From the desk of GCM

Young receives Georgia GCSA top honor

Members of the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association have honored Courtney Young, CGCS, from Ansley Golf Club as their Superintendent of the Year.

Young, who has been at the 36-hole club since its Settindown Creek course opened in 1988, was recognized in front of about 250 people at the association’s annual awards banquet at Reynolds Lake Oconee on Dec. 12.

Georgia GCSA president Greg Burleson, CGCS, from Augusta Country Club (pictured far left) congratulates Courtney Young, CGCS from Ansley Golf Club on his Superintendent of the Year award, which is presented in partnership with Corbin Turf and Ornamental Supply represented by Rocky Dreibrodt. 

The award comes after Young was nominated by two colleagues whose opinions justifiably carried considerable weight. One was Ralph Kepple, CGCS, from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, which hosts the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup finale for the PGA Tour each year. The other was William Shirley, CGCS, from Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, who also happens to be a member at Young’s club. Both are past winners of the Superintendent of the Year award.

“During his nearly 30 years at Ansley, Courtney has consistently been known to have some of the finest greens – first bentgrass and now Champion bermudagrass – not only in the Atlanta area, but in the southeastern region of the United States,” Kepple said. “Courtney has developed an incredibly strong relationship with the membership at Ansley. I have never talked with a member who was not fully supportive of Courtney and what he has accomplished at their club.”

Alice Dye to receive 2017 Donald Ross Award

American Society of Golf Course Architects Past President Alice O’Neal Dye, ASGCA Fellow, has been chosen as the 2017 recipient of the Donald Ross Award. This award, given annually since 1976, is presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture. It will be presented to Dye in May at the 2017 ASGCA Annual Meeting in Jupiter, Fla.

“Alice Dye is a pioneer in our profession,” said President Greg Martin, ASGCA. “An outstanding golfer, Alice exhibited a great influence to develop courses that are true championship caliber. She and Pete Dye were a dynamic duo, a genuine partnership, in every sense of the phrase.

“Long before it was fashionable, Alice was an advocate for women’s golf, thoughtful forward tees and playability for varying skill levels.  Her ‘Two Tee System for Women’ was devised to accommodate female players with differing skill sets. This may seem obvious to us today, but when she came up with the system decades ago it was ahead of its time,” he continued. “She is devoted to mentoring young designers, and is tireless in her service to ASGCA and the profession of golf course architecture. I know my fellow ASGCA members join me in acknowledging Alice as very deserving of this award.”

Alice O’Neal grew up in Indianapolis, Ind., and brought her well-tuned golf game to Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where she was captain of her golf team. It was while she was a student at Rollins that she met Pete Dye; he enrolled at the college in 1946 after serving in the Parachute Infantry. She graduated in 1948, and the duo were married in 1950 and lived in Indianapolis.

According to a 2003 article by Ron Whitten (a fellow Donald Ross winner, in 1996) in Golf Digest, Pete Dye came home from work on a summer day in 1955 and said to Alice, “I’m tired of the insurance business. What I really want to do is build golf courses.” Pete, himself an elite amateur golfer, had been learning about golf course maintenance while chairman of the green committee at the Country Club of Indianapolis. Both Dyes gradually turned this interest into a profession, designing their first course, El Dorado, in Greenwood, Ind., in 1959. Their commitment to golf course design was cemented after a tour of Scottish golf courses the Dyes undertook after Pete competed in the 1963 British Amateur. They brought home the ideas they were saw on the linklands of Scotland.

Withers to leave Jacobsen

David Withers, president/CEO of Jacobsen, says he is leaving the company at the end of this month after 24 years of service.

In an email response to GCM, Withers says he decided the timing was right to step away after it was announced earlier this year that Jacobsen and Textron Specialized Vehicles would integrate operations and move from Charlotte, N.C., to Augusta, Ga. The completion of merging operations is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

"As such, my role would have moved to Augusta, and I decided that this was not something that I wanted to do and felt that the timing was right for us to start looking at a move back to the UK," Withers wrote. "I also think that the merger of the two brands will work better if it is truly integrated, and I think that integration will be easier and more complete without there being an incumbent president of Jacobsen in the mix."

Kevin Holleran, president and CEO of Textron Specialized Vehicles, will have the same title now at Jacobsen.

Hummel to receive USGA Green Section Award

Norman Hummel, Ph.D., has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 USGA Green Section Award. Presented annually since 1961, the USGA Green Section Award recognizes an individual’s distinguished service to the game of golf through their work with turfgrass.  

Hummel, of Trumansburg, N.Y., will receive the Green Section Award on Feb. 4, 2017, at the USGA’s Annual Meeting and Service Awards in Washington, D.C. 

“Dr. Hummel’s work has had a lasting impact on the industry and the construction, maintenance and playability of golf course putting greens throughout the world,” said Kimberly Erusha, Ph.D., managing director of the USGA Green Section. “His work with the USGA provided a thorough review and update of a globally recognized standard of putting-green construction, and it helped the industry better understand the intricacies of putting-green construction and performance. Dr. Hummel’s experience and willingness to listen and offer advice have made him a valued resource for the industry and a worthy recipient of the Green Section Award.”

“I was totally surprised and a bit dumbfounded when I got the call,” said Hummel. “Receiving this award is an honor and I am humbled, especially when you look at the list of past recipients. I’ve always considered myself to be a regular guy who showed up to work every day. Over the years, it has been a privilege for me to work with superintendents on some of the great golf courses in this country. Never did I think that my work and contributions would extend beyond the individual golf courses into something industry-wide.”

GT AirInJect nab HSBC innovation award

GT AirInject, creators of the Air2G2 aeration machine, have won the 2016 HSBC Golf Business Forum Innovation Award. The award was presented on November 29th during the forum’s annual gala, held this year at TPC Sawgrass, headquarters of the PGA Tour, in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

GT AirInject is one of five companies that were shortlisted for the award. The HSBC Golf Innovation Forum describes the Air2G2 as “a true aeration machine” that infuses the soil with air while creating “minimal surface disruption” that leaves a surface immediately playable after treatment. In a statement on the HSBC Golf Business Forum website, event organizers said the machine was selected for the award for its far-reaching potential to impact the golf industry, declaring: “The Air2G2 will benefit every course manager in the world.”

“We are so humbled to be chosen for this award,” said Glen Black, president of GT AirInject. “We founded GT AirInject to revolutionize golf course maintenance with true aeration that doesn’t create disruption for turf, course superintendents, or golfers. It’s an honor to have that dream recognized.”

Some of the world’s most high-profile golf courses utilize the Air2G2 aerification machine in their regular maintenance practices. Among them are: Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, Scotland; Muirfield Village Golf Course, Dublin, Ohio; Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Illinois; Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky; and Desert Mountain, Scottsdale, Arizona.