New GCSAA Town Hall Meeting May 18th

GCSAA Town Hall Briefing with The Honorable Fred Upton

Mon, May 18, 2020 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT    

GCSAA is pleased to welcome Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI-06) as our featured guest for Town Hall #8. Congressman Upton is a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce committee. The Congressman will discuss with GCSAA President John R. Fulling Jr., CGCS, the latest activities by Congress addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Presenters
The Honorable Frederick Stephen Upton has served in Congress since 1987.  He represents Michigan’s 6th congressional district, which includes the cities of Kalamazoo and St. Joseph and stretches along the Michigan-Indiana border in the southwestern part of the state.

John R. Fulling Jr., CGCS, was elected GCSAA president in January 2020, having served on the Board since 2013. Fulling has been the superintendent at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Country Club since 1993. Previously, he served as superintendent at Berrien Hills Country Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., and as a course superintendent at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club.







Congratulations to Eddie Roach Jr. CGCS

Congratulations to Eddie Roach Jr., CGCS, who was recently notified by the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America, (GCSAA), that he successfully competed the Certified Golf Course Superintendent process. Eddie is the Golf Course Superintendent at Hickory Hills Country Club in Springfield MO.

The Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) designation is bestowed upon those who voluntarily meet the stringent requirements. The CGCS designation is the most widely recognized in the golf industry and the highest recognition that can be achieved by golf course superintendents. 

Certification is a three-part process that starts with determining your eligibility, which would be a combination of years as a golf course superintendent, education level, and education points earned. The three main parts of that process include, submitting a portfolio of work, taking a test, and then having a course visit by two certified superintendents to attest the applicant meets the qualifications. Steve Johnson, CGCS, Superintendent at Payne’s Valley in Hollister (near Branson), MO, and Melvin Waldron III, CGCS of Horton Smith G.C. in Springfield MO served at the attesters for Eddie.

Eddie is also a member of the Ozark Turf Association (OTA) Board of Directors, serves as a GCSAA Grass Roots Ambassador, and is serving on the Best Management Practices for Missouri Task Group.

Please congratulate Eddie on this career achievement.

For those that might be interested in obtaining the CGCS status, check on www.gcsaa.org for eligibility requirements.

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Updated OTA News

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Just wanted to provide some updates and local news in the area. We would like to welcome new member Aaron Borland to the OTA, Aaron is the golf course superintendent at Carthage Golf Course.

We would like to let everyone know, that there will be a GCSAA Town Hall tomorrow (Monday, May 11th), at Noon our time. You can register online. This Town Hall will feature guest U.S. Representative Steve Watkins (R-Kan) who will discuss steps Congress is taking to address the coronavirus pandemic and the potential impact on golf. And GCSAA CEO will share the latest on the Back2Golf campaign, with other updates. I know with the forecast tomorrow and the rest of the week, attending during the Town Hall might not be possible, but you can always go back and watch it later this week, because of the forecast.

The Back2Golf Operational guidelines are now available on the GCSAA website. It is a three-phase plan that was developed with allied golf organizations including GCSAA, that will help lead golf for a responsible return. Many states are now just opening up to the phase 1 that we have been in here since the beginning.

We would like to announce that GCSAA does have health insurance now access available to those members whose employers might not have health insurance to offer, or due to small staffing sizes, can not secure affordable rates for their employees. Please check it out if you have a need, believe me, I am more grateful, especially over these last few years, that I have had some great insurance.

We hope all the moms in your life had a great day today!

Stay tuned as we hope to be providing more news in the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Updated COVID-19 Message from the Missouri Golf Association

Here is an updated message from the Missouri Golf Association released today, April 28th, 2020. There are still more questions then answers at this point as the state looks to start opening. At minimum, we will continue with at least what we’ve been doing. As we hear of updates, we will keep our Ozark Turf Association Members posted. You can follow the link to the MGA Memo.

http://www.mogolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/april-28-covid-update.pdf

Thanks!

Mel

Updated OTA News

We would like to update our membership news, first we would like to thank Professional Turf Products, our Toro Golf distributor for renewing as a Gold Partner. We also like to thank Chuck Ermisch, Superintendent at Painted Hills Golf Course and golf architect, for renewing. We also want to recognize returning education members, Dr. Lee Miller from University of Missouri, and Dr. Mike Richardson, and Dr. Doug Karcher, both from the University of Arkansas. I hear rumors they can give us some news on our new Missouri State Football coach. Also we like to recognize Steve Randall our GCSAA Field Representative and John Daniels of the USGA as Honorary Members. This brings our membership total to 81 members, with I know more to follow.

New GCSAA News

Hi all, just want to pass along some more GCSAA news, GCSAA will have Town Hall # 5 on Monday April 20th at 1:00 PM. We will get updates from the GCSAA Government Affairs Team, and some updates/tips from Superintendents in the field, as we all work around this crisis. Please register for this meeting at https://www.gcsaa.org/media/news/news-Items/2020/gcsaa-is-prepared-to-serve-you-during-the-covid-19-pandemic I know the weather forecast does look good to get some work done, so if you can’t attend at 1:00 PM, you can watch the Town Hall later. GCSAA education points are available as well. If you watch the Town Hall later or previous Town Halls, register through the learning hub at https://www.gcsaa.org/education/my-learning-hub

Another item we would like to make you aware of is the Most Valuable Technician through GCSAA. We know there are many good Equipment Managers in our area, we just had a new one join our team in December, we also know there are many of your fulfilling that job yourself along with all your other duties, so make sure to nominate those that deserve to be nominated. You can fill out the nomination form by clicking on this link, https://www.gcsaa.org/gcm/mvt-award-nomination-form you have until April 30th to fill out the form. Hey, we don’t have an April meeting, that should give you time to fill out the nomination form.

If any of you are in need of the disaster relief program from GCSAA, please let them know, or if you would like to donate and help your fellow members, visit this link. https://www.gcsaa.org/about-gcsaa/gcsaa-disaster-relief-fund

If we can provide any assistance, don’t hesitate to let us know. Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Mel

Don't Forget to Check Out Disease Reports from Dr. Miller

As we are all working hard in these trying times to get our spring applications down, whether it be from small crew sizes or the darn weather, it is always good to get answers from the experts.

At my course, we are currently trying to get a fairy ring application down along with a pre-emergent application for goosegrass. I had wondered if the current bout of cold weather would extend our application window, so I clicked on the link on our website of the Disease Reports supplied by Dr. Lee Miller from the University of Missouri, and I had my questions answered.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Miller for his reports, and encourage you to keep track of them by clicking the link on our website. Don’t forget to answer the poll question!

Stay safe and thanks for reading!

Mel

OTA Updated News

Hi all, it has been a few weeks since we have updated news on the website, but we have kept everyone up to date through emails.

We want to take this opportunity to announce that we are postponing the April 23rd OTA meeting that was to be held at Fremont Hills, both the state of Missouri and Christian County have stay at home order that last at least until April 24th. The board has been in contact and we still hope to reschedule these meetings if possible. It will depend on when areas in the state open back up, along with other events that are scheduled in the latter part of the year. The Board has also decided to move the Scholarship and Research Outing to June 25th. The move was in effort to allow more people to attend. Some of our Gold Partners are with companies that have limited travel and attendance to events like this until the beginning of June. Our partners play a big part of the success of this event, and we want to accommodate them as much as possible. We would like to thank Silo Ridge for working with us on rescheduling the event. We would also like to announce the date and location of our OTA Championship Event, sponsored by Clear Creek Golf Cart and Utility Vehicles and Club Car. The location will be Hickory Hills Country Club, cost will be $20 per person, and this will be a member only event, so make sure your dues are paid prior. We have extended the due date because of the ongoing crisis, but they will have to be paid to participate in the Championship event. If you have not received a conformation from Mel, that we have received your dues payment, check the address it was mailed to, some business offices have still mailed checks to the old PO Box, which now will get returned to you, rather than be forwarded on to our 4032 W. Sierra Street, Battlefield MO address.

We also want to let you know that GCSAA has another COVID - 19 Town Hall scheduled for Monday April 13th. Leaders from the major golf groups will be in attendance. If you can not attend at 1:00 PM, you can always watch the recording later when it has been posted.

Last but not least, we would like to thank our most recent members for joining or renewing memberships. Renewing members include Aaron Lorenz superintendent at Top of the Rock, Big Cedar, and Gavin Arnold, formerly a student member, and now a second assistant at Highland Springs Country Club. Please welcome our new member, Casey Anderson, assistant superintendent at Top of the Rock, Big Cedar.

We also would like to welcome FMC as a new Silver Sponsor, with some assistance from many of our members who stopped by their booth at the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, and participating in the simulator driving contest. Our members raised $585 for the chapter. I just wish I had some pictures of some of our members participating in the event. FMC is also offering other promotions to help the chapter by donating a percentage from sales of Fame SC and Rayora fungicides. Thank you FMC for your support of our members.

2nd GCSAA COVID - 19 Town Hall Scheduled

GCSAA has scheduled a 2nd Town Hall for this Monday, March 30th, at 1:00 PM. There will be updates from the Town Hall last week, but there will also be new topics such as HR discussions. To register follow this link:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6688693575908793869

Also don’t forget that GCSAA also offers a COVID-19 resource page; It is open to GCSAA members and also non-members, so you can share it with your fellow managers at your facility. Just follow this link:

https://www.gcsaa.org/resources/covid-19-pandemic-resources

Also, don’t hesitate to reach our to the chapter, we are all in this together.

Thanks!

Mel

Latest renewal and new member update

We would like to thank vendor member and Scholarship and Research tee sign sponsor Randy Beussink of NuFarm for renewing for 2020.

We also welcome back members Lee Davis, superintendent at Randel-Hinkle Golf Course in Mountain Grove, Steve Johnson, CGCS, superintendent at Payne’s Valley, Curtis Keller, superintendent at Buffalo Ridge, Juan Barragan, superintendent at Ozark National, and Dalton Langford, assistant superintendent at Buffalo Ridge. We welcome new members Caleb Crawford, Matthew Hutcherson, and Steven Gilbert, assistant superintendents at Payne’s Valley and Mountain Top, and Beau Backstrom assistant superintendent at Ozark National.

We also welcome back long time retired member Alan Bull, who spent many years at Carthage Golf Course as a member of the OTA. We thank him for his donation. Just a reminder, if you know any retired members of the Ozark Turf Association, please invite them to join. Membership is free for them, and they will only pay the member fee for events.

Thanks everyone who renewed or joined. We hope you find the association provides many avenues for you to network and learn with your fellow members. If you haven’t paid your membership dues yet, don’t forget there is still time, and it is the best way to avoid paying the non-member rate at meetings!

Thanks for reading!

Mel

GCSAA COVID - 19 Town Hall

Online Town Hall set for 1 p.m. (Central) Monday, March 23

Join GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans at 1.p.m. (Central) on Monday, March 23, for a GCSAA Town Hall as he shares information on golf and COVID19. He'll be joined by GCSAA President John Fulling, CGCS. Chava McKeel, director, government affairs, will provide an update on government advocacy and Shelia Finney, senior director, member programs, takes you through the newly published member resources page. This webinar is limited to the first 500 attendees.

GCSAA wants to answer your questions – please provide them to us on Twitter @GCSAA or by email to mbrhelp@gcsaa.org.

Follow this link to Register for the Town Hall

https://www.gcsaa.org/media/news/news-Items/2020/gcsaa-is-prepared-to-serve-you-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

Thanks,

Mel

March Meeting Postponed

Due to the coronavirus, we decided to cancel the March meeting. We have seen many of our fellow associations doing the same with their events.

Currently the April meeting is still scheduled. We will keep everyone informed as that date gets closer. When the board next meets, we will look at trying to reschedule the March meeting to another date. If we can’t reschedule this meeting, anyone who has purchased the prepaid plan, we will credit that meeting towards another event. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to one another to learn and share how everyone is coping at this difficult time.

Please stay safe and healthy.

Also a quick note, my laptop is currently getting some work done on it, so I won’t have the same access to our different communication platforms such as email, paypal, and our website. Hopefully my laptop is back up and running this weekend, and I can return to more normal communication interactions, instead of the fear I get as the boss looks at me, making sure I’m not messing up her laptop.

Thanks!

Mel

Partnership and Membership Updates

We want to thank Vanwall Equipment, PBI Gordan and Knox Fertilizer who all renewed as Gold Partners. Their support is what allows us to keep meeting cost low and provide other benefits to our members.

We also like to thank Jeremy Weiss and Chad Short at Mt. Vernon Golf Course for renewing their memberships.

Don’t forget the deadline for getting memberships and partnerships paid, we do know some checks are in the mail, if you know yours is, please let us know, especially our partners, we will be making our new meeting banner next week. As a reminder, the board has authorized a non-member rate to be charged at meetings this year. (Exceptions will be made if you happen to bring a club official or supervisor, they will be able to play at the member rate).

We also want you to check out the Classifieds section for an added piece of mowing equipment being offered. I tried to get it for my home lawn but that purchase was immediately rejected. But it is a great deal, so check that out.

Don’t forget to RSVP for our first golf meeting of the season, it will be Thursday March 26th at Lake Valley Golf Club. Matt Giese will be our speaker.

Thanks for reading!

Mel

OTA Bowling Meeting Results

We had a nice turnout at Enterprise Park Lanes in Springfield on February 25th. We had 21 bowlers and 5 observers. We played a 9-pin no tap, where if someone had knocked down 9 pins on their first ball, they were credited with a strike, sort of like getting a putt into tap-in range and calling it good. It still required hitting the head pin in all but one case, (there must have been some pin action on that shot). We had some really good scores but Scott Welsh, from Gold Partner Professional Turf Products edged out Lee Davis, golf course superintendent from Randel-Hinkle Golf Course in Mt. Grove. While Lee had the highest game at 241, Scott had a series of 629. Scott also lead his team of John Ripperger, assistant superintendent at Ledgestone Country Club, Justin Fraker of Gold Partner, Clear Creek/Club Car Vehicles, and Maron Towse, golf course superintendent at Schifferdecker Golf Course in Joplin, with a team score of 2,000. All team members received gift cards. Also receiving a gift card was Wyatt Cantrell, who is more reliable in his deliveries than the USPS, for Gold Partner GreensPro, who had the lowest score. I thought I heard he was going to use those winnings to put in a bowling lane in their warehouse so they could do some practicing next winter in order to prepare for our 2021 bowling meeting. I was finally able to get my pictures to download, check them out below.

Thanks to all those that attended, and make sure you are making plans for our March 26th meeting to be held at Lake Valley Golf Club. We have speaker Matt Giese discussing “Data Driven Decisions for Controlling Dollarspot”. GCSAA education points have been approved.

Clinton McKee, EM at Big Cedar Lodge, has completed the EMCP Level 1

Congratulations to Clinton and thank you to GCSAA for providing the resources to our Equipment Managers, allowing to improve their skills and being a valuable asset to their facilities. If any of our members Equipment Managers are interested in this program, please don’t hesitate to contact us or Diana Kern at GCSAA. GCSAA also provides educational opportunities for Assistant Superintendent members and Superintendent members. Visit their website to see all they have.

Press Release provided by GCSAA

“Yesterday, Clinton McKee became the first equipment manager member in all of Missouri to complete the Equipment Management Certificate Program Level 1.    I’ve provided the link to the information about the program.  He has achieved this by successfully passing eight exams covering key competency areas of:

  • Cutting Units

  • Drivetrains

  • Electrical Systems

  • Engine Technology

  • Fundamentals of Turfgrass Operations

  • Hydraulic Systems

  • Metalworking and Fabrication

  • Spray Systems

In addition to completing the EMCP Level 1, Clinton is also one of 5 winners of the Melrose Equipment Management Experience’s inaugural class.  It’s been a big year for Clinton.”

Partnership and membership renewals update

We would like to welcome back Kansas Golf and Turf as a Gold Partner this year for 2020. We also welcome new vendor member Rick Anderson from Toro in Minnesota. We also reel grinder extraordinaire Don Matthews who has renewed.

Eddie Roach Jr. golf course superintendent at Hickory Hills C.C. along with his assistants Zach Erb and Scott Hendrickson have renewed, as have golf course superintendent Jared Brewster and assistant Caleb Seidel, and we welcome intern Stephen Wilde who as joined as a student from Highland Springs C.C. Danny Endicott superintendent at Pointe Royale and his assistant Shane Coker, and Windmill Ridge superintendent Brian Bauer and assistant Darrell Easley have all renewed, Also renewing are Lukas Phillips from Branson Hills Golf Club, Chad Hoerschgen from Millwood Golf and Racquet Club, Mike Irvine from Bill and Payne Stewart, Dan Kersting at Rivercut, and Toby Burkhart have all renewed.

Thank you to all for supporting our association.

Speakers announced for March and April Ozark Turf Association Meetings

We would like to announce with our Education Partner, Syngenta, our speakers for our March and April meetings. Matt Giese, Syngenta Technical Representative, will be speaking at the March meeting to be held at Lake Valley Golf Club in Camdenton, MO. His topic is “Data Driven Decisions for Controlling Dollarspot”.

Our April speaker will be Bud White, of Bud White Golf Solutions. His topic will be “Long Range Planning and Managing Aging Infrastructure”. Our April meeting is going to be held at Fremont Country Club in Fremont Hills, MO.

The OTA has applied for GCSAA education points. Please check out the calendar page for more information.

Thanks!

Mel

Thanks Syngenta for being our Education Partner

Thanks Syngenta for being our Education Partner

Partnership and membership updates for 2/15/20

It was a busy week for partnership and membership renewals. We would like to thank Gold Partners GreensPro for renewing in 2020. We would also like to thank Silver Partners BASF for renewing in 2020. We welcome back this year SiteOne Golf as a Silver Partner. Thanks to all of our partners whose support allows us to keep meeting costs affordable to our members.

We would like to welcome Kolby Armbruster, the new golf course superintendent at Ledgestone Country Club. We also welcome back from a hiatus, Joshua Wells, who is the new assistant golf course superintendent at Horton Smith Golf Course.

We also thank returning members for renewing, Casey Koch, Golf Course Superintendent at Crestwood C.C. in Pittsburgh KS, John Ripperger, Assistant superintendent at Ledgestone, Jonathan Prange, golf course superintendent and his assistant, Tyler Scroggins, from Holiday Island in Eureka Arkansas, the team from Twin Hills C.C. in Joplin, Superintendent Kristopher Moore and his Assistant, Patrick Johnson, Superintendent Will Clark, from Eagle Creek Golf Club, Matt Overton Superintendent from Holiday Hills Resort and his assistant Ken Kempter, Superintendent Tye Heidbreder and Assistant Jay Butler from Twin Oaks C.C. and last and least, Melvin Waldron III, CGCS from Horton Smith G.C.

Thank you all for supporting the chapter.

Partnership and membership news

We would like to thank the following partners for renewing their plans: Gold Partners are Syngenta, Precision Turf Products, and Advance Turf Solutions. Silver Partners are Bayer and Midwest Turf.

Membership renewals are Charlie Boldreghini, Director of Agronomy at Old Kinderhook, Maron Towse, Superintendent at Shifferdecker Golf Course, Kevin Taylor, Superintendent at Whispering Oaks, and Bret Dulworth, Superintendent at Golf Club at Deer Chase.

We also would like to welcome new member Luke Derhake, Assistant Superintendent at Old Kinderhook.

Don’t forget to send your dues as soon as you can, GCSAA members will need to be paid by the first week of March to be included in our roster submission, and partners will need to be paid so we can put your logo on the meeting banner. Invoices and plans have been emailed, you can also find them on the website. If you need a specific invoice made out for your business office, just let me know and I can provide it however you need it.

We had a great showing of members down at the recent GIS show in Orlando, I counted 14 non vendor members, I also saw a handful of our partner vendors at the show as well. If you have any pictures you want to share, please send to me, I would love to use them in the next news story. I am already kicking myself for not getting a picture of Aaron Lorenz Superintendent at Top of The Rock, at the FMC booth earning money for our chapter, I heard he had one heck of a drive, the machine must have not been done counting the yardage from my drive yet?

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Announcing Syngenta as our Education Partner

We want to announce that Syngenta has become an education partner with the Ozark Turf Association for 2020. Syngenta was kind enough to gift the OTA extra money above their normal Gold Partnership, and we will use that money to help finance quality speakers for the year. We were already able to put some of that gift to use at our annual education day meeting.

We would like to thank Paul Carlson our Syngenta Representative and all our friends at Syngenta for supporting our most important mission, educating our membership. Please thank Paul the next time you see him.

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