Congratulations to Curtis Keller Achieves Class A Status from GCSAA

Congratulations to Curtis Keller, Superintendent at Buffalo Ridge, at Big Cedar, for achieving Class A status from Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America (GCSAA).

Achieving Class A status takes a combination formal education, experience and continuing education. A brief description of the program is below. For more information visit https://www.gcsaa.org/about-gcsaa/membership/membership-classifications/class-a-membership

ELIGIBILITY

Formal education + golf course superintendent experience + continuing education = 20 points plus proof of possessing a valid pesticide license

First, identify your level of formal education, which dictates the minimum number of years of experience you must have as a golf course superintendent. A value is assigned to each level of formal education.

Then, review the Class A Sliding Scale for Eligibility If you have met the minimum number of years of experience based on your level of formal education, add the point value associated with your formal education and your years of experience to determine how many, if any, education points you must attain/document in order to have a total of 20 points or more. The education points can be from sessions and seminars that you took previously or that you will take in the future. You must also provide proof of possessing a valid pesticide license/certification or pass the GCSAA IPM Exam.

Congratulations again to Curtis for completing this achievement!

Old Kinderhook Host Missouri Golf Association Women's Amateur and Mid-Amateur

Congrats to Ozark Turf Association member and board of director, Charlie Boldreghini, Superintendent at Old Kinderhook, and his crew for hosting a successful Missouri Golf Association Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur Tournament. Please visit the following link for the results.

http://www.mogolf.org/2020/06/womens-amateur-mid-amateur-championship/

Scholarship and Research Outing Results

We had a great turnout for our 2020 OTA Scholarship and Research Outing. We had 19 teams competing.

First we would like to thank Ronnie Harman and his staff for preparing the course, it was in excellent shape. We also want to thank Bryan Daniels and his staff for setting up the carts/teams/rules sheets and scoring updates.

We would like to thank Gold Partner, Barry Siems and Precision Turf Products for sponsoring lunch.

Thanks also go to these Partners who sponsored teams, Syngenta, Precision Turf Products, Advanced Turf Solutions, GreensPro, Kansas Golf and Turf, VanWall Golf, PBI Gordon, Knox Fertilizer, Professional Turf Products, Clear Creek Golf and Utility Vehicles, and The Andersons.

Also thanks go to these tee sign sponsors, All of our partners above who sponsored teams, along with Midwest Turf, NuFarm, and Premier Sand.

Sponsoring our proximity prizes were GreensPro (x2), Premier Sand, Brandt, and FMC.

Now for the winners, 1st place in the Championship flight using home course knowledge, was Silo Ridge C.C. Team #1 with a score of 54, was Superintendent Ronnie Harman, Pro Bryan Daniels, Hunter Hiskey, and Brent Butler. In second place, tied with a score of 54, was Silo Ridge C.C. Team # 2. it consisted of Pro Jake Mann, Austin Hensley, Matt Keller, Derral Cloyd. In third place was the Hickory Hills C.C. team with a 55. This team consisted of Superintendent Eddie Roach Jr. CGCS, Pro Rick Neal, Bob Newell, and Logan Smith.

The A flight winners with a score of 61 was the Hidden Valley team of Superintendent Adam Camp, Dustin (Duck) Buckner, (has to be Adam’s main irrigation guy with a name like that), David Bollenbach, and on loan from Margaritaville at Lake of the Ozarks, Scott Crowell . In second place with a score of 62, was the team from Osage National Golf Resort team consisting of Superintendent Jeff Sommerer, Eugene Jesse, Andrew Keeth, and Colin Cambell, third place was the Kansas Golf and Turf team of Russell Cole, Kristopher Moore, Darrell Easley, and Chad Short.

Closest to the Pin winner on hole # 2, sponsored by GreensPro, was Austin Hensley, from Silo Ridge C.C. team # 2. Closest to the Pin winner on hole # 5, sponsored by Brandt, was Rick Neal, pro at Hickory Hills, C.C. Closest to the Pin winner on hole # 11, sponsored by Premier Sand, was Bryan Daniels, pro at Silo Ridge C.C. (team # 1). And closest to the Pin winner on hole # 17 sponsored by GreensPro, was Adam Camp of Hidden Valley. The Long Drive contest, sponsored by FMC, was won by Hunter Hiskey, of Silo Ridge C.C. (team # 1).

We also had a raffle drawing with 14 prizes donated by our Tee sign sponsors.

A great time was had by all, we will report the final fundraising numbers once all invoices have been received and paid out. Preliminary numbers look like we have covered our $4,000 that will be awarded to 2020-21 scholarship winners. If you have college students, please remind them to fill out an application and send it to us.

Thank You to our 2020 Partners

With the delay of hosting meetings this year, our 2020 Meeting Banner with our list of partners was a little late showing up. We would like to thank Sign Pro on South Campbell in Springfield for creating a new banner for 2020, yet fitting it into last year’s frame, saving us a little money.

Thank you to our Gold Partners, Syngenta, Precision Turf Products, Advanced Turf Solutions, GreensPro, Kansas Golf and Turf, VanWall Golf, PBI Gordan, Knox Fertilizer, Professional Turf Products, Clear Creek Golf Carts and Utility Vehicles, and Club Car.

Thank you also to our Silver Partners, Bayer, Midwest Turf, BASF, SiteOne Golf, and FMC.

These partnerships are what allows the Ozark Turf Association provide for its members, valuable networking and educational opportunities, at a reasonable cost to our members.

Please thank them when they visit your facility or when you see them at one of our meetings.

Ozark National Host the Missouri Golf Association State Amateur Championship

Congratulation to Host Superintendent, Juan Barragan, Director of Agronomy, Todd Bohn, and all the team members at Ozark National and Big-Cedar Lodge for hosting the 2020 Missouri Golf Association State Amateur Championship.

Please click on the link to read about the results of the tournament.

http://www.mogolf.org/2020/06/the-mens-amateur-press-release/

Silo Ridge Host the Missouri Golf Association Junior Match Play Championships

Prior to our visit at Silo Ridge Country Club this past Thursday, Ronnie Harmon prepared the golf course for the Missouri Golf Association Junior Match Play Championships, held on June 15-19. Congratulations to Ronnie for hosting this event. Also congrats to the participates. Please clink on the link for the tournament recap.

We will have the results posted from the Scholarship and Research Event in a few days after I get some pictures downloaded from my phone, (fingers crossed).

http://www.mogolf.org/2020/06/26951/

Scholarship and Research Outing Update

Hi all, we are getting ready for our annual Scholarship and Research Fundraiser. For all of those that will be able to attend, we will be looking forward to seeing all of you there.

For those that might not be able to attend, we do want to recognize our partners who have stepped up to play a big part in the event, and hope you can support them.

First off, we would like to Recognize Silo Ridge for hosting us, Ronnie and his staff should have the course primed and ready, like he always does. Bryan Daniels and his staff will have all the carts and score cards ready for your arrival. The staff in the bar and kitchen will be ready as well. We would like to thank Gold Partner Precision Turf Products for sponsoring our lunch!

We like to thank Syngenta, Precision Turf Products, Advanced Turf Solutions, GreensPro, Kansas Golf and Turf, VanWall Golf, PBI Gordon, Knox Fertilizer, Professional Turf Products, Clear Creek Golf Car and Utility Vehicles , and The Andersons for all sponsoring teams.

We would also like to thank, Midwest Turf, NuFarm, and Premier Sand and all our Gold Partners for sponsoring tee signs,

We would also like to thank our prize sponsors, Brandt, GreensPro (x 2) and Premier Sand, who are sponsoring our closest to the pin prizes, and FMC for sponsoring our long drive contest.

We hope to have a good event, and we will report the results afterwards.

Thanks!

Mel

Scholarship and Research Outing is On!

Mark down June 25th on your calendar. The Scholarship and Research fundraising outing is on! The location is Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar. We are planning on having the event just like past events, there will be a lunch, golf, carts, and prizes. Cost for a team of four will be $440 for a club or group. For a vendor partner, cost will be $540 for a team of 4, which includes the lunch, golf, carts, a tee sign, and recognition on the rules sheet, recognition on a raffled off gift certificate, and recognition on the website following the event.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let us know. Once you have your team line-up set, please email that to us at ozarkturfassn@yahoo.com

We are looking at seeing you all there!

Thanks!

Mel

Promotional Information from Gold Partner Precision Turf Products

Hi all, I encourage you to check out this promotional flier from one of our longtime Gold Partners, Precision Turf Products, and one of their equipment lines, AerWay, makers of soil aeration equipment.

Please contact Barry Siems for more information.

Thanks again to a long time Gold Partner, Precision Turf Products for the many years of support of the Ozark Turf Association.

Mel

Updated OTA News

Hi all, we hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy, and recently staying dry. I can’t believe we have had so much rain, but surprising, when I checked my last year’s weather records, it was wetter last year.

We want to thank Derek Nees from Brotcke Well and Pump for renewing his membership. I still remember the seminar Derek provided last year at our April meeting, he provided some great information. We also want to welcome Cory Jones, Golf Course Superintendent, Scott Tucker, Assistant Superintendent, and Kyler Snow, Manager and Pro all at Neosho Golf Course in Neosho Missouri.

For any OTA members out there who have a college age student, we encourage them to sign up for the Karl Anderson Legacy Scholarship. We also encourage any OTA member who has a college student interested in turf management on their staff, to apply for the Educational Scholarship. We will be trying to update the applications that are currently on the website. The new forms will be the same format, but we will have the correct dates and logos. Due date will be Friday August 7th.

We also want to remind you to vote at GCSAA for the Most Valuable Technician Award by June 26th. August 3rd will be the photo submissions of our Ozark Dogs of Turf for the Dog Days GCSAA 2021 calendar. Also if you know someone deserving of the Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award, submit that nomination by August 10th. Information and applications can be found on the GCSAA website

 The Colonel John Morley Distinguished Service Award

The GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented annually to an individual or individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent's profession. The contribution must be significant in both substance and duration, and may be, or have been, regional in nature.

Individuals must be nominated by a GCSAA member, an affiliated chapter or a qualified golf association. The nominee must not have been a recipient of this award in the past 10 years. The award was first presented in 1932 and has been presented annually since 1975.

The GCSAA Board of Directors selects the recipients of the Distinguished Service Awards during its fall board meeting. The award is presented during the annual GCSAA Education Conference.

Nominations for the 2021 DSAs are open through Aug. 10, 2020.

New Promotional Program for Gold and Silver Partners - First Up FMC

We would like to announce we have a new promotional program for our Gold and Silver Partners. This was brought about due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, which is having us postpone our monthly meetings. Those meetings is where our partners are typically promoted through our meeting banner. We thought this promotional opportunity would be another opportunity to recognize our partners. We would like to thank GCSAA, who has been hosting regular weekly meetings among the Chapter Executives of the Central region affiliated chapters, where this idea had its origins.

The Board knows that these partners play a big part in helping the chapter provide services, educational, and networking opportunities to our members. Because of this, we want to help recognize these partners.

The new program will allow our current Gold and Silver Partners the opportunity to send out one promotion via email to our members, and we will include the promotion in our news section of the website.

We have just emailed our first promotion in this new program, and we will be happy to promote our other partners throughout the rest of the year.

Our first is from our newest Silver Partner, FMC.  FMC became a Silver Partner thanks to those that had visited their booth at the 2020 GIS show in Orlando, (gosh, that seems so long ago).  They held a long drive contest and for those members of the Ozark Turf Association chapter who participated, FMC donated .50 cents for each yard one of our members drove it.  I certainly didn't help much is that effort, but I'm planning on taking my own driver to Vegas.  Their new promotion, which incidentally will help the chapter also, is the Give Back promotion, that for all Fame SC or the new Rayora fungicide purchases, through August 2020, FMC will donate a percentage back to the Ozark Turf Association.  While we don't want to consider this an endorsement, we do want you to be aware that if you are already using any of these products, join the FMC True Champions  Program and sign up to help your chapter.  For more information please visit FMCTrueChampions.com. We thank FMC for their support.

Thanks for reading!

Mel

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