesy of Syngenta.     "He has been forced to deal with the unthinkable flooding as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Chris guided his crews to bring all 36 holes back to member play quicker than anyone in the area," said Champions Club member Kyle Krahenbuhl in nominating Ortmeier for superintendent of the year. "Someone visiting the club for a round would not believe there had even been a storm event if not for the mountains of flooring and drywall removed from the devastated homes bordering the outside of the course which still remain piled for removal on the city streets. Chris's leadership in the days and weeks following Hurricane Harvey cannot be overstated."   Founded in the late 1950s by professional golfers Jack Burke Jr. and Jimmy Demaret, the Champions Club has a long history of excellence and major championship golf. The 36-hole facility 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 the home to the Tour Championship (1990, '97, '99, '01, '03).   The club had the chance to take center stage again when, within days after Ortmeier and his team had the Cypress Creek Course opened and ready for play, club officials approached him about hosting the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in Oct. 7-12 - just 44 days after reopening in the wake of a 500-year flood. The tournament originally was to be played at Quail Creek Club in Naples, Florida, but was moved after that area was affected by Hurricane Irma.    The request came straight from Jack Burke's wife, Robin, who was runner-up in the 1997 U.S. Women's Amateur, played on the 1998 U.S. Curtis Cup team and captained the squad in 2016.   "My first thought was why not move it to a place that didn't have a hurricane. The course in Florida had one and we had just had one of our own," Ortmeier said. "It was important to her to help out the USGA, so I told her 'let's figure out a way to get it done.' It seemed insurmountable at the time, but it turned out better than I ever could have projected to be honest. I'm glad we were able to pull it off."  
  • Mother nature wreaks havoc on golf courses with regularity.   Fire, flood, extreme heat and cold, hurricanes and tornadoes all are common foes of the golf course superintendent. But no one should have to endure what Josh Pope and his team experienced in 2016 and 2017 at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.   On June 23, 2016, just days before the PGA Tour's annual event at The Greenbrier's historic Old White Course, flooding rains washed out the course and led to the cancellation of the tournament. But that was only the beginning for Pope, the rest of the team at The Greenbrier and residents of southeastern West Virginia.   For what he endured and how he picked up the pieces - personally, emotionally and professionally, after all, some weren't so lucky - Pope was named a finalist for the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Other finalists include Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, Mark Hoban of Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, Chris Ortmeier of the Champions Club in Houston and Rick Tegtmeier of Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.   The winner of the 18th annual award will be named at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth during this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio and will receive a trip for two and a week of free golf on the TurfNet members trip to Ireland in October, courtesy of Syngenta.   As rain fell throughout the day and showed no signs of letting up, Howard's Creek that runs through the golf course overflowed and flooded half the greens on the 100-year-old Old White, parts of U.S. 60 that bisects the multi-course Greenbrier property and the tunnels running beneath the highway connecting the courses.   The next day, a marker noting the depth of a 1915 flood near the 14th green and 15th tee on the 1914 Charles Blair Macdonald design was 8 feet under water, making the Greenbrier Classic scheduled for July 4-10 an impossibility.   The flood was about much more than golf. It was a community-wide tragedy that washed away possessions, homes, memories and the souls of 23 neighbors. The remains of three of the nearly two-dozen drowning victims were recovered on The Old White Course.     The story of tragedy, loss and recovery is one that Pope has retold countless times at conferences, cocktail receptions and in passing.   "As far as I am concerned, there is no possible way anyone other than Josh Pope at Greenbrier Old White can win this award," wrote East Lake Golf Club superintendent Ralph Kepple in nominating Pope for the honor. "Hell, I think you should just name it after him! To take that disaster and rebuild it better than before while under an extremely tight time frame is one of the best stories ever."   Recovery over the next year with the help of architect Keith Foster was a complex relationship between trying to balance golf, work and personal tragedy in an area where the local economy is so reliant on the well being of The Greenbrier. Every step of the process was a constant reminder of the pain and suffering felt by so many.   "The focus was on the golf course and personal stuff," Pope said. "We'd come to work, then go home and help family and friends rebuild. I asked A LOT of my assistants. There was a weight on our shoulders to get the course back open. That helped bring the community back because of the economic impact of the (Greenbrier). It was huge to get golf up and running."   The race was on during the next year to make sure the course was ready for the PGA Tour, and the course opened for practice by the pros the Monday of tournament week. The pressure to bring the course back on time took its toll on Pope, who admits to suffering a minor breakdown in the final run-up to the tournament. Even when his boss, director of golf course operations Kelly Shumate, ordered him to go home, Pope felt he belonged at the golf course.   "My boss was next to me when it happened. I was hyperventilating because the tournament was 30 days out and we were still laying sod. I didn't think we'd be done on time," Pope said. "The stress level over the past year had finally hit me.    "I went home, took some deep breaths and took a shower, and then went back to work, even though I wasn't supposed to. I'm a high-anxiety person to begin with, and you know how superintendents are: We worry about everything, and I was worried about the golf course being done on time."  
  • Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet are cited historically as the first Europeans to set foot in what today is Iowa in the late 17th century. But when it comes to putting Iowa golf on the map, that credit goes to Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, after the 2017 Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, says one public official.   "In addition to providing the greater Des Moines area with a world-class golf facility, Rick's exceptional management has allowed the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and the state of Iowa to gain international attention as they hosted the Solheim Cup this year," said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey in nominating Tegtmeier for the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta. "This put Des Moines on the map and provided other great economic benefits to Des Moines and the state."   The Solheim Cup, won by the U.S. team captained by LPGA legend Juli Inkster, indeed was a big deal. It was named the top story in golf in Iowa by the Des Moines Register, one of the top five moments in women's golf by the PGA of America and could help launch Iowa into the LPGA spotlight on a permanent basis.   The tournament boasted full galleries, feel-good patriotism everywhere and a $32 million infusion into the Des Moines economy. At the epicenter of all of this was Tegtmeier and his team who together produced a venue that won praise not only from Northey, but from Inkster, 2007 Masters champion and Iowa native Zach Johnson, and what seemed like just about everyone else in the state of Iowa. In all, 25 people nominated Tegtmeier for the 18th annual award.   Other finalists include Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, Mark Hoban of Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, Chris Ortmeier of the Champions Club in Houston and Josh Pope of the Old White Course at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.   The winner of the 18th annual award will be named at 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Syngenta booth during this year's Golf Industry Show in San Antonio and will receive a trip for two and a week of free golf on the TurfNet members trip to Ireland in October, courtesy of Syngenta.   The journey to the Solheim Cup was a long road for the club and Tegtmeier that began as far back as 2010 when the club adopted a master plan by original architect Pete Dye and his associated Tim Liddy. That plan included a massive renovation that began in 2013 and in which nine holes of the 36-hole property were closed and restored each year for four consecutive years.      That project was set into motion to improve conditions for the members, and would have taken place with or without the Solheim Cup.   Although the club voted to approve the master plan and the restoration project, shutting down nine holes per year over four years required Tegtmeier to be a master communicator and teacher to keep members abreast of what they were getting for their money. Throughout the process, he gave tours of the project, updated members at countless meetings and logged literally hundreds of blog posts throughout the duration.   "The work was for a lifetime for our members. The tournament was only three days," Tegtmeier said. "We worked hard to do it right for the membership, and the Solheim Cup benefitted from that."   Just ask Inkster, the Team USA captain.   "Players from both sides raved about the course conditions, in particular the greens and how pure they were," Inkster wrote in a letter nominating Tegtmeier for the award. "The 2017 Solheim Cup was an epic and historic display of women's golf played on an unbelievable state at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. I have been around a lot of golf for a long time, and can honestly say that the conditioning of the course for the Solheim Cup was among the best I have ever seen."   Staging a great golf course was only half the battle for Tegtmeier, who rolled out the red carpet for any superintendent in the state who wanted to be part of the event and help portray Iowa golf in the best possible light.   Nearly four-dozen of his colleagues with some tie to Iowa or Tegtmeier answered the call.   "The only professional event in the state is the (PGA Champions Tour) Principal Charity Classic. We don't have any other professional sports. Nothing," Tegtmeier said. "When you have event like this in state, it is supposed Iowa guys. In other places where they host big events, superintendents there get to be a part of that. In Iowa, we don't get that chance. I send assistants all around the country to get that experience, but my fellow superintendents don't get that chance. I went to the state conference and told them here's your chance.' "   The success of the restoration, the outpouring of support from within the industry and the product delivered for Teams Europe and USA all are directly attributable to Tegtmeier's abilities as an agronomist and manager, said Jim Cutter, general manager and chief operating officer at DMGCC.   "Rick is the total package; a leader who allows his subordinates enough space to learn and enough support to prosper and eventually be successful on their own," Cutter said.  "He understands the importance of his role as a fiduciary at the club. His team delivers an outstanding product on a daily basis. He is a lifelong learner . . . and last but certainly not least Rick is a true team player, always quick to help in any department where his help is needed."   Just ask other superintendents throughout the state.  

  • Top 10 stories of 2017

    By John Reitman, in News,

    From the loss of an old friend to recovery efforts after a devastating flood at the site, a lot happened in 2017.
     
    We've compiled a list of the 10 most-viewed stories on TurfNet in 2017. Click each headline to read the full text of each story.
     
    1. Turf community shocked by loss of Jerry Coldiron
    The TurfNet community and the turfgrass world at large were shocked Thanksgiving morning to learn of the death of Jerry Coldiron, Jr., CGCS, of cardiac arrest the previous evening, November 21.
     
    2. They don't get it - and they never will
    This year's Solheim Cup (shown on cover photo) highlighted much of what is good about golf. The event also shed light on some of the things that are wrong with golf, like the fact that those who don't live every day in the turf world have no idea what takes place behind the scenes to ensure such an event goes off smoothly.
     
    3. Assistant goes south for the winter to further career
    This has been anything but a typical winter for Brian Conlon. An assistant at Miacomet Golf Club on Nantucket Island, Conlon kept busy helping manage the golf course at one of Mexico's most posh resorts that is a retreat for wealthy business people and Hollywood celebrities.
     
    4. Penn State grad launches start-up to give new use to an old invention
    A product initially developed to control nutrients runoff on Florida farmland could help golf course superintendents use less water and fertilizer. And a business-friendly climate at a major university has helped bring it to market.
     
    5. Research pokes holes in golfer perception of putting green trueness
    It wasn't intentional, but recent research on putting green trueness might have pulled the rug out from underneath every golfer irritated by greens aerification. Researchers at Delaware Valley University have shown that recently aerified greens really don't affect  putting green trueness.
     
    6. Cal superintendent says economics dictate adopting new technology
    Life as an early adopter of new technology often means walking a fine line between being a cutting-edge turf manager and someone perceived as a someone who just likes the latest gadgets.
     
    7. Aussie bunker method provides consistent conditions, saves on labor
    An alternative method to bunker maintenance utilized during the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in Australia minimizes the time workers spend hand raking by devoting attention only to disturbed areas, allowing superintendents to devote resources where they are needed most.
     

     
    8. Muirfield hits its Mark
    As a student at Ohio State and during the early stages of his career, Chad Mark always viewed Muirfield Village Golf Club as his dream job, but he never for a second entertained the idea that he might one day land a job there.
     
    9. Laurent has worn many hats through the years
    Fifty years after he started in the golf business as a teenager mowing greens in Indiana, Terry Laurent's career highlight didn't come while preparing for a major championship. It came while playing in one.
     
    10. A career-defining moment
    When deadly floodwaters washed out the Old White course at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and the PGA Tour event that was to be played there, Josh Pope played a key role in leading a revival of the 100-year-old layout and the tournament.
  • TurfNet in January will begin its 11th year of offering Web-based education. In conjunction with BASF and Grigg, TurfNet University will produce a minimum of 24 webinars in 2018.    The schedule begins Thursday, Jan. 4 with Anthony Williams, CGCS, of the Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas, who will present a career- and personal-development webinar entitled "Jumpstarting your career in 2018".    Williams will discuss how setting career goals for 2018 and beyond and working to attain them can help ensure career longevity.    When it comes to facing - and overcoming - adversity, Williams is something of an expert.   In a span of just more than two months in t2014, he lost his stepbrother in a car accident, his wife suffered - and survived - a massive heart attack and Williams himself underwent emergency open heart surgery. About a year later, his position at Stone Mountain Golf Club near Atlanta was eliminated, leaving him without a job.   His presentation in January will include how to establish realistic standards and how to go about working toward achieving them. He also will talk about how to market yourself, from self-promotion and public relations strategies in your current position and resume-writing and other career advice tips designed to help you realize your next opportunity.
  • Looming championships might make for a convenient excuse for a golf course restoration project. But truth be told, the famed Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio might be going under the knife even without the beckoning call of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur and the Solheim Cup in 2021.
      Scores of mature trees and years of architectural updates and design changes had moved the course where Byron Nelson once was the club professional too far afield from what Donald Ross had envisioned when the club in southwestern Toledo hired him in 1916 to expand its original nine-hole layout to 18 holes.   Questions like "What are we doing?" and "What do we want to be?" had become common around the clubhouse said John Zimmers, 48, who became the club's superintendent last April after 18 years of managing the world's fastest greens at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh.   "Back in time" has been the overwhelming response to those questions.   "The history here at Inverness is unbelievable. The members have made a commitment to upgrade the facilities and the golf course and get it back close to what Ross had built," Zimmers said.    "This project is more for the members and everyday play. It's needed new bunkers for a long time and several holes no longer are part of the original design. The members wanted to take it back to the way it was in the early 1900s."   The club hired golf course architect Andrew Green to draft a master plan that included a restoration strategy of the course that Ross considered one of his favorites. Together with Zimmers, who rewrote the book on projects in nearly two decades at Oakmont, and McDonald & Sons, the Maryland-based golf course construction contractor that has moved more earth than Mount Vesuvius, Inverness has an all-star team in place to recapture the glory of Ross.   The project includes rebuilding all bunkers, some new contours, a few new tees and recapturing four holes that have been lost over time during previous restoration projects. The mounds, humps, bumps and valleys that Ross put in a century ago remain.   Although the new holes won't open until Zimmers says they are ready, most of the rebuild was completed through the golf season without a single hole being closed for play. Juggling the day-to-day management of the golf course and major projects is nothing new for Zimmers, who was seemingly always involved in large projects at historic Oakmont, where he prepped for the 2007 and 2016 U.S. Opens, 2010 U.S. Women's Open and the 2003 U.S. Amateur.    There, he oversaw projects like the building of numerous bridges over and a wall alongside the highway during a Pennsylvania Turnpike construction project, the removal of thousands of trees, the Oakmont East Course project that transformed a cozy nine-hole layout into what essentially is a permanent staging area for the U.S. Golf Association. The course has been the site of nine U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.   Those many projects include working hand in hand with city, county and state entities, railroads and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and FBI.   "Members here (at Inverness) ask how I'm able to do something like this and take care of the golf course, too," Zimmers said with a smile. "They don't realize, managing projects while taking care of the golf course is all I did.    "I've worked with Andrew and McDonald before, and between the three of us we have a lot of experience doing this. We lost some time because of the weather, so we didn't get finished. We'll get it done."   Changes to reclaim the glory days of Ross include reworking Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 8. The first is a replica of the second hold at Inverness that Ross built in 1916, while 4 is a recreation of the original No. 7, 5 is a replica of the original No. 13 and No. 8 is patterned after the original 6th hole, according to the Green.   Inverness has a storied past of its own. It has been home to four U.S. Opens (1920, 1931, 1957, 1979), two PGA Championships (1986, 1993), the 1973 U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Senior Open in 2003 and 2011.   Byron Nelson was the club pro there from 1940-44 and a grandfather clock in the clubhouse was a gift from Walter Hagen and other touring pros when the club became the first to let playing professionals into the clubhouse during the 1920 U.S. Open.   Green began working on the project with Zimmers' predecessor, Chad Mark, who left earlier in the year to accept the Muirfield Village job. The midstream change in superintendents was a concern for Green, until Mark's successor was named.   For those who think such a project might be just for the U.S. Junior Am or the Solheim Cup, the Master Plan includes new greens throughout the rest of the course as well, which won't be rebuilt until after the Solheim Cup in 2022, Green said. The project puts the course back on the map of great Ross designs.  
    There is such a deep sense of caring and ownership in the Inverness project from everybody. It's been so much fun and the end product is good because everyone is so invested in it."
     
    "When Chad left to accept an amazing opportunity to work for Jack Nicklaus, I wasn't sure what would happen to the project, because it had already gained tremendous momentum," Green said. "When we found out they were able to bring John into the fold, you knew the project was in good hands with his experience and knowledge and what he brings to the table. He leads with a quiet confidence to make sure a project is the best it can be, and the membership got right in behind. It has been a great relationship and a lot of fun. It's been great to work with someone who had the vision and could see the end goal."   Zimmers and Green had worked together before, the first time for the 1995 U.S. Open when Zimmers worked for Paul R. Latshaw at Congressional just outside Washington, D.C. Green was a volunteer then and was on bunker raking duty. He also spent time working for McDonald & Sons, and any time a shovel was moved at Oakmont, it usually was McDonald & Sons that was moving it.   "There is such a deep sense of caring and ownership in the Inverness project from everybody. It's been so much fun and the end product is good because everyone is so invested in it," Green said. "The membership has been fantastic. They all cared so much about what we were doing. Every time they came to play golf they found something new and exciting. They had a lot of patience for us working around them, and I think they appreciated us giving them space to play and enjoy the game. John always has done that at Oakmont, so he understands how that works, and McDonald, the majority of their work on renovations is done around play."   As Zimmers describes the changes that have been made at Inverness Club and those that have yet been made, there is an unmistakable spring in his step and a glimmer in his eye.   "I'm excited for the members," he said. "They are extremely proud of their club and they should be. I'm proud to be part of it."   For someone who has redefined the meaning of golf course renovations, Zimmers still has a passion for big projects, and he has a exudes a passion for Inverness and what is taking place there.   After 18 years on one of golf's grandest stages, Zimmers decided late last winter that it was time to try something new.   "Some people might say 'you stayed too long, you got burned out.' I never felt like that," Zimmers said.    What did begin to wear on him was the combined pressure of member expectations 365 days a year, managing the golf course and the constant wear of dealing with factors that had nothing to do with golf.   He left Henry Fownes only design in the capable hands of Dave Delsandro, a former assistant under Zimmers who returned to Oakmont a few years ago just to manage U.S. Open-related projects.   "These Opens are so big anymore. The 2016 open was something like 25 to 30 percent larger (in build out) than in 2007," Zimmers said.    "The Open is a monster. When you have to get 125 volunteers transportation, background checks, uniforms and whatever else, that is a job in itself. You're doing it at the end of the day and on weekends. You have to stay on top of it, or time gets away from you.   "I was not able to dedicate the time I needed to mentor and groom guys day to day who had come to work for me. I didn't have enough time, and that was unfair to them."     Then there was the human side. Zimmers says the pressure associated with 2007 Open had become so intense - there were wide swaths of dead or dying turf visible during a TV flyover that spring - that he temporarily lost sight in one eye. And exhaustion was a common theme for someone who worked 70-80 hours a week, not out of desire, but out of need.   "The things you have to deal with there, the turnpike, the railroads, those are not everyday things on the golf course that superintendents usually have to deal with," he said. "It can be overwhelming."   During Zimmers' years at Oakmont, his crews felled thousands of trees, transforming what had become a parkland-style course back to the wide-open look that Fownes created in the hills east of Pittsburgh in 1903.   He's started a tree-management program at Inverness, admittedly on a much smaller scale.    As members of his crew cut down trees and remove stumps on an unseasonably warm December day, plenty of trees marked with an orange "X" await the chainsaw. He admits to burning through seven or eight cans of orange spray paint and jokes that he should have an endorsement deal with Stihl. His crew has taken down about 70 trees so far, and although there is no hard number attached to the program, Zimmers believes the number could come in close to 200.   "The course will tell its own story," Zimmers said with a philosophical tone. "As we continue to change things, what it is supposed to look like will start to come out."   He's been a bit more philosophical since April. He and wife Tracey live in a remodeled home on the golf course, and today they get to do much more together than they did when was working those 70- to 80-hour weeks.   "Leaving Pittsburgh was hard. The Pirates, the Penguins, the Steelers, those are our sports teams. We have a lot of friends there. The biggest thing was leaving my staff. They're family," he said.   "I felt, after going through the last Open, with all the clean up and renovation, when this opportunity came along it felt like a good change of pace. This is a beautiful property with all the mounds and elevation, and it's a great membership that is very proud of their course.   "It was the right time."
  • Attendees at this year's Golf Industry Show in Orlando might recall a vehicle in the Toro booth the likes of which they'd probably never have seen before.   Code named Project Delta, the heavy duty contraption was obviously much more than a utility vehicle.   Part tractor, part utility vehicle, Project Delta promised a new level of toughness and simplicity when Toro officials were soliciting ideas in Orlando to name the vehicle that will be available next year.   Judges poured through thousands of submissions earlier this year before settling on the name Outcross, which was submitted by Curt Sheffer, superintendent athe Plantation Course at Edisto in Edisto Beach, South Carolina. Toro made their selection based on several factors including creativity, suitability for the product and compatibility with the Toro brand.   Sheffer will receive a trip to the Golf Industry Show, scheduled for San Antonio. The prize, valued at $3,000, includes attendance at the show, airfare, hotel accommodations for three nights, entry to the GCSAA golf tournament a $500 spending stipend.   The newly dubbed Outcross will be available through distributors in summer 2018.

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Kohler introduces new generators to lineup
     
    Kohler has added three new portable generators capable of running on gasoline, propane and natural gas. The PRO6.4, PRO6.4E and PRO9.0E portable generators join the PRO9.0 in an expanding lineup of generators that can be paired with the Kohler Tri-Fuel Conversion Kit.
     
    The conversion kit gives users the ability to select between the three fuel sources by swapping out the fuel hose and turning a dial.
     
    Kohler dealers easily can configure the new generators with the Tri-Fuel Conversion Kit, while maintaining the products original warranty. The new models are backed by a three-year warranty and the company also offers a free loaner unit through participating dealers for any warranty repairs exceeding 24 hours.
     

     
    Advanced Turf adds two sales reps
     
    Advanced Turf Solutions has named Matt Welch and Don Lawrence to its sales staff.
     
    A former superintendent, Welch covers northeastern Ohio, and has 17 years of experience in the industry. A graduate of Ohio State ATI, he was previously a golf equipment sales representative at Century Equipment, the Toro distributor for Ohio.
     
    Lawrence, a Michigan State alum, also is a former superintendent and general manager at Red Hawk Run Golf Course in Findlay, Ohio. He most recently worked with Legacy Turf and Ornamental and will cover northwestern Ohio for Advanced Turf.
     
    Former superintendent named Harrells top sales rep
     
    Former golf course superintendent and long-standing member of the Florida golf community, Harrells Territory Manager Sean Klotzbach has been named Harrell's Sales Professional of the Year.
     
    Klotzbach joined Harrell's in 2012 after 20 years as a golf course superintendent in Florida and New Jersey. A graduate of Rutgers University, he manages accounts in Central Florida.
     
    Sales Professional of the Year is determined by a wide-range of leadership criteria from overall professionalism, embracing company philosophy and customer relationships to attitude in general and performance.
     
    In other news, Harrell's named Britney Rust and Hannah Pratt as their Sales Support Professionals of the Year. Both work in the marketing department for Lakeland, Florida-based Harrell's.
     
  • In the wake of World War II, a horse by the name of Assault made history in 1946 as the first and only Texas-bred thoroughbred to win horse racing's Triple Crown.   Not since Assault, with Warren Mehrtens aboard, has another horse from Texas won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. But after 71 years, Texas finally has another Triple Crown winner.   On Tuesday, Dec. 19, Anthony Williams, CGCS at TPC Four Seasons in Irving, Texas, became a winner of one of golf's triple crowns when he was named the Overall and National Private course winner of the Environmental Leaders in Golf Award. Williams, 53, also was the winner in the resort division in 2005 at Pine Isle Resort and the public course division a year later at Stone Mountain Golf Club, both in Georgia. He is the first superintendent to win the award in all three domestic categories.   It is the second time Williams, who worked 30 years for Marriott before starting at the TPC facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex earlier this year, won an ELGA in his first year at property.    "It is not lost on me how rare this is," Williams said. "To come back after being retired in a different category and a different state and achieve level of stewardship is rewarding."   Jay Neunsinger of Boundary Oak Golf Course in Walnut Creek, California was the National Public Course winner., and Scott Main, CGCS at Mauna Kea Resort in Kohala Coast, Hawaii, was the National Resort course winner. The awards, which are presented annually by GCSAA and Golf Digest in cooperation with Syngenta, recognize golf course superintendents and their courses for overall course management excellence and best management practices in the areas of water conservation, water quality management, energy conservation, pollution prevention, waste management, wildlife and habitat conservation, communication and outreach, and leadership.   Winners will be recognized Tuesday, Feb. 6, during the Opening Night Celebration of the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio. Winners will also be featured in upcoming issues of Golf Digest and GCSAA's official monthly publication, Golf Course Management magazine.   The 2009 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year, Williams has a long list of awards to his credit including: Georgia GCSA Superintendent of the Year (2014), GCSAA Excellence in Government Relations Award (2014), Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association Environmental Communicator of the Year (2011), GCSAA President's Award for Stewardship (2010) and the J.W. Marriott Award of Excellence (2008).   "We'll add this one to the trophy case and move on to the next one," Williams said.   "Everything I know about stewardship and character, it's not in me not to try to take a property to the next level. It's the best way to produce the best playing conditions and healthy club financials."   ELGA chapter winners (facility, location, chapter): > Stephen Britton, CGCS, TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, Potomac, Maryland., Mid-Atlantic AGCS. > Mark Condos, Las Positas Golf Course, Livermore, California, GCSA of Northern California. > Matthew Gourlay, CGCS, Colbert Hills Golf Course, Manhattan, Kansas, Heart of America GCSA. > Gary L. Heath, Glendoveer Golf and Tennis, Portland, Oregon, Oregon GCSA. > Gary Ingram, CGCS, Metropolitan Golf Links, Oakland, California, California GCSA. > Bobby Jaeger, Lake Tahoe Golf Course, South Lake Tahoe, California, Sierra Nevada GCSA. > Andrew Jorgensen, CGCS, Candler Hills Golf Club, Ocala, Florida, Florida GCSA. > Mark Krick, CGCS, Fox Hollow and Homestead Golf Courses, Lakewood, Colorado, Rocky Mountain GCSA. > Mark D. Kuhns, CGCS, Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, New Jersey, New Jersey GCSA. > Wayne Mills, La Cumbre Country Club, Santa Barbara, California, GCSA of Southern California. > Jim Pavonetti, CGCS, Fairview Country Club, Greenwich, Connecticut, Metropolitan GCSA. > Charles "Roby" Robertson IV, CGCS, TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona, Cactus & Pine GCSA. > Ian Schlather, TPC River's Bend, Maineville, Ohio, Greater Cincinnati GCSA. > Carl D. Thompson, CGCS, Columbia Point Golf Course, Richland, Washington, Inland Empire GCSA. > Marc Weston, CGCS, Indian Hill Country Club, Newington, Connecticut, Connecticut AGCS.   ELGA merit winners (facility, location, chapter): > Michael Bednar, Palouse Ridge Golf Club, Pullman, Washington, Inland Empire GCSA. > Dave Davies, CGCS, TPC Stonebrae, Hayward, California, GCSA of Northern California. > Troy Flanagan, The Olympic Club, San Francisco, California, GCSA of Northern California. > Darin Pakkala, Crystal Springs Golf Course, Burlingame, California, California GCSA.    
  • A culturally diverse workforce is an inevitable byproduct of today's global economy. Failing to recognize what makes people of different cultures and generations tick, however, only serves to limit productivity, says Amy Wallis, Ph.D.   The director of global initiatives and a professor of practice in the organizational behavior wing of the Wake Forest University School of Business, Wallis told a room of superintendents at the ninth annual Syngenta Business Institute that they would be better off trying to understand the differences between workers from different cultures and generations, rather than squashing them.   "As the world has opened up in terms of labor markets and where companies are doing business and the way people move in and out of countries, we need to understand global issues as leaders," Wallis told the group.   "We can't allow ourselves to fall into stereotyping and thinking there is some cookie-cutter approach to working across differences. Trends we see when we look at groups of people are going to help us interpret and understand behavior and differences in behavior."   In its ninth year, the Syngenta Business Institute is a 3 ½-day event held on the Wake Forest University campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is part of Syngenta's ongoing effort to grow the professional knowledge of golf course superintendents and assist them with managing their courses. Through a partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Business, the program provides graduate school-level instruction in financial management, human resource management, negotiating, managing across generations and cultural divides, impact hiring and other leadership- and professional-development skills.   Other than during SBI, golf course maintenance is not a market the Wake business school faculty typically deals with. But instructors in the program have worked hard to understand the nuances of the relationships that superintendents must manage, including those that go up the chain of command as well as those that go down.   "You work with some of the most diverse workforces I have ever seen, and you are trying to access some of the most diverse client groups I have ever seen," Wallis said, referring to a largely Hispanic workforce, and the golf industry's efforts to attract more women, minorities and people from younger generations into the game.   "When I leave after talking with a group of people, I know I have been successful if I leave them with more questions than answers. My success is that you walk away with a bunch of things to think about that you hadn't thought about before. That will get you to keep exploring and learning."   Such questions and uncertainties about issues so critical to the golf business are why Syngenta invests in educating two-dozen or so superintendents each year at Wake Forest.   "Superintendents have the opportunity many times a year to learn about agronomy. But what they don't get to hear about or understand is how to work with their teams and how each person in their team can be different," said Stephanie Schwenke, Syngenta's golf market manager. "That can be based on age. It can be based on gender. It can be based on culture, and it can be based on the the way they were brought up and what they were exposed to in their lives. So, I think the culture and the generations session opens everyone's eyes that everyone is not just like me, or not just like you. Not everybody grew up the same way I did with the same culture or the same skills set. So it's understandable that there are different motivational factors for their team if they can understand how to work with them."   Wallis compared cultural traits to an iceberg: Only part of the iceberg is above water, but there is a larger section beneath the surface that cannot be seen and is poorly understood.   "By failing to recognize the differences between different cultures and generations, we waste the opportunity to learn from them," she said.   Team building is a critical component to success for every turf operation, but, more often than not, superintendents who march through SBI each year admit the session reveals they don't have the skills to reach across cultural and generational lines to maximize productivity.   "The biggest take home for me has been dealing with cultural and generational issues and trying to understand that better," said SBI attendee David Groelle of Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, Illinois. "Understanding how people from the U.S. differ from people from other cultures - I think it would help with retention, and efficiency on the golf course and how they work and what is going through their heads vs. what is going through mine. I never really thought about it that way, but when i heard it, it made sense."   Carlos Arraya, superintendent at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis is both a millennial and a millenial, two groups noted for embracing team building vs. autonomy.   As such, he already adopts different tactics used by older colleagues.   "I am embracing my leadership style, it's a lot more collaborative," Arraya said. It's encouraged me to be more collaborative and embrace the cultural and generational differences we discussed and embrace my leadership style, continue the path i;m going and know that it's ok to be a little different."   For Syngenta, partnering with Wake Forest to bring up these questions and provide ways to address them strengthens the golf industry in general and individual teams specifically. To date, 234 superintendents have gone through the program.   "We want to provide superintendents with answers and solutions to negotiations and managing different generations and the workforce challenges they have," Schwenke said. "We want to be in this business long term and we want our customers to be in this business long term, and we know we have to go beyond providing solutions in a jug. We have to give them different skill sets."
  • Bayer Environmental Science recently named Burgess Perry head of marketing for the company's North American division.   In this role, Perry is responsible for leading the marketing initiatives of the business unit for the United States and Canada, focusing primarily on the needs of customers in the turf and ornamental, vegetation management, professional pest management and vector control markets.   "Burgess joins the Environmental Science team with exceptional marketing experience and industry expertise," said Mark Schneid, head of Environmental Science North America. "He will play a critical role in sharpening our focus on the evolving needs of our customers so that we can continue to deliver the kinds of solutions and information they need to excel in their jobs. With his leadership, we will advance the best-in-class solutions and partnerships our customers have come to expect from Bayer."   Perry has more than 27 years of experience at Bayer, and most recently served as director of marketing excellence for crop protection and seeds in North America.   Perry has extensive marketing and sales experience as well as proven expertise in product management, business development, supply chain and procurement. Prior to Bayer, Perry held positions with Aventis and Rhone-Poulenc Ag Co. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.   "Successful marketing strategies come from truly understanding the needs of our customers," Perry said. "I'm energized to be taking on this role as we continue to enhance the ways we connect with and serve our customers as part of the Bayer mission of Science For A Better Life. These insights inform the decisions that will shape the future for the industries we serve."  
  • The world is full of zingers. Everyone knows the type: they can't wait to discover someone else making a mistake, then ratting them out in hopes of getting them in dutch with some higher authority. It must be some deep-seated feeling of self-loathing or lack of self-esteem in which happiness only can be found in making others as miserable as they are.   Golf has its share of zingers. TV golf viewers, sitting at home wringing their hands just waiting for an improperly placed ball, illegal drop or some other version of golf fake news have cost players a chance at major championships and untold earnings.   The USGA and R&A finally have pulled the rug out from underneath those couch-dwelling tattletales, and it's about time. Beginning Jan. 1, the game's ruling bodies no longer will accept TV viewers' calls, emails, letters or smoke signals as they attempt to turn in rule-breakers like Lexi Thompson or Craig Stadler. Instead, the game's various stakeholders, including the PGA Tour, European Tour, PGA of America, LPGA and Ladies European Tour will have to monitor TV video in a search-and-destroy mission for rules infractions.   There is some good and bad to this.   It's about time golf's governing bodies told viewers at home to mind their own business. Applying irregular penalties to select video clips turned in by random viewers ignores other potential infractions that are not captured by TV, thus applying different rules to different players.   What other sport allows viewers at home to decide the outcome of a contest? Other than the recent drama that was the University of Tennessee trying to hire its next football coach, which was complicated by "fans" staging a revolution on social media to block at least one hire, the answer is "none."   Handing out stroke penalties for infractions that someone in Timbuktu noticed on their 50-inch LG cost Lexi Thompson a chance to win a major last year at the LPGA's ANA Inspiration and torpedoed Craig Stadler's chances at Torrey Pines in 1987. Things turned ugly in 2013 when Champions Tour player David Eger - from his home in Florida - turned in Tiger Woods for an improper drop during the Masters.   That still leaves the game's competitive bodies pouring over video looking for infractions. Do we really want to subject golf to hours of instant video replay? Does anyone want to relive the debacle during the 2016 U.S. Open and what caused Dustin Johnson's ball to move?   The USGA and R&A also have adopted a new rule that eliminates a 2-stroke penalty for signing a scorecard when the player is unaware of the penalty.   "The level of collaboration with our partners has been both vital and gratifying as we look to the future," said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status. "As technology has continued to evolve, it has allowed us to evolve how we operate, as well."   David Rickman, Executive Director Governance at The R&A, said, "This has clearly become an important issue in the sport that we felt we should address at this stage ahead of the implementation of the updated Rules of Golf in 2019.   "We have concluded that whilst players should continue to be penalized for all breaches of the Rules during a competition, including any that come to light after the score card is returned, an additional penalty for the scorecard error is not required."   The new protocols also recognize the importance of limiting video review to material obtained from the committee's broadcast partner. Other video, including that from an individual's smartphone or camera, will not be used.   Just ditch video replay entirely.   Golf is a game built on integrity and self-reporting of violations. For the most part, it works. Professional golfers largely adhere to those unwritten rules, with the obvious exception being when they are unaware that they have committed an infraction in the first place.   If that model worked for the first 500 years, why change it now?  
  • Not many in a managerial position would care to admit that one of the reasons for poor employee performance sometimes might be staring back at them in the mirror.   Too often, people are cast into managerial roles without the tools necessary for the job, says Sherry Moss, Ph.D., professor of organizational studies at the Wake Forest University School of Business.   "How do we get employees to do what we need them to do?" Moss said.    "Everybody who is promoted into a management position needs this kind of training that we are going to talk about. But unfortunately a lot of people don't get it, and a lot of people learn it through the school of hard knocks."   Her presentation was delivered to a room of 26 superintendents at the ninth annual Syngenta Business Institute. The 3 ½-day event held on the Wake Forest University campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is part of Syngenta's ongoing effort to grow the professional knowledge of golf course superintendents and assist them with managing their courses. Through a partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Business, the program provides graduate school-level instruction in financial management, human resource management, negotiating, managing across generations and cultural divides, impact hiring and other leadership- and professional-development skills.   Helping ensure peak performance among employees is the result of a multi-step formula that includes setting clear expectations, proper training, aligned incentives and providing all of these in the proper conditions.    If the process goes off the rails during any one of those steps, a project or the relationship between a superintendent and a team member could be irreparably harmed.   Employees want a strong leader who provides performance feedback. That is especially true of younger generations. But there is a wrong way and a right way to provide feedback. In fact, although feedback, when delivered correctly, can have an immense influence on employee performance, Moss said. Not all bosses know, or care to know the right way to communicate feedback to get the most from their employees. In fact, feedback, Moss said, has an equal chance of having no effect or even a negative effect as it does a positive effect, because of how, when and where it is delivered.   Different manager types use feedback differently, and there are three types of managers that use negative reinforcement, says Moss. They are the conflict avoider, zero-tolerance manager and the micromanager. While all operate differently, their tactics often can produce similar undesired results.   Conflict avoiders often can distort their message - when they get around to delivering it. Zero-tolerance managers usually are too emotional and micromanagers who see just one way of doing things - their way . . . or else.   The session was an eye-opener for John Ballard, CGCS at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Kentucky.   "I think I learned more about my own leadership style," Ballard said. "I'm one of those people who it's my way or the highway. I learned that it's ok for people to be different, and there are different ways to manage."   Even rewards for positive behavior can carry negative consequences, or reinforce unwanted behavior. According to Moss, using incentives to intentionally produce a desired behavior can lead to diminished performance, encouraging unethical behavior or shortcut, promoting short-term thinking and it can become addictive.   Still, feedback can be a helpful tool . . . if used properly.   "It's always nice to evaluate yourself. That's important," said David Groelle, superintendent at Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, Illinois. "As you listen to (Moss), you're obviously thinking 'where do I fall in this?' And I think evaluating my management style can also help me understand why things don't go the way I want them to sometimes. Now that makes more sense."   To help maximize employee performance, Moss said, constructive feedback should be: specific and descriptive, focus on behavior, not on the person, use good timing, compare performance to a standard, not to a person, specify replacement behavior, manage emotions and should be delivered in person. After all, no one wants to be yelled at in front of their peers.   One of the key tools Moss unleashes each year at SBI is a way of providing feedback known as the DASeR Approach, which is an acronym for "describe the exact behavior", "acknowledge how the behavior makes you feel or affects you", "specify the desired replacement behavior" and "reaffirm the value of the employee and their ability to change their behavior".   This approach can be unfamiliar territory in the "get good, or get gone" world of golf turf management. As younger superintendents, like 39-year-old Carlos Arraya of Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, enter the market, there is a shift toward a more synergistic style.   "This has taught me to embrace my leadership style, which is a lot more collaborative," Arraya said. "It's encouraged me to be more collaborative and continue the path I'm on."  
  • In his quest to find a wife-mandated hobby to relieve work-borne stress, Ryan Cummings turned to an unlikely source.   For the past year, Cummings, 39, in his fourth season as superintendent at Elcona Country Club in Bristol, Indiana, has been spending many of his Sundays playing a game that has its roots in 15th century Scotland, and it's not golf.   "As many hours as we spend on the golf course, and trying to balance work and family life, my wife came to me on day three years ago and told me I needed to find a hobby," said Cummings, superintendent at Elcona Country Club in Bristol, Indiana. "One day about two years ago, a member on my greens committee came to me and said he need a fourth for ice curling. In the back of my head was my wife reinforcing that I needed a hobby."   His team competes in a league that meets in the Compton Family Ice Arena at the University of Notre Dame.   Cummings had no previous experience with curling, nor did he possess any real understanding of the rules. What he had was a desire to learn something new that would serve a dual role as a diversion from the many hours spent on the golf course.   "It's a release, absolutely," Cummings said. "It gets me off the reservation."   Cummings' curling exploits were among the many fun facts superintendents shared with the group during this year's Syngenta Business Institute in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.    Curling is first mentioned in Scottish history in the 1600s. Cummings doesn't begin to take it as seriously as those Scots did. He threw his first stone - which weighs 43 pounds - with no preparation or warm up. His team - which goes by the name Game of Stones - doesn't have uniforms and they never practice, and that's OK.   His team last year consisted of one other inexperienced rookie and two members from his club. Despite the temptation, he never discusses the golf course with them while on the ice.   "I don't think about the golf course when ice curling; not one bit," Cummings said. "And that is odd, because our team is composed of two members at my club, so the temptation is there for them to ask me questions about the golf course. I tell them that this is ice curling, and if they don't mind, let's not talk about the golf course. They respect that."   Andrew Updegrove, superintendent at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, learned woodworking from his grandfather Rick Flack. Today, he has converted his garage into a workshop, and thanks to a tree-management plan at the club, has filled his 19th century home with handmade, rustic furniture.   "I looked on YouTube and Instagram to see what people were making, and taught myself how to do it," said Updegrove, 33. "I've made a dining table, a bed, coat racks, end tables and a coffee table.   "I'm probably driving my wife a little nuts with all the wood in the house."   All of his furniture is the byproduct of a Gil Hanse-led master plan that has included removing as many as 4,000 elm, walnut, beech and cedar trees.   "We have just about every kind of tree you can think of," Updegrove said.   Crafting handmade furniture also allows him to turn off work, even if just for a while.   "It allows me to unwind and get away," Updegrove said. "I can spend five hours out there in the garage, and it seems like 20 minutes."   He enjoys the process so much he is considering selling some of his work. And just how does his handiwork compare with store-bought furniture?   "My house was built in the 1800s and nothing is square or even," he said. "That's my work: Nothing is square or even, but it works. I go for the natural look of stuff. . . . It's a little more rustic, so it doesn't have to be square. It can be a little off."   Carlos Arraya of Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, site of the 2018 PGA Championship, has taken an artistic approach to writing poetry since he was a teenager trying to find a way to cope with the loss of his maternal and paternal grandfathers within a short time of each other.   "It's hard to communicate how you feel as a teenager about those things," Arraya said. "As any teenager trying to find their way you feel lost, and i got lost in my poetry, and putting my emotions on paper and took away that anger that I might have expressed on a physical side."   A fan of Edgar Allan Poe, Arraya put down his pen while attending turf school at Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida, but picked it up again and began writing a detective novel after he earned his associate's degree and started working for John Cunningham, CGCS, at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Florida.    "My desire was not to look for the way something was written, but to look for the hidden message of the person who wrote it," he said. "What were they trying to communicate? What were their feelings? Poetry truly is an art, like a painting."   When he met his wife, Noemi, in 2012, he discovered a new genre.   "My writing turned from grief to love," he said. "I joke that she probably wishes now that she never read any of it."   Today, putting pen to paper provides Arraya, 39, with stress release he cannot get elsewhere.   "It allows me an outlet like people go to the gym or go swimming. I go to writing," he said. "In this business, we say we are on all the time, and this allows me to be off, and I'm onto something I'm enjoying, and I can think about something totally different than what's going on on the golf course."
  • When Chambers Bay opened a decade ago, it was touted as an all-fescue golf course. By the time the U.S. Open was held there in 2015, many of the putting surfaces had begun to succumb to the pressures of Poa annua, which is the Pacific Northwests dominant turf type.   Those mixed-stand greens, a problem exacerbated by an abnormally warm spring, made for a dramatic U.S. Open in which the turf, not the golf being played on it, took center stage.   Officials in Pierce County, Washington, which owns the course, have withdrawn from the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship while a transition to Poa annua putting surfaces continues. The event will be played at the Pacific Dunes course at Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. The four-ball championship will now return to Chambers Bay in 2021.   Hot, dry conditions prevailed in the run-up to the 2015 U.S. Open forced the ground crew to water more than usual, providing conditions that were perfect for a Poa annua invasion. Players complained about putting conditions throughout the tournament with one pro comparing the greens to putting on broccoli.   The decision was made this past summer to allow the Poa annua to overtake the fescue and sod where needed. The process will continue into next year as course and USGA officials monitor the progress and where new sod will be needed.   The USGA and Chambers Bay also are working together to recontour several greens and improve spectator viewing areas in hopes of securing another U.S, Open.   Chambers Bay was the site of the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open championships, while Bandon Dunes has hosted the 2006 Curtis Cup Match, the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur, the concurrent U.S. Womens Amateur Public Links and U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships in 2011 and the inaugural U.S. Womens Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2015. 

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