Bayer Superintendent Grant Program Winners Announced
For the fifth consecutive year, Bayer Environmental Science and The Environmental Institute for Golf are sending five golf course superintendents to the 2008 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Education Conference and Golf Industry Show, taking place January 28 to February 2 in Orlando, Fla.
The purpose of this grant is to assist golf course superintendents with their professional development through participation in the annual event.
The winners are Eric Morrison, Groton, Conn.; William Irving, Kearney, Neb.; Steven Fisher, Camillus, N.Y.; Tom Forsythe, Thunder Bay, Ont.; and Christopher Moyer, Findlay, Ohio.
ASLA Calls for Awards Program Entries
The American Society of Landscape Architects released the call for entries for its 2008 professional and student awards program. The awards honor the best in landscape architecture from around the globe and will be presented in October at the ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo in Philadelphia, Pa.
The professional awards entry deadline is February 1, and submissions must be received by February 15. Student entry forms are due May 9, and submissions must be received by May 23.
The professional awards jury convening in March will include Warren T. Byrd, Mary Ellen Cowan, Robert A. Ivy, Niall Kirkwood, Steve Martino, Elizabeth D. Miller, Dennis Pieprz, W. Gary Smith and Kongjian Yu.
The student awards jury convening in June will include F. Christopher Dimond, Cheryl Barton, Abhijeet Chavan, Barbara Faga, Walter Hood, Jane Kolleeny, Kevin Robert Perry, Kristen Richards and Kevin M. Shanley.
Categories in the program are general design, residential design, analysis & planning, research, communications and The Landmark Award. The student awards program also features a student collaboration category and Student Community Service Awards.
The 2008 call for entries is available online at http://www.asla.org/awards/2008/rules_entries/
ANLA to Launch Masters Program
The American Nursery & Landscape Association’s landscape division will launch its Masters in Landscape Business Management Program February 7 and 8 in Louisville, Ky. The program is an intense course for owners and general managers of small-to-medium-sized landscape design/build firms designed to improve profitability and increase competitive standing. The program will be taught by Marcus vandeVliet, president of MV Consulting, who has more than 20 years of experience developing and implementing operational systems for landscape firms.
IPNI Announces New Staff
Dr. Steven B. Phillips has joined the staff of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) as Southeast region director. He will have responsibility for agronomic programs of the organization in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Phillips holds a B.S. degree from Cameron University in Lawton, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Oklahoma State University at Stillwater. From 1999 to 2005 he was assistant professor, soil fertility and plant nutrition, Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech. He became associate professor in July 2005.
Also joining the staff is Dr. Thomas L. Jensen as Northern Great Plains regional director.
He will be responsible for agronomic programs in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, plus the states of Montana and North Dakota.
Jensen received his B.Sc. in 1979, his M.Sc. in 1985 and his Ph.D. in 1996, all at the University of Alberta. He was a research agronomist in the Soil Science Section of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from 1979 to 1982. From 1995 to 2003 he was corporate agronomist for Agrium, Inc. in Calgary, and since 2003 he has been employed with Agricore United, most recently with the title of agronomic research and development manager.
Norman to Receive Old Tom Morris Award
Greg Norman has been selected to receive the 2008 Old Tom Morris Award by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
A longtime supporter of the golf course superintendent profession, Norman is a vocal leader in the movement to make the game more compatible with the environment. He became a trustee of GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, The Environmental Institute of Golf, in 2003 and has served as chairman of The Institute’s Advisory council since its inception that year. The award will be presented at the Opening Session of the 2008 GCSAA Education Conference on January 31, 2008.
TPI Elects Officers, Board of Trustees
Turfgrass Producers International has appointed Charles “Chip” Lain Jr., president of Pine Island Nursery, Inc., to the position of secretary-treasurer. He has been a TPI member since 1970 and served as a state representative from 1990 to 1995. He is also active in the Cultivated Sod Association of New Jersey, New Jersey Turfgrass Association, New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association, New York Turfgrass Association and the New York Turf & Landscape Association.
George Brandt of American Sod Corp. has been appointed president of the association. During his more than 30 years with the association, he has served as chairman of the TPI Water Policy Committee, a member of the Public Relations Working Group, a TPI representative and has been active on The Lawn Institute Committees. He is also past president of both the Wisconsin Sod Producers Association and the Sod Growers Association of Mid-America. He is an active member in the Midwest Sod Council and a former board member of the MSC.
Randy Graff, CEO and owner of Graff’s Turf Farms, Inc., has been appointed vice president. He has been a TPI member since 1980 and served as the association’s Colorado state representative from 1988 to 1992. Since 1980 he has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Sod Growers Association, the Rocky Mountain Turfgrass Association and the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado. Since 1999, he has been a member of the GCSAA, the Sports Turf Managers Association and the Colorado Sports Turf Managers Association.
Elected to the board of trustees is Fanus Cloete, director of Evergreen Turf, Ltd. in Eikenhof, South Africa, and Gary Wilber, vice president and co-owner of Oakwood Sod Farm, Inc.
Both were elected to three-year terms.
CAIA Named IA Partner of the Year
The California Agricultural Irrigation Association has been named Irrigation Association 2007 Partner of the Year.
The award recognizes a great partnership that strengthens both organizations. The CAIA regularly brings irrigation education to California growers and has strong relationships with the state government and California’s federal lawmakers.
Patton Receives 2007 Musser Award
The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation has selected Dr. Aaron J. Patton of the University of Arkansas as the recipient of the 2007 Musser Award of Excellence. The award, which carries a stipend of $20,000, was presented earlier this year at the Golf Industry Show in Anaheim, Calif.
Patton is an assistant professor and extension turfgrass specialist in Arkansas’ Department of Horticulture. He earned his doctoral and master’s degrees from Purdue University after completing his undergraduate studies at Iowa State University.
Patton was selected based on his excellence in turfgrass science, as well as his work in the field and the classroom.
NTF Updates Web Site
The National Turfgrass Federation has updated its Web site, www.turfresearch.org, to recognize the support of the following organizations and companies over the past year: United States Golf Association, The Irrigation Association, Turfgrass Producers International, Professional Landcare Network, Dow Agrosciences, Project Evergreen, Hunter Industries, The Scotts Co., Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association, Minnesota Turf and Grounds Foundation, Kentucky Turfgrass Council, Sports Turf Managers Association and National Turfgrass Evaluation Program.
Other enhancements made to the site include a United States map highlighting the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service turfgrass research and a more complete description of NTF and its governance. The U.S. map highlights research by state and research category, and offers links to more information on ARS turfgrass research projects, their purpose and progress.
Carlson Earns National Environmental Award
The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America board of directors has selected Jeff Carlson, GCSAA certified golf course superintendent at Vineyard Golf Club in Massachusetts, to receive its 2008 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.
Carlson oversees an all-organic turf care regimen at Vineyard Golf Club. He is a 22-year GCSAA Class-A member and has established himself as an environmental leader through his work on the golf course, in the community and on behalf of the industry. He spent 30 years working on Cape Cod at Brewster Golf Course, later known as Ocean Edge. In 1998, he left Cape Cod at Brewster to work with Architect Michael Hurdzan in building the environmentally acclaimed Widow’s Walk in Scituate, Mass., which earned him a GCSAA Environmental Steward Award in 1998. Carlson was a member of the original group of participants who crafted the Environmental Principles for Golf in 1996.
Lucas Receives Distinguished Service Award
Longtime Turfgrass Educator and Researcher Dr. Leon Lucas received the Distinguished Service Award from the 1,800-member Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. The organization’s highest honor, the award recognizes outstanding achievement and contribution in the service of golf course superintendents and the golf industry in the Carolinas.
Lucas, who lives in Apex, N.C., has worked on the science of golf course turf for 40 years, at North Carolina State University and as agronomist for the Carolinas Golf Association.
He was a signatory to the articles of incorporation that brought the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina into being in 1974. TCNC has twice honored Lucas—in 1981 with the Outstanding Service Award and in 1998 by making him an honorary lifetime member.
Companies Attain GCSAA Silver Partner Status
SePRO Corp., Aquatrols and Cleary Chemical Corp. have pledged their support of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and its members by committing to participate in the association’s Partner Recognition Program at the “Silver” level.
SePRO’s key business segments include the aquatics industry, the greenhouse/nursery market and the professional turf/landscape management market.
Aquatrols is a specialty chemical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of formulation technologies that provide water, energy, labor and other resource savings for the turf, ornamental, agricultural and snowmaking industries.
New Jersey-based Cleary has supplied the fine turf and ornamental industries with plant protection products for 73 years.
PLANET’S Green Industry Conference a Success
The Professional Landcare Network held its annual Green Industry Conference in Louisville, Ky., in conjunction with the GIE+EXPO. Jim Martin, president of PLANET, reported that membership is up 4.3 percent and that PLANET certification programs have grown. PLANET and its legacy associations have issued about 5,550 certification designations and the number of testing candidates has increased by 66 percent.
Martin also stated that in 2007, PLANET event participation numbers were up, with significant increases in attendance at Renewal & Remembrance at Arlington National and Historic Congressional cemeteries as well as PLANET’s Student Career Days. He also noted how pleased PLANET was with attendance at the first ever GIE+EXPO.
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