i^joifl k-^ourie . iperintendents —^idociation
'

OF

NEW

E N G L A N D .

Sponsors and administrators of the Lawrence S.
Dicki nson Scholarship Fund — A w a r d e d yearly
to

INC.

deserving Turf M a n a g e m e n t Students.

SELLING CERTIFICATION
Dr. Paul Alexander has got it going. Now all he has to do
is sell it and sometimes selling doesn't come easy.
The man, who has put the golf course superintendents' certification on the road, thinks he has half of his territory covered
pretty well — the supers, themselves. The other half — the
country club officials and members — are still in the dark
when it comes to knowing and appreciating the working points
of certification.
Remember, it was Dr. Alexander who said he has pushed
certification into the acceptable cells of the superintendent. " I t
may not sound like very m a n y " , he tells. " B u t out of 1700
superintendents eligible to take the certification examination,
we have had inquiries from 200. I'd say that's a pretty good
percentage so early in the g a m e . "
If you want some more figures to play with, there have beer,
a total of 68 supers pass the examination and open themselves
for the rewards that come with it. But what of those r e w a r d s ?
"Certainly a certified superintendent must get a feeling of
satisfaction out of p a s s i n g " , Dr. Alexander notes. " H e definitely shows to his colleagues and club members that he posesses all the tools we think are important to perform his profession. Of course, there are no guarantees that go with
certification. The plaque the super receives doesn't grow grass
or stop turf disease."
What Dr. Alexander would like to see happen is an education of the superintendent's outside world so that certification
bee&mes a familiar and respected term with the golfing public.
" T h a t ' s our next target", he reveals. "Somehow we're going to
have to become preachers and preach the gospel of certification. It may boil down to the supers spreading the word and

we of the national will have .to pitch in, too. Certification has
to become as widely known as passing the bar exam. I'm not
trying to compare the two but there is a similarity here."
Obviously, the more superintendents who gain certification
the better chance for its acceptance by the general public. " W e
have to educate ourselves first in this direction, I g u e s s " , Dr.
Alexander adds. " I ' m hoping that eve.ry eligible super takes a
crack at passing the exam and I wish that everyone could
pass i t . "
One certified super should get the message across to his
membership and other clubs might pick up the cue. An official
at his club has decided to hang his plaque on the bulletin
board of the 19th hole for a few weeks so that members will
learn what it's all about.
"That's a great i d e a " , Dr. Alexander opines. " T h i s is a form
of public relations the club can perform for both its superintendent and itself. And I'd like to see that plaque stay there
for at least one member-guest golf tournament. That would
multiply the exposure maybe a hundred times. Frankly, we
need all the selling we can get."
So, the attempt to get certification on the map and inform
country club members of its importance is slowly getting off
the ground. In the end it will benefit both parties. The superintendent will have the recognition so necessary in earning
a deserving place in his profession and the country club or
golf course will have a strong guideline in luring and keeping
capable superintendents to their grounds. Right now it may
appear to be a hard-sell proposition but it's making tracks
toward that goal.
— Gerry Finn

MISSING NEWSLETTERS
The Association wishes to express its thanks to Bob Grant,
Arthur Anderson, Dean Robertson, Phil Cassidy, and N a r y
Sperandio for contributing Newsletters that were missing
from our files. Special Thanks to Homer Darling, J r . who
located 28 Newsletters and turned them in to the Association.
We also extend our gratitude to the Superintendents and
Salesmen for trying to locate the missing Newsletters.
We are still looking for the following:
^
1942 -

n
n
Feb., Oct., Dec.
Feb., Aug., Nov., Dec.

1954 — Jan., Sept.
_ 0
1 9 5 6 _
0 c t
1 9 5 5

1944 —- March, May, June*

1958

l
1948-Nov.
1 9 4 9 - A p r i l , Nov.
1950 — A p r i l , July
1953 — Jan., Feb., April, June, Sept., Oct., Dec.
1

9

4

7

%

2

May, J u n e

— Nov
1964 - J u n e
1965-Jan
1967 — J a n
June

ourse

Superin

ten den td

s^ddociation-

HAND IN HAND

NEXT MEETING

Wally Burnett hit it on the screws when he said that the
golf course superintendent and green chairman should walk
hand in hand, not fist in fist. That's the way the relationship
of the two will succeed, the only way.
Burnett, a Massachusetts Golf Association official and a
concerned country club member, shoved a little common sense
in front of the New England Supers' group last month with
the green chairmen on hand, too, as captive listeners during
the annual conclave of the parties at the Crestview Country
Club.
If the superintendents and green chairmen follow Burnett's
plan, it is almost a lead pipe cinch that the days of feuding
and fussing by these parties are an unhappy occurrence of
the past.
.."The green chairman is the representative of the member ship", Burnett told. " A n d it is his job to relay the feelings of
the members to the super. What I mean is that the member
shouldn't go around mouthing off about the course to the
super. That's the worst thing that can h a p p e n . "
Burnett suggests frequent meetings between superintendent
and green chairman. " T h e y should meet at least three times a
week and talk over problems relating to the condition of the
course. At the same time, the conversation shouldn't be onesided. It's as if the two are partners in a business. Both should
make suggestions, study them and come to an agreement on
their worth."
" I like to see chairmen selected on the basis of practicality",
Burnett advised. " T h e superintendent definitely should take
part in the naming of the chairman. And he should have foresight in pinpointing his personal choices. He knows who the
members are that fall into the category of being interested in
the condition of the course. They don't have to be agronomy
graduates but they should know the difference between a gang
mower and a pickup truck."
There have been cases of personality conflicts in the relationships of certain supers and chairmen and Burnett is aware
of them. "Of course there will be times when two men can't
get along but this should be the exception", Burnett noted.
" I t all boils down to the system a club uses to select its chairman. Y o u can't have a cat and dog out there running the
operation. Only the course will suffer if it is allowed to
happen."
Burnett is mindful of the dedication of the successful superintendent and he believes the green chairman should be of
the same nature. " I don't think a chairman should run over
to the super's house every time a cup isn't set right or a tee
marker is out of place", he pleaded. " B u t he should set aside
an appointed time to go over all those little problems. That's
why the regular meetings are necessary."
The relationship between super and chairman, then, is a
matter of common sense. The essential in that relationship
is simple — respect for each other. The chairman should be
cognizant of the fact that the super is a professional and the
super in turn should wake up to the idea that the chairman
is there to help, not hinder the operation.
It all sounds so lovely in theory. Now if both sides practice
it, the j o b of giving members the best possible playing conditions will be made that much easier.
— Gerry Finn

The next meeting of the G.C.S.A. of N . E . will be July 6,
1972, (Thursday) at the Winchester Country Club, Bt. 3.
Winchester, Mass. The host Superintendent is the very capable
Dan Collins. Dan came to this country in 1929 and at that
time worked for Thomas Fahey at Winchester C. C. Mr. Fahey
was one of the founders of the Greenkeepers Club of New
England in 1924. Dan then went to Poland Springs in Maine
for a couple of years and returned to Massachusetts to take
over the reigns at Unicorn in Stoneham for 16 years. In 1953
the call came from Winchester and Dan accepted. He has been
there ever since.
Superintendent Collins cautions all members to bring all
their clubs, because they will use them here at Winchester.
Directors' Meeting
10:30 a . m .
Regular Meeting
11:00 a . m .
Luncheon
1 1 : 4 5 a. m. sharp
Golf after lunch
Directions: Route 128 north from the Mass. Pike to the
Rt. 3 exit towards Winchester and Arlington. Club will be
on your right at the Winchester-Arlington line.

. President —
ROBERT G R A N T
22 Patricia Road
Sudbury, Mass. 01776
Phone 443-2671
Brae Burn Country C l u b

First Vice President —
THOMAS CURRAN
153 Fisher Street
Walpole, Mass. 02081
Phone 668-7221
Club Affiliation
The Country Club

Second Vice President —
W A Y N E ZOPPO
48 Barberry Drive
Seekonk, Mass.
Phone 399-7141
Club Affiliation
A g a w a m Hunt

Secretary —
RONALD KIRKMAN
25 Green Street
Needham, Mass. 02192
Phone 444-8412
Club Affiliation
Needham Golf Club

Treasurer —
LUCIEN DUVAL
R.F. N o . 5 Gault Road
Bedford, N. H. 03105
Phone 472-3454
Manchester Country Club

ill

Dan Collins

Winchester Country Club Layout
Trustee —
MAX MIERZWA
106 Crestwood Street
Chicopee, Mass. 01020
Phone 594-4996
Club Affiliation •
Chicopee Country C l u b

Trustee —
BERT F R E D E R I C K
NORMAN MUCCIARONE
45 Stoney Brook Road
101 Alban Road
Nabnaset, Mass.
Waban, Mass. 02168
Phone 453-1231
Phone 332-3056
Club. Affiliation. '
. ,.
. _ Club Affiliation
W o o d l a n d Golf C l u b .
. •
Vesper Cduntry Club

Finance Chairman —
NARY SPERANDIO
Concord, Mass. 01742
Phone 369-4723
Club Affiliation
Concord Country Club

OF
S O U N D

OFF!!!!

{Here we are again with the monthly shot of views from our
readers. Sound Off is for you and by you. It gives you the
opportunity
to tell the world of your opinions on any golf
subject. Everyone
is invited to take part and the rules are
simple. Just pen your thoughts on a piece of paper and zip
it off to Newsletter Mail Box, 24 Riverview
Drive,
Newbury,
on
Mass. 01950. The Newsletter reserves
he right to comment
all published
letters.)
*

*

" I t ' s the same old thing around this time of year at my
course and the wet conditions have been leaving me buggy.
" T h e r e haven't been too many dry days and thus our
fairways have been growing faster than I can cut them. Wet
spots make it impossible to get into certain areas after a
heavy rainfall and I've been getting static from most of my
members.
" T h e y seem to think that we have submarines for mowers
and won't take my answer of the fairways being too wet.
Some of them have threatened to quit the club if fairways
aren't cut. I can't do anything about this, but it gripes me
to think the members believe it's my fault that the course
isn't in mid-season condition. What do you have for me h e r e ? "
CRAIG SOMMERS
(Club Withheld)
Here's where our new super-green chairman theory goes
into operation. It is not your job to explain your moves to
individual members. G e t together with your green chairman,
so he can tell them the reasons why the fairways are hairy.
*

*

*

*

" I ' m told that this has been the worst spring ever for golf
courses in as much that it seems to rain five days out of every
week.
" O u r superintendent has been going out of his mind trying
to get our course in playing condition. I'm not faulting his
diligence or the fact that his task seems almost impossible.
But there is another golf course in town and it doesn't have
nearly as much water as ours. I'm sure it's rained over there
just "as much as here. How come we get the water and they
don't? Have I joined the wrong c l u b ? "
ESTELLE ROSEN
Holden, R. I.
There are several reasons for one course being wetter than
another, Estelle. Soil texture is a big factor and probably
has a lot to do with this particular situation. Stay where you
are, though. In August that other course might be burned
like a piece of bacon.

*

$!%£2ZL.«m

Phone 485 8885
Club AffiliaticSt. Mark's Golf Club

Educational C h a i r m a n —
LARRY BUNN

c 4 ^ d h ML S W

Phone 828-0467
Ckb Affiliation
Blue Hill Country Club

Newsletter C h a i r m a n —
DEANROBERTSON

ftSZftSZoiHo

phone 462 4540
Club Affiliation
Chestnut Hill Country Club

Past President—
RICHARDC.BLAKE

^1^11^01505

INC.

*

*

*

"Recently I went to a professional golf tournament and all
the things I saw firmed up my belief that you superintendents
are taking out your gripes with the pros by making the
course as hard as possible.
" I remember the course before the tournament was played.
The fairways were always reasonably wide. But when I saw
the pros playing them, they were tightened by at least 10
yards on each side.
" T h e rough also looked like it was the work of a m a d inventor. There were some spots, just off the fairways, where
you needed a seeing eye dog to find the golf ball.
" T h e n there were the God-awful places where the superintendent had placed the pins. All in all, I thought it was a
real sour grapes deal by that guy. What goes with you peop l e ? Why trick up the course and make the playing professional look b a d ? Y o u must be pretty small to take out your
petty jealousy or whatever it is in this manner.
" F r o m now on I'm gonna be careful where I play. If you
guys think that way about the pros, what do you feel about
your m e m b e r s ? No wonder my scores have been going up
lately. It's the darn courses I'm playing. Y o u people are out
to wreck the game of g o l f ! "
ROSS CHANDLER
Kinworth, 0 .
Hold the phone, Ross. In the first place, P S A officials dictate the cut of the fairways, the height of the rough and
placement of the pins for all of their tournaments. The superintendent just does what he's told in this case. A s for regular
play, the trend seems to be one of easing the course for
members. Y o u ' d better check your swing with your pro
before taking a swing at the super.

" V e r y often I hear about how you superintendents are interested in ecology, the environment and all that stuff.
"Recently I heard where the government and certain private industries have invested more than three billion dollars
in the environment for ways to save it for the future. But
I am amazed by the little concern shown by individuals, the
same ones who make all the loud noises about ecology.
" F o r instance, there isn't a day when I don't find a pile
of beer cans at the side of the road, just a few blocks from
our house. And there are housewives who holler about the
use of D D T while after drawing the next breath they are
spraying their garden flowers with' deadly chemicals.

JULIUSAKSTEN

E N G L A N D ,

" H o w does this ecology thing work a n y w a y ? Is it just
a matter of telling everyone else what to do and then when
it comes to you doing something, you look the other w a y ? "
CHARLES NORTON
Lodi, P a .
You have brought up a poignant point, Charley. M a y b e
it's a case of "don't do as 1 do . . . do as I say."

->:•

Golf C h a i r m a n —

NEW

Phone 869-2737
Club Affiliation
Mt. Pleasant Country Club

*

(So ends another
Sound
Off session.
Very
thoughts
here, eh? Let's have yours. They're
all
We're all ears).

interesting
welcome.

The Golf Superintendent
G C S A A H E A D Q U A R T E R S — Readers of The Golf Superintendent are reminded that because the 44th G C S A A Conference and Show will be held J a n u a r y 7-12, 1973, in Boston,
Massachusetts, a month earlier than in past years, it has become necessary to change the publication's schedule.
It will be issued as follows for the remainder of the y e a r :
July, August/September, October/November and December
(Special show i s s u e ) . The journal will continue to follow its
rigid mailing schedule of the first week of each publishing
month and readers can still expect to receive their copies early
in July, August, October and December.
Chapters planning to run an ad in the Conference issue must
get their material to Headquarters ( T H E G O L F S U P E R I N T E N D E N T , 3158 Des Plaines Avenue, Des Plaines, Illinois
6 0 0 1 8 ) no later than November 1.

.

«

•

J

•

L*

L I * *

L

J

Information contained in this publication may be used
whole
in part,
without special
permission
as
| 0 n q as inthe
true or
context
is maintained.
W e would
appre.
,.
».
Ciate a Credit line.

PCecue

feabuMty

FRIENDS O F THE

ASSOCIATION

Agrico Chemical Company
R. D. Sibley, Jr., Representative
375 Power Rd.
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860

Farm Bureau Association
158 Lexington St., Waltham, Mass. 02154
Fred Heyliger, Representative
Thomas F. Grummell, Representative

Alfco Rokeby Co., Inc.
Fertilizers and Chemical Specialties
P. O. Box 267, Marietta, Ohio

Fisk, Alden Ford Tractor Sales
Rear 900 Providence Highway
Dedham, Mass. 02026

Allen's Seed Store, Inc.
South County Trail Rt. No. 2
Slocum, Rhode Island
Charles Allen, Jr., Rep.

Manuel Francis and Son, Inc.
Turf Nurseries
624 Webster St., Marshfield, Mass.

Bacher Corp., Lawn and Snow Equipment
876 Boston Rd. (Rt. 3A)
Billerica, Mass. 01866
Baker Tractor Corp., Ford Tractors
Harley Davidson Golf Cars
Swansea, Massachusetts
The Charles C. Hart Seed Co.
Richard McGahan, Rep.
Wethersfield, Conn.
Corenco Corporation
525 Woburn Street
Tewksbury, Mass. 01876
William Ferris
" : The Clapper Co.
1121 Washington St.
West Newton, Mass.
* Geoffrey S. Cornish & William G. Robinson
Golf Course Architects
Fiddlers Green, Amherst, Mass. 01002

Ron Gagne — Scotts Golf Course Div.
Kendall Park, Phone 617/285-7466
Norton, Mass. 02766
Gold Star Sod Farms, Inc.
(Canterbury, New Hampshire)
(Sales Office) 1265 Mass. Ave.
Lexington, Mass. 02173 Tel. 861-1111
Grounds Equipment Co., Inc.
383 Boylston St., Newton Cen., Mass.
-HeRiston Sand Company,
Lowland Street, Ilolliston,
Sand for Golf Bunkers a n „ m r p = —
Irrigation and Equipment Supply Co.
P. O. Box 9, 66 Erna Avenue
Milford, Conn. 06460
Telephone (203) 874-1096
*Tom Irwin, Inc.
11B A Street
Burlington, Mass.

George E. Cull
Terra-Green Soil Conditioner
112 Green St., Abington, Mass.

Karandrew Turf Farms, Inc.
Sam Mitchell, Sales Representative
15 Longmeadow Drive, Canton, Mass.

C. S. Curran
T. R. C. Products, Oils and Greases
7 Linden St., Framingham, Mass.

The Kenneth Barrie Company
Irrigation
375 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, Mass.

Eastern Industrial Handling Co., Inc.
Norwood, Massachusetts
Westcoaster Turf and Golf Carts

Larchmont Irrigation Co.
Larchmont Ln., Lexington, Mass.

Fairway Equipment, Inc.
Sales — Service — Rentals
35 Walnut St., Reading, Mass.

Mallinckrodt Chemical Works
Second and Mallinckrodt Streets
St. Louis, Mo. 63160

Magovern Company, Inc.
Lawn Acre Road
Windsor Lock, Conn.
D. L. Malier Co.
Water Supply Contractors
P. O. Box 274, Woburn, Mass.
New England Sealcoating Co., Inc.
Astroturf, Tennis Courts, Pavement
Sealcoating — Hingham Industrial Center
Hingham, Mass. Tel. 749-3236
Old Fox Chemical Inc.
Fertilizers — Seeds — Turf Chemicals
66 Valley Street
East Providence, Rhode Island 02914
Sjl Paulini, Inc.
6 Manor Avenue
Natick, Mass. 01760
Ricliey & Clapper, Inc.
28 Rutledge Road
atick, Mass. 01760
Trencher & Equipment Leasing, Inc.
Ditch Witch Trenchers
38 Fairview St., Agawam, Ma. 01001
Phone 413-781-4600
*Sawtelle Brothers
Jet. Routes 128 and 62
Danvers, Mass.
Shepard Sod Company
Merion Blue Grass and Pencross Bent
200 Sullivan Ave., So. Windsor, Conn.
Tuco Products Co.
Division of the Upjohn Company
Kalamazoo, Michigan
White Turf Engineering
5 Sumner Drive, Winchendon, Ma. 01475
617-297-0941
Philip A. Wogan
Golf Course Architect
21 Budleigh Ave., Beverly, Mass.
Wyandotte Chemical Co.
709 Salada Bldg., Boston, Mass.

* Contributors to the Lawrence S. Dickinson Scholarship

Fund

o WC
JUl-7'72

\w-y

/SiOSPesM.
ij

PS 174)75 I
(bourse ^SSuperintendents -Association
Or

MIW

E N B I A N D .

DEAN ROBERTSON
Newsletter Committee Chairman
24 Riverview Drive
Newbury, Massachusetts 01950
Phone 462-4540
C l u b Affiliation
Chestnut Hill Country C l u b
L E O N V. ST. P I E R R E
Business M a n a g e r
GERRY FINN
Contributing Editor