From the desk of GCM

Major moment for assistant superintendent

Chris Garrett feels right at home this week at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

Garrett, 29, is one of nearly two dozen volunteers working on superintendent Steve Anderson's staff for the U.S. Senior Open that began yesterday. Garrett, assistant superintendent and a seven-year member of GCSAA, arrived with a good sense of what the expectations would be at Inverness. After all, he's helped prepare a course for a major in the past.

And his current job is at a historic layout well known for welcoming the best golfers on the planet. Garrett (pictured to the left), who helped prepare Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla., for the 2006 Senior PGA Championship when he was employed there, took a job within the last year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., where three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships have been held.

"I think I am prepared when I come to a place like this," Garrett said at Inverness, a legendary course that has been the host to multiple major championships, including the 1986 PGA Championship, when Bob Tway holed out of a bunker to stun Greg Norman.

Imprelis update from DuPont

In its continuing efforts to address questions concerning damage to trees that may have been caused by application of the herbicide Imprelis, DuPont announced today that it has developed a new website dedicated to assisting its customers. The site, www.imprelis-facts.com, provides customers with a way to report damage, and it outlines steps that DuPont has taken since the tree damage was reported.

The company says that damage has been reported primarily on Norway spruce and white pine, and the majority of the affected trees are in an area that includes Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

DuPont is establishing a toll-free hotline for customers who have questions about Imprelis. The hotline will go live on Aug. 1. The toll-free telephone number and additional information about the hotline will be available at the Imprelis Facts website on Aug. 1. 

In another attempt to reach out to consumers, Michael McDermott, global business leader of DuPont Professional Products, sent a letter dated July 27 and addressed to turf management professionals containing much of the information available on the new website and assuring customers that DuPont "is committed to continuing to work with every customer who has experienced Imprelis-related problems." Kansas State University State Turfgrass Extension Specialist Rodney St. John, Ph.D., at the Horticulture Research and Extension Center in Olathe, Kan., has posted a copy of the letter on his blog (http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/July-27-DuPont-Letter-to-Imprelis-Customers-072711.pdf).

As additional information becomes available, it will be posted on the GCM blog.

Jacobsen appreciates GCSAA honor

The same day he publicly was announced as the 2012 recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award, golfer/businessman Peter Jacobsen let those beyond the walls of the media center in Toledo, Ohio, at the U.S. Senior Open know about his sentiments.

"My sincerest thanks to @gcsaa for this great honor!" Jacobsen tweeted at @JakeTrout.

Jacobsen (seen here, doing a shoot with GCSAA TV) shared a podium Wednesday with GCSAA President Bob Randquist, who announced Jacobsen would receive the Old Tom Morris Award, GCSAA's most prestigious honor, which annually has been awarded since 1983.

"Well, I'm honored to be able to receive this award from the GCSAA," Jacobsen said. "My first job was working on the crew at Waverley Country Club (in Portland, Ore.) on the greens crew. I know how to mow collars. I know how to mow greens. Old Tom Morris was a great champion. He's a four-time British Open champion, but he was also one of the first greenkeepers in the history of the game over in Scotland. So I feel like I've benefited in all aspects of the game."

Jacobsen will accept the award Feb. 28 in Las Vegas at the 2012 GCSAA Education Conference at Celebrate GCSAA! presented by Syngenta.

Randquist speaks at Inverness Club

It's getting a little bit toasty here Wednesday morning in Toledo at Inverness Club, site of the U.S. Senior Open. That, however, doesn't prevent GCSAA President Bob Randquist from receiving a warm reception.

Inverness Club superintendent Steve Anderson huddled his staff in the maintenance facility, where Randquist addressed them.

"I know how hard you're working, and how hard you're going to work," Randquist said. "But have a good time this week while you're working because you'll remember this for a lifetime. Again, thanks for everything that you do."

Before he exited, Randquist shook the hand of as many members of Anderson's staff that he could, telling each one of them again thanks for their efforts. Soon they will get busy again, preparing for the championship that starts Thursday.

Jacobsen named Old Tom Morris Award recipient

What does Peter Jacobsen have in common with Bob Hope, Tom Watson, President Gerald Ford and Jack Nicklaus?

On Wednesday, Jacobsen officially will be announced as the 2012 Old Tom Morris Award recipient during a news conference at Inverness Country Club in Toledo, Ohio, site of the U.S. Senior Open, joining a list of those other very familiar names who received the honor in the past.

The Old Tom Morris Award is the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America's (GCSAA) most prestigious honor, annually presented to an individual, "who through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf, has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris." The recipient of the award is determined by the GCSAA Board of Directors.

Jacobsen, 57, is a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour. He also has won the U.S. Senior Open, which he will play in this week, and the Ford Senior Players Championship. For years, Jacobsen was the host for the Fred Meyer Challenge in his hometown of Portland, Ore., helping raise more than $13 million for charity.

Here is the full official release from GCSAA;

Koch to acquire Agrotain

St. Louis-based nitrogen fertilizer producer Agrotain International has agreed to sell its assets to Koch Agronomic Services LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Fertilizer LLC, the companies announced earlier today. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Citing his company's "great success" and "rapid growth," Agrotain president Mike Stegmann said the sale would bring "additional resources to meet demand." "As Koch has a strong presence in the fertilizer business, they approached us about possibly working together," he stated in a news release about the sale. "We saw how their resources could help bolster our position as a market leader in the enhanced efficiency fertilizer busines and it evolved into an offer to purchase." Steve Packebush, president of Koch Fertilizer, said the acquisition "will offer our customers the most comprehensive portfolio of value-added products on the market today."

Agrotain's StabilizedNitrogen fertilizers are currently licensed an sold in more than 74 countries. Koch Fertilizer LLC and its affiliates have the capability to manufacture, market and distribute more than 13 million tons of fertilizer products annually. Stegmann said that Lange-Stegmann Co. was not part of the purchase offer and would continue its terminal operations in St. Louis.

My GCSAA: Virginia superintendent shines

Editor's note: The following post is a part of the My GCSAA campaign, an effort by the association to focus on GCSAA members, their paths into careers in golf course management and how they utilized association products and services to support and enhance their careers and their golf facilities.

Peter McDonough, a 21-year member of GCSAA, helped make history in Virginia.

Now, more than ever, golf's commitment to environmental stewardship in the state has McDonough's fingerprints on it. The governor signed legislation earlier this year that was designed by McDonough and others, featuring nine fertilizer-oriented, golf industry-related bills, to address the Chesapeake Bay restoration project. House Bill 1831 and Senate Bill 1055 are proactive initiatives aimed at providing solutions to clean up the waterways.

One part of the bill states golf courses are exempt from local ordinances governing fertilizer use and application. Other key initiatives in the bills include all golf courses in Virginia must develop Nutrient Management Plans by July 1, 2017; the plan has to be approved by the Department of Conservation and Recreation within 30 days of submission. Also, information collected by the Department of Conservation and Recreation is exempt from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Georgia Superintendents Launch Hall of Fame

The elite golf course superintendents in Georgia will have their own special place.

The Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association announced it will create a Hall of Fame, and the first class will be inducted in November during the association's annual meeting and vendor fair in Atlanta. In order to spotlight the initial inductees, some of the early classes will include no more than four people each year.

"I am excited we are bringing this to fruition," said Anthony Williams, CGCS from Stone Mountain Golf Club, Georgia GCSA president, and a 14-year member of GCSAA. "It's a great way to introduce a new generation of superintendents to the forefathers who laid the path for us to do these wonderful jobs."

The Georgia GCSA Hall of Fame will have a permanent home, but you won't have to travel thousands of miles to see it. It will be a virtual experience, so you will be able to go to the association's web site (www.ggcsa.com) to experience it.

Guidelines to be considered for the Hall of Fame include a minimum of 20 years of experience in the profession, exemplary work and service to the Georgia GCSA and its members, and a background as a superintendent. Inductees will be determined by a majority vote of the Georgia GCSA board of directors.

 

Heat wave puts superintendents on guard

At the risk of claiming the mantle of Captain Obvious ... it's hot out there. Wild, crazy, breathtakingly hot.

How hot? Well consider this map, posted this morning by NOAA and the National Weather Service that shows all of the active heat advisories and excessive heat warnings in effect in the United States. Combined, those advisories and warnings cover nearly 1 million square miles of the country and are impacting more than 141 million United States residents. So, yeah, it's hot out there.

And among those residents trying to find their way through this heat wave are, of course, golf course superintendents. With last year's rugged summer weather still fresh in their memories, superintendents in these affected areas are on full alert, keeping hoses handy and their eyes on their golf courses for the slightest signs of stress or disease pressure.

CourseCo sustainability efforts take center stage

 

BNet, an online part of the CBS Interactive Business Network that provides working professionals with advice and insight, posted this video on the sustainability efforts of CourseCo and Crystal Springs Golf Course in Burlingame, Calif. Overall, a nice piece on how golf courses are being managed with the environment in mind, featuring Timothy Powers, CGCS, a 24-year member of GCSAA.