March Ozark Turf Association Meeting Well Attended
/OTA March Meeting Recap
We would like to thank everyone who were able to attend our March 29th meeting at the Betty Allison at Oscar Blom par 3 course located next to the Bill and Payne Stewart Golf Course. Golf Course Superintendent Scott Welsh and staff had a great setup for us.
We would like to thank meeting sponsor, Gold Partner, Kansas Golf and Turf and Russell Cole for supporting our meeting.
Dr. Jared Hoyle from Gold Partner Corteva had a presentation on “Low Maintenance Roughs and Natural Areas for Golf Courses.” 37 members attended the talk. Lunch was served afterwards and then 30 golfers hit the links, where we played nine holes on the par 3 course.
Results of the outing were:
A-Flight
1st place – Justin Thomas, Golf Course Superintendent at Top of The Rock with a 27
2nd place – Gavin Arnold, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at Highland Springs C.C. with a 30
3rd place – Brian Cheever, President and Owner of Gold Partner, Clear Creek Golf Cars and Utility Vehicles with a 30
B-Flight
1st place – Darrell Easley, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at Windmill Ridge, City of Monett with a 33
2nd place – Jeff Sommerer, Golf Course Superintendent at Osage National Golf Resort with a 33
3rd place – David Trent, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent at Holiday Island Country Club with a 33
C-Flight
1st place – Nathan Strait, Field Operations Coordinator, Springfield Cardinals with a 37
2nd place – Tyler Scroggins, Golf Course Superintendent, Holiday Island Country Club with a 37
3rd place – Matt Bradley – Market Specialist with Gold Partner FMC with a 38
Winners of the $10 skin prizes for birdies were
Justin Fraker – Clear Creek Golf Cars and Utility Vehicles with a birdie on hole # 4
Justin Thomas – Superintendent at Top of The Rock with Birdies on # 5 and # 7
Closest to the pin winners:
# 5 sponsored by Gold Partner GreensPro – Justin Thomas of Top of the Rock It looks like will have to send Justin a 1099 at the end of the year for all his winnings.
# 9 sponsored by the Ozark Turf Association – Melvin Waldron III, CGCS, Golf Course Superintendent at Horton Smith Golf Course. There was some pressure as Mel was in the last group of the day and the field was watching from the practice green when Mel hit a half 5-iron punch (because that is only how far he could take the club back) from 140 yards into a stiff wind, to about 6 feet. After his attempted birdie putt went 3 feet past the hole, there was added pressure that he would have to cross his name off if he didn’t make the par putt coming back.
After the prizes were handed out, current President Maron Towse, Golf Course Superintendent at Schifferdecker Golf Course presented Past President Mike Irvine, Golf Facilities Manager for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, a plaque recognizing Mike’s two years, 2020 and 2021, serving as the Ozark Turf Association president.
Thanks go to Bill and Payne Stewart pro, Shawn Freeman for handling our scoring and his staff for cooking and providing our lunch.
