the CGCOA
Insider
volume 6 issue 2 • summer 2012
INSIDE this issue • Steve Plummer Named New CGCOA President. . . . . . . . . 2 • Ed Smilow Named New Executive Director. . . . . . . . 3 • PGA Professional National Championship . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CGCOA Member to Host the U.S. Open Championship
• Semi-Annual Education & Golf Conference a Great Success. . . . . . . . . . . . 4
General manager Greg DeRosa and Director of Golf Course Maintenance Operations Pat Finlen are all smiles as they prepare to host the 2012 U.S. Open Championship at The Olympic Club.
• CGCOA’s New Address. . . . . 4 • The Battle To Protect Golf In California Continues. . . . 5 • Golf Gods Smile on 80th Anniversary Celebration at Sharp Park Golf Course . . . 6 • Save the Date: August 21 at California Golf Club of San Francisco. . . . . . . . . . . . 8 • Save Sharp Park Deserves Your Attention . . . . . . . . . . . 8 • CGCOA Members Grieve the Loss of John Harbottle III . 9
CGCOA
50-855 Washington St., Suite C #238 La Quinta, CA 92253
714.813.7228
info@golfcalifornia.org ed@golfcalifornia.org www.golfcalifornia.org PUBLISHED BY
IN THE LOOP GOLF, INC. 1206 Fourth Street Santa Rosa, CA 95404
707.569.8481 DESIGN BY
J HILL DESIGN 707.321.0026 COMMENTS Please write to shaw@intheloopgolf.com
The CGCOA takes great pride in recognizing The Olympic Club in San Francisco as host of the 2012 United States Open Championship from June 14-17. As a member of the CGCOA, The Olympic Club represents the best and deserves the recognition the USGA has bestowed upon the club as the site of this year’s championship. The CGCOA appreciates the dedicated preparation and sense of detail required of General Manager Greg DeRosa and his management team led by PGA Head Golf Professional Chris Stein and Director of Golf Course Maintenance Operations Patrick “Pat” Finlen, CGCS. These gentlemen, along with their staff/crew have worked diligently in preparing the venue for a successful championship. CGCOA members gain inspiration from our fellow members’ efforts and their commitment to preserve the game’s tradition and historic values as they unveil their course for the 2012 U.S. Open Championship. Founded in 1860, the oldest athletic club in America purchased the Wilfred Reid-
designed Lakeside Golf Club in 1918 and then promptly replaced it with two new 18hole courses in the 1920s. In 1955, after some re-design by Robert Trent Jones, the Olympic Club hosted the first of four U.S. Opens. Remarkably, the underdog has won every time: Jack Fleck over Ben Hogan in 1955, Billy Casper over Arnold Palmer in 1966, Scott Simpson over Tom Watson in 1987, and Lee Janzen over Payne Stewart in 1998. Though a few changes to the course have been made for this year’s competition, the extremely challenging finishing holes will once again test the best golfers in the world and provide the public a view of golf at its finest. We are most thankful for The Olympic Club’s continued support of the CGCOA and the California Alliance for Golf, in addition to their ongoing sensitivity to the environment and their charitable contributions to community-based programs. It’s CGCOA members like The Olympic Club that help keep golf viable in California.
California Golf Course Owners Association 50-855 WASHINGTON ST., SUITE C #238, LA QUINTA, CA 92253 tel: 714.813.7228 email: info@golfcalifornia.org or ed@golfcalifornia.org
www.golfcalifornia.org or www.californiagolf.org CGCOA Board Officers President
Immediate Past President
President Championship Golf Services, Inc. General Manager Tustin Ranch Golf Club
Owner/Operator Stevinson Ranch Golf Course
Steven J. Plummer, CGCS
Secretary
Eric Jacobsen
Vice President of Golf Properties Castle & Cooke California, Inc.
George Kelley
Steve Plummer Named New CGCOA President
Executive Director CGCOA
Ed Smilow, Esq., PGM
Golf Course Law Professional Golfers Career College The Legends Golf Club
Treasurer
Scott Hoyt
General Manager Pasatiempo Golf Club
Board of Directors John K. Abendroth Celtic Golf Management
Bill Aragona
President/General Manager Boulder Creek GCC & Resort
Z. Gordon Davidson
David Kramer
GM/Owner Los Serranos Country Club
Dan McIntyre
General Manager, Western Operations ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance
IGM/Meadowbrook Golf Consultant Z. Gordon Davidson & Associates, Inc. Golf & Resort Properties
Emmy Moore-Minister
Kevin Heaney
Dave Nelson
Erinn Hoyt
Lyn Nelson
Executive Director SCGA
Website & Database Manager
Patrick Kemball
Director of Golf Canyon Lake Country Club
Shaw Kobre
Media/Public Relations NCPGA, GCSANC & CGCOA Sales Manager, California Club Car, Inc.
CEO/Executive Director Northern California Golf Association
Dawn Prebula
Senior VP of Development VGM Club
President In The Loop Golf
Honorary Member
Sam Koh
Hollingsworth Enterprises Prior Owner Singing Hills Golf Courses & Resort
Koss International Owner Oak Quarry Golf Club Founder/CEO Intrinsic Agency, LLC
Jerry Hollingsworth
Advisory Board Tom Addis
Executive Director/CEO Southern California Professional Golfers Association
Kimberly Bauer
COO/General Mgr./Regional Director Hospitality Industry Waterhouse, Inc. Creative Hospitality Services
Doug Dahl VP Irrigation Turf Star
Dan Farrar
General Manager Merit Property Management
Tom Isaak CEO/President CourseCo, Inc.
Greg Pieschala
President Valley Crest Golf Course Maintenance
Joe Priddy
Immediate Past President General Manager Santa Maria Country Club
Lon & Rich Records
Target Specialty Products Inc.
Terry A. Selk
Tom Frost
President Tasmark Enterprises— Tourism Marketing
Bob Higgins
Consultant/Golfer Pellucid Corp.
President Tom Frost Golf, Inc. General Manager Saddle Creek Golf Club Castle & Cooke
Ted Horton
THC (Ted Horton Consulting)
Harvey Silverman Shawn Smith
Director of Golf Administration Pebble Beach Company
As of June 1, 2012, CGCOA Vice President Steve Plummer has assumed the duties as president of the organization. Steve is the president of Championship Golf Services, Inc. serving as general manager of the Tustin Ranch Golf Club as well as the two municipal golf courses in Anaheim, Dad Miller Golf Course and Anaheim Hills Golf Course. He is also responsible for maintenance at the Annenberg Estate in Ranch Mirage. Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture specializing in Turfgrass Science which he earned from Kansas State University and is a Certified Golf Course Superintendent with the GCSAA. Steve attributes his success to adherence to a core philosophy: To provide a cohesive and dedicated group of people who “Do the Right Thing” by using Professionalism, Honesty, Integrity, Respect, Service, Trust to provide the best possible services to our clients, members and guests. Bringing these values to the CGCOA will insure that our organization will continue to grow and we are most pleased that Steve has agreed to contribute his excellence to our organization. Steve is filling the void we all feel from the departure of our most enthusiastic President Jay Miller. Our loss is now Florida’s gain as Jay has found a new challenge in Kissimmee, Florida managing two properties for NGCOA Past President Bill Stine. While Jay will be sorely missed, we are confident Steve will do an outstanding job leading us through 2012. 2
Ed Smilow Named New Executive Director On March 27, 2012 the CGCOA Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint Edward “Ed” Smilow as its new executive director. Ed has been legal counsel to the CGCOA for the last five years and brings a wealth of knowledge about the golf industry and the inner workings of the owners’ organization. He has been an attorney in California since 1979, a golf professional since 1993, and a professor of golf and the law at the Professional Golfers Career College since 1997. He is a frequent guest speaker for industry organizations such as the PGA of America, GCSAA and the CMAA. A noted historian on the game of golf, Ed has moderated several CGCOA’s educational conferences. He is a graduate of Cornell University, the New England School of Law, University of Southern California and the Professional Golfers Career College. Welcome aboard, Ed, to your new position as executive director. The CGCOA will be in your good hands.
PGA Professional National Championship June 24-27 The 45th PGA Professional National Championship makes its way to Northern California June 24-27 at Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Courses in Seaside, CA. Standing proudly are host staff (L to R): Tournament Coordinator Julio Rodriguez; Managing Director Dick Fitzgerald; PGA Head Golf Professional Pat Jones; Director of Golf Course Maintenance Ryan VerNess and Director of Food & Beverage Jeff Nelson. Club Car, a long-time CGCOA sponsor, is also a presenting sponsor of the PGA PNC. (Photo Courtesy of Expressive Photographics)
THE CGCOA WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT: State Club Satellite Network Ted Salata
teds@csnlife.com
Cybergolf
Dan Murnan
dan@cybergolf.com
Gallus Golf
gallusgolf.com
Golf Course Law Ed Smilow
edsmilow@golfcourselaw.com
Golf Insurance Services Gary Sigel
gsigel@gpins.com
Rick Sigel
rsigel@gpins.com
Golf Now/Golf Channel.com Mike Loustalot
mloustalot@golfchannel.com
Greenway Golf George Kelley
gkelley@greenwaygolf.com
Increase Club Profits www.icptoday.com/
Pellucid
Harvey Silverman
harvinfc@pacbell.net
Professional Golfers Career College Ed Smilow
edsmilow@golfcourselaw.com
Southern California PGA Tom Addis
scpgata@aol.com
Tapin Solutions Kyle Thompson
kyle@tapinllc.com
Target Specialties Rich Records
rich.records@target-specialty.com
Tustin Ranch/ Championship Golf Steve Plummer
splummer@tustinranchgolf.com
TW Energy Savers John Abendroth
IGolfSwing@aol.com
ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance Greg Pieschala
gpieschala@valleycrest.com
VGM Club
Dawn Prebula
dawnprebula@earthlink.net
National Sponsors Club Car
Dave Nelson
dave_nelson@clubcar.com
Toro/Turf Star
Len Gregory (Turf Star) leng@turfstar.com
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Semi-Annual Education & Golf Conference a Great Success In late spring, the CGCOA held its first Semi-Annual Education & Golf Conference at Arrowhead Country Club in San Bernardino, Calif. Our heart-felt thanks are extended to host, CGCOA Past President George Kelley and his Greenway Golf staff at Arrowhead CC. Those in attendance were treated to an exceptional series of presentations by leading experts in California who demonstrated ways to save money and increase revenue. The four-hour education program showed members how to reduce their real property taxes through a proper appraisal and the tax appeal process, and how to reduce federal income taxes through cost segregation. The new CGCOA workers compensation and health insurance member program through our sponsor, Golf Insurance Services, was unveiled which will save members literally thousands of dollars annually in insurance premiums while providing greater coverage for owners and their employees. Extending the life of golf cart fleets and limiting golf cart liability was the topic of discussion by our wise and generous golf host, Club Car Vice President Eric Andrews. Opportunities to cut costs and increase revenue with smart renewable energy sources (i.e. wind and solar power) was presented by CGCOA’s newest sponsor, Mike Beal President of Vision Renewable Group. Last, but certainly not least, was a provocative panel discussion and exchange on the untapped power of women in golf. In follow-up to the comments of featured speakers at the NGCOA National Conference (Las Vegas, NV) our panel of successful women in golf reminded us that the majority of the U.S. population (and the most upwardly mobile of all segments in our society) are women who need to be welcomed and actively engaged
in the game of golf. Our exceptional panelists consisted of Player Development Regional Manager with the PGA of America Nikki Gatch, Greenway Golf Director of Membership Sales Rose Agracewicz and LPGA Member Nancy Kato of SWINGplay, Inc. Their discussion demonstrated that all golf facilities need to embrace the challenge of removing the subtle obstacles that prevent women’s participation, finding new ways to communicate our dedication to equal access and increasing our willingness to be creative in meeting the needs of our clientele. The pundits at the NGCOA all seemed to agree that there is no silver bullet to save the golf business. However, they concurred that golf’s great failure has been its inability to bring more women to the game and retain them. On the positive side, with the industry’s recent unveiling of the GOLF 2.0 initiative more women will be introduced to the game of golf than ever before. The educational program concluded with a brief yet informative review by Executive Director Ed Smilow, Esq., on the latest Supreme Court ruling on break and meal periods. Attendees left with plenty of new ideas and practical solutions on how to become more efficient course operators. The CGCOA extends a special thanks to all of our speakers and presenting sponsors. It is with their support that the CGCOA continues its mission to grow, protect, and preserve the game of golf. Mark your calendar now for our next meeting in South San Francisco on August 21, 2012 at the California Club of SF. If it’s anything like the meeting at Arrowhead CC, it’s one you will not want to miss!
CGCOA’s New Address The CGCOA has a new address. All inquiries and correspondence should be directed to: Edward L. Smilow
Executive Director of CGCOA 50-855 Washington Street, Suite C #238 La Quinta, CA 92253 Telephone 714-813-7228 e-mail: info@golfcalifornia.org or ed@golfcalifornia.org
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The Battle To Protect Golf In California Continues The California Alliance For Golf Commission’s New Study The California Alliance for Golf (CAG) serves as The United Voice of Golf” in California. The CGCOA along with the NCGA, SCGA, SCPGA, NCPGA, CGCSA, CMAA, WSCGA, PWGA, WGANC, NCGRA, CTLF, and golf management companies (i.e. American Golf, CourseCo, Kemper) have banded together to provide golf with a voice in Sacramento. Due to the diligent efforts of this organization, last year’s attempt to place a state sales tax on golf was defeated. Unfortunately, the issue is once again on the table in Sacramento, now, under the guise of a service tax. According to CAG President Tom Addis III, the effort to tax golf was defeated because CAG was able to show that such a tax would inevitably result in a decrease in revenue to the state. This occurred by sharing a detailed economic impact report and presenting it through an experienced team of lobbyists
and golf industry leaders. To be successful again, it is necessary that CAG commission an updated economic study from Stanford Research Institute (SRI) coupled with an environmental study that will factually demonstrate that new taxation/legislation will not serve the best interest of citizens in California. According to CAG Leader & SCGA Director of Governmental Affairs Craig Kessler, Golf 20/20 will help offset some of the cost for the study. Additional funding for the study will be derived from all allied golf member organizations, management companies and golf manufacturers. The CGCOA asks its members to independently support CAG by contacting CGCOA Member and CAG Board Member Lyn Nelson at lnelson@ncga.org about individual membership and/or CGCOA Member and CAG Board Member Tom Schunn attschunn@sequoyahcc.com about a donation.
Allied golf leaders along with several active CGCOA members were in attendance at the 2012 California Alliance for Golf Meeting held recently in Ontario, CA. 5
Golf Gods Smile on 80th Anniversary Celebration at Sharp Park Golf Course The Golf Gods provided clear skies, warm temperatures, and mild sea breezes. Immortal golf architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie designed the playing field. And 300-plus golfers, Pacifica residents, and golf and community leaders gathered on May 19 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of MacKenzie’s Sharp Park with a tournament at the venerable public links. The course is located in this beach-side suburb, 10 miles south of San Francisco’s Olympic Club, host of the 2012 U.S. Open Golf Championship. The event commemorated Sharp Park’s opening in Spring, 1932, and was hosted by the Pacifica Historical
Society, Pacifica Chamber of Commerce, Sharp Park Men’s and Women’s Golf Clubs, and the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, whose Honorary Chairman, 1964 U.S. Open winner Ken Venturi, calls Sharp Park “Alister MacKenzie’s great gift to the American public golfer.” The National Trust for Historic Preservation designated May as National Preservation Month. Sharp Park was officially declared an “historical resource” by both San Francisco and Pacifica, and by a Resolution of the California Legislature and authored by Assemblyman Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and State Senator Dr. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). The resolution “encourage[s] the residents of San Francisco and San Mateo counties to participate in efforts to preserve the historic Sharp Park Golf Course.” PING, the golf manufacturer founded in San Mateo County in the early 1960s, was the lead sponsor. PING spokesman Alan Solheim told the post-golf crowd how he and his brother, current PING president John Solheim, assembled the first PING putters with their father, company founder Karsten Solheim, in the garage of the family home in nearby Redwood City. Other major supporters included the NCGA and SCGA, Fry’s.com Open, the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and Golf Mart. The festivities were attended by several San Francisco and San Mateo County political figures, two dozen high school, college, and First Tee junior golfers, and golf notables including NCGA Executive Director Lyn Nelson and leading architect and MacKenzie authority Tom Doak. The program was emceed by the popular KNBR Radio host Brian Murphy. Representatives from the Nor Cal Chapter of the GCSAA, Doctor’s Orders: Play Golf, Jay Blasi Design and Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects were also in atIn attendance at the fundraiser to Save Sharp Park in Pacifica, CA, were tendance. PING representative Alan Solheim and CGCOA-GCSANC representative The golf highlight of the day was a Emmy Moore Minister. hole-in-one by Larry Abella, of the 6
NetSuite team, on Sharp Park’s toughest hole, the 190yard uphill Par-3 fifth hole. Closest-to-the-pin contests were won by San Francisco dentist Weyland Lum, and Palo Alto’s Nancy Anderson. Faces in the crowd included San Franciscan Clarence Bryant, a retired Federal Aviation Agency engineer, who in 1955 at Sharp Park played in the inaugural tournament of the Western States Golf Association, one of the country’s oldest and largest African-American golfing societies. “Sharp Park is The People’s Course,” Bryant said. “It has a wonderful tradition of being inviting and affordable to people of every culture, income, and walk of life. We need places like this. We need to keep Sharp Park open.” The 80th Anniversary Tournament was a fundraiser
for the golfers’ fight to preserve the historic course. In recent years, Sharp Park has been under attack from environmental activists, who in February, 2011 brought suit in Federal Court in San Francisco to close the course, claiming that golf kills endangered frogs and snakes. In April, 2012, Federal Judge Susan Illston denied the environmentalists’ motion for summary judgment, and instead issued an order staying the litigation, pending completion of a study and Biological Opinion from the Federal Fish & Wildlife Agency’s Sacramento Office. That report is due by mid-September, 2012. For a copy of the California State Assembly Resolution, see: http://www.sfpublicgolf.com/LiteratureRetrieve. aspx?ID=105880.
Pres. of RTJ2 Bruce Charlton with Pres. of Renaissance Golf Design Tom Doak and SFPGA Co-Founder Richard Harris, all gather for a quick photo at Sharp Park’s 80th anniversary celebration.
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Save the Date AUG
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August 21 at California Golf Club of San Francisco The CGCOA Semi-Annual Education and Golf Conference
The CGCOA will once again present panel discussions on topics of special interest to all golf course owners and operators followed by an afternoon of golf at one of California’s premier private golf clubs. Leading industry experts will discuss and debate new ways to meet current challenges for increasing revenue, decreasing costs and limiting liability. Featured will be a presentation on the new CGCOA health, workers comp and liability insurance programs which is currently saving our members hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. State-of-the-art marketing, new energy resources and tax relief strategies will also be discussed. You can expect a lively interactive discussion on growing the game through innovative methods to captivate increased participation by women and minorities. PLEASE SAVE THE DATE. If you are planning to attend and/or wish to volunteer your time to help make this event a success, please RSVP to ed@golfcalifornia.org.
Save Sharp Park Deserves Your Attention
Popular radio talk show host KNBR’s Brian Murphy is a fan of Sharp Park Golf Course.
The battle to save a California golf historic landmark continues to rage in Northern California. Notoriety over the potential closing of Alistair McKenzie’s 1932 classic public golf course, Sharp Park (Pacifica, CA), has now reached the national media and has the serious attention of most golf course owners and operators in California. The importance of the battle cannot be overestimated. If a golf course can be closed because of a vocal minority who place greater value in the red-legged frog than they do in the human and health benefits of a round of golf we are all in trouble. For those few who have not been following the battle, an environmental group filed a lawsuit in federal court to close down Sharp Park Golf Course on the basis that its continued operation was interfering with the habitat of the garter snake and the red-legged frog. The court denied injunctive relieve because the group could not prove that
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such harm was occurring. In fact, the evidence was to the contrary and the alleged endangered species was actually flourishing. Undeterred, the environmentalists mounted a political campaign which resulted in a vote to close the course. Luckily the San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee vetoed the measure, averting his own political demise by negotiating with Alameda County to possibly take over the operation (since it sits within the jurisdiction of San Mateo County), potentially involving the National Park Service. With the lawsuit still pending and the political climate heating up, the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance (SFPGA), composed of local golfers, community & business leaders, and allied golf association members still needs all the help it can get. Please send whatever contribution you can and help spread the word in support of saving Sharp Park GC. To follow the progress and make a donation visit: http://www.sfpublicgolf.com/.
CGCOA Members Grieve the Loss of John Harbottle III It is with deep regret that the CGCOA reports the passing of John Harbottle III, ASGCA Member and president of John Harbottle III Design of Tacoma, Wash. He died while traveling on a work assignment in California, on May 24, 2012. He was 53. Harbottle was nationally recognized for his commitment to environmentally-sensitive design. His awardwinning layouts included Ridgecrest G C, Nampa, Idaho; Stevinson Ranch, Stevinson, Calif.; The Olympic Course, Bremerton, Wash.; and The Golf Club at Genoa Lakes, South Lake Tahoe, Nev. All were designated “Best New Courses in the United States” by Golf Digest. Harbottle was also involved with the design, renovation and restoration of scores of courses throughout the U.S. and beyond. His work within the CGCOA chapter is both plentiful and impressive. A landscape architecture graduate from the University of Washington, Harbottle began his career with ASGCA Past President Pete Dye, with whom he collaborated on projects throughout the world. Harbottle became an ASGCA Associate Member in 1992 and a Regular Member in 1996. Extensive travel to Scotland allowed Harbottle to study golf’s traditions and form the basis for many of his own designs. He described his design work, especially its noted sensitivity to the environment, when he said, “Our goal is to create natural looking golf courses with a links touch; timeless classics that fit the terrain
as if they have always existed. The indigenous character of the links courses makes them not only appear a natural part of the landscape, but also allows them to function as a sustainable part of the ecosystem. Harbottle was a friend to many throughout the golf industry and the CGCOA. “John was a great architect to work with,” shared CGCOA Past President George Kelley and owner of Stevinson Ranch. “He loved the principles of classic design found in many of the great links golf courses in Scotland and Ireland. The golf industry has lost a great and passionate designer. I will miss him.” It was just last October that John served as a featured speaker at the CGCOA Educational Conference, a program which focused primarily on sustainability in golf. Ironically, the conference was held at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club (San Jose, CA), another one of his welldesigned courses and a favorite to many Silicon Valley executives and Bay Area golfers. “John shared his indepth knowledge about turf reduction and water savings with the attendees at our fall conference,” said CGCOA Communications Chair Emmy Moore Minister. “He spoke passionately on the subject matter, thoughtfully field questions from attendees, and after his presentation he took time to meet with several CGCOA members one-on-one. His passing is a heart-tugging loss to many in our industry.” Deepest sympathies are extend to the Harbottle Family, John’s wife, Teresa, and children, Johnny and Chelsea. Remembrances in his fond name can be made to The First Tee of South Puget Sound or the Johnny and Chelsea Harbottle Scholarship Fund at Harborstone Credit Union. Special thanks to the ASGCA for their contributions to this article about their beloved member John Harbottle III.
John Harbottle III shared his expertise about turf reduction and water savings with CGCOA members at the 2011 CGCOA Education Conference at Cinnabar Hills GC, one of his masterfully-designed courses located in the foothills of Silicon Valley. 9