Knox Fertilizer, manufacture of various fertilizer products, renews their Gold Partnership with the Ozark Turf Association for the 2023 year.
Their support of the chapter allows many educational and networking opportunities for our members. Please thank Bob Brinton, Central Sales Representative, when you see him.
Corteva, manufacturers of plant protectant products, has renewed as an OTA Gold Partner for 2023.
We appreciate their support of our members, allowing the chapter to provide meeting and networking opportunities. Please thank Dr. Jared Hoyle, Midwest Territory Manager, the next time you see him.
Eagle Eye Water Trac, pump service providers have joined the Ozark Turf Association for 2023 as Vendor Partners.
We appreciate their support for the chapter that allows us to provide network and educational opportunities for our members.
Cameron Riely is their contact for our area. Please thank Cameron when you see him.
We had a nice turnout at our bowling meeting, although as some of us get longer in the tooth, we see more of our members sitting back and enjoying each other’s company and telling stories rather than lacing up their bowling shoes. We had 23 attend the meeting with 17 of us taking to the lanes.
We gave out prizes for high score, high series, and high team score using the 9 pin no tap format.
This year our high score of 220 and our high series of 664 both rolled by Scott Hendrickson, former assistant superintendent at Hickory Hills Country Club, he is taking the money and running (If you don’t automatically think of the Steve Miller Band song, you’re too young) to Arkansas and Springdale Country Club as an assistant superintendent there. We wish him the best of luck and also thank him for allowing the rest of us to have a chance next year.
Scott also led his team to a total of 1919 pins, beating the second-place team by just 21 pins. His team consisted of Andrew Mills, assistant superintendent at Ledgestone Country Club, Derrick Edwards, Field Manager for the Springfield Cardinals, and Austen Gearheart, territory manager for Advanced Turf Specialties.
A great time was had by all, and we look forward to next year’s event. Later this month, we do hope everyone has put our next meeting on their calendar. We will be meeting on Wednesday March 29th at the Betty Allison at Oscar Blom par 3 course next to the Bill and Payne Stewart course in Springfield. This meeting is presented by FMC. Our speaker is Matt Bradley with FMC and his topic is title “Under the Microscope: Things to Consider When Building Effective Fungicide Programs in Turf”. More information is on the website. We’ll see you there!
Harrell’s, manufactures and distributors of plant nutrition and protective products has renewed their Ozark Turf Association membership, stepping up to be a Silver Partners for 2023. Their support of the chapter allows the OTA to provide educational and networking opportunities to our members.
We thank Harrell’s for their support of our members.
BASF makers of plant protection products has renewed their partnership with the Ozark Turf Association as a Gold Partner for 2023.
We thank them for their support of our members and the chapter, helping the OTA provide meeting and networking opportunities. Please thank Cory Bunch, Region 4, Sales Representative, the next time you see him.
Turfwerks, the distributor of Rain Bird golf irrigation products in our area, has joined the Ozark Turf Association as a 2023 Vendor Member.
They will also be sponsoring a team at the OTA Scholarship and Research Outing to be held at Silo Ridge Country Club on May 25th, 2023.
We would like to thank Jamie Chambers our area’s irrigation sales and service manager for Turfwerks support of our members and our scholarship and research efforts.
Redexim Turf Products makers of specialty turf equipment, has renewed their 2023 Ozark Turf Assocation vendor membership.
Please thank Territory Manager Brad Lackey and Redexim for their support of our members, allowing the chapter to provide educational and networking opportunities.
At the Ozark Turf Association’s Annual Meeting this past January, the chapter added the Equipment Manager category to our by-laws to conform with GCSAA's affiliation agreement.
Since that first step, we would like to recognize our first official Equipment Manager, Jonathan Settle, Equipment Technician at Buffalo Ridge at Big Cedar Lodge. Joining him a few days later, were Randy Bracy, at Top of the Rock and Brenton Daniels at Ozark National. We know a few more are signing up for this category of membership. OTA members, if you have an equipment manager on your staff and you would like them to join, cost is only $30 for the year.
The OTA Board has approved to host an equipment manager meeting later this year. We are currently gathering information and will then look at a host facility.
PBI Gordon, makers of professional turf products, has renewed their 2023 Gold Partnership with the Ozark Turf Association.
We thank them for their support of our members, helping us provide meeting and networking opportunities. Please thank Heath Schesser, Sales Representative the next time you see him.
SiteOne, makers and distributors of various turf products has renewed their 2023 membership as a Gold Partner with the OTA.
SiteOne will also be our June Meeting Partner at our meeting at Hidden Valley Golf Links.
SiteOne will also be sponsoring closest to the pin prizes at the Scholarship and Research Outing, and both the March and June meetings.
We thank them for their support of our members, allowing the chapter to provide meeting and networking opportunities. Please thank Matt Delventhal, our long time Sales Representative and David Moore, Springfield Branch Manager, the next time you see them.
Syngenta, manufacturer of plant protective products has renewed their Gold Partnership for 2023 with the Ozark Turf Association.
They will also sponsor our lunch and post play snacks at the OTA Scholarship and Research outing in May at Silo Ridge Country Club.
In August, Syngenta will be sponsoring our Family Fun Night at the Springfield Cardinals, Double AA Texas League team of the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a fun night where we celebrate the end of the summer season with our families before school starts again. We’re grateful Syngenta supports this family time, and the families have a good time enjoying the “American Past Time” with food and fireworks.
Syngenta has been long time supporters of the OTA and Superintendents everywhere.
Please thank Paul Carlson, Syngenta Territory Manager the next time you see him.
The Ozark Turf Association would like to announce that Precision Turf Products, suppliers of turf equipment have renewed their Gold Partner status with the OTA.
We thank them for their support of our members, allowing the chapter to provide meeting and networking opportunities. Please thank Barry Siems, President/Owner the next time you see him.
Kolby Armbruster, Golf Course Superintendent at Ledgestone Country Club in Branson West, achieved Class A status last month with the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America (GCSAA). Kolby was recognized in the February 2023 issue of Golf Course Mangement.
The Ozark Turf Association would like to congratulate Kolby for reaching this milestone.
The definition of a Class A member is a golf industry professional; who possesses knowledge, skills and abilities through a combination of education, experience, professional development and environmental stewardship; and has met and continues to fulfill on-going Class A renewal requirements.
For members looking to earn Class A status, it consists of a combination of formal education, experience as a golf course superintendent, continuing education and providing proof of a valid pesticide license or passing the GCSAA IPM Exam. Class A membership demonstrates a personal commitment to lifelong learning, environmental stewardship and elevating the golf course management profession. It also shows employers that your achievements and competencies are documented and validated. For those looking to pursue Class A status, reach out to Shelia Finney, Senior Director of Member Programs at GCSAA, or our Central Field Representative Randy Robinson.
We would like to announce Midwest Turf the exclusive Distributor of Floratine in our area, and distributor of other turf care products, has renewed their Gold Partnership for the 2023 year.
Midwest Turf’s support allows the OTA to provide educational and networking events for our members to attend. We appreciate what their partnership does for our members. Please thank David Hunter, Owner, the next time you see him.
The Ozark Turf Association has released their 2023 meeting schedule.
We have 10 events scheduled so far with more events in the works, keep tuned to the website and emails for updates.
The next event scheduled is Friday February 17th, our annual bowling meeting at Enterprise Lanes in Springfield. This is followed by education meetings followed by golf at our March meeting presented by FMC, April and September meetings presented by Professional Turf Products, and our June meeting presented by SiteOne.
Our big fundraising event is on May 25th, the OTA Scholarship and Research Outing to be held at Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar. Syngenta is sponsoring the lunch and snacks after play while we wait for the scoring results.
In August we have our Family Fun Night at the Springfield Cardinals game, which is presented by Syngenta. This is a great night to bring the family out and watch our AA Texas League Springfield Cardinals and enjoy the post-game fireworks before the kids head back to school. The tentative date is Friday August 11th, with August 4 as our second choice. We are waiting for group sales to open to confirm.
Also, in August, August 28th, this year is the OTA Championships presented by Clear Creek Golf Car and Utility Vehicles, and Club Car. Lunch is provided by VanWall Equipment. This year’s event will be played at Highland Springs Country Club, the original home of the long running Price Cutter Charity Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour. The tournament was first played in the inaugural season of the Ben Hogan Tour.
We are working on the location and date of the OTA Christmas Party presented by Professional Turf Products.
We do have the location of the 2024 Education/Annual Meeting, it will continue to be at Highland Springs Country Club, sponsored again by VanWall Equipment with lunch provided by FMC. The January 2024 date is tentative scheduled for January 17th.
The March, April, June, Championship, September, Christmas Party and 2024 Education Day events are part of the 2023 OTA Prepaid Meeting Plan, you can save at least $50 by purchasing the plan. Contact the OTA for more details.
We are excited for the 2023 meeting calendar, and we hope to see many of our members at as many events as possible. We thank all of our members and vendor partners for making this schedule possible.
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.
The Ozark Turf Association (OTA) has renewed their affiliation with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).
The OTA is recognized as an affiliated chapter in good standing. The OTA Board of Directors appreciates GCSAA support and resources that our OTA members value and take advantage of.
The Ozark Turf Association awarded the 2022 – 2023 OTA Industry Scholarship to Mr. Dakota Carr of Hollister, MO. Dakota is a 2016 graduate of Morris High School in Morris OK and graduated from the College of the Ozarks in 2019 with a BA in Criminal Justice. He is currently attending Walla Walla Community College working on his Associates Degree in Turf Management, with a graduation date of 2024. He is attending Walla Walla through their virtual platform, while working as an Assistant in Training at Payne’s Valley under the direct mentorship of OTA Member, Steve Johnson, CGCS, Golf Course Superintendent, Payne’s Valley and Mountain Top at Big Cedar Golf under the leadership of Director of Agronomy, Jeff Steen, CGCS. Dakota currently holds a Missouri Pesticide License in Core and Category 3 Turf and Ornamental pest control.
The Ozark Turf Association Industry Scholarship is open to employees who work for OTA member’s facilities and are pursuing a career in the turf industry. Awards of $3,000 are given to recipients and funded by the OTA members through their annual scholarship and research outing held each year.
The Ozark Turf Association awarded the 2022-23 Karl Anderson Legacy Scholarship to Ms. Ivelisse Valentin of Ozark MO. Ivelisse is the stepdaughter of long time OTA member Chad Hoerschgen, Golf Course Superintendent at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club. Ivelisse is a 2022 graduate of Ozark High School, with the following honors: Summa Cum Laude, and a GPA of 3.75. Ivelisse is currently attending Ozark Technical Community College, in Springfield MO. Ivelisse is studying Applied Science – Graphic Arts and completed her first semester with a 3.2 GPA. Ivelisse previously worked at Millwood as a dishwasher, she is now working for Hutchins Advertising in a variety of roles relating to her studies. The OTA congratulates Ivelisse on her achievement.
The Karl Anderson Legacy Scholarship is named for long time Ozark Turf Association member Karl Anderson who worked for many years as the golf course superintendent at Hickory Hills Country Club. He and his wife Patsy did not have children of their own, but strongly supported the association’s scholarship efforts. Karl lost his battle with brain cancer in May of 2018. The Karl Anderson Legacy Scholarship is open to the children and grandchildren of OTA members. Awards of $3,000 are given to recipients and funded by the OTA members through their annual scholarship and research outing held each year.
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