From the desk of GCM

Donald, Tseng, Lehman capture GWAA honors

One of my fondest memories from my days as a newspaper sports writer — I spent the first 10 years of my career working for a variety of daily newspapers around the Kansas City area — was getting to vote for the winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1996.

That was the year that Florida quarterback Danny Wuerrfel walked away with the trophy. But my vote didn't go to the Gator. Instead, I voted for Iowa State running back Troy Davis, who that season became the first Division I running back to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. Being in the Midwest and a fan of what was then the Big Eight Conference, I had plenty of chances to see Davis play and had no doubt he was the best college football player in the country that year, which in essence are the only marching orders given to voters by the Downtown Athletic Club — identify the most outstanding player in college football.

Although my Heisman voting days are long behind me, I do get to particpate in a similar process in my current job at GCSAA and as a member of the Golf Writers Association of America — voting for the players of the year in professional golf. And unlike 1996, where my guy came in second place, I'm happy to say that I nailed all three player of the year winners in 2011 in Luke Donald, Yani Tseng and Tom Lehman.

Correction: Rubigan sales to end next year

In the Dec. 2011 issue of GCM, we published an item on the Gowan Co.'s decision to pull from the market Rubigan AS, a systemic fungicide used on golf courses in the United States for disease control and in the management of Poa annua and spring dead spot on bermudagrass greens and tees (Front Nine, Page 24). Unfortunately, that item contained a key error in fact that we need to correct.

Gowan will sell and support Rubigan AS and Vintage SC through Dec. 2012 before exiting the fenarimol business, not the end of 2011 as the story states. So superintendents will still have all of 2012 to purchase those products. Gowan has indicated it will discuss voluntary cancellation of all its fenarimol products with the U.S. EPA.

The complete text of a letter that Gowan sent to its distributors and customers is reprinted below:

GCSAA fills managing director post

Matt Brown, a former manager in sales for AT&T, is the new managing director of marketing and business development for GCSAA. He previously supervised a sales staff, oversaw product launches and managed relationships with the goal of growing market share at AT&T. He'll oversee GCSAA's corporate sales, exhibition, marketing and fundraising efforts. His first day will be Jan. 3, 2012.

 

Hanna to receive USGA Green Section Award

Wayne Hanna, Ph.D., a groundbreaking turfgrass researcher who played a key role in the development of a number of environmentally friendly turfgrass species that have become golf course staples, has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 USGA Green Section Award.

“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback over the years,” said Hanna, “but when an honor like this comes from the USGA Green Section, it’s the icing on the cake. The USGA is the leader in making sure these grasses we develop perform to expectations and beyond.”

Hanna will officially receive the award during the USGA Green Section Session Friday, March 2 at the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas.

The complete USGA news release announcing Hanna's selection follows:

Duff Shaw Classic nears $1 million mark

Hello from Southern California, where the weather this morning was frightful. The event I am at, however, certainly is delightful. So good, in fact, it warms the heart on a rainy, cool, kind of downright nasty start to the day.

Think again, though, if you believe that would put a damper on what is going on at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. (Will Smith and Frankie Avalon are members here). More than 130 people began playing golf in rainy, cool conditions, definitely less than ideal.

The man they are all here for, though, is a gem in their eyes. You think weather would keep them away to honor him?

Not a chance.

Today is the 20th annual Duff Shaw Classic. Shaw, who was superintendent here, would have turned 49 today. He died Jan. 19, 1994, leaving behind lasting memories. A daughter. A work ethic. Friends who won't let him be forgotten.

"Duff was gentle, honest, straightforward, full of integrity," says Gene Wooley, president at North Ranch when Shaw became superintendent here two decades ago. "He loved North Ranch. We loved him."

Toro expands offerings with Graden acquisition

The Toro Co.'s product line added a new member late last week with the announcement that it had acquired the Graden greens roller product line. Terms on the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition, which includes Graden's GSR 1200 roller, "fills an important product gap in our core golf business and helps further strengthen our offering in the greens care category," said Darren Redetzke, the vice president of Toro's commercial business. "Rolling greens has become an important agronomic practice for golf courses that improves the health and playability of the greens. By leveraging our brand strength and extensive global distribution, we are well positioned for growth in this new segment."

Graden's other turf maintenance product lines — zero-turn mowers, verticutters and sand injectors — were not included in this acquisition.

Getting down to business at SBI 2011

 

For the past few days, I've had the pleasure of joining 27 superintendents from around the country for the third-annual Syngenta Business Institute in Winston-Salem, N.C. It's a program that leaves agronomy behind and focuses on issues such as financial management, employee motivation and effective negotiations, all taught by faculty from Wake Forest University's School of Business.

One of the most memorable experiments of the week is memorialized in the video above. During a discussion on feedback, what kind works and what doesn't, led by professor of organizational studies Sherry Moss, attendees were put through this task to give them a visual lesson on how positive and negative feedback impact employees. In this instance, Chuck Connolly, the superintendent at Greenville (S.C.) CC, serves as the target of this feedback as he tries to find a predetermined object in the room. A funny but effective exercise, even if it did require a little clean-up after the fact.

We've been providing real-time updates for this year's Syngenta Business Institute through our Twitter account (@GCM_Magazine), but you can also read a full report in the February issue of GCM.

Green Section's Snow announces retirement

The USGA Green Section will have a new face at the helm come 2012.

The Green Section announced today that James T. Snow, who has served as that body's national director since 1990, will retire effective at the end of this year. Kimberly Erusha, Ph.D., who has been the Green Section's director of education, has been selected to take over as managing director.

A former greenkeeper, Snow began is career with the Green Section in 1976. He was an agronomist in the Northeast Region from 1977 to 1982, then took over as director of that region from 1982 to 1990. During his tenure, Snow's responsibilities included overseeing the Turf Advisory Service and its staff of 18 agronomist, the Construction Education Program, the Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program and the Green Section Education Program. He also guided the Green Section Record, which announced his retirement today, as its editor.

Watch for more on Snow's retirement in the January issue of GCM.

No injunction in Sharp Park case

A federal judge ruled this week that management is not violating the Endangered Species Act at historic Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, Calif., and should not have to limit or eliminate operations.

In the lastest chapter in this long-running saga, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston denied a preliminary injunction by environmentalists, who want to, at the very least, limit water pumping, mowing and golf cart use at Sharp Park, a public course that is part of San Francisco's recreation and parks division, and designed by legendary architect Alister Mackenzie.

The injunction that the environmentalists wanted would have stopped pumping from a pond where frogs deposit their eggs. The San Francisco Public Golf Alliance opposed the injunction, saying an injunction might have closed the golf course. The plaintiffs are determined to save California red-legged frogs and the San Francisco garter snake, which have found an ideal habitat in the water features at Sharp Park, including the Laguna Salada marsh separating the course from the Pacific Ocean.