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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Since 1944, June 6 has been remembered as the day the Allies invaded Europe, signalling the beginning of the end of World War II. This year, that date also will mark a new beginning in women's golf.   Women's Golf Day is a one-day, four-hour experience that will take place at golf courses around the world where women and girls can experience golf for the first time and where current players can play and engage with women interested in golf. And it all will take place at golf courses and retail locations around the world on D-Day.   Founded by Elisa Gaudet, president of the consulting and marketing firm Executive Golf International, WGD is a collaborative effort that includes golf management companies, retailers and organizations all working together to engage, empower and support girls and women through golf. That list includes the NGCOA, European Golf Course Owners Association, World Golf Foundation, International Golf Federation, Billy Casper Golf, ClubCorp, All Square, Expert Golf, Women & Golf and the International Council of Nurses.   The concept, which was rolled out recently at the PGA Merchandise Show, albeit by a panel comprised of men, is built on three pillars of Engage, Empower and Support.   Engage includes introducing women and girls to the game, empowering them for future success by providing them with recreational, social and business skills that last a lifetime, and offering support through a network of dedicated industry partners. The four-hour experience allows a simple and accessible platform to build a foundation and creates a network to support the continuation of the game regardless of skill level through instruction, play and socializing   To date, 485 golf courses and retail outlets in 30 countries across five continents have registered to take part in Women's Golf Day.  
    Women's Golf Day is an excellent to way to introduce women to the game. The event gives them a comfortable and fun atmosphere to experience golf as a game, but also showcases how it connects people and fosters life-long relationships."
     
    "Women's Golf Day is an excellent to way to introduce women to the game," said Mark Gore, vice president of golf for ClubCorp. "The event gives them a comfortable and fun atmosphere to experience golf as a game, but also showcases how it connects people and fosters life-long relationships."    Women's Golf Day couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Men have been dropping out of golf at a steady pace during the past decade. Women, on the other hand, have, by and large, been drawn to the game and represent a growth opportunity.   That all changed in 2015. There was a net gain of about 400,000 female golfers in 2014. According to the National Golf Foundation, that many females, and then some, left the game in 2015, dropping out out at a rate of 7.5 percent, which was more than double the rate at which men were leaving the game.   Women make up less than 25 percent of the U.S. golfer population, but make 80 percent of the household budget decisions, and thus still represent a growth market. The trick is finding ways to lure them in.   "Women play a critical role in the success of the golf industry," World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona said on the WGD web site. "Nearly 23 percent of all golfers in the U.S. are female and the creation of Women's Golf Day is an opportunity to increase awareness, participation, and showcase golf as a fun activity for people of all ages."  
  • No one would blame Dick Gray if, after 51 years as a superintendent, he had become complacent in his job. 
      Yeah, that's not about to happen.   In fact, it can be argued that only Jack Nicklaus has made a larger impact on the golf industry on Florida's Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches than Dick Gray. And at age 73, he still has an edge that is reminiscent of an athlete with a chip on his shoulder. Seven days a week, he continues to attack his job the same way he targeted opposing "wrasslers" in high school and college back in Indiana in the 1950s and 60s - like he still has something to prove.   "I see the world through the eyes of a guy who has been on the mat," said Gray, superintendent at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie. "When I see someone, I'm sizing him up. I'm looking for opportunities and holes so that if push comes to shove, I know where I'm going and he doesn't. And that's my world."   Gray has spent a lifetime making good courses great, and despite his rough exterior, he has a unique approach to personnel management in an industry known for chewing up and spitting out the personal lives of those who work in it.   For his years of dedication and lasting impact on golf courses from his native Indiana to Florida and a stop or two in between, Gray was named the winner of the 2016 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Four years ago, PGA Golf Club wasn't on the precipice of disaster. It already had been pushed over the edge, said general manager Jimmy Terry, who was hired shortly after Gray to revive the association's flagship property.   Fairways showed more weeds than turf and many greens throughout the property were flat dead. Terry said he has a photo depicting conditions before Gray's arrival that shows a green with mostly dead turf save for one square of sod so there was something to cut a cup into.   After four years, the property is back, membership is up by more than 10 percent and Gray is overseeing a multi-phase renovation that will have the property looking and playing like it did when it opened in the early 1990s.   Gray was chosen by a panel of industry judges from a field of six finalists that also included Tom Feller of Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Michael Golden of Longshore Golf Course in Westport, Connecticut, Brian Green of Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Kevin Seibel of Century Country Club in Purchase, New York, and Billy Weeks of Duke University Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina.   That group was selected from a field of 228 total nominees.   Criteria on which nominees are judged include: labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions.   Gray deflected responsibility for his success to his crew back in Port St. Lucie.   "There are 75 guys and gals back at the club who are the ball bearings that make everything run," he said. "I'm just the grease gun that keeps everything lubed up."   That humble approach has been his trademark throughout his long and storied career that began in 1967 back in Indiana. He helped put Crooked Stick in Indiana on the map and has worked at a half-dozen clubs throughout South Florida over the past 34 years. He was the architect of record at The Florida Club in Stuart, which opened in 1996. He also was the construction superintendent, grow-in superintendent, head superintendent and general manager.       Gray, who has been a friend and admirer of Pete Dye since they met at Crooked stick in 1969, is so old-school he rejects the title superintendent, instead, embracing the label of greenskeeper, which is on his business card.    "I don't know what's happened in this business. Greenskeepers became superintendents, superintendents have become director of this or that," he said. "In the end, you're going to be judged on your ability as a greenkeeper, not as an accountant. You have to be able to put it in the ground."  
    In the end, you're going to be judged on your ability as a greenkeeper, not as an accountant. You have to be able to put it in the ground."
     
    When it comes to relating to his mostly Spanish-speaking workforce, Gray constantly refers to them as "my guys."   When he passes them on the golf course, he doesn't just wave and drive on; he stops, puts his arm around them and talks to them.   "You can't manage them if you can't put your hands on them," he said.   He knows all of them by name, he knows their wives and he knows their children.   When he was invited to the Superintendent of the Year ceremony, he made it known that he wanted to stay behind at the golf course so he wouldn't miss a pizza party with his staff.   "A lot of them have to come a long way to get to work here. They could work anywhere, but they choose to work here. That says something," Terry said. "They could work at a lot of places, but they come here.   "Dick sees himself as a coach, and he coaches them up every day."   That hardly seems like the work of someone who has become complacent after a lifetime of accomplishment.   Previous winners include: Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, KS (2015); Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, NC (2014); Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, OH (2013), Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club (2012), Flourtown, PA; Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, TN (2011); Thomas Bastis, The California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, CA (2010); Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club (2009); Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields (IL) Country Club (2008); John Zimmers, Oakmont (PA) Country Club (2007); Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, CT (2006); Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, CA (2005); Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, FL (2004); Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, IL (2003); Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario (2002); Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, MA (2001); Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas (NV) Paiute Golf Resort (2000).
  • As a quarterback in the National Football League for 17 seasons, Ron Jaworski made a living dodging opposing defenses. To be successful, everyone on the team had to do their part, and that required focus, teamwork, communication and execution. When players didn't do their job, the team lost, no excuses.   When it comes to dismal business news affecting the golf industry, Jaworski really doesn't want to hear that either.   Jaworski, who owns seven golf courses in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, doesn't care that there are 1,000 fewer courses today than 10 years ago. He doesn't care that the number of rounds played has dropped 11 percent since 2000. He doesn't care that there are 29 percent fewer people playing the game today than there were in 2002.   "That's bull," said Jaworski, the keynote speaker at the National Golf Course Owners Association Golf Business Conference in Orlando during the Golf Industry Show. "That's all naysayers. I don't want to hear that."   Instead, his focus is on opportunities he can exploit to achieve his business goals. No excuses.   "If I can move 35,000 rounds through my golf courses, you can, too," he said. "It's up to all of us to grow the game."   Nicknamed "Jaws" by a Philadelphia Eagles teammate during a run to the 1981 Super Bowl, Jaworski has a lot to say when it comes to the business of running golf courses. And one of his gripes is that too many of his colleagues have taken the fun out of the game.   "I love golf. I get to play places like Pine Valley, Pebble Beach and Augusta. Those places are great, but they're not for everyone," Jaworski told the crowd.   "You are in the entertainment business. If you don't entertain your customers and make golf fun, then you're not going to be successful."   During his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, LA Rams, Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs, Jaworski recognized opportunities on the football field that could help his teams win. In business, he recognizes opportunities for success, as well. He's been around the game enough, he's owned 25 golf courses since 1979, to recognize that women and juniors represent growth opportunities, and his business model caters to them.   "People are building golf courses for women at 5,200 to 5,400 yards. That's ridiculous. That's equivalent to 7,500 yards for a man," Jaworski said.    "At my courses, ladies' tees are 4,200 to 4,400 yards, so women can enjoy the game. We don't want to humiliate them by making it so difficult. That's the approach I've taken."   The results speak for themselves.   "We given (women and children) a chance to come out and get free lessons, and $5 from every green fee goes to breast cancer awareness," Jaworski said.    "We have ladies leagues on all my courses that full, and we have the Jaws Youth Tour on all my courses."   It takes more than a plan to reach these goals. It takes a great team, Jaworski said. To build a great team, he said, you have to like people, you have to lead by example and you must create an atmosphere where people enjoy working together.   His lessons also translate to turf, where Jaworski's regional superintendent Charlie Clarke uses the same template to build his team. Clarke's role on that team goes much deeper than agronomics. As the person responsible for making the game fun for customers, he also plays an active role in customer engagement.   "I think we've taken the fun out of the game," Clarke said. "We have a golf architectural committee, and we let them pick where they want the tees. We moved some tees up by 150 yards, and we made the game fun again."   After all, as his boss says: "It's golf, it's about people."   No excuses.  
    - Note: Part II in a series of business-development issues affecting the golf industry
  • Golf has a past built on tradition and history. But a break from yesteryear might be in the offing if the game is to have a future.   That was the take-home message from this year's state of the industry report given each year at the PGA Merchandise Show by Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp. and Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors, who have gained a reputation for delivering sobering news with a touch of humor but with little or no regard for the feelings of industry cheerleaders.   The long and short of the report revealed that while rounds played were up slightly in 2016, the number of golfers is down, courses continue to close faster than they open and golf-playing Baby Boomers are all that stand between an industry making a slow recovery and one that is flat-lining.   "We have to change perceptions of the game. We have to change the product," Koppenhaver said. "We have the traditionalist who says 'this is golf, you either like it or you don't.' I'm sorry, the people have voted out there, and a lot of people have voted they don't (like it).   "If it weren't for Baby Boomers right now we'd be in a world of hurt."   That's a sobering message for a game that clings to Old Tom Morris as fervently as it does Jordan Spieth.   Improving pace of play through course set-up and management, promoting the time-saving merits of match play, offering free lessons along with a friendly and welcoming environment are just a few things that could help stop the bleeding. But finding the key to what will work and what will not must be discovered on a course-by-course basis.   "Somebody has to wake up and ask if we are presenting ourselves in the right way," Koppenhaver said.   There was some good news coming out of the report that attracted about 300 golf-hardened realists both in person and online in two separate sessions.   Rounds played in 2016 were up nationwide by 1 percent from 458.1 million in 2015 to 462.6 million, marking the second consecutive year of marginal growth, but at least it's growth. That mark is well behind the all-time high of 518.4 million rounds played in 2000 and is way off the original Golf 2020 projections of 1 billion rounds by year 2020.   "Obviously, that's not going to happen," Koppenhaver said.  
    Golf is hard. Golf is a game of positive aspirations. But it's also a game of negative feedback."
     
    Two years of a modest increase in play combined with courses closing at a rate of about 1 percent per year are bringing the industry closer to supply-demand equilibrium. Koppenhaver's Pellucid says golf facilities are healthiest when the average number of rounds per facility is about 35,000. Right now, that number is about 33,200. If Baby Boomers continue to prop up the game at the current pace for the next generation or so, equilibrium will occur sooner rather than later.   "At this rate, we will reach equilibrium in three to four years, not 10 years," he said.   A total of 22 courses (in 18-hole equivalents) opened in 2016, while 176 closed, marking the 11th straight year that closings have outpaced openings. Since that trend started in 2006, there has been a net loss of 1,148 18-hole equivalents (EHE).   Tracking the number of golfers in the game lags behind other industry markers by a year . . . which might be a good thing. The number of people playing the game is down, from 22 million in 2014 to 21 million in 2015. The zenith occurred in 2002 when 29.8 million people were in the game.   Since then, golfer attrition was attributed primarily to males as women and girls flocked to the game, but no more. Female players also dropped out of the game in 2015, and at a much higher rate than their male counterparts. Each showed a net loss of about a half-million players, but there are only 5.9 million female golfers compared with 15.1 million males who play the game.   Younger players also fled the game in 2015, with the 7-17 and 18-34 age groups accounting for nearly 700,000 of those losses.   Oversupply is not the biggest problem facing golf, Koppenhaver said. The problem is not enough golfers.    Koppenhaver said he thought by now that Baby Boomers would be the proverbial icing on the cake. Instead, they represent the flour, eggs and sugar in an otherwise icingless confection.   "Instead of them being a dividend, the Baby Boomers are basically supporting our industry right now," he said.   "Baby Boomers are playing more as they age. They are doing what we thought they would, but the under 30s are not doing what we did when we were under 30."   Public courses are toting the water for the rest of the industry.    A total of 372.2 million rounds were played on daily fee courses in 2016, which are up from 367.9 million in 2015 and 359.3 million in 2014. That number is down from the 381.1 million rounds played on public-access facilities in 2012 and mirrors the 372.2 million rounds played in 2009.    The trend is much different at private clubs, where 88.4 million rounds played in 2016 are down from 88.6 million in 2015, and way down from the 100 million rounds played in 2012 and the 103.3 million in 2009.   Koppenhaver discounts the popular notion that rounds at private clubs are irrelevant because of upfront dues. But a 14-percent drop in play over seven years can't be ignored.   "(Private rounds) do matter," he said. "If they're not getting value from their membership, what do they do? They drop their membership. That decline means (private clubs) will go out of business."   There are a host of reasons why golf is struggling, Lindsay said. It's expensive and it takes a long time to play, neither of which appeals to younger generations, and it's hard to play, which is the death knell for millennials seeking immediate gratification.   "Golf is hard," Lindsay said. "Golf is a game of positive aspirations. But it's also a game of negative feedback."   These numbers have rocked the golf equipment world, where combined sales of clubs, balls, shoes and gloves are off by a total of 7 percent. That's the worst year-to-year performance, Koppenhaver said, since 2009 and was enough to send Nike scurrying out of the stick-and-ball business altogether last summer.   Right now, the $64,000 question is what happens in another 20 years when Baby Boomers no longer can carry the game on their shoulders.   Lindsay's answer was of little comfort.   "That's when all hell's going to break loose."   - Note: Part I in a series of business-development issues affecting the golf industry  
  • Few sights are more disturbing to golfers than weeds poking through the soil where turf should be.   Although flowering weeds are indeed among the most troublesome challenges for golf course superintendents, what lurks beneath the surface likewise should not be dismissed.   Weed seed can lie dormant for years, waiting for just the right time to show itself.    "In demonstrations when you cut 2 inches of sod off well-maintained turf, people who come to a field day and look at that are wowed by how much weed seed is actually there," said Jim Brosnan, Ph.D. weed scientist at the University of Tennessee.   That window of opportunity might come in the way of an unrepaired divot or ball mark, anything that leaves even the narrowest window of bare soil. All it takes is an oblivious golfer wielding a 7-iron to set into motion millions of years of evolution.   "They are opportunistic, just waiting for the right time to complete their lifecycle," said Zane Raudenbush, Ph.D., at Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster. "That's all they are about, growing up and producing more seed."   All weeds, however, are not created equally.   Although most of the seeds that can be a nuisance to superintendents reside in the top few inches of soil, there is more to weeds than meets the eye. Scores of seeds can subsist in their dormant state several inches below the surface just waiting for something to bring them closer to the surface.   Although turning the soil and bringing weed seeds closer to the surface where they awake from their dirt nap is a bigger problem in production agriculture than it is in turf, but it is not completely foreign to golf.   "The top inch or two is what people focus on, but any time they renovate, they should be concerned with what they are bringing to the surface," said Dave Gardner, Ph.D., weed scientist at Ohio State University's main campus in Columbus.   Weed seed moves in a multitude of ways, including wind and through bird and animal droppings.   According to a series of fact sheets published by the Weed Science Society of America, seeds have been known to travel hundreds of miles on the wind, and seed from horseweed has been found thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Some invasive aquatic weeds even survived a transoceanic journey when they arrived on American shores after the Japanese tsunami in 2011.    Earthworms, according to the WSSA, have been recorded moving seed to different depths throughout their subterranean ecosystem.    Many factors can trigger seed germination in weeds, including changes in temperature and available sunlight, but there is still much work to be done to fully understand weed ecology, Gardner said.   "It's probably a little of both," Gardner said. "You won't have crabgrass germinating in winter in bare spots, and it won't germinate in summer until it has bare soil."   How long seeds can remain viable in their dormant state still is not fully understood, but some can germinate after lying dormant in the soil for decades, while others die off in as little as a few days. Stan Zontek, the late USGA Green Section agronomist, once told TurfNet that the seeds of some common golf course weeds could survive in dormancy for 40 years or longer.    "Weeds have evolved these mechanisms to continue to propagate their species, and one of these mechanisms is a long dormancy period," Gardner said.    "You can have soil that you think is devoid of weeds, but there is a surprising number in there waiting for the right opportunity."   The rule of thumb, Gardner said, is the larger the seed, the longer it can survive extended periods of dormancy.    "That's one of the things in our favor: many of the weeds that are common in golf are small-seed plants," he said.   However, Gardner said you can't take much for granted when discussing weeds.   "It's wise not to generalize," he said. There are all kinds of weeds."    The best way to keep them in their dormant slumber is to provide a healthy stand of turf, against which they typically are unable to compete. Even then, some can subsist for long periods.   In 1879, professor William Beal began a research project on weed seed dormancy at Michigan Agricultural College, according to the WSSA. Beal buried seed from 20 common weed varieties to learn how long each could remain viable in dormancy. He attempted to promote germination at 5- and 10-year intervals.   Beal eventually retired, leaving his research to others at Michigan Agricultural College, which has since been renamed Michigan State. Beal died in 1924, but some of the seeds he buried 138 years ago still germinate today.   Most of the seed that is of immediate concern to superintendents, those that reside in the top few inches of the soil profile, can be kept in check with a healthy cover of turf, and cultural practices.   What about projects that require tilling up massive amounts of soil, unearthing weed seed that has been buried for generations, or those acres of native areas that have been planted in place of managed turf in the past decade?   "Where I see people getting caught, they have a good herbicide program, and they think they are weed-free," Raudenbush said. "Then there is a renovation project, and because of the soil disturbance associated with that they have weed problems they never had before."   Much more research on the subject, particularly in turfgrass, still is needed, Gardner said. But research requires money.   "A lot of our understanding of weed ecology in turf is borrowed from production agriculture," Gardner said. "Their behavior and they way they adjust should be somewhat similar.   "Most of the focus has not been on understanding how weeds work, but how to kill them. If we had a better understanding of the ecology of weeds, that might be a benefit in killing them."  
  • The job of being a golf course superintendent just got a lot easier, courtesy of the turf team at North Carolina State University.   Recently, the university made available the 2017 edition of Pest Control for Professional Turfgrass Managers.   The 74-page guide, available online as well as in hard copy, includes a wide variety of information on insect, disease and weed control options in cool- and warm-season turfgrasses; a section on nematode control; how to manage aquatic environments; what's new for 2017; and tips on establishing an integrated pest management plan. There is even a short section on the pitfalls of failing to follow label directions when applying commercial pesticides.   Each pest management section includes a glossary of currently available insecticides, herbicides (including a section on aquatic weed control), fungicides and nematicides grouped by pest, then cross-referenced by active ingredient. Each section also includes trade names of each chemistry, label rates for the various formulations of each and relevant special instructions.   A section on plant growth regulators is grouped by warm-season and cool-season turfgrasses, active ingredient and trade name, along with application rates and precautionary remarks.   The guide also includes a directory, along with contact information, for NCSU's entire turf team.   The guide can be accessed online for free, and hard copies are available for $10 each, and there is a 25 percent discount for orders of five or more.  
  • The demand for the latest in education for turfgrass managers is not limited to this side of the Big Pond.   Attendance at this year's BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition attracted 4,460 attendees who soaked up 6,096 total hours of turf education. The number of attendees was up 10 percent and available education was up 22 percent from last year when 4,046 attendees took in 5,000 hours of education at the 2015 edition of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association annual show.   The Continue to Learn program alone included 83 seminars delivered by 75 speakers.   "Attendance was up and the feedback for the entire programme has been extremely positive," said Sami Strutt, BIGGA's head of member development. "The Learning and Development team worked hard to deliver a smooth running event for members and visitors, and Im glad to say we achieved just that."   The event also featured 145 vendors spanning four halls in the Harrogate International Centre that included the GolfBIC, the Golf Business & Industry Convention, and BIGGA's Continue to Learn education programs.   BIGGA also handed out a couple of awards at the show. David Stewart, deputy greenkeeper at Walmley Golf Club, was named the BIGGA Young Greenkeeper of the Year. Master Greenkeeper David Langheim and Wimbledon Park Golf Club received the BIGGA Greenkeeping Achievement of the Year award.
  • Textron Specialized Vehicles has acquired TKVGPS, a provider of GPS-based fleet management solutions and GPS technologies to enhance the on-course experience for golfers.   Textron Specialized Vehicles golf division includes the E-Z-GO, Jacobsen and Cushman lines.   The TKVGPS fleet-management solutions provide golf-course owners and operators with extensive, real-time information to help them monitor, maintain and protect their fleets of golf cars and utility vehicles. Among the company's list of features are remote amp-hour and odometer monitoring, state-of-charge reports and charging histories for electric vehicles; vehicle travel histories, fleet utilization and rotation reports, pace-of-play monitoring, remote diagnostics, and geofencing capabilities with remote vehicle shutdown that allow courses to keep vehicles within specified boundaries for safety and security.   Options include the TKVGPS TKV 7, TKV 7EX and TKV 10EX systems that provide golfers with real-time rangefinding and course layouts using bright, high-resolution 7-inch and 10-inch displays. These systems also provide automatic and two-way messaging capabilities between the clubhouse and the golfer. TKVGPS' web-based fleet-management software allows its systems to be managed from a wide range of PC and mobile hardware platforms, often by leveraging hardware already in place at the golf course.   "TKVGPS fleet-management systems add an important dimension to Textron Specialized Vehicles' portfolio of products and solutions for today's golf-course operator," said Kevin Holleran, president and CEO of Textron Specialized Vehicles. "Courses can select from a range of proven fleet-management solutions to meet the specific needs of their particular facility, protect their investments in vehicle fleets and turf-care equipment, monitor events on their course, and enhance the playing experience for their golfers."   The technology can be used not only in golf cars, but turf maintenance vehicles as well.   TKVGPS will continue to operate from its facilities in Vancouver, Canada and Pitesti, Romania.  
  • Finalists for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, come from a pretty diverse background.
     
    The group includes superintendents from two university courses within 30 miles of each other, a multi-course property owned by the PGA of America, a Met-area country club and a nearby municipal property, and a Midwest classic-era layout that has returned to its roots.
     
    The group was chosen by our panel of industry judges from a list of 228 nominees. Criteria on which nominees are judged include: labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions.
     
    Finalists are:
    Tom Feller, Cedar Rapids Country Club, Cedar Rapids, Iowa;
    Michael Golden, Longshore Golf Course, Westport, Connecticut;
    Dick Gray, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida;
    Brian Green, Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State University;
    Kevin Seibel, Century Country Club, Purchase, New York;
    Billy Weeks, Duke University Golf Club, Durham, North Carolina.
    (click on the link on each finalists name to read more)
     
    The winner will be announced Thursday, Feb. 9 in the Syngenta booth during the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, and will receive a trip for two on the TurfNet members golf trip in October to Scotland, courtesy of Syngenta.
     
    "Superintendents are all leaders who deserve recognition," said Stephanie Schwenke, turf market manager for Syngenta. "We are honored to partner with TurfNet on the Superintendent of the Year Award to recognize those who have made great sacrifices for their course and their team. We respect the humility, creativity and wisdom of this year's finalists as they represent the dedication it takes to be a superintendent. This award is about celebrating the success of superintendents and the daily challenges they overcome. I look forward to seeing everyone in Orlando and celebrating the success of this year's finalists as we announce the winner in our booth."

    Previous winners include: Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, Kansas (2015); Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, North Carolina (2014); Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, Ohio (2013), Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club (2012), Flourtown, Pennsylvania; Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, Tennessee (2011); Thomas Bastis, The California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, California (2010); Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain Golf Club, Stone Mountain, Georgia (2009); Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields Country Club, Olympia Fields, Illinois (2008); John Zimmers, Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania (2007); Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (2006); Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, California (2005); Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, Florida (2004); Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, Illinois (2003); Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario (2002); Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts (2001); Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada (2000).
  • The maker of the RG3 robotic greens mower is expanding its footprint in the turf maintenance business.    Cub Cadet, a division of MTD Products, recently acquired Advanced Turf Technology, a UK-based manufacturer of mowing equipment designed for use on golf courses and athletic fields.   The acquisition and continued investment in technology is part of Cub Cadet's commitment to provide turf professionals with innovative power equipment and tools to cover all aspects of precision turf care. This acquisition follows the recent acquisitions of CORE Outdoor Power and Precise Path Robotics.    "The addition of Advanced Turf Technology into the MTD family further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the professional turf markets," said Rob Moll, CEO, MTD Products, which includes the Cub Cadet brand. "Cub Cadet is dedicated to providing innovative products that enable turf managers worldwide to produce the highest quality playing surfaces. Beyond improving productivity, these products enhance environmental stewardship an increasingly important attribute for many groundsmen and facilities worldwide."   Products from Advanced Turf Technology include the TMSystem and the INFiNiCut, which are used by golf courses and Premier League teams throughout Europe.   The INFiNiCut walk mower combines a lithium power source with user programmable frequency of clip rate and a dynamic return floating head, allowing the operator to optimize machine configuration to turf conditions of the day, and is used at facilities such as the All England Tennis Club, site of the Championships at Wimbledon and doubles as a golf greensmower.    "These are some of the most prestigious tennis courts in the world, so we want the best equipment to help us maintain a championship performance," said Neil Stubley, the club's groundskeeper. "We've seen an improvement in the quality of the playing surfaces since we began using the INFiNiCut."   Since its debut 10 years ago, the TMSystem of interchangeable cassettes for practices such as mowing, verticutting and grooming is compatible with all mainstream makes of triplex greens mowers and lightweight fairway mowers, including Cub Cadet's RG3 robotic mower, and the INFiNiCut. The multi-use cassette system with inserts provides flexibility to mow, aerate, brush, de-thatch, groom, level, and scarify.    "The TMSystem is a very clever design, very practical and easy to swap between the different tools. I would liken it to a Formula One pit stop straight in and straight out," said David Cole, superintendent at Loch Lomond Golf Club.    "The design has been well thought out, not just from a manufacturer's viewpoint, but also that of a greenkeeper and a mechanic."   The ATT lineup will be on display next month in the Cub Cadet booth at the Golf Industry Show in Orlando.
  • It was not that long ago when Scott and Heidi Schukraft received the message that no parent ever wants to hear: "Your child is sick, and you need to get him to the hospital. Now!"
      The Schukrafts are among the lucky. Next month, their 17-year-old son Andrew will celebrate his first year with someone else's kidney filtering the blood that passes through his body. Life has returned as close to normal as it can be for a teenager in his final year of high school, say his mother, a school teacher, and his father, a former golf course superintendent near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Days spent in dialysis have been replaced with more important things.    "The first Saturday we didn't have to go to dialysis we got in the car and went on a college visit," said Heidi Schukraft.    "We realized we'd taken a lot of things for granted."   The Schukrafts don't take much of anything for granted anymore, and their story is one of luck, love and the power of limitless friendship.   Only five months had passed from that day in August 2015 when Andrew Schukraft was diagnosed with an acute kidney disorder known as IgA Nephropathy and Feb. 17, 2016, the day he received a new kidney.    His "new" kidney was supposed to come from longtime family friend Mark McCormick, the 46-year-old superintendent at Huntsville Golf Club in Shavertown, Pennsylvania, who, despite the age gap, turned out to be a perfect match for Andrew. Instead, it came from an unknown 19-year-old donor who was killed in a car crash two weeks before the transplant was scheduled to take place.   The despair and anguish felt by one family opened the door to hope and healing for another.   For an adult needing a kidney transplant, the average wait time for a deceased donor is 5-10 years. For a minor, the wait time can vary from a few weeks to a few years depending on the state. For Andrew, the wait time was estimated at about a year. That's not awful considering there is a constant list of about 2,000 children nationwide in need of a new kidney.   The Schukrafts debated on whether to wait for a deceased donor, or seek a living donor willing to make such a sacrifice.   "It was not an easy decision," said Scott Schukraft, now the principal of Elite Sports Turf and Landscape Management. He has been a TurfNet member since 1994.   Ultimately, they decided to at least seek a living donor in hopes of speeding up the process for their son, who was undergoing dialysis four hours a day three days per week at a hospital an hour-and-a-half from home.   Heidi started a blog to tell Andrew's story, since, after all, there is no real conversation starter when your end game is to talk someone out of a kidney. To the Schukraft's surprise, nearly two dozen people, including McCormick, stepped forward offering to help their son.      McCormick's family and the Schukrafts have been friends for more than 20 years. It was Scott Schukraft, who in 1992, when he was superintendent at Huntsville, hired McCormick as an assistant. Today, their wives teach at the same school and McCormick's daughter, Payton, is classmates with Andrew, who spent a summer on a mower at Huntsville working for McCormick. When he learned of Andrew's condition, McCormick said stepping forward to help was an easy choice for him and wife Janel.   "I talked to my wife about it, and she was all for it," McCormick said. "I've known Andrew since he was born. They needed help, and I was in a position to do something about it."   McCormick, and others, stepped forward within weeks of Andrew's diagnosis, which came a week after what should have been a routine sports physical. A soccer player at private Wyoming Seminary school, Andrew tested positive for high blood pressure during the exam. Doctors, figuring nervousness might be the cause, told his parents to monitor his blood pressure at home and return in a week. Nothing changed throughout the week, and seven days later, Andrew's already-high blood pressure was even higher. Testing revealed Andrew's kidney condition, prompting that ominous call: "Get him to the hospital. Now!"    "It was shocking news to hear at first," Heidi said. "We'd been at Hershey Park the day before, and he was having fun with his cousins. It didn't dawn on us that there was a major medical issue. We had no idea it was anything life-threatening."   The next several weeks were a whirlwind of treatments for Andrew and a barrage of information for the Schukrafts to digest. Andrew spent eight days in the hospital receiving dialysis. His mother never left his side.   "It was a lot of information, and I remember asking 'is this really happening?' " she said. "At the same time, he's looking to his parents for help. We had to keep our composure. I remember thinking 'I can't fall apart in front of him.' "   IgA Nephropathy, also known as Berger's disease, inhibits the kidneys' ability to filter waste from the blood. Left untreated, the prognosis ranges from remission to total kidney failure.  
    It was Scott Schukraft, who in 1992, when he was superintendent at Huntsville, hired McCormick as an assistant..."
     
    Once willing donors were identified, they were tested for a blood type match. Eventually, doctors whittled their list of volunteers to three and then one - McCormick - who then was subjected to a battery of tests to ensure his kidney was a match and that he was healthy enough to withstand the procedure.   McCormick laughs now when looking back on the scenario.   "I don't like needles. I don't like doctors. I don't like hospitals," he said. "I was a pretty unlikely candidate to go through something like that."   With all systems go, the procedure was scheduled for March 3, 2016. Two weeks prior to the operation, the Schukraft's phone rang. It was Andrew's doctor calling to inform them that a deceased donor's kidney was available after a 19-year-old male was killed in a car crash on Valentine's Day. Given the deceased donor's age, doctors determined that 19-year-old's kidney would be a better match for Andrew.   McCormick, who for months had prepared himself mentally for the upcoming ordeal, experienced a wide range of feelings.   "When I found out, I was a little disappointed," he said. "It was kind of a strange mix of emotions. But at the same time, the important thing was for Andrew to get healthy. That was what mattered."   So far, Andrew's body has accepted the new kidney quite nicely. He's off dialysis and with a regimen of medication, a modified diet and lots and lots of water to keep his new organ hydrated, Andrew's new kidney could last 20 years or more, his doctors say. He has since become an advocate and spokesperson for organ donation.   The identify of the deceased donor and his family is kept anonymous by the Gift of Life donor programs. That didn't stop Andrew, who will graduate from high school in the spring, from penning a thank-you letter that the organ-procurement group passed along to the donor's parents.    The Schukrafts are equally grateful to McCormick, who, along with the other potential donors, was welcome at any time to change his mind with no ill will.   "We were humbled that someone was willing to do that for us," Heidi said. "At the same time, we knew that at any time if they decided it was not right for them, they should not be afraid to say that. It's scary."    Instead, McCormick was unwavering in his commitment to helping Andrew. He was approved by doctors one day after another potential donor was rejected.   "At first, you don't know if you're going to be a blood match. Then, they identify about three possible donors. Then they get down to one," McCormick said. "It's a bit of a gut-check moment when you find out you're the one, and that it's going to happen."  
    He provided relief and hope, because we knew he was there. As long as we had hope, we were able to function. He was our hope. He was our guy."
      To this day McCormick's approach to his role is beyond humble. Since he never went under the knife, he believes he really didn't do anything to help the boy, his parents and his sister, Alaina, who will graduate in May from Elon University in North Carolina.   "I still don't feel like I did anything," he said. "In fact, I didn't do anything."   That thinking, say the Schukrafts, is absurd. Just knowing they had a willing donor helped them get through some difficult times and gave them one more thing to be grateful for that Christmas.   "We got through Christmas because he decided to go through that testing, and that takes weeks," Heidi said.    "He provided relief and hope, because we knew he was there. As long as we had hope, we were able to function. He was our hope. He was our guy."  
     
  • Researchers in the New Mexico State University College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences are determining methods to improve irrigation efficiency. And subsurface irrigation may be the solution to wasted water and high water costs.   NMSU extension turfgrass specialist Bernd Leinauer, Ph.D. said subsurface drip irrigation, in particular, is the newest method in turfgrass efficiency.   "Although subsurface drip irrigation has been used in agriculture for decades, it's just making its way into the turfgrass industry," Leinauer said. "And it's the only system that limits irrigation to exactly the area that needs to be irrigated."   Leinauer has been the lead on two recent projects that will further test these research findings. Last summer, Leinauer and his research team led a project to install a subsurface drip irrigation system in several tee boxes at The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe. The USGA awarded NMSU a grant to assist with the research, which is a collaboration that also includes Toro and Rain Bird.   It was announced in December that Leinauer and his team are conducting a study at the City of Albuquerque's Paradise Meadows Park. While half of the park will use a traditional pop-up sprinkler watering system, NMSU will oversee the other half of the park, where a subsurface drip irrigation system has been installed.   "This project is interesting from the perspective that we were able to scale up our research findings," Leinauer said. "We're able to take our research findings and implement them in a park which is significantly larger than test plots or the traditional residential turf areas. For the funding agencies that have supported our research in water conservation, it is particularly important to document that technology not only works in a research setting but can be successfully scaled up to real-world situations."   NMSU researchers and city officials in Albuquerque should learn whether the subsurface drip irrigation system helped conserve water.   In addition to irrigation efficiency, NMSU research also focuses on salt and drought tolerance. Leinauer said there's been a shift to new types of waters with higher salinity levels, such as saline ground water, treated effluent or recycled water.   "In the future, having grasses available that can tolerate higher salt concentrations in the water and in the soil will become paramount to keeping green grass in urban settings," Leinauer said. "Therefore, we need to screen for salt tolerance in addition to screening for drought tolerance in new grasses."   Leinauer's work doesn't end with research. An important factor is outreach and education. What good are the research findings if professional turfgrass managers don't know about them?   In October, Leinauer and fellow researchers educated homeowners, master gardeners, landscape managers and turfgrass professionals at the Southwest Turfgrass Association Recreational Landscape Conference and Expo hosted by NMSU. The conference included a field trip to the NMSU Turfgrass Salinity Research Center.   "With me being a board member of the Southwest Turfgrass Association, I am closely connected with the industry," Leinauer said. "I think such outreach activities represent some of the core work of an extension specialist. We need to work with the practitioners and the industry, so we always have a close ear on what the problems and the trends are outside the university. We can work closely with each other and design projects together. We can hopefully advance science through real-world applications."   The projects at The Club at Las Campanas and Paradise Meadows Park are in line with one of the college's outlook on economic development and conservation principles.
  • Golf has a good story to tell. What it has lacked is a voice to tell it.
      Until now.    Maybe.   A recent report detailing the day-to-day business practices of the Olympic Club helps shed light on the San Francisco club's efforts to pursue sustainability, corporate responsibility and being a good environmental neighbor in one of the country's most highly charged activist areas.   The study was completed in cooperation with IMPACT360 and measured key indicators such as Olympic's energy use, water use, biodiversity, emissions, waste and recycling and what factors the club weighs when choosing vendors, suppliers and other outside business partners.   The results were published in an 82-page corporate social responsibility report.   Billed as America's oldest athletic club, Olympic has more than 10,000 members spread across two campuses that include a 35-acre oceanside site with 45 holes of golf and a downtown City Clubhouse that accommodates multiple sports and includes an 18-room hotel. The fact that such a robust effort was undertaken at a high-profile, and massive, club like Olympic can only help communicate the story that other golf and sports clubs have to share.    "Since the report just came out last week, it is hard for me to measure any feedback from the community," said Olympic general manager Pat Finlen, CGCS. "I have received numerous emails from around the country from different agencies/associations. I have also received may emails from members who think this is the greatest thing as it tells our story. I am hoping to gain some local feedback in the coming weeks."   People inside the golf business know all about Audubon sanctuaries, low-use-rate pesticides, part-circle sprinklers, environmentally sound BMP programs and superintendents deft enough to weave all of this together while also maximizing playing conditions. Too often, those outside the industry see golf courses as chemically induced sterile playgrounds for the elite. That's where IMPACT360 comes in.    Started by Aubrey McCormick and Gina Rizzi, IMPACT360 offers sustainability consulting services, as well as collects environmental, social and economic information from a client golf course, distills it all into quantifiable data and combines it all into a corporate sustainability report designed to show how golf can positively impact the lives of those who play it as well as those who do not.   Its CSR report on Olympic shows that the club goals include reducing or eliminating completely its negative impact on the environment, including power usage. To that end, the club's Lakeside campus that includes two historic golf courses, has converted 90 percent of all light bulbs to LED. The goal is to reach 98 percent. Likewise, 82 percent of the club's waste is recycled or composted.   Olympic's efforts to expand biodiversity at the Lakeside campus have resulted in increased native plantings and installing pollinator-friendly habitat. As a result, at least 46 bird species have been recorded on property during Olympic's annual bird count   IMPACT360's McCormick said her company is in talks to undertake similar projects at other golf courses.   "We have been receiving positive feedback and many courses are finding interest in sharing their story around sustainability," McCormick said. "This report is the beginning of long-term impact we intend to help the industry achieve."   The club also is a leader in water conservation, with 97 percent of Lakeside's use coming from recycled sources - namely nearby Lake Merced that also supplies water to Harding Park and the San Francisco Golf Club, all of which, like Olympic, rim the lake.   Chemical use on the course is not quantified in the report, but it is recorded and reported to the necessary government agencies, Finlen said. The club's chemical use reporting also adheres to all G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that IMPACT360 says are the global standard for reporting pesticide and chemical use.   "This report," McCormick said, "is helping to set a standard around reporting that helps the general public gain a better understanding of how golf positively impacts their community and the environment."  

  • Shifting trends

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Worms, compost fertilizer, biological soil amendments and Mark Hoban.   A couple of decades ago, only one of these things could be found on golf courses around Georgia. Today, Hoban isn't the only superintendent using organic products and biologicals as part of their daily golf course maintenance routine.   According to a report by PACE Turf, the use of non-pesticide options has been on the rise in recent years. When compared with a 2007 industry survey on pest management practices on U.S. golf courses, a follow-up study conducted in 2015 revealed that cultural practices are up by 66 percent, use of plant growth regulators has increased by 44 percent and use of biological products is up 25 percent. We were curious about the shift, so we asked a few people on why management practices are changing, and everyone we spoke with said they use natural products and employ cultural practices to augment, not replace, their chemical programs.   Hoban has fashioned a career centered around using organic products at Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. He makes his own worm compost, brews his own compost tea and even uses carbon-enhanced topdressing sand to introduce beneficial microbes into the soil.   "I slowly became more and more aware of the soil biology . . .  . Compost and compost tea were the turning point in my program five years ago," Hoban said. "We were very successful the first year way beyond what I could have believed possible and the next year was as well."    While environmental stewardship and sustainability goals have influenced this trend toward increasing reliance on naturally occurring products, economics have played a role, as well.   "Economically, we're forced to reevaluate everything we're doing," said Fred Gehrisch, CGCS at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina. "The easy thing to do is put out pesticides and be preventive about everything. But that is expensive, and golf isn't what it used to be."   Among the changes at Highlands Falls is the use of Holganix, a blend of beneficial microorganisms. Gehrisch said he was willing to give it a try, but would not hesitate to scrap it if there were no signs of healthier turf.   "The first year, I saw an improvement of about 10 percent, which is big for us, because we're already maintaining turf at a high level," Gehrisch said.    "For us, it has to be economically feasible. It has to provide an improvement to what we're doing. It has to reduce disease. With Holganix, we saw all of that. I wasn't expecting that."   During his career, Matt Shaffer has become notorious for his increasingly minimalist approach to managing turf at Merion Golf Club, where he says his goal is to grow grass, not spray it or water it. He teaches those who work for him to do the same.   "I love to mentor young people, and I am thoroughly convinced that some day they are not going to have as much chemistry as we do now," Shaffer said. "Consequently, several years ago I started a program growing great grass with less chemistry. The really cool thing is that the young guys believe and live it. We utilize less water and grow healthy turf and work harder at not spraying (rather) than always spraying."   Incorporating cultural programs also is on the rise thanks to some of the research being conducted at universities nationwide.   During a recent TurfNet Webinar, Thom Nikolai, Ph.D., of Michigan State said rolling research conducted by Bayer's Paul Giordano, Ph.D., when he was a Master's student at MSU, produced an unintended consequences - increased dollar spot resistance. Studies showed that plots rolled twice daily showed less dollar spot than control plots as well as plots rolled once per day.   Other cultural practices, said Jim Pavonetti, CGCS at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, can help provide a natural path to improved plant health.   "Maintaining good aeration, regular topdressing, good fertility, wetting agent programs, plant growth regulators and pinpoint irrigation practices were all things that we weren't mastering 10 to 15 years ago," Pavonetti said. "Once all of these programs were in place, diseases like basal rot anthracnose became very easy to prevent, where, in the late '90s and early 2000s, it seemed like nothing would control the disease once the environmental factors would become too intense. The increased use of plant growth regulators has enabled us to increase fertility and plant health without losing the quality playing surfaces by regulating the natural flush of growth that would occur otherwise."   The trend toward incorporating more natural products and cultural practices, however, is seen as a supplement or occasional alternative to a program that includes synthetic products, not a replacement. The PACE report also reveals that use of fungicides over the past decade is up 4 percent and herbicide use has rise 2 percent. After all, there is a reason only one course - Vineyard Golf Club on Martha's Vineyard - is billed as the country's only true organic golf course.    Supplementing his program with biologicals has allowed Gehrisch to extend the period between fungicide apps, not replace them. But when it comes to eliminating insect pests, nothing beats a chemical insecticide.   "For insects, I don't see anything that I'm willing to bet my career on," Gehrisch said. "There is not a biological or holistic product out there that anyone is willing to bet their life on. While some of those products work, they all work some of the time."  

  • Seeing is bee-lieving

    By John Reitman, in News,

    It might be difficult for some to fully understand, but the sound made by thousands of buzzing honeybees is music to Scott Witte's ears.
      For the past seven years, Witte has implemented bee-conservation efforts at Cantigny Golf, the Chicago-area club where he has been director of agronomy for the past two decades. His efforts, that include the Bee Barometer Project, take aim at helping local bees rebound from a population-depleting phenomena known as Colony Collapse Disorder and incorporates them into an overall environmental program to enhance Cantigny's oneness with nature.   His efforts are beginning to gain traction. Last year, Witte and Bayer Environmental Science hosted an educational event at Cantigny, and recently the company named Witte as the recipient of The Bayer Bee Care Community Leadership Award. The award includes a $6,000 grant to continue his bee outreach work. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, a non-profit entity that owns the property on which Cantigny is located, is giving Witte a 2-for-1 matching grant, boosting the total to $18,000.    Witte's work in bee conservation provides a safe and healthy environment for bees and aligns with the property's environmental profile. The course has been a certified Audubon Sanctuary since 1993.   Cantigny Park is located on the grounds of the former home of Chicago Tribune magnate Robert R. McCormick, who died in 1955. Prior to his death, McCormick operated an experimental farm on the grounds, and the Tribune regularly published articles on the subject. Since his death, the foundation named in McCormick's honor has operated the property as a horticultural classroom designed to provide educational and recreational opportunities for the people of Illinois.   Part of that effort now is Witte's Bee Barometer Project that promotes a healthy environment for bees and provides snapshot of the overall health and diversity of the surrounding environment at Cantigny Golf and Cantigny Park.   He also performs outreach, teaching others about bees and bee care and serving as an on-call expert to remove (and rescue) hives throughout the local community. In 2015, he conducted a webinar on bee care on TurfNet entitled Beekeeping 101. Click here to watch it.   Witte will receive the award Jan. 24 at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge, Illinois at a combined fundraiser for the Wee One Foundation and the Midwest Area of Golf Course Superintendents.   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 thanks to Witte and others like him. 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.  
  • Last year appears, at least to a degree, to be going out on a high note in the golf business. But don't get your hopes up: Last year's late-season rally is not a sign that everything in the golf world is hunky-dory.   In fact, far from it.   Rounds played in November - yes, November - were up 11 percent compared to the same month in 2015, according to Golf Datatech's monthly rounds report. Unlike some past rallies that were saw ridiculous, three-digit bumps in participation in a handful of states, November's comeback is more grounded, with solid double-digit increases across the country. In fact, rounds played were up in 38 states and Washington, D.C., while a drop in participation was recorded in just 11 states (the report, which samples self-reported data from 3,250 private and daily fee facilities, does not include Alaska).   Although figures for December 2016 are not due for a few more weeks, November's gains are enough to signal what should be about a 2 percent increase in rounds played last year.   That's the good news.   The bad news is that it appears the golf industry is shedding yet more golfers and more golf facilities. While that means those who are playing golf are playing more often, it also means that fewer and fewer people are carrying the water for the entire industry.    According to National Golf Foundation data, it appears that 150-200 facilities (net) closed in 2015. If those numbers hold true, the (net) loss of 18-hole-equivalents since 2006 will be around 1,1000, give or take, meaning the industry is headed for another three to five years of contraction as it seeks supply-demand equilibrium.   Golfers also continue to leave the game at a rate of 3-4 percent per year. Another year like that, and there will be fewer than 20 million people playing golf in the United States. That will be the lowest number of players since the 1980s.   Koppenhaver and Stuart Lindsey of Edgehill Consulting will have all the latest data available later this month when they present their State of the Industry Report from the PGA Merchandise Show. And, at least for now, there is some good news to report unless you are an equipment manufacturer or retailer. Sales of new equipment in 2016 likely will be at its lowest since the economy tanked three presidential election cycles ago.   Of the 38 states reporting a year-over-year increase in rounds played in November, 32 saw a double-digit jump. Only three of 11 states reporting negative numbers in rounds played in November experienced double-digit losses.   TurfNet will report the full rundown for 2015 - including the good as well as the bad - when Koppenhaver and Lindsey deliver their full report later this month.

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