OTA Education and Annual Meeting Recap

The Ozark Turf Association held their 2023 Education Day and Annual Meeting on January 18, 2023 at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield MO.  We had a great turnout of 56 attendees.  Our speakers included Paul Jacobs, our regional USGA Agronomist,  Dr. Wendell Hutchens, Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science at the University of Arkansas, and Randy Robinson, Central GCSAA Field Staff.  The meeting was presented by VanWall Equipment. 

Paul presented his first topic “ The Year 2022 in Review, What Worked and What Didn’t”.  Paul discussed some of the issues that golf courses had in 2022 and some of the reasons behind them.  He really did his research when he provided our local weather data and was able to correlate how weather affected conditions.

Dr. Hutchens introduced himself to the chapter, he recently arrived at the beginning of the new year at the University of Arkansas.  His presentation “Best Management Practices for Spring Dead Spot and Winterkill Prevention in Warm-Season Grasses”  Dr. Hutchens talked about the different products to apply and their effectiveness.  He also discussed the best timing to make applications and talked about how best to irrigate the products into the soil.  He also presented the best options to get recovery from areas that were damaged.

The next talk Paul Jacobs led a Superintendent Round Table discussion on various topics that included aeration methods and timing, organic matter testing, which would lead to decisions concerning aeration and other cultural practices, we discussed labor issues, where Paul suggested we need to be more proactive in our recruiting efforts.  We all shared in the discussion our thoughts and questions on the topics. 

After a hot buffet lunch (where we believe the Mac and Cheese side was the big hit as many second helpings of it were plated).  We had Randy Robinson present some updates that were happening at GCSAA.  He talked about the expanded Conference and Show coming up in Orlando, the changes made to the Certified Golf Course Superintendent program, he mentioned the Assistant Superintendent Certificate Series, and the increasing popular, Certified Turf Equipment Managers Program and  Equipment Management Certificate Program.  Randy also mentioned filling out GCSAA surveys when they are sent out, especially the current GCSAA Salary and Benefits Survey.  It could be helpful to provide data for our area in helping compete in the labor market.  He also touched on the successes of the GCSAA Government Relations Team.  We were also reminded about the upcoming Rounds 4 Research auction, the OTA participated in it for the first time last year.  We raised $756 which was donated to the University of Missouri Turf Farm to assist them in their research efforts.  The OTA Board announced that we will be participating in the efforts again, as we are committed to research that will be conducted in the upcoming seasons at the University of Arkansas.  More on this research to be announced later.     

After Randy’s presentation, we held our annual meeting.  The minutes from the 2022 meeting were read as was the current treasury report.  Both were approved.  We gave the update on the current 2023 schedule. 

Following the updates, elections were held.  Maron Towse, Golf Course Superintendent at Schifferdecker Golf Course was reconfirmed to a second year as President.  Chad Hoerschgen, Golf Course Superintendent at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club was reconfirmed as Vice President.  Melvin Waldron III, CGCS, Golf Course Superintendent at Horton Smith Golf Course was reconfirmed as Secretary/Treasurer.  Brad Seidt, Golf Course Superintendent at Lake Valley Golf Club, Jonathan Prange, CGCS, Golf Course Superintendent at Highland Springs Country Club, and Kolby Armbruster, Golf Course Superintendent at Ledgestone Country Club, continued their terms as Board Members.  Barry Siems, Precision Turf Products and Mark Slaughter, GreensPro were reappointed as vendor board members.

Members approved the follow changes to the bylaws:  Adding an Equipment Managers membership classification, changed the month of the annual meeting from December to January, and voted to change the wording of the official annual meeting notice to include electronic means of providing notice. 

After those votes and seeing no new business was brought to the floor, the meeting was adjourned.      

We would like to thank our Vendor Partners who attended the meeting and met with members during the breaks:  Matt Strong with VanWall Equipment (Deere), Dr, Jared Hoyle with Corteva, Barry Siems with Precision Turf Products, Russell Cole with Kansas Golf and Turf (Jacobsen), Dave Moore with SiteOne, Brad Gray with Professional Turf Products (Toro), Wes Kleffner with Envu, Matt Bradley with FMC, Joey Johnston with Clear Creek Golf Cars and Utility Vehicles Club Car), Mark Slaughter with GreensPro, and Austen Gearheart with Advanced Turf Solutions.