Lucky ’13: Golfdom’s year in review

Time again for our annual year in review. A look at who bet on black and won big in 2013, and who busted.

Like Dad always said, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” ¶ The number 13 may be considered unlucky by some, but as we look back, 2013 was definitely a lucky year for Golfdom. In the same year that we launched a major redesign of the magazine, we also met Arnold Palmer (see my worst,best  of 2013) and Billy Casper, enlisted Annika Sorenstam as a speaker for our Golfdom Summit, stayed mostly dry at the U.S. Open and maybe above all else… avoided falling into any sinkholes. ¶ So allow us a few pages to reminisce on the good times and bad times of 2013. As always, we hope you’ll accept our attempts at humor for what they are: attempts.

In January, NOAA scientists said the global average temperature for 2012 was the 10th warmest since record keeping began in 1880. It was also the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average annual temperature was 1976.

The contiguous United States had its warmest year since national records began in 1895, surpassing the previous record set in 1936 by 1.0°F (0.6°C).

Only the 10th warmest year since 1880? 2012, what a wimpy year.

A GCSAA dues increase was approved by the GCSAA membership at the association’s annual meeting. A dues increase of $25 for Class A and Superintendent (SM) members and $15 for Class C members passed by a 7,022 to 844 count, or an 88 percent margin.

We’re affiliate members, so we came out of this unscathed. Well, except for that one awkward moment when we were asked to leave the GCSAA building…

According to the National Golf Foundation, only 13.5 new golf courses (defined as 18-hole equivalents) opened in 2012 vs. 154.5 course closures. This marked the seventh straight year that more golf courses closed than opened in the U.S. Of those 154.5 golf courses that closed this past year, a disproportionate number of them were public facilities (68 percent of total closures).

At Annbriar GC in Waterloo, Ill., a golfer is swallowed whole by a 10-foot- wide sinkhole on the No. 14 fairway. Fortunately, the golfer is pulled from the hole with only minor injuries. Superintendent John Soetaert, CGCS, tells Golfdom, “I’ve been working on a golf course since 1986, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Moments before the golfer disappeared, he announced to his playing partner that he wished to “sink this in the hole.” Which leaves the question: what were his other two wishes?

The Toro Company extended its support of The Environmental Institute for Golf through its partnership with the “Rounds 4 Research” program. Toro presented a $50,000 ceremonial check to the EIFG at the 2013 Golf Industry Show.

Frank Lamphier; Ken Mangum, CGCS; Dennis Lyon, CGCS; and Roch Gaussoin, Ph.D., were given the 2013 GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award at the opening session of the 2013 GCSAA Education Conference.

Billy Casper, who grew up putting for nickels and dimes and hitting balls off ant hills before becoming one of golf’s leading money winners and most respected champions, was the recipient of NGCOA’s 2013 Award of Merit.

He also gets an honorary award from Golfdom for giving us a putting tip in 2013 that stuck with us all season long, earning us a few nickels and dimes.

American Society of Golf Course Architects past president Rees Jones was given the 2013 Donald Ross Award in April during the 67th ASGCA Annual Meeting. The award is named for ASGCA’s honorary first president, and is presented to an individual who has made a positive contribution to golf and golf course architecture.

Nufarm Americas acquires Cleary Chemical Corporation, a marketer of fungicides, insecticides and plant growth regulators to the turf and ornamental horticulture industries. “We are excited about the synergy and opportunity this move will bring,” says Darryl Matthews, general manager for Nufarm in North America. Nufarm will offer the entire line of Cleary products under the Cleary brand name.

Environmental Science, a division of Bayer CropScience LP, launches Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow, 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. The program includes in-person training for selected superintendent applicants, as well as plant health-focused demonstration courses, webinars and scholarships.

…and with this blurb, we’ve met our quota of “plant health” references for the issue. Sweet!

We Are Golf coalition members (CMAA, NGCOA, PGA of America and GCSAA) along with other industry participants, visited Washington, D.C., April 15th to 17th, to meet with a variety of individuals in making the case for golf. The message was loud and clear ­— golf is annually a $68.5 billion industry that employs more than 2 million people and generates $3.9 billion dollars each year for charitable purposes. Golf facilities provide communities economic, environmental, recreational and social benefits.

Next year, maybe the group can help out with Obamacare?

Eagles Pride GC on Washington state’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord is Audubon International’s 1,000th golf course to receive designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. The program provides technical assistance to help golf courses protect the environment, preserve golf’s natural heritage and gain recognition for those efforts. John Ford, CGCS, is the superintendent at Eagles Pride.

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic golf course commenced construction after numerous delays. Reportedly a dispute arose over whether the land would be used for a golf course or for housing. Once the dispute was settled, the necessary permits were issued and architect Gil Hanse began shaping course features for a course that will soon play host to the first Olympic golf competition since 1904. Because of the delays, Hanse estimates that construction will be done in the first half of 2014, and tournament-ready by 2015.

Just you wait: the villain of this story, the housing developer? He’ll still find a way to get invited to a luxury chalet to watch the tournament.

Toro unveils plans to expand its headquarters in Bloomington, Minn., with a 75,000-square-foot, three-story addition. The company reported profits of $78.4 million in the quarter, up from $68.8 million a year ago.

The expansion is scheduled for completion in the summer of next year. Toro moved to its Bloomington, Minn., location in 1952, opening a research and development facility, and later its headquarters in 1962.

Rain, rain and then more rain fell at the U.S. Open, contested at historic Merion GC in Ardmore, Pa. The first U.S. Open course to play at under 7,000 yards since 2004 (Shinnecock Hills,) many in the media feared golfers would go low. But Justin Rose won with a score of 1-over 281, with only five players in the 60s on Sunday.

With so much rain, the maintenance team, led my Matt Shaffer, found themselves thrust into the spotlight. “I feel bad for (the maintenance crew) because I know the worse the weather is, the more problems it causes for them,” Jim Furyk told Golfdom. “I’m sure they’re running 24/7 this week, trying to get this golf course in shape.”

It looked like Woodstock ’94 out there for a couple days. The other big winner, aside from Rose? Stores that had galoshes in stock.

Bob Blalock, superintendent at Lake Windcrest GC, Magnolia, Texas, and his wife diversified from the turf business by bottling and selling “Uncle Bob’s” brand of barbecue sauce, rubs and seasonings.

We would be happy to give a complete review on this barbecue sauce, but until we get a free sample in the mail…

Smithco Founder Ted Smith died at age 98. In 1967, he launched Smithco with one product, the Red Rider utility truck. More than 45 years later, Red Riders continue to be used on golf courses and athletic fields.

The R&A and the USGA, golf’s governing bodies, proposed changes to the Rules of Golf that would prohibit anchoring the club in making a stroke, beginning January, 1 2016. The proposed Rule 14-1b, which follows an extensive review by The R&A and the USGA, would prohibit strokes made with the club or a hand gripping the club held directly against the player’s body, or with a forearm held against the body to establish an anchor point that indirectly anchors the club.

Don’t feel bad for Adam Scott. He’s still got that green jacket. And the cool Australian accent. And $33 million in career earnings. And his good looks. And… you know what? Screw Adam Scott!  

John Deere Golf and The First Tee launched a “Careers on Course” program. Teenage participants at three First Tee chapters got the chance to explore several aspects of a career in golf course management and the science of agronomy through a new program sponsored by John Deere, who in February announced a $1 million commitment to The First Tee over a five-year period.

Golf Digest, the USGA and the PGA of America launch Time for Nine initiative to support more nine-hole rounds. “Five-hour-plus rounds of golf are incompatible with the compressed time that many of us have available for recreational activities,” said USGA President Glen D. Nager. “Time for Nine is a fun and creative start to promoting the nine-hole round of golf as a complete and enjoyable experience that is consistent with the traditions of playing the game.”

After 33 years of service to the state of California and golf course superintendents, sports turfgrass managers, landscape professionals and homeowners throughout the U.S and in many other countries, Ali Harivandi, Ph.D., retires from the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Spectrum Technologies Inc. and the USGA launched the TruFirm turf firmness meter that measures the firmness of turf and bunker sands. The patented system utilizes an impact hammer that mimics the shape of a golf ball to better simulate golf ball impacts.  The mass is dropped from a consistent height and the maximum turf penetration value is recorded and correlated to the surface firmness.

Finally, a product that helps with firmness that doesn’t make us blush and blurt out, “I don’t know anything about that…”

In September the turfgrass industry mourned the loss of two iconic figures.

Dr. James Watson, who spent 46 years at The Toro Company and spearheaded significant turf and water management research, was 92. Charles G. Wilson, who pioneered the USGA Green Section, was 93.

Watson received GCSAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1983 and the Old Tom Morris Award in 1995. Wilson established the first regional Green Section office in Davis, Calif., in 1952. He was the first full-time turfgrass consultant.

California Golf Course Owners Association bestowed Canyon Lake resident Ted Horton with the inaugural “CGCOA Ted Horton Distinguished Service Award.” The award is the first honor in the history of the CGCOA that pays tribute in its title to a specific individual.

Our editorial director, Marty Whitford, has an award named in his honor. It’s given to the person who can eat the most funnel cakes in 10 minutes at the Uinita (Wyo.) County Fair. 

GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans reached the snow-covered summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. For those who are counting, that is 19,341 feet above sea level. As promised, Evans brought a GCSAA GOlf Championship flag to leave behind at the summit. He also his a couple golf balls (with a GCSAA logo, of course) from, as he said “the roof of Africa.”

Evans joins the company of the Dalai Lama by hauling off and whacking one into a 10,000-foot crevasse. “Big hitter, Evans, long…”

Renowned turfgrass icon Joseph M. Duich, Ph.D., passed away Oct. 11 in State College, Pa.

Duich, recipient of GCSAA’s Old Tom Morris Award in 2006 and Distinguished Service Award in 1976, was professor emeritus of turfgrass science at Penn State.

A.J. Powell, Ph.D., a pioneering turfgrass researcher from the University of Kentucky and the driving force behind the university’s turfgrass program passed away October 30. In 2011, the university named its turfgrass research center in his honor.

Talk about a good year: World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam was named winner of GCSAA’s Old Tom Morris Award and also named “First Lady of Golf” by the PGA of America.

That’s cool and all, but we’re thinking her highlight might still be speaking at this month’s Golfdom Summit. OK, maybe that’ll just be our highlight of the year.

Bill Engvall, one of the world’s top and busiest comedians, was named headliner of the 2014 GIS Closing Celebration in Orlando.

We say bravo, GCSAA, for nabbing a speaker who will get people to stick around. Also, can you ask Mr. Engvall to help us with the jokes for this feature next year?