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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    When it comes to instant replay, the USGA could learn a thing or two from college football, or even the American legal system.
      Other than that the handling of putter-gate at the U.S. Open apparently reflects the way the USGA like to do business, there was no plausible explanation of why it took officials several hours and 13 holes of play to decide whether eventual winner, Dustin Johnson, caused the ball to move prior to address on the fifth green during Sunday's final round and whether a one-stroke penalty was warranted.   None. Zip. Nada.   It's no one's fault, but we'll never know whether Johnson's putter caused the ball to move, or if it was an anomaly caused by an ill-timed breeze moving across Oakmont's famously slick greens that reportedly were rolling as fast as 15 feet on Sunday. All we have to go on is Johnson's word. He said he didn't strike the ball, and in the face of damning evidence, we should take him at his word. That's the way golf works. That's the way society works. Nowhere, except in USGA events, are people penalized for what they might have done. After TV cameras zoomed in beyond acceptable video quality, it looked like Johnson might have touched the ball, but the evidence was circumstantial at best, and in a court of law his case would have been laughed off by a jury faster than the O.J. verdict.   "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."   With the prestige and perks, not to mention a check for $1.8 million, that come with winning a U.S. Open, it was incumbent on the USGA to get that call right, and no one - except Johnson - will ever know whether they did. USGA said as much, telling Johnson after he putted out for birdie on No. 18 that his actions "could have" caused the ball to move.   Fans booed loudly on the telecast when the subject came up and Johnson's fellow players went overboard in his defense on Twitter. Still, the USGA did so much as say "we are right, and the rest of you are wrong."   So much for the long-treasured beliefs of indisputable evidence and innocence until proven guilty that the rest of civilized society find so appealing.   After missing a birdie putt on No. 5, Johnson stood over a short par putt when the ball moved prior to address. He immediately told his caddie and a USGA official that the ball moved, but he didn't touch it. Johnson made par and played on with the blessing of the referee.   It wasn't until Johnson arrived at the 12th hole that he, and the rest of the field, learned the play was under further review. A final decision wasn't made until after Johnson walked off 18. The scenario became a farce, and even as USGA officials tried to rationalize their decision late into the night on the Golf Channel, the explanation never made sense regardless of how many times they spun it.   To their credit, the USGA did a lot of things right during the 116th U.S. Open, namely setting up the course and paying due respect many times throughout the weekend to superintendent John Zimmers, his crew and his army of volunteers for producing absolutely flawless conditions.    Course set up was fair, but tough. Even after rain on Thursday pulled some of Oakmont's teeth leaving many players to take target practice on Friday and Saturday, the course was its usual brutish self by Sunday.    The U.S. Open's allure is that usually it is one of the few times each year the pros truly are judged against par. It's no fun week after week to watch golfers playing the latest and greatest golf ball post obscenely low scores that remind the rest of us of how challenging it can be to foil them without an arsenal of 150 volunteers double-cutting, triple-cutting and rolling greens daily.   For all the things the USGA did right during the U.S. Open, it stepped in it with putter-gate. After USGA president Diana Murphy thanked Zimmers at the trophy presentation for course conditions at Oakmont, she should also have thanked Johnson for safely distancing himself from the field and allowing her association to save face, because things could have gotten ugly.   What if Shane Lowry, the runaway 54-hole leader playing in the group behind Johnson, had not collapsed on Sunday? What if Lowry, or anyone else not named Dustin Johnson, leaves 18 tied for the lead, or is one shot back, only to THEN have a penalty assessed to Johnson? Does the USGA want its Super Bowl, its Daytona 500 decided by what detractors would see as no less than a conspiracy call because a player's actions might have caused a ball to move? The fallout of such a scene would have been disastrous for the USGA and felt for many years.   Golf is a game that relies more than any other on tradition and sportsmanship. Losers congratulate winners, and everyone self-reports infractions. If a player breaks a rule, usually it is because they didn't know the rule in the first place. It is a system based on honesty and fair play, and it works.   You don't need to look at that grainy video more than once to conclude that Johnson might have caused the ball to move, but the evidence is inconclusive. The resulting call, the only one that makes sense, would be "after further review, the ruling on the field stands."
  • Type the phrase "golf courses are . . . " into Google and the Internet search engine will suggest such verbiage as ". . . a waste of space" and ". . . bad for the environment" to complete the sentence. One can try all day, and it is a lead-pipe cinch the words ". . . a good neighbor" never will automatically fill in, although, in the case of Findlay Country Club, it would be accurate if they did.
      For Dan Koops, Findlay's director of grounds, making a positive contribution to the community is as important as producing greens worthy of next month's Ohio Amateur Championship. And a former employee has been only too happy to oblige him.   For the past three years, the club has turned to a local school for those with developmental disabilities to grow and plant annual flowers around the clubhouse, the front entrance and in some key areas around the golf course. This ongoing relationship serves a dual purpose: The flowers help beautify the club's grounds each spring, but more importantly, helps give purpose to those who plant them.   "It gives them some experience getting their hands dirty, allows them to get outside and helps us get other things done around the course," said Koops, superintendent at Findlay since 2012. "It's a win-win."   The Blanchard Valley Center serves more than 400 resident and non-resident "clients" with varying levels of developmental disabilities by providing them with recreational opportunities and vocational training. Part of that training includes growing flowers, plants and vegetables in a 1,500-square-foot on-campus greenhouse that is managed by former FCC horticulturist Tim Stumpp.   Each spring, Stumpp and as many as a dozen Blanchard Valley clients make the short journey - a 3-wood as the crow flies, or 2 miles by car - to the 1928 Thomas Bendelow design where they plant hundreds of flowers around the property.   "The plan for us is to be able to employ all of our clients in the community. That's our goal; they come to us for vocational training, and hopefully the community embraces that," Stumpp said.   "This is vocational training for our clients. For me personally, this is about seeing our clients learning a skill from start to finish.   Although flowers around the clubhouse might fall pretty far down on the to-do list for many golf course superintendents, especially those preparing for one of the state's largest events, they are a big deal for Koops, who embraces his relationship with Blanchard Valley and its clients. He also believes similar projects elsewhere could go a long way in dispelling some of the negative stereotypes associated with golf, particularly the notion that private clubs are enclaves secluded from their local communities.    "It's not that way here at all. The club wants to give back and be involved," Koops said.   "We want to be part of the community."   Stumpp, who earned a two-year horticulture degree from Ohio State in 1984, had worked at FCC for 13 years when he felt a need to do something else with his life. By then, he already had returned to school and earned a bachelor's degree in advanced technological education in 2006 from nearby Bowling Green State University with hopes of one day teaching at the community college level. That dream withered on the vine as a sluggish economy hit local two-year schools especially hard. Eventually, he turned his attention toward Blanchard Valley Center, where his late mother, Ethelann Stumpp, once taught.   "I needed to do something in my life that was making a difference," Stumpp said.    "I can't say there was a life-changing event that led to this. It was just a feeling I had at the time. I saw an ad in the paper for a greenhouse technician, and it sounded like the right thing to do."   It was during his first year operating the center's 30-foot-by-50-foot greenhouse when he thought about his former employer.   Initially, Stumpp figured a relationship with the country club might simply be a way for Blanchard Valley to sell some flowers and for its clients to get some practical training as well as a little fresh air. It has become much more because of the way the club has embraced the program and those working in it.   "I knew they needed someone after I left, and I thought it would be a great opportunity for the people here to grow flowers for the country club," Stumpp said. "We grow the flowers and plant them, and we've built a great relationship the past three years. Dan has been great with our clients. They're always asking 'How's Dan?' 'Tell Dan I said hi.' It has turned into much more of a beautiful thing than I ever imagined it would."   Each of the past three years, members tell Koops how much they appreciate reaching out to the community on the club's behalf.   "The flowers look good, the clients are happy, we're happy and our members are thrilled," Koops said. "It's good for everyeone."   In the end, Blanchard Valley provides about half the annual flowers planted each year at FCC. That is no small effort and includes 50-70 flats per year, enough to cover about 5,000 square feet of bed space.   About a dozen adult clients from Blanchard Valley are involved in the program that has morphed into policing the course for loose debris in the spring as well. Clients confined to wheelchairs are able to plant flowers in pots that are placed around the clubhouse entrance. Koops and his crew express their gratitude each year by staging a cookout for the clients.   The project wouldn't be possible without support from inside the clubhouse.   "This is about being a good partner in the community," said Chad Bain, the club's director of golf, membership and marketing.    "We are in the relationship business internally and externally, and this is a relationship that is very important to us."
  • -- BRADLEY S. KLEIN, Golfweek   It's 4:15 a.m. and 140 volunteer superintendents are gathered in a tent, awaiting their marching orders.   They have gathered here from all over the U.S. and from Asia and Europe to help Oakmont's head greenkeeper, John Zimmers, polish Oakmont Country Club for the U.S. Open. They are here to help Zimmers' staff of 50 employees, and the only way to do it is to start early in the day.    That's the nature of the business. If you're not a morning person, you cannot be in this business.   There's Matt Shaffer from Merion, who hosted this event three years ago. And there's Jon Jennings from Shinnecock Hills, which is home to the U.S. Open two years hence. Chris Tritabaugh of Hazeltine Golf Club is getting ready for the Ryder Cup in two months. He's here with friend, colleague and neighbor, Jeff Johnson of the Minikahda Club, home to the 2017 U.S. Senior Amateur.   You know its a classy assembly because they are drinking Starbucks coffee, not just some local sludge. Their temporary quarters sport dozens of colorful banners. Some showcase the flags of prominent turf programs represented: Michigan State, Rhode Island, Ohio State, Penn State. At one end, a huge banner proclaims "You're in Fownes Country", in reference to the founding family of Oakmont. At the other end is a flag in the city's iconic colors of yellow and black proclaiming Pittsburgh as City of Champions and listing the titles of the towns three major professional teams.     Zimmers appears, hushes the group, then launches into a little pep talk that is short on detail because folks like this don't need much instruction. "How does it feel to be the best you can be?" he asks, rhetorically. "Let's have fun, let's stay focused. Take care of each other. Take care of me." Then with a shrug and a laugh he hands things over to his right-hand man, David Delsandro, who without missing a beat calls each name in the room and quickly sends them off to their position on the course.   Fifteen minutes later it's still dark when Zimmers comes by a practice area green to survey the buzz of activity mowing, rolling, changing cups. It always makes me a little nervous to have them working like this in the dark, he says. He likens it to indoor factory production where they've turned out all the lights and have to keep working without loss of consistency or quality.   Out on the course, each green has to get double-mowed, maybe even triple mowed, then rolled. Then green speed measurements are taken, and the crew is joined by the USGA's setup team to determine the day's hole locations and to look at the likely hole placements for each of the next five days (including the dreaded playoff). Mike Davis, executive director of the USGA, leads the team on the back nine. His setup counterpart for the front nine is Jeff Hall, the USGA's managing director of rules and competitions.   How many people does it take to change a hole location? By the looks of things, about 25. Some take notes for the days pin sheet; yes, even for a practice green. Someone cuts the cup... no easy task. Another changes out the previous cup. Someone carries the flag. Others stand around and talk, including Gil Hanse, golf course architect and FOX Sports golf course analyst for the week, who is taking notes for the days telecast.   Tritabaugh, keen to soak up everything he can in the run up to his Ryder Cup, is standing there on the 10th tee wondering about the mowing pattern. He invokes the face of a clock to describe the lines as 3 to 9, rather than 12 to 6. At the 14th green, he leans over, practically on hands and knees, to observe the characteristics of a ball mark and comment on its turgidity.   A scrum ensues, turfgrass experts and everyday practitioners huddle, someone Googles turgidity and the analysis is confirmed regarding the osmotic flow of water inside the plant tissue. The group then discusses how the ball mark reveals the structure of the underlying soil and how healthy the leaf blade is.     Why would professionals like this give up a week of their lives in mid-golf season to perform the grunt work of tournament set up? Because its like a graduate-level boot camp for them, a chance to engage their colleagues at the highest levels of agronomy and greenkeeping. Instead of having to answer the same basic question over and over to the everyday golfer or to explain things to the same perpetual malcontents, they can engage at a high level of technology and practice. With the opposite of turgid being flaccid, there's no shortage of joke opportunities as well.   At the short, uphill par-4 17th hole, 313 yards long and definitely drivable this week, another huddle ensues, this one involving Davis, Zimmers and Delsandro. The discussion concerns the height of cut in an area short left of the green where many ambitious players' drives will land. At 4.5 inches deep the rough is so tough that a ball could disappear here, and with it, a player's hopes.   Davis wants to increase the potential reward of the risk ratio. After plenty of discussion, they agree to cut back some of the area to 3 inches of rough. It's enough to make a difference. Delsandro and Zimmers walk off an alignment for the adjusted mowing zone, a 10-15 foot wide swing. A promissory note to mow is made. It'll be done that morning.   The setup never stops. The learning never ends.
  • Pittsburghers take great pride in their city's sports heroes and heritage.
      In an area that gave the sports world the Immaculate Reception, Roberto Clemente, the Steel Curtain, Mario Lemieux, the "We Are Family" Pirates and most recently, the Penguins' win in the Stanley Cup final, Oakmont Country Club stands among Western Pennsylvania's greatest sports icons.   The course built in 1903 by Pittsburgh industrialist H.C. Fownes takes center stage again this week when it hosts the U.S. Open for a record ninth time.   "There is a lot of tradition and history here," said Oakmont superintendent John Zimmers.   "I don't think any other club is more identified with the U.S. Open than this."     The steel mills that once dotted the Pittsburgh skyline are gone, but the toughness they instilled remains.That grittiness translates at Oakmont, where members demand the course be maintained to such standards that playing a round there is akin to surviving a street brawl.   "Why do (the members) want it to be this way? There is something about this Western Pennsylvania thing," said Zimmers, a native of Tyrone, Pennsylvania about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh. "The Pens are supposed to be in the (Stanley) Cup, the Steelers are supposed to go deep into the playoffs and make a run for the Super Bowl every year and Oakmont is supposed to be ready for the U.S. Open every year.   "It is diabolical, and it has stood the test of time."   Indeed.    Conditions at Oakmont are so consistently difficult and immaculate that if the Open were played there every year, other superintendents would have the same love/hate relationship with it that they do Augusta.   "I think he wanted to build a golf course that was tougher than anything else he had seen or played," said Charlie Howe, the USGA's U.S. Open Tournament Manager. "Over the years, that same philosophy has been instilled in this membership."   Fownes wasn't an accomplished architect when he built what was intended to be the world's most difficult course 113 years ago. He did not rely on trees to add teeth to the routing, and he didn't have to. He made Oakmont hard by building lightning fast putting surfaces that sloped every which way when no one else was, by building it long when few others were and by studying where golf shots landed and placing bunkers there.   "When he built it, there were only a couple of bunkers on second hole," Howe said. "He'd watch people play, and wherever the ball landed, a day later, he'd have a bunker there. That's how he designed the course."   Originally built at 6,400 yards, Oakmont had grown to a then-unheard of 6,929 yards when Tommy Armour won the first U.S. Open played there in 1927.   Oakmont's face remained unchanged until an aggressive sapling-planting program in 1962, the same year Jack Nicklaus outlasted Arnold Palmer for his first professional win during the U.S. Open at Oakmont, served to change the appearance of the course during subsequent generations.   By the time the 1994 U.S. Open was in the books, many purists had become unhinged at tree-lined look.   The process of returning Oakmont to its unshaded roots really began long before Zimmers arrived 17 years ago, with a cloak-and-dagger approach of cutting down and removing trees in the middle of the night, according to a 2007 story by ESPN.com.   Zimmers continued that process, taking down thousands of trees before the '07 Open, and even more since, resulting in the extraction of an estimated 15,000 trees during the past two decades for a look much like the view that greeted famed sportswriter Grantland Rice in 1939 when marveled at how he could see flagsticks on 17 greens from the clubhouse.   The current setup is one of which Fownes and all Pittsburghers would be proud.   The high grass on the fairway side of the bunkers has been cut down to make the hazards more accepting of stray shots, and the graduated rough at Oakmont is so penal, the USGA agreed to shave down the deep stuff by 2 inches after players complained two days before the tournament even started. The severity of the rough coupled with green speeds of 14 to 14.5 have combined to strike such such fear into the hearts of the world's best players, there has been a rush on the equipment trailers as many search for a more accurate alternative to the driver.   Webb Simpson called Oakmont's greens "Augusta on steroids," and Brandt Snedeker said the putting surfaces are the most difficult the pros will face all year. During a practice round early in the week, Rory McIlroy called Oakmont the toughest test in golf, and added that a win there would make him a "complete player.   "This is going to be hard test," Zimmers said. "But anyone will tell you, it will also be a fair test. This course isn't tricky."   It doesn't have to be, it's Pittsburgh tough.
  • A grant from the USGA will help researchers study the long-term sustainability of salt-tolerant turfgrasses.   Researchers from the University of Georgia, Washington University in St. Louis and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis will work together to further study salt tolerance in seashore paspalum through a grant by the USGA's Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program.   According to the Danforth Center, is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science, about 5,000 acres of coastline are lost per year, and, despite the prevalence of salt-tolerant grasses on the market "scientists are only beginning to understand the genetic basis of salt tolerance."   "The USGA is committed to advancing the game of golf through science and innovation, especially in turfgrass research," said Michael Kenna, Ph.D., research director for the USGA.  "Research conducted at the Danforth Center furthers our longstanding work in the development of drought-resistant grasses and sustainable practices.  Increasing the effectiveness of  turfgrass breeding and genetic research and using   whole genome data will provide genetic tools not commonly seen in recreational sports, and could have global impact."   Researchers with an active role in the project will include Elizabeth Kellogg, Ph.D., and Robert E. King, both of the Danforth Center, Ken Olsen, Ph.D. and doctoral candidate David Goad, both of Washington University, and Ivan Baxter, Ph.D., USDA research scientist and associate member at the Danforth Center.   Goad will conduct greenhouse experiments growing plants in different concentrations of salt water. In each experiment he will measure plant growth rate and chlorophyll content (greenness) to determine the effect of salt. In addition, the research group will apply ionomics to measure the amount of salt in the plant. This new ionomics method was developed and has been used extensively by the Baxter lab. Finally, the information on growth rate and salt content will be combined with extensive genome sequence data.   Their discoveries will advance the development of more robust turfgrass varieties that require less fresh water and fewer chemical treatments, a critical step in increasing the environmental sustainability of the golf industry.    The research will lay the groundwork for a larger study to identify the genetic basis of salt-tolerance by providing all of the necessary methodological tools and plant material to begin additional genome sequences and precise location of salt-tolerance genes. Preliminary results from the pilot project will also help in acquiring further funding to cover the costs of additional sequencing, greenhouse experiments, and ionomics work.    "With this grant we will begin to uncover the genetic basis of salt-tolerance in seashore paspalum," Kellogg said.    "Data and resources generated in this project will lay the foundation for future work to uncover the genetic basis of salt-tolerance using natural variation from a wide range of cultivated and wild plants."   
  • For someone who designed only one golf course, Henry Clay Fownes definitely got things right in his only trip to the drawing board.
      A 19th century industrialist and steel magnate from Pittsburgh, Fownes built his lone work, Oakmont Country Club, in 1903 on rolling farmland northeast of the city with the sole purpose of creating the most challenging golf course in the world. More than 100 years later, Oakmont has stood the test of time with the reputation of being perhaps the world's most difficult layout. Just this week, Phil Mickelson, in preparation for this year's U.S. Open, called Oakmont the hardest course he has ever played.    "H.C. Fownes was light years ahead of his time in regard to golf course architecture, and without any experience," said U.S. Open Championship Manager Charlie Howe of the USGA.   "From Day 1, the idea was that this course was going to be more difficult and more challenging to the everyday golfer than any other golf course."   Mission accomplished as Fownes' design incorporated concepts and techniques not often seen before World War I. Called "a brute" by one member, Oakmont has confounded everyday golfers and the pros ever since.   On the brink of a record ninth U.S. Open set for June 16-19, Oakmont today looks a lot like it did when Fownes put it in the ground thanks to an aggressive tree-management plan that claimed about 7,000 trees prior to the 2007 U.S. Open, and a total of about 15,000 in the past two decades. All or parts of 17 holes are visible from the clubhouse porch, as was the case in the club's early days.   Oakmont also has managed to keep up with the times thanks in part to foresight by Fownes,  a membership determined to preserve his intentions and the work of superintendent John Zimmers and his crew. The club and the USGA both have made sizeable investments in infrastructure that ensure Oakmont's place in U.S. Open history for years to come.   To understand Oakmont and its relationship with the USGA, it is important to understand Fownes and the members dedicated to carrying on his legacy.  
    From Day 1, the idea was that this course was going to be more difficult and more challenging to the everyday golfer than any other golf course."
     
    Fownes carved the course to a length of 6,400 yards, considered long for that time, to accommodate the longer, harder Haskell golf ball that was replacing the gutta percha ball, according to the USGA. His son, W.C. Fownes, also tweaked the course through the early days. According to historical records, the course had stretched out to 6,700 yards and was at least 500 yards longer than other courses of the era, according to the USGA.   He also was one of the first architects to give serious consideration to water movement. Pitched greens and ditches not only moved golf balls off the playing surface, they moved water off as well. The club was among the first to use sand topdressing and to roll greens - when machinery was powered by steam, not gasoline or diesel fuel - as Oakmont staked an early claim to the fasted putting surfaces in golf.   "The members here have really embraced his philosophy and his architecture," Zimmers said. "It's more than that. It's the ditches and bunkering. I think they've done everything they can to protect that."   In those early days, Fownes was said to have watched closely as golfers played his course, making notes where adjustments were needed so he could make the layout even more of a challenge.    "It all goes back to the guy who built the golf course. The stories of Mr. Fownes are legendary," said Bob Wagner, U.S. Open co-chairman and a former Oakmont president. "If landing the ball in a certain area meant players gained an advantage, the next day there was a bunker there."   HC Fownes' thoughts on golf course design are summed up in a quote attributed to him decades ago: "A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost." It is a philosophy that Oakmont's members have embraced ever since, to the extent that it is stitched into throw pillows for sale in the golf shop.   "We are just stewards of Oakmont," Wagner said of the club's members. "We keep the place the way Mr. Fownes would want it kept."   Even for those who play the course often, familiarity does not always translate to success.   "When you play it every day, it is still a tough course to play," Wagner said. "It never plays the same way twice, because you can get some crazy lies out there. It's tough, but it's fair. It's not tricked up, it's just a brute."   Because of those tough conditions that have stood up over time, no course is as synonymous with the U.S. Open and USGA championships than Oakmont, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. This year's Open will be the 16th USGA championship contested on Fownes' masterpiece that also has seen five U.S. Amateurs and two U.S. Women's Opens. Three PGA Championships also have been played there.   Many of the game's more memorable moments have occurred at Oakmont, solidifying its place in USGA lore.   Bobby Jones won his second U.S. Amateur there in 1925, and two years later, Tommy Armour shot a 76 in a playoff to win the first U.S. Open played at Oakmont. In 1953, Ben Hogan won the second of his three straight majors. Jack Nicklaus beat western Pennsylvania native Arnold Palmer in a playoff for his first professional victory in 1962, and Johnny Miller accomplished the unthinkable in 1973 when he fired a final-round 63 to defeat John Schlee by a stroke.   Miller's final-round, hole-by-hole score (there wasn't a single 5 on his card) still is prominently displayed in the Oakmont clubhouse.   The Stimpmeter was born out of the '35 Open, when former Harvard golfer Edwin Stimpson, who was attending the tournament, watched a putt by Gene Sarazan roll off the green and into a bunker. Stimpson set out to create a device to measure ball roll speed to prove his point. Rather than take Stimpson's concerns to heart, Oakmont's greens only have gotten faster.   To illustrate the speed of Oakmont's greens, Sam Snead once quipped that he tried to mark his ball, but his coin slid off the green.     "The history of the USGA and our championships and Oakmont are intertwined," Howe said. "It is the first golf course to be designated  a national historic landmark. It's a special place.   "In that time period, you had names like Bobby Jones and Tommy Armour who won here, and you see the scores then are very similar to the scores now. It is eerily similar to the same golf course over a 100-year period."   Maintaining a link to Fownes' legacy has meant staying current to keep the layout relevant.   Oakmont's greens have evolved over time due to the cultural and agronomic practices to which it is exposed. The result is a unique mix of mostly perennial Poa along with some annual Poa that has been selected over time after decades of double- and triple-mowing at extremely low heights, tons of sand topdressing and a lot of rolling, as well as stress from drought, driving rain, late winters and early summers.   "It has adapted over time," Zimmers said. "I think the good stuff has gotten tougher and better, and some of the weaker stuff has diminished."   The infamous Oakmont Poa never that produces those lightning fast putting conditions never has been replicated in a university setting. A local western Pennsylvania sod grower maintains a nursery - that has been grown from Oakmont plugs. And when he needs some for use on the course, Zimmers sends his own guys to select it, cut it and bring it back.   "These greens are drier and rolled more than any other Poa in the U.S. They have been selected over the past 113 years to take the mechanical stress and maintenance we give it," said David Delsandro, Oakmont's director of U.S. Open Operations and Projects. "We produce these green speeds and firmness, but it's not like we know some secret magic trick that nobody else does. A lot of it is because the grass allows it It's not easy by any means. We are walking a fine line. One rainstorm or one decision either way could tip the scales very, very quickly."  
    This is golf to our members, but it's also business, and it's high octane when you host the U.S. Open. We have to make decisions to help capture future tournaments."
     
    Delsandro, who spend time as superintendent at Nassau Country Club on Long Island, was the assistant at Oakmont for the 2007 U.S. Open. He says as the turf continues to evolve, so do the maintenance practices as well as the standards.   "In (20)06-08, we were hitting 13 to 13.5 (on the Stimpmeter). We checked it every day, and if we weren't there, we'd bring the roller back out here," Delsandro said. "I didn't think we could do any better, but this year we're at 14. Now, if it's at 13.5, we bring the roller back.    "As the grass evolves, expectations evolve, too."   And that is not about to change any time soon.   "This course is tournament tough all the time," Wagner said. "That culture here has carried over. We keep it tournament tough all day every day. That's the way the membership wants it. That is the way it is maintained."   A member recently questioned whether Oakmont's greens might have reached their breaking point.   "Someone asked if we were expecting too much from these greens," Zimmers said. "Another member answered: 'Yes we are. These greens are pushed to the brink every day.'   "You can't put 14-14.5 speeds every day on a 100-year-old golf course without great infrastructure, fundamental plant health and agronomics.   "I don't mind telling you, I'm pretty proud of what we're doing here."   The course is pretty much the same layout as in 2007 . Among the changes are a graduated rough cut that goes through and not around the bunker complexes, and the fronts of some bunkers have been shaved down to bring them more into play.   That Oakmont is Open-ready at a moment's notice has not gone unnoticed by the USGA.   "They love championships and having them here," said the USGA's Howe. "It's part of their culture.   "It's ready all the time. If you want to come in October, you want to come in August, it is ready."   It is ready from an infrastructure perspective as well.   A massive $3 million project on the adjacent East Course included moving 700,000 cubic yards of earth to transform 60 acres into usable space for hospitality tents, parking, merchandise sales and a helicopter landing area, making Oakmont one of the largest properties on the U.S. Open circuit, Howe said. Likewise, the USGA invested in permanent roads, electricity and potable water for future championships.   The extra space helps the USGA sell about 300 hospitality tents and suites over 500,000 square feet of temporary flooring. And with the trees out of the way, each hospitality venue will have a view of play during the tournament.   "About four years ago, I had read an article in Golfweek in which someone from the USGA was quoted saying Oakmont was a small site for the U.S. Open," said Wagner, who along with Open co-chairman Rob Hoffman hatched the plan to develop the East Course   "I believe it will help us secure future Opens. The USGA put some money into it. It's not turnkey for them, but it's closer to turnkey than it used to be. They would build temporary roads, and temporary electrical cables. There were a lot of things they had to bring in, and a lot of things they had to bring back out. This way, it's not as much money going in next time.   "This is golf to our members, but it's also business, and it's high octane when you host the U.S. Open. We have to make decisions to help capture future tournaments."   And it is all because one man had a singular vision more than a century ago; a vision that those who came after him have vowed to maintain.  
  • Michigan State University's oft-used growing degree-day map series has been updated to make the model even more user friendly for professional turf managers and others. 
      The GDD maps provide real-time seasonal accumulated degree-day (base 50) totals across Michigan as well as departures from normal in terms of GDDs and calendar days. The new map has improved color contrast and clearer numbers to make it easier to read. More than the appearance has changed, however. The source of the data used to produce the maps also is different.    The data behind the new GDD surfaces are obtained from a new data product series from NOAA National Weather Service called UnRestricted Mesoscale Analysis. URMA is a collection of gridded weather datasets developed using a combination of numerical model output and available observations, which includes some Enviro-weather station data) The spatial resolution of the data is approximately 1.5 miles, which can provide highly detailed, contoured maps of weather variables and derived variables, such as GDDs, across a region of interest.   Although the gridded data values are not quite as precise as the individual station observed data, they can provide a good estimate of conditions in a given area, especially when there are missing observations or sites.   In addition to GDD accumulation maps, this Enviro-weather application provides maps that compare the current degree-day accumulation to the climatological "normal." There are two comparisons that can be accessed by clicking on "Current degree-day maps" on an Enviro-weather station page, and scrolling down the page. The first map shows current GDD totals in comparison to normal in terms of number of calendar days ahead or behind.    For example, if the current observed GDD total at a given location is 50 units greater than the climate normal and the normal accumulation at that point in the season is 10 GDDs per day, the map will indicate that the GDD totals are 50/10 or five days ahead of normal. The second (bottom) map shows current GDD totals in comparison to normal in terms of GDD units. Both give users a feel for the progress of the growing season compared to what has been observed in the past.   The new 2016 version incorporates slightly different data for determining what is "normal." To calculate "normals" in the old version of this product, climatic data from 1981 to 2007 was used. The new 2016 version utilizes data from 1981-2010, which is the current international standard 30-year period for climatic normals.   Because the daily GDD normals were calculated with station data from about 90 individual sites within and near the state, which is everything that was available at the time they were developed, the spatial normal GDD patterns may in some cases be less detailed over space than is the case with the new URMA data. As a result, users might see some relatively larger departures from normal that appear to be related to geographical features. In Michigan, this issue is most common in lakeshore areas where air temperatures and GDD totals may vary significantly over only short distances, especially during the spring season when the relatively cool lakes slow accumulation of GDDs. Enviro-weather is working to resolve this issue and any differences are expected to be relatively small.
  • Just name the turf variety, and Mother Nature has a species of billbug to terrorize it.
      According to a study published in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, at least 10 billbug species have most of the country's turfgrass covered, meaning that professional turf managers from Maine to Mexico struggle to control these pests.   Control methods range from biological control such as parasitic nematodes and beneficial bacteria to establishing pest-resistant turf varieties to a chemical knockout with a pyrethroid.   Research on the subject was conducted by Utah State doctoral student Madeleine Dupuy under the guidance of assistant professor and entomologist Ricardo Ramirez, Ph.D.   "There are other methods of cultural control and biological control that I think deserve a closer look," Dupuy wrote.   "If you have a problem with billbugs in one part of the golf course every year, you might consider overseeding that area with a resistant variety of turfgrass, such as a resistant Kentucky bluegrass cultivar, or an endophyte-enhanced ryegrass or fescue."   Billbug species typically found throughout the United States include the bluegrass billbug (Kentucky bluegrass, bentgrass, ryegrass, fescue, zoysiagrass), hunting billbug (Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, fescue, zoysia, Bermudagrass), Rocky Mountain billbug (Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass), Phoenix billbug (Bermuda, zoysia, kikuyu), uneven billbug (Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass, Bermuda, zoysia), lesser billbug (Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass) and southern corn billbug (Bermudagrass). Each differ in their range and other behavioral characteristics, but do share a few things in common.   Typically, adults emerge from their overwintering stage to mate in spring, after which the female will chew holes in the stems of turf plants to deposit her eggs near the crown. The first instar will emerge a week or two later. That first instar will continue feeding on the plant near the crown before the second of five instar stages will drop into the soil where it will begin eating the roots of the turf plant. The combination of a weakened crown and damaged roots combine for a predictable outcome for the turf.   Damage manifests first as patches of discolored tissue and eventually death of the turf plant. Early signs of damage, Dupuy writes, often is mistaken for disease and the latter stages of misdiagnosed as drought stress. Damage, however, is accelerated in turf already under stress from another outside influence such as drought or disease.   The researchers suggest monitoring billbug activity through use of pitfall traps. The hunting billbug is nocturnal, and their activity can be monitored on greens or fairways with a strong spotlight.   Several newer Kentucky bluegrass varieties, all with fine leaf stems and tougher tissue, have exhibited resistance to billbug feeding. Billbug-resistant zoysiagrasses include Diamond, Zorro, Cavalier and Royal. TifEagle Bermudagrass also has proven to be resistant to billbug-induced stress.   Parasitic nematodes such as Steinernema carpocapsae, Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora all have shown to produce mortality rates among billbugs of nearly 80 percent, they have not been widely accepted because of the availability of cheaper and easier-to-use insecticides, Dupuy said.   These insecticides include pyrethroids to control emerging adults in spring and neonicotinoids and anthranilic diamides applied before the eggs hatch kill the larvae before they can begin feeding.  
  • Moraine Country Club had changed just a bit since Byron Nelson won the last of his five majors there during the waning days of World War II. Some greens had been moved over time and so many trees had been planted that the course no longer had the feel of a traditional Scottish links-style layout. 
      Thanks to a membership eager to get back to its roots, a superintendent who wanted to help take them there and an architect with a vision for retro appeal, today's version of Moraine Country Club looks more like it did when Nipper Campbell built it in 1930 than at any time since Nelson's win at the 1945 PGA Championship.   Tucked into the Dayton, Ohio suburb of Kettering, Moraine Country Club is days away from celebrating its grand opening after a $5 million Keith Foster restoration that makes one wonder whether Campbell, the Scottish-born golfer, architect and one-time Moraine club pro who died in 1942, might still be lurking around.   "Keith did a great job of putting things back the way they are supposed to be," said Moraine superintendent Jason Mahl. "Everything looks like it's always been there."   The project includes all new fairways and greens, a few of which were completely moved and rebuilt, new drainage, a new practice area and an aggressive tree-management plan that helped restore the property much to how it looked when Campbell drew it up on paper.   "This club has a great deal of tradition," said club president John Haley. "Sometime in the mid- to late 1940s, after Byron Nelson won the PGA Championship, a tree-planting campaign took place in the name of beautifying the golf course. By the late 1990s or early 2000s, we had a golf course that looked nothing like what Nipper Campbell had built."   Getting the course back to something similar to what Campbell had intended required a detailed plan.   Mahl was an assistant at Louisville Country Club in Kentucky when Foster completed a restoration of the Walter Travis design during the club's centennial year of 2005. Mahl was so enamored with Foster's work, that soon after he was named superintendent at Moraine in September 2006, he convinced the board there that a master plan was needed that would "provide a roadmap for any future changes" and that Foster was the architect to lead the course back to the future.   When Mahl sent photos of Moraine with news of a pending master plan and restoration, Foster jumped at the opportunity.    "Initially, I was thankful that Jason would invite me to his club as I personally liked Jason a lot, and when he mentioned on the phone that he thought Moraine could be a fantastic project, (it was) one worth considering," Foster said. "So, in terms of what attracted me to Moraine - Jason."   The final selling point was when Foster and Haley met, and the architect saw first hand the depth of feeling Moraine's members had for their club.   "Their love of Moraine was something I will never forget," Foster said.   "Personally I love the scale and terrain at Moraine. It is, in my opinion, a charming course with great appeal. I saw this instantly. By the end of my initial day visit and while sitting down with the wonderful committee, I simply mentioned to them what I saw and felt was so fantastic about their golf course, and then what it could return to and how to accomplish this."   Moraine is a club steeped in tradition. Founding members include early Dayton power brokers like Edward Deeds, James Cox and Charles Kettering.   According to the club's historical archives, it was built in 1930 on a 160-acre parcel of land that once was part of a farm owned by Deeds. An industrialist who was once president of National Cash Register Co., an investor in the Wright Brothers airplane company and co-founder of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. (which eventually became known as AC Delco), Deeds ran with some of Ohio's heavy hitters of the day.      Deeds co-founded the club with Cox, a three-term Ohio governor and two-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives who lost the 1920 presidential election to fellow Buckeye Warren G. Harding. The former owner of the Dayton Daily News, Atlanta Journal and Miami Daily News, Cox is most closely associated today with the media empire that bears his name.   Their list of friends included Delco co-founder Kettering (yes, the town of Kettering is named for him), whose inventions include the electric starter for automobiles, freon, leaded gasoline and the Kettering Bug, considered the world's first air-to-ground missile for wartime use.   It was Cox, Mahl said, who brought Campbell - once the pro at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts - to Dayton to build a golf course and stay on as the club's pro.   Foster, whose restoration portfolio of classic courses includes Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club, Southern Hills (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Colonial Country Club (Fort Worth, Texas), the Philadelphia Cricket Club and Eastward Ho (Chatham, Massachusetts) was a natural fit in the club's quest to recapture Campbell's 1930 gem. Mahl even took several members to eastern Pennsylvania to see Foster's work at the Cricket Club.   "What we found in Keith was an architect focused on the restoration of classic golf courses," Haley said.    "I used to live in Philadelphia, and played the Cricket Club in its previous condition. When I went back, I saw that Keith was able to reintroduce Tillinghast's initial design elements that had been lost through the years.    "What we liked was his sensitivity to the original design and in making the changes necessary  to bring great playing conditions back to the course. He did the same thing at Moraine."   As the project moved forward, Foster and Mahl poured over historical photos and records in preparation for the restoration. That meant removing nearly 3,000 trees, moving some bunkers and adding an additional nine hazards. It also meant changing the infrastructure of each bunker.   The deep bunkers at Moraine washed out many times through the years, mostly because of poor drainage and contouring that funneled water directly into the hazards.   Foster built up edges around the Campbell-style flat-bottomed bunkers and contoured greens to channel water off the playing surfaces.    "I wanted to re introduce the original hand crafted bunkers flat bottom bunkers that were placed there in 1930," Foster said. "The appeal of the bunkers at Moraine are the bunker faces which were hand cut or chopped into the grade of the slope. My hope was to create bunker faces that would appear to be naturally broken rather than simply and mechanically shaped."   The effects cannot be overstated on a course with more than 140 feet of natural elevation change that was cut by prehistoric glaciers.   "Now, the water drains into catch basins. Nowhere on the course does the water drain into bunkers," Mahl said. "Before, it all used to drain into bunkers and the drainage wouldn't work. Now, we have zero bunker washouts."   Improved drainage is a common thread throughout the property. A 12-inch drain line catches water from the parking lot and practice range and moves it off site.   The project also included rebuilding all greens to USGA specs and even moving a few greens that were reworked by architect Dick Wilson when he built NCR Country Club next door in the 1950s.    Through the years, Moraine had become a hodgepodge of turf types that made maintaining the property a challenge. That Heinz 57 stand included ryes, bents, vegetative Poa and Poa trivialis just to name a few. Managing against disease outbreaks for things like dollar spot became especially tough as the entire stand was only as strong as its weakest link.   Providing a clean slate from which to work meant wiping out everything with Roundup and Basamid. Mahl came back with 007 bentgrass on tees, fairways and approaches and Pure Distinction bentgrass on greens.   Deciding on the right turf for each application was an exhaustive process that included testing eight varieties for putting greens and six for fairways in three different greens mixes across a total of 10,000 square feet of nursery space.   The new grasses allow Mahl to do one thing that Campbell probably couldn't - keep them dry.   "The fairways have had no water in the last 10 days. They are super dry with no wilt at all," Mahl said. "The new grasses allow us to keep things drier and use less water."   The course has been closed since last July and is scheduled to reopen June 11. The practice range was renovated and enlarged in 2014 with zoysia targets and a bentgrass hitting area and reopened last year so members would have a place to swing away while the course was being restored to reflect Campbell's original intentions.   "It's been a little bit of a tease in that regard," Haley said. "But it gave members a taste of the quality of the work that was taking place.   Throughout the process, the club's confidence in their architect grew by the day as they watched the project unfold from the practice tee.    "Keith's attention to detail and his personal engagement with the members on this project went beyond what any of us expected," Haley said.    "If there was ever any doubt on anything that was taking place on the project, we learned to just go with Keith's judgment. In the end, it was the right move at the right time with the right person."   It turns out that their trust was well-placed.   "My hope is that the Moraine membership feels the work we accomplished is one of great value," Foster said. "Personally, I believe great renovation work must be seamless and enduring. The Moraine work is both."   And it is all because the project was a timely mix of the right membership at the right club with the right architect and the right superintendent . . . at the right time.  
  • Who knew a secret weapon could come in such a small package?
      The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently approved use of a fourth non-native parasitic wasp species in the fight to control the spread of emerald ash borer.   Spathius galinae is a non-stinging parasitic wasp that is native to Russia. Like Asian parasitic wasp species such as Oobius agrili, Spathius agrili and Tetrastichus planipennisi that have been used to control EAB for at least two years, Spathius galinae is a natural predator of EAB in Russia and does not parasitise any other host.   Non-native parasitic wasps have proven to be effective at parasitizing 50-90 percent of the target EAB ova or larvae.   The wasps are raised at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service facility in Michigan, and currently are used in 24 of the 25 states where EAB has been confirmed, according to the federal agency.   At least one species of wasp native to Asia, Spathius agrili, has not fared well in the United States. Researchers believe the climate here is too cold to sustain it, and the USDA has stopped raising it. Spathius galinae is thought to be better adapted to cold climates.   Since it was detected in the Detroit area in 2002, the emerald ash borer has spread like wildfire. Its presence has been confirmed in 25 states as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.   According to the Web site EmeraldAshBorer.info, EAB's U.S. range extends from New Hampshire in the East, southward to Georgia and as far west as Texas and Colorado.    States where EAB has been confirmed include Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Its progress is being monitored in at least 10 other states.   In the latest round of testing, scientists conducted research on 14 other beetle species to determine whether any were acceptable hosts for Spathius galinae. The only beetle affected, said researchers, was the gold spotted oak borer, another invasive species found in the U.S. only in Southern California.   Those interested in acquiring and releasing the parasitic wasps must have a release permit issued by the USDA, which has a host of recommendations for the size of the wooded area that has been affected, age of the trees involved and density of EAB population at the site.   EAB kills ash trees by disrupting the uptake of water and nutrients through the trunk and into the upper reaches of the tree.   Adult females, which grow to about a half-inch in length, create a hole in the bark into which they deposit their eggs. After hatching, the larvae feed on and chew galleries through the tissue beneath the bark layer, disrupting the tree's ability to move water and nutrients through its vascular system. In the spring, new adults chew through the bark and emerge, flying into the canopy to ingest ash leaves and the reproductive process begins all over again.   Symptoms of infestation include thinning of the canopy and sprouts growing from holes in the trunk that were created by the pests, along with an abundance of hungry woodpeckers that eat them. According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, canopies of mature ash tree typically are decimated within two years of infestation and the trees dead within five years.   The wasps are barely larger than a flake of pepper, according to the USDA. The adult lays her eggs on a host larva. In the ultimate irony for the EAB, the wasps larva then feed on the host, eventually killing it.   EAB.info is a collaborative effort between Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue universities; the Michigan and Ohio departments of agriculture; Indiana and Ohio departments of natural resources; the USDA-APHIS; U.S. Forest Service; and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
  • The special local needs registration granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Avid miticide/insecticide by Syngenta for turf will expire June 30.

    The cancellation affects the use of Avid on golf course greens to control nematodes in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.   

    Superintendents will be able to use existing product until June 30, 2017 - one year after the cancellation date - under the 24© SLN.

    The Avid + Heritage fungicide and Avid + Heritage Action fungicide also are available for use under the 24© SLN until June 30, 2017.

    With the active ingredient abamectin, Avid offered turf managers with a season-long tool to help control nematodes. Research showed that the product was more effective in combination products rather than when used alone.

    This cancellation does not affect the availability of Avid for ornamental plants, which is still being produced and used under its current Section 3 federal registration.
  • When Kris Bryan learned he had been named a finalist for the Golden Wrench Award, he never thought he actually had a chance to win. It wasn't because he didn't believe he wasn't "good enough."
     
    "I didn't think I was old enough," said the 29-year-old Bryan, who has been equipment manager at Pikewood National Golf Club in Morgantown, West Virginia since 2005.
     
    "I found out a few weeks ago I'd been nominated, but I never thought I'd win it."
     
    Dispelling the myth that there is an age requirement for winning the Golden Wrench Award, Bryan was named the 2016 TurfNet Technician of the Year, presented by Toro.
     
    Bryan prepped as an auto mechanic before making the switch to golf course equipment.
     
    "It means a lot to be recognized. That's for sure," he said. "There are days when you sit back here 16 hours a day in front of these grinders. The guys bring equipment in that just went off a tree, or something. 'No one cares about me.' It definitely feels good. That's for sure."
     
    Bryan was chosen by a panel of judges from a list of three finalists that included Elias Matias of Pronghorn Golf Club in Bend, Oregon, and Jori Hughes of The Wilderness at Fortune Bay in Tower, Minnesota.
     
    Previous winners are (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL. No award in 2008.
     
    As the winner, Bryan receives the Golden Wrench Award from TurfNet and a weeklong training session at Toro's Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.
     
    Criteria on which nominees are judged include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.
     
    Criteria considered by Pikewood National superintendent Brett Bentley when he nominated Bryan center around his ability to keep equipment in top shape under extreme conditions, routinely going above and beyond the normal scope of his job and his ability to do just about everything under the shop roof and a lot outside it as well.
     
    Located atop a mountain in northern West Virginia, Pikewood National occupies about 200 hilly acres of a 700-acre parcel. Navigating those hills is a challenge for a gas-powered utility vehicle, much less a fairway mower. That terrain and dramatic elevation changes provide golfers with stunning view. They also create tremendous wear and tear on mowers and other equipment.
     
    "Kris has a great preventative maintenance program," Bryan said. "He does a very good job keeping equipment running.
     
    "He is a perfectionist, which is what we need."
     
    He also does a pretty good job at operating that equipment.
     
    During the height of the golf season, Pikewood National employs a staff of 20-25 people, many of whom are college interns. During the spring and fall, when those interns are in school, Pikewood National often is understaffed, and Bryan fills in, operating a mower when needed and helping during aerification and topdressing - the latter of which can a lot to ask of an equipment manager.
     
    He often serves as the club's plumber and carpenter - he helped plan and build a housing unit for the club's interns - and makes himself available to fix cars for his co-workers.
     
    "Chris will do things that a lot of equipment managers won't do," Bentley said.
     
    "Chris will come out and help us mow, help on the driving range tee, he'll fix stuff in the clubhouse," Bentley said. "He deserves some recognition."
     
  • March rounds up in East, down in West
      The warm winter that prevailed throughout the eastern half of the U.S. in February and March has had a predictable outcome on the game of golf.   Rounds played were up 13 percent in March compared with the same month last year, according to the Golf Datatech National Golf Rounds Played Report for March. Year-to-date participation is up 5.5 percent compared to the first three months of 2015. The report represents self-reported data from 2,750 private and daily fee courses nationwide.   The most significant gains were made in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where play was up by 2,100 percent. Other triple-digit gains were made in New York (577 percent), New Jersey (417 percent), Pennsylvania (354 percent), Delaware and Maryland (210 percent), Michigan (161 percent) and Ohio (118 percent).    Double-digit gains were made in West Virginia (98 percent), Virginia (97 percent), Illinois and Indiana (88 percent), Kentucky (51 percent), Minnesota (42 percent), Georgia (31 percent), Tennessee (29 percent), North Carolina (28 percent), Mississippi (23 percent), Oklahoma and Texas (17 percent) and Iowa (15 percent).   There were some big losers in March, too, namely Florida, California, the Dakotas, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico, all of which experienced double-digit losses in March.     Central Turf launches organic insecticide
      Central Turf & Irrigation Supply, a wholesale distributor of landscape supplies, has launched Organic Insect Control to help control a host of summer insect pests.   A combination of cedar oil, phenethyl propionate and soap bark ethyl lactate, OIC is formulated to control ticks, ants, mosquitoes, stink bugs, gnats, fleas and more.   The all-organic formula is not harmful to beneficial insects such as bees, butterflies and earthworms, the company says.   The product can be applied with a traditional sprayer or can be used with a fogger device.   Central offers a fogger that operates from a propane tank for use in patio and deck areas.    OIC is sold in a 32oz bottle that treats up to 5000 square feet.   Wiedenmann honors top sales producers
      Wiedenmann North America recently named its top sales professionals and distributors.   Salesman of the Year was Shane Cornicelli of A-OK Turf Equipment in Coventry, Rhode Island. ShowTurf of Boynton Beach, Florida was named East Coast Dealer of the Year, while JW Turf of Hampshire Illinois was named Midwest Dealer of the Year. Dealer of the Year on the West Coast was Stotz Equipment of Escondido, California.   Most Improved Dealer was Greenville Turf & Tractor of Greenville, South Carolina.   The announcements were made at the company's annual sales meeting held in Savannah, Georgia.   BASF names new sales manager
      BASF recently named Bill Baxter as national sales manager for the professional and specialty solutions market.    Baxter has more than 25 years of experience in the agricultural crop protection and turf and pest control markets, with 17 years of sales management experience at BASF.    Throughout his career, Baxter has been active in industry associations, including the National Pest Management Association, the Professional Pest Management Alliance and Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment.
  • Since 2002, the TurfNet Superintendent's Best Friend Calendar has paid tribute to the most important job in golf - that of the golf course dog. Yes, 2002. That is much older than any other dog calendar out there.
      Each year, the original golf course dog calendar highlights 14 dogs and their tireless contributions to the game across the country and around the world.   Nominate your canine friend for a place in the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent's Best Friend Calendar, presented by Syngenta.   Some tips to improve your chances of winning: > Shoot at your camera's highest resolution setting. > Images should be taken in a horizontal format; we can't use vertical photos. > Get down to the dog's level; don't shoot down at them from a standing position. > Fill the frame with the dog as much as possible, but try not to center your dog in the frame. Left or right orientation often can result in a more dramatic photograph. > Avoid clutter and distracting backgrounds. > A scenic course background is fine as long as the dog is featured prominently.   All dogs must belong to the course or to a course employee and spend significant time there. Submit your best photo; multiple entries of the same dog are discouraged and will not improve your dog's chances of being selected.   A panel of judges will select the 14 dogs for the calendar. To nominate your dog, use our online nomination form. Deadline for nominations is July 31.
  • Monsanto's board of directors has rejected a buyout bid by Bayer AG, but appear to have left the door ajar for future negotiations.
      St. Louis-based Monsanto announced May 24 that its board of directors considered the $62 billion bid to be "financially inadequate," but went on to say it is open to "continued constructive conversations to assess whether a transaction in the best interest of Monsanto shareowners can be achieved."   News of a proposed and unsolicited takeover bid were confirmed by Monsanto on May 18. Monsanto's value, according to published reports, is thought to be about $42 billion.   An acquisition that includes Monsanto would be a coup for any entity moving forward as companies maneuver for position in the race to meet the food crop needs of a growing world population. Monsanto is the world's largest seed producer and a leader in genetically modified foods and seeds. Bayer AG, whose subsidiaries include Bayer Environmental Science, makes a host of products for the healthcare, agriculture and chemical industries.   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world's population is about 7.3 billion. That number is expected to reach 8 billion by 2025, 9.2 billion by 2050 and 11 billion by 2100. An overwhelming percentage of that growth is to occur in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia.    During that time, says the United Nations, about two dozen countries in Africa will more than double in population, India will overtake China as the world's largest country by population and Nigeria will supplant the United States as the planet's third most populous country.   Given those statistics, maybe Monsanto's board can afford to be picky on behalf of the company's shareholders.   "We believe in the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society, and we have long respected Bayer's business," said Hugh Grant, Monsanto chairman and CEO. "However, the current proposal significantly undervalues our company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition."   The Monsanto group also noted that there is no guarantee moving forward that a deal with Bayer, or anyone else, will be reached, and what such a deal would be worth. Any deal between Bayer and Monsanto would be subject to regulatory approval before becoming final.   It wasn't that long ago that Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, was the aggressor in takeover talks, trying on multiple occasions in 2015, to acquire Syngenta. Swiss-based Syngenta was acquired earlier this year by state-owned ChemChina for $43 billion. That move came on the heels of mega-merger of Dow and DuPont last December.
  • When Jackie Gleason moved his weekly television show from New York to Miami Beach in 1964, he famously proclaimed at the opening of each broadcast that the city was "the sun and fun capital of the world."   Gleason left an indelible mark on South Florida in the 1960s and 70s, and was a great ambassador for the game of golf, bringing the rich and famous and powerful to South Florida with him. But much has changed in the South Florida golf scene since Gleason hosted a PGA Tour event at Inverrary in Broward County throughout the 1970s.     When it comes to serving as a safe haven for immigrants seeking a better life, Miami has a longer history than most U.S. cities. As golf course operators around the country search for ways to attract a growing immigrant population, those in Miami also have more experience than most. But like their colleagues in other areas, Miami operators also struggle to attract non-native Americans to the game.   But instead of thinking there is something wrong with the game that warrants looking outside the ropes to other activities to attract people to the golf course, operators here have a different opinion on why golf is not attracting new players, at least those from minority communities.   "This is not an ethnic or racial issue," said Alberto Pozzi, who manages three municipal properties in Miami-Dade County. "This is a socio-economic issue.   "When minorities are doing well financially they play golf. There are waves of wealthy South Americans coming to Miami, and those who come at a high socio-economic level play a lot of golf. But the majority of immigrants coming into this country are starting at the bottom. Recreation is not a priority for immigrants unless they are well established economically."   Pozzi is a native of Uruguay who has lived in South Florida since 1977, and it appears there is merit to his claims that a stronger economy can go much farther than FootGolf toward improving the golf industry. He points to the U.S. Cuban American Golf Association in Miami-Dade County and similar groups for those from other Latin American countries as proof that the game has cross-cultural appeal. He says Miami has been the proverbial canary in the coal mine regarding the relationship between golf and immigrant populations in that the challenges others are seeing in recent years have been prevalent in Miami for decades.   Of course, no one seems to hold the secret to an improved economy either, or if they do, they certainly are not sharing it, making the plight of golf courses in Miami as real as those in other parts of the country.   "Miami is a microcosm of the industry as a whole," Pozzi said. "It's a precursor of trends that are now showing up in other parts of the country. Those trends started here many years ago. We have a large immigrant population, we are undergoing urban revitalization, but there has been no increase in the golfer population."   There is little current reliable data available on minority participation in golf. The National Golf Foundation's last published report on the topic is 6 years old. A more recent NGF report on golf participation indicates that of the estimated 19.5 million golfers in the U.S., 4.7 million are thought to be non-caucasian, according to NGF. That's the lowest number in nearly a decade.    Although information on the relationship between minorities and golf is hard to come by, Pozzi is on top of the trends that influence the golf business in South Florida. As the manager of three city-owned properties, he has to be. Pozzi operates Miami Shores Country Club in Miami Shores and Normandy Shores Golf Club and Miami Beach Golf Club, both in Miami Beach, and he says about 25 courses in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have closed in the past decade.    "It is a necessity now to know the trends and what is going on in the market all the time; what drives it; what your competitors are doing," Pozzi said. "You have to learn from the guy next door. Is he doing something creative or better than you are?"   Dade County once was a popular destination for the rich and famous as well as northern snowbirds, but no more.   Those snowbirds began moving northward along the coast in the 1970s, first to Fort Lauderdale, and now to places like Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm, and even Stuart and Vero Beach. Although the tourist industry is still strong, those coming to Miami are now coming for a few days to a week rather than for three or four months. And they are coming from overseas, not northern U.S. cities. Of Miami-Dade County's 2.7 million residents, more than 60 percent are foreign born, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The city's population has been more than 50 percent foreign born since the late 1980s.   "The heyday of Miami in the '60s and '70s of golf was driven primarily by snowbirds from the Midwest and Northeast retiring in Dade and Broward counties. That trend slowed in the late '70s and virtually stopped by the late '80s," Pozzi said. "Miami-Dade is no longer a magnet for retirees from the Northeast, and that has affected the golf industry significantly."   Today, only 13 daily fee facilities, four equity clubs and a handful of resort properties like the Biltmore and Doral, where even the Greg Norman-designed White Course closed and was sold earlier this year for development.   The courses that remain open are doing OK financially. Pozzi believes a revival of the golf business in South Florida will come, not as more facilities convert to FootGolf, but as the immigrant population becomes more acclimated and their lot improves financially.   "If you change the focus of what you are offering, then you become something else," he said. "Not that I am a traditionalist, but at what point do you become so inviting to other non-traditional golf activities just to get people to the golf course that you compromise what you are about? If you do that with something like FootGolf, then you're not a golf course anymore.   "I sound like a doomsayer sometimes in this industry, but those facilities that remain have benefitted by the trend of golf course closures. We are thriving and doing well because we are benefitting by others closing. We are understanding the new trends and what is happening in the marketplace. I think the immigrant population eventually will get around to embracing golf in the same numbers that native Americans do, but there is some lag time."

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