[News]

Industry news

Superintendents help with recovery
New Orleans – Thirty golf course management professionals – led by Steve Sarro, superintendent at Vail (Colo.) Golf Club – traveled to New Orleans March 12 to 19 to help four golf courses recover from Hurricane Katrina.
The TPC of Louisiana, English Turn Golf & Country Club, Audubon Golf Course and Brechtel Golf Course were targeted for clean up. English Turn will host the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans April 27 to 30.
“What is nice about this industry is we are used to helping each other out,” Sarro says. “We are all friends and want to help. Our peers have faced significant challenges. Labor is in short supply, so we saw this as a means to provide expertise in helping golf courses get back open.”
In addition to removing debris, volunteers will rebuild bunkers and engage in various cultural programs to prepare turf for spring play.
The trip was funded by various businesses and organizations: the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association, Syngenta Professional Products, Ewing Irrigation, Colorado Golf, Turf and Ellen Equipment, L.L. Johnson and Golf Enviro Systems.
Sarro was joined by the following GCSAA member golf course superintendents: Andres Arrietta from the Mad Russian Golf Club in Milliken, Colo.; Tom Harston of South Suburban Golf Course in Littleton, Colo.; Rick Wisotzkey of Indian Peaks Golf Course in Lafayette, Colo.; John Hoofnagle of the RMGCSA in Englewood, Colo.; Greg Blew of the Wellshire Country Club in Denver; Joe McCleary of Saddlerock Golf Course in Aurora, Colo.; and Mike Osley of Aurora Hills Golf Course.
GCSAA assistant golf course superintendents who made the trip are: Scott Ellis of South Suburban; Joe McBurney of Fox Hollow Golf Course in Littleton, Colo.; Doug Schroeder of Fox Hollow Golf Club in Lakewood, Colo.; Jason Fisher of Gleneagle Golf Course in Lakewood, Colo.; and Kevin Sjursen of Homestead Golf Course in Lakewood, Calif.

Study analyzes property losses
Saint Paul, Minn. – St. Paul Travelers completed a study that examines the type of claims involved in general liability and property losses in its Eagle 3 golf insurance program. The study analyzed about 21,000 such losses incurred by more than 1,400 golf courses between 1987 and 2004. Highlights of the study include:
• Ranking of the relative frequency and severity of loss leaders;
• Close review of the loss leaders;
• Claim reduction solutions demonstrated by golf facility case studies; and
• Prevention advice for general liability and property losses.
Golf courses present unusual challenges because they have several businesses combined into one. Most facilities comprise a restaurant, retail shop and landscaping venture. Each of these components has unique exposures such as fires; alcohol-related accidents; golf-car accidents; lightning strikes; floods; and slips, trips and falls.
St. Paul Travelers provides coverage to more than 800 golf facilities in the United States.
For copies of the study summary, e-mail Ask-STA-Risk-Control@stpaultravelers.com.

Association news

USGA awards 59 new grants
Colorado Springs, Colo. – The U.S. Golf Association awarded 59 new grants totaling $1,454,220 to nonprofit organizations to support affordable and accessible golf programs and facilities. The awards will reach more than 17,000 kids and individuals with disabilities nationally as part of the USGA’s effort to bring golf to people that otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn the game.
USGA funding has exceeded $49 million during the past nine years and is only $80,000 short of reaching the original Grants Initiative goal of giving $50 million in support during the past decade. Grant funds will be used in programs for instruction, golf course and range access, equipment and course construction. The USGA For the Good of the Game grants program is enhanced by the support of state and regional golf associations and local PGA of America sections, which make a significant impact to promote the game to everyone.

Water associations to collaborate
Falls Church, Va. – The Irrigation Association and the National Ground Water Association agreed to work together on scientific, technical and policy issues related to ground water and wells.
Directors of the two associations signed a mutual cooperation agreement outlining common interests and objectives, including communication on technical and public policy matters.
About 70 percent of all groundwater withdrawals in the United States are used for irrigation, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report from 2004.
According to the agreement, areas of increased cooperation could include joint research, conferences, education and training, policy statements, technical documents or business development.

Course news

Course being built to open in 2007
Rocky Mount, N.C. – Construction began on an 18-hole championship golf course at Ford’s Colony Rocky Mount, a master-planned residential community of more than 1,400 acres. The new course was designed by David Johnson Golf Design and is being built by Landscapes Unlimited. Construction is scheduled for completion in August, and play is scheduled to start in the summer of 2007.
The course will have five sets of tees on each hole, playing 7,020 yards from the back tees and 4,800 yards from the front tees. As part of the construction program, two additional ponds will be built. The 18th fairway runs along the existing 80-acre Belmont Lake.

Saddle Creek to add nine holes
Copperopolis, Calif. – Carter Morrish, architect of Saddle Creek Resort’s existing 18-hole course, will design a new nine-hole layout on the property’s northern reaches.
Once complete, Saddle Creek will feature 27-holes of challenging, resort-style golf available for play by members, residents and guests. The new nine will blend seamlessly with the existing course, which opened in 1996.
The gated, 900-acre community is managed by Castle & Cooke.

KemperSports to run new club
Yorkville, Ill. – Ocean Atlantic, a real-estate development firm, selected KemperSports as project developer and construction and operations manager of Westbury Country Club. The 18-hole club will be part of Westbury Village, a master-planned residential and golf community.
KemperSports will orchestrate planning and development of Westbury, working closely with golf course architecture firm Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates.

Wedgewood to get makeover
Conroe, Texas – Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design will break ground on a multiphase renovation project at Wedgewood Golf Club. Phase I of the master plan includes the complete renovation of the first three holes, creation of an island-green par 3, and development of a practice facility.
The course was purchased by Logeman Homes during the summer of 2005, and the new ownership immediately made plans for upgrading the property. Logeman also is planning to break ground this summer on a new clubhouse.
This first phase (there are five phases in all) of the course upgrades includes relocating the driving range to a new parcel recently acquired by the club.

Camp Creek club finishes bunker job
Seagrove Beach, Fla. – Camp Creek Golf Club, the Tom Fazio design developed by St. Joe, completed a bunker enhancement project as part of its move toward privatization later in the year. All 60 bunkers were upgraded with alabaster-white sand. The PGA Tour-grade material provides a consistent, firm texture. Bunker liners also were installed on severe slopes to hold sand in place, prevent erosion and reduce the number of balls plugged in the bunker walls.
The transition from public to private play will occur during the summer, with restricted play for members and resort guests to begin Labor Day. Play at Camp Creek will be limited to club members and their guests, guests of the WaterColor Inn and guests staying at St. Joe rental management properties.
Memberships in the club are expected to be available for purchase in June and will be available only to those owning property in designated St. Joe towns and communities in the area. The cost of membership has yet to be established.

Ten tracks noted for environment
Chicago – The 10 golf courses in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois, earned Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status from Audubon International.
Billy Casper Golf operates the courses.
The agronomic criteria adopted by BCG to complete Audubon certification include: reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers; increasing naturalized areas to minimize maintenance costs and enhance habitats for plants and animals; and working with community groups and volunteers to conduct bird, mammal and ornamental inventories at each facility.
To maintain the Audubon designations, each course will have scheduled site visits from local naturalists, as well as certify ongoing stewardship practices.

Hawk Pointe selects management
Washington, N.J. – Hawk Pointe Golf Club’s developer and owner Richard Cotton and partners Patrick Welsh and Bob Ross selected KemperSports to manage the 18-hole facility that opened in 2000.
Hawk Pointe converted to a private, family-oriented club last fall and will be opening a new 30,000-square-foot clubhouse this spring.

Jordan restoring Teugega club
Rome, N.Y. – Golf course architect Barry Jordan of Jordan Golf Design completed planning and began the historical restoration of Teugega Country Club. Original Donald Ross plans and early photography helped Jordan plan for an accurate restoration of the original design. The restoration began in the fall, with Jordan reclaiming pin placements that had been lost to the shrinking of the greens throughout time.
In the future, the club will continue implementing the restoration details, which include selective tree removal, eliminating unoriginal bunkers, restoring original bunkers and widening many fairways.

People news

Olde York Country Club in Chesterfield Township, N.J., appointed Mark Kriews golf course superintendent.

The Environmental Institute for Golf elected officers and welcomed new members to its board of trustees. Bill Kubly, owner and c.e.o. of Landscapes Unlimited, was elected chairman. David Pillsbury, PGA Tour golf course properties c.o.o., was elected vice chairman/treasurer. Mark Kizziar, president of Superstition Mountain Properties, Rafael N. Martinez, publisher/c.e.o. of The Green Magazine, Ken Melrose, executive chairman of The Toro Co., and GCSAA secretary/treasurer David S. Downing II, CGCS, of Rivers Edge Golf Club in Shallotte, N.C., were added to the board of trustees.

Cleary Chemical appointed Mary Ellen Warwick president. Warwick is a third-generation Cleary family member and succeeds her mother, Barbara Cleary.

Mark Urbanowski is the new senior marketing specialist for turf, ornamental and technical products for Dow AgroSciences.

Rob Neill was named vice president of Syngenta Professional Products, North America.

Supplier news

Arysta LifeScience North America and BASF reached an agreement about the acquisition of Micro Flo Company LLC, a subsidiary of BASF. The acquisition will broaden the scope of Arysta LifeScience’s North American sales operations and create a strategic position in the U.S. crop protection segment. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, pending regulatory approvals. Both companies agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

Sixteen states approved a recommendation for the use of Bayleton 50 WP fungicide as a preventative treatment for fairy ring in turfgrass, according to Bayer Environmental Science.

Floratine Products Group co-founders Bill Byrnes and Travis Jones changed the company’s ownership. Brian Goodwin and Peter Stromberg, both veteran Floratine employees, were named new co-owners.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted a request from post-patent supplier Gro-Pro to use product labeling that includes a statement identifying the branded version of the generic alternative on its product labels. Reportedly, this is the first time this type of language has been approved for pesticide product labels.

Husqvarna Golf Solutions, a new sales channel for Husqvarna, is a direct business model that is specifically designed for golf facilities. It uses the power, speed and convenience of a digital platform.

A research study by Precision Laboratories shows a disease control program including Cascade Plus significantly improves the performance of fungicides against Lycoperdon fairy ring. Combinations of Cascade Plus with Insignia, Heritage and Prostar fungicides consistently resulted in optimized disease reduction compared to the fungicide alone and the check.

Profile Products partnered with DryJect to provide soil solutions for the golf course and sports field industries. The partnership will combine DryJect’s technology and service network with Profile’s expertise, products and distribution network into a convenient delivery system.

Pursell Technologies spun off its FarmLinks program as a separate, independent entity called FarmLinks LLC. The new business comprises four divisions: Pursell Farms, the FarmLinks Golf Club, an agronomics component and The Experience at FarmLinks. GCN