Number 2 Par 4, 407 yards Westview C.C. Photo by Daniel Zelazek WESTVIEW COUNTRY CLUB Everything Old is New Again By Joel Jackson, CGCS Championship, Cyril Walker housing facility for U.S. Navy won the U.S. Open, Dorothy wives during World War II, and This Summer issue gave Campbell Hurd won the U.S. it is said that during Prohibition me the chance once again to Women’s Open and steel-shafted notorious gangster Al Capone travel in time back to the days golf clubs became legal in the once used part of the club as a of the Florida Land Boom of the United States. casino and speakeasy. Later in Roaring 20s and to the begin- It was also the year that the 1954, Westview also hosted an ning of the golden age of golf. Westview Country Club was international dinner celebrating It was in 1924 that established. the sixth anniversary of Israel’s won his first U.S. Amateur title, The clubhouse, a Miami becoming a nation. The din- won the PGA landmark, once was used as a ner was held in honor of James COVER STORY

Course Facts

Westview Country Club Grounds Maintenance Staff.

The Westview Fairways: Tifway 419 with off-types. 25 Key Personnel: Hector Garcia, assistant acres. HOC 0.450-.500 No overseeding. superintendent; Ernie Hamilton, equip- Country Club Roughs: Tifway 419 with off-types, includ- ment technician; Justin Hawkins, pest ing areas of St. Augustinegrass. 45 acres. control technician (Hawkins is leaving Location: North Miami HOC 1.5-2.0 No overseeding. to become assistant superintendent at Ownership: Private, member owned Bunkers: 59. Machine raked with Toro Emerald Hills) Playing policy: Private Sand Pro with brushes and hand-rake Communications: Crew meeting as need- Holes, yardage, ratings: 18, 6800 yards, perimeters ed; department head meetings biweekly par 72, 73.5/136 Native/Waste areas: 5 acres of mulched in season; Green Committee meetings Club established in 1924. Designed by waste areas planted with fakahatchee, monthly. Mark Manhannah in 1956 and re-designed muhly and cord grasses. We have stock- Cultural Programs: Aerifying – Greens by Kip Schulties in 2000. piled our own mulch from chipping up the 4x/year; tees and fairways 2x/year with Management: Jeffery Herzfeld, president; hurricane-damaged trees. supplemental slicing of fairways during Steve Kaplin, green chairman; Louis Waterways: 30 acres. Most of the lakes winter. Verticutting – Greens monthly and Garcell, club manager; Rob McDonald, and ponds are tidal. Maintained by Lake tees annually. Topdress greens biweekly. head golf professional; Jason Bagwell, golf Masters twice a month. Pest Control/IPM: Spot-treat mole-cricket course superintendent Irrigation: Surface water from the lakes. outbreaks with Top Choice. Spot-treat Major Renovations/Ongoing Projects: Flowtronex VFD pump. Toro Osmac nematode weak areas with Nemacur – Bunker renovations after Hurricane Wilma; control system with Site Pro software. usually no more than six bags a year. Apply laser leveling tees, replacing trees lost in Approximately 550 Toro 750 and 785 pre-emergent weed control 3x/year. hurricanes; renovating driving range (add- heads. Turf management challenges: Different ing irrigation and target greens) Water Management/Conservation: soil types in pockets throughout the course Total acres: 120, 100 under maintenance Minimal daytime watering except hand create challenges for uniform moisture and Greens: TifEagle. 5800 SF avg., 3.25 acres. watering of greens as needed. nutrient management. HOC 0.090-0.110 winter; 0.110-0.120 sum- Staff: Total including superintendent is 20 Noteworthy: The club celebrated its 80th mer; Stimp goal 9.5-plus. No overseeding. year round, counting one part time. Weekly anniversary in 2004. was Tees: Tifway 419 with three tees in budget per person 40 hours straight time; the first head pro and in the 1980s Bruce TifSport. 3.0 acres. HOC 0.450-0.500 year overtime only as needed for renovations or Fliescher was the director of golf before round. No overseeding. emergencies becoming a star on the PGA Senior Tour.

2 2 THE FLORIDA GREEN MacDonald, the first U. S. Ambassador to Israel. For more than 80 years, Westview Country Club has been associated with thousands of charity golf tournaments, golf outings and other fund-raising events. In addition there have been the countless weddings, receptions, engage- ment parties, fashion shows, birthday parties, theme parties, Grand Balls, din- ner dances and numerous holiday and seasonal parties. A lot of lives have passed through the doors of Westview over time, and the overlying connection has always been golf. Westview’s first head golf professional was Gene Sarazen, who hosted Miami’s inaugural Pro-Am Golf Tournament in 1927. Another head professional in the 1980s was Bruce Fleischer, who went on to become the leading money winner on the PGA Senior Tour. With its notable achievements and golden moments captured in the history books, Westview stepped confidently into the 21st century by embracing Kip Schulties’ new 6,800-yard championship design in 2000, molded from the rem- nants of the original design by Mark Mahannah built 50 years ago. Westview is located on NW 119th Street, less than five miles west from Upper Biscayne Bay and 13 miles east of the Dade-Broward Levee that marks the eastern border of the Everglades. Many of the lakes and ponds on the golf course have tidal flow as a meandering waterway connects the Biscayne Canal to the north to the Little River Canal to

SUMMER 2006 2 3 COVER STORY

the south. Both of these canals have outfalls on Biscayne Bay. Because of those connections, Superintendent Jason Bagwell, a 32- year old graduate of the University of Florida turf science program, pays special attention to his course management programs, ever mind- ful of his environmental stewardship responsibilities. Bagwell says, “We only spot-treat for mole crickets and nematode outbreaks. We don’t make any full course applications of those pesticides. I personally apply all our bulk fertilizer applications so I know where the product is going down.” Another reminder of the waterway connections to the bay was a group of manatees frolicking in the large lake that borders the first, second and ninth holes. Bagwell said, “Every year we get a group of manatees in the lake. Evidently they come up here to Number 1 is a 336-yard, par 4. Some of the trees in the background show the effects mate. They aren’t very skittish either. of Hurricane Wilma on the landscape. Photo by Daniel Zelazek. When they are nibbling on the tor-

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Superintendent Facts Jason Bagwell fields with my best friend’s fam- ily. We both went to turf school Originally From: at NC State, but when my family Hendersonville, NC moved to Florida I transferred Family: Wife Kathleen and to UF. daughter Sarah (6 months) Mentors: I attribute my success Education: BS in turf science to my grandfather for teaching from the University of Florida. me hard work ethics and to Bob I was the first graduate in turf Harper at The Club at Emerald science from the program at Hills for my golf course manage- the Ft. Lauderdale Research & ment style. Education Center. Goals: To become a certified Employment History: 1998- golf course superintendent and 2002: assistant superintendent at to continue giving back to the The Club at Emerald Hills. 2002- Jason Bagwell industry through our associations both present: superintendent Westview locally and nationally. Country Club How did you get into the business? Work philosophy: Lead by example, Professional Affiliations: Member of During high school in North Carolina always be on time, and be professional at the GCSAA. Held all offices on the South began working at a nursery and many all levels of business. Florida GCSA board. Will become presi- landscape side jobs. I spent a lot of time Hobbies: Playing golf, fishing, and snow- dent for 2006-07 later this year. farming 50-70 acres of corn and bean boarding trips during the winter.

pedograss along the edge of the lake I “Including the manatees and iguanas and took out the new and saved trees, can almost walk up and pet them.” that you saw, we have alligators (not we decided to replant with a variety Westview’s irrigation comes from a problem thus far), raccoons, pos- that has a better track record, like the the surface water in these lakes and sum, fox, squirrels and a full range of native palms.” ponds, so Bagwell uses Tom Burrows bird species.” I saw a variety of wading Hurricane damage recovery experi- Turfgrass Services for soil and water birds and perching birds as we rode the ence wasn’t in Bagwell’s resume when sampling to make sure salinity, pH and course. Bagwell said they also have a lot he came to Westview four years ago in nutrient levels are managed properly of rose-cheeked parakeets which have 2002 after spending four years at The for healthy turf growth. become fairly common on many golf Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood The manatee sighting followed on courses from Miami to Naples up to the as an assistant superintendent with the heels of my first encounter with St. Petersburg area. Bob Harper. It wasn’t until the 2004 live iguanas on the second tee and The ride through on the course season that hurricanes began pummel- bridge where I counted a total of five also revealed remnants of damage ing south Florida with multiple storms. of the marine lizards. Ranging in color from Hurricane Wilma. Tall stumps of However, Bagwell does credit Harper from shades of grey and tan and bright Australian pine trees still lean to the with helping to develop his course green, these reptiles chose to scamper northeast. giving away the direction of management skills. away at our passing. I did manage to the winds and the location of the eye as Harper is a formidable low-handicap snap a shot of two of them on the for- the storm passed through south Florida golfer who has captured several indi- ward tee. last year. Bagwell has kept one or two vidual trophies for his play in statewide Since Westview was built 82 years half-uprooted specimens intact for superintendent tournaments. Some ago, it isn’t hard to imagine that the rest show and tell for the insurance adjust- of that skill must also have rubbed off of North Miami built up all around it. ers who come by and may be new to on Bagwell (a 6 handicap) too, since So when I located the course by logging the area. Without a tangible example of he joined his old boss on the winning on to Google Earth, the aerial view the damage, they question some of the South Florida GCSA teams for the clearly shows the golf course as one of ongoing claims for repairs and restora- FGCSA Championship last September the few large parcels of green space left tion costs. One easy call for Bagwell and the Poa Classic Championship in densely populated residential and was to replace the damaged ficus trees this past May in Naples. Bagwell’s golf industrial surroundings. Little wonder with groves of palm trees. He said, “We credentials help drive him to strive for Bagwell reports a significant wildlife tried to save the ficus knocked down perfection on the greens at Westview. inventory for such an urban location, by Katrina. After Wilma came through Says Bagwell, “I have a stimp meter

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Number 11 is a 171-yard par 3. The tidal creek, left, in front of the white tees connects the lakes and ponds. Photo by Daniel Zelazek.

in the office, and I will post a number heads, leaks, etc, cans of spray paint when they want one for special events. and a 1.5-gallon hand sprayer for spot But I can chip or putt the greens while treating weeds. Also in the back of the making my rounds and tell that they cart was a hose with a quick coupler, are rolling well.” a soil probe, a small diameter yardage While the stimpmeter may be stand- wheel, spare traffic control stakes and ing in a corner of the office in the two golf clubs – wedges I think. In the maintenance building, Bagwell says his dashboard was a collection of found real office is his utility vehicle. “I’m a golf balls all used for checking green hands-on superintendent, so when I say speed and shot-holding ability of the I spend most of my time in my office, greens I assure you. people look at me kind of funny. What I was amazed to learn that Bagwell’s I mean of course is that I’m mostly on use of Nemacur on greens only as spot the course during the day. When I visit treatments consumes six bags a year other superintendents I’m always eye- and, while I didn’t get a total count of balling what tools they carry in their his Top Choice consumption, it was by vehicles.” the bag and only mole-cricket hot spots For the record, I took inventory of are treated. With such a focus in the Bagwell’s “office” and it contained: a media on activists’ fears of runoff and raincoat stashed behind the seats, a leaching of pesticides and fertilizers, small tool box for hand tools (pliers, it’s nice to know Bagwell is trying to Number 3 is a 543-yard, par-5 dogleg screwdrivers, etc), two milk crates con- do the right thing as part of his normal around a large lake where manatees taining a hand sprayer, traffic-control practices. congregate each year. Photo by Daniel signs, two bottles of top dressing for (Photo feature page 30. Text continues Zelazek divots, irrigation flags for marking page 34)

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Clumps of red and white firecracker bushes mixed with Mexican petunias shown here alternate with dwarf bougain- villea beds to provide beautiful splashes of perennial color Jason Bagwell’s office-on-wheels. Photo by Joel Jackson. behind the 11th green. Photo by Joel Jackson.

Two of the five iguanas seen on the second hole at Westview. This leaning remnant of an Australian pine is kept as reminder to insurance adjusters that Photo by Joel Jackson. there was a lot of damage during Hurricane Wilma. Photo by Joel Jackson.

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I have tried to recruit other young Fun Facts superintendents in my age group, but they seem to be reluctant to step up and I’m sorry to say I really don’t know why.

While earning his spurs and learning the ropes as a head super- intendent, Bagwell has not just been taking from his peers without giving something back. This young superin- tendent has already put in more than four years on the South Florida GCSA board and has rotated through all the chairs from director to vice presi- dent. Look for Bagwell to become the next president of the South Florida Chapter at their annual meeting later this summer. And to add to Bagwell’s range of Jason loves boating and fishing. Here he is with a sailfish caught off Costa Rica. new experiences, the fact that he is the proud father of a six-month-old 1. Vehicle: Ford F150 4x4. Page – lead singer for Led Zepplin. daughter Sarah. Says Bagwell, “So far 2. Last good movie I saw: Wedding 12. My fantasy is: Owning a yacht. Kathleen has been carrying most of Crashers. 13. The one thing I can’t stand: the new baby load – feeding, chang- 3. I stay home to watch: Golf Golfers not obeying cart rules for the ing, etc, but I know it won’t be long Central. day. before my life will change signifi- 4. The book I’ve been reading: Life 14. If I could change one thing about cantly as we get more involved as she In and Out of The Rough by John myself: Take better care of my body. grows up.” Daly. 15. Most humbling experience: Birth Bagwell is also an avid fisherman 5. Favorite meal: Steak and Florida of my daughter. and scuba diver. His 25-foot boat is lobster – on my grill. 16. The words that best describe me: set up as a fishing machine, but it also 6. Favorite performers: A dolphin Impatient. has a small cuddy cabin so the fam- (gamefish) on the end of my line. 17. My dream foursome would be: ily can get out of the weather when 7. Prized possessions: Our new Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, Tiger needed. In fact Bagwell was slated to daughter Sarah (6 months old). Woods and me. attend a captain’s meeting later that 8. Personal heroes: . 18. My best fish story: Long before week for the Palm Beach GCSA’s 9. Nobody knows that I: Can still cell phones – getting dropped off annual chapter fishing tournament. ride a skateboard pretty well. with two friends for a 3-day hiking Fishing is almost universally a get- 10. I’m better than anyone else when and trout fishing trip and forgetting away activity of Sunshine State super- it comes to: Problem solving. my fishing rod in the car. intendents. 11. I’d give anything to meet: Jimmy Since participation and volunteerism across the industry has been down in enough time were among the many with other superintendents has been recent years I asked Bagwell if he had reasons. a fantastic education you can’t get any any insights into the problem. He said, For Bagwell, it was obvious very other way. Meeting people who become “I have tried to recruit other young early in his career that there was friends and contacts in the business has superintendents in my age group, but extraordinary value in attending super- been very worthwhile.” they seem to be reluctant to step up intendent meetings, conferences and There’s no question that most suc- and I’m sorry to say I really don’t know trade shows. “Don’t get me wrong, the cessful superintendents have had the why.” We surmised that lack of confi- formal education and speakers are good support of their general manager, club dence in being away from the job site and necessary for PDI points, but what president and green chairman. And and worn-out excuse of not having I learned just talking and networking the best of the best make sure they

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Number 18 is a 525-yard, par 5. The majestic 82-year-old clubhouse in the background is a North Miami landmark. Photo by Daniel Zelazek.

cultivate excellent working relation- stay on the leading edge of technology ing he purchased a fertigation system ships with other department heads. and information that can in turn help to spoon-feed the turf and keep the For Bagwell, one of the key persons at the club to be successful. It is not a new desired color during the winter season. Westview is the General Manager Louis formula for success, but one that often Meanwhile the golfers were not incon- Garcell, who has been at the club since seems to get lost in the shuffle at many venienced by preparing the greens for 1976 when he started as a waiter. He clubs. seeding or the daily syringing to keep is a consummate professional and he One example of how Westview the seed damp during establishment. demonstrated his respect for his fellow gained an advantage by having an And in the spring, there were no thin employees as he rose through the ranks active superintendent was last year’s greens or ragged looking fairways and from waiter to maitre d’ to assistant decision not to overseed the golf roughs from transition. The experiment manager and eventually general man- course. Bagwell learned at meetings born out of networking conversations ager. that more and more clubs were not was successful and it was a win for all Garcell has regular meetings with overseeding and he presented the idea concerned. Bagwell to ensure all things are in order to his club. The main resistance to Bagwell was happy to see that on the course, but he respects Bagwell’s the idea came from golfers who really Westview took the big-picture view at knowledge of turf management and enjoyed seeing those striped fairways his idea. He was also pleased to know allows him to do his job, which is tend- during the winter. But with the oppor- that club has a history of longevity for ing to the golf course and clubhouse tunity to save significant dollars in most of its employees including former grounds. seed, labor, watering and chemical superintendents and certainly Garcell’s By supporting Bagwell’s involve- costs, the club agreed to give it a try. tenure is almost legendary in country- ment in superintendent meetings and Bagwell had his mowers burn-in club circles these days. With more new association activities, Garcell is ensur- the stripes by mowing the same pat- members joining the club, it’s not a case ing that Westview’s superintendent will tern in the bermudagrass fairways of them having to learn the old ways as be in the company of the region’s most until the stripes were established. With much as it is that everything old is new successful turf managers and he will some of the savings from not overseed- again.

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