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Legendary superintendent Robert M. Williams passes
Robert M. Williams, president of GCSAA in 1958 and one of the most staunch champions of the superintendent profession for more than six decades, died March 7 in a Libertyville, Ill., hospital a few days after suffering a heart attack and stroke. He was 93.
Williams, whose career began as a 14-year-old in 1928 at Bellaire Country Club in Wauconda, Ill., is credited with designing and building one of the first customized, automatic irrigation systems and developing the first three-nozzle, tractor-mounted boom sprayer for golf course use during a 21-year stint at Bob O’Link Golf Club in Highland Park, Ill.
But he is noted most for his mentoring of nearly 100 students and apprentice superintendents over the years and for his tireless efforts to seek wider recognition of his profession and GCSAA. At the time of his death, he had been a member of the association for 66 years.
Williams was the patriarchal half of the only father-son tandem to reach the GCSAA presidency — Bruce Williams, CGCS, who took over at Bob O’Link when his father retired in 1979 and is currently director of golf courses and grounds at Los Angeles Country Club, headed the association in 1996.
“My dad and I had a very special bond over the years,” Bruce Williams wrote in an e-mail to the association the morning of his father’s passing. “We talked shop right up until the end, and he always had a twinkle in his eye when we talked about golf and turf. I owe everything to my dad when it comes to teaching me the business and also the lessons of life.”
The elder Williams was the superintendent at Bellaire CC — owned by his father — by the time he turned 17 and remained at the club until 1938. After studying in the turf management program at the University of Massachusetts, he took a job as an assistant at Medinah Country Club in Chicago. A couple of years later he moved on to Columbus, Ohio, to work at the Scarlet and Grey courses at Ohio State University. He served in the U.S. Army in 1942-45, then returned to Ohio State until 1947, when he became superintendent at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.
Williams took the superintendent’s job at Bob O’Link on Chicago’s north side in 1958, the same year he was elected president of GCSAA. During his GCSAA tenure, he was instrumental in helping develop many programs and activities promoting the organization.
One of Williams’ oldest and best friends was Frank Dobie, longtime Class A superintendent at The Sharon Golf Club in Sharon Center, Ohio. Dobie, who soon will mark 50 years with GCSAA, was a student assistant for Williams at Bob O’Link in 1959-60 and had remained close to his mentor.
“As much of a contribution that Bob made to the industry should not go unnoticed ... the man had an impact on so many people’s lives,” said Dobie, who has been at Sharon GC for almost 45 years. “What always impressed me the most was his professionalism and how he treated everyone with respect. I learned a lot from Bob, but those two things stand out.”
Williams was president of the Midwest Association of GCSA in 1956 and the Chicagoland Association of GCSA in 1979-80. He was a turf consultant for nearly 15 years following his retirement. He received GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1977 and the USGA’s Green Section Award in 1996. He was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.
Williams was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Roberta. Besides Bruce Williams, survivors include another son, Robert M. Williams Jr., Chicago, and four grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be directed to The Williams Leadership Endowment in care of The Environmental Institute for Golf, 1421 Research Park Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049-3859. The endowment recognizes Robert and Bruce Williams for their contributions and commitment to mentoring superintendents to become leaders in the golf course management profession. Also, cards and sympathies may be sent to Bruce Williams and family at 2501 Pine Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266-2717.
DuPont and PBI/Gordon are the latest corporations to join GCSAA’s Partner Recognition Program, both pledging to invest resources at the program’s Silver level.
Toro in tussle over wireless product patent
A corporate giant in golf course management and two lesser-known companies are mired in a legal brouhaha over soil-monitoring technology that surfaced during the recent Golf Industry Show in Orlando.
In a series of lawsuits that began late in the summer of 2007, Advanced Sensor Technology, which develops and markets soil-monitoring systems for the turf industry, and Sipco LLC, a communications technology firm out of Atlanta that owns a patent that it leases to AST, are accusing The Toro Co. of patent infringement regarding wireless communications technology in soil-monitoring systems.
Toro, in turn, is suing AST, claiming that the Pennsylvania-based company issued false and misleading advertising on the eve of the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, where Toro introduced its wireless soil-monitoring product Turf Guard.
Basically, AST and Sipco allege that the same data transmission technology found in AST’s RZ-Wireless system is used in Turf Guard. Both systems measure moisture, salinity and temperature levels in the soil root zone and transmit the data to users’ computers or PDA devices.
The two companies’ litigation also names Jason Hill, Ph.D., a former AST employee who moved on to found JLH Labs in Capistrano Beach, Calif. Hill developed Turf Guard and sold the system to Toro last December and has since been hired by Toro as an advanced engineering manager.
Hill is accused of misappropriation of trade secrets, according to the suits, and AST spokesman Michael Caputo alleges he sold Turf Guard to Toro after AST had already bought the system’s patent from Sipco.
“All we’ve done is follow the law, done the right thing in rolling out the innovation with patents behind it,” Caputo was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel in late February. “What Toro did was walk in and steal it. We want to put them in position to do the right thing.”
Hill claims that he and others developed the Turf Guard technology in 2000 while he was a graduate student at the University of California.
“It is not my intention nor the intention of The Toro Co. to infringe on anyone’s patent,” Hill said in media reports. “My goal is to get this great technology on golf courses. Superintendents like it because it’s effective.”
In statements forwarded to GCM, Toro spokesman Branden Happel said that the company was aware of AST’s allegations against Turf Guard and carefully considered them.
“We respect the valid intellectual property rights of others and we expect others to respect our rights. As part of Toro’s acquisition of Turf Guard, we conducted a thorough review of the patent and intellectual property landscape relating to wireless soil-monitoring systems. That review included a thorough review of AST’s claims as to its rights to such technology, as well as patents owned by other companies,” Happel said.
“We’re disappointed by statements AST has made about Toro and Turf Guard and find them to be untrue, false and misleading,” he added. “With several lawsuits pending that address AST’s claims and statements, we prefer the disputes be resolved in a court of law. We have great confidence in the Turf Guard product, our freedom to sell it and our customers’ right to use it.”
The USGA has added grants totaling $1.5 million to its ongoing support of golf programs around the country. The funding, covering the first quarter of 2008, includes 52 programs ranging from $180,000 to the LPGA Foundation in West Palm Beach, Fla., to $2,000 awarded to the Youth Sports Foundation in Muscatine, Iowa.
Thumper basks in Broken Sound spotlight
Springtime in Florida, such as it is, brought out one of the more distinctive residents of Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, and the intrepid Joe Hubbard, CGCS, golf course maintenance director at the club, was there to record it for posterity.
Camera in hand, Hubbard recently recorded the outing of Thumper the alligator on the 18th hole of Broken Sound’s Old Course, sneaking to within 8 feet of the 9-foot beast. Thumper is well known at the club, especially for his stump for a right rear leg, which was bitten off by Norman, the vicinity’s giant bull alligator, “when they fought for the ladies two years ago and that’s why we call him Thumper,” Hubbard says.
A member of GCSAA for 23 years, Hubbard and his staff hosted the Champion Tour’s Allianz Championship Feb. 8-10. Both Thumper and Norman laid low for that.
Twisters dog Golf Links Inc. boss
Jerry Lemons has seen a lot in three decades of designing, building and managing golf courses, but there’s one thing he’s seen enough of — tornadoes ripping apart courses in his care.
Lemons, president of Golf Links Inc. in Old Hickory, Tenn., and a 27-year member of GCSAA (now Class AA Retired), contacted GCM in mid-February to tell about his experiences at a nine-hole facility where he is the turf consultant, Macon County Golf Course, northeast of Nashville near the Kentucky border. The course was ravaged by one of the tornadoes that tore through Tennessee earlier in the month, killing 31 people and causing millions of dollars in damage.
It was the second time Lemons has had to deal with tornado damage on a golf course. In 2003, a property his company was managing for the city of Jackson, Tenn., Bent Tree Golf Course, suffered $1 million in damages when an F4 twister clobbered the area.
“I don’t imagine many superintendents have been through two tornadoes in five years, but I have,” he said.
The toll at Macon County, where Lemons rebuilt the greens five years ago, will ring up about $300,000, he said, adding that his experience five years ago at Jackson has come in handy dealing with the cleanup at Macon County, which lost 380 trees and had seven greens seriously damaged.
“You want to protect everything that’s in good shape,” he said. “The plan we put together — accessing 15 acres of damaged turf with heavy equipment — worked out well.”
Lemons noted that the maintenance facility and clubhouse were relatively unscathed and the pro shop sustained about $20,000 in damages. He added that the clubhouse bartender left for home when the storm was approaching and her residence was destroyed and she suffered serious injuries.
“This one was worse in the amount of acreage, while the one five years ago was a more intense storm,” Lemons said. “But there aren’t any of them that are easy.”
This summer’s U.S. Senior Open (July 31-Aug. 3) at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be the first USGA championship to use volunteers from all 50 states.
Oakmont managers earn plaudits
Getting a golf course ready for an event such as the 2007 U.S. Open is a difficult task. GCSAA Class A superintendent John Zimmers and general manager Tom Wallace at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, took on just that task and both of them have been recognized for their work.
Zimmers, a 15-year member of GCSAA, was named the 2007 Grounds Superintendent of the Year by Turfnet magazine and the Club Car Corp., while Wallace received the 2007 Excellence in Club Management Award from the McMahon Group and Club & Resort Business magazine.
Zimmers and his crew faced some of the most difficult conditions imaginable leading up to the Open. In early March, an ice storm hit the Pittsburgh area, dropping the temperature from near 60 to near zero in 12 hours.
“You knew the whole world was going to come barreling down on you,” said Zimmers. “From our standpoint, we had done so much work here at Oakmont with the restoration, you just kind of said to yourself, ‘How can this be happening?’”
Wallace, who was hired in 2002, had his own challenges. To prepare for the championship, he sent his culinary and management team to attend other U.S. Opens starting in 2003. As a result, the decision was made to handle all the food and beverage without an outside caterer. Satellite kitchens were constructed, and head chef Tom Pepka worked out how much food he would need each day and even had a plan to donate unused food to local charities.
— GCM NewsWeekly
The Golf Course Builders Association of America’s 2008 Guide to Estimating Golf Course Construction is now available for purchase. Contact the association at 402-476-4444 or at www.gcbaa.org.
EIFG boosts research projects
The Environmental Institute for Golf, GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, will support 11 new applied research projects beginning this year, with funding totaling more than $180,000 over the next three years.
Of the 11 new projects, eight are Chapter Cooperative Research Program works, while one is a Mark Kizziar Research Grant, one is an Aquatrols’ Robert A. Moore Endowment Fund project and another is a National Research Program project.
The new projects, detailed below, will be profiled during the year in the Cutting Edge section of GCM, beginning with this issue.
Chapter Cooperative Research Program
“Evaluation of Perennial Rye Turfgrass Varieties for Tolerance to Rapid Blight Disease,” Mary Olsen, Ph.D., University of Arizona. Co-funded by the Golf and Environmental Foundation of Arizona.
“Effect of Aggressiveness of Cut and Mowing Height on Cut Quality, Putting Surface Performance and Stress-Induced Disease,” Frank Rossi, Ph.D., Cornell University. Co-funded by the Metropolitan GCSA and the New York State Turfgrass Association.
“New Technology to Manage Organic Matter Accumulation in Bermudagrass Putting Greens,” Kurt Steinke, Ph.D., Texas A&M University. Co-funded by the South Texas GCSA.
“Management and Biology of Brown Ring Patch on Annual Bluegrass Greens,” Frank Wong, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside. Co-funded by the GCSA of Central California, GCSA of Northern California, GCSA of Southern California, Hi-Lo Desert GCSA, San Diego GCSA, Sierra Nevada GCSA and California GCSA.
“Degradation Rate of the Fungicides Chlorothalonil and Iprodione in the Absence of Snow Cover for the Control of Microdochium Patch on Turfgrass,” Craig Grau, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison. Co-funded by the Wisconsin GCSA.
“A Novel Method to Facilitate Biodethatching Using Fungal Laccases,” Qingguo Huang, Ph.D., University of Georgia, Griffin Campus. Co-funded by the Georgia Golf and Environmental Foundation.
“Methods and Response for Successful Overseeding of Fairway Paspalum Turf,” David Kopec, Ph.D., University of Arizona. Co-funded by the Golf and Environmental Foundation of Arizona.
“Development of a Non-Destructive Sampling/Monitoring Program for Annual Bluegrass Weevil on Golf Course Fairways,” Albrecht Koppenhofer, Ph.D., Rutgers University. Co-funded by the GCSA of New Jersey, Long Island GCSA and Mountain and Valley GCSA.
Aquatrols’ Robert A. Moore Endowment Fund
“Wetting Agent Effects on Rootzone Moisture Distribution Under Various Irrigation Regimes,” Douglas Karcher, Ph.D., University of Arkansas.
Mark Kizziar Research Grant
“Attenuation of PPCP/EDCs Through Golf Courses Using Reuse Water,” Mike McCullough, Northern California Golf Association.
National Research Program
“Deficit Irrigation of Seashore Paspalum and Bermudagrass for Golf Course Turf,” James Walworth, Ph.D., University of Arizona.
Bayer keeps heat on patent issues
Bayer CropScience continues to throw legal challenges to alleged violators of its patent for the pesticide imidacloprid on fertilizer, recently filing a lawsuit for infringement against Control Solutions of Pasadena, Texas, and Frick Services of Wawaka, Ind.
Last December, Bayer settled a similar suit with Nufarm Americas Inc., in which the latter acknowledged that Bayer’s patent is valid and enforceable. Nufarm was in turn granted freedom to operate under the patented technology for imidacloprid on fertilizer. Bayer also has an ongoing legal action against Etigra LLC, claiming infringement on the same patent.
Bayer invented the novel mixture of imidacloprid on fertilizer and for the last 10 years has been selling it under the brand name of Merit PlusTurf Fertilizer.
In a related matter, Nufarm and Etigra have announced that they have reached an agreement for Nufarm to acquire the assets of Etigra, substantially strengthening Nufarm’s position in the industry’s turf and specialty segment.
Corrections
• In News and Notes on p. 42 of the February 2008 GCM, John Stier was incorrectly identified as the first-place winner in the Soils and Greens Mix (oral) category of the Crop Science Society of America’s graduate student competition. The actual winner was Jacob Schneider, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Stier is a professor at the university.
• In the Inside Your Environment column in the February 2008 GCM that featured Class A superintendent Paul Galligan retrofitting the catalytic converters on some of his maintenance equipment with diesel oxidation catalysts to reduce exhaust levels, the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa should have been located in Acme instead of Kewadin, Mich.
Pesticide survey deadline extended
The deadline for GCSAA superintendents to complete the national survey on pesticide use has been extended 30 days, through April 14.
The survey is being conducted both through regular mail and online and seeks input on product use and integrated plant management programs. The survey is the most recent phase of GCSAA’s efforts to evaluate the environmental performance of golf courses.
GCSAA members completing the pesticide-use survey will receive 0.50 service points. Also, all participants will be registered in drawings for prizes, such as a $250 gift card to an individual in each of the seven agronomic regions and a grand prize of a flat-screen LCD high-definition television set.
NGF presents golfer loyalty awards
The National Golf Foundation announced its annual Customer Loyalty Awards to managers of public golf facilities that received high approval ratings from their customers. Also, for the first year, NGF has created a new award for “most improved” facilities who conducted customer surveys in 2006 and 2007.
The Customer Loyalty Awards are based on surveys fielded through NGF’s online Golfer Survey Program. As part of this program, golfers indicate how likely they would be to recommend a particular golf course to a friend or colleague. The survey shows operators how they can improve customer relations and grow rounds and revenue.
Within each category, the facilities are separated by their position in the marketplace, whether premium, standard or value.
Facilities with highest loyalty scores:
• Premium: FarmLinks Golf Club, Sylacauga, Ala.
• Standard: Arrowhead Pointe at Lake Richard B. Russell,
Elberton, Ga.
• Value: Tama Hills Golf Course, Tokyo, Japan
Facilities with most improved loyalty scores (2006 to 2007):
• Premium: Makefield Highlands Golf Club, Yardley, Pa.
• Standard: Little Bennett Golf Course, Clarksburg, Md.
• Value: Sligo Creek Golf Course, Silver Spring, Md.
OSU puts name on $1 million donor
The anonymous donor whose $1 million gift saved the day for the turf management curriculum at Oregon State University (Front Nine, GCM, February 2008) is anonymous no longer.
The family of the late Nat Giustina, a 1941 graduate of OSU who was well known in the state for his work in forestry and his love of golf, recently honored his request to make a donation to the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign by giving $4 million to establish two endowed professorships, one in forest management and one in turf management.
“My father had always been supportive of Oregon State and he really wanted to be a part of the campaign,” Giustina’s son, Larry, a 1971 OSU grad, said. “The family came together and we decided to direct the gift to two areas he loved.”
Nat Giustina, who died in August 2005, ran a family-based forest products and timber business in the Eugene area. An avid golfer, he helped found Tokatee Golf Club in Blue River in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley and also Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis.
“The Giustina professorship will really position the turf program for great success,” said Thayne Dutson, dean of the College of Agriculture Sciences. “Nat Giustina was instrumental in creating a connection with the turf management program and Trysting Tree Golf Club. The result has been beneficial for both the program and Trysting Tree. It’s certainly fitting that a gift that honors Nat, whose love of the sport is legendary, will educate innovative golf course superintendents for generations to come.”
The Front Nine item in February’s GCM noted that a proactive effort by the Oregon GCSA also had helped assure the turf management curriculum’s continuance at OSU. The GCSAA chapter initiated an endowment program through the OSU Foundation in an effort to preserve a full-time turf management faculty position currently held by longtime educator and researcher Thomas W. Cook, who is retiring this July. Oregon GCSA leaders had learned that the position could be passed over or downgraded from full-time by the university’s school of agriculture as it moved through its prioritization process.
The chapter offered seed money to help establish the
endowment and had reached about a third of its goal when the initiative was propelled by the $1 million contribution by a then-anonymous donor.
“The Oregon superintendents agreed to put up $50,000 in front money if the university would put the position on priority staffing. It’s worked out pretty well,” said David Phipps, immediate past president of the Oregon GCSA, who spearheaded the effort.
Norman honored for his charitable causes
GCSAA’s reigning Old Tom Morris Award winner, Greg Norman, will receive the Golf Writers Association of America’s Charlie Bartlett Award in recognition of his philanthropy. Norman will be honored on April 9 during the writers’ annual awards dinner during Masters week in Augusta, Ga.
The Bartlett Award is given to a professional golfer for his or her unselfish contributions to the betterment of society.
Norman, Hall of Fame golfer, noted entrepreneur and also chairman of The Environmental Institute for Golf’s Advisory Board, has quietly helped raise more than $10 million for charity over the years, including the CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation and Ronald McDonald House. He loaned out his personal helicopter during the Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts and joined former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush in relief efforts following the tsunami in Indonesia and Thailand in 2004.
Passing noted
Ted Robinson Sr., a golf course designer and land and park planning architect for more than five decades, died on March 2 at his home in Laguna Beach, Calif., after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 84.
Robinson, who was president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects in 1983-84 and an ASGCA Fellow, was widely known throughout the industry as the “King of Waterscapes” for his astute use of water as a defining hazard in course design. He was also recognized for his integration of golf courses and master-planned communities.
Robinson is credited with more than 160 golf properties throughout the western United States, Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, Indonesia and Korea. While many of his designs were ranked among the top venues in several states, his most highly regarded project was Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Wash., a world top-100 layout and the site of the 1998 PGA Tour Championship.
Robinson is survived by his wife, Bobbi; a son, Ted Jr.; two daughters, Kris and Leigha; and 10 grandchildren. The family requests donations to the Ted Robinson Cancer Research Fund at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, RM 8302 MKC 9181, University of Southern California, P.O. Box 77902, Los Angeles, CA., 90099-5334.
Game, set and match
Robert Kadera of Lake Villa, Ill., took the role of tennis parent a little too far last month when he landed his small airplane on the seventh fairway of the Marriott Resort Crane’s Landing Golf Course in the north Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire so his 14-year-old son wouldn’t be late for a tennis lesson at the Lincolnshire Club across the street.
The 65-year-old Kadera told police that he made several attempts to land on the snow-covered course before finally touching down in his 1949 Piper Clipper outfitted with skis instead
of wheels.
“He wanted to get back into his plane and take off again. It was no different for him to jump in a plane than it was for you and I to jump in a car,” Lincolnshire police detective John-Erik Anderson was quoted saying by the Chicago-area media, adding that a tennis lesson did not qualify as an allowable unscheduled emergency landing.
Police had the plane, which was leaking fuel, towed to an impounding area. Charges had not been filed against Kadera as of a week after the incident. His son did not make it to his tennis lesson on time.
Speakers galore at Golf Inc. event
Golf Inc. magazine’s annual Spring Conference will feature a lineup of who’s who in golf during its April 21-23 run at Doral Golf Resort in Miami.
The event, known in the industry as a valuable networking forum for golf course owners, developers and other leaders in the sport, will have 37 educational sessions in five tracks and other programs involving more than 90 speakers.
Among the lineup of scheduled speakers with GCSAA ties are Dana Garmany, chairman and CEO of Troon Golf and a member of The Environmental Institute for Golf’s Advisory Council; Tim Hiers, CGCS and director of golf course maintenance at The Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, Fla.; Ted Horton, CGCS and senior consulting agronomist for ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance; Greg Lyman, GCSAA director of environmental programs; and Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation and former CEO of GCSAA.
Presidents Cup captains up through the ranks
Fred Couples and Greg Norman were recently named as the new captains for the 2009 Presidents Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco.
It’s the first time both captains have previously played in the matches — Couples competing in five Cups for the U.S. and Norman playing in three events for the International team. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player had been the captains in the past three matches.
David Wehner, dean of the college of agriculture, food and environmental sciences at California State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo since 2002, has been appointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wehner is a 12-year member of GCSAA.
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