Ohioans present first environmental award

Dr. Mike Hurdzan

Mike Hurdzan, Ph.D., managing partner of Hurdzan Golf, earned the first Environmental Stewardship Award presented at this year’s annual meeting by the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation (OTF). The award is part of a new OTF program aimed at recognizing a member, faculty researcher or corporation that made an impact on environmental programs leading to better stewardship.

Hurdzan, arguably the world’s preeminent authority on environmental golf course design, is a Buckeye native with a Ph.D. from the University of Vermont where he studied the environmental effects of plant physiology. He got his B.S. in turfgrass management in 1966 as a member of the first group graduating in that major from the Ohio State University.

Following career service as a Special Forces Lt. Commander in the U.S. Army, he then made improving golf course sustainability his lifetime passion.

The award, given to Hurdzan on December 4, was the second major honor he received this year. In February, the GCSAA honored him with its Old Tom Morris Award for his outstanding work.