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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    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.   Rhizosorb is a soil amendment that when applied once annually during aerification can help golf turf retain water and fertilizer until they are needed by the plant. The proprietary controlled-release technology developed decades ago by Penn State researchers results in a healthier plant with promotes longer root growth, says Hunter Swisher, founder and CEO of Phospholutions, the start-up company that markets Rhizosorb.   A December 2016 graduate of Penn State's turfgrass management program, Swisher, 22 learned about the technology as a student, and said the original version of what now is Rhizosorb was developed by PSU researchers for runoff control in Florida, but never made it out of the testing process.    Swisher found research data on the chemistry dating back 23 years. That literature, he said, described the product's ability to limit fertilizer use. What the research didn't describe were the cost-saving benefits of using less water and less fertilizer and the overall plant-health effects.   Swisher decided to conduct some studies on his, and established four plots on Penn State golf course practice green under with varying treatments.   Swisher made applications of Rhizosorb in the fall, a time when soil samples showed roots on the bent/Poa green to be about 2 inches in length.   "He told me he could double the roots," said Rick Pagett, superintendent of the university's Blue and White courses. "In the spring he came to me and said 'you have to see this.' The roots (where Rhizosorb had been applied) were 4 inches long."   That was enough for Pagett.
    All of us would love deeper roots, especially in the Northeast."
    The Penn State courses have a mix of sand-based and native-soil greens. Swisher applied Rhizosorb to both and one of Pagett's vendors even applied some through a DryJect treatment.
      Within months, the results were the same everywhere: in areas where the product had been applied, roots were twice as long as in untreated areas.   "I know it's only 4 inches compared to 2 inches," Pagett said. "But it did what he said it would do. It doubled our root length."   Today, the product covers about 6 acres of greens, tees and fairways.   "We're very excited," Pagett said. "We can't wait to see what it's going to do."   Mike McNamara also is testing the product on a much smaller scale on an ultradwarf Bermudagrass green at TPC Prestancia in Sarasota, Florida. He too was impressed with the initial results.   "As a Penn State alumni I wanted to help Hunter in any way that I could. We applied Rhizosorb to half of our Champion Bermuda nursery green after aerification," McNamara said. "We cut our irrigation run times down to stress the turf. The half with Rhizosorb had longer roots and displayed better drought resistance than the other half without the Rhizosorb. I would need to do some more testing but initial trial was encouraging."   Swisher was able to take advantage of some business-friendly entrepreneurial programs at Penn State that allowed him to start up Phospholutions and bring Rhizosorb to market.   "I was lucky enough to take a class and learn about this technology and why it never worked," he said. "We've been able to make it cheaper and more viable and get it to market."   By measuring out water and nutrients as needed, Rhizosorb promotes longer root growth as the plant searches for food and water. According to Swisher's studies, after three months turf treated with Rhizosorb had roots that were twice as long (6 inches compared with 3 inches) as untreated turf.   "Every inch below soil takes two times as long to dry out," Swisher said. "We can reduce water and fertilizer use by 15 percent in one application."   Pagett said he doesn't think he will be alone in looking for a tool that will help his bottom line and help him be a better steward of the environment.   "All of us would love deeper roots, especially in the Northeast," Pagett said.    "This could help superintendents reduce inputs. That's a home run for sustainability, and it could make superintendents' lives easier."    
  • Grooming greens through brushing or rolling, or both, have been reliable methods for producing improved playing conditions and increased putting speeds. When done together, they also help incorporate topdressing into the turf, greatly reducing the amount of sand picked up during mowing.
      Newer high-shoot density grasses, such as ultradwarf Bermudagrasses and even newer creeping bentgrass varieties, can make it difficult to work sand into the green where it can help promote the breakdown of organic matter, according to Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., at Ohio State University.   "Sand topdressing helps control/dilute organic matter accumulation on putting greens," Danneberger wrote. "The popularity of high shoot density creeping bentgrass and Bermudagrass ultradwarf varieties make the incorporation of topdressing into greens difficult.  The inability to incorporate (sand) can result in much of the topdressing being removed by mowing. Additionally, mower blades loose their sharpness resulting in poor mowing quality."   Danneberger cited a seminal study in his writings.   According to research conducted at the University of Tennessee, a regimen of brushing followed by rolling resulted in virtually no mower pick up. The amount of sand picked up during mowing after brushing then rolling on a TifEagle plot was not statistically different than that picked up from an untreated control plot that received no additional sand throughout the duration of the study.   Conversely, rolling alone after topdressing resulted in an average of 10 percent of sand lost during mowing. The sand mix was 15.6 percent coarse, 73 percent medium and 11.4 percent fine.   "When we rolled only after topdressing, it was like putting marbles on a trampoline and jumping up and down on it," said John Sorochan, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee. "The smaller stuff got in, but we picked up almost all of the coarse and very coarse grains. I think one time we picked up 30 to 35 percent of the sand. Just think of the wear and tear. The mechanic would be screaming at you.  
    ...one time we picked up 30 to 35 percent of the sand. Just think of the wear and tear. The mechanic would be screaming at you." -- John Sorochan
      "When we brushed and followed with a roller, we never picked up more than 2 to 3 percent. You couldn't tell the difference between that plot and the control plot that didn't get any sand."   The news has been a boon to superintendents, especially those in the transition zone who have converted from cool-season grass to an ultradwarf Bermuda in recent years, said Sorochan.   That is especially true of low-budget facilities that made the conversion because they thought the Bermuda would require less maintenance than cool-season grass. That hasn't been the case necessarily, says Sorochan.   The constant need for fine-particle sand to promote organic matter management can make managing ultradwarf greens nearly as time-consuming and costly as growing cool-season turf.   "It's not always easy to get fine sand, and it's not cheap when you do get," Sorochan said. "Now you don't have to."   The ability to keep more sand in the profile over two years of the study helped dilute thatch buildup and resulted in a firmer surface.   Researchers used a Clegg soil impact tester to determine surface hardness. Results of the study indicated that brushing followed by rolling produced the hardest surface, following by brushing alone. Both were much firmer than the untreated control plot, which proved to be more firm than the plot subjected to rolling alone, but the difference was not statistically different.   "It was rewarding," Sorochan said. "There was actually practical use for it that superintendents could utilize right away."  
  • 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.   During his career, Laurent prepped for a lot of tournaments, including two U.S. Senior Opens during a 17-year run as superintendent at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was his second Senior Open, in 2000, that still stands out to this day.   There were an odd-number of players heading into the final two days, Mike Davis and Tim Moraghan of the USGA asked Laurent to play as a marker for Bill Tindall, a west coast teaching professional who was in the tournament.   "That was a dream come true," said Laurent, now 62.    "They asked me on Saturday and told me they'd call me the next morning if (Tindall) wanted a marker to play with him. We were working on the course at 4 a.m. The first tee time was 7 a.m. and at 6:30 they told me I was going to play. I had time to hit about four warm-up balls, then walked up to the first tee and had to hit it. I'd never played in front of a crowd before. I was so nervous. I just said to myself 'just get off the first tee, don't make a fool of yourself and don't hit anyone. I hit it into a fairway bunker that Jack Nicklaus had been in the day before, so I felt pretty good."   Laurent still remembers spending time on the practice range on Saturday evening in preparation for the Sunday round.   "My claim to fame, although he won't admit it, was hitting balls on the range with Tom Kite," he said. "There were just the two of us, him at one end and me all the way at the other. I stayed as far away as I could - so I wouldn't hit him."    Moraghan, who has been friends with Laurent since they first met during preparations for the '87 U.S. Senior Amateur, remembers offering some friendly advice that weekend.   "I told him that there were 1,000 people on the first tee, so just pick up if you get in the way," said Moraghan, now the owner of Aspire Golf. "He asked me if there was anything else he needed to know, and I told him, 'don't top one on the first tee in front of your members.' "   Just like that day in 2000, Laurent's career has been a whirlwind. After working for years on a golf course with no education, he decided at age 30 to enter turf school at Penn State . . . with a wife and two young children in tow. His career has included being a superintendent and accomplished amateur player, but also instructor and, since 2005, owner and operator.   Today, Laurent, whose son Brian is the executive director of the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, is co-owner of Cross Creek Golf Club in Decatur, Indiana, which is an updated and lengthened version of the nine-hole course where his career began in 1967.   Decatur Golf Course was built in the 1940s as a nine-hole layout by Chicago golf course architect Robert Bruce Harris. A second nine holes and a new name were added during a late 1980s renovation.   "I grew up one block from this golf course. It was my second home growing up," he said.  "We would come in at 6 a.m., hand mow the greens, change cups and work until noon. Then we'd go home, eat and come back and play golf in the afternoon."   It was in those early days, working for Decatur superintendent and owner Luke Majorki, that Laurent realized he wanted to make a career of the golf business.   A former minor league baseball player in the 1940s, Majorki was an accomplished golfer, agronomist and manager. He sold Decatur in 1978 to Steve Kreigh who today still owns the course along with Laurent.   Laurent learned a lot from Majorki, including how to manage his game on the golf course.   "We all sat around the clubhouse hoping he would ask us to play with him," he said. "He was a very good player, and it was a big deal to get to play with him."   Majorki also taught him a lot about being a professional, including a tough lesson when Laurent was just 15 years old   "I was about 30 minutes late to work one day because I overslept. He grounded me. He sent me home for three days and told me to think about what I'd done," Laurent said. "I got in trouble with him once, and that was enough.    "He taught me everything about work ethic. He was a workaholic, as am I. I learned that from, and that's not necessarily a good thing."   During those early days at Decatur he also learned that he didn't want to work inside, opting instead for a life outside on the golf course. His goal early on was to buy Decatur and run it along with his wife, Terri. Eventually, however, he knew that if he wanted to follow that path he needed to learn the finer points of turf management first.    Already a husband and father of two young boys, he applied to Michigan State and Penn State at age 30, ultimately deciding on the latter for the opportunity to study under Joe Duich, Ph.D.   He landed a job straight out of college as a superintendent at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, then moved on to Harbourtowne Golf Resort in Maryland. He quickly learned that a great plan and a great crew can't overcome things like an outdated irrigation system and no money in the budget.   "The grass really suffered," he said. "We were always putting Band-Aids on everything."   Much about golf has changed since those early days.   Equipment is better, newer low-use chemistries are more friendly to the environment and lower mowing heights - from three-sixteenths to one-quarter inch in the old days to 0.125 or lower today - have greens rolling faster than ever, but with increased disease pressure.   It also is a lot harder to make a buck running a golf course today than it was a generation or so ago. Saucon Valley was founded nearly 100 years ago by a group of Bethlehem Steel executives. Through the years, the company that once was the world's second-largest steel manufacturer, pumped a lot of money through Saucon Valley, until the company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and went out of business two years later.   "A lot of his members also belonged to the big private clubs in Philadelphia. For a lot of them, Saucon Valley was their second club," Moraghan said. "Terry was under a lot of pressure to keep it as good as the other urban clubs. He met the challenge. I went there a lot during Terry's days, and there was never a blade of grass out of place."   More recently, Cross Creek has battled with other west-central Indiana golf courses for players. And although it has been a struggle at times, business finally is on the uptick.    "We're starting to see an increase now," he said. "For a while there it was a real struggle."   Instead of running the business with wife Terri, Laurent worked, for a while, with son Bryan before he left to start his own association management firm in Columbus, Ohio where he is the executive director of the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation.    Being a co-owner of the business has landed Laurent where he never wanted to be, inside searching for ways to grow his business.   "I have an assistant (superintendent) who reports to me, so I don't get outside on the golf course as much as I'd like to," Laurent said. "My son Brian was supposed to do all this for me, but he bailed out on me. You can tell him I said that."  
  • Superintendents who use propane-powered equipment recognize that it can help them reduce operating costs and emissions. Those incentives, however, have not been enough to spark widespread use in the golf industry.   The Propane Education & Research Council, an advocacy group that represents the propane industry, says low fuel prices prices have stifled the demand for alternative fuels.   "Gas and diesel prices took a nosedive and have continued to stay low," said PERC's director of business development Jeremy Wishart. "That has taken the pressure off superintendents in terms of budget dollars and allocating funds toward fuel expenses."   In 2015-16, PERC recruited superintendents at eight courses around the country to participate in a pilot program designed to educate end users and original equipment manufacturers about the benefits of propane.   The benefits, the group says, are obvious: lower fuel costs compared with gas or diesel, no chance of spillage in the maintenance yard or on the golf course and reduced carbon emissions.   The Marriott Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Florida was one of those eight test courses. After the program.    The test program resulted in reduced fuel costs of 13 percent, a 40 percent reduction in carbon monoxide emissions and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of up to 15 percent.   One of the stumbling blocks is that the only OEM to send equipment off the line propane-ready is R&R, which was the equipment used in the pilot program. Those who used the equipment said it performed fine, but brand loyalty to orange, red and green mowers makes widespread adoption of OEM equipment unlikely until that technology is offered by one of the big three equipment makers.   There are ways around that.   After the program, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance equipment manager Eric Kulaas converted a wide array of gasoline-powered equipment to propane, including five triplex mowers, two fairway units and two bunker rakes. And he'd like to do more.   "I'd like to convert two blowers, but I haven't been able to come to grips with that yet," Kulaas said.    "We're happy with it. Anything we buy new I'd like to convert."   Georgia's Stone Mountain Golf Club also was a test site for the PERC program. Former Stone Mountain superintendent Anthony Williams was on site there when the program started.    "Across the board, there was little difference in the operation of the machine. In fact, the fairway unit was the real standout. It had plenty of power and that's where most of the savings came in," Williams said. "It proved to be viable, environmentally friendly and economical.   "Propane was cheaper than gas or diesel, it ran quieter. We probably saved 20 to 30 percent on fuel costs before the price of fuel went down."   It has been more widely accepted in the lawn and landscape market where many of the operators are small private owners.   "I think it would be tough for superintendents not to see green, red or orange out on the golf course," Williams said. "If one of them went propane, I think you'd see more interest."   Now at the Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort at Irving, Texas, Williams said he probably would have adopted its use after the program had he not taken an early retirement offer from Marriott. He added that he hopes to incorporate propane use in the future in Texas.    "Being in a new job and having to get ready right away for a PGA Tour event, the timing just hasn't been right to get it in here yet," he said. "It's definitely on our radar."   The OEM equipment did take some time to get used to, said Kulaas, and when one of the fairway units broke down under warranty, he had to send it to the dealer.   "I was able to figure out what was wrong with it, but it's not an engine any techs are going to be familiar with," he said.   Reduced emissions is a key point for Williams, who has built a career on environmental stewardship.    He has won multiple Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards at the public and resort level, and envisions propane use playing a part in pursuing yet another award.   "We are eligible to enter it again now in the private category," he said. "I'd love to win the triple crown."
  • Swan Song:
    Her heart is played
    like well-worn strings;
    in her eyes,
    the sadness sings
    of one who was destined
    for better things.
    - by Lang Leav, from the book Love & Misadventure
      Anyone who knows Anthony Williams knows he has built a career on preaching positivity. That zeal and confidence and self-promotion have resulted in a seemingly countless number of awards and a career pocked with helping others strive for the same level of greatness.   Less than six months into a new job, Williams is putting all of that to the test this week as the Four Seasons Las Colinas Resort in Irving, Texas plays host to its 35th and final PGA Tour event bearing the name of Byron Nelson. Williams doesn't look at the swan song tournament as the end of an era, but rather as an opportunity to put a lasting stamp on Nelson's legacy as well as a new start for him personally.   "I didn't come here to do the last one. I came here to make the 35th one the best one," Williams said. "We didn't have a lot of time to get up to speed and deliver a great product, but we've done it."   Anyone who knows Anthony Williams would expect nothing less.   When he took an early retirement from Marriott in 2015 after working for the company for 30 years at two properties in Georgia, Williams suddenly was cast into the unenviable position of being a man in his 50s looking for a job. It was time to follow his own advice of stay positive and get busy marketing yourself.   Since he started in January, Williams has been busy doing what he does best, motivating others to implement his vision.   Old friends like Mike Crawford and Thomas Bastis, former superintendents who have gone on to take positions as PGA Tour agronomists, have been on hand through the final run-up to the tournament. Like Williams, Bastis and Crawford have climbed to the top of the career ladder by preaching and practicing staying positive and focused.    "It's been awesome to have this moment in my career, to do a Nelson and do it with colleagues and peers," he said. "This moment wasn't lost on us. We preach positivity and how that makes things happen, and here we are."   The result has been playing conditions that will force the world's best players to be on top of their game if they want to be within striking distance of the lead on Sunday.   The rough is being maintained at 2.5 inches and the greens are lightning quick. In fact, Stimpmeter readings and slope have meant backing off the greens just a little to keep the course fair, Williams said during the Wednesday pro-am.   "The greens are perfect. We've had to slow them down a little to get to our target of 11 to 11.5," he said. "We could speed them up and make people cry. We're mowing at 0.125 (inches) and we're not always rolling. There was one today we couldn't mow. We just dew-whipped it and got out of the way. No. 16 only has a couple of pin placements, and if s windy it could be a 16 by the end of the day."   He and his crew of 35 or so, plus another 20-25 volunteers, have provided a setup that would have made Nelson proud.   "Now that I've seen this property live and not just on TV, I know what an amazing venue it is," Williams said. "It is a testament to Byron Nelson and the local community. They have poured out in huge numbers to support this, and it's an honor to be part of the last one."   After Sunday, the Nelson will move across town to Trinity Forest Golf Club where Kasey Kauff is the director of grounds. Kauff sent some of his staff to the Four Seasons to help out, and next year Williams will return the favor.   "We're going to pass this off to Kasey," he said. "He sent his assistants here to help us with the last one here, and we will reciprocate and send our people to him to help him with his first Nelson."  
    The greens are perfect. We've had to slow them down a little to get to our target of 11 to 11.5. We could speed them up and make people cry."
     
    Four Seasons director of golf Paul Earnest echoed Williams' sentiments.   "It's a great time, a great time to celebrate," Earnest told The Dallas Morning News recently. "It's been a rich history for our club and resort. Thirty-five years. There's very few events on Tour that last at one facility for that long.   "We've enjoyed it. We'll miss it. I'll miss it, for sure, but it's very positive. It's fueling us to make this one the best ever."   The Nelson has had eight homes since the first was contested in 1944 at Lakewood Country Club. It has been hosted each year by The Salesmanship Club, a local civic organization founded in 1920 to help underprivileged children in the Dallas area.   Before the tournament moves on to its ninth stop next year, Williams hopes the local community, tournament host, golf fans everywhere and players will remember the Four Seasons as a site that was worthy of sharing the spotlight with Nelson and his memory.   "We will always have a connection to Byron Nelson and his legacy with or without this tournament," Williams said. "I hope people recognize that Four Seasons pride and service that make this such a special place. I want them to see that that we paid special attention to the legacy of Byron Nelson. While this is a bittersweet moment, I'm proud of our effort. This is going to be the cherry on top of the sundae, not just for Nelsons, but who we are in North Texas golf.   "This is a big piece of my legacy, and that is not lost on me. I want the fourth quarter of my career to be the best yet. I want to overachieve."   Anyone who knows Anthony Williams would expect nothing less.
  • To prove that golf course superintendents are responsible stewards of the environment, Ryan Kraushofer is taking his message to the people, even if they are only 12 years old.   Privately owned Westminster National Golf Course, where Kraushofer is general manager and superintendent, doubled as a learning laboratory during a recent field trip for fifth-graders at at Winfield Elementary School in Westminster, Maryland. Kids learned about sand and soil media and how they affect water distribution, how soil meters can help superintendents use less water, the science behind determining chemical application rates and how golf is a game for lifetime.   The field trip is part of the First Green program, an STEM education initiative that since 1997 has shown students how golf course superintendents use science, technology, engineering and math to do their jobs on the golf course. The STEM program is a collaborative effort between the USGA, GCSAA and several allied associations from the Pacific Northwest.   It was the second time since November that Westminster had been used by local students as a laboratory. When skyrocketing fees for renting a school bus threatened to derail the first field trip six months ago, the Mid Atlantic GCSAA. Chapter was so intent on making the trip happen that it voted to give nearby Spring Garden Elementary $500 to help cover the cost of transportation.   "That's how much we wanted that field trip to happen," Kraushofer said.    Since then, the chapter has built into its budget a $200 line item for transportation assistance to attract local such as  Westminster.   The field trip was a hit with the school's approximately 90 fifth graders along with a handful of teachers and parent chaperones.   "We didn't realize how much water they use, and how they have to take into account wind and other things," said Westminster physical education teacher Meghan Robertson who organized the trip. "The kids loved it. Chaperones, teachers and students all said it was one of the best field trips in regard to educational value."   For many kids on the field trip, getting a chance to putt on Westminster's practice green was their first real introduction to golf. Even then, they had to first learn what goes into producing top playing conditions with minimal inputs.   "Kids have no idea what we do out here. The parents don't know either,"" Kraushofer said. ""They have no clue how we operate and do things. They are just as amused and curious as the kids."   Kraushofer hopes the First Green program catches on at other golf courses around the country so others can help to dispel some of the rumors and misconceptions about golf course management and environmental stewardship. For example, use of soil-moisture meters has help Kraushofer cut water use by more than 10 percent in recent years, and his entire spray budget is a mere $20,000.   "People don't know what we do to save water," he said. "And they every time we have a weed that we broadcast spray the whole golf course."   He also hopes the program might help create a lifelong golfer or two, or even a future superintendent.   "We all need to do this," he said.   "The more we can spread the word about we are protecting the environment, the better."  
  • Whether it is trying to steer public perception of an industry that relies on chemical pesticides and the use of millions of gallons of water, or managing fallout when a product wipes out finely managed turf or dozens of trees, the golf business could stand to learn a few things in the way of crisis communication. 
     
    Some tips for communicating through a crisis include plan ahead, plan for the worst, act fast, show sorrow or remorse for victims without admitting guilt and try to get past it as quickly as possible.
     
    "We spend an inordinate amount of time building our brand and earning consumer trust," said Lisa Lochridge, director of public affairs for the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, whose talk entitled "Preparing for the Worst: Communicating in a Crisis" kicked off this year's Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual meeting recently in Tampa. "That is our capital, and one crisis can wipe that out overnight."
     
    As the face of an industry that also relies on working the ground to produce living crops, Lochridge knows a thing or two about communicating in a crisis.
     
    When a Texas fertilizer plant built next to a school exploded killing dozens of people and sending dozens more to the hospital, she fielded countless calls from Floridians and members of the mainstream media who wondered whether the same thing could happen in their state.
     
    She guided her association and managed the message through an e-coli breakout that initially was blamed on Florida-grown tomatoes before it was eventually determined that peppers grown in Mexico were the source. 
     
    "It was like a runaway horse. I'd listen to 10 voicemails, and 10 more calls would come in in the meantime," she said. "If you've ever been on a runaway horse, you want to feel like you are steering, but you're really just holding on for dear life.
     
    "You have to consider the world we live in with 24-hour social media and 24-hour news. You have to be out there telling your story. If you're not out there telling it, someone else will be, and they might not get it right."
     
    Lochridge defined a crisis as any "unplanned or unwanted visibility."
     
    "It's when you find yourself in the crosshairs and you don't want to be," she said.
     
    There are four types of crises, any of which can apply throughout the golf business either to individual operations, vendors, associations, or the overall industry as a whole.
     
    Immediate - unexpected and devastating. Smoldering - preventable, signs it is coming, failure to act can cause things to erupt. Strategic - intentional, for business reasons, must be explained. Sustained - nagging, ongoing, never goes away.  
    The steps to managing a crisis are mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
     
    "You want to spend a lot of your time in mitigation and prevention," Lochridge said.
     
    "Crisis communication gives you a chance to look at what risk is and put measures and processes into place that hopefully will keep a crisis from happening in first place. Another goal is shortening the lifecycle of the crisis as soon as you can. You want to get through it, and you want to get over it and resume normal operations as soon as possible. How you respond in first 12 hours is going to go a long way in determining how you are going to recover and how quickly you are going to recover."



    Another goal is shortening the lifecycle of the crisis as soon as you can...
     
    She suggests assembling a team of key players who can help draft a communications plan that can be adapted to a variety of challenges.
     
    "Messaging is a critical component of your plan. Who has to say what to whom? You have to make decisions in an informed way" she said. 
     
    "A plan is a blueprint for what you want to say, to whom you want to say it and how do you want to say it and when. It guides you through the process and is a framework that is adaptable. If you have a plan, you might have to adapt it, but if something happens you already have something from which to work."
     
    When something does occur, it is critical to be on top of it early. Otherwise, depending on the crisis, it is only a matter of time before someone else's version shows up on social media or a video on YouTube.
     
    "People are slow to come around to the idea of be out there quickly and deal with a crisis and get it over with," Lochridge said. "People tend to go into hunker down mode and that can be fatal in this world of 24-hour social media and 24-hour news."
     
    If managing through the crisis will include addressing the media, try to anticipate what questions will be asked and be ready for those tough questions that you dread. 
     
    "Keep your message on point," she said. "Think of the one question you would love to answer only if someone would ask you. If you haven't been asked that one thing, ask it yourself, and answer it."
     
    A large part of any response must be to show concern and regard for any victims without admitting guilt or negligence. That might mean including attorneys in the preventive planning process.
     
    "If you are the face of the crisis, be a leader and show decisiveness," she said. "In today's world, many people fall flat on their face when showing concern and care. With today's consumers, that is not going to get you very far if you are not saying we are really concerned about this and we are going to do everything we can to get to the bottom of it and make sure it doesn't happen again. And you want to be out there telling your story. If you're not someone else will be and chances are they will be getting it wrong."
     
  • The only thing hotter than the weather this week in Tampa Bay, was TurfNet's run through the awards ceremony at the Turf and Ornamental Communications Association annual conference.
     
    TurfNet came away from the annual meeting held May 2-4 at Saddlebrook Resort with a total of 19 awards. The haul included seven merit (second place) awards, 11 first place entries and a best-in-category Gardner Award.
     
    Jon Kiger and John Reitman won seven awards each, Randy Wilson earned two awards, and Peter McCormick, Kevin Ross and Hector Velasquez each won an award.
     
    Kiger won a Gardner Award and a first-place mention in the publishing category for his blog series Syngenta Welcomes Back Golf that celebrated the return of golf to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
     
    His other contributions that won first-place recognition were Remember What's Important (Photography, Video and Multimedia: Best use of editorial or opinion in video/DVD) and Reducing Braemar Golf Course from 27 to 18 holes (New Media: Podcasts). Kiger, along with Alan Mahon of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland, collaborated on the first-place winning one-page design article TurfNet Lends Support to the Irish Open at the K Club in the International category.
     
    Reitman, who the day before was named the winner of TOCA's Plant Health Writer of the Year Award picked up four firsts and three seconds.
     
    His winning entries were: Olympics fallout a black eye golf does not need (best editorial/opinion), Former superintendents find peace on the other side (best series) and Golf's voice of reason (best environmental stewardship article). Reitman and Syngenta's Mark LeFleur shared first place for their work on the 2017 TurfNet's Superintendents' Best Friend calendar: Success of a Turf Dog.
     
    Peter McCormick won first place in the design category (overall media kit design) for the 2017 TurfNet Media Kit.
     
    Last summer, Kevin Ross was applauded my many for his video coverage behind the scenes at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. On May 4, he was recognized again when his work won first place in the Photography, Video and Multimedia category for best CD/audiovisual presentation.
     
    For years, Hector Velasquez has been providing quick and easy tips for equipment managers through his series entitled Hector's Shop. His entry Repairing a Rewind Starter was recognized as a first-place winner in the TOCA contest for best instructional video.
     
    Merit awards (second place) were "TurfNet on Tour, Volunteering at the 2016 Irish Open" (New Media: blogs - Kiger), "Fabricating a Turkey Feeder at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay" (Photography, Video and Multimedia: instructional video/DVD - Kiger), "Colleagues remember Bengals' Daily off the field as well as on" (Writing: general feature article) - Reitman, "Field day shares experiences with organics and native grasses" (Photography, Video and Multimedia: photograph - Reitman), "California golf faces some high hurdles" (Writing: writing for website - Reitman), "Skeletal Golf Theory 101" (Photography, Video and Multimedia: editorial or opinion in a video or DVD - Wilson) and "Rivermont Country Club Organic Field Day Video Series" (Photography, Video and Multimedia: CD/audiovisual presentation - Wilson).   The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association is a 200-plus member association comprising editorial, advertising and marketing professionals working in the green industry.
  • Little did John Reitman know when he left the world of Florida news and sports copy editing in 2004 that a dozen years hence he would receive a national award for journalism excellence in a field foreign to him at the time: plant health.
    Reitman was recognized this week by the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) as the 2017 Plant Health Writer of the Year, an annual award sponsored by Bayer. It was presented at the 28th TOCA Annual Meeting at the Saddlebrook Resort outside Tampa, Florida. Reitman is a former TOCA board member, and an alumnus of the University of Kentucky.
    Also recognized at the meeting was Dr. Frank Wong of Bayer Crop Science as the 2017 Environmental Communicator of the Year.

    Plant health is a big deal in turf management today, supported by corporate and university commitments to research, product development and education. Bridging the gap between research and the end user is the turf media, who are brought together several times annually by TOCA.
    In his letter nominating Reitman for the award, TurfNet founder and maestro Peter McCormick said, "When John joined Turnstile Media Group (TurfNet's parent company) in 2004, he had no prior academic training or work experience related to agronomy or other plant sciences. Nonetheless, he dove in, absorbed and mastered the science of managing golf course turf. He maintains a network of connections with university turf professors and researchers, monitors university research publications, attends university turf field days, hosts two dozen university-level webinars each year, shoots and edits video for TurfNetTV and hosts various TurfNetRADIO podcast episodes.
    I am used to giving out awards, but receiving one is a little different. This is an honor..." - John Reitman "John has a knack for taking content that can be lengthy and somewhat dry, distilling it down to its essence, and presenting it in a readable fashion that grabs the readers eye and holds their attention," McCormick said. "As if he had nothing else to do, John also orchestrates, manages and presents our TurfNet Superintendent of the Year and Technician of the Year award programs."
    Jon Kiger, director of advertising and membership sales for TurfNet and current TOCA board member, added, "We at TurfNet value John as a critical member of our very small team, and appreciate TOCA's recognition of him as Plant Health Writer of the Year for 2017."
    "We give out a couple of awards every year at TurfNet, and I am responsible for marshalling those projects," said Reitman after receiving the award. "I am used to giving out awards, but receiving one is a little different. This is an honor. Thank you to my colleagues at TurfNet, Peter McCormick and Jon Kiger, for nominating me. I couldn't do any of what I do on a regular basis without them. Thank you to everyone at Bayer and on the committee for choosing me. "I know many of the past winners (Larry Aylward, Karl Danneberger and Howard Richman of GCM, recently) and have a tremendous amount of respect for them and the work they do. It is humbling to follow them in winning this award," he continued.  "I would also like to recognize all of our competitors in the turf media. They keep us on our toes, and hopefully we provide them with some friendly competition, too."
  • Who knew there was so much overlap between golf and local politics?   As a former superintendent and the owner of Innovative Drain Technologies, a company that specializes in fixing drainage issues on golf courses, Jim Hill works to maintain the integrity of putting greens and bunkers by keeping perforated pipe free of muck and debris that impedes the flow of water through the soil.   As a longtime member of the city council of Sebastian, Florida, Hill works equally hard to maintain the integrity of local politics and the laid-back lifestyle that residents of this laid-back waterfront town have come to cherish.   Sure, the population of 23,000 people who call the town home is far greater than the 2,800 who lived there in 1980, but the sleepy lifestyle that helped keep this municipality largely invisible compared with its neighbors up and down Florida's east-central coast.   And that's a good thing, says Hill, who cannot mask his love for hometown.   "Sebastian today is a great town. If you were there in the 1990s, it was a great town. It's even better now than it was then, and not a lot of places can say that," said Hill, 48.   "If you go north and south on the coast, the growth has really taken off. We don't want that."   Hill's first foray into local politics came in 2000 when he won a city council seat in Sebastian. After four years on the council, including serving as vice mayor in 2002 and 2003, Hill stepped out of the public eye from 2004 to 2008, and has been on the council since, including two years as mayor (2010-11).   Before he was a public servant, Hill was a superintendent, including stops at Sun Tree Country Club in Melbourne and the Majors Club in Palm Bay. It was during his tenure at Pointe West in Vero Beach from 2003 to 2007 that the idea of being an entrepreneur first entered his mind.   "I established it out of necessity," he said. "At Pointe West, about 15 greens had severe drainage problems. I looked in the industry for a solution, and the only answers I received were to dig up the outfall pipe, put a 1-inch hose in to find out where the outfall is and that tells me if it is draining or not. That wasn't suitable for me at the time, so I started looking outside the industry."   What he eventually found was a high-pressure water jet system used by the landfill industry to keep leachate pipes free of debris and contamination so water seeping downward through the system could travel unimpeded to leachate ponds.   "Landfill construction is almost identical to a USGA spec green," Hill said. "There are pipes and gravel layers on the bottom. All the water travels down through goes into pipes into leachate ponds. For them to work, they conduct high-pressure water jetting. That keeps the landfills up and running. They're jumbo-sized greens that stink."  
    Landfill construction is almost identical to a USGA spec green."
     
    He left his job as a superintendent behind a decade ago to pursue running his own company.  Today, he uses ground-penetrating radar to locate drainage and outflows, and his high-pressure water jet powers through clogs at 3,000 psi, breaking up nearly everything in its path, creating a system that is virtually 100 percent clog-free. By comparison, the alligators that dot the Florida courses on which he works, have a bite force of about 2,200 psi.   "That's going to eliminate just about anything that is in that pipe," he said.   Although many of his customers are around Florida, he has expanded his service throughout the Southeast.   The business of golf and the business of running a city overlap on occasion.    The Indian River is one of the area's great economic engines. It is a world-class fishing destination, attracting people from around the globe. The town's small riverfront shopping and dining district also attracts tourists who come to town, spend their money and go home.   Hill's background comes in especially handy in matters involving management of city parks and athletic fields, as well as more in-depth issues like agriculture runoff and other issues affecting the river and operating a city-owned golf course.   "My expertise in those areas goes a long way to helping others understand what needs to take place on those facilities," he said. "I am able to provide people the information they need to make an informed decision."   Biologists have done little to shed light on the problems facing the river, that have included algae blooms, fish kills and native seagrasses that provide habitat disappearing at an alarming rate. Scientists have pointed to a variety of contributors, including climate extremes, runoff, pollution, drought and freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee, which is connected to the river through a series of canals.   Such issues provide an opportunity for discourse between Hill and other local officials with their colleagues at the county and state levels to effect change for their constituents.   But he points to issues that directly affect the people of Sebastian as a source of pride, including an extension of the public sewer system through the town last year and an economic grant program that helped individual homeowners and businesses transition to the system from septic.   It's because he knows, as a former superintendent, what it feels like to have greens and bunkers that don't drain, that he shows the same compassion for greenkeepers who need his help.    "The result is a healthier plant that can fend off disease much better," he said. "The plant is better equipped to deal with a host of stresses, like disease, wear and traffic, compaction, heat and cold. If we can remove one stress, which is excessive moisture, it makes it easier for superintendents to deal with those other stresses."  
  • Aquatrols names new president 
      Aquatrols has named Matt Foster president and chief executive officer.   Formerly the company's chief operating officer, Foster is responsible for company performance in product development and manufacturing, marketing, sales, human resources, operations and logistics, financial management and other business functions.    His new role follows a transition period during which longtime president Tracy Jarman and director of sales Andy Moore have been shifting from operational duties to help guide strategy as directors on Aquatrols' executive board.   Following its acquisition by Rural American Fund in 2015, Aquatrols has expanded the leadership team, streamlined operations, instituted an aggressive research and development plan, and expanded product distribution.   A former superintendent, Foster has 25 years of experience in the green industry where he was most recently global director of plant health for FMC Corp.  
    TPI taps TAMU's Reynolds
      Turfgrass Producers International recently named Casey Reynolds, PhD, as the association's executive director.   Reynolds most recently was an assistant professor and turfgrass extension specialist at Texas A&M, where he coordinated statewide turfgrass research and extension programs. He was the creator and editor of the program's website, AggieTurf.tamu.edu, and developed much of its educational content. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served as a turfgrass research and extension associate for North Carolina State University from 2003-2013.   A native of rural North Carolina, he earned a bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. all from North Carolina State. His wife, Diane, has a doctorate in entomology and works for Adama, an agrichemical company.    Reynolds can be contacted at creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org.  
    Redexim adds to staff
      Redexim Turf Products named Tim Schwierjohn to its staff.   Based in Imperial, Missouri, Schwierjohn has more than 15 years of real world experience in the turf business either as a superintendent, general manager or assistant superintendent at golf courses throughout the St. Louis area.   "Tim has been a valuable resource as a superintendent and we are thrilled to have him join our sales team," said Paul Hollis, executive vice president.  
    UofA's O'Brien earns tag as future leader
      Daniel O'Brien, a graduate student in the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, has earned a Future Leaders in Science Award from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.   O'Brien, who is working on his master's degree in horticulture with a concentration in turfgrass management, was presented the award at the annual ASA, CSSA and SSSA Congressional Visits Day in Washington, D.C., March 14. He was one of only 18 recipients for 2017. The awards are in recognition of interest and engagement in science advocacy.   O'Brien is a horticulture program technician working with professor Doug Karcher, assisting in turfgrass research. O'Brien's research focuses on adapting technologies used in turfgrass management, particularly as they relate to golf course putting greens.   O'Brien earned his bachelor's degree in agronomy and soils from Auburn University and joined the U of A Horticulture Department in 2013.   ASA, CSSA and SSA are scientific societies helping members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy, crop, soil sciences and related disciplines.   UTA names new CEO
      United Turf Alliance announced the appointment of George Furrer as its chief executive officer. United Turf Alliance markets turf protection products under the ArmorTech and Optimizer brand names exclusively through its members and dealer partners.   Furrer's career in the industry spans nearly 30 years and includes management positions at both the distribution and manufacturing levels of the turf and ornamental industry.   In January, UTA also appointed Aaron Goy to fill the newly created position of Director of Sales and Marketing. The new role was created to support the growth of UTA and better support its members and dealer partners.   SipcamRotam recently named Michael Maravich as its vice president for specialty business. He replaces George Furrer, who was is the new CEO of United Turf Alliance.   Maravich will oversee the specialty business comprised by turf, ornamental and material preservation business segments.   Maravich is a graduate of the turfgrass management program at Ohio State. He is based in La Quinta, California.
  • Sometimes talking a good game just is not enough.   There are some initiatives that take place in golf that sound good, but the results are difficult to quantify. But it's hard not to recognize the benefits of providing a habitat for pollinating insects.   "They need our help because their numbers are declining," said Matt Ceplo, CGCS at Rockland Country Club in Sparkill, New York. "(They) pollinate food crops, (are an) environmental indicator - canary in coal mine kind of thing, (they are) good PR and a food source for many birds and larger predators. It's fun and interesting."   The bee population, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, dropped steadily from 1989 to 2008, but has been on the rise ever since. There were 2.66 million commercial bee colonies in 2015, which is just slightly less than the 2.7 million in 2014 that represented a 20-year high, according to the USDA.   Ceplo has spent the better part of two decades, 19 years to be exact, providing habitat for butterflies, birds, caterpillars (moths) and now pollinating insects. The course is home to wood-boring and ground-nesting bees, and he helps them along by providing nesting habitat in the way of wood blocks and sandy ground.   His ongoing work was the subject of a recent case study by the New York State Turfgrass Association.   About 10 percent of Rockland's 140 acres are dedicated to natural or non-managed areas.   The first step in the process, says Ceplo, is identifying desirable insects to attract and the right plant life that will accomplish that goal. Native plants seem to make the most sense because they require the least amount of care, but all native plants are not created equally.   In some plants, like forsythia, Ceplo said, it is difficult for insects to get to the pollen, so they ignore it. There are others, like purple loosestrife which is not native to New York, that are like catnip to pollinators.   "The subject is far from black and white," Ceplo said. "There is a world of gray."   What is certain, said Fred Gehrisch, CGCS at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina, are the benefits of attracting pollinators.   "We're doing it to protect the environment," Gehrisch said.   "You can talk about doing the right thing, but sometimes you just have to step up and do the right thing."   Gehrisch has maintained several acres of low-maintenance native areas for years. Last year he started two bee hives on the property and added three more this year.   Emily Dobbs is the manager of the Brosi Lab at Emory University in Atlanta. She also helped plant and manage the first Operation Pollinator plot in the United States when she was a graduate student for Dan Potter, Ph.D., at the University of Kentucky.    She says there are many advantages to using native plants to attract beneficial insects.   "I would suggest using as many native wildflower species as possible, because they generally support a more diverse group of our native bees, both nutritionally and in terms of nesting habitat, and are often lower maintenance than non-natives," Dobbs said via email.    Golf courses make great pollinator habitats, she said, because superintendents who manage them have horticultural expertise, and the properties are protected from large numbers of people. Also, so many golf courses in urban and suburban areas often provide the only large swaths of habitable landscape for some insects. Bees can travel for two to three miles from their hive in search of pollen.   Dobbs suggests checking with local extension agents to help identify plants that are both hearty and will support pollinators.    "Having all native plant species is also useful if you are trying to get certification with the Audubon Society, etc. That doesn't mean that non-native wildflower species are terrible for bees," she said. "For example, many members of the mint, aster, and rose families are excellent perennials for bee plantings, most of which are not native to eastern North America."   Raising bees on the golf course also can be good public relations for an industry that needs it, and is a positive way to further engage members on the good works of their greens staff.   "I can't tell you how much goodwill it has established with members. They love them," Gehrisch said. "They're always asking 'how are they doing?' "   That acceptance, at least from some members, didn't all come automatically. Bees are non-aggressive, almost aloof insects - as long as you don't antagonize them.   "It took a little education," Gehrisch said. "A few people were worried about being stung and swarming bees. Before I could say anything, other members told them that the bees were already here, and that we were not just harvesting them. They see me go to the apiary with no protective clothes on and then realize they are not aggressive at all."
  • Historically, anthracnose is a problem on golf courses during middle and late summer when cool-season turf is most vulnerable to stress. This year, it already is a problem in some areas where mild conditions prevailed throughout the winter.   Once turf becomes infected with the anthracnose pathogen, it usually is a problem for the rest of the season. It is prevalent so early this year in areas that either had it last summer or have a history of it and where winter temperatures were so mild that it never really left, according to  Ohio State University plant pathologist Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D.    "To clarify, this is on greens on Poa annua. Most likely, it infected those plants last year, because of the mild conditions in continued right on through the winter months," Rimelspach said.    "This is a nasty disease and one you want to get under control now before the heat of summer. You don't want crowns weak and infected going into the the summer."   The average daily high temperature in Columbus in January was nearly 45 degrees, which is 6 degrees above the historic average, according to the National Weather Service. In February, it was 54, which is 12 degrees above normal.   "If you have it, or have a history of it, make sure you are doing proper scouting," said Todd Hicks, program manager in OSU's turf pathology department in a video published on the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Turf Tips page. "Once you have it, it's going to be with you for the rest of the season."  
    So long as it's going to stay wet you're going to have leaf spot. It doesn't matter if it's warm or cold. It likes both."
     
    Ohio State's turf pathology department has published an anthracnose management guide that offers preventive tips, curative strategies and the role of cultural practices in avoiding the disease entirely or at least minimizing the risk.   A total of 12 inches of precipitation was recorded in central Ohio through the first quarter of 2017, and about 99.999 percent of that has come in the way of rain during what was an abnormally warm winter.   The wet ground has made it difficult for superintendents in many areas to find windows where it has been dry enough to pull plugs, spray or even mow.   "What this has caused is a lot of spraying nightmares," Hicks said. "People have had a hard time getting out trying to make their applications, trying to mow, trying to do aerations on golf courses and get those cores up without it being a sloppy, muddy mess."   Those conditions have joined forced to give way to a few other problems as well, including leaf spot.   "If this has been a problem for you, you need to get it under control now because it's only going to get worse," Hicks said.   "So long as it's going to stay wet you're going to have leaf spot. It doesn't matter if it's warm or cold. It likes both."   Rimelspach and Hicks have observed dollar spot only on a couple of occasions, but said it will be a full-blown problem soon. Fortunately, they added, there are several new products on the market that offer good control.   Check out their family of fungicides chart for more information on control options and how to avoid resistance issues.  
  • Global Turf adds new sales director
      Global Turf Equipment, an independent seller and exporter of pre-owned golf course equipment, named Garry Callahan as director of strategic accounts.     Callahan most recently served as a regional manager for Jacobsen.   Based near Tampa, Florida, GTE serves golf facilities in 50 states and more than 80 countries. The company offers products from a variety of manufacturers, including Toro, John Deere, Jacobsen and Club Car. Its inventory includes fairway green and rough mowers; top dressers and spreaders; trim mowers; turf aerators, sprayers, vacuums and blowers; utility vehicles and more.   Anuvia receives sustainability award
      Anuvia Plant Nutrients recently were named Edison Award winners by Edison Universe for its organic MaTRX technology.   The company received Bronze Award recognition in the Sustainability category.   Its GreenTRX for turf is a slow-release delivery system that mimics what happens to organic matter in the soil. It places up to 17 percent organic matter back in the soil. It does not use any of the current chemical or poly coating technologies used by other slow release products.  Anuvia products reduce nutrient losses in the environment and deliver a balanced nutrient package for crops and turf.   The Edison Awards and Edison Universe recognize innovation that creates a positive impact on the world.     PBI-Gordon names new herbicide manager
      PBI-Gordon named Jay Young as its herbicide product manager. He is responsible for planning, developing and directing product strategies and marketing programs for the company's herbicide brands.   Young has almost 20 years of experience in the professional turf industry, and most recently was global specialty solutions product manager at FMC Corp.    Prior to that, he was assistant superintendent and director of agronomy at several prominent golf courses, and was a territory manager for Harrell's LLC.
  • In a world overrun with political correctness, Dick Gray is an exhilarating breath of fresh air.
     
    After 50 years as a superintendent, including the past four at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the 74-year-old Gray still approaches every day on the job with old-school style. He pushes the envelope every day on playing conditions and doesn't believe you have to spend a ton to do it.
     
    "My philosophy is terminal velocity every day," said Gray, who in February received the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta. "We don't always get there, but we try.
     
    "I always thought the best guys came from upper low-level clubs, or lower mid-level clubs, because you couldn't hide behind a budget. You can hide behind a budget and be mediocre. It looks like you did something, but really it was the money that got you there. Then there are other guys, you go to their golf course and wonder 'how in the hell did you get this done for this amount of money?' "
     
    He holds in the highest regard golfers who entrust him with their course and members of his team who help him maintain it.
     
    "I always remember him telling me 'you have to water your horses. You have to take care of your people and treat them with respect,' " said John Cunningham, CGCS, a former assistant under Gray in the late 1990s at Martin Downs Country Club in Palm City, Florida, and now the assistant general manager and director of agronomy at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. "He believes in treating everyone equally and treating everyone like they are important."
     
    Admittedly Gray has a history for being a bit salty toward those who get in the way of his passion - building a great team that can produce great greens. When he was the superintendent at a private club in Palm Beach County, a member asked him if it was necessary to keep the greens running so fast all the time. His reply cut to the chase: This is Jupiter Hills. Get your game in shape.
     
    Gray's career spans parts of six decades and a handful of courses around Florida's southeastern coast, including Jupiter Hills and the Dye-designed Loblolly Pines in Hobe Sound where he was the project manager for Pete and P.B. Dye during construction in the 1970s and where he returned years later as superintendent.
     

    He is the total package. He can build it, he can grow it, he can maintain it and he can grow a crew."
     
    "The one thing that Dick has that makes him different is great compassion for the people who work for him," said longtime Loblolly pro Rick Whitfield. "He treats his crew like family. That's what people don't see in Dick. He knows the product that he produces is only as good as his crew. And wherever he worked, that's what stood out, the product that he produced."
     
    While he has showed a deep reverence for his crew everywhere he has worked, his feelings for general managers, whom he calls "bartenders who have taken some night courses", have been a different story.
     
    A graduate of Wabash College in his native Indiana where he earned a degree in botany, Gray went back to school years later and earned a master's degree from Texas Tech in restaurant, hotel and institutional management, not because he wanted to become a general manager, but because he didn't trust them.
     
    "A lot of general managers come from that program," he said. "I thought I might have to report to them one day, and I want them to know damn well that I'm every bit as educated as they are. I can do their job and manage the asset. They can't manage the asset.
     
    "It gives me credibility that is undeniable. I know their language and their formula. I'm not just mouthing words like a parrot."
     
    Gray's tell-it-like-it-is philosophy has cost him a two-stroke penalty on occasion, but he goes to bed each night with a clear conscience.
     
    His professional career essentially began at Crooked Stick in Indiana, where he first met Pete Dye. Along with Martin Downs, Jupiter Hills and Loblolly Pines, he was the superintendent at Sailfish Point, an oceanfront Jack Nicklaus design near Stuart, Florida. He dabbled in architecture, designing and building the nearby Florida Club where he also was the GM. Over a long and storied career managing some of South Florida's finest layouts, Gray has never had to move even once.
     
    "He is the total package," Whitfield said. "He can build it, he can grow it, he can maintain it and he can grow a crew."
     
    At PGA, he has rebuilt two of the club's four courses (one of which is for sale), is working on a third with plans to rework the fourth in the future. Only now is he coming around on his view toward GMs, thanks to Jimmy Terry, who brought a small army to this years Golf Industry Show in Orlando to support Gray at the superintendent of the year announcement.
     
    Id heard (the stories), but Ive never seen any of that here, Terry told TurfNet in February. We have a great relationship.
     
    When Gray accepted the job as superintendent at PGA Golf Club, he did so with the understanding that he wouldn't work for a general manager. When the PGA of America, which owns the property, hired Terry, Gray told the association's Darrell Crall "This wasn't part of the deal. (GMs) are incompetent and they're insecure, and that's a bad combination."
     
    He quickly learned that Terry, who stands head and shoulders above him, is no pushover.
     
    "I've had to temper myself since I've made those statements about bartenders taking night courses," Gray said.
     
    "Jimmy's a 6-foot-6 golf pro from Texas. He's not incompetent and he sure as hell ain't insecure. We get along well, and the good part is he gives you the ball and lets you run with it."
     
    How others view Gray's style depends on whom you ask.
     
    "He is a very smart man with a great sense of humor. He knows what the hell he's doing, but he doesn't know s--t about dealing with people," Whitfield said.
     
    "A lot of people take Dick the wrong way. I've been to his wedding, and we're still good friends.  He doesn't make time for idle chatter. He has a job to do and he's going to do it."
     
    Those who have worked for him paint a different picture of the hard-nosed superintendent underneath the brim of his trademark cowboy hat.
     
    When Gray started at PGA he described his crew as a rag-tag group who wore whatever they could pull out of their closet. He got them uniforms and turned them into a laser-focused team. That uniform included wearing the same hat to shield them from the Florida. He allowed his team to pick their hat, with the understanding they all wore the same one. The mostly Spanish-speaking crew, who showed instant respect for Gray, chose a cowboy hat just like his.
     
    "He's the best communicator and motivator I've ever worked for," Cunningham said.
     
    "He and I forged a relationship from Day 1. He talked, and I just shut my mouth and listened. Ever since, he's been my mentor for turf and other things. I think those are the best mentors, who you not only can talk turf with, but talk life with."
     
    To this day, when he passes members of his team on the course, Gray stops to check in on each and the status of the job they are performing. He calls them by name, asks about their families.
     
    "Dick sees himself as a coach," Terry said. "And he coaches them up every day."
     
    It was while working for Walker Hood at Dykeman Park Golf Course in Logansport, Indiana during summers home from college that Gray learned the true role of a superintendent.
     
    "I played that golf course all through high school. On my first day, Walker takes me out to mow greens. He was 56 and I was 20," Gray said. "He says, in this razor-thin drawl, 'Diiiick. You see this here file? Take care of this here file, and this file will take care of you.' That meant don't lose the file. Then he reaches up and grabs a mowing scythe and says 'Diiiick. Take care of this here mowing scythe and this here mowing scythe will take care of you.' I've never forgotten that. That's my mantra: 'Take care of your job, and your job will take care of you.' "
     
  • Golf course superintendents often say the only thing separating them from farmers is the crop each grows.   Superintendents can look to traditional farmers in one of the world's most fertile food-producing regions for a valuable lesson on water use.   According to research conducted by NASA and Stanford University, underground aquifers in some parts of California's San Joaquin Valley have been so overtaxed that the ground's ability to hold water has been irreversibly damaged. Overpumping from 2007 to 2010, researchers say, has led to the ground subsiding by as much as 3 feet in some areas. Subsidence occurs when water is extracted from the earth, causing underground pockets that once held water to collapse.   If too much water is extracted from clay layers, the compaction becomes so great that the soil's ability to retain water is permanently diminished, according to Stanford researchers.   Thanks to an abundance of rain and snow in the the higher elevations that have helped recharge surface water reservoirs around the state, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared on April 7 that the state's most recent drought was over. Lakes that once were nearly dry now are full. Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir in California's complex matrix of surface water impoundments that move water around the state, was in the news daily when it came crashing through its spillway this winter.   That news has done little to alleviate concerns in areas where groundwater supplies remain sparse.   Thanks to overpumping of groundwater and ensuing subsidence, the San Joaquin Valley alone has permanently lost underground water-storage capacity of 336,000-600,000 acre feet, according to the study. For perspective, the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which delivers drinking water to San Francisco and is the 22nd largest water-storage impoundment in California, has a capacity of 360,000 acre feet.   Researchers say they expect at least that much underground water-storage space was lost again in California's most recent drought.    Folks in the Coachella Valley have taken notice. The Palm Springs area, which receives only about 5-6 inches of rain per year, gets its water from a variety of sources, including groundwater and the Colorado River.    According to the Coachella Valley Water District, more than 20 courses in the valley use recycled water or a mix that also includes Colorado River water. Twenty-nine courses take water directly from the Colorado and 73 others pump groundwater. The goal is to eventually get at least 50 courses in the valley on recycled water.   Recently, the CVWD announced its third "cash for grass" program for golf courses that pays water users to convert irrigated turf to non-irrigated land.   Just as it did in the previous cash for grass programs the CVWD will pay $15,000 for each acre of irrigated turf that is converted to desert xeriscape. The program is funded through a $5.24 million grant from California's Proposition 84 Implementation Grants program.   A total of 16 golf courses took part in one or both of the previous rebate programs, including and removed 129.5 acres of turf resulting in an estimated saves of 800 acre feet of water per year, or enough to provide water for 1,000 homes for one year, according to the district.   The cap for the third rebate program is a total of $1 million. At least six courses so far have signed up to take part in the latest cash for grass program, totaling $420,000 in rebates.   

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