Professional Turf Products Renews their OTA Gold Partnership for 2023

Professional Turf Products, distributor of Toro Golf Equipment has renewed their Gold Partnership with the Ozark Turf Association for 2023.

Along with their Gold Partnership, they will be sponsoring our April and September monthly education/golf meetings. They will also be sponsoring the OTA Christmas Party.

With their partnership we are able to provide education and networking opportunities to our members. Please thank Brad Gray, Territory and Branch Manager, the next time you see him.

GreensPro Renews OTA Gold Partnership for 2023

GreensPro distributors of fertilizers and plant protector products has renewed their Gold Partnership with the Ozark Turf Association for the 2023 season. They are also sponsoring proximity prizes at the chapter education/golf meetings and the Scholarship and Research Outing.

Their support allows the OTA to provide educational and networking opportunities to our members. Please thank Mark Slaughter, Tyler Fishel and new team member Dustin Irvine when you see them.

Advanced Turf Solutions renews as an OTA Gold Partner

Advanced Turf Solutions, suppliers of turf nutrient and plant protection products has renewed their Gold Partnership with the Ozark Turf Association for 2023

The OTA appreciates Advanced Turf Solutions for their support of our chapter members, allowing us to provide educational and networking opportunities.

Please thank one of the ATS team members for their support, Austen Gearheart, Brock Phipps, Jeff Olsen and Brian Winka.

OTA February Bowling Meeting Results

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 Renews Ozark Turf Association Membership as a Silver Partner

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.

Turfwerks Joins the OTA as a Vendor Partner

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.

Equipment Managers joining the Ozark Turf Association

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. 

SiteOne Renews as an OTA Gold Partner for 2023

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 Renews Their 2023 Gold Partner Status with the OTA

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.

Precision Turf Products renews Their Gold Partnership for 2023

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.

Ozark Turf Association Member Achieves Class A

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.

Midwest Turf Renews their 2023 Gold Partnership

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.

OTA 2023 Meeting Schedule Released

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.