EVENTS THE FRONT OFFICE ~ ~ CALENDAR OPINION PAGE MARCH A RENEWED COMMITMENT TO SERVICE 19 Spotts Turf Institute and Grounds Oper- nFebruary, without fanfare or ceremony, ations Conference, Cal Poly, Pomona, Denne Goldstein typed the last words of his CA.Contact Kent Kurtz, Dept.of Horticulture, Icolumn in this issue, flipped off his computer, Cal Poly University,Pomona, CA91768, (714) shook everyone's hand, and left the office for the 869-2219. final time. He could barely speak, something un- Sports Turf Conference and usual for a man who never hesitates to voice his 21 - 22 Show, Joe Robbie Stadium, opinions. Miami,FL. Contact Ed Birch (305) 928-0217 Personally, Denne was a friend and yet my or John Mascaro (305) 928-7477. greatest critic. He gave me an opportunity to turn ideas into a tangible, hopefully useful product, this APRIL magazine. Not many people have the gumption to Southeastern Turfgrass Confer- turn words into action. Denne did and put his 15- 16 ence, Georgia Coastal Plain Ex- money where his mouth was. periment Station, Tifton, GA.Contact: Univer- Working for Denne must have been like playing for Lombardi. He always sity of Georgia, College of Agriculture, Coastal wanted more out of his team and kept the pressure on. He thrives on pressure Plain Station, Tifton, GA 31793, (912)386- and expects others to do so as well. 3353. In retrospect, that is the type of drive necessary to launch a magazine in the turf industry. There is no draft in the publishing business. You start off at the MAY bottom and compete for the attention of every reader and advertiser. We have North Carolina Turf and Landscape been bucking tradition for almost six years trying to expose the common bonds 15 Field Day, Turf Field Center, Raleigh, between the golf industry and the recreational turf industry. We do this every NC. Contact R.H. White, NCSU, P.O. Box month, not once or twice a year like our competitors. 7620, Raleigh, NC 27695-7620, (919) 737- Denne's record speaks for itself. Five magazines in 13 years is a tremendous 7615. accomplishment! Few people contribute so much in such a relatively short period of time. JUNE One of his final acts as publisher was to make sure that Golf & sportsTURF Annual Turfgrass Summerfest, and its four sister publications would continue to serve their readers for years to 24 - 25 Washington State University come. He was very selective about to whom he sold the company. More than once Puyallup Research and Extension Center, he walked away from an offer on the table. Puyallup, WA. Contact Northwest Turfgrass Last year, he was approached by Adams Communications Company, a com- Association, P.O. Box 1367, Olympia, WA pany established on a long family tradition of strong management and quality 98507, (206) 754-0825. products and services. Steve Adams, owner of the company, wanted to create a trade magazine division to go along with a network of consumer magazines, JULY television and radio stations, and outdoor advertising companies. Just before Turfgrass Field Day, South Farm, Uni- Christmas, after months of careful negotiations, the contract was signed. 29 versity of Missouri, Columbia, MO.Con- To make sure Gold Trade Publications receives the attention it deserves, tact Missouri Valley Turfgrass Association, Adams assigned the job of publisher to his son, Mark. For the past three months, 344 Hearnes Center, University of Missouri, he has been working seven days a week, 14 hours a day, to provide a smooth Columbia, MO 65211, (314) 882-4087. transition. Golf & sportsTURF is in good hands. Mark and I are committed to you, the NOVEMBER reader. We want to hear from you, share your ideas with others, make changes Southern Groun.ds & Turf Mainte- you would like us to make, and serve your needs. 19- 2 0 nance Exposition and Confer- We will be attending shows across the country, visiting your facilitks,· and ence, MyrtleBeach Convention Center, Myrtle producing the best magazine we can. In other words, we are going to get more Beach, SC. Contact: South Carolina Board for involved than ever before in order to serve you the best way we can. Techical & Comprehensive Education, III We invite you to write or call with your suggestions, your news, your events, Executive Center Drive, Columbia, SC 29210, (803) 737-9355. and comments. Golf & sportsTURF is your magazine. We simply put it together for you. The changes here at Gold Trade Publications are positive ones. Let me assure you that we are dedicated to serving your needs today and long into the future. Send announcements on your events two months in advance to editor, Golf & SportsTURF, P. 0. Box 8420, Van Nuys, CA 91409. Fax: (818) 781-8517. March, 1990 11 or30 years, Bud Koehnke held onto Osceola County Stadium & Sports Complex his dream of making the majors. FSince he was 17 years old, when a minor league scout for the St. Louis Browns signed the adolescent pitcher dur- Koehnke Blends ing a tryout camp in his home town of Appleton, WI, Koehnke worked his way toward the Big Leagues. Experience And "I was a thrower, not a pitcher," Koehnke jokes today. After stints with the Browns and the Cincinnati Reds in cities Innovation At such as Pittsburgh, KS, Wellsville, NY,Ab- erdeen, SO, and Knoxville, TN, his playing career ended. "Four years in the minors Astros Spring gave me some strong feelings about base- ball facilities," he adds. "I appreciate what ballplayers contend with and have been Training Center fortunate to be able to do something about it." Had Koehnke remained a player, he might not have been part of a major over- haul in spring baseball training facilities. His hard work for the Houston Astros at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimee, FL, has earned his facility the 1990 Baseball Diamond of the Year Award in the profes- 12 Golf& SportsTURF sional category, the closest thing baseball ida. We pulled up stakes and moved there mer player and pitching coach, liked his groundskeepers have to the Hall of Fame. in 1980." resolve. DeFlon found it a bit unsettling. Koehnke, in conjunction with HOK Upon arriving in Orlando, Koehnke Both are pleased today with the product Sports Facilities Group in Kansas City, MO, called Calvin Griffith, owner of the Twins at Koehnke has delivered to the Astros for the designed and built the stadium field and the time. Tinker Field had gone downhill. past eight years. four practice diamonds in 1984. Osceola Griffith invited him to bring the field back Actually, Koehnke is quite open-minded. County essentially upped the ante for com- to life. He is loyal to products that work for him, munities trying to attract professional base- "It was my first exposure to yet is willing to try new techniques. He ball clubs and their tourist fans. The 60-acre berrnudagrass and mole crickets," he ad- welcomes suggestions from his crew and site has enabled the Astros to consolidate mits. Koehnke credits much of his success his suppliers. When he tries something spring training of both their Major and at Tinker to the assistance of Dr. Wayne new, he solicits comments from the players Minor League clubs, provided a home for a Mixson, manager of the O.M.Scotts South- and coaches on the results. In fact, he is single-A Florida League farm team, and east Research and Development facility in constantly experimenting with new equip- served as a base for fall instructional Apopka, FL. "Dr. Mixson was a tremendous ment and chemicals. leagues. The facility is dedicated year-round help in building a fertility program, offering After all, if he was set in his ways, it's to player development and meets all the advice about overseeding, and making sug- doubtful that Osceola County Stadium & requirements of professional baseball. gestions on how to control mole crickets," Sports Complex would be what it is today, "Osceola started a trend in spring train- adds Koehnke. I'He gave me time to con- a model for many new spring training facil- ing facilities," states Rick deFlon, senior centrate on other problems like the infield ities from Arizona to Florida. HOK has vice president of HOK. "In 1983, when the dirt, compaction, thatch, and the playability since designed three more spring training Astros were in Coco [FL], half of their of the field. spring training games were rained out. "For example, if you're a pitcher, the They started looking at other facilities in mound is your office," he states. "If the Florida. Andy McPhail and Al Rosen [owner pitching rubber is off by four inches or the and general manager respectively] put to- landing area is too loose, the office is gether specific ideas based on what they wrong. I've seen cases where the bases saw and what they'd like if they could start were off by two feet and no one caught it. from scratch. Osceola had been talking with It's the groundskeeper's job to keep an eye the Cubs." on those things." The Astros and Osceola got together Inside of three years, Koehnke had Tin- and brought in the newly-formed Sports ker Field back to specs, had established Facilities Group of HOK to turn their ideas schedules for all maintenance practices, into reality. DeFlon was assigned the chal- and had added a number of extra tech- Stadium field at the Osceola Complex. lenge of creating a prototype for future niques that impressed the Twins' manage- spring training facilities. "It was one of ment. Rosen became aware of the complexes in Florida with features common HOK's first big ventures in sports facility improvement at Tinker Field under to Osceola: nearby Baseball City for the architecture," he adds.