From the desk of GCM

Superintendents there for those of their own

PGA Tour star Phil Mickelson has coined a new term in the past week or so -- "hearted it out" -- in referring to his tenacious victories in last weekend's Northern Trust Open and in the first two rounds of this week's Match Play Championship. But, if Phil really wants to see some heart, he should check out what superintendents in Colorado and Ohio are doing to support the families of colleagues in the much bigger game of life.

Three weeks from today, Friday, March 20, members of the Rocky Mountain GCSA are taking on members of the Lakewood (Colo.) police and fire departments in a benefit hockey game, "Skating for Myles," to help out six-year-old Myles Krick, who is suffering from brain cancer. Myles is the son of Mark and Sarah Krick and the older brother of Ben. Mark Krick is CGCS at The Homestead Golf Course in Lakewood and an 18-year GCSAA member.

Then, on Sunday, May 17, at Pike Run Golf Club in Ottawa, Ohio, members of the Northwest Ohio GCSA and other area superintendents will be out in force for a double shotgun benefit tournament for the family of Pike Run superintendent Gary Baughman. Gary's wife, Robin, is undergoing treatment for breast cancer that spread to her lungs and brain. Gary, a nine-year GCSAA member, and Robin have four children from ages 10 to 3.

Now that's what I call hearting it out.

Teeing it up for turfgrass research

Ever wanted to see if you can handle the turtleback greens at Pinehurst No. 2? How about a walk up 18 in the shadow of the famed red-and-white lighthouse at Harbour Town?

OK, so maybe those are dumb questions for any golfer. Of course you want to play Pinehurst and Harbour Town. Now, though, you actually have a chance to do that thanks to Rounds4Research.

The brainchild of Tim Kreger, the programs director for the Carolinas GCSA, Rounds4Research is an online auction that will offer up 250 tee times at some of the Carolinas' most popular golf courses — including Pinehurst No. 2 and Harbour Town — with the proceeds going to help fund turfgrass research activities at Clemson University and North Carolina State University.

The auction itself will run from April 19 to May 6, dates that overlap two PGA Tour events played in the Carolinas, the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, S.C., and the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. By visiting www.rounds4research.com, potential bidders can check out a list of all the courses available and sign up for an e-mail reminder about the opening of the auction.

Tiger time!

You're not a golf fan if you're not excited to see what Tiger's game looks like when he tees off today at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Tiger tees it up at 2:02 EST on The Golf Channel. He faces Aussie Brendan Jones. Tiger's early Tuesday morning practice round has already been greatly analyzed and documented, so an actual competitive round of golf should really draw some eyeballs.

If you can't sneak away to watch some golf on TV during work, the PGA Tour has you covered. Ahh, the internet.

While everyone is focused on Tiger's knee and his swing, here at GCM, we want to be sure to tip our hat to Jay Ervine, director of golf grounds at Dove Mountain Resort in Marana, Ariz. To learn more about Jay and the course he looks after, please click here and select "details" for this tournament.

It might be Tiger's show, but remember, he's simply playing in Jay's world.

Broken Sound wildlife welcomes Champions Tour

When Joe Hubbard, CGCS, the golf course maintenance director at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla., e-mailed me on Feb. 4 -- the day I left for the New Orleans conference and show -- I figured he was going to tell me about how the prep work was progressing for the Allianz Championship, the Champions Tour event the club was to host over Valentine's Day weekend.

 Instead, his cyperspace missive was another portfolio of photos he'd taken the day before of the wildlife that call the club's tournament venue, the Old Course, home. The banded Florida water snake shown here was soaking up some sun near the 13th hole, while the the stunning shot of the bald eagle on a tree limb at the first hole marked the seasonal appearance of the majestic bird, a club regular, and a new mate he brought with him this year.

Lunch and turf at GIS: Overseeding

The final speaker at Seed Research of Oregon's luncheon at the Golf Industry Show in New Orleans was John Sorochan, Ph.D., an assistant professor of turfgrass science at the University of Tennessee. A Canadian who received all of his degrees -- bachelor's through Ph.D. -- from Michigan State, Sorochan claims to suffer from some cultural and linguistic confusion after living in Tennessee for several years. He claims his customary greeting of "How y'all are, eh?" bewilders colleagues both north and south.

Sorochan's topic was "Overseeding for bermudagrass survival," and he told his audience why it's good to overseed:

• improved aesthetics
• better playability
• increased revenue
• safety potential  

Golf tax nixed in California

Californians will be paying more for a lot of things in light of the state's approval yesterday of it's new 2009 budget. But thanks to the efforts of the state's golf industry, a day on the links won't be one of them.

The proposed "golf tax" that was a part of California's original budget proposal was not a part of the agreement that legislators reached following a marathon overnight session that didn't end until early yesterday. It's removal prior to the final vote was the result, in large part, to the efforts of the state's golf associations, clustered together under the banner of the California Alliance for Golf, who organized a grassroots effort to bring attention to the proposed tax and its impact on golfers in California.

Those efforts included the creation of a specific Web site that discussed the proposed tax — www.forecalifornia.com — and attracted considerable media attention within the state. We also detailed the situation in GCM's Inside Your Game column in the February issue of the magazine.

On that site, Bob Bouchier, the executive director of the California Alliance for Golf, posted the following note after the budget vote:

Poppa Tomato says, "Ketchup."

Wow, trying to play catch-up after a day-and-a-half out of the office... my daughter had what I think is a 24-hour virus. Then, my wife's grandfather Ramon is hospitalized and the whole family is on red alert... it's days like this that makes all my gray hair seem appropriate.

So, the March book is DONE. Out the door. Ink, meet paper, paper, meet mailbox. I'm feeling good about this issue -- aren't I always? You'll find a great profile on GCSAA's new president, Mark Kuhns, CGCS, director of grounds at Baltusrol GC in Springfield, N.J., penned by senior staff writer Terry Ostmeyer. You'll also be able to catch up on anything you may have missed at the GIS in New Orleans, as the GCMstaff all worked together to make sure we did our best to capture everything newsworthy and exciting at the show. You'll also find a superintendent-written story by Michael Brandon (pictured), superintendent of White Tail GC in Stevensville, Mont. White Tail GC is a one-of-a-kind golf course... you'll have to read Mike's story to find out why, but trust me, Mike has an interesting story, and he's pretty darn good at telling it.

Common theme?

When I look back on the many and varied events and activities I covered at the GIS in New Orleans, on subjects ranging from nutrient delivery advancements, to water and golf courses to setting standards for golf course irrigation systems, I realize that there is really one common theme that connects them all: How a golf course manager can do more with less to improve his golf course, protect his job and polish the image of his profession.

Lunch and turf at GIS

The Golf Industry show brings together people from all parts of the industry, and many companies take advantage of the opportunity to gather employees, distributors and customers for education and networking. For the past few years, I have been invited to a luncheon that started out as a thank-you to distributors for Seed Research of Oregon and has turned into a mini-seminar about the state of the turf seed industry and innovations in turfgrass seed research.

At this year's luncheon, the featured speakers were Richard Hurley, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at Rutger's University; Leah Brilman, Ph.D., SRO's director of research; and John Sorochan, Ph.D., an assistant professor in turfgrass science at the University of Tennessee.

Hurley started the presentations by explaining why he believes the new creeping bentgrass cultivars are on their way to being the standards of tomorrow, replacing older popular varieties like Penncross. Many turf breeders have been working to improve the quality of of the creeping bentgrass varieties that have been used on golf courses for decades. For example, at Rutgers, Stacy Bonos, Ph.D., has been screening creeping bentgrass germplasm for resistance to dollar spot for several years.

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto

Now that New Orleans is two weeks in the rear view mirror and the GCM staff is putting the final touches on our post-show March issue, I'm finally able to take a breath and reflect on all that I soaked in at the Golf Industry Show.

Robotic mowers are surrounded by hype everywhere they go, and Precise Path's booth on the trade show floor indeed bustled with attention from rapt attendees. The machine is pretty cool looking. The robotic technology that fuels the company's new RG3 mower was actually originally developed as part of a contest for the military to come up with robotic machinery. The designers decided it was a perfect fit for the golf market. Instead of using GPS technology, it uses a local positioning system. Each unit comes with four beacons that need to be set up in a rectangle around each green. The beacons communicate with the mower and give it data so it knows which green is which, information that's all programmable by the user. Included software lets superintendents control the direction of mow, whether to mow only or to mow and roll, whether to double-cut or clean-up, and more, and superintendents can also schedule mow times and settings for an indefinite length of time.