Breaking down the barriers

For the first time in my 30+ years in the golf course maintenance business, I attended a local chapter meeting where the guest speakers were from the state water authority.  Yes, I know that all of you in the Southwest have been doing this for a long time, but here in the Southeast, this was a first for me.  The Gulf Coast Chapter hosted a meeting in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where the primary speakers were from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) who oversee the waters of our state.  There was plenty of information for all the attendees to absorb during the meeting and plenty of questions asked to the presenters.  While the nuts and bolts of water use in the state was the main topic, perhaps the most important aspect of the meeting was that both sides of water use in the state, government and industry, were sharing ideas on best management practices, permitting and water use in general.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that there is a bad relationship between golf and ADEM here in Alabama, but there really wasn't any relationship between the two. Thankfully, it looks like times are changing.

As the Alabama GCSA begins working on the process of updating the Best Management Practices for Golf in the state, they will have a very willing and important partner, ADEM.  It wasn't long ago that the last person you wanted to see at your facility was someone from ADEM because it probably meant that there was a complaint or a problem that would potentially be difficult to resolve and probably expensive to fix.  It looks like those times are changing and that's a good thing for everyone involved because, at the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing: a healthy environment to raise our families in.  It's about time we break down the barriers that have kept us from working together in the past and move forward in cooperation.

The greatest show on earth!

There was no parade of elephants rolling down International Drive. There were no lion tamers snapping their whips in the center ring. There were no death-defying high wire acts going on overhead. But the Greatest Show on Earth, in terms of the golf course maintenance industry, just rolled through Orlando in grand style.

This was Golf Industry Show number twenty-something for me. You would think that this event would become routine and somewhat boring at this point but nothing could be further from the truth. There were new activities to participate in, new initiatives for the industry and plenty of new technology and products on display on the show floor. It was a refreshing week in the near perfect Orlando weather for all who came to GIS 2017 but in looking back there were a few things that really stood out to me this year.

First of all, I ran into several members who were attending GIS for the first time. When asked what they thought about the show there is always a certain sense of amazement and excitement in their reply. Many of their replies began with phrases like, "I can't believe how many" or "I had no idea". That always makes me feel like we've accomplished our mission of serving out members by putting everything that they deal with in their day-to-day workplace right in front of them. I don't know why so many of our members never take advantage of their opportunity to attend GIS for free once in their career. Everyone should be at this event, if possible.

Secondly, this is the one week a year you get to visit with all those people who you have worked with through the years. Our lives and jobs have taken us in many different directions but for this one week a year, it's like old home week. I got to visit with some of the people who helped shape my career more than 30 years ago while in Orlando. Our hair has a lot more gray highlights, but the smiles and heartfelt conversations make you realize why our profession is so special — our fellow members. This year was also special having the CMAA conference going on across the street allowing us to reconnect with many of the GM's we've worked with in the past.

Finally, a hearty "job well done" to the GCSAA staff that put this event on every year. I've been working for the association for more that three years now and it's amazing to see all the moving parts come together for this event. There are always a few snags along the way but when you consider the scope of a project like the GIS, things run pretty darn seamlessly, and again, that's due to plenty of planning and hard work by the folks in Lawrence, Kansas. By the time you read this they will already be working on the next show in San Antonio.

Speaking of San Antonio, I hope your planning on attending GIS 2018 where the most influential people in our industry will all gather in the same place again!

Telling our story

Most of us have spent the better part of our lives working on golf courses. The large list of obstacles that make our professional lives interesting on a daily basis are second nature to us because we've "been there, done that." We don't really talk about dealing with insect problems or broken equipment with our neighbors or friends because they probably wouldn't understand. We're good at what we do and take great pride in our accomplishments and our ability to overcome problems. We're good at networking and sharing ideas within our community of fellow professionals, which is one of the things that I liked most about being a golf course superintendent. The problem is that we are a very small fraternity, and when you do the math, you can understand why it seems like we are constantly defending the profession and game we so dearly love.

There are somewhere around 324 million people in the United States. The current estimate of the number of golfers in the United States is around 25 million people. By my math, that's 7.7 percent of the population that plays the game of golf or, conversely, 92.3 percent of the population that doesn't have a clue what goes on inside the fence of their local golf course. GCSAA has pulled together information about the value of golf courses and the role that superintendents play as environmental stewards. It's a message that needs to be told. Many times, however, we market this material to the 7.7 percent of the population that already has some clue as to what we do every day and not the 92.3 percent that remain unaware. We've got to do a better job of broadcasting our message so that the general public realizes that there is a great deal more to that 150-acre plot of land than the game itself. Wouldn't it be great to watch a story about an endangered turtle on television that was entirely filmed on a golf course?

The good news is that we are getting better at telling our story.  Many of our chapters have produced excellent videos and articles that showcase the biodiversity that exists at most of our facilities.  The Georgia Chapter just released their latest video titled Golf is Greenspace last month at their annual meeting.  We are just getting started telling our story to the general public, a story we've known for years but just assumed that the other 92.3 percent was aware of.

Don't you think everyone should know about the good things that go on at a golf course? Maybe it's time we tell our story to 100 percent of the people.

Time to get involved!

The holiday season is upon us and there is little time to finish up your list of accomplishments for 2016, but this is the perfect time to create a plan for 2017. One thing I would hope that you add to your to-do list for next year is to be more involved in the world around you. From both a personal and professional standpoint, challenge yourself to do things that you thought were out of your reach or too difficult to do previously. If you stay in your own little comfort zone your whole life, you're probably missing out on some of the most rewarding experiences imaginable. It's been said that true personal growth comes from doing things that you are uncomfortable with.

Here is a small list of suggestions, but quite frankly, the sky is the limit, just ask Donald Trump.

• Join the Toastmasters Club
• Run for public office
• Volunteer for a charity the piques you interest
• Become active in a local watershed group
• Start a small business
• Become a Grassroots Ambassador
• Become an active leader in your church
• Simply perform a kind act for a total stranger every day

I hope that at this time next year you look back and say "I can't believe it took me this long to do this, it's been the most amazing experience of my life! Start planning today!

A glimpse of the Georgia and South Carolina coast after Hurricane Matthew

I had the opportunity to visit four golf facilities along the Georgia and South Carolina coast to get a feel for the damage that Hurricane Matthew left behind. While the eye of the storm never came ashore, there was plenty of destruction along the coast.

I visited the Georgia Southern Golf Course in Statesboro Georgia, Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill Georgia, The Landings in Savannah Georgia and Belfair Plantation in Bluffton South Carolina. I spoke with superintendent Brook Sentell of Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island over the phone to learn about damage on his course.

As you might expect, the damage was far more severe as you got closer to the ocean. Sea Pines, Ford Plantation and The Landings had extensive tree damage as well as some flooding. Some of the courses were also flooded by tidal surges resulting in salt water covering parts of their courses. Many of the superintendents were applying gypsum to try to lower the sodium concentrations in the areas affected by salt. Many of the courses in the area were using tree contractors and logging companies to do the heavy lifting involved with so many trees leaning, broken or fallen to the ground. Some areas on courses that had eroded, including bunker faces and lake banks, thanks to the 20+ inches of rain that fell on some parts of the region.

Fortunately, I didn't hear of any major damage to any members homes or personal property. The power seemed to be on everywhere, the gas stations were operating without lines and the stores had plenty of groceries in them.

Hotel rooms were another story. I had to stay well inland in Statesboro because there were no rooms available near the coast due to the high number of contractors, insurance adjusters and displaced homeowners. In fact, while driving around the Hilton Head area, I felt like I was in the way with so much work going on.

Thanks go out to Patrick Reinhardt at Georgia Southern GC, Nelson Caron at The Ford Plantation GC, Chris Steigelman, CGCS at The Landings, Brook Sentel at Sea Pines and Ken Lee, CGCS at Belfair Plantation for taking time out of their hectic schedules to spend some time showing me their post-hurricane courses.

Aerial view of Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island the day after Matthew. 

Club members assisting in the clean up effort at Belfair Plantation in Bluffton, S.C.

A glimpse of South Louisiana

More than 30 inches of rain fell on areas in Louisiana over the past few weeks. For this area of the country, that's actually not unusual. What is unusual is that the 30 inches of rain fell in the span of 4 days on an already saturated ground. If you've seen the news, you know what the result is — widespread flooding. Most everyone I spoke to in the area said they've never seen this before. I got the chance to visit four courses in the area and hear the stories they had to tell.

Carter Plantation, Springfield, La. I met up with course superintendent Lessley Boyd, CGCS, on Sunday afternoon just before the crew was leaving for the day. In the building, sheetrock was already removed, indicating how high the water had risen. The water level was over 3 feet in the shop area which means that all of the equipment engines had been submerged, requiring draining the oil and cleaning out the intakes. Lessley already had several mowers running and the crew was mowing turf in areas that weren't underwater or too wet to mow. At the time of my visit, there were still large sections of the course that were underwater. The pump station blew a transformer, and all the irrigation controllers on the course had been submerged for several days. The clubhouse was spared, but the conference center and most of the homes in the development had flood damage.

Santa Maria GC, Baton Rouge. First thing Monday morning, I met superintendent Phil Watson at his maintenance facility. According to many of the people I talked with earlier in the week, this was one of the worst flooded facilities in the area. Fortunately, the shop didn't flood but pretty much the entire golf course was under water the prior week. That meant all of the irrigation controllers and pump house had been submerged for days. When we toured the course ,the turf actually looked like it was in good shape but many areas were still underwater and there was significant damage to the bunkers. Phil explained to me that a good portion of the city of Baton Rouge drains in his direction, his property is adjacent to Bayou Manchec and there simply wasn't anywhere for the rain waters to go so the bayou overtook the golf course. Most of the homes in this development seemed to be spared from the flooding damage.

Country Club of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. After leaving Santa Maria, I went right across Interstate 10 to CC of Louisiana where I met superintendent Ed Pippen at his maintenance facility. His facility was in similar shape to Santa Maria with the course being underwater for days but the maintenance facility only had a small amount of water on the floor so the equipment was spared. Ed gave me a tour of the course, and again, I was surprised at how well the turf looked in the areas that had drained for a few days. There were still several holes that were inaccessible with several feet of water covering all but the highest points on the holes. There were several portable pumps in place on the course in order to expedite the water removal. There was damage to some bunkers and a few areas where silt had formed a small sand bar, but fortunately for all the courses, the water was fairly clean, which meant there wouldn't be countless hours of picking up debris.

Greystone Country Club, Denham Springs, Louisiana. From the moment I got off of Interstate 12, I could see that this was one of the hardest hit areas. Virtually every home and business I passed had much of its water-soaked contents out at the edge of the street. It was a mess. The club was hit hard. There was a large air handling unit blowing air into the clubhouse. A large dumpster outside had some of the damaged contents in it. The were two FEMA disaster relief semitrailers in the parking lot as people scurried about trying to clean up the mess. I was met by General Manager Blaine Lindsly in front of the clubhouse. He explained that superintendent Woody Brown was off property getting parts to fix the sprayer. Blaine told me about the situation at the club and offered to show me the golf course. Our tour revealed much the same as the other courses except Greystone had much more debris on the course from home construction in the development. Entire bundles of 2x4 lumber had floated away from the home sites and now rested against trees along the rough. When we went to the maintenance facility we found that Woody had returned and he was with an insurance adjuster looking at all the equipment. At Greystone, the shop, pump house, irrigation controllers and clubhouse all had significant damage. The grass "tide line" was about 4 feet high on the walls of the shop.

This is only a brief description of the damage done to four courses in the Baton Rouge area. Many golf course staff members lost either their home, their car or both. The agronomic damage from this storm will pass quickly and the courses will be back to normal. The residents of the Baton Rouge area will take much longer to get back to normal. Support the relief efforts for the area because there are thousands of people who aren't left with much and many of the residents don't have flood insurance since it wasn't required in many of the neighborhoods.

I will check back with these four courses in a month or so to see how things are progressing from a personal standpoint as well as a business standpoint.

Some of the homes in the Greystone development with piles of flooring, wall material, appliances and furniture waiting to be picked up by FEMA.

Construction debris littered the course at Greystone Country Club in Denham Springs, La. One of the hardest hit areas.

Flood water still covering part of the front nine at Santa Maria Golf Course in Baton Rouge.

Building a bridge — getting started with GOMA

Getting started three years ago in my current position with GCSAA meant dealing with a great deal of change. Gone were the days of looking after my 185 acres and worrying about things like weather, mole crickets and staff disputes. Now, my frame of reference is far more broad. I work with seven different states in my region, as well as staying on top of national issues that face the golf industry. I could see that the potential was there to get involved in things far bigger than I had previously experienced. Little did I know that listening to Chava McKeel speak about something called the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Taskforce would add a completely different aspect to my focus and forever change the way I look at environmental issues and the role that state and federal government play in those issues.

Being the curious person that I am, I did some research about the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Taskforce. As usual, I started with a Google search and wound up on the EPA's Hypoxia 101 website. The page gave a good explanation of what hypoxia is, but I was shocked when I saw the list of possible contributors to the nutrients that were responsible for the "dead zone" in the Gulf. Nestled right between agriculture and home lawn fertilization was golf courses. That observation started a mission for me that is still going strong today — working with state and federal water regulators to find out what, if any, impact the golf industry had on the dead zone in the Gulf. I wrote several emails and made many phone calls to the EPA trying to learn more about the Hypoxic zone only to get answering machines and no email replies. A few weeks went by when I got a call from a number that I didn't recognize. It was an EPA staff member who was working on the Hypoxia Taskforce and she was in the neighboring state. I tried my best not to be defensive for my profession while on the phone call and after several minutes of discussion the EPA staffer suggested I get in touch with the people at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) where I might be able to find some answers to my many questions.

After gathering some information about GOMA on the internet, I reached out to the executive director and arranged a visit to her office, which was only a 45-minute drive from my house. Laura Bowie was welcoming and willing to listen to my constant stream of questions and I think she was a bit surprised by my enthusiasm for the environment and my willingness to get involved. Near the end of an hour-plus conversation, she suggested that I should get involved with one of the GOMA teams and attend the upcoming All Hands meeting in Biloxi. I was placed on the Water

Resources team and started to read all the team information in preparation for the big meeting.

My first All Hands meeting was a bit overwhelming. Surrounded by 300 state, federal and NGO workers, I was feeling very alone. But, once the three-day meeting got underway, I realized that everyone was there for the same reason, improving the health and well-being of the Gulf of Mexico and the residents of the five states that surround it. I got to meet many brilliant people who work on a myriad of human and marine issues that exist in the Gulf and it opened my eyes to the complexity of the problems, both ecological and social. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the other team members were interested in why someone from the golf industry was in attendance. It wasn't long and I started to feel like I did belong with this group and I got the chance to build relationships with people from all corners of government.

My second All Hands meeting just concluded several weeks ago and it was great to see so many of the people from the previous year, many of whom are now my friends. Also, as a result of building this network of professionals, I have been asked to work on several projects in my hometown and within the state. I am now able to put golf course properties together with local watershed managers to the benefit of both. Maybe the most important part of getting involved with GOMA is the fact that many staff members of the EPA, NOAA, USGS, NFWF and state water managers know that the golf industry is a great partner to have when working on water and environmental issues. This whole process is still relatively new to me and I have plenty to learn going forward but I would encourage GCSAA members to get involved with your local watershed groups because you will gain much more than you give and the relationships you will build will open many doors going forward.

Get involved, you'll be glad you did!