OCTOBER, 1979 ourde Superin —juperin ten den / j O F N E W E N G L A N D , ^^liAociati on I N C . Sponsors a n d a d m i n i s t r a t o r s of the L a w r e n c e S. Dickinson S c h o l a r s h i p Fund — A w a r d e d y e a r l y to d e s e r v i n g Turf M a n a g e m e n t Students. Manny Makes His Mark There has been placed in nomination for the Distinguished Service Award of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America the name of Manuel Francis ... that's Manny the First, to distinguish him from his son, Manny, Jr. It would seem that the act be automatic, since Manny has been one of the pillars of his profession almost from that day in South Portland, Maine when he began tinkering with a new strain of grass. From that backyard session, the seeds were sewn for the eventual full-growth development of Vesper Bent -- the pride of Manny's fertile mind. Francis always has been a giant among his peers. His reputation hits responsive chords from all sections of the country. Golf officials in Mexico once offered him one of the most lucrative contracts ever extended a superintendent after his consulting services worked wonders with turf and other related problems there. As a matter of fact, they once called off golf because of Manny. A course in New Hampshire decided to have a Manny Francis Day when the sage of the soil cured its conditional ills. And they staged it on a Sunday! "No golf today," club governors declared. "Today belongs to Manny. Francis, in a stroke of irony, was born at sea ... between Brazil -- where his father was in the coffee business - and Portugal. The year was 1905. Sixteen years later Manny left Louzan for the United States where he had heard, "there is gold in the streets of New York." Before he could search for it, though, Manny stopped off in Danbury, Connecticut with several of his friends. There he went to work for a hat factory and eventually opened a small shop. However, there was a plant supervisor's job open in Portland. So, Manny applied for and got it. That was the time of depression and the hat business fell victim to its ravages. The energetic Manny, who had worked in the construction of a golf course several years earlier, heard of a golf course superintendent job opening in South Portland and landed it. From that moment, golf became his life. It was while he was at the South Portland Golf Club that Francis first experimented with Vesper Bent grass ... in the backyard of his home. From South Portland he went to Amesbury, then on to Haverhill and finally to the Vesper Country Club in Tyngsboro. He put his discovery to work at Vesper and soon the course was regarded as among the finest groomed in all of New England. During his 20-year stay at Vesper, Manny's reputation grew and the demands for his consulting services escalated. In addition to his Mexican stint, he was sought for advice by countless numbers of New England courses. And, more often than not, when Manny had left a particular layout, its condition was headed toward top-grade status. Another Francis innovation also caught hold in his profession ... that of top-dressing greens with sawdust. This conditioning aid was so successful that the U.S. government drew and produced an educational pamphlet explaining the process. Along the way, Francis was flooded with honors. He is an honorary member of virtually every club in which he has been in contact. And is a past-president of the New England Golf Course Superintendents Association. Naturally, he is held in high esteem by his fellow supers and his recognition spreads throughout North America. After his retirement from Vesper, Manny and Manny, Jr. found a plot of land in Marshfield where they envisioned a golf course of their own. They have developed it into a championship layout and Green Harbor is prospering under the guidance of the Francis team. The Distinguished Seryice Award nomination is just one of numerous examples of the appreciation the golf world expresses for Francis. His name is synonymous with the outstanding contributions top men of the profession have made in changing the grooming of a golf course into an absolute science. Through it all, too, Manny has remained a person of impeccable integrity and flawless character. His personality has bubbled over since his entry into the golf course superintendent field. And his countless friends are testimony to the warm spirit he brings to the relationship. Like his work, Manny's reputation as a human being is at the same summit. Manuel Francis is all that the profession stands for and New England is proud to call him one of its own. Gerry Finn Next Meeting Nov. 1,1979 Whitinsville C.C. Dick Zepp Host Supt. Directors Meeting Regular Meeting Lunch Golf (Shotgun) 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 a.m. a.m. a.m. Moon Tel. 234-2533 For Reservations C u t o f f Date Oct. 26, 1979 Directions - F r o m Mass. Pike t a k e Route 122 south for 7 m i l e s . T a k e r i g h t at stop l i g h t . A t t h i r d stop l i g h t t a k e left. Go over B r i d g e . Bear left. Club is on left. ( j o l f l (Gourde Superintendents s'Qddocicition The Oxford Incident Oxford Country Club owner Michael (Lefty) Pajak and golf course superintendent Nick Salva are longtime and close friends. Yet, Lefty is the first to admit ... "we don't talk to each other." Of course, there is overexaggeration in that statement. But it brings to light the catastrophic conditions at the ninehole layout in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts -- conditions that could bring ultimate destruction and death to the second oldest golf club in the United States. Pajak is forever in Salva's path. Every day brings another crisis to the course. "We're fighting a losing battle," Pajak laments. "When the Connecticut Valley gets two inches of r^in, we get four feet of water. Nick hasn't had a moment to himself for I can't remember when." The source of Pajak's problems is Poor Brook which collects water miles away in East Springfield and usually dumps its overflow on Oxford. The fourth fairway, for example, is a sea of mud and silt. It runs along a muchtraveled- road which is under water more times t h a i l not. But the fourth is just the tip of the iceberg. "Erosion is killing us," Pajak reveals. "A couple of weeks ago I measured only 15 feet between the edge of the fifth green and a spreading chasm. One more storm and I might find my fifth green either gone or on top of the sixth. But I'm sticking it out. It has to end sometime." The tragic conditions have existed, according to Pajak, ever since the construction of the Springfield Industrial Park and Interstate 291. Lefty claims the catch basins run into Poor Brook and any kind of rain results in flooding conditions at Oxford. Obviously, it is costing him money. "I had five floods this summer," Lefty tells. "Three in one month. I've had to rebuild my five bridges four different times. But the erosion is the maddening thing. It's creeping in and bringing with it a slow death of at least four of my holes - the first, third, fifth and ninth. I don't know what to do. The state has expressed interest in having a study made of the situation and perhaps reroute Poor Brook. But they'd better get off their butts or I'll be out of business." Pajak discloses that his revenue is off 75 percent from last year. He purchased the course 22 years ago when the old Oxford group bought land in Agawam and established the Crestview Country Club. The course, built in 1889, thrived under his leadership ... until the unchecked waters began to nibble away at it in 1964. "We once had 225 members and a lot of transit action," Lefty says. "Now, the membership is down to 150 and still shrinking. I hardly see a stranger around here anymore. But I can't blame the golfers. Who wants to play someplace where you have to leap over lakes and plow through muck to get to your golf ball?'' He still has a number of diehard members who stick with him and play under virtually impossible conditions. "The members still aboard have been wonderful," he continues. "I don't know where I'd be without them. But how long can they put up with it? I mean having to walk down the street and then cross over to find your ball on the first fairway is somewhat of an inconvenience. If they quit me today, I'd understand and still consider them my friends." Even Pajak is at a loss to explain his tenacity. "I had a very good appliance business before I bought this place," he shrugs. "My wife, Stella, and I used to work five and a-half days a week and we'd earn about $40,000 between us. We came here where we work seven days a week and we're lucky if we _.dea£_2Q lhousand._ This vear^when thing have hit rock bottom, I'd say that figure is wishful thinking."" Pajak says his love of a challenge and accompanying love of golf have struck him with a determination to lick what appears to be an unsolvable problem without the aid of the state. "I'm still thinking that somebody will do something to bring the water under control, so that I can get to the job of restoring Oxford," Lefty advises. "But I can't do anything until I'm sure there'll be something here to improve on." Thus, Pajak and Salva remain good friends but with reservations attached. "Everytime it rains, I shudder," Lefty sighs. "I know that it'll probably mean one more setback and another unscheduled task for Nick. I'm almost at the end of my rope. I only hope there's enough left to hang myself." Gerry Finn Sept. Tournament results 3 w a y tie for first place Ken Mooradian Steve M u r p h y L a r r y Burin Dave Locker Gary Luccini Doug Johnson Frank Moran Paul M u r p h y Pete Coste Len Blodgett Leroy Allen Ed Wiacek Annual Pro-Supt. Tournament Brae-Burn Country Club Job opening Host Supt. Bob G r a n t CGCS. Assist. Supt., Eastward HoC.C. Brian Cowan CGCS. 945-9230 October 12,1979 Open to a l l N E P G A m e m b e r s and t h e i r supers and to a l l N E G C S A m e m b e r s a n d t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l s . No a s s i s t a n t pros or a s s i s t a n t s u p e r s unless t h e y a r e m e m b e r s . O N E T E A M P E R C L U B . Super m u s t h a v e b o n a f i d e h a n d i c a p . Selected d r i v e s , a l t e r n a t e shots. Gross a n d net p r i z e s . Net w i n n e r s a r e the C h a m p i o n s . S t a r t i n g t i m e s m a y be o b t a i n e d by c a l l i n g the D i r e c t o r at 617-777-3773 on T U E S D A Y , O C T O B E R 2nd. F i r s t tee o n l y , 8:00 A M to 1:30 P M . Call B r a e B u r n f o r c a r t a r r a n g e m e n t s , 617-244-0680. PRESIDENT DEAN ROBERTSON 2 4 Riverview Drive Newbury, Mass. 01950 Home phone 462-4540 Office phone 745-7289 Club Affiliation