Tee Off News November/December 2018
Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort Janaury 21, 2019 Annual Election Meeting Hosted by Mark Weitz
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President’s Message Andy Cordova As 2018 comes to a close, I sit back and wonder where this year has gone. It feels like it passed in the blink of an eye. As usual, the annual Christmas party in Morro Bay closed out the Andy Cordova year for our association. Although the boat parade was canceled due to weather concerns this year, as has happened 3 of the last 5 years, the party is always a great time. The freedom to catch up with everyone, and their families, without a scheduled agenda is a great way to start the holiday season. The lighted boat parade is an added bonus when it happens.
out to our board of directors for making my first year as President relatively easy. We have continued the path that past president Steve Showers started us on which paved the way for our success. I want to give an even bigger thank you to our association manager, Irene Cline, for all that she does for our association. I don't think anyone realizes how much work she puts in not only for each event, but also on a daily basis. She puts in a great deal of work and we are very appreciative for all that she does behind the scenes.
an equipment demonstration day so plan to bring your mechanic, assistant (or both) or even crew members. I look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming meetings. Finally, I want to wish you and your family all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
New Members John Kirkland A2G2 Affiliate
We have some great events planned for 2019 and in some locations we haven't been to recently which will be fun. The election meeting in January will be at The Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang with host superintendent Mark Weitz. It has been a few years since we have been there and I know Mark is looking forward to hosting us. It will As an association we had a successful probably be a little chilly in the mornyear thanks in large part to you, our ing but that just means we will have to members, who attended one or more of find a way to warm up before golf. our events. We had great turnouts to Also, a meeting that you need to start our large fundraising tournaments and planning for is our meeting on April our meetings. A big thank you goes 15th at Tulare Golf course. It will be
Brian McCloud, Prime Source Affiliate Member Gary Hoover, Solitude Lake Mgmt Affiliate Member
2018 GCSACC BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT ANDY CORDOVA CYPRESS RIDGE GOLD COURSE
VICE PRESIDENT GLENN MATTHEWS, CGCS VISALIA COUNTRY CLUB ALBERT NUNES MORRO BAY GOLF COURSE MIKE CLINE WILBUR ELLIS CO.
PAST PRESIDENT STEVEN SHOWERS BROOKSIDE GOLF & C.C.
SECRETARY/TREASURER PAUL BARR SAN LUIS OBISPO C.C. KEVIN WILES RIVERSIDE GOLF COURSE
MATT NOWLEN
ERIK SMITH TARGET CHEMICAL
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, 3273 Richert, Clovis, CA 93619 Phone (559) 298-6262 Fax (559) 298-6957 Email gcsacc@aol.com Newsletter Chairman & Newsletter Editor Michael Scott, CGCS Executive Directors Irene Cline & Kimberly Milne
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Save The Dates January 21, 2019
April 15, 2019
Winter Conference & Annual Election Meeting Alisal Guest Ranch & Golf Course Hosted by Mark Weitz
Demonstration Day Tulare Golf Course Hosted by Brett Miller
February 2-7, 2019 San Diego Convention Center California Room Feb 6th Omni Hotel 6:00—9:00 Registration Open
June 10, 2019 Al Glaze Memorial Scholarship & Research Tournament Bakersfield Country Club
August 5, 2019 Tri Chapter Meeting Hosted by the Central California Chapter Brookside Country Club Steve Showers Host Superintendent
October 2019 Annual Lowell Stone Charity Event Belmont Country Club Date to be confirmed Hosted by Derek Stone
December 7, 2019 Annual Holiday Event Windows on the Water
2020 January 2020 Annual Election Meeting Location to be confirmed
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From the Field Jeff Jensen, GCSAA Field Staff, Southwest Region GCSAA recently announced candidates for the 2019 GCSAA Board of Directors. The election will take place at the GCSAA Annual Jeff Jensen Meeting on Feb. 7, 2019 in San Diego. Below are the candidates: For President Rafael Barajas, CGCS, Boca Grove Plantation, Boca Raton, FL. For Vice President John Fulling Jr., CGCS, Kalamazoo Country Club, Kalamazoo, MI. For Secretary/Treasurer Mark Jordan, CGCS, Westfield Group Country Club, Westfield Center, OH. Kevin Breen, CGCS, La Rinconada Country Club, Los Gatos, CA. Board of Directors (3 open positions) Carlos Arraya, CGCS, Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, MO. T.A. Barker, CGCS, Fore Lakes Golf Course, Taylorsville, UT. Paul Carter, CGCS, Bear Trace Golf Club, Harrison, TN. Doug Dykstra, CGCS, White Mountain Country Club, Pinetop, AZ. Jeff White, CGCS, Indian Hills Country Club, Mission Hills, KS. Bios and candidate videos will be available following the annual GCSAA Chapter Delegates Meeting in Kansas City on Nov. 13-14. You may also contact your duly chosen chapter delegate for any questions related to board members or the GCSAA Board election.
Please note that the 2019 Annual Meeting time has been moved from its traditional Thursday afternoon slot at the Golf Industry Show to Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. In other GIS related news, GCSAA staff has been hard at work putting together education for the 2019 Show and Conference. This year’s event will feature 89 seminars (39 new) as well as a couple of new education tracks focused on mental health and water management. Seminars are available in 1.5-hour, 2-hour, 4-hour and fullday sessions. Seminar costs for members are $70, $85, $135 and $185 respectively. Numerous tours and field trips will be available highlighted by the Equipment Management Tour at
Barona Creek, the Hunter Irrigation Tour and the First Green Field Trip/ Training Seminar at Bonita Golf Course. The cost of the learning tours is $205 per tour. Housing and early registration for GCSAA members opens on Oct. 16. Early registration price for members is $450 and registration will be available at http:// www.golfindustryshow.com/. We hope to see all of you in San Diego and If you have any questions or need anything to make your GIS experience more beneficial, please contact me at jjensen@gcsaa.org and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @GCSAA_SW for daily industry updates.
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Around The Green By Mike Cline It seems like it was just yesterday that I was reporting “all quiet around the chapter” when suddenly, November arrives an everything hit the fan as they say. The week of October 5th, golf course owner Dave Knott posted in an open letter to the Fresno Bee Newspaper that he was closing Fig Garden Golf Course, effective December 31st, siting overall decline in business at his golf course. Fig Garden Golf Course was founded in 1958 by Gordon Knott, Dave’s father and was designed by Nick Lombardo, and has been a fixture in the Fresno golf scene for 60 years. This daily fee golf course will certainly leave a void in the market and push those golfers over to Dragonfly, Riverside, and Sherwood Forest. At about the same time this
was happening, Copper River Country Club, one of the top private clubs in Fresno was sold by the original owners, Bill Tatham Sr. to Bob Husband, who was one of the founding fathers of Club Corp, a large golf management firm based in Dallas Texas. The purchase by Mr. Husband was not a part of Club Corp, and Mr. Husband has plans to step up the entire profile of Copper River to elevate it to new heights. Copper River Country Club will be ending the contract with Sierra Golf Management at the end of January and moving the maintenance back in-house. Dragon Fly Golf Course superintendent Michael Snyder has decided to leave the course and return to Arizona after a very short stay. Keep an eye on this club as it
will most certainly be one of the courses that will prosper from Fig Gardens closing. So as of today, 12/15/18, there are 3 superintendent positions open in the Fresno area, Eagle Springs Country Club, Copper River Country Club and Dragonfly Golf Club. Anyone interested in checking these positions out should contact Irene for more details. If you have any information you want to put in the newsletter, drop us a line and we will get it in for you. That’s if for now, have a wonderful and happy Holiday and a festive New Year, and we will look forward to seeing you “Around the Green”
Golf Course Materials Topdressing Sand - Bunker Sand Decomposed Granite - Drain Rock 1/8” Minus Turf & Tee Bulk Humus Brush Removal Call for competitive rates
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Elections 2019 The election meeting will be held at the Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort on January 21, 2019. We are seeking four (4) new board members to fill the vacant positions. We also will need to fill one (1) affiliate position on the board. This year we would like to invite an Assistant Superintendent to join our board and are looking for volunteers to fill this position as well. This would be a learning position for this individual and would help keep us in the loop, as a board, on what the assistant superintendents would like to see in our association going forward. So if you are interested in giving back to your profession and would like to make changes or just help out your fellow members we would love to have you volunteer. If you know of someone that
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by Irene Cline
fits this and you think they are to shy to step up you can nominate them to this position as well. So lets get 2019 off to a great start and get these positions filled. We want to THANK Mark Weitz for stepping up to host the event at Alisal and we are looking forward to seeing his place. The Ranch Course is a historical Billy Bell designed course. It opened in 1956, and has become known as one of the premier private clubs in Santa Barbara area. The course was designed exclusively for guests and members. This par-72 course stretches for 6,550 yards and is distinguished by tight fairways. It is surrounded by venerable oaks, sycamores and eucalyptus, and was designed around an imposing barranca that winds through the entire course.
The Ranch Course is a challenging and scenic adventure that takes you back in time to golf as it used to be. You won’t want to miss this event and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to visit. Remember that if you can’t attend our election you will still be able to vote. Once the nominations are all in we will forward our Absentee Ballots and would like for you to take the time to complete and cast your vote for the list of volunteers.
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2018 Charity Event Highlights What a great event we had at Fort Washington C.C. in Fresno. We had visitors from Del Rio C.C. in Modesto visit as well as our good friends like Mike Scott, CGCS. pictured at right.
Thank You to our Sponsors BelKorp Annual Sponsor and Provided Lunch Turf Star Annual Sponsor Wilbur Ellis Champion Challenge (Putting Contest) & Tee Sponsor Target Chemical Beverages on the Course
Above Mike Cline, Andy Cordova, Steve Showers, and Mike Scott pose for the camera. At left BelKorp’s put on the spread with street tacos for everyone. Below Mike Cline sets up the putting contest again which is great fun and raises additional funds for our charity
Bayer Closest to the Pin Tee Sponsors Speedy Enterprises, Steve’s Chevrolet,
At left Andy Cordova thanks host superintendent Jose Alvarez for his efforts in helping put our event together.
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2018 Holiday Event Highlights It was a fun event again this year and getting to see everyone is what made it special. Thank you to all that attended and supported our event.
Above is the Cordova Family, Sarah, Andy and Theo. Below is Glenn and McKenzie Matthews
At top right Bill and Adele Galli, above is the Eppich Family, Kevin, Kevin Jr. and Denise.
Above is Matt and Roxie Pearce.
Above is Mark and Angela Weitz. At left is Kimberly and Taylor Milne. The tables were filled with laughter and Wine. Thank you to Jay Ingham of Barenbrug USA for sponsoring the wine. Additional THANK you to Ken Mauser, Aquatrols, Nutrien, Wilbur Ellis, and Bayer for their support