Tee To Green
November/December 2021
Tee To Green The Official Publication of the South Texas Golf Course Superintendents Association
2022 Meeting Schedule (Dates & Locations Subject to Change)
January 10, 2022 CEU Pesticide Class
Sand Hill Farm January 20, 2022 BMP & Facility Adoption Workshop The Woodlands Country Club
ALL OTHER 2022 MEETINGS TBA
2021 Sonny DuBose Memorial Distinguished Service Award Congratulations to Mark Baughman for being presented the 2021 Sonny DuBose Memorial Distinguished Service Award! Thank you for your many years of dedication to the Association! Well deserved! 1
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Chris Ortmeier - President STGCSA
I wanted to start this letter off with a heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our members! I wish you and yours a very healthy and prosperous new year, and I hope everyone had an opportunity to enjoy some quality time with family, friends, and loved ones this month. While 2021 presented a variety of challenges for those of us in the turf industry, I couldn’t be prouder of the accomplishments of our association. For those of you who were unable to attend the Christmas Party and Scholarship banquet, you missed a wonderful evening where we awarded over $30,000 in college scholarships which brings our total up to over $380,000 since 1994. The food, fellowship, and festivities made for a fantastic evening recognizing and supporting some of the families within our organization, and the casino night provided an opportunity for some friendly competition and banter while gambling in hopes of scoring one of the many coveted raffle prizes at the end of the night. In addition, we were able to donate over $1,600 worth of toys for underprivileged children in the greater Houston area earlier this month. Partnering with Kids’ Meals Inc., a Houston based nonprofit who is making tremendous progress towards ending childhood hunger in our city, our donations provided dozens of gifts for many children who otherwise would have received nothing this Christmas. Thank you to everyone who supported the toy drive. Looking forward, 2022 is shaping up to be another fantastic year for our association, and our entire board of directors is committed to working hard towards the success of our chapter. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the Pesticide class on January 10 at Sand Hill Farm. Host Brian Johnson has been gracious enough to open their wonderful facilities, and Paul Winski with the Texas A&M AgriLife extension has a great line up of speakers scheduled to provide attendees with their annual CEU’s for their pesticide applicators license. Shortly thereafter, Gina Rizzi, President of Radius Sports Group, will be at The Woodlands Country Club on January 20th hosting a workshop focusing on the adoption of the recently completed Texas Golf Industry Best Management Practices (BMP) Guide. In addition, we hope to release the 2022 calendar of events in the coming weeks, and please be sure to have all your 2022 dues and sponsorships in before January 31st. I look forward to seeing you at one of our events soon and please don’t hesitate to let me know if there is anything we can do to better serve our members. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s support and participation in our association, but I specifically want to recognize and thank all of our sponsors. Our association would not exist without your annual commitments and contributions. Sincerely,
Chris Ortmeier 2
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Welcome New/Returning Members!!!! Tom Reed - Sales Manager @ Turf & Soil Management, LLC Kyle Doherty - Golf Sales Rep. @ Brookside Equipment Connor Jordan - Superintendent @ The Woodlands CC Luke Coello - Regional Manager @ Newton Nurseries
We welcome you to the Association!!!!
Our 2022 Board of Directors
Jason Barrington (Past President), Chris Ortmeier (President), Allen Plagens (Vice President), Kyle Brown (Secretary Treasurer), Chris Teafatiller (Director), Jeremy Lewis (Director), Tim Huber (Director), AJ Pursley (Director), Kevin Bednarik (Assistant Director), Mark Baughman (Affiliate Director), Brandon Cole (Affiliate Director), Dale Bowman (Affiliate Director)
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Member News Do you have any news to share such as: A Job Promotion? Hosting a Major Tournament? Moving Jobs? Getting Married? Birth Announcements? Etc.?
Please email Carrie Cole at stgcsa@stgcsa.org so we can share the latest news and get to know our fellow members!
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COVID GENERAL EXHIBITOR
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Thank you to Tim Huber & staff for hosting a great event! Congratulations to our winners! 6
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LebanonTurf Launches “Growing Together” Reward Program for Golf Course Superintendents and Turf Managers LEBANON, Penn. (October 15, 2021) - LebanonTurf, an industry-leading provider of innovative and high-performance plant nutrition for the golf and landscaping industries, announced a new, nationwide launch of their “Growing Together” end user reward program for industry professionals to maximize their maintenance budget. Beginning on November 1st – just in time for the early order programs – golf course superintendents and turf managers can earn rewards on the most popular LebanonTurf products used in the industry, which include Country Club MD, Emerald Isle Solutions, Country Club with Acelepryn + Dimension, Country Club Humic Max and Country Club Root Reviver. “Our industry professionals are at the center of all we do and we’re constantly looking for more ways to involve and reward them with LebanonTurf’s brands,” said Chris Gray, Golf Market Manager for LebanonTurf. “By offering a rich reward program with multiple ways to redeem them, we’re giving them more reasons to engage with us.” Industry professionals will earn a reward for each unit purchased during the program period that can be redeemed as either an Amazon e-gift card or as a distributor credit. A minimum purchase of 50 units is required to qualify for the reward payment and they can double the total reward with a purchase of 150 total units or more. For more information on the “Growing Together” Reward Program, including the full list of eligible products and rewards, visit: https://www.lebanonturf.com/growingtogether-rewards-program. LebanonTurf, a division of privately held Lebanon Seaboard, is the only company serving the landscape and golf markets that offers both microbiological components and advanced controlled-release fertilizers delivered as part of an integrated systems approach to turf and plant care needs. For more information, please visit www.lebanonturf.com or call 800-233-0628. 7
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GCSAA revamps CGCS program The association has streamlined the process for its members to achieve Certified Golf Course Superintendent status.
Fifty years after creating the first certification program to validate golf course superintendents’ education and experience, GCSAA has modernized the Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) program to keep its high standards intact while reducing the amount of time needed to complete it. The integrity of the CGCS program — which has been developed by GCSAA members, academics, industry professionals and psychometricians — remains while the process itself has been streamlined. The required competencies for a Certified Golf Course Superintendent have been updated, as well as the exam, with care taken to ensure competencies previously tested through the portfolio requirement are now effectively evaluated through either the written exam or the attesting process. A new attesting rubric will provide enhanced consistency in grading. Eligible candidates can now complete the current steps (communication and leadership requirements, attesting of the golf course, and the online exam) in any order that best fits their schedules. In addition, those who successfully complete the “Principles of Golf Course Leadership and Communications” certificate in GCSAA’s Assistant Superintendent Certificate Series can now apply that work toward obtaining their CGCS designation later in their careers. “CGCS has been widely recognized as the pinnacle designation in the industry for half a century,” says GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. “It seems fitting that in the year we celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary that we also launch its latest iteration, which recognizes the time commitment challenges that so many superintendents are facing today. We are continually looking for ways to improve the program and increase its value to our members, their facilities and the game of golf.” GCSAA’s certification program began in June 1971 as a way to accredit those who advanced their knowledge base through continuing education. Since the program started, 3,348 golf course superintendents have earned the CGCS designation. Once certified, superintendents must renew their certification every five years. To be eligible to begin the Certified Golf Course Superintendent program, an individual must either be a current GCSAA Class A member or meet those same requirements, and must complete the application form. Once the application has been approved, the individual has one year to complete all steps of the certification process. Visit: https://www.gcsaa.org/ education/certifications-exams for more information.
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GCSAA Field Staff Representative John Walker - South Central Region Before joining the GCSAA staff, John Walker was a superintendent, 30-year GCSAA member and past GCSAA board director. JWalker@gcsaa.org 713-557-0279 10
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Congratulations to our 2021 Scholarship Recipients!!!
Leah Austin
Abigail Harsh
Makenzie Samoff -
Noah Baughman
Olivia Inberg
Josie Spivey
Ryan Brown
Lauren Klene
Zac Terry
Gabriel Cincotta
Ashley Lyles
Caroline Warms
Blake Fox
Paeton Mrosko
Benjamin Williams
Cameron Gilley
Madeline Plowman
Patricia Yarotsky
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LEGACY
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November/December 2021
2022 Pesticide License Renewal Class January 10, 2022 Sand Hill Farm 14818 Mathis Road Waller, TX 77484
8:15am - 3:00pm 5 TDA Pesticide CEUs (pending) GCSAA CEU approved
Register Here
2022 Agenda
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BMP & Facility Adoption Workshop January 20, 2022 The Woodlands Country Club
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DELEGATES MEET AT GCSAA HQ/KANSAS CITY by Steve Randall | Oct 22, 2021 67 delegates representing 72 chapters meet in person at GCSAA Headquarters and the Kansas City Airport Marriott After a virtual session in 2020, delegates from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America met in-person during a two-day event at GCSAA Headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., as well as the KCI Airport Marriott Hotel October 21-22, 2021. The annual event brings delegates together from GCSAA’s 98 chapters to discuss initiatives, provide insight on moving the association forward, and to begin discussions on electing board members and officers at the February 2022 annual meeting. Highlights of the meeting included a new delegates orientation session at GCSAA headquarters. New delegates were given an overview of expectations for the event, toured headquarters and heard from department leaders how GCSAA is moving the association forward. Members also heard from President Mark Jordan, CGCS, and CEO Rhett Evans. Both discussed GCSAA’s influence in the world of golf, facing difficult times during a global pandemic, and the importance of the delegates to lead outward. GCSAA continues to showcase the organization and its members as the global leaders in golf course management. A member dues discussion also took place. GCSAA follows a dues adjustment process created in 2006 from input and approval from chapter delegates. The process is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and equates to smaller and more frequent adjustments in dues rather than infrequent, but larger adjustments. This year’s proposal is the following: 6.6% adjustment n CPI since 2019 $30 adjustment for A and B ($430) and $15 adjustment for C ($220) is being proposed Approval rates for dues adjustments using this process has ranged from 87% - 96% The GCSAA Board of Directors will consider delegate feedback as they discuss the proposal. Delegates are encouraged to communicate the proposed dues adjustment with their membership and provide chapter feedback to GCSAA. The delegates offered their thoughts on a variety of industry issues during breakout sessions. Questions on labor, professional development and best management practices were of focus. Wednesday’s town hall session allowed delegates the chance to ask questions of the GCSAA Board. The interactive session focused on processes with the annual meeting and allowed further discussion on items discussed during the two-day event. Candidate breakout sessions concluded activities. The delegates were awarded ample time to interact and ask questions of the candidates. Those running for the GCSAA Board in 2022 are: For President – Kevin P. Breen, CGCS For Vice President – Kevin P. Sunderman, CGCS For Secretary/Treasurer – Jeff L. White, CGCS; T.A. Barker, CGCS For Director (electing two) – Douglas D. Dykstra, CGCS; Steven J. Hammon; Christopher A. Reverie; Marc E. Weston, CGCS; Richard Wit, CGCS As Dykstra and Weston are at the end of their director terms, there will be two (2), 2-year director terms up for election. Both Barker and White are in the middle of their two-year director term and will remain on the board as a director if not elected Secretary/Treasurer. The membership will also elect a one-year director seat to fill the vacancy left by the winner of the Secretary/ Treasurer race. GCSAA’s Annual Meeting will take place Thursday, February 10 from 8-10 a.m. at the San Diego Convention Center.
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2021 Toy Drive South Texas GCSA, Inc. donated over $1600 worth of toys to children in need. Thank you to everyone who donated to our Toy Drive! ABOUT KIDS’ MEALS INC. Since 2006, Kids’ Meals has been making and delivering free, healthy meals directly to the homes of hungry children. Since inception, we have given more than 8.5 million free meals to food insecure children in 43 Houston-area zip codes. Kids’ Meals is a first-responder to children ages 5 and under facing debilitating hunger due to extreme poverty. Our mission is to end childhood hunger by delivering free healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston’s hungriest preschool-aged children and through collaboration provide their families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. Kids’ Meals is the only program of its kind in the nation, and you built this program right along with us. What began as two delivery vans has grown into a fleet of 12 vans sharing not just food, but connection to more than 50 wrap-around service partners who are here to help families break the poverty cycle. But it all begins with growing healthier children, which is why we are laser-focused on feeding children age 5 and under who don’t have access to free school-based meals. Harris County is home to more than 26,000 preschool-aged children living in food insecurity. Our goal is to be feeding all 26,000 each day by 2031. We believe Houston can be the first city to end childhood hunger.
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Thank you to everyone who attended the STGCSA Christmas Party! We gave away over $3,500 in Prizes!
Thank you to Wildcat Golf Club for hosting such a fun event! Congratulations to all of our winners! 17
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GOLF FUN FACT In the world, there are over 34,000 golf courses.
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Vince Gill to receive GCSAA’s Old Tom Morris Award The country music superstar has been a lifelong golfer and generous supporter of the game. December 14, 2021 | GCM staff Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill will be the recipient of the 2022 Old Tom Morris Award from GCSAA. Gill will be presented with the honor Feb. 10 during the Closing Celebration of the 2022 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego. The Old Tom Morris Award has been given annually since 1983 to an individual who, through a lifetime commitment to the game of golf, has helped mold the welfare of the game in the manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris. Morris, a four-time Open champion, was the longtime superintendent at St. Andrews in Scotland until his death in 1908. Gill, an avid golfer and advocate of the game, helped create the annual Vinny Pro-Celebrity Invitational golf tournament to support junior golf programs throughout Tennessee. Held from 1993 to 2019, the event raised more than $8 million for youth golf in the state. The Little Course at Conner Lane, a nine-hole course located at Golf House Tennessee in Franklin, Tenn., includes a practice green and putting course named in Gill’s honor. The facility also houses a research and demonstration area for university turfgrass researchers. Others who have benefited from Gill’s philanthropic work include military members and families transitioning to civilian life, and people with cancer. A scratch golfer, Gill grew up playing on public courses in his native Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. “Vince Gill is known the world over for his singing and songwriting, but he is so much more. He is a golfer, a family man and a philanthropist, ” says GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. “His lifetime love for and promotion of the game is in keeping with the spirit of Old Tom.”
A 22-time Grammy winner, Gill is the only country artist to win a Grammy in 10 consecutive years. He was twice named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year and is a five-time winner of CMA’s Male Vocalist of the Year Award. Gill has had four songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country chart: “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away,” “I Still Believe in You,” “One More Last Chance” and “Tryin’ to Get Over You.” He has been performing on tour with the Eagles since 2017. Born in Norman, Okla., Gill played golf at Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen High School before embarking on his music career. He is married to singer-songwriter Amy Grant. “This just came completely out of left field,” Gill said after learning of being named the Old Tom Morris Award winner. “I am really grateful.”
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***Don’t forget to pay your Membership Dues!*** 2022 STGCSA MEMBER APPLICATION
Equipment
Looking to Buy or Sell used equipment?
2022 SPONSORSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE!
Email Carrie Cole at stgcsa@stgcsa.org and include a picture, short description, asking price, & your contact information. Please let us know once it is sold!
Thank you to our 2021 Sponsors! We sincerely appreciate you supporting our Association!
CLICK HERE FOR 2022 SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES
Click Here to see What’s for Sale 20
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Click Here for All Job Postings
Did you move jobs recently? If so, please contact Carrie Cole @ stgcsa@stgcsa.org so we can update your new contact information!
Get the latest information about upcoming events here!
Click Here for GCSAA Job Postings (Superintendent
Positions, Asst. Positions, Technician Positions, Affiliate/Sales Positions, Special Supt Positions, like ranches and sports fields are also listed on the website!) Please email stgcsa@stgcsa.org when positions have been filled
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THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 silver SPONSORS!!
THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 bronze SPONSORS!!
Thank you to our 2021 hole sponsorS!
Thank you to our 2021 DRINK sponsor! 22