Personnel news

Brian Hardin was named golf course superintendent of Stone Eagle, a new private golf club development in Palm Desert, Calif. Hardin, who was the superintendent at The Palms in La Quinta, Calif., for the past six years, will oversee the current construction, agronomy and day-to-day maintenance of the course. Stone Eagle, which is being developed by Destination Development Co., is the first Tom Doak-designed golf course in the Coachella Valley.

Benjamin D. Steen was named golf course superintendent at Sea Gull Golf Club in Pawley’s Island, S.C. His responsibilities include maintaining golf course conditions, supervising the greens maintenance staff and serving as a club liaison.

Jim Kron was named superintendent at Poplar Hill Golf Club in Farmville, Va. Previously, Kron, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, was assistant golf course superintendent at Horseshoe Bay Golf Club in Egg Harbor, Wis.

Golf course superintendent Kevin Collins left Tower Ridge Country Club in Simsbury, Conn., and is now at Washington Golf Club in Washington
Depot, Conn.

The city of San Diego hired a manager to run its golf courses. Mark Woodward, who has been the parks and recreation director for Mesa, Ariz., for the past 10 years, was named San Diego’s golf operations manager, overseeing courses at Torrey Pines, Balboa Park and Mission Bay. The 52-year-old Woodward replaces Jim Allen, who resigned in May before a financial audit critical of the golf operations was released.

Kimberly Heyl, superintendent at Fenwick Golf Club in Old Saybrook, Conn., was elected as a corporator of the Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Conn.

Michael Marino, superintendent at Stonington (Conn.) Country Club; Brent Palich, superintendent at Potowomut Golf Club in East Greenwich, R.I.; and Ralph Simonelli, assistant superintendent at Warwick (R.I.) Country Club, are new members of the Rhode Island Golf Course Superintendents Association.

The Connecticut Association of Golf Course Superintendents added new members recently. They are: Michael Astram of Northern Designs, Jason Booth of Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club, Rob Giampietro of Bull’s Bridge Golf Course, Paul Legault of A-OK Turf Equipment, Brian Sepot of Longshore Club Park, Timothy Quirk of Turf Products Corp. and Thomas Vorio of Pine Orchard Yacht & Country Club.

James MacDonald, golf course superintendent at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Conn., retired.

Robert Witkoski, golf course superintendent at Washington Golf Club in Washington Depot, Conn., retired.

At the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation awards banquet in December, Mike O’Connell, golf course superintendent at Maketewah Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, was presented with the Professional of the Year award for his commitment to the golf course maintenance profession and his years of involvement in the Greater Cincinnati Golf Course Superintendents Association. O’Connell’s award was presented by OTF past president John Fanning of Verdicon/UHS.

At the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation awards banquet in December, Pamela Sherratt of The Ohio State University’s department of horticulture and crop science, was presented with a Professional Excellence Award by John Street for her accomplishments in turfgrass research and education, particularly in the areas of sports turf research and extension.

PGA golf professional Albert Murdock was named director of golf at the Links at Las Palomas Golf Club in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Currently, Murdock is vice president of the Southwest section of the PGA.

He is a current member of the Senior Goldwater Cup Team and a guest instructor of the Stanford and Arizona State University golf camps. Murdock will direct the new course operation at Las Palomas, which is scheduled to open in May.

The International Network of Golf’s membership elected a new advisory board. The new board members are Tom Landers of Pub Links Golfer, Mitch Laurance of Ace Productions, John Steinbach of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf and Dean Stoyer of Nike Golf.

PGA National Resort & Spa and the PGA National Members Club named Desi Howe the director of golf for the five-course facility in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Previously, Howe was the director of golf for the Doral Resort & Spa in Miami.

Re-elected to new three-year terms were Jack Bacot of Carolinas PGA Golfer and Tony Leodora of TL Golf Services. The remainder of the current ING advisory board are: Laurie Dovey, Ron Garl, Holly Geoghegan, Rick Jamison, Dove Jones, Lynn Luczkowski, Ronnie Musselwhite and Mike Purkey.

The 15-year-old ING is a non-profit, media-based networking organization that has a mission to enhance and promote communication and education in golf. The organization is managed by a six-person executive committee, elected by the advisory board. The current committee includes Jay Hubbard of Tour Edge Golf; Mark Grody of Corporategolf.com; Tim O’Connor of O’Connor Media; John Glozek of Long Island Golfer; Geoff Converse, a freelance golf writer; and executive director Mike Jamison.

Pearl Carey, a former president of the Western States Golf Association and a member of the USGA Regional Affairs Committee, was chosen as the second woman to receive the USGA Joe Dey Award. Given since 1996 in recognition of meritorious service to the game of golf as a volunteer, the award was presented Feb. 6 at the association’s annual meeting in Santa Barbara, Calif. The award is named in honor of the late Joe Dey, who served as USGA executive director for 35 years – from 1934 to 1969 – and was later commissioner of the PGA Tour.

Matthew Bradley was named golf sales representative for Bayer Environmental Science. He will cover southwest Florida from Tampa through Naples and is responsible for the complete portfolio of Chipco golf products.

Golf Ventures West hired Steve Anderson as equipment territory manager for the southern Phoenix market.

Redexim Charterhouse hired an additional sales professional, Nate Patrick, to support its network of North American distributors.

Chris Nordling is a product manager for trimmers, brush cutters and lawn edgers for Shindaiwa.

Jim Doll joined Tecumseh Power Co. as product line manager for walk behind mower engines. GCN