The Whiteboard

Brendan Hoban named recipient of Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship

By Guy Cipriano

The recipient of the 2014 Stanley Zontek Memorial Scholarship presented by GCI doesn’t sit still often.

University of Georgia senior Brendan Hoban maintains a 3.13 GPA in turfgrass management while competing for the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division I cross country and track and field teams. Hoban is working as an intern at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this summer. Before beginning shifts in the stifling Georgia heat, he trains for the upcoming cross country season, sometimes running as many as 10 miles.

“It’s about finding a rhythm,” he says.

Hoban has been finding a rhythm on golf courses since a young age. His father, Mark, is the superintendent at Rivermont Country Club in Johns Creek, Ga. Hoban started working alongside his father at age 7 and received his first formal job on the Rivermont maintenance staff in 2007. He also has worked at Peachtree Golf Club and Atlanta Athletic Club, all before turning 22 years old.

“It’s a passion,” he says. “I love everything about it. I love talking to my dad about it. I love the research side of it. That’s kind of where I’m at.”

The Zontek Scholarship, an unrestricted $2,500 grant, supports a turf student with a passion for the game. Selection criteria include academic performance, advisor/superintendent recommendations and an essay about why the student is passionate about a career as a superintendent.

The award honors Stanley J. Zontek, the former director of the USGA Green Section’s Mid-Atlantic Region. Zontek died after suffering a heart attack at age 63 in 2012. He joined the USGA in 1971 and was the organization’s longest-tenured employee at the time of his death. Zontek, whose father was a superintendent, started his career raking bunkers for $1.10 per hour.

“That’s what I find super interesting,” Hoban says. “We are following similar paths. His father was a superintendent, like my father is a superintendent. Reading his story, it’s kind of like this bonding experience. I feel like the passion he had for the industry is what I feel like I have. I definitely see exactly how he feels. It’s a people business.”

Collin Harley received the 2013 Zontek award.

For more on Hoban: bit.ly/1qHidRT

For a Superintendent Radio Network interview with Hoban: bit.ly/1jjmDH4

Minnesota course using storm run-off water for irrigation

By Jacob Zuckerman

The land of 10,000 lakes has had some trouble living up to its nickname; its lakes are drying up as groundwater is being used faster than it can be restored. While golf courses comprise a small percentage of groundwater use, some courses are doing what they can to address the growing problem.

Enter Oneka Ridge Golf Course in White Bear Lake, Minn. This summer marks the first season of use for the Oneka Ridge Golf Course Water Re-Use Irrigation Project. The project is an environmentally driven collaboration between the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD), the city of Hugo, Minn., and the Oneka Ridge Golf Course.

The three parties worked together to build a large pond for the golf course that catches run-off storm-water from approximately 915 acres of land. Oneka Ridge then uses this water for irrigation purposes on the greens. This not only prevents aquifer depletion, but stops phosphorus taken by the water into nearby White Bear Lake, causing an algae bloom.
 

Superintendent turns damaged trees into benches

By Guy Cipriano

Nick Folk found an ideal way to use wood from white pine trees damaged by Imprelis. The wood helped Folk, the superintendent at Rochester Golf and Country Club in Rochester, Minn., make new benches for the 18-hole golf course.

The desire to use the wood for a course-related project sparked the idea. The low price of pine made selling the damaged trees difficult, but Folk found a willing trade partner in a Minnesota sawmill operator. Folk picked 20 logs of perfect quality and the sawmill cut the logs into 3 inch by 12 ½ feet sections with a depth of 18 to 22 inches. The sawmill performed the task in exchange for hardwood logs the course had removed last winter for sunlight/turf quality reasons.

Rochester GCC has 22 benches on its course, and Folk plans to replace all of them. Folk makes the benches himself, using a drawknife to shave off bark. He then cuts tops, legs and support pieces before assembling, sanding and staining the benches. He applies four coats of urethane on the top of the benches and two coats on the legs and underside. When he completed his first bench, Folk posted a picture on his Twitter account of the sturdy-looking unit resting on a tee. “It’s a fun project,” he says. “That’s why I was so excited to get it out because they are pretty unique.” Folk had the first bench on the course before the start of one of the club’s major summer tournaments in June.

The benches fit Rochester GCC’s rustic surroundings. “It’s beautiful wood, even though it’s pine and not hardwood,” Folk says. “We have white pines on the property that are 100 feet. You don’t see wood like this. That’s the unique part of this and then to re-use it on the course. … Our members are going to be really excited about that because they were upset that the trees were damaged and that we had to cut them down. To do something like this is really unique, and my committee and board are super excited about it.”
 

From the feed

We asked for candid thoughts on Pinehurst No. 2 immediately after Martin Kaymer’s final putt fell into the cup to complete the first half of the course’s U.S. Open marathon. We received plenty of them.

Dave Pitkins Jr. @DPitkinsJr
@GCImagazine it’s awesome but will never catch on. American golf public is addicted to easy bunker and rough play, don’t want penal shots

TSTC Waco GLM @GLM_TSTC
@GCImagazine great for this competition. However: green>brown>dead. #photosynthesis #sprinklersontonight

Savannah Quarters CC @SQCCAgronomy
@GCImagazine They did exactly what they set out to do. Not sure it was as well received as they hoped. Don’t think it’s an industry changer.

BG @ItsNotBarry
@GCIMagazine Good for the fight against Augusta syndrome. However, that look is very specific to that course/soil/climate. #NotForEveryone

Scott Wiiki @p0annua
@GCImagazine I thought it was awesome! Just don’t ask @realDonaldTrump

Steve Dorer @SteveDorer
@GCImagazine made me want to play golf! Variety is the spice of golf!

Scott Dickson @ScoAllD
@GCImagazine the world wasn’t ready

Brett Morris @brettmorris73
outstanding, shows that brown is not bad in this instance

Mike Posey @Hoover_Agronomy
@GCImagazine They went too far for the public. Set sustainable golf courses back decades!

Keith c wood @kcwood74
@GCImagazine Phil said the greens were Augusta like; great job by GCS and staff. USGA needs to find happy medium between the last 2 opens @#2

Greg Morton @RYSuper
@GCImagazine will it look the same after closing to re-do greens/recover?? Umm…#unsustainablegolf??

Jerry Coldiron @CaribeTufman
@GCI magazine A terrific job by Bob, Kevin &crew! If a Tiger, Rory, & Martin showdown occurred, then the classic look be all the rage?

Join the conversation on Twitter @GCIMagazine!