2014 All-Access Pass

Golfdom traveled coast-to-coast this year covering the industry — here’s our end-of-year review of the best stories of the year.

We’ll never take it for granted: the feeling we get when we walk into a major golf event’s media center and they hand us a media pass with our name on it. ¶ Once again we traveled the country covering industry events, big and small. We squeezed into small airplane seats, missed meals and didn’t get enough sleep. And we loved almost every minute of it. ¶ To celebrate the year that was, we take a look back at the big stories of the year, as well as add in a little of our own commentary. From well deserved awards and successful fundraisers to police chases and even a superintendent mugging, 2014 was another great year to have an all-access pass.

Fourteen golf courses opened in the U.S. in 2013, measured in 18-hole equivalents, according to National Golf Foundation (NGF) research. That wasn’t enough, though, to ensure openings outnumbered closures. NGF reports 157.5 closures last year, making it the eighth year in a row that closures exceed openings.

157.5 to 14? Even the College Football Playoff committee recognizes that as a butt-whoopin’.

Facing the driest year in recorded history, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. declares a state of emergency in California. State water officials report California rivers and reservoirs are both at record lows. The drought in California remains a major headache for superintendents across the state.

The Toro Co. kicks off a celebration of 100 years in business. Michael J. Hoffman, Toro’s chairman and CEO, attributes the company’s remarkable longevity to, “the character of our people and channel partners, and their relentless commitment to serving our customers and building market leadership through innovation.”

For the eighth consecutive year, Deere & Co. is on the Ethisphere Institute’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list. The research-based Ethisphere Institute is dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

North Coast Media keeps trying to get any of its six magazines, including Golfdom, Landscape Management and Pest Management Professional, on the Ethisphere Institute’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list. But, maddeningly, the Ethisphere Institute keeps refusing our bribe attempts.

Peter Dernoeden, Ph.D., receives the 2014 USGA Green Section Award.

Jim Rattigan of Schuylkill CC in Orwigsburg, Pa., is named Golfdom’s 2014 Herb Graffis Businessperson of the Year. As well as having a savvy business acumen that leads him to being promoted to director of operations by age 28, Rattigan, with the help of architect Ron Prichard, restored the course’s fading Donald Ross elements.

The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch, Boerne, Texas, is named the NGCOA’s 2014 Course of the Year.

Deron Zendt, superintendent at Banyan GC in West Palm Beach, Fla., holds off a pack of challengers that includes two past champions to win his first GCSAA National Championship on the Magnolia Course at Walt Disney World Resort.

“DZ” hosted Golfdom at his course just a few weeks before winning the GCSAA Championship crown and told us about his hopes to win the tournament. We’re not saying our presence and ensuing pep talk had anything to do with his win… but we are available next month to visit your course…

Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, at the time the director of grounds maintenance at the CC of Little Rock (Ark.), is elected GCSAA president for 2014 at the association’s annual meeting. Not long after, he finds himself in a position similar to that of many superintendents at some point in their career: unemployed and scrambling to find a new job in the industry. According to GCSAA bylaws, he must find a new superintendent position within six months to maintain his presidency.

Though it isn’t a fun way to go about it, Ihms immediately finds a way for many of his fellow superintendents to identify with him.

Roger Stewart, superintendent at TPC Twin Cities in St. Paul, Minn., receives the GCSAA’s 2014 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.

Dr. Paul Rieke is named as a 2014 inductee into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. Rieke is 79 and professor emeritus at Michigan State University since 1999. He has been affiliated with the university since 1960, and is generally regarded as the authority on turfgrass soils and nutrition.

The PGA of America forms a 10-person team to develop and evaluate innovative concepts to drive participation in golf. Called the PGA Task Force, the group includes golfer/TV analyst Dottie Pepper, Olympic ski standout Bode Miller and former NFL player Melvin Bullitt. The group is tasked with seeking new ways to grow the game through nontraditional means.

Even if this group doesn’t move the dial in golfer participation, the matching T-shirts with “PGA Task Force” written on them are pretty boss.

Golf course architect Jan Bel Jan, ASGCA, receives The President’s Award from Women in the Golf Industry at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show.

GCSAA Past President Stephen G. Cadenelli and turfgrass pathologists Bruce Clarke, Ph.D., and Bruce Martin, Ph.D., receive the 2014 GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Awards.

James D. McCurdy, Ph.D., assistant professor and turfgrass extension specialist at Mississippi State University, is named the winner of the 2014 Award of Excellence by the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation.

The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) names Golfdom columnist Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., the 2014 Plant Health Writer of the Year, and Brandon Horvath, Ph.D., the 2014 Environmental Communicator of the Year.

Danneberger’s award, sponsored by Bayer, sadly does not come with a lifetime supply of aspirin. Too bad, because that would actually help us when editing some of Dr. D’s headier columns.

The winter of ’13/’14 brings the polar vortex, with record cold and large amounts of ice, placing greens in peril. This prompts the USGA Green Section to come to superintendents’ aid with a webinar on winter injury. “It’s probably been the most difficult winter in 20 to 30 years,” says Bob Vavrek, senior agronomist for the Northeast region.

At the unofficial kickoff of the professional golf season, Bubba Watson becomes the 17th golfer to win multiple Masters, validating what he first accomplished in 2012. Watson withstood the challenges of 20-year-old Jordan Spieth and Sweden’s Jonas Blixt.

GCSAA president Keith Ihms, CGCS, tells Golfdom, “An opportunity to move to a new location and a new challenge… will be good for me both personally and professionally.” That new challenge arrives when he accepts the position of golf course maintenance manager at Bella Vista (Ark.) Village.

Talk about a banner year: the University of Maryland goes 2-for-2, winning both the Sports Turf Management Association (STMA) and GCSAA Turf Bowls. The team, made up of Brian Hogan, Matthew Park, Brent Waite and Ryan Higgins, is later rewarded with spots on the volunteer crew for the Player Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

But can any of these guys rebound or knock down the three? Coach Mark Turgeon and Terrapins fans around the country want to know.

We Are Golf, a coalition of the game’s leading associations and industry partners, returns to Capitol Hill for the seventh annual National Golf Day. Representatives of the game meet with members of Congress and discuss golf’s nearly $69 billion economic impact, $4 billion annual charitable impact and many environmental and fitness benefits.

Not mentioned in the meetings: the satisfaction we get when Mr. Senator three-putts from five feet.

Director of golf course and grounds maintenance Bob Farren, superintendent Kevin Robinson and his crew at Pinehurst No. 2 make history by hosting the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open on back-to-back weeks.

The course also makes U.S. Open history by being the first one in anyone’s memory to embrace fast and firm with partly brown fairways and virtually no conventional rough.

It proves to be a major success, with Martin Kaymer getting his second major by demonstrating a dazzling short game around Pinehurst’s famous greens, and Michelle Wie winning the Women’s Open for her first major after years of expectation.

In a video interview with GolfdomTV, architect Bill Coore laughs about the question he is most frequently asked in the days leading up to the U.S. Open: “Don’t you wish it would rain?” Because, you know — the brown spots were unintentional, right?

The first phase of the 2014 Rounds 4 Research fundraising program shows a 7-percent increase over 2013. More than 600 rounds of golf are sold during the online auction, producing $115,500 for turfgrass studies run by GCSAA’s Environmental Institute for Golf.

The 60th anniversary of E-Z-GO is celebrated. The company was founded in 1954 by brothers Bev and Billy Dolan in a one-room machine shop in Grovetown, Ga.

GCSAA and Par Aide award the 2014 Joseph S. Garske Collegiate Grants to Grant Wood Nair, Parker Esoda, Jacob Schaller, Abigail Gullicks and Colby Tarsitano.

By winning the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, Rory McIlroy becomes the third youngest golfer to achieve the third leg of the modern Grand Slam after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

He’s just the third Northern Irishman to win The Open, following Fred Daly in 1947 and Darren Clarke in 2011. McIlroy is also one of only seven players who have led outright over all four rounds since The Open was extended to 72 holes in 1892.

An iPhone video makes national news when it captures a car chase across a busy golf course. The chase, which takes place at Village Green GC in Moorhead, Minn., includes the suspect’s vehicle, police cars and even a police helicopter. Superintendent Rick Dauner tells Golfdom that no golfers were hurt, despite the course being “packed” at the time. It also causes surprisingly little damage, “Just tire depressions and skid marks,” he says.

Who knew that the green speed that day would eventually get to 50 miles per hour? Alternate joke: Why is it so hard for people to obey cart path only signs?

The Club Managers Association of America names Jeffrey D. Morgan, FASAE, CAE, its new CEO.

Bob Cook, superintendent at Walden on Lake Houston in Humble, Texas, is attacked by a man while sitting in his office during the normally quiet pre-dawn hours of the day, when most superintendents arrive to work.

The attacker punches Cook, drags him over his desk and demands his wallet. The commotion draws the attention of a co-worker who runs into Cook’s office armed with a bunker rake, causing the attacker to flee.

The attacker broke a basic rule: Don’t mess with Texas… golf course maintenance workers.

The Propane Education & Research Council announces it will partner with environmental nonprofit Audubon International to advance the use of clean, low-emission propane equipment.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton proclaims July 10th “Toro Day” in Minnesota as the company celebrates its 100th anniversary with more than 2,000 employees, retirees, channel and business partners.

Valhalla Golf Club Superintendent Roger Meier hosts the 96th PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky. Meier’s crew — which grew to 41 staff with 84 volunteers — worked long days and nights in preparation for the last major event of the year.

Storms rip through the area, dumping rain on the course during the tournament. Well equipped with the tools to get the job done, Meier and his team become the story as the television broadcast celebrates how fast the course went from a river to a playable golf course.

Strange moment of the tournament: on No. 18, McIlroy’s group is allowed to tee off and hit into the next group as daylight fades on Sunday. Thankfully, no golfers were hurt in the making of this finish. Feelings, however? Hard to say.

On a roll, Rory McIlroy closed out the PGA Championship with a 3-under 68 to become only the fourth player in the past century of golf to win four majors at 25 or younger. The others were Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones.

Ricky Fowler, who finished tied for third place, behind McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, became the first player in history to finish in the top five at all four majors without winning one.

Jacobsen awards scholarships to 27 college students throughout North America. The Jacobsen Turfgrass Scholarship, now in its third year, recognizes college seniors in turfgrass management or related discipline programs.

The second phase of the 2014 Rounds 4 Research fundraising program sells more than 200 rounds of golf and yields $30,891.

Syngenta announces that John Atkin, chief operating officer, will retire from the company at the end of 2014 and will be succeeded by Jon Parr, who has worked for Syngenta and its legacy companies since 1987.

Baltusrol becomes only the fourth golf facility to achieve National Historic Landmark status. The others: Pinehurst, Merion Golf Club and Oakmont Country Club. Past GCSAA President Mark Kuhns is director of grounds at Baltusrol, located in Springfield Township, N.J.

U.S. loses the Ryder Cup… again, 16.5 to 11.5. Then, in the final press conference, Phil Mickelson makes it clear that he thinks captain Tom Watson was a big part of the reason the U.S. group didn’t perform well.

Ted Bishop, PGA of America president, refers to Ian Poulter as a “lil girl” over social media for Poulter’s criticism of former Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo. The next day, the PGA Board of Directors votes to remove Bishop, the 38th PGA president, from office for what they describe as “insensitive gender-based statements.”

In the men’s locker room where we’re members, calling someone a “lil girl” would not be tolerated. Because we expect our smack talk to be much more biting and vulgar.

In the wake of the criticism over the Ryder Cup loss, The PGA of America creates an 11-member Ryder Cup Task Force, comprised of past captains, players and PGA of America leadership.

The Task Force, co-chaired by PGA Vice President Derek Sprague of Malone, N.Y., and PGA CEO Pete Bevacqua of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., will examine the entire Ryder Cup process, including the selection of United States Ryder Cup captains; the Ryder Cup points system; dates by which the team is determined; dates of captain’s selections; and the selection of vice captains.

Here’s an idea: scour Yahoo! Fantasy golf leagues for the best fantasy player in the nation. Tell him you want to bankroll his entry fee in a $1,000-per-team league. Then, sit back and enjoy.

Mike Fabrizio, superintendent at Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C., receives the Carolinas GCSA Distinguished Service Award.

Syngenta, in partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Business, hosts 25 superintendents for the Syngenta Business Institute. Participants learn financial management, human resources management, delegation skills, effective communication, negotiation tactics and more.

David Feherty, commentator for CBS and The Golf Channel, is named the featured speaker for the Golf Industry Show Closing Celebration, presented in partnership with John Deere Golf. A few weeks later, it’s announced legendary writer and author Dan Jenkins will be the recipient of the 2015 Old Tom Morris Award. Jenkins will accept this honor at the 2015 GIS.

In previous years we’ve been critical of the speakers at the GIS. This year? We just want to know the time and place, and if we can get backstage for the meet and greet!

Bobby McGee, the only superintendent to have hosted a men’s U.S. Open championship in Georgia, is one of three men inducted into the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Hall of Fame.

McGee, who passed away in 2005, prepared Atlanta Athletic Club for the U.S. Open in 1976. McGee is being inducted along with William Shirley, superintendent at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, and Ron Sinnock, who retired in 2005 after a nearly 40-year career in the business.

The World Golf Hall of Fame names four new members, including one of the game’s great architects.

Architect A.W. Tillinghast and golfers Laura Davies, David Graham and Mark O’Meara, are the class of 2015.

The 4th Annual Golfdom Summit, held at Reunion Resort in Orlando, brings 50 superintendents from around the country together for three days of networking, education and golf. Doug Ferguson, head golf writer for the Associated Press, is the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Pinehurst’s Bob Farren, Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., and Clark Throssell, Ph.D.

The meeting kicks off with a video message from billionaire Dick Yuengling, sole owner of D.G. Yuengling & Son Brewery, who thanks the superintendents for all they do for the great game of golf. “I hope you have a wonderful season in 2015, and I hope you get to enjoy a few Yuenglings along the way,” he says.

Thanks, Dick! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! To 2015, everyone!

Graphic: Golfdom