PUBLICATION OF THE CAROLINAS GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION CAROLINAS greenMAY - JUNE 2015 In Through The Out Door: Thrall Returns On Bentgrass Plus A Father and Son Slam Gehrisch is Supt. of Year www.carolinasgcsa.org JohnDeere.com/Golf There has never been a better time to get on the green. Call us to demo our full-line of equipment, including our A Model mowers! Now is the perfect time to see how John Deere Golf can take your course maintenance to a whole new level. From tee to green, we have the machines that have set the benchmark for excellence in the industry. And that’s only part of what we have to offer. So call us today for a demo and see fi rsthand how we can make a difference on your course. Some of the lightest mowers in their class, Our rough, trim and surrounds mowers greatly Our new A-Model PrecisionCut and E-Cut our SL PrecisionCut™ and E-Cut Hybrid increase efficiency and trimming capability. Hybrid Fairway Mowers give you more walk-behinds allow effortless turning and From reels to rotary decks, we have you control and better results, thanks to our better engagement with the turf. covered in the rough and surrounds. revolutionary TechControl display. REVELS TURF AND TRACTOR SHOWTURF GREENVILLE TURF AND TRACTOR NC, SC, VA, WV Hilton Head, SC Piedmont, SC 800-849-5469 888-746-8873 866-485-8873 RevelsTractor.com ShowTurf.com GreenvilleTurf.com OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS President William E. Kennedy, CGCS Chechessee Creek Club CAROLINAS Bluffton, SC (843) 987-2740 green [email protected] Vice-President David Lee Hope Valley Country Club COLUMNS AND DEPARTMENTS Durham, NC (919) 489-4308 4 President’s Message [email protected] 6 Executive Director’s Message Secretary-Treasurer P. Adam Charles 8 The Pat Jones Index The Preserve at Verdae 12 Turf Talk Greenville, SC (864) 676-1515 17 Headliners [email protected] 22 Assistant Superintendents Immediate Past-President W. Brian Powell, CGCS Column Old Chatham Golf Club 36 Local Association News Cary, NC (919) 361-1401 18 42 Industry News [email protected] 48 Members and Friends Directors Danny B. Allen 50 The Clean Up Lap Camden Country Club Camden, SC (803) 432-5450 [email protected] NEWS AND FEATURES John W. “Billy” Bagwell 18 Hope Valley Wrap Up Callawassie Island Club Okatie, SC (843) 987-2131 21 Assistants Gather at Poole [email protected] 23 Thrall Comes Back on Bentgrass Robert A. Daniel, III, CGCS RiverTowne Country Club Mount Pleasant, SC 30 Gehrisch Judged Best of Year (843) 849-2400 Ext 2417 23 [email protected] 31 Father and Son Enjoy Major Chris DeVane Journey Forsyth Country Club Winston-Salem, NC 32 Carolinas GCSA at GIS (336) 760-8191 [email protected] W. Scott Kennon, CGCS Myers Park Country Club Charlotte, NC (704) 529-5393 [email protected] Andrew S. Ramsey Cutter Creek Golf Club Snow Hill, NC (252) 717-6927 [email protected] 26 Charlie Spears Cherokee Plantation Yemassee, SC Published bimonthly by the Carolinas Golf (843) 844-9937 Course Superintendents Association [email protected] Cover photo: Executive Director: Tim Kreger Troy Thrall is back in Brian J. Stiehler, CGCS golf as the last man Highlands Country Club Carolinas Green: Highlands, NC growing bentgrass in Editor: Trent Bouts email: [email protected] (828) 526-5371 Columbia, SC. Design: Julie Vincent [email protected] Contact Information: Matthew Wharton, CGCS 103 Edgemont Avenue Carolina Golf Club P.O. Box 210 Liberty, SC 29657-0210 Charlotte, NC Phone: 800-476-4272 (704) 942-1370 [email protected] Fax: 864-843-1149 www.carolinasgcsa.org PRESIDENT Bill Kennedy, CGCS The First Big But Certainly No Sleeping Giant Post-patent economic vitality of the Carolinas. Azoxystrobin. Still, there is more to it than that. There are other great golf destinations and states with even more courses. I think what we enjoy today as an association is a legacy of past leadership and the culture those leaders left behind. Our boards of directors, past and present, do so much heavy lifting that goes unnoticed. We have exceptional research and teaching institutions in both states whose staff members go out of their way to collaborate whenever possible. We remain the only chapter in the country to own our own headquarters building. Within that building works some of the most dedicated people we could hope for. You only have to look at how long each of Bill Kennedy, CGCS those staff members have been with us to Strobe™ 50WG know how much they care and, hopefully, Broad Spectrum Fungicide here are no other chapters in the how well we take care of them in return. country that currently compare to I think another factor in what sets us The first post-patent Tthe size of the Carolinas GCSA. apart is our willingness to think and act azoxystrobin is a wettable There may be bigger states but in terms progressively. We try new things – buying granule that prevents or cures of how golf course superintendents band that HQ, establishing Rounds4Research, over 27 turf diseases and over together to run an organization, we are the introducing an e-newsletter. 30 ornamental diseases. As a frontrunners. Two years ago one of your board members curative, it controls diseases Obviously it helps that we encompass Rob Daniel, CGCS suggested another that are already present when two states where, in most places, the new venture, a member-guest style event applied to turf. As a systemic climate is conducive to golf year round. to foster friendly completion between the preventative, the turfgrass will We have broad geographic diversity states. We found a date that was otherwise absorb the fungicide to control throughout both states and yet still find empty on our tournament schedule and fungal diseases, protect lawns, ways to benefit from the relationships and the Carolinas North South was born. We landscapes and golf courses. friendships that exist here. We seem to enjoy incredible support from our many Make Strobe 50WG a key part always find time or ways to help our fellow industry partners but the fact that this of your integrated disease members. We are happy when our peers event is backed by the big three equipment management program. do well and concerned when all is not well. manufacturers in collaboration is extra So why does it work? special. Only in the Carolinas! One reason is the Carolinas are a Year one was a huge success and wonderful place to play golf. We still everyone who participated had a blast. have close to 900 courses across the We believe this event will be one we enjoy Innovation you can apply. two states. We have hosted some of for years to come and hope everyone who golf’s biggest events - the Ryder Cup, U.S. hasn’t had an opportunity to join in the fun Opens, PGA Championships, and many will put it on their calendars. Get connected: more. We host PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Web.com Tour events every There are many reasons why our For more information on our wide year. Those events and the interest they association continues to be a leader in the selection of turf and ornamental products, generate in our golf help drive the more industry and I am thankful to be a part of visit quali-pro.com or call 800-242-5562 than $5 billion the game is worth to the it. We may be a giant of an association but we are certainly not sleeping. 4 CAROLINAS green May - June 2015 ARE YOU HITTING YOUR TARGET? INCREASE SPRAY APPLICATION ACCURACY WITH ■ Create larger droplet sizes that reduce drift ■ Reduce spray droplet bounce for optimized retention ■ Increase spray droplet spread for enhanced target coverage Distributed by: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tim Kreger Your No Show Would Soon Lead to No Show with all sorts of ideas and combinations of how to tweak the event format to make it even better. In the days leading up to that meeting and after it, we sat in face-to-face meetings with some of our largest industry partners to get their input on what we can do to ensure the best possible experience for everyone. If we left any stone unturned it’s only because we broke the shovel getting there. We dig hard. The success of Conference and Show is not something we will ever take for granted. On that note, let me say how grateful I am to everyone who responded to our Conference and Show survey. Your feedback is critical. But it’s also worth noting just how often the feedback from All this, and so much more, depends on Carolinas GCSA members continuing to turn up to one attendee or exhibitor contrasts to Conference and Show. that of another. Some folks want more time on the trade show floor, some f all the things I could say, and works if you are there - improving your want less. Some folks thought last have said, to our members in this knowledge in a seminar, broadening your year’s education program was full of Ocolumn there is one message that network at the golf championship and fresh material, some thought it was a matters most of all: Come to Conference expanding your product knowledge on little stale. For the record, 15 of the 25 and Show. the trade show floor. seminars offered last year were new. Some folks loved the food, some not so When you stop coming to Conference You might wonder why I am making a much. and Show, the phone in Liberty stops big deal over this when our Conference being answered by someone so quickly.