From the desk of GCM

Hurdzan to receive Old Tom Morris Award

Michael Hurdzan, Ph.D., is the 31st recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award.

"When (GCSAA President) Sandy Queen told me, I was absolutely floored," Hurdzan tells GCM. "In fact, I think I got tears in my eyes. The significance of that award is incredible. Our family knows about such prestigious golf awards, and we will all take great pride in adding our family name to the list of past and distinguished recipients."

Hurdzan, 68, officially will receive the award in February during the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in San Diego. The Old Tom Morris Award is presented annually 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."

In 2017, Hurdzan's first course to be awarded the U.S. Open, Erin Hills GC in Erin, Wisc., will be the site of the major championship. Hurdzan and Dana Fry, along with Golf Digest architecture editor Ron Whitten, made Erin Hills possible.

New boss for Audubon International

GCM received word today that Audubon International, which administers the popular cooperative sanctuary program for golf courses, has named Ryan Aylesworth as the new executive director. AI says that Aylesworth will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day administration, budget, human resources and business operations of the organization and will play a leading role in the creation and implementation of all service standards and processes, outreach and education efforts, and special initiatives.

Prior to joining the Audubon International team, Aylesworth was the intergovernmental affairs liaison for the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the past three-and-a-half years.

Syngenta Tough Turf deadline approaching

Superintendents looking to show off just how tough their turf is while winning some great prizes along the way have until Tuesday, Aug. 1 to enter Syngenta's Daconil Action Fungicide Tough Turf Video Contest.

The contest is open to superintendents and assistant superintendents and is designed to recognize creative videos that highlight Daconil Action, why they liked it, how it works and what they think the product will do for their courses. The overall winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to San Francisco, plus an automatic spot at the Syngenta Business Institute this December in North Carolina. Selected videos will also be showcased in the Syngenta booth at the 2013 Golf Industry Show in San Diego.

You can view instructions and official rules right here. Superintendents can also contact their Syngenta sales representative or email contest@toughturfvideocontest.com for more information.

Making the rounds for charity

Brian Laurent nearly recorded a hole-in-one Monday. Not too bad, considering it was the ... get this ... 105th hole he had played that day.

Laurent, son of a certified golf course superintendent (Terry Laurent, CGCS, pictured here hugging Brian when the day was done) played the equivalent of six rounds of golf and raised more than $7,200 for charity in an event called the Hundred Hole Hike at Double Eagles Club in Galena, Ohio. Laurent, associate director of the Ohio Turf & Golf Trust, was playing for the Wee One Foundation. It was started as a tribute to Wayne Otto, CGCS, who died of cancer in 2004. The foundation assists golf course management professionals or their dependents who incur overwhelming expenses due to medical hardship without comprehensive insurance or adequate financial resources.

The goal for Laurent was to play 108 holes, which he accomplished in a variety of weather. He tells GCM there was early cloud cover followed by a steady rain, and later it simply was hot and humid. By that time, Laurent was nearing the completion of a day that began at 5 a.m and didn't end until 6:30 p.m.That is what makes the near ace quite a feat (he used a gap wedge from 120 yards, and the ball mark was 3 inches from the cup).

"I was in so much pain after about 90 holes," Laurent says.

He received plenty of support. Terry Laurent forecaddied for him the whole way. Brian's wife, Kristi, brought their two sons, Camden and Ethan, to see him and offer encouragement.

Laurent raised money by receiving pledges from 10 GCSA chapters nationwide plus others affiliated with the industry. He wishes he could have done more.

"The biggest disappointment for me is the lack of birdies," Laurent says. "I had pledges in the amount of $7 per birdie, and I only made three of them. The putts just didn't want to fall."

 

Update: Candler Park GC may be OK

At least for now, historic Candler Park GC in the heart of Atlanta, Ga., appears to be safe.

In May, GCM reported that Candler Park could be in jeopardy. The golf course suffered $70,000 in losses in 2011, and that it might be reduced to only a driving range or completely shuttered. Now, though, the future looks so much more promising, according to John Gillespie, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Candler Park.

"Community support to save the golf course is overwhelming," says Gillespie, a 12-year association member.

Park Pride, a group that was supposed to be involved about a master plan for Candler Park, has removed itself from the process of helping decide what becomes of Candler Park, which was founded in 1926 and is a wildlife haven, and also is seen as a safe green space. There has been speculation that Candler Park may be transformed into a nature preserve, even possibly a concert venue. The Candler Park Neighborhood Organization states that "Park Pride's objectivity presented challenges to the process and limited our ability to complete the goal."

"They (Park Pride) pretty much backed off," Gillespie says. "Things have calmed down."

A dramatic conclusion at Royal Lytham

Before Adam Scott's finish to forget, before Ernie Els' good play and even better fortune and before the 2012 Open Championship came to its memorable conclusion, the golf course management team assembled at Royal Lytham and St. Annes had already done a star turn of their own in preparing the venable course for Sunday's final round.

And as he's been throughout this entire week, GCM's own insider at the Open Championship, Warren Bevan, was on hand to report on it all. If you've followed his blog posts all week, you know that Bevan is a five-year GCSAA member who in the course manager at Lancaster GC, just north of Royal Lytham, and he's been our eyes and ears on the ground as championship week played out. We can't thank Warren enough for taking the time to help us out and provide these posts all week — they've been informative, well-written and have given the Yanks among us a rare inside look at golf course management on the other side of the pond. Cheers, Warren!

So, without further ado, Warren's final post from the 2012 Open Championship:

The Open Championship yet again delivered drama right down to the final hole. Four back-to-back bogeys denied Adam Scott his first major, meaning Ernie Ells lifted the Claret Jug for a second time. I was fortunate to be allocated Ernie’s match at St Andrews in 2000, where I walked the Old Lady raking the footprints in the bunkers after a player visited one of the many bunkers as part of the BIGGA support team. In 2002 we were around the 18th at Muirfield for Ernie’s first Open win.

Conquering the rains at Open Championship

Another day, another round of wet weather for the maintenance team at Royal Lytham and St. Annes — site of this weekend's Open Championship — to wrestle with. Warren Bevan, a volunteer on the maintenance team this week, has been offering his inside perspectives on the comings and goings this week in the UK, and today reports on how the course was prepped prior to today's second round and a subsequent conversation with Royal Lytham's head greenkeeper, Paul Smith, about the club's overal water management strategies:

The second day of the Open Championship started on time at 6:30 a.m. This was an incredible feat as two hours earlier, Royal Lytham and St. Annes was flooded, with 13 mm (more than a half inch) of rain between 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. The staff stood in the doorway of the greens facility and just watched as the rain came down. This was unexpected, as the Met Office had said the rain had gone through and the forecast was to improve. There was standing water everywhere, a complete wash out. It was a repeat performance of Wednesday morning. Paul Smith, head greenkeeper, inspected the course and looked at his options. The R&A had only one wish and that was to get play going as soon as possible and avoid any delays.

Floods test Texas superintendents

The flooding has subsided in suburban Houston, Texas. The cleanup, however, is ongoing at numerous golf courses.

One of the hardest-hit areas in that region is along Cypress Creek, where nearly 16 inches of rainfall earlier this week was too much for the creek to take, creating major issues for golf course superintendents just about everywhere, GCM learned today.

"We're still closed," says Brandon Crumpler, GCSAA Class A suprintendent at Longwood GC. "We hope to open tomorrow. We got 11 inches (of rain) in two days. Most of the rain came north and west of us, and it was funneling down the creek toward us."

Four feet of silt in some spots has Crumpler agonizing over the fallout from the flood. "I'm almost tempted to bulldoze everything and re-sod it," he says.

This is the same part of the country that endured a drought at the same time last year.

A method to the rough madness at Royal Lytham

As the Open Championship teed off earlier today at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, our man inside the team that is preparing the course, Warren Bevan, filed this report, taking a look at the course's rough. In some spots, it's wild beyond the comprehension of most American superintendents, but as Bevan explains, that is largely by design:

After the heavy rain Wednesday morning, Royal Lytham and St. Annes coped superbly, and by mid-morning, it was like it had never rained. The public walk areas did take some wear, and pinch points around grandstands turned boggy. Bark chippings have addressed this for the next four days.

The last practice time Wednesday was 2:30 p.m. to allow the greens staff to prepare the course. As the fairways and semi-rough were not cut that morning, we went out at 4:30 p.m. to mow all these areas from tee to green. Green surrounds and semi-rough wer also cut. All the greens got one single cut. The divot team cleared divots from the fairways and filled each one with divot mix. Evening meal followed, then early bed.

For us, the first morning of The Open Championship began at 4 a.m. Everything the resident staff of Royal Lytham had worked so hard for came down to this moment. After the last few days of practice rounds and a final briefing from head greenkeeper Paul Smith, it was now for real. Due to the storm clouds coming off the sea, it took half an hour to be light enough to see. Every one carried out there jobs magnificently, and by 7 a.m., we all back at the sheds ready for breakfast.

Lyon is roaring back

Check out "Dapper" Dennis Lyon.

Here he is, wearing turn-of-the-century attire, Monday. What was the special occasion? To celebrate Lyon's comeback.

A golf tournament to benefit Lyon, on the mend from a horrific accident in December, drew five dozen folks to Meadow Hills Golf Course in Aurora, Colo. Lyon, who was struck by a truck while walking late last year in Colorado, was hospitalized 51 days after suffering injuries to his back, pelvis, head and shoulder. Lyon was GCSAA president in 1989.