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GCSAA Announces Internal Reorganization

President’s M essage

The Golf Course Superintendents Asso­
ciation of America (GCSAA) has put into
operation a new department and expanded
an existing department, Conrad Scheetz,
GCSAA executive director, has announced.
The new Department of Chapter and
Industrial Relations will promote the
growth of the GCSAA Conference and
Show, while also strengthening the adver*
tising section of The Golf Superintendent
magazine. It will handle chapters relations
and recruit new members in a more per­
sonal way. The new director is James R.
Brooks, who has been director of mem­
bership services since 1974.
The Membership Services Department
has been expanded to become the Depart­
ment of Membership and Administrative
Services. Its director is Janie Storm, for­
merly administrative assistant to the exec­
utive director since 1975.
Brooks will concentrate on contacting
potential exhibitors, necessary for the ex­
pansion and growth of the GCSAA-spon­
sored International Turfgrass Conference

Although the dog days of August are
just arriving, the summer has been such
that I’m sure everyone feels as though it
will never end. The very long hot spell of
July has taken its toll on many courses
especially those with high percentages of
poa. Seed suppliers will be kept busy pro­
viding seed for those who did lose turf.
It has been encouraging to your board
of directors to see attendance at the month­
ly meetings on the rise especially when golf
had been rained out at two of the meetings.
I have long felt that attendance at meetings
will increase when well organized meetings
that provide sound educational programs
are the order of the day. This is the goal of
the board and any suggestions for speakers
or programs are welcome.
A Landscape Seminar which has been
in the planning for nearly a year will be
offered on November 2 & 3 of this year at
the Holiday Inn in Meriden. This seminar
is put together by GCSAA and offers the
latest in golf course and clubhouse land­
scaping. Brochures will soon be in the mail
and attendance is limited to thirty so return
the reservation forms as soon as possible.
Bob Tosh

Grass Catcher

Fred Baschund has again arranged for
members of CAGCS and/or GCSAA to
attend the Greater Hartford Open on a
complimentary basis. To gain entry a
member should go to the Ramada Inn
Steak Club, which is just off Exit 24 on Rt.
91, identify himself as a member of either
association and a one day pass will then be
issued. Many thanks, Fred!
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Attendance at our last two monthly
meetings was quite good considering how
the weather has been. At our June meeting
President Tosh led an open discussion con| cerning the problems that everyone was
facing to date. A good discussion followed
! with the general feeling being that this
type of session was good for the association

and Show. He will be the on-site show
manager for the San Antonio Conference
and Show, February 1978.
Another major goal of his department
will be to agressively attract new members
to join GCSAA. The first membership drive
will be conducted in the Southwest, where
new members will be close to their first
conference and show. Brooks will be the
principal headquarters staff member to
communicate with chapters.
Storm’s department will provide essen­
tial administrative functions for the head­
quarters office and perform all services for
members, including Employment Referral
Service; audio-visual services; member­
ship applications, reclassifications and ter­
minations; data processing; circulation for
The Golf Superintendent magazine and
registration for both the GCSAA confer­
ence and show and all educational ses­
sions.
Centralization of these services into one
department will improve efficiency.
and should be continued.
The July meeting at the Brownson Club
was highlighted by a talk from Bill Dest.
Bill discussed some of the work that he had
seen being done at Rutgers in the areas of
plant breeding, soils, and so on. He also
expressed his feeling as to where turf
research should be headed and what type
of program he hopes to develop at UCONN.
It must be noted that both meetings,
Tumble Brook and Brownson, were well
organized by the superintendents and
manager and that dinner was excellent.
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The Organizational Study Committee
headed by Bob Osterman has been meet­
ing bi-monthly and is developing some
ideas to be presented to the membership in
September. A few of the areas under study
include: objectives of the association,
membership classification, S & R, speaker

program, meeting agenda, and others. If
you have any ideas regarding these or
other areas please inform Bob or any mem­
ber of the committee so that they might be
discussed.
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Dave Stimson has discovered that a
Group of Forty fare is available to San
Antonio for the national conference. A sav­
ings of $104 per person is available if 40
people can be put together to fly to San
Antonio. Return flights can be at your own
convenience. If enough interest is shown at
the next meeting Dave will organize the
group with a deposit of $50 dollars per
person being required to hold a spot.
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President Tosh has announced that Bob
continued on p. 3

2

Connecticut Association
Of Golf Course
Superintendents

Golf Course May Hold Answer
In Sludge Disposal Problem

GROTON — The town is getting ready to
experiment with the use of sludge from the
President................................ Robert Tosh
town sewage treatment plant for a top
Rockrimmon C.C.
dressing for greens and tees at ShenneOffice 914-764-8846
cossett Golf Course.
Home 914-764-4425
The sludge, mixed with sand, will re­
Vice-President................................. RobertOsterman
place expensive^ loam now used for the
The Golf Club At Aspetuck
greens and tee areas, and could save up to
Office 203-261-2544
$1,000 a year, says Town Recreation Dir­
Home 203-268-9081
ector R. Peter Ledger.
Sec-Treasurer.....................David Stimson
A pile of the sludge mixed with sand is
Tumble Brook C.C.
now stored by the 12th tee, and will be
Office 203-243-0150
used on the practice putting green by the
Home 203-289-6979
clubhouse soon, says Robert Chalifour,
golf course superintendent.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bob McCarthy
Jim Medeiros Chalifour attended a conference at the
University of Massachusetts in Amherst
Ron Holcomb
Bob Viera
last week on uses of sludge and was sur­
Ken Kelliher
SteveCadenelli
prised at what he learned.
A1 Arison, Associate Director
He said that although studies of the use
Frank Lamphier, Immediate Past President
of sludge in place of soil are now in their
infant stages, the field appears to have a
The object of this association is to pro­
great future.
mote research, education and an exchange
Chalifour notes that treatment plant
of practical experiences in the field of turf
operators have had difficulty in disposing
grass culture so that the increased knowl­
of sewer sludge, but the situation could
edge will lead to more economic and ef­
turn around.
ficient management of golf courses and
He said that in the South and West, the
related turf areas.
effluent from treatment plants is being
The CONN. CLIPPINGS is an official
used to water golf courses, and in mining
publication of the Connecticut Association
areas, a sludge mixture is being used to
of Golf Course Superintendents.
reclaim areas which were strip mined.
Stephen G. Cadenelli, Editor
He said sludge is a good agent for
127 Country Club Road
improving
bad soils, and that because of
New Canaan, CT 06840
sterilization, no health hazard is present.
Officers

Editorial

Education or
Golf Outings
Much of our regular meetings during
the first part of this year and indeed,
during past years, have been devoted to
golf; that is, the actual playing of the game
by members and guests at our meetings. A
great deal of time is wasted in discussing
minor little items such as prizes, divisions,
etc., while much more important areas of
discussion are pushed aside. In an attempt
to remedy this problem your board had
worked with Jim Medeiros, golf chairman,
to set up guidelines that would make for
well run golf tournaments with as little
hassle as possible. It has not, nor will it
ever be the intention of the board to elimin­
ate golfing at our meetings. Golf is an in­
tegral part of the educational aspect of
each meeting in that a superintendent can
always learn from other superintendents
through viewing their golf course. Educa­
tion and increased professionalism must be
the emphasis of our meetings and all that
occurs there should work towards that
goal.
S.G.C.

Improve Your
Decision-Making
Process
The golf course superintendent makes
decisions every day in every area of his
work. Most are good decisions, or he
wouldn’t be where he is. But some aren’t
so good, and then the superintendent
should review his decision-making process.
Here are four suggestions for making good
decisions.
First ask others for their opinions. In­
corporate worthy ones into your thinking
but don’t base your decisions solely on
someone else’s opinions.
Second, approach decision-making with
creativity, as explained above. Don’t as­
sume that what worked in the past will still
work today — check it out.
Third, use your intuition and play your
hunches, but temper them with facts , Legi­
timate hunches can be easily confirmed by
seeking out relevant information.
Fourth, attack the problem. Don’t pro­
crastinate, hoping it will go away or solve
itself. Fight problems with action, not in­
action.
Reprint from “Forefront”

The conference he attended was spon­
sored by the Massachusetts Commission
on Organic Waste Recycling and a Pen­
nsylvania publishing firm.
Chalifour said no one at the conference
had yet thought of using the sludge as a
dressing for greens and tees as he is pro­
posing to do.
He said his experiments will begin as
soon as he gets a final recommendation
from the University of Rhode Island on the
best type of sand to use for mixing the
sludge.
He said another use of sludge from the
town plant under consideration is for
creating an athletic field on land adjacent
to the new town library.
The sludge would replace expensive top
soil and keep down the cost of the project,
he said.
Ledger, the recreation director, said a
benefit of using the inexpensive sludge for
dressing tees and greens is that the golf
course could be kept in better shape at
minimal cost.
The areas are generally covered with
expensive loam in the spring and fall, but
the procedure can be repeated more often
with less expensive material, he said.

Come!
Let Us Be One!
Come! Gather —
Solid And Strong —
Quit The Ill-Chatter —
Right The Wrong; —
Take Part —
Play Your Role —
Not Acres Apart —
Or This House’ll Fold; —
The Important Matter —
Is To Truly Belong —
Pull Tightly Together —
Stir Progress Along; —
Come! Let Us Be One; —
Un-guided By Logic —
What Can We Accomplish —
Void Of A True Target —
Ideals Perish; —
Laws Prevail —
Over The Highs and Low —
Waive — And Chaos Unveil —
Like a “ Watergate” Fiasco; —
Our Bi-Laws Are Fair —
To Prevent Such Woe —
Aren’t Rules Everywhere? —
So Don’t Be A Foe; —
COME! LET US BE ONE!
Frank Paladino

3

Hemlock Scale
Update

Future Happenings
AUGUST 2 ■ MONTHLY MEETING
Clinton Country Club, Clinton, Connecticut
Dave Roule - Host Superintendent
Our host for the August meeting, Dave Roule, has been at Clinton Country Club for
just under six years. During his tenure there he has initiated several new programs
and has generally upgraded the course condition. Among the many programs include
the overseeding o f the greens to Penncross, overseeding of the fairways to a Baron,
Manhattan, and Jamestown mix, installation of nearly one and one half miles of
drainage, planting o f over 200 trees, and just recently, installation of automatic
irrigation on two holes.
Dave, who holds an associate's degree in business administration and turf
management, received his earlier experience at several courses. Prior to his arrival at
Clinton he spent two years at Farmington C.C. under John Perry, two years at
Brookside Country Club in Canton, Ohio and a season at the Benson Harbor Club in
Virgins, Vermont.

SEPTEMBER 12 - JOINT MEETING with RIGCSA
Shennecossett Municipal Golf Course, Groton, Connecticut
Bob Chalifour - Host Superintendent
Shennecossett Golf Course, site of our September meeting, is one of the older courses
in Connecticut. This Donald Ross layout was built in 1898for the private use of Morton
Plant andfriends. It was later purchased by the Griswold Hotel and operated by them
until the late sixties when it was purchased by the Town of Groton for $950,000. Our
host, Bob Chalifour, who has been at the club for nearly eight years, came from East
Greenwich Country Club in Rhode Island. Some of the many accomplishments at
Shennecossett under Bob include an automatic irrigation system for tees and greens
and designed for future fairway water, a new fourteenth tee, a new maintenance
building presently under construction, and two programs to evaluate the possibility of
irrigating with sewage effluent and the testing of composted sewage sludge as a soil
amendment and as a greens topdressing.

NOVEMBER 2 and 3 - GCSAA Landscape Seminar I
“ Principles of Landscape“
Holiday Inn, Meriden, Connecticut
Make plans now to attend this seminar in Connecticut which is being sponsored by
CAGCS. Topics o f special interest include:
Functionalized Landscaping
Design of Comprehensive Plans
Identification o f Specialized Needs
Selecting Proper Materials
Balancing Beauty and Need
PLAN NOW TO ATTEND

Fertilizer
Analysis Report
Over one-third of the fertilizer mixes
analyzed this spring at The Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment Station in New
Haven failed to contain the amount of
nitrogen claimed on the label.
Chief chemist J. Gordon Hanna said the
tests were conducted to see if the natural
gas shortage and the resulting increase in
production costs would increase the de­
ficiency rate.
The 37 percent deficiency rate is more
than twice the 16 percent deficiency rate
observed last year. This year the analysts
found an average of 99 percent of the
claimed nitrogen as compared to an aver­
age of 105 percent of the claimed nitrogen
in 1976.
The lowest amount of nitrogen found
was 60 percent of the label claim. The

highest amount of nitrogen found was 152
percent of label claim. The fertilizers,
which were collected by the Department of
Agriculture, inclyde bulk mixes used by
farmers and lawn fertilizers used by homeowners.
A copy of the report, Bulletin 771, is
available free from the Editorial Office,
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment
Station, Box 1106, New Haven, CT 06504.
The report lists the brands tested, the
claims made, and the amount of nitrogen
found in each sample.
Reprint from “News of Science"
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN VOTED
IN AS NEW MEMBERS OF OUR ASSO­
CIATION. CONGRATULATIONS AND
WELCOME.

Bob Lippman
Associate
Andrew Wilson, Inc.
Union, N.J.

An extensive survey for the hemlock scale
by The Connecticut Agricultural Experi­
ment Station shows that the insect is more
widespread and attacks a greater variety of
evergreens than previously thought.
Dr. Mark McClure, an entomologist at
the Experiment Station said that all 16
towns within a triangle running from
Greenwich to Danbury to Stratford are
infested. In all, 279 locations in 31 towns
were checked for the hemlock scale.
The elongate hemlock scale, which
throughout most of its life looks more like a
fish scale than the insect it is, attacks the
underside of needles and feeds on sap. It
prefers new needles, and primarily attacks
the bottom branches. It may kill a hemlock
within a few years.
McClure spent last summer looking at
insect parasites and predators that could
possibly be used in biological control of the
scale. In some towns, he found one para­
site which commonly kills 40 to 50 percent
of the scale.
But this winter in Ridgefield, where he
was investigating an area of hemlocks that
was heavily infested, McClure found an­
other parasite that kills between 80 and 99
percent of the hemlock scales.
This parasite must be reared to adult­
hood before it can be identified, but Mc­
Clure said that already it is evident that it
is different from the others he found.
While conducting the survey in Green­
wich, McClure noted a heavy infestation of
the hemlock scale in the area surrounding
the Montgomery Pinetum in Cos Cob. Mc­
Clure and Michael Fergione found that
exotic firs, spruces, pines and hemlocks
that had not previously been reported as
hosts for the scale were being successfully
attacked.
McClure said the scale is not nearly as
successful on many of these trees as it is on
eastern hemlock. “ However, the mere fact
that it can colonize them indicates that
races may be developing that will in time
be able to flourish on trees other than the
hemlock,” he said.
Reprint from ‘News o f Science
GRASS CATCHER

continued from p. 1
Viera will chair this year’s Nominating
Committee. If you are at all interested in
becoming more active in your association,
please contact Bob.
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A hearty congratulations and best
wishes to Lloyd Russell in his retirement.
Lloyd contributed unselfishly to this associ­
ation for over thirty years. We thank you
and welcome you as a life member of
CAGCS.
Steve Cadenelli

4

The Following Companies Are Contributing To The Support Of The Conn. Clippings:
AGWAY, INC.
22 Pub Circle
Hebron, Conn. 06248
Bob Barber, CAGCS member
(203) 646-3668
ALPINE TREE CARE, INC.
P.O. Box 1034
New Canaan, Ct. 06840
Thomas Porter, CAGCS member
(203) 323-7245
ANDERSON-WARNER
ENGINEERING CO., INC.
Turf Irrigation
164 Nod Road
Avon, Conn. 06001
Jesse Anderson,
CAGCS member
(203) 677-0225
ANDREW WILSON, INC.
1170 Route 22
Mountainside, N.J. 07092
Bob Lippman
(914) 248-5790
Ken Kubik
(201) 654-5900
CHAS. C. HART COMPANY
304 Main St.
Wethersfield, Conn. 06109
Robert Kennedy,
CAGCS member
Mark Loper, CAGCS member
(203) 529-2537
CLORO-SPRAY
Div. of Henry E. Sanson
& Sons, Inc.
475 Beaver Street
Bristol, Pa. 19007
E.J. Sanson, CAGCS member
Frank Paladino
(212) 338-2153

Conn. Clippings

FERN CLO GOLF CAR CO.
5 Shelter Rock Road
Danbury, Ct. 06810
James H. Rowe,
CAGCS member
(203) 744-7757

OLD FOX CHEMICAL CO.
Hazardville, Conn. 06082
John Grant, CAGCS member
P.O. Box 62
Pleasant Valley, Ct. 06063
(203) 379-3579

I & E SUPPLY INC.
66 Erna Avenue
P.O. Box 9
Milford, Ct. 06460
Richard W. Smith,
CAGCS member
Richard W. Hosking,
CAGCS member
(203) 878-0658

O. M. SCOTT & SONS
Pro Turf Division
Marysville, Ohio 43040
A l Arison, CAGCS member
(203) 336-9890

LARCHMONT ENGINEERING
AND IRRIGATION, INC.
Larchmont Lane
Lexington, Ma. 02173
Stephen P. Butler,
CAGCS member
(617) 862-2550

OTTAWA SILICA COMPANY,
CONN. DIVISION
Mystic White Trap Sand
154 Lantern Hill Road
Ledyard, Conn. 06339
Sam A udia
(203) 536-2618
PURPLE KINGS FARM
Custom Greens Dressing
Northwest Hill Road
Williamstown, Ma. 01267
Ralph Mason
(413) 458-4646

THE MAGOVERN CO.
Windsor Locks, Conn. 06096
Lloyd Russell, CAGCS member
THE REICHERT COMPANY *
Curtis Stimson, CAGCS member
Oilzum Motor Oils & Lubricants
(203) 623-2508
P. O. Box 273
Riverside, Conn. 06878
METRO MILORGRANITE, INC. Frank Reichert
P.O. Box 267
(203) 661-1816
Hawthorne, N.Y. 10532
John Wistrand, CAGCS member SOMERS TURF SUPPLIES
(914) 769-7600
P.O. Box 294
DevoijpConn. 06460
Bill Somers, CAGCS member
NORTHEASTERN TURF
CORP.
730 Hopmeadow Street
Simsbury, Conn. 06070
Robert Scully, CAGCS member
(203) 658-0387

TURF PRODUCTS CORP.
1496 John Fitch Blvd.
South Windsor, Conn. 06074
Roy Sibley, CAGCS member
Gary Bryant, CAGCS member
(203) 289-3471
Roger Morhardt
(203) 838-7581
TUCO DIVISION
OF UPJOHN CO.
David J. Sylvester
CAGCS member
47 Main Street
East Berlin, Conn. 06023
(203) 828-3790
VALLEY FARMS
TURF NURSERY
Box 81
Avon, Connecticut 06001
Joe B¿dwell, CAGCS member
(203) 658-6886
WHITE TURF, INC.
5 Summer Drive
Winchendon, Ma. 01475
William E. Ussinger,
CAGCS member
(203) 434-8629
ALBERT ZIKORUS
Golf Course Architect,
Member ASGCA
Do Little Drive
Bethany, Conn. 06525
(203) 393-2635

TOM IRWIN, INC.
11 B A Street
Burlington, Ma. 01803
John Callahan, CAGCS member
(203) 677-7054

FIRST CLASS

Stephen G. Cadenelli, Editor
127 Country Club Road
New Canaan, Ct. 06840

MI CHI GAN

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L t B B A R Y -S t ^ l AIS

f# lANSiNGi MICH# 48824

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