NEWSLETTER OF THE FLORIDA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION

Two Stars Shine in San Diego

GCSAA Keynote Speaker, Jim Nantz, had the crowd
buzzing when he pledged to do a better job of publicizing
the role of golf course maintenance in the game.

Unable to get local schedules in sync in Palm Beach, David Court,
CGCS, (left) hauled the FGCSA DSA award to San Diego to
present it to a deserving Mike Perham, CGCS, at the FGCSA
Reception.

Upcoming Events
Mar. 1

Ridge GCSA Jack Harrell Sr.
Invitational, Grasslands

Mar. 24

Palm Beach GCSA chapter
meeting, Abacoa GC

Apr. 19

Jeff Hay den Envirotron
Tournament, World Woods GC

Mar. 11

Calusa chapter meeting,
Deep Creek, Port Charlotte

Mar. 30

Suncoast Scramble, Misty
Creek GC, Sarasota

Apr 19

Central Florida chapter
meeting, Deer Island GC

Mar. 15

North Florida GCSA Mike
Richards Tournament,
Jacksonville G&CC. See pg. 6

Apr. 8

Everglades GCSA Spring
Symposium, Naples Beach
Club. See page 6.

May 14
-16

Everglades chapter Poa
Tournament weekend,
Naples Beach Club

Mar. 16

Everglades Naples Princess
Cruise

Apr. 12

Mar. 18

SFGCSA Exposition, Fort
Lauderdale REC. See pg. 6

Palm

May 14
Joint Meeting with Club
Managersand Golf Pros, PGA
Village (Treasure Coast &
Beach chapters)
May 24
North Florida GCSA Research
Tournament, Pablo Creek

Apr. 19
Mar. 23

West Coast GCSA Benefit
Tournament, Wentworth GC

FGCSA Seminar, Dealing with
Jerks, Dr. Patt Schwab
GCSAA education points
Treasure Coast GCSA's
Blue Pearl, Loblolly Pines GC

« 4 2004

President's Message

President's Message
Greg Pheneger

ih

The golf season for most of us is now in full
force. Courses are full of hopefully very
happy members playing a game that they
enjoy. To most golfers, golf is a game. To
us, golf is a business. The game is how we
make a living. We read a lot about why some
golfers do not take more of an active role in
the game. Well it is a game or a recreational
activity, not the way they make a living.
Your Board realizes that the game of golf is
a business and with that in mind, we began
this year with many aggressive initiatives to
strive for. We just had an excellent FGCSA
Winter Board Meeting. If you will bear with
me for a moment, I would like to toot our
own horn by informing you of our progress
with a few of our initiatives thus far.
In the spring of 2003, Darren Davis, representing the Everglades Chapter brought a
request to the meeting to lower the dues for
assistants. That proposal came too late for
action during • our present yea^iowever, we
continued to discuss the merits of the issue.
At the Winter Board Meeting a motion was
voted on to lower assistants annual dues by
$30.00 and passed in the closest vote I can
remember. The goal of the dues reduction
is obviously to attract more assistant members. The local chapters will now need to
reduce their annual membership dues by

$30.00 to reflect the reduction. The program
will also need promotion to increase membership. The GCSAA reduced their dues a
few years ago and assistant participation has
doubled.
The result of the assistant dues structure will
be reevaluated next year to decide if the program should be continued. Every chapter
needs to take advantage of this opportunity
to increase membership.
The Finance Committee reported favorably
on their meeting with financial advisors from
Morgan Stanley and UBS Financial. Both
groups insured the Committee and the Committee felt that the reserve money that is now
kept in a bank money market could be safely
invested and earn interest. The Board initiated the reserve money two years ago at the
direction of our accountant. The Board approved the Finance Committee Recommendation of hiring one of the two firms. The
hiring should take place shortly and the
Board will report the quarterly results. Remember, to make money on all investments
it will take dedication on our part to weather
blips in the investment atmosphere. The investments will be very conservative in nature and will be reviewed every quarter to
verify the results on both. An investment
policy is being developed to ensure that a
sound investment strategy will be followed
into the future. The investment strategy will
only be able to be changed by the Board.

GREEN SHEE
Editor:
Joel Jackson, CGCS
(407) 248-1971 (fax/phone)
e-mail: FLGrn@aol.com
News Coordinator:
Mrs. Marie Roberts
1760 NW Pine Lake Drive
Stuart, FL 34994
(772) 692-9349
(772) 692-9654 (fax)
(800) 732-6053 (Florida Wats)
e-mail: fgcsal23@bellsouth.net
The Green Sheet is a bimonthly FGCSA
newsletter printed as follows: Jan/Feb,
March/April, May/June, July/August,
Sept/October, November/December.

2

Financial Support:
This issue of the Green Sheet is
being sponsored by:
Golf Ventures
2101 E Edgewood Drive
Lakeland, FL 33803
800-330-8874
800-481-8911
888-222-7072
All material submitted for printing will
be edited at the discretion of the editor.
Material must be typed or clearly
printed. Photos are encouraged. Items
must be for the good of the association.
Deadline next issue: April 15.

Greg Pheneger
At one time, the Distinguished Service
Award was presented at the Crowfoot Open;
however, several years ago the Crowfoot deleted the dinner portion of the event. The
presentation of the award was then given to
the local chapter, but that eliminated the
States involvement in the Award S presentation. Therefore, the Awards Committee
has now recommended, with the Boards approval to present this award at the Past
Presidents Dinner, which is going to be held
at the Poa in Naples. This venue will bestow the honor of this prestigious award with
the winner and their family in attendance.
As you are aware, our delegation traveled
to Tallahassee to meet with a few legislators. As a group, we were much more focused on our goals at each meeting and the
legislators appeared to be more attentive to
our agenda. I walked away this year knowing that we made our point and we will get
some help on some of our most pressing issues.
In the near future, a fellow superintendent
will be calling each of you with a short verbal survey from the FGCSA regarding a few
issues on the direction of our organization.
Please participate in the survey, whereby so
doing you will be helping all superintendents. In addition, it will give you an opportunity to voice your opinions regarding
the focus and direction of the Board. Remember, it is your Board!
The Green Sheet

Director of Communications Report

What's Up D.O.C.?
by Joel Jackson
1. Government Relations: 2004 Capitol Hill
Visit - Our second annual FGCS A trip to Tallahassee was by all accounts a successful venture. Besides introducing ourselves to four
senators and two representatives to let them
know that a band of brothers known as the
Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association exists and is engaged in a multi-billion
dollar industry that contributes mightily to the
economy and environment of the state, we also
let them know we wanted to be a part of the
solutions to issues and not roadblocks. We
made them aware of our concerns over the six
water bills and the need for good science in
all decision making.
We also initiated a conversation on how we
can obtain consistent funding for turfgrass research. It's too early to talk specifics and we
have some homework to do before the next
session, but they opened the door to the idea
and that is a good beginning. We also discovered we have some strong "game of golf' allies that we can go to if and when issues arise
that need a voice for our concerns. Keep the
names of Sen. David Aronberg, Sen. Skip
Campbell, Sen. Paula Dockery, Rep. Dudley
Goodlette, Sen. Ken Pruitt in mind if and when
they might need support Two others that I met
individually about that time are Rep. Roger
Wishner and Sen. Nancy Argenziano. Rep
Wishner sponsored the Jr. Golf license plate
and Sen. Argenziano is the Chairman of the
Senate Ag Committee.
Spring Regulator Tour: On March 29th we
will be participating in our third Spring Regulator Tour which is organized annually by the
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. This
tour consists of approximately 40 regulators
from the U. S. EPA in Washington and U.S.
EPA Region 4 office in Atlanta and from
FD ACS and FLDEP in Tallahassee. We have
become tour sponsors and get them on Monday afternoon as their first stop on a weeklong
tour of Ag industries including nursery and
sod production, sugar, citrus groves and processing, field crops(tomatoes and others), and
cattle ranching. We kick off their tour with a
visit to Old Collier G.C. and a barbecue dinner hosted by Tim Hiers and his staff. Tim is
our number one advocate and a polished
spokesperson full of facts and information that

March/April 2004

forces the regulators to examine and question
their pre-conceived notions about golf courses.
In most cases they know nothing about our
operations beyond what they see on TV tournaments.
2. Allied Associations: The GCSAAis working on revamping its governance structure to
make board and committee service more of a
strategic planning exercise to set goals and let
staff achieve those goals with less micro-managing. The very up-side to this configuration
will be to draw on larger numbers of members in task force and resource group meetings and conference calls. It will also reduce
the amount of travel required to perform service at the board level and hopefully encourage more members to step up and serve and
give of their ideas and energies to keep the
association moving forward.
3. Education: There was so much education
offered at the GCS AA Conference and Show
in San Diego you had to really plan your
schedule efficiently if you wanted to attend
all the ancillary functions like the Opening and
General Sessions, which were also fantastic,
educational and inspirational. What a challenging problem - too much education! A great
bang for your buck, and the beat goes on with
e-leaming and online courses. And don't forget the basic GCS AA website itsfelf with Member Resources allowing you to input and monitor your PDI and certification points. Also the
Government Relations site has a handy tool
box to help you address any regulatory issue
you can name from grass roots letter writing
to bills being submitted in the state legislature.
4. Media/Public Relations: March will see
the PGA Tour make its annual swing through
Florida from Miami to Jacksonville and the
South Florida, Palm Beach, Central Florida
and North Florida chapters will be donning
NBC Sports hats and radio headsets to act
as spotters and scorers to help telecast the
events. Be sure and wear some FGCSA or
Chapter logo clothing to help promote our
association. I have enjoyed chatting with
folks in the gallery and dropping our name
whenever I can to let them know we're out
there in golf world. By working the freezing PGA Father/Son Challenge this year I've
earned a spot on the Bay Hill spotter team.
It's been a few years since I walked the
"Hill" and I'm looking forward to getting

back inside the ropes again at Arnie's place.
Perhaps the biggest news in PR for our profession came in San Diego when keynote
speaker, Jim Nantz of CBS Sports, made superintendents a promise during his keynote
address at Thursday's opening session of the
GCS AA Conference and Show. Nantz told the
several thousand superintendents in the audience that he has realized he hasn't done a good
job of talking about the importance of golf
course maintenance while broadcasting golf
tournaments for CBS. Then Nantz said that
needed to change. "I vow on this stage to do
more," Nantz said. "I stand in awe of your
profession and what you do."
5. Education: The 17th Annual South Florida
Turf Expo will role out the red carpet once
again on March 18th. It's a day of hands-on
experiences and education not to be missed
especially if you haven't been to the GCSAA
Conference or FTGA Conference. I haven't
seen any GCSAA Regional Seminars scheduled by our local chapters so this event along
with the Everglades Symposium on April 8th
in Naples will be your most likely PDI and
CGCS point getters this spring.
6. DOC/Editor Upcoming Events, Travel,
Deadlines and Tasks
2/18
Green Sheet Deadline
2/20
Golfdom (April) and Florida Golf
Central (March) Deadlines
2/23
Central Florida Supt/Vendor
Outing, Deltona Hills
3/1
Jack Harrell Memorial/Ridge
Invitational, Grasslands CC
3/8
Florida Green Spring Deadline
and Florida Turf Digest May/
June Deadline
3/10
Florida Golf Central Deadline
3/15
Mike Richards /North Florida
Scholarship Tournament,
Jacksonville G&CC
3/18
South Florida Turf Expo, UF/
IFAS REC, Fort Lauderdale
3/20
Golfdom Magazine Deadline
3/29
Spring Regulator Tour, Old
Colliers GC, Naples
4/10
Florida Golf Central Deadline May
4/15
Green Sheet Deadline May/June
4/19
Jeff Hayden Memorial/Seven
Rivers Envirotron Classic, World
Woods GC
4/22
Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical
Assn Meeting
3

Excerpts from Winter 2004 FGCSA Board Meeting
The Winter 2004 meeting of the FGCSA
Board of Directors was called to order by
President Greg Pheneger at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, January 30th at Grand Cypress Villas.
All officers were present and all chapters
were represented. Others attending were
Joel Jackson, Joe Ondo, Dale Kuehner,
Kevin Downing and Jan Beljan - FTGA
President.
Mike Goldie gave a review of the recent trip
to Tallahassee by our group of FGCSA
board members. He suggested that EFAS
needs to do a better job of publicizing themselves to the Florida voters by making a
stronger presence in their communities. He
suggested that we establish a program to
push IFAS as a statewide program during
next year's trip as well as to emphasize Direct Grants. We need to make an impression on these legislators before more budget cuts are voted on. Continue our strategy of emphasizing the Economic Impact
Study. Mike mentioned Senators Pruitt,
Sen. Skip Campbell, Sen. Aronberg and Sen.
Dockery as well as Rep. Goodlette who were
responsive to our message on water bills and
funding issues.
Mike recommended that SFGCSA invite
their local representative to attend and speak
at the Expo. He suggested that other chapters invite their local representatives to chapter meetings for good public relations.
The minutes of the Fall 2004 Board Meeting as presented were approved.
OLD BUSINESS:
Greg Pheneger reviewed the questions for our FGCSA Member Needs Survey. He asked all chapter
External Vice Presidents to personally contact at least ten superintendents in their chapter by March 30th. The list of questions
are in 5 categories: turf research; professional development; environmental issues;
association topics; and member services
needs. After contacting their fellow members, each External should send the results
to the FGCSA office so that they can be
compiled and discussed at our Spring board
meeting in Naples.
INITIATIVES: Greg then discussed his
list of Initiatives for this fiscal year noting
which ones had been accomplished and
stressed the need to continue working on
4

them in the next few months.
FINANCIAL REPORTS: SecATreas Craig
Weyandt gave the Financial Report for the
Second Quarter. We are currently funding
two projects by Dr. Crow and expect the
GCSAA to approve at least one of our
projects through the GCSAA Chapter Cooperative Program. Reports were approved.
Greg and Craig then discussed the results of
their meeting with two separate financial
companies to move some of our reserves to
more aggressive though still conservative
funding vehicles. Greg reported that the
companies were UBS (a Payne/Weber company) and Morgan Stanley both of whom are
well respected in the industry. Both representatives stressed multi-layered portfolios
of a conservative nature and were eager to
work with the FGCSA. Both companies
have long term backgrounds with Not for
Profit businesses. The annual fee would
probably be in the 1 % range but not be measured by number of transactions, rather by
total funds involved. The goal is to make
our funds grow in a conservative environment with a good comfort level. Ralph Dain
made a motion that the Officers continue to
pursue this project. The motion was approved. Greg noted that the FGCSA Finance Committee should be Chaired by an
interested FGCSA Past President with the
rest of the Committee to be composed of any
other interested Past President along with the
current Secretary/Treasurer. That structure
insures that all members of the Finance Committee have held the position of Secretary/
Treasurer in the past giving them a good
background in the funding of the FGCSA.
D.O.C. REPORT: Joel discussed the information in his Turfgrass Trends and Impact Study folder. He stressed DACS,
MSMA, the Endangered Species Act, the
FFVA legislators tour of golf courses as well
as the new restriction of getting amendments
approved to the Florida Constitution.
He urged all Externals to send him dates of
their upcoming chapter functions so that they
may be posted onto our web site and published in the Green Sheet.
FLORIDA GREEN: Joel reported that
the Winter issue has been printed and is currently in the mailing process. This gets us
back on schedule. He reported that the

Florida Green Fall cover has always featured the Country Club of the incoming
President of the FGCSA which is also the
cover of the annual Membership Directory.
Since the next two incoming Presidents have
already had their clubs featured as cover stories in the past, they will move to the Superintendent Journal section of the Florida
Green. In the future there will be some flexibility in the selection of the cover story.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY:
Marie
Roberts reported that the 2004 Membership
Directory has been distributed. Advertising
support has been terrific with income from
ads to exceed our budgeted amount.
AWARDS: Chairman Clayton Estes spoke
on the possibility of the FGCSA presenting
the Distinguished Service Award at its own
function rather than the current practice of
at a local chapter meeting of the nominee.
In the past, the DSA had been presented at
the Crowfoot but since Central Florida now
presents the Larry Kamphaus Award at that
function it was best to separate the two
awards to give each one its proper respect.
Clayton suggested that now that the FGCSA
has initiated a Past Presidents Dinner during the weekend of the Poa, we present the
DSA at that time. He also suggested that
the DSA winner be notified that he has won
the award and will be given a complimentary night at the Naples Beach Hotel for the
night of the dinner and presentation. If we
do decide to go with this arrangement, chapters would need to have their nominations
for both the DSA and their Lifetime Award
nominees to the Awards Committee at the
Fall board meeting rather than the Spring
meeting as has been in the past. A suggestion was made to present the 2003 DSA during the Florida reception in San Diego this
year since it has not been presented as yet.
We would then start the new time schedule
and setting with the 2004 DSA winner.
Definite time schedules and procedures for
receiving nominations will be finalized at the
upcoming Spring board meeting.
BY LAWS: We will need to do a By Law
amendment to comply with the GCSAA's
renaming of a Class B member as now a "Superintendent Member." Steve Bernard will
present this change at our next meeting.
EDUCATION: Buddy Keene reported that
there are no GCSAA Regional Seminars
The Green Sheet

Excerpts from Winter 2004 FGCSA Board Meeting
slated for Florida this coming year. That
may be due to the GCSAA Convention being here next February. He again asked all
Externals to keep us informed on their upcoming local chapter events to try to avoid
conflicts with other chapter functions. The
Poa seminar will be given by Patt Schwab
on Friday, May 14th in Naples.
GOLF: Joe Ondo reported on the Central
Florida's Research Tournament at
Interlachen which has raised over $55,000
for research in the past 15 years. Joe then
reported that Bob Harper will be replacing
Robert Parmar on the Florida team.
Joe then discussed ways of policing Handicaps for local chapter events. The Crowfoot Committee is working on this problem.
Most superintendents play enough at their
own clubs to be eligible for a USGA handicap card. Chapters should require proof of
this card to verify the handicap.
MEMBERSHIP: Matt Taylor led a discussion on whether the FGCSA should lower
the annual dues for Assistant Superintendents
with the goal of getting more Assistants to
join their local chapter and the FGCSA. Is
this the most effective means of attracting
more Assistants? A poll of Externals showed
that Palm Beach does not plan to lower their
Assistant dues; South Florida chapter does
not feel it would get more assistants to join;
Central Florida noted that they have established free membership to Assistants until
July. After considerable discussion, Matt
Taylor made a motion that the FGCS Areduce
its annual fee for Assistant Superintendents
by 50% of current rate beginning July 1. The
motion passed with 8 chapters in favor, 2
against. This will be a one year trial basis.
Greg Pheneger then stated that the only way
to make this work is to have the local chapters reduce their assistant dues by $30.00.
Chapters need to institute programs or chapter meetings to get assistants more involved.
RESEARCH: Craig Weyandt reported that
we have received updates from Dr. Billy
Crow on the projects that we are co-funding
with the GCSAA. The FGCSA will be sending checks to the University of Florida for
the monies due on these two projects. We
will await news from the GCSAA Chapter
Co-Op Program on which of the three programs we have submitted have been approved for co-funding to be announced at
March/April 2004

the Conference.
raise funds for the Benevolent Fund through
Kevin Downing gave a report of the joint a raffle with $500 being given to the winner
research committee meeting that was held of the raffle.
in November with representatives from UF
Research Committee, FTGA, USGA and re- GCSAA ELECTION:
Dale Kuehner,
searchers from the University of Florida. Voting Delegate, presented a synopsis of the
The idea behind the meeting was to form a candidates in the GCSAA election. He stated
"Super Research Committee" to meet once that all candidates were very well qualified
year and develop a 5 year plan of funding this year and did not have any preferences.
more research at the University of Florida. Craig Weyandt suggested that we let Dale
The goal of the Super Research Committee decide the Sec/Treasurer position since eiwould be to raise more dollars for turfgrass ther candidate would be a good choice. As
research by speeding up the timing needed usual, Dale would be available to all chapto get funds committed. Plans would be ter representatives for discussion of any canpretty much the same as the format that the didate before the election. Dale reviewed/
FTGA already has in place. Kevin submit- explained some By Law issues that would
ted a written statement describing a Recom- be voted on at the GCSAA Annual Meeting.
mendation for a Combination Group for
"Turf for a Beautiful Florida". Jim Goins Greg noted that the GCSAA has asked that
asked that if all research donations were to each chapter approve extending the current
go in one pot, could their chapter continue Affiliation Agreement for an additional year.
their ten year commitment to supporting the Since no one had any objections, Greg will
maintenance of the facilities at the Fort Lau- sign the one year extension and forward it
derdale campus. Kevin replied that he him- on to the GCSAA.
self would be in favor of spreading those
funds between all of the other REC's not just CHAPTER LEADERSHIP WORKFort Lauderdale. Kevin will present this SHOP: The GCSAA is planning another
Combination Group at the next FTGA Board 2-day Workshop for March 23rd and 24th
Meeting.
which is open to 25 attendees. Since attendees should be an officer, Craig Weyandt
FUND RAISING: Jeff Brown announced volunteered to attend the Workshop.
that his committee consists of Scott
Scamehorn and Lon Chatfield. Jeff rec- GCSAA RECEPTION: Marie Roberts reommended that the letter requesting chapter ported that plans for the reception are just
research donations as written by President about finalized thanks to the generosity of
Greg Pheneger for the Everglades Chapter our sponsors. We have again picked one of
be sent to all chapter presidents. The letter the GCSAA hotels as our site but this year
will include a chart of a ten year history of will not be using either of the two host hotels. The Wyndham Emerald Plaza was very
FGCSA donations and special projects.
Jeff then discussed the how the monies in accommodating to our needs and we expect
the FGCSA Benevolent Fund would be dis- to have another great reception and still retributed. When the committee gets a re- main within our budget. Several board
quest for funding, they will discuss each members volunteered their services at the
request case by case on a needs basis. Af- door and at the Benevolent Fund table.
ter the Committee has decided on the appropriate disbursement, they will go to the STANDARD OPERATING PROCEFGCSA board for approval. A letter from DURES: Steve Bernard presented a slight
Kurt Sowers, West Coast chapter, asking for change to the SOP manual in the job descripdonations to a fundraiser for West Coast tion to the Secretary/Treasurer position.
member, Steve Franks, Superintendent at The Sec/Treasurer will now be responsible
Mainlands GC, who has MS was read by Jeff. for preparing a 5-year financial plan to be
He suggested to the Board that a donation approved by the board and placed in the SOP
to the fundraiser would be an appropriate manual.
vehicle for the Benevolent Fund. Amotion
was made that the FGCSA donate $1,000 to NEW BUSINESS: Date for the Spring
the West Coast Fundraiser to be held in Board Meeting will be Thursday, May 13th
March. The motion was approved. There at the Naples Beach Hotel with dinner to
will be a booth at the FGCSA reception to follow.
5

Upcoming Chapter Events

Florida Chapters Make Plans for their Springs Fundraisers and Chapter Activities
West Coast Fundraiser
for Benevolent Fund
The Florida West Coast GCSA will be hosting a golf tournament at Wentworth GC in
Tarpon Springs on Tuesday, March 23rd.
The funds raised from this tournament are
used so that we may help out our members
and their families in times of need or in the
event of a disaster. The year's funds will be
donated to one of our members, Steve
Franks, Class A Member, Mainland GC,
Pinellas Park, who has been diagnosed with
ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) so that he may
be able to fight this disease.
Entry fee is $100.00 per person or $400.00
per team. Entry fees must be received before March 23rd to insure your spot in this
tournament. Registration is from 10:00 to
11:00 a.m. with lunch served at 11:00 and
golf to start at 12:30. Hors d'oeuvres will
be served after the tournament.
If you can not play in the event, the
FWCGCSA would greatly appreciate your
support of this event through a monetary
donation or a donation of an auction item.
Please send your donation to Kirk Sowers
at Wentworth GC, 2990 Wentworth Way,
Tarpon Springs, FL 34688 or call 727-9386435 for an entry form.

NFGCSAS Mike Richards
Memorial Tournament
The 12th Annual Mike Richards Memorial
Tournament will be played on March 15th
at the Jacksonville G&CC with Greg Tharp
again serving as host superintendent. The
Tournament funds scholarships for students
in the North Florida area who are seeking a
turf related career path. The family of Alan
MacCurrach has also been instrumental in
promoting the scholarship fund. The North
Florida chapter is proud to honor both of
these gentlemen with this annual event.
Format is a two man scramble with Gross
and Net Team Play. Entry Fee of $ 125 for
superintendents with sponsorships available.
Deadline is March 8th.
6

Everglades GCSA Spring
Seminar Set for April 8th

17th Annual SF Exposition
Features GCSAA Credits

The Everglades chapter proudly presents its
12th Annual Turfgrass Spring Symposium
to be held on Thursday, April 8th at the
Naples Beach Club.

The South Florida GCSA is hosting the 16th
Annual Exposition at the University of
Florida DFAS Station in Fort Lauderdale on
Thursday, March 18th. This year there are
even more equipment companies participating with lots of new machines on display!

The all-day program begins with registration at 7:15 a.m. and Opening Remarks at
7:45. Morning presentations include Jeff
Wheaton speaking on "Are you in Compliance"; Dr. Thomas Nikolai from Michigan
State University on "Effects of Rolling and
Fertility on Putting Green Root Zones,"
Scott Woodhead, "What PDI Means to You,"
and Dr. Bruce Martin, Clemson University,
speaking on "Ultradwarf Management and
Disease Interactions."
After lunch and a short EGCS A board meeting, presentations include an update by John
Foy, USGA, "What's Hot and What's Not in
Florida,"; J. Mark Black on "Improving golf
course operations through the addition of a
state of the art golf maintenance facility" and
finishing up with Dick Kopplin on "How to
Work Effectively with the Club General
Manager".
Advance registration fee is $ 110 per person
with an April 2nd deadline. On site registration is $120. Florida Department of Ag
CEU's and GCSAA education points are
pending. Any questions or to obtain a registration form, please contact Everglades
Education Chairman, Matt Taylor at 239261-4987.

Certified Superintendents
Congratulations to the following ten Florida
superintendents who have attained Certified
Status during the past few months.
Thomas Dechant, Hunters Green, Tampa
Tim Larson, Stonebridge GC, Naples
Ron Hibbard, Harbor Hills, Lady Lake
Hal Akins, Bonita Bay Club, Bonita Springs
John Cunningham, Black Diamond Ranch
Barry Greenwalt, One Source at the Villages Robert Markut, PGA CC, Port St.
Lucie Russell Geiger, Hole-in-the-Wall GC,
Naples Mark Johnson, TPC Prestancia and
Chad Nixon, Saddlebrook Resort.

The all day event is the major fundraiser for
the upkeep and maintenance of the FGCS A
research green and the University of Florida
turf plots at the site. Registration begins at
7:30 am.. Field tours begin at 8:30 a.m. with
University of Florida researchers themselves
explaining their studies on the plots.
GCSAA education points are available.
The Exposition part of the day begins at
10:00 a.m. and features equipment displays
as well as other turfgrass related products in
the booth area under the big tent. Our sponsors work hard to get their products on display so please take the time to browse.
After the always popular bar-be-que lunch
generously provided once again by Environmental Turf. Inc., the afternoon turns to
serious educational opportunities. Training
sessions complete with DACS CEU's for
crew members (irrigation techs, spray techs
and mechanics) will be presented by the
major equipment sponsors.
At the same time, there will be a two hour
program on Best Management Procedures to
Reduce Pesticides in Seashore Paspalumgrass by Todd Lowe, USGA, which will be
followed by a panel discussion The GCSAA
has awarded .35 education points for the day.
These education points are very valuable to
our Superintendents and are a bargain at the
$30.00 PreRegistration fee.

SUNCOAST SCRAMBLE
The Suncoast GCSA will play its annual
Suncoast Scramble on Tuesday, March
30th at Misty Creek GC in Sarasota.
Format for this day of fun and
comraderie includes four man teams
composed of a superintendent, the general manager,a club official and a supplier member of the Suncoast chapter.
The Green Sheet

GCSAA Conference & Show

Florida Superintendents
Enjoy the Show in San Diego
The host city for the spectacular 2004
GCSAA International Golf Course Conference & Show couldn't have been more inviting and exciting. If it weren't so far away
it would have been perfect! The Show itself
kept the 200+ Florida superintendents busy
with great education throughout the entire
week. The Show had a total of 684 exhibitors covering 240,000 sq. feet of floor space.
The Florida team consisting of Steve Bernard, Bob Harper, Mark Henderson and Seth
Strickland, finished in a strong tie for 2nd
place with Georgia in the Team Gross Division . First place went to the Midwest
Association thanks to the play of GCSAA
Champion Tommy Robinson and runner up
Alan Pondel. Mark Henderson finished with
a 152 to take 5th place with Steve and Seth
placing in the top 20.
Spouses and family members who made the
trip had plenty to do during the week of great
weather to visit the zoo, Balboa Park, shop
and dine in the Gaslamp Quarter, or just enjoy the spectacular San Diego Bay. Some
even traveled to the nearby Buick Open to
enjoy the golf in La Jolla.
The Florida reception held on Thursday
evening at the Wyndham Hotel in Emerald
Plaza was a great success with over 400 500 members and sponsors attending. The
roast beef was the best ever and, of course,
our trademark shrimp went quickly. The
hotel staff was very accommodating and we
owe another thank you to our loyal sponsors
for putting on this reception for us every year.
Thanks to everyone who supported the Benevolent Fund Raffle which netted $1,680.
Congratulations to Seth Strickland who had
the winning ticket.
Mike Perham, Chairman for the FGCS A Reception for the past seven years, was surprised by David Court who presented him
with the 2003 Distinguished Service Award.
David was diligent in his pursuit of Mike
for the past several months in trying to find
an appropriate venue to present him with the
Award. Mike was nominated for the award
by the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach chapters for his work with the FGCS A Board culminating in his presidency during the 1998March/April 2004

EnviwnnenttUaxtiwtc^C^ 4M v'
i Thousand Five Hundred Dona

(L-r) Greg Plotner and Scott Zakany of IGM present GCSAA CEO Steve Mona with a
$7,500 check for turf research for the Environmental Institute for Golf.
The money is the result of IGM's annual hole-in-one contest.

1999 year. As is typical of many of our Past
Presidents, Mike remained active on the
FGCSA Board after his Past Presidency by
serving as Business Manager for the Florida
Green and as Reception Chairman. Mike is
a Certified Golf Course Superintendent at
Jonathan's Landing in Jupiter
Elections were held during Saturday's
GCSAA Annual Meeting. Mark Woodward,
CGCS at Dobson Ranch/Riverview GC in
Mesa, Arizona was elected President. Vice
President is Timothy O'Neill CGCS at CC
of Darien, Conn, and Secretary/Treasurer is
Sean Hoolehan, CGCS at Wildhorse Resort
GC in Pendleton, Ore. Directors are Gary
Carls, California; David Downing, North
Carolina; Robert Haibusch, Illinois, Mark
Kuhns, New Jersey and Ricky Heine, Texas.
Jon Maddern will serve as past president.
Next year's Show moves back to Orlando
and takes on a new name, the Golf Industry
Show hosted by GCSAA and the National
Golf Course Owners Association. The Trade
Shows will be combined but the educational
programs will remain separate.

GCSAA Approves Eight
New Research Projects
The GCSAA Environmental Institute for Golf
announced their funding schedule for 2004.
The Institute will fund three National Research
Programs, one Michael Hurdzan Program; and
one in the Mark Kizziar Program.
Three projects qualified in the Chapter Cooperative Research Progam of which two
were submitted by the University of Florida.
"Ecology, pathogenicity and management of
Bipolaris and Curvularaia fungal species
associated with decline of ultradwarf
bermudagrasses in Florida" a three-year
project by Dr. Lawrence Datnoff.
"Timing of nematicide applications on turf
based on soil temperatures, nematode activity and root development" a two-year
project by Dr. William Crow.
Both projects were submitted to GCSAA
with co-funding to be provided by Florida
superintendents.
7

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Florida Chapter Superintendents Plan Spring Events - See page 6
FGCSA
Marie Roberts
1760 NW Pine Lake Drive
Stuart, FL 34994

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