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GCM’s Industry News Digest: July 2022

The latest golf course product and industry news, curated for golf course superintendents and other turf industry professionals.

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Golf industry news May 2022
Editor’s note: The GCM team will be doing our best to maintain an up-to-date feed of announcements on this page. If you have news you think belongs here, please email Scott Hollister.

 

Thursday, July 7, 2022

•PBI-Gordon Corporation announced that Dan Dumler has joined the company as western regional sales manager. Dumler is responsible for leading the PBI-Gordon sales team in the western half of the United States – which includes Wisconsin and states west of the Mississippi River. PBI-Gordon is celebrating 75 years of innovation and partnership in 2022. The company is 100-percent employee-owned. For information on PBI-Gordon, visit PBIGordonTurf.com or call 800-884-3179.

•PBI-Gordon Corporation The FairWays Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting conservation and stewardship, held its inaugural summit at Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio, on June 21-22, 2022. This event brought together industry influencers, as well as previous and potential grant recipients, for educational talks and networking. With over 80 in attendance, the event aimed to raise awareness for the work of The FairWays Foundation. With nearly $300,000 worth of funds granted to date, the foundation will review and award the 2022 cycle applicants in the coming few months when they hope to see the running total hit half a million dollars.

The FairWays Foundation is looking for ambassadors to help reach those who wish to champion environmental projects but cannot proceed due to a lack of resources. Find out how you can get involved here. To learn more about the projects that have been supported so far or to learn how to apply for our 2023 grant cycle, visit TheFairWaysFoundation.com.

In an effort to attract golf course maintenance personnel by offsetting a portion of California’s high housing expense, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Northern California (GCSANC) has launched their Intern Housing Assistance Program. Interns employed in the turf maintenance department at member golf courses in Northern California are eligible, and in the first year more than $14,000 was awarded to seven deserving individuals. The program, which will welcome new applicants in 2023, is in addition to the money that GCSANC donates annually to turf research ($20,000 in 2022) and annual scholarship funding, which is typically in the neighborhood of $10,000, depending on the volume of scholarship applications received.


Thursday, July 14, 2022

CCIV fertilizer granules

•The American Society of Golf Course Architects has named John Lawrence, director of strategic golf for The Toro Company and friend to scores of golf course architects, as the 2022 recipient of the ASGCA Donald Ross Award. The award, given annually since 1976, is presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture. It will be presented to Lawrence at the ASGCA Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, on Oct. 3 at the Donald Ross Banquet.

Founded in 1946 by Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones and 12 other leading architects, the ASGCA is a non-profit organization comprised of experienced golf course designers located throughout North America. Members have completed a rigorous application process that includes the peer review of representative golf courses. ASGCA members are able to counsel in all aspects of golf course design and remodeling and comprise many of the great talents throughout the golf industry. For more information about ASGCA, including a current list of members, visit asgca.org or call (262) 786-5960.

•The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has issued the results of a major industry survey, with some of the findings representing a stark warning to the golfing industry. More than 1,300 members of BIGGA, representing golf clubs across the United Kingdom, responded to the survey, which asked them to provide details of working conditions at their facilities, in addition to commenting on their job satisfaction. With talk of difficulties regarding the recruitment and retention of staff common, BIGGA undertook the survey to gain solid evidence of the challenges at UK golf clubs, and the results have raised a number of concerns. Further details and a results breakdown is available on the BIGGA website.

•Profile® Products is pleased to announce the hiring of Justin Olmstead as the market development manager – golf. Olmstead got his start at Michigan State University where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in crop and soil sciences. He began his career as an assistant superintendent at Milwaukee Country Club and later a superintendent at Glen Flora Country Club. In recent years, Olmstead moved to sales and service as the turf product manager at Precision Laboratories and a turf specialist with Conserv FS.


Monday, July 25 2022

Mission Bay golf course renovation
Landscapes Unlimited is creating a state-of-the-art irrigation system at Mission Bay Golf Course and Practice Center in San Diego, Calif.Photo courtesy of Landscapes Unlimited

Golf course developer and construction company Landscapes Unlimited is completing installation of a new, state-of-the-art irrigation system throughout the 18-hole executive course at the Mission Bay Golf Course and Practice Center in San Diego, California.

Closely collaborating with Harvey Consulting and 3-D Enterprises on Mission Bay, Landscapes Unlimited, upon completing the irrigation system, will install a new pump station in August. The overall facility upgrades by 3-D Enterprises include demolition of the existing clubhouse and construction of two new buildings, one each for golf and food-and-beverage operations.

Building on their longstanding partnership and shared passion to elevate the stories of golf’s legends, the USGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame will create a new visitor experience at the USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst campus, opening in 2024. In doing so, the Hall of Fame will relocate its physical presence from St. Augustine to North Carolina.

Additionally, World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held in Pinehurst in 2024 and 2029, to coincide with the 124th U.S. Open on Pinehurst No. 2 (2024), and the return of back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica and U.S. Open Championships, also on Course No. 2 (2029). The first-ever back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Open were contested in 2014.

Sublime herbicide

•Prime Source, a division of Albaugh, LLC, is pleased to announce the EPA registration of new SublimeTM Herbicide. Sublime is a patent-pending, selective herbicide that combines mesotrione, triclopyr and dicamba into a premium non-2,4-D option for professional turfgrass managers. Additionally, in trials, Sublime did not show the unsightly weed bleaching associated with other mesotrione herbicides. Sublime is labeled for the control of over 200 broadleaf weeds including challenging species such as ground ivy, spurge, yellow wood sorrel, VA buttonweed and wild violet, and several grassy weed species.

For more information on Sublime and the full line of products from Prime Source go to www.primesource-albaugh.com.

•Audubon International – the environmentally focused non-profit organization that offers members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work, and play – will reach its 35th anniversary on July 1, 2022.

At the forefront of the celebration, the organization will waive the enrollment fee for the first 35 new members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf (ACSP), starting on its anniversary, by using the code “35Years.” ACSP is the award-winning environmental education and certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment, preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf and promote environmental sustainability.

On Sept. 1, Oregon State University will hold a Turf Field Day and industry expo at Lewis-Brown Farm in Corvallis, Ore. Attendees can get the latest industry news from field experts and exhibitors, network and take part in the J. Oliver Memorial Golf Tournament and Dinner. Field day topics include fungicides for anthracnose, long term effects of cultivation methods and topdressing, OSU lab updates on nematodes and turfgrass pathogens and more.

Registration for this event is free. Tables and shade tents are provided for exhibitors. To RSVP or to learn more about the event, contact Alec Kowalewski at alec.kowalewski@oregonstate.edu. Please indicate if you are bringing an exhibitor booth, or plan to join the golf tournament.


Friday, July 29

As part of its 35th anniversary, Audubon International will waive the enrollment fee for the first 35 new members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf (ACSP) by using the code “35Years” beginning July 1 ACSP is the award-winning environmental education and certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment, preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf and promote environmental sustainability. 

Bringing on 35 new members will equal an investment of $17,500 and help kick off a calendar year of other important initiatives to coincide with Audubon International’s hallmark anniversary. Some of the others will include recognizing long-time members, launching cutting-edge programs and striving to double membership.