From the desk of GCM

Swine flu: Your responsibility

As news about the rapid spread of swine flu and the potential for a pandemic has taken over the headlines, the medical journal Lancet has urged individuals to take responsibility. In an editorial, the journal has acknowledged that "containment of the outbreak is no longer feasible and countries should now be preparing to mitigate the effects of the virus on their populations." Historically, the highest number of deaths occur in developing countries, and most deaths occur in low- and middle-income populations.

The Lancet emphasizes that the public should expect more deaths from swine flu, but individuals can help prevent its spread. If an individual has flu-like symptoms, including fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing (some people may have runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as well), he should call his physician. Individuals who are ill should stay home from work or school and remain as isolated as possible from other people to avoid spreading the disease.

The Doctor is in ... golf, that is

Sometimes, a brush-with-greatness will strike at the strangest of times. Such was the case on Wednesday when we got to meet NBA legend Julius Erving during a tour of the sprawling HQ of equipment maker Jacobsen in Charlotte, N.C.

Yep, we (and, by we, I mean myself and Brian Wingerd, one of GCSAA's business development managers) met Dr. J ... inside the offices of Jacobsen, one of golf's leading equipment manufacturers ... in Charlotte, N.C. ... nearly completely out of the blue. It was a bit of a drive-by — a quick introduction and a hand shake in a conference room before the Basketball Hall of Famer scooted out the door — but it happened nonetheless.

All that begs the obvious question ... what?!?!?! What in the heck was Dr. J doing visiting a golf course equipment manufacturer? It's actually a good story, one that we'll tell in more detail down the road (don't want to scoop myself, because I think we have something brewing here), but Erving is the newest member of the golf course ownership club, having recently purchased a course in the Atlanta, Ga., area. He's outfitting the layout with Jacobsen equipment, and worked a visit to the plant around his appearance in Wednesday's pro-am at the Quail Hollow Championship, where he played (in a Jacobsen shirt, mind you) with former president of EZ-Go John Garrison, now Textron's president of its Industrial Segment, and PGA Tour star Stewart Cink.

Capital fun

A little more than a week ago, I took a short vacation in Washington, D.C., on what turned out to be sort of a busman’s holiday. First, since I’m a journalist of sorts, I went to the Newseum, the new museum about journalist and the news (including the “funny papers,” as my parents called them). It’s an amazing place, very state of the art with a decent café (food by Wolfgang Puck).

The second part of my busman’s holiday was pure serendipity. We were walking near the White House when a park ranger urged us to get our free tickets for a tour of the White House gardens. I had no idea there was such a thing, but the gardens are open to the public for spring and fall tours, and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. (If you want to go on a garden tour, keep in mind that there are no tours of the White House itself when the gardens are open to the public.)

Live from Quail Hollow!

This week's Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C. — along with next week's Players Championship — are widely regarded as the closet the PGA Tour gets to a major. The field is among the best you'll see, with the top four players in the world rankings (including Tiger Woods) and 10 of the top 14 making the trek to Charlotte.

And wouldn't you know it? GCM will be at the Quail Hollow Club too (that's the par-3 17th pictured here). Not in a playing capacity, of course (although I have been working on my game), but instead as an interested observer, not only of the golf tournament but also the efforts of Quail Hollow superintendent Jeff Kent and the operations of one of GCSAA's most loyal partners, Jacobsen.

Swine flu links

I was talking with my friend Bernardo yesterday, and he told me that the soccer games in Mexico City over the weekend were played with no fans in the stands as a precaution to swine flu. Estadio Azteca -- one of the world's largest stadiums -- was empty while America played Tecos. Creepy. Photo from the AP, click here to read about the games played in front of no crowds.

If you're looking for information regarding swine flu, check these two resources:

Swine flu information

Things you can do to prevent the flu

Olympic golf a future possibility?

Could we be watching golf during the 2016 Olympic games? The International Golf Federation hopes so.

As part of its efforts to make a bid for golf as an Olympic sport in 2016, the group is rallying 18 of the game's top players to send a customized brochure that details the bid with a personal letter of support to the International Olympic Committee. World Golf Hall of Fame members Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam also have sent the 32-page brochure and a personal letter to IOC reps from 75 other countries. The brochure includes global golf participation data plus comments of support from the world's leading players.

"We had a nice little forest fire here"

You might say that Patrick Donelan, CGCS at Barefoot Resort and Golf, is unflappable. "We had a nice little forest fire here," he responded in his laconic drawl to my query this morning about how he and his four golf courses had fared in the wake of the wildfires that had been rampaging through his neck of the Myrtle Beach, S.C., woods since Wednesday afternoon.

The bad news is that many homes that were situated behind the resort were lost to the wildfires. "It was a sad sight to see," Donelan told me. He was allowed to ride through the devastated area last night with city officials in order to make it onto the resort property to assess damage to the courses.

The good news is that the courses received only minor damage. Donelan explained that two bridges had been damaged and irrigation heads had been sheared by bulldozers as they plowed firebreaks, so two of the courses remain closed, while the Norman Course and the Dye Club were open for play this morning.

Happy Earth Day!

Citizens of the globe are undertaking all sorts of projects and events to honor Earth Day today, and that includes the turf industry. The Professional Landcare Network (aka PLANET) is hosting a National Day of Service today by sponsoring volunteer lawn and landscape projects in communities across the nation to demonstrate the importance of maintaining green spaces. Click here for a summary of some of the events occurring nationwide today.

LebanonTurf also announced its support of the Day of Service by providing products and volunteer assistance to help maintain green spaces for area organizations. The company donated seed and fertilizer to landscaper Garrett Churchill Inc., and Lebanon staff are helping aerify, seed and fertilize athletic fields at the Glenside (Pa.) Youth Athletic Field. They're also providing products to Ephrata Landcare Services and helping to seed, aerify and fertilizer softball grounds at a local church.

Here at GCSAA, staff members are planting a vegetable garden near the pond at the back of our building, and we're also helping shore up some storage space by recycling materials that are no longer needed. Here's a shot of two of our 6th grade pen pals (GCSAA partners with a local elementary school for that and many other programs each year) peering into the vast pond. OK, vast it is not, but we we have spotted a blue (or is it grey?) heron snacking on its goldfish over the last few weeks. We think one sole heron is responsible for exterminating our entire goldfish population.

What are your golf courses and companies doing to honor the holiday?

No bounds to Witteveen's golf outings

Gordon Witteveen, a noted superintendent and world traveler now retired and living the good life in his native Canada, is a frequent conversationalist of mine via e-mail and he recently sent me the accompanying photo taken during a round of golf on his latest jaunt to Africa a few weeks ago.

Gordon, a 49-year member of GCSAA who will celebrate his 75th birthday May 19, was playing at a course in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, when he came upon a group of women raking up cut grass in the rough to be used for livestock feed. Always one to know a photo op when he sees one, Gordon rounded up some of the women for this shot. He actually had to pay them to pose with him, noting that they are only paid a few dollars a day for their work on the golf course.

This was the third trip to Africa for Gordon, who lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He says he's played golf in four African countries over the years and is acquainted with several superintendents there. "The golf course (Lusaka) was nothing special, but it was great to walk on grass away from the hustle-bustle of the surrounding city," he reports.

Let the golfers have rakes!(?)

I didn't really know for sure what I was going to blog about today... and then, blam! A new golf gadget arrives in the mail. Thank you Course Keeper, for the inspiration! (I'll save my book review of The Match for another rainy day.)

So, what is the Course Keeper? It's a bunker rake. It's a golf ball retriever. It also has a divot repair tool on it.

Knowing all that -- the bunker rake crossed with a ball retriever -- you might guess that it's not designed to be stashed in or near the bunkers on the golf course. It's designed to ride with the golfer, either in the golfer's bag or mounted on his golf car.

Superintendents, thoughts? Yeah, I'm looking at you. The comments section is below. Would this product save you bunker rake troubles, or would it just add to them?