New Oregon State
turf educator isn’t letting grass grow under his feet

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Rob Golembiewski, Ph.D., wears a size 13 shoe, but that’s nothing compared with the shoes he has to fill.

The former head of the golf and turf management program at the Crookston campus of the University of Minnesota has replaced Tom Cook as the director of Oregon State University’s turf management program.

Thirty-one years ago, the hardworking and revered Cook, who retired this fall, single-handedly created the program, which has produced superintendents at prominent golf facilities including California’s Pebble Beach and Oregon’s Bandon Dunes. Cook, who received GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006, also led the development of new grass mixes that require less water and fewer chemicals and devised new approaches to making golf courses environmentally “green.”

“It’s phenomenal what Tom did as a one-man show,” says Golembiewski, who previously launched Montana State University’s turf program and co-owned a landscaping company for six years in Arizona. “I have an appreciation for what he built. I’ll be very protective of it and I look forward to taking it to the next level.”

Golembiewski has wasted no time getting down to work at OSU. He clocks at least 12 hours a day teaching, picking the brains of industry professionals over lunch and speaking at conferences. On weekends, he’s at his office, which he painted himself — a luminous Beaver orange.

Currently, he’s deciding what research projects to take on.

“I’ve been visiting with turf breeders, golf course superintendents and landscapers trying to get feedback about what the Pacific Northwest industry sees as key issues,” says Golembiewski. “I want to do research that will impact the Northwest and the nation.”

He plans to continue the program’s research on perennial ryegrass as part of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program, on the fertility of annual bluegrass and on the performance of certain grass mixtures in shaded conditions. All of this research is conducted on five acres of experimental plots and putting greens at OSU’s Lewis-Brown Farm. Golembiewski is planning to increase the putting green’s size by up to 10,000 square feet.

He met recently with a committee of industry representatives to hear its thoughts on how graduates of the program have performed at the representatives’ companies.

“They’ll assess the skills that our students have and don’t have, what courses we should offer based off that and how our current curriculum stacks up,” Golembiewski says.

OSU offers a 13-credit, four-course turf curriculum as an option for students majoring in horticulture. Depending on input from the committee, which includes superintendents, landscapers and representatives from the sports turf sector, Golembiewski is thinking of adding a course in turf ecology and another in turf pest management.

He’d also like to see OSU hire an additional full-time turf faculty member. Like Cook, Golembiewski presently runs the program by himself with help from a research assistant.

Unlike Cook, though, Golembiewski doesn’t have to scramble to gather grants and donations to fund his employment during the summer. Earlier this year, the family of the late OSU alumnus Nat Giustina donated $1 million to endow a professorship for Cook’s replacement.

Golembiewski’s endowment is a far cry from his first paid job in the business. That was back when he was a teenager taking care of a neighbor’s immaculate yard. “They loved me because I was meticulous,” the 39-year-old says.

The day after graduating from high school, he landed a summer job researching turfgrass at Michigan State University.

“My first day, they gave me a project,” he says. “I took 40 flats, filled them with soil, put Kentucky bluegrass sod into them, plugged them with creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass and sprayed bacteria over the flats to evaluate biological control agents. I was covered in soil and sweat. I got home and thought, ‘what the heck am I doing?’”

But Golembiewski discovered that he liked conducting research that benefited others. So he went on to earn a master’s in botany and plant pathology from Michigan State and a doctorate in agronomy, specializing in turfgrass science, from Ohio State University.

When it comes to his own yard, the Michigan native describes himself as a perfectionist. “I mow straight lines and pick up every leaf,” he says. “I love to work in the yard.”

— Tiffany Woods, Oregon State University

From the GCM blog poll: A little more than half the superintendent respondents, 51.2 percent, said they will have a smaller maintenance crew in 2009 than last year because of the declining economy, while 43.9 percent said their staff size would remain the same. Just 4.9 percent said they are actually increasing their staff.

Club members in Louisville rally after the storm

Big news stories about hurricanes usually focus on the coasts and the damage the storms can do to cities along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic shoreline. But last September, states as far inland as Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky felt the wrath of Hurricane Ike’s furious winds and rainfalls.

In Louisville, Ky., Ike rode in on 75 mph winds and left a massive amount of damage, debris, fallen trees and more at Wildwood Country Club. David Hawes, the Class A superintendent who’s been at the 18-hole private club for 10 years, immediately began wondering about the cleanup work and whether the 180-golfer outing scheduled for the next day was even close to possible. The 14-year GCSAA member had an idea where he might turn for help.

A group of about 12 members at Wildwood gathered on the clubhouse patio with Hawes and, without reluctance, offered up their efforts to serve as the cleanup crew the next day. As more members came in for the event and saw the damage, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work too. Hawes wasn’t surprised at the turnout. The membership at Wildwood has historically been ready to volunteer for various projects and cleanups on the course, so he knew he could count on them.

With the help of the members, the outing took place the next day without a hitch, Hawes says, adding that a similar scenario occurred in 2002 when another big storm hit Louisville and the members again pitched in to save the event.

“At about 3 o’clock we had one of the worst thunderstorms we’d ever had here,” Hawes recalls. “A microburst knocked out 25 trees on the ground, and from 3 o’clock until about 10 at night, people from the clubhouse, pro shop, members — even when they had young kids there — they were all out there helping out and working to get the course open the next morning for the member-guest. We did not delay it at all.”

Throughout his career, which began as an assistant superintendent at Valhalla Golf Club just 12 miles from Wildwood, Hawes says he’s never before seen the willingness of members to get their hands dirty on a course.

“You don’t really hear a whole lot of that (volunteerism),” he says. “We’re leading the pack. Talking to my peers, I don’t know that they’ve had the same situation, and I feel very fortunate.”

During a fairway conversion from bermudagrass to zoysiagrass in 2007, at least 25 members came forward to help hand-water fairways, lay sod and drive trucks from morning until dark. Their assistance shortened the duration of the project.

“We basically picked up 19 acres of fairways and put down 19 acres of fairways in 42 days,” Hawes says. “My guys were able to concentrate on keeping the golf course up. We had nine holes open during that time, and we only shut down for two and a half weeks.”

In December, around 30 members showed up in the snow and sleet to remove trees damaged by Ike. The group removed around 15 trees in four hours.

“Some of our members brought in chain saws, but we had no equipment at all,” Hawes says. “We had my pickup truck and a couple of members with pickup trucks. One of our members who’s in construction brought in flatbed trailers and chain saws.”

Hawes estimates the four hours members spent removing trees saved the club around $15,000 of work it would have otherwise had to contract out. He says he welcomes all the extra hands, though he admits it’s sometimes difficult to accept.

“Sometimes you have to swallow that lump in your throat, that little bit of pride,” he says. “You don’t want them thinking you can’t get this job done. I was 28 years old, kind of a kid, when I got here and (the membership) has known me for quite a long time. It’s the family relationship you have with your members, people know you and they want to help you. It’s just a good bunch of people here.”

— Darcy DeVictor, GCM associate editor

The International Golf Federation has signed up Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam to serve as Global Ambassadors to support and promote the IGF’s Olympic Golf Committee, which is leading the movement to have the game reinstated as an Olympic sport, possibly by 2016.

The Irrigation Association has created a political action committee, IrrigationPAC, to bolster the association’s strategic focus on influencing policy to increase the demand for efficient irrigation and to help it achieve other legislative objectives to increase the industry’s visibility at the federal level.

When it comes to snow removal, timing is everything

Editor’s note: In the past few years, superintendents from Nebraska to Colorado to wherever it snows a lot have contacted GCM with how-to ideas to save precious greens turf after months beneath a blanket of the white stuff. The following is another chapter in the struggle, this one from Canada, and it comes from the GCM blog, courtesy of senior associate editor Seth Jones.

Keith Lyall, superintendent at Sun Peaks Resort in Sun Peaks, British Columbia, recalls that when he came to the course in 2004 he was shocked to see the conditions of the greens — almost all the surfaces were covered with snow mold scars. In previous years, he says, they had tried to remove snow from the greens, but did not have much success in keeping molds in check.

Since then, Lyall has implemented his own method for saving Sun Peaks’ greens from what he calls “white death.”

“We’re guaranteed to have snow sticking on the ground by Halloween, so our third winter prep fungicide application is the week before. The 90-day effectiveness of fungicides ends in February and that’s when the clearing process begins,” Lyall says, adding that he usually uses a snowcat to get most of the snow off some of the greens and a skid-steer on tracks with a snow blower attachment on those that can’t be accessed by the snowcat.

“Once the bulk is gone, about four feet, we immediately use walk-behind blowers to get the remaining snow off,” he says. “We then reapply fungicides and cover the greens with tarps until the weather warms and they start to grow. Usually we are mowing them by early April. It is quite a sight to be skiing and look in the valley and see the vivid greens in all that snow. This process has allowed the course to open with healthy greens one month after the ski hill closes.”

Lyall, his assistant and one other employee do the bulk of the work. The trio also manages an outdoor skating rink during the winter.

Superintendents offered economic service

GCSAA recently announced a member-service program to provide needed help for superintendents in their efforts to cope with the current economic climate.

The Economic Survival Kit is designed to provide information and suggestions from leading authorities in the golf industry and other business sectors. The members-only resource also features superintendents sharing practical, budget-friendly tips and ideas.

The kit can be accessed through the info pack page on the GCSAA Web site at www.gcsaa.org. Member feedback or tips can be forwarded to Margo Campbell Szabo (mszabo@gcsaa.org) at GCSAA headquarters.

“Although we face considerable economic challenges, I am bullish on the golf economy in large part because of GCSAA members. There is no individual at a golf facility who can make a greater impact on the economic success of the facility than a GCSAA golf course superintendent,” GCSAA CEO Mark J. Woodward, CGCS, said in a message to members announcing the Economic Survival Kit.

“I encourage you to share this information with your staff to stimulate the thoughts of others,” Woodward continued. “The intent is to also give you support in communicating with your employer. You can repackage the information as you desire or provide the materials directly to him or her. It provides support for your staffing needs, on-course programs and projects and participation in continuing education activities such as conference and show.”

Woodward added that the resource includes key GCSAA staff contacts in the area of career services, communications, research and support who can be reached directly for more information.

New chapter research funding on hold

At its annual plan and budget meeting last month, the GCSAA Board of Directors determined that the highest priorities for research in the coming year will be publication of the survey results from the Golf Course Environmental Profile, the testing and introduction of the IPM template and advancement of the Pesticide Characteristics Project.

While there will be no funding of new chapter cooperative research projects in 2009, GCSAA will continue to monitor the current 22 projects that are part of the Chapter Cooperative and National Research programs. The board has emphasized its commitment to funding applied agronomic, environmental and regulatory research, and plans to resume funding of new research when the projects listed above are completed and stability returns to the economy.

Architect uses Times blog for grassroots message

The Washington Times Web site has added a blog by golf course architect Richard Mandell that is said to take a step or two back in time and reach out to the industry’s somewhat forgotten everyday golfer.

Mandell’s blog, called Golf Course Design Today, will focus primarily on a grassroots movement to return the game of golf to its origins and what attracted people to the game in the first place.

“This is a great opportunity to try and recapture this game that we all love to play, but have struggled to afford over the past few years,” says Mandell, whose golf architecture firm is run out of Pinehurst, N.C.  “For too long, golfers have been dictated to by the golf industry and a correction is the only way to go for survival. This blog is a way of opening the lines of communication between the everyday golfer and the golf industry as a whole.”

Mandell says his blog will not only address the challenges the golf industry faces today, it will also address current world events and how they affect the industry. And, as a golf course architect, Mandell’s slant will tend toward design. He has long been a proponent of making challenge and strategy the solutions to an overemphasis on pure aesthetics.

“Creating beauty and memorable landscapes is where we get into major trouble for the industry,” he says, adding that blog ideas down the road include “Why is Brown Good for You?”; “Sustainable Golf Courses”; and “Too Little Time, Not Enough Desire: Is Slow Play The Reason for 7he Golf Industry Woes?”

Visit Golf Course Design Today at www.washingtontimes.com/communities/golf-design.

GCBAA cost guide popular

The Golf Course Builders Association of America’s “2008 Guide to Estimating Golf Course Construction” is drawing rave reviews from industry sources.

In response to recent feedback, a tutorial on the guide was scheduled for this month’s Golf Industry Show to demonstrate to developers, builders and architects how to take full advantage of the information covered in the guide.

“The guide not only has more than 60 average price line items, it also takes into account regional differences based on environmental considerations,” points out GCBAA executive director Paul Foley.

Bruce Charlton, president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, adds that many of his colleagues have found the cost guide to be very accurate when developing a construction investment estimate.

“That’s very important in the economic situation we are currently in when budget figures need to be very tight,” says Charlton, president and chief design officer of Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects.

The guide is available on CD for $50 for GCBAA members and $100 for nonmembers. Contact the GCBAA at 402-476-4444 or at www.gcbaa.org.

Harbin to lead Golf 20/20 programs

Cathy Harbin, a veteran of golf facility and leadership management, was recently hired as the new director of Golf 20/20, the World Golf Foundation initiative focused on the development and support of programs to grow the game.

For the past 11 years, Harbin had been involved with Honours Golf Co.’s two World Golf Village venues, the Slammer & Squire and King & Bear courses, most recently as general manager and director of leadership development and training. Her current charge with Golf 20/20 will be to direct her expertise toward Get Golf Ready, a new adult player development program launched late in 2008.

“We are absolutely delighted to have a golf industry leader of Cathy’s caliber join our World Golf Foundation team to direct the Golf 20/20 initiative,” said WGF CEO Steve Mona. “Cathy has outstanding leadership skills and understands in a very fundamental way how to provide beginners and experienced golfers alike with a meaningful connection to the game. She has been an active and involved participant in the Golf 20/20 initiative since its launch in 2000.”

Research gets a leg up on Japanese beetle

Scientists at the University of California-Davis have discovered a way to curb the reproduction process of the Japanese beetle that could lead to better pest control methods aimed at an insect that causes more than $450 million a year in damages to American agriculture and turfgrass interests.

Chemical ecology research led by Walter Leal, Ph.D., that was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, isolated, identified, cloned and expressed a pheromone-degrading enzyme that halts the Japanese beetle’s reproductive cycle by causing the male beetle to be unable to detect the pheromone and find females.

The Japanese beetle over the last 90-some years has infested about 30 states east of the Mississippi River and is now spreading west. In its larval stages, the beetle is considered the most widespread turfgrass pest in the country.

Deere refines golf sales management

John Deere Golf made a significant change to its North American sales management program in January, consolidating equipment/irrigation and agronomic products sales teams.

Former territory managers and golf sales managers have become a comprehensive team of regional field managers headed by Rob Jeske, North American sales manager. The regional field managers will work closely with distributors and agronomic sales representatives.

“By consolidating our sales team, we’ll have the tools necessary to meet customer challenges and opportunities in specific markets,” said Jeske.

Hiers’ advocacy earns government relations honor

Tim Hiers, CGCS, director of golf course management at The Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, Fla., will receive GCSAA’s 2009 Excellence in Government Relations Award this month at the Golf Industry Show.

Hiers is being honored for his exceptional work in the area of advocacy. The 30-year GCSAA member was specifically cited for his efforts to educate state and federal policymakers on golf course management issues. He has served as the chairman of the GCSAA Methyl Bromide Task Group since 2006 to preserve golf course use of methyl bromide, supply the U.S. EPA with economic impact data related to the loss of methyl bromide and assist with submission of annual critical use exemption applications to the agency. He also helped prepare GCSAA’s official response to the EPA’s methyl bromide Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED), which would remove golf course use of methyl bromide from the label.

“Tim has done so much to elevate the profile of the golf course management industry,” says GCSAA president David S. Downing II, CGCS. “He has done a tremendous job advocating for the industry and the game. He has taught government officials about key issues and has been a tireless contributor to GCSAA’s government relations.”

Hiers and his staff conduct a number of tours each year to provide a better understanding of golf course operations and demonstrate environmental stewardship efforts of the industry.

In 1995, Hiers, then at Colliers Reserve in Naples, the first-ever Audubon Signature Sanctuary course, won both the GCSAA President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship and the national Environmental Stewardship Award for private facilities.

GCSAA scholarship opportunities loom

The deadlines for several of the scholarships GCSAA awards through its philanthropic organization, The Environmental Institute for Golf, are coming up in the very near future. In all cases, for more information and application details, contact Mischia Wright, GCSAA’s senior manager of development, at 800-472-7878, ext. 4445.

Deadline: March 1. The Scotts Company Scholars Program, funded by The Scotts Co. Applicants must be a college freshman, sophomore or junior or a graduating high school senior who has been accepted at an accredited university, college or junior college for the next academic year and are seeking a career in the green industry. The primary goal of the program is to seek out promising students entering the golf course industry from diverse ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Deadline: March 15. Par Aide’s Joseph S. Garske Collegiate Grants. The goal of this program is to assist GCSAA members’ children in funding their education at either an accredited college or trade school. It’s available to the children of GCSAA members who have been an active member for five or more consecutive years. Applicants must be a graduating high school senior and be accepted at an institution of higher learning for the upcoming year.

Deadline: March 31. GCSAA Essay Contest. This program awards scholarships to applicants who are undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in turfgrass science, agronomy or any other field related to golf course management. The original essays should be seven to 12 pages in length. The winning essay may be featured in a future issue of GCM.

Deadline: April 15. GCSAA Legacy Awards, funded by Syngenta Professional Products. This program provides scholarship assistance to the children and grandchildren of GCSAA members who have been active Class A, Superintendent Members, Class C, Class A-Retired, Class B-Retired or Class AA members for five or more consecutive years. Applicants must be enrolled full time at an accredited institution of higher learning, or for high school seniors, they must have been accepted at such an institution for the next academic year.

Deadline: June 1. GCSAA Scholars Competition. The selection criteria for this program includes academic excellence, work experience, extracurricular activities and potential to become a leading professional in the golf course management industry. Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized undergraduate program in a major field related to turf management, have completed at least 24 credit hours or the equivalent of one year of full-time study in the appropriate major and be a member of GCSAA.

Deadline: Oct. 1. James Watson Fellowship, funded by The Toro Co. These awards provide financial assistance for the future educators and researchers of the turfgrass industry. Applicants must be candidates for master’s or doctoral degrees in fields related to golf course management.

The USGA has scheduled its U.S. Junior Amateur Championship through 2011. The 2009 Junior Amateur is set for Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., while the 2010 event has been awarded to Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich. The 2011 tournament will be at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has published a final rule to update the 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which allows employees to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. The rule, which went into effect on Jan. 16, 2009, expands the FMLA for military families and calls for increased employer/employee notification obligations.

Woodward joins LPGA advisory council

GCSAA CEO Mark J. Woodward, CGCS, will join 10 other new members on the 2009-10 LPGA Commissioner’s Advisory Council. LPGA Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens announced the new council members on Jan. 12. The Commissioner’s Advisory Council is a 23-member board comprised of individuals from the corporate, academic, political, philanthropic and cultural arenas. Convened under Bivens’ tenure for the first time in September 2006, members of the Commissioners Advisory Council are invited to serve two-year terms.

Two leading suppliers of professional turf and ornamental products, Quali-Pro and Lebanon Turf, have joined GCSAA’s Partner Recognition Program at the Silver level.

In the news…

Errant drive finds hazard
A story in the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports on Grant Yaklich, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Fort Collins Country Club, arriving at work Dec. 17 to find a car poking through the ice on the golf course lake.

Differences in opinion over course management
The Gallup Independent covers golf course builder Tom Noe’s complaints about his hometown municipal golf course, Fox Run Golf Course in Gallup, N.M., featuring Bob Weekes, GCSAA superintendent member.

Design to shrink course debated
The Grand Junction Sentinel reports on nonprofit group ACE Golf Foundation’s proposal to shrink Lincoln Park Golf Course in Grand Junction, Colo., from nine holes to six and offer additional amenities such as a larger, lighted driving range, new clubhouse, restaurant, indoor classrooms with video instruction, a walking and bike path, an outdoor amphitheater and more. Featuring Doug Jones, CGCS, golf course superintendent for the city of Grand Junction.

Tough times for new grads
Recent college graduates are having difficulty finding jobs, the Knoxville News says, featuring GCSAA student members Joshua Cooper and Stuart McClure, turfgrass management majors in the University of Tennessee’s plant sciences department.      

Fired worker admits killing golf course dog
Stories in the Modesto Bee and the Turlock Journal report on Joel Erickson, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Turlock (Calif.) Golf and Country Club, losing his 2-year-old border collie that chased geese from the golf course when a disgruntled former employee shot and killed the dog.

Supers brainstorm against rising fuel costs
Club & Resort Business features superintendents implementing new tricks for protecting properties against fuel-cost spikes.