November/December 2012
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Reflections and Progress By Josh Heptig
Inside this issue:
President’s Message
2
Meeting Schedules
5
Around the Green
6
GCSAA Update
8
Highlights from Lowell Stone Charity Event
10
Thank You to our Sponsors
11
Official Publication of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Central California. The purpose of this publication is information and education for the membership. Published bi-monthly by GCSACC 5322 N. Leonard Clovis, CA 93619 Phone (559) 298-4853 Fax (559) 298-6957 Email gcsacc@aol.com Bob Schneiderhan, Newsletter Chairman Mike Scott, CGCS, Editor
With the holiday season upon us, it is nice to review our accomplishments and attempt to discover how we can continue to improve. We are always striving to improve our Chapter and improve the services we offer to our members. This year we held a number of events at fantastic venues. Alisal Ranch and Dave Rosenstrauch, one of our most southern courses, kicked off the year in January. We made our way up the coast in March to visit Jason Pautsch at Hunter Ranch.Mike Swing and Visalia C.C. hosted our Equipment Demo Day in April, which included the
“Fairway Mow Off” and fantastic demos from nearly all of the major equipment manufacturers. Then off to Riverlakes with Harry , in Bakersfield during May, followed by San Joaquin C.C. and Kevin Wiles in June for the Al Glaze Memorial Scholarship Tournament. If you missed either of these two events you missed out! Our current board was elected in the presence of Scott Walwyn at Village C.C. in Lompoc in September and then back to the Valley in November for our Charity Tournamentwas hosted by Mike Swing at Visalia C.C. This schedule included every area our association repre-
sents, with the exception of Santa Barbara. Our membership numbers decreased slightly this year as we lost 6 members. This is better than the national average, but we want to retain all of the members we have. Our meeting attendance averaged 35 attendees per meeting and is up slightly vs. last year. Some additional data includes, 79 (56%) of our 141 members never attended a meeting last year. 33 of the 141 attended at least one meeting, 10 attended two meetings, and 19 attended 3 or more meetings. The most surprising statistic is that our (Continued on page 3)
2012 Holiday Event by Mike Cline It’s almost time for our annual chapter Christmas Party, or Holiday Party for those of you who feel the need to be politically correct. If you’ve never been to this event, you don’t know what you’re missing. As a GCSACC member, it’s a chance for you to bring
your wife, husband, or significant other to a chapter event and have a wonderful evening. Heck, even if you come stag, you’ll have a great time. Good food, great drink, a fun atmosphere with people who love the holidays and use this event to catch up with friends they don’t often get
to see. Again this year, we will end the evening with a White Elephant Gift Exchange which always gets the crowd worked up. You can bring a gift as a couple or as an individual. This can be a really nice gift, or it might be something you’ve wanted to re-gift. We take (Continued on page 4)
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President’s Message—
Josh Heptig
I am quite humbled and honored to represent our Central California Chapter of Golf Course Superintendents and I look forward to getting to meet as many of our members as possible during the next ten months. Please introduce yourself at one of our meetings, send me an email, or give me a call so that I can help take care of our members needs and also to keep this chapter viable and moving in the right direction. Without the input of our members, the Board of Directors acts in what we believe is the best interest of our members, but I would like to make certain that as many of those interests are being met as possible. The Holiday season is upon us and the grass is beginning to slow down as the roots begin to store carbohydrates for the winter as opposed to growing leaves. It is time for us as industry professionals to do the same by attending training and educational opportunities during the winter sea-
Josh Heptig son. The Golf Industry Show (GIS) is in our own back yard again as San Diego is the site for the 2013 GIS and it should prove to be a great experience! Last year was my first year back to the GIS after a five year hiatus. I had not attended for the past five years because I struggled to justify traveling across the Country with struggling operational budgets as well as a growing family. I decided to attend Las Vegas last year to catch up with friends and acquaintances from back east and to continue to further my growth professionally. I actually attended the Golf Course Owners’ Association meetings as well as the GCSAA conference and what a great experience it all turned out to be! Both of these educational opportunities afforded me networking opportunities, reunions with old friends, new contacts throughout our industry, valuable education, meaningful discussions, and pages upon pages of notes and ideas to take back to the courses I manage. I had forgotten just how valuable the GIS can be as long as you seek out the opportunities that are available. The GIS is not the only place to find quality educational opportunities. The GCSA of Central California Board of Directors strives to provide
a great slate of programming for the end of 2012 and into 2013. Our annual Christmas party will take place at Windows on the Water in Morro Bay following golf at Morro Bay Golf Course for those that are interested. The event offers a festive, more intimate atmosphere, to share the past years experiences with your peers and friends. This is an opportunity for you to bring your significant other, a fellow superintendent, or your assistant to share a fantastic meal, libations, and laugher throughout the evening. 2013 will include a shortened meeting schedule so that we can focus on value and quality. Value has become a topic within the golf industry and your Board intends to fulfill this need for our members so that your meeting attendance not only allows for networking, but also providing Continuing Education points for GCSAA as well as pesticide licensing. Of course the slate of events includes our annual Al Glaze and Lowell Stone tournaments. These events are critical to our industry as we raise funds for scholarships awarded to future turf professionals, University research, and future golfers through The First Tee. Be on the (Continued on page 3)
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President’s MessageContinued from page 2
lookout in your email or mailbox for newsletters and invitations throughout the year so that you are sure not to miss any of these valuable opportunities. To kick off 2013 Sandpiper Golf Course will be hosting a meeting in Santa Barbara. This is truly a great golf location set above the Pacific Ocean and our current GCSAA Vice President and likely future President, Pat Finlan, will be speaking to the group. Make sure you put this event on your calendar and I will see you there. Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have as I had stated before. My phone number is (805) 781-1318 and my email is jheptig@co.slo.ca.us. I am here to listen and respond to our members so that we can all grow professionally to better serve our courses, golfers, and our future. Have a safe and happy holiday season!
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Reflections Continued from page 1 ratio of Superintendents to Affiliate attendance was 2:1 as 66% of attendants were superintendents and 34% were affiliate members. All of our meetings qualified for PDI. Out of six meetings, 3 received educational points totaling .55 and 3 received service points totaling .30. This means we added value to meeting attendance as you could accumulate points for your pesticide license and your GCSAA class status, while networking, learning, getting away from your course, etc. Our chapter continued in its philanthropic endeavors by awarding $6,250 in Charitable Contributions and Scholarships. This amount doesn’t include the fund we raised at this years charity tournament for the 1st Tee Programs. This will be voted on at the next board meeting and will be disbursed immediately upon approval. We want to work toward our mission of: “The GCSACC is dedicated to providing value to our members through programs and services that enhance our profession”. Please be on the lookout for surveys asking how
we can do just that, add value to your membership or improve the chapter to meet your needs and expectations. Your input is valuable and will be used to shape our programs and unless we hear your ideas and suggestions we cannot implement them. We, the Board and the Members, can only add value to 2013 and beyond with your input. Let’s work together to build a stronger association and improve the value and professional image for us all.
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Holiday Event Continued from page 1 turns selecting a gift, but every gift can be stolen up to two times as the night goes on. Everyone really seems to have a great time with this and really looks forward to this part of the evening. As has been the case over the past few years, this year’s event will be on Saturday, December 8th, at Window on the Water, overlooking the harbor at Morro Bay. There are plenty of hotels with easy walking distance and lots of shopping opportunities for those of you who come a little early. Something new this year is golf for anyone who wants to take advantage. Board President Josh Heptig is making some tee times available at Morro Bay Golf Course on Saturday at a reduced rate of $25.00 per person including golf cart. Contact the
association office for more details if this is something you want to do. The nights events will kick off at 6:00 with a hosted bar and appetizers until around 7:00 when we’ll sit down for dinner. The three course meal will feature a main course of your selection, steak, chicken, fish, or vegetarian. Finally at around 9:00 we’ll start the gift exchange. You notice I say around quite a bit. That’s because the evening is about you and your guests, not a time table. We have a private room overlooking the harbor, and it seems like people come earlier and leave later every year, I think that means they’re having fun and can’t wait to get started. The cost of the event this year as it has been for the last couple of years is $65.00 per person. If you choose to add golf, that cost
would make your total expense for the party at $90.00. Keep in mind that if you are an association member, and only want to play golf, you can do that as well. I hope to see many new faces at this year’s event, but if you’re unable to come, I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In 2013 we will begin a new bimonthly article featuring association dogs. Get your pictures in so that we can feature your four legged friends. This month we feature your association office dogs. Bailey and Layla say Merry Christmas.
TEE-OFF News Meeting Schedule December 8, 2012
February 2013
Annual Holiday Event Golf at Morro Bay Golf Course Dinner at Windows On The Water Morro Bay
Annual GCSAA Conference & Show San Diego CA
February 6, 2013 California Room - USS Midway
January 7, 2013 Winter Educational Symposium Sandpiper Golf Course Host Superintendent Tennessee McBroom CEU’s and PDI To be applied for Pre Registration is mandatory Register on line at Californiagcsa.org
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Around The Green By Michael Cline
Seems like only yesterday I was writing one of these things for the October newsletter and here we are again. Not a lot going on since October but there was some news worth reporting. Superintendent Trini Hernandez has returned to Rio Bravo Country Club effective September 2012. Trini was released from his position of General Manager/ Superintendent when upper management wanted to try a different direction. During the several months Trini was gone, it became apparent you don’t replace all the years of experience Trini had so the owner asked him to return, but this time as superintendent only. As Trini said, a lot of work to be done
but we should get it back up and growing in no time at all. It was reported to me by Superintendent Martin Morozowsky, Seven Oaks Country Club, Bakersfield that on November 1, 2012, the membership of the club purchased the club and all assets from Castle and Cook, the long time developers and owners of the club. As Martin told me, it was a little concerning to lose your job on October 31, only to be hired back again on November 1, but that’s what happened to all of the staff at the club. Martin tells me this should be a real positive effect for the club so keep and eye out for future improvements to be reported. For those of you who have been in the business for over 20 years, a sad note to report. Bob Stuckey, long time superintendent at Madera Country Club passed away this past September after a long battle with cancer. Bob was the For over 80 years the superintendent at specialty seed source for: Madera for 30+ years until his retirement. Congratula-Native Grasses and tions to Superintendent Wildflowers Mike Swing, CGCS -Kikuyu, Paspalum, for a tremendous Charities Tournament Hybrid Bermuda this past November 5th. -Bentgrasses, Fine After several start and Fescues, Ryegrasses stops as the board tried to secure a location for Golf Course Representatives: our annual fund raiser, Visalia Country Club Jim Culley 213-268-3193 stepped up and again, Don Lewis 213-247-3266 we had a tremendous Home Office: 800-621-0315 event. Great weather, a nearly full field, great www.stoverseed.com food right off the grill
of Ewing Irrigation with Scott Furtak and Phil Chan manning the flames, made for a near perfect day. The chapter will be able to make a sizeable donation to “The First Tee” of Central California and the Central Coast. Again, I just want to say, great job Mike. Our featured member this month is Steve Showers, Superintendent at Airways Golf Course in Fresno. Steve has an interesting history as he grew up in the golf industry and his laid back style belies the fact that he is paying attention, and will call you on it if you’re not doing your job or following the rules. Steve just got back on the board after a number of years in the general membership so be assured, he will be representing all of the members of the GCASCC.
Steve Showers First job in golf? My first job in golf was as a 17 year old crew member at the Arizona Biltmore Country Club pushing a 21” rotary mower around all the trees as I mowed the turf. What was your first management job in golf? My first management job came in 1991 when I moved to Madera Golf Course with then Superintendent Mark Goodmanson. Mark was only there a short while and ultimately I assisted Lowell Stone at the club until his first retirement. What do you like to do when you’re not at work? When I’m not at work I love to go with wife Carol to Pacific Grove and just hang out. We have a fa(Continued on page 7)
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Around The Green Continued from page 6 vorite little hotel that does some wine tasting and we just unwind. Who is your favorite sports team and why? Steve Showers My favorite sports team is the New England Patriots. The why, occurred in 1969 when Joe Namath and the New York Jets won the Super Bowl which allowed my brother to proclaim them as his team. I needed to beat him so I needed a team that would play them often, so someone from their own league and New England seemed like the
best choice. How was I to know that Jim Plunkett would spend so much time on this back side that they could never win. I had to wait for them to finally get good! If you could pick one meal, what would it be? My favorite meal is Lasagna. Can’t say why, if it needs to be made a special way but it is my meal. What’s your favorite part of being a golf course superintendent? My favorite part of the job is being outside. I bet everyone in the business says that but it’s the truth What’s your least favorite part of being a golf course superintendent? My least favorite part of the job is all of the meetings. Meetings with
general managers, boards of directors, golfers, you know the usual. What’s your favorite band? My favorite band is Cold Play. What’s your favorite song? My favorite song is Viva La Vida by Cold Play which means “Long Live Life” What’s your favorite movie? My favorite movie is The Sound of Music, now that’s a sensitive guy. As always, if you know of something that might interest the membership, just give me a ring or send me an E-Mail at mcline@wilburellis.com, and I’ll make sure to get it in the newsletter. So until next time, I’ll see you “Around the Green”
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GCSAA Chapter Delegates Meeting Update Rafael Barajas, CGCS Director GCSAA clubs, 30% from daily fee facilities, 13% from municipal facilities and 8% from semi-private golf facilities. GCSAA has 99 chapters and 68 student chapters in the United States and Canada. In response to declining What is the overall health of revenues as a result of the recession, the association in terms of memberGCSAA staff has decreased from ship, chapter composition, total reve122 to 89 over the past four years. Its nue and other metrics? In general, revenues, once at a high of $22 milwhile membership and revenues lion now stand at $15 million. have declined the past few years, the Revenues have stabilized association still has a strong finanduring the past two years. We are cial base and continues to provide cautiously optimistic that we can valuable resources in serving its show a slight increase in 2013. Conmembers. Currently GCSAA has ference and Show have experienced 17,500 members, of which 12,500 a slight net revenue uptick and exare Professional Members. Of these, hibit fees have been raised to reflect 5,321 are Class A (including 1,575 the market. However, these gains certified), 3,403 are SM, and 3,776 have been offset to a degree by a 3are Class C. The representation by 4% drop in membership. Attracting facility-type is 49% from private new and retaining current members is a priority and will remain so in 2013. Expenses are being managed by maintaining appropriate staffing levels, enhancing operating efficiencies and being prudent in our investing. We’ve also leased space in the headquarters building which provides a new revenue stream. Just like many of us in our dayto-day lives, the staff at GCSAA is definitely “doing more with less.” Our strategy to strengthen GCSAA is a three-phase approach of investment - recovery - growth. Investing in programs Three locations to serve you to grow and serve the Lancaster Bakersfield Fresno membership, achievThe purpose of this article is to share the outcomes of last month’s GCSAA Chapter Delegates Meeting, and to offer my insight as a GCSAA board member.
ing recovery by allowing new programs to take hold and gain traction through sustained operations. The GCSAA Headquarters building is more than 20 years old, and like any structure, needs regular updating. Of immediate concern are the roof, sidewalks and parking lots. Those will be repaired first. We will also be undertaking a landscape renovation and addressing needs of the interior of the building.. The total cost will be approximately $1.9 million with the option to go as high as $2 million if needed. Interest rates are at a historic lows and it made sense to borrow the money and make the necessary improvements. MSAG (Membership Standards Advisory Group); The MSAG was created by the Board of Directors in 2011. It was tasked with strategically examining GCSAA’s membership standards and to determine any recommendations for the future. The MSAG met three times in 2012, with chair Sean Hoolehan, CGCS, (GCSAA past president) presenting the delegates several recommendations. The highlights include: simplifying GCSAA membership classifications so that they are more clearly identifiable, define our professional members as opposed to all other membership classifications, eliminate the SM classification and replace it with a Class B designation. The MSAG felt that if GCSAA truly wants the Class A designation to mean something in the marketplace, it must be marketed appropriately. Further, it believes that having a Class A and Class B designation helps employers and others differentiate between classifications. The MSAG also noted that the integrity of the standards should be seamless between GCSAA and its
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GCSAA Update Continued from page 8 chapters with the Class A designation being consistent at both the local and national level. Again, this supports the goal of marketing Class A and defining its value. If GCSAA is promoting the Class A superintendent as a professional who is focused on continuing education and business skills, the standards must be consistent at the chapter level and national level. At present, they do not mirror one another. The current affiliation agreement was due to expire Dec. 31. The delegates reviewed the new agreement, which was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013. There were several changes – two very minor, changing out staff names and raising the threshold for filing amounts due to a change in the IRS. However, one change which required chapters to change their Class A member requirements to conform with GCSAA’s was heavily discussed. Because of feedback given during the Delegates Meeting in regards to this provision and with questions regarding the MSAG recommendations, the GCSAA Board of Directors decided to extend the affiliation agreement for one year. Therefore, the current agreement in place now will not expire until Dec. 31, 2013. This will give the Board, Committees and staff time to review how these recommendations and to then ascertain their effect on chapters and GCSAA. In 2007, the Chapter Delegates asked the Board of Directors to create a system for future dues increase proposals that would result in smaller, and perhaps more frequent increases as opposed to less frequent, but likely larger increases. Members believed these would be easier to include in a budget. It was agreed that increases would be based on a review of the Consumer Price
Index (CPI). Every two years the board analyzes the CPI to determine if a dues increase should be presented. Since the last dues increase was proposed in 2011, the board is putting forth a dues increase proposal for 2013. The CPI increased 5.07% in the 24-month period October to September. This two-year CPI increase would equate to a $15 dues increase for Class A/SM and $10 for Class C, which would increase annual member dues to $355 and $180 respectively. The proposed dues increase would allow the association to continue the investment-recovery-growth strategy established two years ago. Among the key investments have been in the field staff program and outreach to employers, golfers and policymakers. In addition to the CPI increase for member dues, the board is recommending an additional $10 increase for Class A/SM and a $5 increase for Class C. This additional amount will be used to offset an increase in premium expense for the member term life insurance benefit that was triggered by a 200% claims paid loss ratio over the last three years, which has caused the insurance premium to double (additional $100,000 in expense). This would make the proposed member dues increase $25 for Class A/SM and $15 for Class C, which would bring the dues to $365 and $185, respectively. The dues increase requires the approval by a majority of the membership at the February 7, 2013 annual meeting. The Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) fosters sustainability by providing funding for research grants, education programs, scholarships and awareness of golf’s environmental efforts. The EIFG serves as the association’s philanthropic
organization. One of the EIFG’s newest programs is Rounds 4 Research. Rounds 4 Research is a fundraising program whereby rounds of golf (defined as a tee time for two or four, generally with carts) are auctioned to the public through an online auction. Through this program, participating organizations can solicit donated rounds with a minimum 80 percent of the proceeds being directed back to the organization. The EIFG’s Rounds 4 Research is an expansion of the innovative program that was introduced by the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association, who in three years generated nearly $350,000 to fund research and government relations activities. The scope had grown beyond what the Carolinas GCSA could administer and therefore they offered the program to GCSAA. As GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, the EIFG is now administering the program. The Rounds 4 Research auction will take advantage of the BiddingForGood.com online auction platform. Bidding for Good is a leading auction site whose sole purpose is to support charitable giving by linking buyers with nonprofit organizations. The service is a natural fit, with more than 650,000 registered bidders, and rounds of golf as its top -selling item. National communications efforts and grassroots efforts from the participating organizations will also drive golfers to the bidding platform. These efforts will provide a nationwide marketing opportunity for the golf facilities who participate in this worthy program. If you have any questions feel free to contact me via e-mail at rbarajas001@aol.com or rbarajas@gcsaa.org . You may also may also reach me by phone at 562 6917110.
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Lowell Stone Charity Event Highlights Pictured at right is Lowell Stone Founder of the Charity Tournament
Below are association President Josh Heptig and Host Superintendent Mike Swing, CGCS Pictured above are the 1st Tee of Fresno representatives Denise Bonderant, Mike Firpo, Eric Van Volkenburg, and Marvin Wiggs. Below is Tom Johnson’s winning team of Wayne Cole, Randy Craven, Shane Lee, and Tom.
Above is the team from Valley Oaks G.C. The team includes Troy Thompson, Erin Hensley, John Peterman, and Ryan Wiz
Ewing sponsored the lunch for all the attendees, the crew included members Scott Furtak and Phil Chan. . Tournament winners were treated to Visalia C.C. Gift Certificates. 131 Players filled the field on a beautiful day at Visalia Country Club to help raise funds for the 1st Tee of the Central Coast and the 1st Tee of Fresno.
Golf Course Materials Topdressing Sand - Bunker Sand Decomposed Granite - Drain Rock 1/8� Minus Turf & Tee Bulk Humus Brush Removal Call for competitive rates
David Knott, Inc. (559) 449-8935 or (559) 760-5387
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Thank You to our Sponsors
Control Pump Tulare Golf Course
Turf Time
2012/2013 GCSACC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT JOSH HEPTIG SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY SECRETARY/TREASURER BRIAN DAUM VALLEY CREST/PALO ALTO G.C.
VICE PRESIDENT TROY THOMPSON VALLEY OAKS GOLF COURSE
BOARD MEMBERS
STEVEN SHOWERS AIRWAYS G. C.
TENNESSEE MCBROOM SANDPIPER GOLF COURSE
KEVIN EPPICH TURF STAR
BOB SCHNEIDERHAN CAL POLY SLO
MICHAEL CLINE WILBUR ELLIS COMPANY
EXECUTIVE STAFF IRENE CLINE/KIMBERLY MILNE PHONE (559) 298-4853 FAX (559) 298-6957 EMAIL gcsacc@aol.com Californiagcsa.org/centralcaliforniachapter
SCOTT WALWYN THE VILLAGE C.C.