GCM's Industry News Digest: March 2022

Editor's note: The GCM team will be maintaining an up-to-date feed of announcements on this page. If you have news that you think belongs here, please email GCM Editor-in-Chief. Scott Hollister.

Thursday, March 31

• R.I.S.E. (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) elected new officers and welcomed new governing board members during its March meeting in Arlington, Va. The 2022 RISE Executive Committee includes Karen Larson from Clarke, newly elected chair, and Jose Milan from Bayer Environmental Science, newly elected vice chair. Nufarm’s Blaine Pinkerton continues his term as treasurer. 

Tuesday, March 29

• A trio of GCSAA-member equipment managers have recently earned certificates in the association’s Equipment Management Certificate Program. Shelby DuBois, the equipment manager at the Talisker Club at Tuhaye in Kamas, Utah, is the first equipment manager in Utah to complete both Levels 1 and 2, and the first female in the country to complete Level 2. She is a one-year GCSAA member. Earning Level 1 certificates were Ryan Haptonstall, the equipment manager at Columbia Hills Golf and Swim Club in Columbia Station, Ohio, and Ken Weaver, the equipment manager at Prestwick Village Golf Club in Highland, Mich. A total of 111 equipment managers have now earned Level 1 certificates in the program. 

Monday, March 28

• The USGA has selected Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., as the host site for the 2034 and 2051 U.S. Open Championships as well as four additional USGA amateur championships, starting in 2024. Adding to the two U.S. Opens and the two U.S. Women’s Opens in 2031 and 2042 announced in January, Oakland Hills’ South Course will host the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2029 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2038 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 2047 U.S. Amateur. The club is set to host a total of eight USGA championships between 2024 and 2051. It will become the fifth club to have hosted a U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Pebble Beach set to join those ranks when it hosts the U.S. Women’s Open in 2023. The club has played host to 11 USGA championships in its 104-year history, including six U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, two U.S. Amateurs and a U.S. Women’s Amateur. In addition, Oakland Hills has also hosted three PGA Championships and the 2004 Ryder Cup. 
  

• For the 2022 annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) season, Syngenta has introduced the first guarantee for control of ABW, all white grub species and turf caterpillars with the WeevilTrak annual bluegrass weevil assurance program. To qualify for the assurance, superintendents must be registered WeevilTrak users and apply the recommended rates of Acelepryn, Ference, Provaunt WDG or Scimitar GC insecticides as outlined in the assurance. Along with the assurance, WeevilTrak continues to feature monitoring updates, digital tools and ongoing insights from researchers via the WeevilTrak blog. These resources are highly valuable for targeting ABW at different life stages with properly timed product applications with different modes of action.

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