President’s Message
2016 Virginia Turfgrass Field Day, Plus the Passing of an Icon
V
irginia Tech hosted another fine field day on July 20. Over 100 people attended and were treated to viewing some of the finest turfgrass research in America. Presenters included: Dr. Shawn Askew and Dr. Jeff Derr in Weed Science; Dr. Mike Goatley, John Dickerson and Whitney Askew in Agronomy; Dr. Erik Ervin and Dr. Xungzhong Zhang of Turf Physiology; Sam Doak from Education; and Pat Hipkins from Pesticide Safety, plus a host of support staff and graduate students. Present at the turf research farm were all the latest NTEP turfgrass variety trials. It was great to see this current group of grasses. There’s no point in using less than the highestrated grasses in our difficult transitionzone climate. Also, there were some excellent turf disease studies presented. The latest control methods for spring dead spot, a troublesome disease of bermudagrass, were discussed. Dollar spot management with iron sulfate versus fungicides was another excellent trial. Dr. Askew presented an interesting crabgrass control trial. The best results seemed to be with a very old herbicide (Tupersan) and a very new herbicide (Pylex). On a more somber note, David Harmon passed away recently. Dave was a prominent golf course superintendent in Virginia for many years. He came to Virginia in 1962 to build Cedar Point Country Club in Suffolk. He was also superintendent at the
Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg for 21 years, finishing out his career with the city of Newport News, running one of their golf courses and acting as a turf consultant. Dave was a pioneer in the turf and golf industry. When he began his career in Tidewater, Virginia, very few golf course superintendents or other turfgrass professionals had college degrees or any university training. I first heard of Dave Harmon when I was a high school golfer. The course I played went downhill badly after the longtime superintendent left to take another job. I went to see this fellow (his name was Mike Bonavita) to ask him what had happened to his old course. He told me what a challenging and exciting job being a golf course superintendent was. I then asked him how I would go about pursuing a career as a golf course superintendent. He said he learned by trial and error but that a new generation of superintendents was being university trained. He mentioned that Dave Harmon of the Golden Horseshoe was a Purdue University graduate. Bonavita said, “If you want to be a superintendent, go to Virginia Tech and major in Agronomy/Turfgrass Science, and you will be all set.” I first met Dave as a Virginia Tech turf student when we took a field trip under Dr. Schmidt’s guidance. We visited several courses, the Golden Horseshoe being one of them. The professionalism of Dave and his staff was very evident. Dave’s maintenance
6 | VIRGINIA TURFGRASS JOURNAL July/August 2016 www.vaturf.org
Rick Owens, CGCS 2016–2017 President
shop was so clean you could eat off the floor. After visiting the Horseshoe, similar to the words of a later generation of young basketball players who said they wanted to be like Mike, I knew I wanted to be like Dave. Later as a young superintendent, I was privileged to get to know Dave, enjoy rounds of golf with him and attend some national events. Several times, we played on the Old Dominion Superintendents chapter golf team together in the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s annual championship. Interestingly, one of the items displayed at the reception following the service was a golf bag with his name on it, which was presented to all Old Dominion Golf team members by the Toro Company in the early 1980s. His wife Mary said it was one of the items he very much wanted to be present at the reception. He was also one of the founders of the Old Dominion Golf Course Superintendents Association. He was a true pioneer in our industry, and people like Dave are the reason that golf course superintendents and all turfgrass professionals are held in much higher esteem (as well as being much more highly compensated) than in previous times. He was a loyal husband and father to his wife and children, whom I am sure miss him terribly. Our industry has lost one of the great ones.
Rick Owens, CGCS 2016–2017 VTC President