Bryce Koch, CGCS at Cypress Lake Golf Club in Fort Myers, was elected as the Florida GCSA’s 21st president during the association’s annual business meeting at The Resort at Longboat Key Club in Sarasota, Florida. The Florida GCSA, founded in 1978, has more than 900 members across the state.
Koch, 45, has a turfgrass management degree from Rutgers and a marketing degree from Anderson University. He joined Cypress Lake in 2010 and is a past president of the Everglades Golf Course Superintendents Association. He is also certified in Florida Golf Course Best Management Practices, now recognized in Florida Statute as the benchmark for sound and sustainable environmental stewardship in golf course management.
Parker Ferren, CGCS from Copperleaf Golf Club in Bonita Springs, is the new vice-president and Jason Zimmerman, from The Nest Golf Club in Bonita Springs, is secretary-treasurer. Andy Jorgenson, CGCS from On Top of World in Ocala, serves as immediate past president.
The annual business meeting preceded the Florida GCSA’s annual golf championship. More than 150 golfers competed in the 26th annual Steven Wright Memorial Golf Tournament. The championship was hotly contested with a three-way tie after 18 holes of regulation play.
Max Rudder, from Venice Golf and Country Club in Venice, Walter Chavez, from Hollybrook Golf and Tennis Club in Pembroke Pines, and Nate Carter, from White Oak Conservation in Yulee, all shot even par rounds of 72 on Longboat’s Links course.
Storms prevented a sudden-death playoff and in the end, Rudder was declared the winner after a scorecard playoff. He won his first Florida GCSA championship last year, beating Chavez in a playoff.
Florida golf course superintendents have also been prominent on the national leadership stage in recent years. In February, Kevin Sunderman, CGCS from Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club in St. Petersburg, is expected to become president of the more than 19,000-member GCSAA.
Other Floridians to lead the national organization in recent years include Darren Davis, CGCS from Olde Florida Golf Club in Naples (2018) and Rafael Barajas, CGCS from Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club in Boca Raton (2019).
