SuperNews OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIO GRANDE GCSA
December 2021 President Aaron Sunderlin
President’s Message
Aaron Sunderlin Black Mesa Golf Club
Vice President Glenn Denney CGCS Secretary / Treasurer Mike Adkins Board of Directors: Paul Kerr Mac Blevins Anthony Wright Past President Jimmy Rodriguez Vendor Representative John King Chapter Executive Carol Cloud riograndegcsa @gmail.com
GCSAA Field Rep John Walker
A warm Holiday Greeting to the association membership. It was fantastic to see our colleagues in person at the meetings this year at Los Altos and Twin Warriors. Thank you again to David Salas and Mike Adkins for their hospitality and the dedication of their respective staffs. We are currently planning to have five in person meetings in the coming year. Glenn Denney is working hard to secure venues in Las Cruces and El Paso for the winter months, and we should have these dates available in the very near future. We are still looking for a venue for the Annual Meeting in 2022, if your golf club is allowing outside events in 2022, we would love to hear from you! I think most of us in the golf industry understand the benefits that golf courses offer. Most recently we have discovered the social (health) benefit of outdoor recreation. Golf teaches members of the community essential life skills like honesty, respect, and integrity. Other benefits include economic advancement such as charitable events, and open space for wildlife, like herds of elk at Glenn’s golf course! We as Superintendents have been tasked with care of our golf properties to support our communities with the benefits that golf has to offer. Continued on next page
President’s Message - Continued From Cover Page Implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) at your golf course will show the community that you can demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and aptitude required for professional land management practices. As Superintendents we rely on people daily to help us achieve our goals. The GCSAA and the RGGCSA are here to help you achieve responsible golf course management practices in your community. It’s our profession that we are fighting for, and we all depend on each other for success. Thank you to everyone that has helped me along the way, if anyone has any questions or concerns please contact me anytime. Have a fun and safe holiday season.
Aaron Welcome 2022 President Aaron Sunderlin Thank you for your service to the chapter! Aaron Sunderlin is the Golf Course Superintendent at Black Mesa Golf Club. He is a Class A Superintendent and brings experience from managing private golf clubs throughout the Rocky Mountain Region. Throughout Aaron’s career he has worked on beautifully designed courses by Nicklaus, Irwin and Fazio. He is accomplished in golf course construction, grow-in and renovation. He has a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and plant pathology from The Ohio State University. He regularly attends regional and national association educational events to stay current with industry research and technology trends. During his free time you can find him enjoying a football game, or watching motorsports. Biography from the Black Mesa GC Website.
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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.
Rio Grande GCSA BMP Focus The RGGCSA published the RGGCSA Best Management Practices Manual in 2020! It is a resource for Golf Course Superintendents to understand and utilize industry standard Best Management Practices in many environmental and operational aspects of the work they do to make golf courses in New Mexico sustainable. Congratulations!! to the three coures noted below! They have completed the initial published version of their BMP Manual! Thank you for your committment to the environment and for taking the first steps to make your course sustainable.
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. Click here for more information
Jimmy Rodriguez
Mike Adkins
Aaron Sunderlin
T H A N K YO U F O R YO U R C O M M I T T M E N T !
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This year, the RGGCSA Board of Directors contracted Brian Cloud to help members get started creating their Facility Adopted BMP Manuals. Brian and his team have done zoom seminars and reached out to many members to help get the process started. Response has been good but we need more members to utilize this resource!! The RGGCSA BOD has set a goal to be one of the leading states in the US in the number of courses that have Facility Adopted Manuals. So please contact Brian to access where you are in the process. There are several options for assistance and completing the manual, depending on your level of expertise and available time. Let’s work hard over the next couple of months before the growing season kicks in to full gear again! Call or email TODAY!
Br ian Cloud 817-296-9117 br iancloud.gts@gmail.com WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU GET STARTED!
Loren Dunlap
Kyler Smith
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Are you following New Mexico State University Turfgrass Professor Dr. Bernd Leinauer on Twitter?
@NuMex_Turf Check it out for great updates on projects and research that he and the great team at NMSU are conducting on site at the university and on NM golf courses. And some fun, wow, 3 marathons in 6 weeks. Congratulations!
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IMPORTANT! New information from GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans regarding the 2022 Conference and Trade Show in San Diego CA. Click here to watch video!
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United States Golf Association WEST REGIONAL UPDATE
Quality Products & Superior Service
Selecting and Establishing Native Grasses for Out-of-Play Areas Brian Whitlark - Senior Consulting Agronomist
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Replacing turf with native grasses is a great way to reduce irrigation requirements on a golf course, but selecting and establishing native grasses can be tricky. It is no secret that the West is in a drought. As water issues persist, the belt will continue to tighten on water restrictions imposed on golf courses. Removing irrigated turf and replacing it with low-wateruse plantings is a proven strategy to reduce irrigation requirements on golf courses while preserving and arguably enhancing the golf experience. Deciding what to plant in turf removal areas can be tricky, but research supported by the USGA has helped to shed light on establishing native grasses and what species perform best in different environments. A study conducted by Kai Umeda and Worku Burayu from the University of Arizona at two golf courses in central Arizona demonstrated that native grasses and Kurapia – a groundcover – can be successfully established and will provide acceptable cover and quality under minimal irrigation inputs. Ten different native grasses were planted as part of this study and several were identified as the best performers. Researchers found that, “when mowed twice during the year, the native grasses alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes), purple threeawn (Aristida purpurea), and blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) can be grown as year-round green grasses that have pleasant and attractive characters compared to being unmowed.” While overseeded bermudagrass requires about 6 feet of water annually, the native grasses have been successfully maintained with only about 12-15 inches of irrigation annually. Continued on next page
Continued from previous page
• Some have had good success with hydroseeding native grasses.
Fine fescue grasses (sheep, hard, creeping red and chewings) did not perform well in a study conducted in Fresno, California, but several native California grasses did show promise according to Maggie Reiter from the University of California Cooperative Extension at Fresno State. The top performers were spike bentgrass (Agrostis exarate), dune bentgrass (Agrostis pallens ‘Camp Pendleton’), California brome (Bromus carinatus) and purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra). Another study being conducted in the Fresno area is one of 11 national sites also evaluating warmseason grasses and native grasses. This study is supported by the USGA and NTEP and is led by NTEP executive director Kevin Morris. The native C4 grasses established faster and performed much better in the drier, western portion of the U.S. For example, the native grass blend ‘Habiturf’ – a three-way blend of buffalograss, curly mesquite and blue grama – and ‘Cody’ buffalograss demonstrated superior establishment in Dinuba, California, and St. George, Utah, but struggled in Citra, Florida. In a more moderate climate like the San Francisco Bay area, grasses such as dune bentgrass (Agrostis pallens), six-weeks fescue (Vulpia octoflora), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), meadow barley (Hordeum brachyantherum), and purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra) have been the top performers. Farther east in the Bay Area, where the weather is warmer, the C4 grasses such as blue grama, curly mesquite and purple threeawn are performing well. Superintendents have learned some good tips for establishing native grasses and these are a few to consider: • Don’t till the soil – this just brings weed seeds to the surface. Some have used a slit seeder to make shallow grooves or have used a spring-tine rake to lightly scarify the surface to help hold seed in place.
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Avoid getting in eyes or on skin. Use safety glasses with side shields (or goggles) and water repellent, chemical resistant gloves when handling this product.
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FIRST AID
PRECAUTIONS •
•
Avoid getting in eyes or on skin. Use safety glasses with side shields (or goggles) and water repellent, chemical resistant gloves when handling this product. Do not contaminate water during application or when cleaning equipment.
IN CASE OF SPILL OR MEDICAL EMERGENCY, CONTACT CHEMTREC 1-800-424-9300.
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•
Do not contaminate water supplies during application or when cleaning equipment.
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NET CONTENTS 250 gallons (946 liters)
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• Use a blend of native grasses – a monostand does not work well. • Weed control is a big problem. Use preemergence herbicides for broadleaf weeds and plan on making postemergence herbicide applications for several years to favor the desirable species. • Plant a temporary crop to compete with weeds. This may be a fine fescue crop that will allow the longer-term and more desirable native grasses to flourish. • Be patient! It typically takes three to five years to achieve the desired look when establishing native grasses. Readers can find summaries of the research on native grasses on the Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO) site.
Member Article
Is 2022 the year you will get your Safety Program up and running?
Brian Cloud, Cloud Golf and Turf Services Here are the 3 things you need to consider. While writing a safety plan can easily be pushed to the bottom of a golf course Superintendent’s very long to-do list, it’s arguably the most critical item on the list. A safety plan goes beyond protecting your employees; it protects the Superintendent and the club itself from liability, negative publicity, and fines. No matter how experienced, confident and knowledgeable your crew may be, they need to follow a defined and comprehensive safety plan.
• Written Policy OSHA loves to call this an Injury and Illness Prevention Program, but most employers call this a Safety Plan. Your facility Safety Plan is required to have a written safety policy on anything that you reasonably feel could injure an employee or cause illness. This is a very long list, and should include safety information on: Equipment Operation: (examples) Turf equipment, Vehicles / carts, Tractors, Mowers, Chain saws, Ladders, Hand operated tools, etc. Operation Policies: (examples) General Safety rules, Smoking rules and regulations, Fire safety, Lightning safety, Trenching and shoring, etc. Personal Protection Equipment and Treatment: (examples) First aid, Respirator use, Bloodborne pathogens, Heat stress, Cold stress, Personal protective equipment - with individual sections for each type of PPE, (bump caps, foot protection, hearing protection, personnel attire, eye protection), Electrical lock out tag out (including qualified personnel and procedures), etc. Planning: (examples) Contingency planning (emergency coordinators, contacts, spill control and reporting requirements), Medical emergency procedures, etc. Hazard Communication: (examples) Chemical hazard communication - The Globally Harmonized System, Safety Data Sheets, Inventory, Use of labels, Employee information and training, etc. And much more. As we said, it’s a very long list. OSHA requires that you “Communicate” all of these polices to your employees. It is recommended that these policies are collected into a handbook, distributed to each staff member and then conduct a lunchroom style meeting to cover and discuss all of the policies. The final step is to have all of the staff sign off the comprehensive plan. If you have Spanish speaking employees, it is recommended you provide them with a plan written in Spanish. Again, OSHA requires you to “Communicate”
this information to the staff. There is no better documentation than providing a copy to each employee and keeping evidence of their receipt and understanding. Part of your written safety program should be chemical Safety Data Sheets or SDS’s for all hazardous material on site. While there are online and other electronic solutions for SDS’s, it is strongly recommended that an old fashioned SDS notebook be placed in the shop or the lunchroom. Regulations require that there are no “barriers to access” for SDS’s. Many electronic SDS’s solutions would require that every crew member have unfettered access to your office computers throughout the day. That’s not too likely at most facilities.
• Safety Training For every topic discussed with written safety policies, you are required to conduct safety training on the same subjects. How many topics? If you search the OSHA website for the term “Safety Training” you get over 20,000 search results. This is to say that if you’re not at least having monthly safety training sessions you should be rethinking your program. If you want to develop a safety training program “in house”, we suggest the following as the best way to get started: Choose 1 topic per month, write an outline, create a quiz based on your outline, cover the material with each employee, hand the quiz out to each employee and then review the answers until every employee understands the answers and receives a perfect score.
• Documentation If you were wondering why you needed to print quizzes, this is why. OSHA has a three-pronged requirement for safety training and safety plans. You need to prove: • • •
Who was there (sign in sheets) What subjects were covered (mowers, tractors, hazard communication, etc.) That the participants understood what was covered (the quiz)
Because “if it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen”. We hope this information provides you with a good understanding of the OSHA requirements regarding safety and compliance in the golf course maintenance workplace. Wishing you a safe and healthy 2021 Brian Cloud and his son Kyle Cloud represent the company Golf Safety in areas across the United States - Golfsafety.com The company has developed safety plans and safety training programs at hundreds of golf and country clubs across the country. Brian presented this inforamtion in a very infromative talk at our July meeting at Los Altos. briancloud.gts@gmail.com
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