September 2011 Ponkapoag Golf Course, Where Mother Nature is Winning An interview of Golf Course Superintendent Mark Brady By Jeff Urquhart, Newsletter Editor I had the opportunity to talk with Mark earlier this summer. We drove around for almost three hours and discussed the past, present and future of the course. Everyone knows about “Ponky”, but do they really? What is there to know about “Ponky”? We all have once said “Ponkapoag, it‟s a great layout but…” or “Why did they give up on maintaining 9 holes?” and “Who‟s the guy running the place now?” Maybe by the end of this article some of those questions will be answered. Luckily, the day we met was not a day that Mark Brady had to water the golf course. I assume you are wondering why that would matter. Did the central go down, was there a low pressure shut-off in the pumphouse, did the satellites stop communicating, did the lightning device shut down the system? The answer to all of those questions would be NO. The real answer is because on the days that Mark waters he shows up at 1 AM to manually water the course, yes manually water the golf course. By 2 AM he has 24 heads going (QCV with impacts, gated zones etc) and continues that process until 8 AM when he finishes up. No wires, no satellites, no handhelds, no pressure switches in the pumphouse, no central, no flow manager etc. When you look up manual irrigation there should be a picture of Ponkapoag Golf Course. He added “I have irrigation issues all over the place that I know of and who knows how many I don‟t know of?” So next time your radio acts up or your cell phone doesn‟t adjust the percentage right away, think about what Mark deals with right in our own backyard. Surprisingly this wasn‟t Mark‟s first manually irrigated golf course. He has been in the golf course business for over 20 years attaining experience at 6 different courses in two different states. Mark began his journey at Pleasant Valley where he worked for 9 seasons. From there he went to Whitinsville, later to return here several years later. After his first stint at Whitinsville he went to Green Hill, then Tatnuck, Burning Tree in Maryland, returning to Whitinsville and then Monoosnock. He hopes to stay at Ponkapoag as long as something is done to get the course back to what it should be. Mark has construction background, so he is the right man to do the job. “At one time in our business, that‟s what guys did, they went to one course and they stayed there forever.” said Mark. As with most of us, Mark is an avid golfer and does his best to obtain the best playing conditions possible with what he has to work with. “I focus all my attention on playability, because as a golfer that‟s most important.” Donald Ross designed the first 9 holes of Ponkapoag in 1936. He then added 18 holes in 1939 with William Mitchell adding another 9 in 1954. Since then Mother Nature has taken back 9 of Ross‟s holes that were designed in 1939. They have been abandoned due to drainage problems and extreme neglect over several years. There was some maintenance on a few of the 9 holes, but Mark was convinced it was a waste of time and labor. With a limited staff consisting of 10 men, no assistant continued on page 2 GCSANE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ponkapoag - continued from page 1 PRESIDENT Jason S. Adams 27 Cherry Street, Wrentham, MA 02093 781-828-6540 Fax: 781-326-3801 E-mail: jadams@bluehillcc.com Blue Hill Country Club VICE PRESIDENT Michael W. Stachowicz 68 Westfield Road, Westwood, MA 02090 781-326-7860 Fax: 781-326-0664 E-mail: Mstach@dedhamclub.org Dedham Country & Polo Club TREASURER Mark Gagne 233 Baker Street, Walpole, MA 02081 508-668-3859 Fax: 508-668-9969 E-mail: Mgagne@walpolecc.org Walpole Country Club SECRETARY Michael Luccini, CGCS 10 Griffin Road, Franklin, MA 02038 508-520-3615 Fax: 508-528-1885 E-mail: Mluccini@verizon.net Franklin Country Club TRUSTEE (Membership) Richard T. Gagnon 85 Gulliver Street, Taunton, MA 02780 508-823-0466 Fax 508-823-3915 E-mail: sccturf@hotmail.com Segregansett Country Club TRUSTEE (Government Relations) J. Michael Rose 181 Winter Street, Belmont, MA 02478 617-484-5360 Fax 617-484-6613 E-mail: mrose@belmontcc.org Belmont Country Club TRUSTEE (Scholarship & Benevolence) David Stowe, CGCS 30 Western Avenue, Natick, MA 01760 617-789-4631 Fax 617-789-4631 E-mail: Newtonmaint@aol.com Newton Commonwealth Golf Club AFFILIATE TRUSTEE David Wallace PO Box 418, Exeter, RI 02822 401-789-8177 Fax: 401-789-3895 E-mail: dave@teegreensod.com New England Turf and no mechanic to run the 27 playable holes, it didn‟t make sense to spend any more time on those holes that weren‟t being played. They were lucky that the course is laid out in such a way that the flow of play is not affected by abandoning the holes. Course 1 is a total of 9 holes and consists of Ross‟s 1,2,9,10,14,15,16,17 and 18. Course 2 is 18 holes, Ross‟s 1 thru 9 and Mitchell‟s 1 thru 9 so a total of 27 holes are currently maintained. There is a completely different feel on Mitchell‟s holes, but the same signs of years of neglect were apparent. All the fairway bunkers had been grown over and most of the tees were dirt when Mark arrived. We continued to drive by bunkers that were 100% crabgrass. Some are hard to recognize because they have now become part of the rough mowers routine to be cut. Coming from his previous golf courses he said “I have to look at everything in a different perspective, otherwise I‟d go crazy.” Thankfully Mark has a community service program that stops by twice a week to help with maintaining the bunkers and other tasks he designates for them. As we drove around the golf course we were stopped by several people, keep in mind Ponkapoag is a public golf course with some golfers who pay a small amount of money to be members. Below are a few comments, questions and complaints that people had while they were playing golf and felt obligated to flag us down and let Mark know. FINANCE CHAIRMAN Golfer 1. “Hey what‟s with that depression on the 3rd green, it‟s been that way for 15 years?” Mark “It‟s on the list.” Scott Lagana, CGCS 840 Oak Hill Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420 978-342-6451 Fax 978-345-2044 E-mail: slagana@oakhillcc.org Oak Hill Country Club GOLF CHAIRMAN Carl Miner 357 W. Squantum Street, North Quincy, MA 02171 617-328-0277 Fax: 617-328-9479 E-mail: Carlpminer@gmail.com Presidents Golf Club Golfer 2. “Who‟s cuttin‟ for you out hea, they‟re not puttin the makas back?” Mark “I will take care of it.” EDUCATION CHAIRMAN David W. Johnson 179 Fletcher Street, Whitinsville, MA 01588 508-234-2533 Fax: 508-234-2533 E-mail: djohnson.wgc@verizon.net Whitinsville Golf Club NEWSLETTER CHAIRMAN Jeffrey Urquhart 70 Green Lodge Street, Canton, MA 02021 781-828-2953 Fax 781-828-3220 E-mail: jmartin101@gmail.com Milton-Hoosic Club PAST PRESIDENT Patrick J. Daly, CGCS P.O. Box 2284, Framingham, MA 01703-2284 508-872-9790 Fax: 508-872-5393 E-mail: Pat@framinghamcc.com Framingham Country Club EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Sharon K. Brownell P.O. Box 566, Mattapoisett, MA 02739-0566 508-758-6474 Fax: 508-758-3688 E-mail: Sbrownell@verizon.net BUSINESS MANAGER, THE NEWSLETTER Julie Heston Phone: (401) 934-3677 Email: jheston@verizon.net GCSANE Headquarters 300 Arnold Palmer Blvd., Norton, MA 02766 Tel: (800) 833-4451 Fax: (508) 758-6474 Web Site: www.gcsane.org Golfer 3. “ Hey, I played over the weekend and the cup was rounded in with grass, my ball hit the inside edge of the cup!” Mark “ We do set-up 7 days a week, you must have played in the afternoon, I‟m sorry.” Mark then addressed Ponkapoag‟s potential and how he would love to tackle most projects in-house. He feels to make it palatable to get voted in it would be very important to keep costs down. The obvious renovation would be to improve the drainage on the abandoned holes in order to make them maintainable. The drainage has failed to a point where wetland plant species are re-establishing themselves in the middle of fairways on some of the abandoned holes. Mark had an interesting idea to kill all the different grasses, weeds and other plant species once water is successfully moving through the course. He‟d like to see a controlled burn take place. This would wipe the slate clean so they could start all over similar to a grow in process. During that stage Mark would like to see more local University input. He stated “We‟re a state run facility with one of the best turf schools in the country (UMass Amherst) and we don‟t have a relationship with them?” Hopefully this will change. Any opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and/or person quoted, and may not represent the position of GCSANE. Information contained in this publication may be used freely, in whole or in part, without special permission as long as the true context is maintained. We would appreciate a credit line. continued on page 4 2 Chapter Manager Search Update By Michael Stachowicz, Vice President GCSANE Board with a recommendation of one or two candidates by the end of October. This will allow us to have someone in place in November to work side by side with Sharon before her last day in December. This Chapter Manager will be a great asset to our association. As technology has changed and as superintendents‟ jobs have changed, the need for a full time association manager has become apparent. Volunteering as a board or committee member has become more difficult as our jobs and family place more demands on us as individuals. This person we are looking for will start to fill in the gaps that board members miss. Sharon has been great through this process. She has made herself available and supported us in our efforts. The amount of history and institutional knowledge she has is essential to our organization. We are very fortunate to have someone like Sharon who cares enough about the association (and us as people) enough to give us ample warning and support to help ease the transition. She will be missed.  About two months ago, President Adams tasked me with forming a committee to search for Sharon Brownell‟s (our Executive Secretary) replacement after she announced her intent to retire at the end of the year. This committee consists of Mark Gagne (GCSANE Treasurer), Scott Lagana (Finance Chair), Jim Fitzroy (GCSANE and GCSAA Past President), Bob Ruszala (GCSANE Past President), and Chris Peterson (as an affiliate‟s representative). We drew up a job description, developed a compensation package, constructed a timeline, and sent out the job announcement. The acceptance period for resumes was completed on September 19th. We received fifty resumes from various sources like Monster.com, GCSAA, GCSANE, International Association of Golf Administrators, and the New England Society of Association Executives. It was very eye opening to see all of those who were interested in working for us. The search committee met on the 22nd and culled the fifty one resumes down to ten and then to the four we are going to interview. Interviews will take place in October at the MGA headquarters in Norton. We hope to go to the GCSANE Newsletter possibly going to print… here are your responses Jeff, Keeping the newsletter digital is where my vote would go. Printing it is a waste of money and resources. Ironically, I find myself reading it more diligently now that it is digital as well. If the old timers don't have a computer by now....they should. Could we print out a couple dozen that could be available for the people that are adamant about having it back in print available at the meetings for them to grab? Just seems like a waste of paper, time, money to me. Jeff, I think it would be a good idea to send out the newsletter. My thoughts are to mail it out quarterly. I would also like to see this mailed to our owners, green chairman, general manager or who ever the superintendent would like to see it go. The MGA, WMGA, Ouimet BOD etc.also. I look at sending this out to show and educate the golf world that needs to hear us and what we are doing. My thoughts. Thank you for wanting to hear from us. Jeff, I would like to see the printed version Newsletter.  3 Ponkapoag - continued from page 2 strains of grasses that can handle the extreme drought conditions. “We‟re already sustainable, by accident.” Mark said after driving over fairway locations that were dead in 2010. For an upgrade, he would simply ask for gated looped zones around the greens and tees. This would make watering much easier than it is now and the added coverage would help maintain the turf at tournament levels. The bunkers at Ponkapoag have been neglected for several years. Most, if not all of the fairway bunkers are grown over and filled with crabgrass, some of the greenside bunkers as well. They have purchased a mini excavator to move forward with a bunker restoration project. The bunkers will be completely shelled out, re-shaped and filled with new sand. Hopefully the project gets approved and Mark can start bringing them back to original design in the near future. There are other concerns with the golf course, but we focused on the essential ones to get Ponkapoag back on the map. He‟d love to see all of them get approved, but being state run makes it very difficult to get the proper funding. Mark says that they are a “throwback” golf course. After driving the course, it became very obvious to me why he said that when we first met. For 3 hours I did not stop asking questions and my eyes were wide open taking in every sight to seen. The parking lot was jammed and the putting green was filled with kids taking lessons learning the game of golf. Not one of them knew or even cared about the past, present or future of Ponkapoag Golf Course. I hope that after reading this at least now you do.  An irrigation upgrade would be the next essential item to help Ponkapoag achieve better playing conditions. Mark has some great ideas for this process as well. For the past decade or so the fairways have not been irrigated, there is no time and the pumps would not be able to handle the added demand for water when the greens and tees are being watered as well. Therefore the turf regularly goes dormant and beyond dormancy. The following season there are stronger 4 Thinking About It By Don Hearn square feet of turf dominated the telecast. Because of where the damage took place a decision was made to replace the turf with the same type of grass from a practice green. Apparently, the nursery wasn‟t mature enough for the turf to be taken from it. The sod was replaced, tamped down and smoothed, and marked as ground under repair. No big deal. The championship went on without any problems related to the repaired areas. We all know lawsuits can be filed for virtually anything, but this one has me baffled. Nowhere have I read that a particular brand of brush caused the damage. And what‟s wrong with stating a belief about what you think may have caused a problem? Maybe there‟s more going on behind the scenes than I‟m aware of. It will be interesting to see how this suit ends. Regardless, it sends a message to all of us that someone may be out there waiting to hear something they think is unkind, or possibly damaging, and then file a lawsuit. What a crazy world!  I recently read that the Atlanta Athletic Club, Ken Mangum, Superintendent, and the PGA of America are being sued by GreensPerfection, LLC and Rodney Lingle. (Mr. Lingle has the patent to GreensPerfection Brushes.) Plaintiffs, GreensPerfection and Mr. Lingle, have sued on the grounds that brushes they supplied were falsely reported by Ken Mangum as causing damage to the 14th and 17th greens during the PGA Championship held at Atlanta Athletic Club last month. I watched some of the PGA Championship on television but missed the hoopla surrounding what turned into a big deal for some because of the attention created by the television commentators. Actually, it turned out to be a very minor, albeit unexpected, blip in the preparations for the championship. What happened was very unusual. During mowing of the greens a small patch of turf was torn up on two of the greens. From what I can tell, each patch was somewhere around two or three square feet. For a period of time this six 5 Charting a Return Course By John Reitman It isn‟t often that the Northeast is associated with catastrophic hurricane damage. Then again, Irene was no ordinary hurricane. A day after making landfall on Aug. 27 near Cape Lookout, N.C., Irene rushed back out to sea and came ashore again near Egg Harbor, N.J. Hugging every last inch of New Jersey‟s 170 miles of coastline, Irene dealt New York City a direct hit before moving on to New England. It was the first hurricane since 1903 to make landfall in New Jersey, according to the National Weather Service. Although she was a mere tropical storm by the time her rain bands swept into New England, Irene‟s presence will be felt for a long time to come. Located 100 miles from the Atlantic, the Quechee Club in east-central Vermont was in Irene‟s crosshairs only for a brief time. But a few hours was all that was needed to way lay a course located in a floodplain and leave superintendent Ken Lallier, CGCS, with more questions than answers about when operations there will return to normal. Massive amounts of rain on Aug. 28 led the Ottauquechee River, which bisects the Quechee Club, to run over its banks, causing severe erosion and leaving much of the 36-hole facility carpeted with silt. Four holes on the club‟s Highland Course suffered mild to severe damage, but the upland layout should return to normal operations in short order. However, the low-lying Lakeland Course was decimated, and just when it will reopen and how much repairs will cost are unclear, said superintendent Ken Lallier. „We don‟t know yet,” Lallier said. “We‟re still evaluating that.” The swollen river swept away parts of the course and left other areas covered in several inches of muck, rock and debris. Among the items littering the course were commercial propane tanks, some as large as 2,000 gallons, that were swept away from a dealer 8 miles upstream in Woodstock. Agricultural runoff and material from two compromised sewage plants upstream have left the club‟s irrigation pond polluted with as much as 8 feet of silt and an unconfirmed fecal coliform level that Lallier said “must be off the charts.” “We have serious contamination in that lake,” Lallier said. “Right now, it smells like a farm field out there. Anything you can imagine being in floodwater is in this lake.” The manmade impoundment is lined, so getting equipment into the pond itself is not an option, Lallier said. He expects the state‟s Department of Environmental Conservation to consider the muck to be toxic, which means it cannot be dumped or returned to the river. Since the course is built in a floodplain, burying the sediment on site is impossible also. U.S. Aqua Vac, a nationwide firm with offices in eight states, will remove the silt, but where the company will take it is, like many things at Quechee right now, a question without an answer. “Long term, we have to deal with that lake,” he said. “That‟s a big issue. “It will be a massive volume of material. What do I do with it? Is the liner compromised? If so, then what?” Wide around her girth, Irene stretched more than 600 miles in diameter when she came shore in North Carolina and again in New Jersey. Her status as a tropical storm did little to soften her impact on an area unaccustomed to tropical weather. As much as 8 inches of rain fell at the club on Aug. 28. But more importantly, up to a foot of rain dumped at Killington Peak, a 4,500-foot-high mountain located some 20 miles upstream. All of that rain running down the side of the mountain was more than the Ottauquechee could handle as it picked up debris and deposited it along all points downstream. Irene‟s flooding rains were short-lived and within 24 hours the Ottauquechee was back within its banks. But by then the damage had been done. Only one bridge spans the Ottauquechee to connect the course, and one of its entrance ramps that was built upon a foundation of huge rocks and boulders was washed away like a handful of pebbles rendering the bridge temporarily impassible and throwing into question its safety for future use. continued on page 7 For golf course construction, renovation and repairs. Bluegrass, Ryegrass, Fine Fescue Blends, Short Cut Bluegrass, Bentgrass and Bentblends. Pallets/Big Rolls. Sod handler Del. Roll Out Service. Over 35 years of serving the Turf Professional. Our Sales Rep. Joe Farina 774-260-0093 Deliveries Monday through Saturday CALL TOLL FREE 1—800-556-6985 See our web site www.tuckahoeturf.com 6 way turf we didn‟t get cleaned off within two days was dead.” Because of the damage a planned renovation of the Highland back nine, the only part of the 36-hole property that has been unaffected, has been put on hold. “That‟s the only thing open right now,” Lallier said. “If we closed it for renovation we wouldn‟t have anything to play on.” MacCurrach Golf Construction, which had completed a renovation of the Highland front nine last year, was to do the back nine restoration. Instead, the company now is focused on making repairs to four damaged holes on the front. Damage is minor on Nos. 6 and 7 with less than an acre of turf affected. But problems on the first and eighth holes is more severe, with more than half the putting surface of No. 1 gone and most of the surrounds on 8. “MacCurrach is restoring those four holes (Nos. 1, 6, 7, 8) so we can have 18 holes to play next spring,” Lallier said. “We‟re still trying to determine what to do with the Lakeland Course; renovate it, or just open it.” The clock is ticking on the Lakeland layout as the window for reseeding, probably early to mid-October at the latest, is quickly closing. “What my crew did in two weeks was amazing,” Lallier said. “That‟s the good news. The bad news is there is still a lot to do and the window is closing, and we are less than certain about what we can do before winter sets in and what we can do before next summer.”  Charting a return course - continued from page 6 Lallier‟s crew has rebuilt the ramp, and the rest of the bridge appears to be stable, but “getting an engineer to give it a stamp of approval is going to be an issue,” he said. Flooding is nothing new at the Quechee Club. Located in a floodplain, the course experiences flooding events on a regular basis. However, those events typically occur in winter when the snowmelt sends water rushing down the sides of Killington Peak and into the Ottauquechee. “We have serious contamination in that lake,” Lallier said. . . . “Right now, it smells like a farm field out there. Anything you can imagine being in floodwater is in this lake.” - Ken Lallier Lallier rented four skid steers and the crew was dispatched to remove muck from the bentgrass/Poa turf using shovels, scoops and anything else they could find to tackle the daunting task. The club has retained Alan Dunklee Excavating to rebuild the riverbank along the course. “There was 1 to 3 feet of silt on every tee, green and fairway of the Lakeland Course,” Lallier said. “A normal flood here is in March with ice. Those events leave us with little silt, so they‟re not a big deal because the ground is frozen. In this event, you have 3 feet of silt on top of saturated growing turf. You have two to three days to get it off. And it‟s hard to get it off because it‟s so gooey, and the turf is soft, so not matter what you do it‟s going to scar the turf some. Any fair- Reprinted with permission from Turfnet.com 7 Send your BEST photos Please send your photos to jmartin101@gmail.com. I have the ability to scan photos for those who might have older material that cannot be sent via email. They can be mailed to 70 Green Lodge Street, Canton, MA 02021. Again the below photo is from The Milton Hoosic Club. This will be the last installment of the photo page, unless I receive a photo or two that was not taken by me and that is not already on my computer. 1992 Cushman, plus pine needles, plus a hot exhaust equals calling 911 and escorting the Canton Fire Department out to the dump area. Luckily the club President was playing the hole that parallels the dump so there was no confusion as to what happened that day. Insurance covered the cost of another Cushman. The Milton Hoosic Club GCSANE Member/Guest Tournament Hopkinton Country Club Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Hosts: John O’Donnell, Director of Agronomy Ryan Gaffey, Superintendent Two-man teams will compete for gross and net prizes. A member may bring three guests, but foursomes must play as 2-man teams. Schedule: 9:00 am: Registration and continental breakfast 10:00 am: Shotgun Start Food stations on course Lunch following golf Format: Best Ball of Two 80% handicap Cost is $250 per two-man team *Deadline for entries is Friday, October 7, 2011. Field is limited to 120 players. Applications will be processed in the order they are received. Handicaps are required for entry. 8 Dr. Joseph Troll Turf Education Fundraiser Super Raffle As many of you know, this year’s golf event is being held at The Country Club in Brookline Massachusetts. Golf is almost at capacity but there are still plenty of raffle tickets to be purchased. All proceeds directly benefit Turfgrass Education at the University of Massachusetts. The winners receive a round of golf for 3 or 4 players at over 30 fantastic golf courses in New England and as far away as Georgia. A grand prize will be drawn for a trip to the 2012 U.S. Open in San Francisco! The raffle will take place on October 11, 2011 at the Eighth Annual Troll Turf Classic being held at The Country Club. Please go to their website www.alumniturfgroup.com for further information. Some of the great courses that have donated rounds of golf for this fundraiser are… Atlantic Golf Club Deepdale Golf Club Alpine Country Club Cape Cod National Golf Club Dedham Country and Polo Club Fenway Golf Club Lookout Mountain - Georgia Nantucket Golf Club Oak Hill Country Club - Fitchburg Old Oaks Country Club Reunion Golf Resort - Orlando Seawane Country Club Shuttle Meadow Country Club Upper Montclair Country Club The Country Club - Brookline Trump National Golf Club - Bedminster Plus 30 other great locations! 9 10 A-OK Turf Field Day A little work a lot of play! Please join us for the first annual A-OK Turf Equipment demo and field day held at the Tin Cup Golf & Driving Range The when Tuesday October 4th 10:00 am The where Tin Cup Golf & Driving Range 2 Fairway Drive Coventry, RI 02816 The what Equipment demos followed by optional golf and a Pig Roast hosted by Lastec, Wiedenmann, Graden, Agrimetal, Maredo, and A-OK Turf. The work The day will consist of short equipment demos from each of our vendors with several different pieces of equipment allowing you to see many different equipment applications in a short period of time. The fun After the demos we will break for lunch and drinks followed by golf (for those who want to play) after golf we will be having some more drinks and enjoying a BBQ complete with authentic Pig Roast. The Benefits Factory’s will be offering special one day only discounted pricing up to 10% on any orders placed at the A-OK Turf Equipment Field Day Hotel rooms will be available for those who are traveling, please contact Mike Cornicelli Jr to RSVP ASAP and for more info @ 401-826-2584. Thanks and we look forward to seeing everyone for a relaxed day of fun! HOW ABOUT IT? How about freshening up your course for the Fall play by painting your out-ofbound stakes, tee markers, etc. again? How about planting plenty of nursery area for next year's plugs? Are you planting seed or stolons? Or both? Have you planned your Fali work? Do you use our advertisers as you should? Do you help make this NEWSLETTER a success? HOW ABOUT IT? August 1930 11 12 NEW Lower Rates to Help Make Advertising in The Newsletter More Budget Conscious THE NEWSLETTER 2011 DISPLAY ADVERTISING ORDER FORM Company Name: Address: Contact Name: Phone # Issues (List month and total number): (Made payable to “GCSANE”) Amount of Check: 4 Times Per Yr. (Save 5%) Monthly Rate Member Rates: 1/4 page (vertical; 3.75" wide x 5" deep) $ 90.00 $ 342.00 6 Times Per Yr. (Save 10%) $ 486.00 8 Times Per Yr. 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Advertising Design Services: Design services are available by request and consultation and will be billed separately. Send all Newsletter ads to: Julie Heston 36 Elisha Mathewson Road, N. Scituate, RI 02857 401-934-3677 jheston@verizon.net 13 DIVOT DRIFT... announcements ... educational seminars ... job opportunities ...tournament results...and miscellaneous items of interest to the membership. ANNOUNCEMENTS For complete information on the program and application materials, refer to: http://extension.umass.edu/turf/education/turf-winter-school Applications are being reviewed as they arrive, and since seating is limited earlier applications have a higher probability of acceptance. Although the application deadline for international students has passed, applications from Canada may be submitted as late as September 30. Our condolences are extended to the Hastings family on the passing of James H. Hastings III, age 30, after a brief illness. James was the Golf Course Superintendent of Pine Meadows Golf Club, Lexington, MA. Our condolences are extended to the Kelley family on the passing of Biff Kelley on September 28, 2011. Biff was a past president of the Massachusetts Golf Association and a long time member of the Milton Hoosic Club. The UMass Turf Winter School has been offered since 1927 and was the first program of its kind. The course provides 32 hours of expert instruction each week, covering general turf management, physiology, pest management (insects, diseases, and weeds), soils, fertilizers, irrigation, personnel management, and much more. As in the past, The Newsletter continues to invite Affiliate members to submit a press release about new personnel, new products or a company bio. We will print each and every release free of charge. This is a great way to advertise for free. Who said nothing in this world is free? Free advertising to better your company, wow what an offer. Who could turn this down, you ask? I have the answer for you-ALL of the Friend and Affiliate members of GCSANE. There hasn‟t been one submission for years. I ask all Friend and Affiliate members to offer some advice to see how we can make a better offer. Jeff Urquhart, Editor CALENDAR October 12: GCSANE Member/Guest Tournament Hopkinton Country Club Hosts: John O¹Donnell, Director of Agronomy and Ryan Gaffey, Superintendent GCSANE SEATS FILLING FAST FOR THE 2012 UMASS WINTER SCHOOL FOR TURF MANAGERS * Are you just beginning a career in turf management? * Are you considering a career change to the turf profession? * Do you desire to take your turf management career to the next level? * Are you unable to schedule a two- or four-year degree program? If you answered YES to any of the above questions, it is likely that the UMass Winter School for Turf Managers is for you. The 2012 session of this highly acclaimed certificate program runs for seven weeks, beginning Monday, January 3 and concluding on Thursday, February 17. TOURNAMENT RESULTS September 19, 2011 - Glen Ellen Country Club Host: Jeffrey James 1st Net: 2nd Net: 1st Gross: 2nd Gross: David Stowe 73 Jeff James 75 Fred Murray 80 Mike Turner 85 Closest to the pin 9 feet 7 inches - Joe Rybka 8th hole. GCSANE Offers Website Banner advertising at www.gcsane.org The price is $500 for one year which will be re-occurring annually from your first billing unless otherwise specified. For more information, please contact Jeff Urquhart at 781-828-2953 or jmartin101@gmail.com 14 Please Patronize these FRIENDS of the ASSOCIATION Page 1 A.A. Will Materials Corp. 198 Washington St., Stoughton, MA 02072-1748 Root zone mixes, divot mixes, topdressing blends, bunker sands, cart path mixes, bridging stone, & hardscape supplies. Charlie Downing, Rob Fitzpatrick - (800) 4-AA-WILL The Cardinals, Inc. 166 River Rd., PO Box 520, Unionville, CT 06085 Golf course and landscape supplies. John Callahan, Dennis Friel - (800) 861-6256 www.aawillmaterials.com Cavicchio Landscape Supply, Inc. 110 Codjer Lane, Sudbury, MA 01776 Annuals, perennials, garden mums, ground covers, loam, & mulch. Darren Young - (978) 443-7177 A.D. Makepeace Co. 158 Tihonet Road, Wareham, MA 02571 (508) 322-4092 Charles C. Hart Seed Co., Inc. 304 Main St., Wethersfield, CT 06109 Authorized distributor for Bayer, Syngenta, Grigg Bros., Foliar Fertilizer, & Aquatrols. Roy Sibley, Dick Gurski, Robin Hayes - (800) 326-HART Agresource, Inc. 100 Main St., Amesbury, MA 01913 Tim Gould, Guy Travers (800) 313-3320, (978) 388-5110 Ahearn Equipment 460 Main Street, Spencer, MA 01562 Full service equipment dealer. Kubota tractors, Stihl power equipment, Agrimetal, Exmark, ASV. Mike DiRico - (508) 873-4363 Country Club Enterprises PO Box 670, 29 Tobey Rd.,W.Wareham, MA 02676 Club Car golf cars, Carryall utility vehicles. Dave Farina, Keith Tortorella, Mike Turner (800) 662-2585 Allen’s Seed Store, Inc. 693 S. County Trail, Exeter, Rl 02822 Specializing in quality seed and related golf course maintenance supplies. Gregg Allen - (800) 527-3898 Michelle Maltais - (401) 835-0287 DAF Services, Inc. 20 Lawnacre Rd., Windsor Locks, CT 06096 Irrigation pumps - sales & service; northeast warehouse/distributor for ISCO HDPE pipe & fittings. Richard Young - (860) 623-5207 The Andersons Technologies, Inc. 26 Waite Ave., S. Hadley, MA 01075 Manufacturer of fertilizer & control products. Rick Forni - (413) 534-8896 DGM Systems 1 Snagwood Rd., Foster, RI 02825 Your New England specialty products distributor: Reelcraft, POK, Allen, Kenyon, Echo, Carhartt Office - (401) 647-0550 Manny Mihailides - (401) 524-8999 David Mihailides - (401) 742-1177 Atlantic Golf and Turf 9 Industrial Boulevard, Turners Falls, MA 01376 Specializing in agronomy through the distribution of fertilizer, seed and chemicals throughout New England. Chris Cowan (413) 530-5040, Gregg Mackintosh (508) 525-5142, Scott Mackintosh CPAg (774) 551-6083 Atlantic Silica, Inc. P.O. Box 10, Enfield N.S. B2T 1C6 Canada (902) 883-3020 DHT Golf Services 8 Meadow Park Road, Plymouth, MA 02360 Serving the GCSANE for over 20 years. Planning to proposal to completion. Golf construction and irrigation consulting. Emergency irrigation repairs. Dahn Tibbett (20 year member), Jaime Tibbett 508-746-3222 DHTGOLF.COM A-OK Turf Equipment Inc. 1357 Main St., Coventry, RI 02816-8435 Lastec, Tycrop, Blec, Wiedenmann, Therrien, Graden, Sweep & Fill, Baroness, and used equipment. Mike Cornicelli - (401) 826-2584 G. Fialkosky Lawn Sprinklers PO Box 600645., Newton, MA 02460 Irrigation services to golf courses throughout New England. Gary Fialkosky - (617) 293-8632 www.garyfialkoskylawnsprinklers.com Barenbrug USA Great in Grass 166 Juniper Drive, North Kingstown, RI 02852 Bruce Chapman, Territory Manager (401) 578-2300 GPS New England Mapping 39 Cedar St., Cohasset, MA 02025 Precise irrigation & drainage as-builts; wire tracking & electrical repairs. Greg Albanese - (781) 789-1166 BASF Turf & Ornamental 47 Falmouth Rd., Longmeadow, MA 01106 “We don’t make the turf. We make it better.” John Bresnahan - (413) 565-5340 Gustavo Preston Service Company 10 Kidder Road, Unit 8, Chelmsford, MA 01824 Flowtronex irrigation pumps - sales and service. Spring start ups, winterization and 24 hour emergency service for all irrigation pumps. Ed Ceaser (978) 250-3333 The Borden Company 114 Summer St., Maynard, MA 01754 Bulk limestone dealer. Jack Borden - (978) 897-2571 Harrell’s 19 Technology Drive, Auburn, MA 01501 Turf & ornamental supplies. Chuck Bramhall, Mike Kroian, Mike Nagle, Jim Wierzbicki - (800) 228-6656 Boston Irrigation Supply Co. (BISCO) 60 Stergis Way, Dedham, MA 02026 Distributor, irrigation supplies & accessories, featuring Rain Bird. Andrew Langlois, Jay Anderson III, Dan Fuller, Jeff Brown, Greg Hennessy, Chris Russo (800) 225-8006 continued on next page 15 Please Patronize these FRIENDS of the ASSOCIATION International Golf Construction Co. 5 Purcell Rd., Arlington, MA 02474 Golf course construction. Antonios Paganis - (781) 648-2351; (508) 428-3022 Miller Golf Construction P.O. Box 1008, Essex, MA 01929 Golf course construction & renovation. Jonathon Miller - (978) 768-6600 Irrigation Management & Services 21 Lakeview Ave., Natick, MA 01760 Irrigation consultation, design, and system evaluation. Bob Healey, ASIC, CID - (508) 653-0625 MTE 87 Concord Street, North Reading, MA 01864 New and Pre-owned Equipment / Sales / Parts / Service JACOBSEN – NEARY TECHNOLOGY – HUSQVARNA – TURFCO – SMITHCO – BUFFALO TURBINE – PAR AIDE– REDEXIM – TRU TURF – GOLF LIFT – GANDY – SDI – BROYHILL – RYAN – PROGRESSIVE Office: 978-276-3180 or Mark Casey 617-990-2427 John Deere Golf Offering our customers the most complete line of products, service and expertise in the industry. Tom Rowell, Ren Wilkes, John Winskowicz - (508) 295-1553 Ron Tumiski 1-800-321-5325 x6219 Mungeam Cornish Golf Design, Inc. 207 N. Main St., Uxbridge, MA 01569 Golf course architects. (508) 278-3407 Ken Jones Tire, Inc. 71-73 Chandler St., Worcester, MA 01613 Distributor of tires for lawn & garden, trucks, cars, industrial equipment, and golf cars. Gerry Jones - (508) 755-5255 New England Lawn & Golf 15 Del Prete Drive, Hingham, MA 02043 Distributor of Express Dual and Anglemaster Speed Roller and Converted Organics a liquid compost & fertilizer from food waste John Lenhart - (781) 561-5687 Larchmont Engineering & Irrigation 11 Larchmont Lane, Lexington, MA 02420-4483 Kevin Rudat - (781) 862-2550 New England Specialty Soils 435 Lancaster, Street, Leominster, MA 01453 1mm. Top Dressing Sand, High Density Bunker Sand, Rootzone Mixes, Tee Blends, Divot Mixes, Bridging Stone, Cart Path Mix, Infield Mixes, Inorganic Amendments, SLOPE LOCK Soil. Ed Downing - 978-230-2300 Rick Moulton (978) 230-2244 www.nesoils.com Lazaro’s Golf Course Supplies & Accessories dba Hammond Paint and Chemical Co., Inc. 738 Main St., Suite 223, Waltham, MA 02154 Complete line of golf course accessories; Standard, Par Aide, Eagle One. Joe Lazaro - (781) 647-3361 New England Turf P.O. Box 777, West Kingston, RI 02892 Phone: 800-451-2900 or Ernie Ketchum 508-364-4428 Website: www.newenglandturf.com Maher Services 71 Concord Street, N. Reading, MA 01864 Specializes in Water well drilling, pump sales, pump repair, well redevelopment and preventative maintenance Peter Maher (978) 664-WELL (9355) Fax (978) 664-9356 NMP Golf Construction Corp. 25 Bishop Ave., Ste. A-2, Williston, VT 05495 Golf course construction. Mario Poirier - (888) 707-0787 MAS Golf Course Construction LLC 60 Hope Ave., Ste. 107, Waltham, MA 02453 Fulfilling all your renovation and construction needs. www.masgolfconstruction.com Matthew Staffieri (508) 243-2443 Northeast Golf Company Golf Course Architectural/Consultation Services 118 Beauchamp Drive, Saunderstown, RI 02874 Robert McNeil (401) 667-4994 Maltby & Company 30 Old Page Street, P.O. Box 364, Stoughton, MA 02072 Provides expert tree pruning, tree removal and tree planting services. Our two other divisions include Natural Tree & Lawn Care, which treats for winter moth caterpillars, ticks and mosquitoes etc. Forest Floor recycling manufactures color enhanced mulch and natural composted leaf mulch. For more information or to speak with one of our arborists please call Bill Maltby at 781-344-3900 North Shore Hydroseeding 20 Wenham St., Danvers, MA 01923 Hydroseeding, erosion control, & tree services. Brian King - (978) 762-8737 On-Course Golf Inc., Design/Build 16 Maple Street, Acton, MA 01720 We serve all your remodeling and renovation needs. You can trust your project with us! We make you look good! Sean Hanley (978) 337-6661 www.on-coursegolf.com Mayer Tree Service 9 Scots Way, Essex, MA 01929 Your one source tree care company. Our certified arborists specialize in plant health care as well as tree pruning and technical removals. Jeff Thomas (978) 768-7232 Partac Peat Corporation Kelsey Park, Great Meadows, NJ 07838 Heat treated topdressing, golf hole targets, turf blankets, other specialty golf supplies. Jim Kelsey - (800) 247-2326 McNulty Construction Corp. P. O. Box 3218, Framingham, MA 01705 Asphalt paving of cart paths, walkways, parking areas; imprinted asphalt. John McNulty - (508) 879-8875 continued on next page 16 Please Patronize these FRIENDS of the ASSOCIATION Putnam Pipe Corp. 90 Elm St., Hopkinton, MA 01748 Underground water, sewer, & drain pipe and fittings-Erosion and sediment control material. 24-hour service. David Putnam, Eli Potty - (508) 435-3090 Valent Professional Products 294 Archer Street, Fall River, MA 02720 Valent Has Turf Covered Jim Santoro - 508-207-2094 Valley Green 14 Copper Beech Drive, Kingston, MA 02364 Phone: 413-533-0726 Fax: 413-533-0792 "Wholesale distributor of turf products" Read Custom Soils 125 Turnpike St., Canton, MA 02021 Custom soil blending, top dressing sands, Root zone blends, “early green” black sand, divot & cart path mixes. Terry Driscoll, Garrett Whitney – (888) 475-5526 Winding Brook Turf Farm Wethersfield, CT 06109 Scott Wheeler, Mike Krudwig, Sam Morgan - (800) 243-0232 Slater Farms (Holliston Sand Products) P. O. Box 1168, Tifft Rd., Slatersville, RI 02876 USGA recommended topdressing, root-zone mixes, compost, pea stone, angular & traditional bunker sand. Bob Chalifour, CGCS (Ret.) - (401) 766-5010 Cell: 860-908-7414 Philip Wogan & George F. Sargent, Jr. 17 Walker Rd., Topsfield, MA 01983 Golf course architects. (978) 887-3672 Sodco Inc. P. O. Box 2, Slocum, Rl 02877 Bluegrass/Fescue, Bluegrass/Rye, Bluegrass/Fescue/Rye, Bentgrass. Sean Moran, Pat Hogan - (800) 341-6900 Southwest Putting Greens of Boston P.O. Box 827, Westford, MA 01886 Synthetic turf, tee lines, practice greens, outdoor and indoor practice facilities. Douglas Preston - (978) 250-5996 Stumps Are Us Inc. Manchester, NH Professional stump chipping service. Brendan McQuade - (603) 625-4165 Syngenta Professional Products 111 Craigemore Circle, Avon, CT 06001 Melissa Gugliotti (860) 221-5712 Tom Irwin Inc. 11 A St., Burlington, MA 01803 Turf management products. Paul Skafas, Rob Larson, Chris Petersen, Greg Misodoulakis, Mike DeForge, Brian Luccini, Jeff Houde, Fred Murray (800) 582-5959 Tree Tech, Inc. 6 Springbrook Rd., Foxbvoro, MA 02035 Foxboro, Wellesley, Fall River Andy Felix - (508) 543-5644 Tuckahoe Turf Farms, Inc. P. O. Box 167, Wood River Junction, Rl 02894 Joe Farina (774) 260-0093 TurfLinks, Inc. 29 Gilmore Drive, Sutton, MA 01590 Distributor of quality fertilzer, grass seed, & control products for the golf course industry. Kevin Lyons, Jim Favreau (888) 398-TURF (8873) Turf Products Corp. 157 Moody Rd., Enfield, CT 06082 Distributors of Toro irrigation & maintenance equipment and other golf-related products. Tim Berge, Dave Beauvais, Nat Binns, Andy Malone, Tim Stays - (800) 243-4355 17