W è s t e r n V t e m April 2001 Editor: John Fulling Official PublicatioN of the West Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association President’s Message As I sit here looking out my office window it is snowing sideways and turning the ground white - sounds like a good time to write my first President’s message. I am looking forward to this upcoming year. We have many new faces on the WMGCSA Board for this year. We welcome Joe Jehnsen, Kevin Welp, Gary Peters and Joe Hancock. We also wel­ come back, Keith Paterson as Secretary/Treasurer. Keith is taking over the position as Paul Richter has accepted a sales position with J. Mollema Co. The board extends a THANK YOU to Paul for his work as Secretary and wish him the best in his new position. This is a board made up of good people with great ideas. One of the issues for this year is the declining member participation in monthly events and meetings. What are the reasons for this decline? Too busy with other things? Monday vs. Tuesday? Too expensive... It is not just one reason, but many. Your board is looking into making these great opportunities to learn a few things and have a great time networking with your peers. If you have any suggestions or comments on our meeting schedule, please contact me so we can discuss them. The number of summer monthly meet­ ings is down from last year with the thought of really encouraging our members to attend the great line up of courses that we have for this season. Over the winter we lost a good friend and fellow superintendent, Fred Pastoor, CGCS. He passed away after a battle with cancer. At the GCSAA conference in Dallas, we acknowledged Fred with the Meritorious Service Award on behalf of our association. In May, at our first golf meeting at Thomapple Pointe Golf Club, we plan to present the plaque to Fred’s wife, Sandy. Hope to see many of you there. WMGCSA M onthly M eeting Dates 2001 May 7 - Thomapple Pointe GC June 12 - Candlestone GC August 22 - Turf Field Day @ MSU September 17 - Golf Day @ Thousand Oaks GC October 9 - Annual Meeting @ Moss Ridge GC A FEW CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER: - To Greg Lyman and Debbie Schwartz for receiving the 2001 President’s Award for Environmen­ tal Leadership from GCSAA - To Jeff Holmes for being elected to the MTF board of Directors. - To Kevin Dushane and Pamela Smith who both were awarded Environmental Stewardship Awards from GCSAA To Keith Paterson for his 2nd place finish in the Senior Division in GCSAA’s Tournament. Well the snow has stopped and the green grass is showing again, this means that I have either taken way to long to write this message or we live in Michigan and the weather changes by the minute. Respectfully yours, ) /V/ Editor’s Note: Please write or e-mail me if you have any corrections or if you are inter­ ested in doing an article for us at: Western Views John Fulling 3509 Oakland Drive Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008-2884 e-mail kccjfull@voyager.net $75.00 Annual Dues As part of GCSAA’S 75th Anniversary they are offering $75.00 annual dues to first time members. The WMGCSA has also cut its yearly dues to $25.00 for first time members during the celebration. Tell someone you know who aren’t members yet! 2001 B oard of D irectors W estern M ichigan GCSA PRESIDENT Jeffrey S. Hopkins, CGCS 7719 Bass Creek Court Hudsonville, MI 49426 Work 616-878-9191 Home 616-669-7575 Fax 616-878-3882 e-mail rgchopkins@aol.com VICE PRESIDENT John Fulling, CGCS 3509 Oakland Drive Kalamazoo, MI 49008-2884 work 616-345-5013 Home 616-327-0439 Fax 616-345-5072 e-mail kccjfull@voyager.net SECRETARY/TREASURER Keith Paterson, CGCS 8585 Winter Forest Rockford, MI 49341 Work 616-363-6728 Home 616-874-8937 Fax 616-363-5441 PAST PRESIDENT Alan C. Bathum, CGCS 8121 Cowan Lake Drive Rockford, MI 49341 Work 616-493-6410 Home 616-691-7450 616-949-0835 Fax DIRECTORS Joseph C. Hancock 3263 Gateshead NE Rockford, MI 49341 Work 616-363-1262 Home 616-863-9266 Fax 616-363-4628 e-mail gijoe@altelco.com Jeffery T. Holmes, CGCS 4421 Bay wood Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Work 616-676-2280 Home 616-940-0975 Fax 616-676-0684 e-mail jeff@egyptvalley.com Daniel Litogot 29795 Heritage Lane Paw Paw, MI 49079 Work 616-657-2553 Home 616-657-8041 Fax 616-657-2533 Gary Peters 854 Watson SW Grand Rapies, MI 49504 Work 616-454-0705 Home 616-459-2987 Fax 616-453-4243 e-mail garyapeters@ah.world.net Joseph Jehnsen 9725 W. Gull Lake Drive Richland, MI 49083 Work 616-629-9866 Home 616-345-6722 Fax 616-629-5045 e-mail jmj@net-link.net Kevin Welp, CGCS 3084 Country Club Drive Muskegon, MI 49441 Work 231-759-0694 Home 231-755-5115 Fax 231-755-2046 e-mail kwelp@aol.com 2 The annual round table meeting was held at Sunnybrook CC on Monday the 12th. Very special thanks to Tim Hoekstra for hosting the event. Attendance was approxi­ mately 65 superintendents and assistants. We had two speakers for the morning session. Brian Anderson of Syngenta lead discus­ sions on chlorothalonil substitutes, cost effective methods of dollar spot control, industry mergers, and snow mold recovery. Greg Lyman, MSU environmental specialist, gave a detailed update on the environmental issues such as changes in fuel storage regulations, progress of the MTESP, and the new buffer strip program just under way. There was a group discussion in the afternoon. Topics included, greens overseeding, divot recovery, ball mark recovery / education, professional relationships between club management, etc. The Board is hoping to have another round table meeting at the end of the season as a re-cap. Look for a posting later and try to attend. W. B ruce M athews L egacy A ward Dear Members and Friends: (Z)an cJ ^ /eersman receives the WMGCSA T urf S tudent A ward. MfestemVtews One of the great many ben­ efits we receive as members of the WMGCSA is the opportunity for our children, stepchildren, or grandchildren to win a $1,000 scholarship award through the W. Bruce Matthews Legacy program. The eligible candidate is a current college student or has been ac­ cepted into a college for the next academic year. Their field of study must be any area outside of the turf industry. Your child or grandchild will be sent an application upon request. The application asks the candidate to highlight academic achievement and honors, community service and volunteer work, and extra curricu­ lar activities. The candidate will also be asked to write a 500 to 750 word essay on their parent’s or grandparent’s (your) involvement with the turf industry and/or the WMGCSA. Please call me at (616) 345- 5103 for an application and for more information. The deadline for returning the applications is May 15th, so please call soon. One winner will be chosen and a check presented to the winner at our regular June meeting. I urge you to take advantage of this great opportunity. All of your children, stepchildren, or grandchildren are eligible. Each individual child can win the award only one time. They can reapply every year until they either win the award or leave school. Daniel Meersman, son of long time WMGCSA member Mike Meersman, received the $1,000 turf scholarship awarded by the WMGCSA each year at the MTF conference in January. Dan is a 4- year student in the MSU turf program. He has a great deal of golf course experience, having worked for dad for years. Dan is also an accomplished golfer, winning numerous local and regional tourna­ ments. We’re proud to have Dan as our award winner. We wish him the best of luck with his future in turf. Adver Please partonize our advertisers as they have made this newsletter possible. Aventis Environmental Science................................. (734) 782-0323 Simplot Partners.........................................................(248) 474-7474 Boylan Sales.............................................................. (616) 685-6828 Commercial Environmental Turf Services..................(1-800) 231-5296 Custom Aerification Services, Inc.............................. (1-800) 824-3956 Ellis Sales....................................................................(1-800) 962-4128 Green Growth Supply Company, Inc..........................(616) 878-9922 Lesco...........................................................................(1-800) 321-5325 J. 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(888) 616-7806 Turfgrass, Inc............................................................... (1-800) 521-8873 Turf Services................................................................(616) 842-4975 Valley Turf...................................................................(616)532-2885 Van Manen Oil.............................................................(1-800) 654-4244 W. F. Miller Co............................................................(1-800) 555-8189 Weingartz.....................................................................(616) 696-2913 3 WwtemVfews U. S. POSTAGE PRST STD PAID GRAND RAPIDS, MI PERMIT NO. 582 C lassifieds Do you have anything you want to sell or buy? List it here for free. Just call John Fulling at (616) 345-5013, or e-mail me at kccifull@,voyager.net. We are working on the 2001 Roster and need your help. Please take a moment to check your listing in the roster and e-mail corrections, additions or changes to John Fulling at the e-mail address listed above. Thanks MfestemVfews Official Publication of the West Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association. 3509 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo Michigan 49008-2884 SERIALS r.T 1 Pete Cookingham Turfgrass Info. 100 Libiary E. Lansing MI 48824