Bayer CropScience names Plant Health Academy participants

Environmental Science, a division of Bayer CropScience, announced the inaugural class of golf course superintendents selected to participate in the Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow Plant Health Academy. The 12 GCSAA member superintendents who will attend the 2013-14 Academy sessions are:

Chad B. Corp, CGCS – Crystal Mountain Resort, Thompsonville, Mich.;
Anthony M. Girardi, CGCS – Rockrimmon Country Club, Stamford, Conn.;
Jeffrey E. Holliday, CGCS – Salisbury Country Club, Midlothian, Va.;
Ralph J. Kepple, CGCS – East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Ga.;
Andy Klein, Class A – Falcon Lakes Golf Course, Basehor, Kan.;
Joseph A. Lasher, CGCS – The Resort at the Mountain, Welches, Ore.;
Eric R. McPherson, CGCS – Omaha Country Club, Omaha, Neb.;
Matthew H. Miller, Class A – Carey Park Golf Course, Hutchinson, Kan.;
Jeffrey L. Seeman, Class A – Calverton Links, Calverton, N.Y.;
Brian J. Stiehler, CGCS – Highlands Country Club, Highlands, N.C.;
Douglas A. Vogel, Class A – Packanack Golf Club, Wayne, N.J.; and
W. Craig Weyandt, Class A – The Moorings Yacht & Country Club, Vero Beach, Fla.

“We are honored by the caliber of applications we received from superintendents with a demonstrated commitment to plant health,” said Scott Welge, head of marketing for Bayer’s Professional Turf & Ornamental (T&O) Business. “Bayer has a rich history of innovation and pioneered the T&O industry’s first plant health solutions more than two decades ago, with the development of StressGard Formulation Technology (FT). The Academy is an opportunity to continue driving the research that will support the next generation of plant health solutions.”

The Plant Health Academy consists of a two-part immersive plant health curriculum for Class A or Superintendent Members of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). The Academy sessions will involve in-the-field training at the Bayer Development and Training Center in Clayton, N.C., Sept. 25-27, and classroom training at GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., March 3-5, 2014.

Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow is a multi-faceted program aimed at advancing plant health research and education for superintendents to help ensure the health of their courses – and the industry – for the future. In addition to the Plant Health Academy, the Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow program also includes plant health-related webinars, demonstration courses and scholarships. Two Plant Health Demonstration Courses have been selected to serve as “living labs” to generate data and case studies on plant health that will feed into the Academy. Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, Pa., was chosen to represent the Cool Season region, and the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., was selected to represent the Warm Season region.

Bayer will invest a percentage of StressGard FT product sales, a minimum of $300,000 over three years, to fund Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow, and to support the mission of the GCSAA’s Environmental Institute for Golf. StressGard FT, a technology now featured in four Bayer fungicides including Tartan, Chipco Triton Flo, Interface, and Chipco Signature, helps fortify natural plant defenses and promote plant growth, according to the company.