WINTER RECAP 2017/2018
TURF NEWS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OHIO TURFGRASS FOUNDATION
LESSONS FILLED WITH LAUGHTER Mike McKinley swings – and connects – with a witty Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show keynote address.
Plus... Numbered by Nematodes Weather Planning ...and more
President GINA ZIRKLE AmericanHort
JASON MAHL Moraine Country Club
CHAD MARK Muirfeild Village Golf Club
PAUL DERRY Catawba Island Club
NICK JANOVICH Oglebay Resort
DR. JOHN STREET Ohio State University Director of Education
OHIO TURFGRASS FOUNDATION
Trustees
TOM GRUNKEMEYER Buckeye Ecocare
RYAN DEMAY Columbus Parks & Rec.
Vice President Darrin Batisky Bayer
Imm. Past President JASON STRAKA Fry Straka Global Golf Course Design
Treasurer ANDREW MUNTZ Green Velvet Sod Farms
CHAD KELLOGG Grasshopper Property Maint.
Executive Committee
3958 NORTH HAMPTON DRIVE POWELL, OHIO 43065 INFO@OHIOTURF.ORG 614.285.4683 OHIOTURFGRASS.ORG
6 7 10 14 17 19 20 22
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE NUMBERED BY NEMATODES PUT IT ON PAPER LESSONS FILLED WITH LAUGHTER YEAR IN REVIEW OTRT FOUNDERS CLUB CONTRIBUTORS OSU TURF TEAM DIRECTORY SCENES FROM THE SHOW
in this edition
I am excited to follow in the footsteps of Jason Straka, Fry Straka Global Golf Course Design Over the past year, Jason’s volunteer work has helped guide the future directionof OTF. This is evident in his continuous work with the BEST program, which will kick off this year and is an exciting new program for the association. I look forward to continuing to build towards the goals we set in 2016. Working for a green industry association myself, some of pressures we see as a turf association are common across the entire green industry. A few to note include the number of students currently enrolled in horticulture, as well as business and Job transfer as the current workforce reaches retirement and reliable labor gets harder to find. We also have to consider how the association remains relevant and valuable to members through this changing environment. Some focus areas for OTF in the upcoming year include: The Next Generation & Workforce Development: Whether it’s because green industry jobs aren’t appealing or students don’t realize horticulture as a career path, the number of students entering the horticulture field in Ohio has declined compared to 10-15 years ago. The graduates entering the field may also value their role and expectations within an organization differently than graduates have in the past (how many of us have attended classes about working with and managing millennials?). OTF will continue to concentrate efforts on getting the next generation involved by participating in career development events and offering education and programming geared towards professional and employee development. Member Benefits: We have made some changes to our events, education, and programming over the past couple of years based on feedback we gained from membership. While we will continue to improve as needed, this year will be beneficial in gaging how some of these changes impact the association and our membership. We would like to visit with members thorough the year about you, collect feedback on our member benefits and how they influence your business, as well as continue to share the future direction of OTF. Please feel free to reach out to me with questions, comments, and/or concerns. I can be reached at GinaZ@americanhort.org. Sincerely, Gina Zirkle President Ohio Turfgrass Foundation
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
GINA ZIRKLE OTF President
6
Joe Rimelspach (top) and Dennis Bowsher discuss their experience with nematodes during the 2017 OTF Conference & Show.
A researcher, turfgrass pathologist, multiple superintendents and a trio of USGA Green Section agronomists. The Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show provided a multi-layered glimpse at a puzzling pest. Pronounced ne-muh-toads by some and nee-muh-toads by others, northern superintendents are coping with the reality that nematodes might be infecting the most vital part of a golf course. Why the pest is suddenly harming greens in Ohio and surrounding states is more confounding than its pronunciation. The Ohio State University Golf Club superintendent Dennis Bowsher shared his experiences with concerned colleagues at the conference. Problems at the OSU Golf Club started with turf thinning in the summer of 2016. The crew aerified greens in early November, but turf decline continued as warm temperatures extended into late fall, convincing Bowsher to seek input from Ohio State turfgrass pathologists Joe Rimelspach and Todd Hicks. After what Bowsher calls some “head scratching,” they finally decided to test the damaged areas for nematodes. Tests revealed alarming numbers of ring nematodes. Bowsher made a late-fall application of a nematicide that entered the golf market in 2016 and borrowed turf covers from a fellow Columbus-area superintendent. The greens recovered before heavy 2017 play, but the ordeal left Bowsher frazzled. “I have a ton of questions,” he said. Valley Brook Country Club superintendent John Shaw can relate to Bowsher’s experience. In the second of two OTF Conference & Show presentations – Shaw also described how he transitioned fromPoa annuato bentgrass fairways – the veteran Pittsburgh-area superintendent described his tussle with nematodes. “If you start having nematode problems, it’s going to make you really honestly want to quit your job and do something different because you lose the ability to concentrate and think about what you are doing,” he said. “You feel like, ‘What’s really going on here?’ Everything you do, it just doesn’t work.” For Shaw, the problems started in 2009, when odd-looking spots on Valley Brook’s greens were initially diagnosed as summer patch. Shaw altered his spray program and experimented with multiple products offering summer patch control. The spots, Shaw said, “wouldn’t die like your typical summer patch.” Hand watering helped the greens endure the summer. A year later, Shaw learned some greens possessed high levels of stunt nematodes. Shaw performed 90 soil samples inside and outside weak-looking circles to ensure he received from a proper diagnosis. The spots he observed in 2009 returned in what he observed the “same exact” patterns in 2010. Spraying specifically for nematodes allowed Shaw to improve the health of Valley Brook’s greens by the end of 2010, a year that featured a torrid summer. Previous experience with nematodes and stories of the pest returning to the region led to Shaw making a preventative application of a new control option this past fall. “I’m just trying to keep ahead of nematodes because I don’t ever want to go through that stuff again,” he said. Education is one way to stay ahead of a pest or disease, and presentations by Ohio State’s Dr. Horacio Lopez Nicoria and Rimelspach complemented Bowsher and Shaw’s case studies. Lopez Nicoria, a native of Paraguay who received his P.hD. in nematology, said nematodes cause problems in “high numbers” in soil and roots, and damage can be magnified in stressful situations. On golf courses, nematode damage is “primarily restricted to greens,” Rimelspach said. “At this time, we do not feel like there’s a problem with higher cut turf,” Rimelspach added. “They might be there, but they are not causing that much of an issue. It’s also very patchy. They are not like other diseases where they can run across greens or that they are more uniformed. They can be very concentrated. This is one of the most difficult things to diagnose.” Nematodes are measured in cubic centimeters. Most labs measure nematodes using 100 ccs, although some labs use 200 ccs. Threshold levels are site specific. “We have environmental factors that differ so much,” Lopez Nicoria said. “Some places can tolerate up to 1,000, while others you can count 100 and you have to do something about it.” Diagnosing requires proper soil sampling. Lopez Nicoria’s suggestions: Sample at consistent depths. Be cognizant of sample timing. Nematodes move better vertical than horizontally, thus they descend when cold weather looms. Edges are more important than centers for sampling purposes. “Nematodes require a living root to survive, so they will move away from places that we don’t have roots anymore,” he said. Treat samples gently. Place samples in plastic bags. Understanding a root system is a key to determining whether a course might be a target for nematodes. Monitoring and charting weekly root patterns when changing cups is a proactive management tactic, Rimelspach said. “You’re not going to be able to diagnose this by looking at the surface,” he added. “You have to be able to look at roots. That’s where they are feeding. How deep are your roots? How healthy are the roots? Are the roots tattered or are they healthy and growing? Dissect the samples, look at them, keep records.” Numerous questions still exist about nematodes in Ohio. Incidences on greens were reported in multiple parts of the state in 2016 and ’17. The winters of 2015-16 and 2016-17 included multiple months with average temperatures exceeding historical norms. Columbus had an average low of 37 and high of 52 in December 2015, 11 degrees warmer than both annual averages. A similar situation occurred in February 2017, when the average low was 33 (nine degrees higher than the annual average) and high was 52 (11 degrees higher than the annual average). “Populations are not being driven down by the deep freezing of our soil,” Rimelspach said. “The population is building much earlier and over a long period of time.” Demands on greens also continue to increase, creating what Rimelspach called “a much more fragile ecosystem that’s going to respond to any stress, whether it be drought, too much water, poor drainage or nematodes.” Ohio isn’t the only cold-weather state with nematode concerns. Agronomists Bob Vavrek, Zach Nicoludis and John Daniels, who cover the 13-state Central Region for the USGA Green Section, frequently discussed nematodes with superintendents in their 2017 travels. The trio works to educate superintendents on potential causes and solutions. “The thing that is puzzling when it comes to nematodes is the threshold counts across different states,” Daniels said. “If you are in Ohio, you can find some numbers. You go to a neighboring state, and it might be different. Not only can you go from state to state, you can go course to course and even within the same course this green to that green and the amount of nematodes that are sampled in that area don’t necessarily indicate that they’re going to be a disease.” Guy Cipriano is the senior editor of Golf Course Industry magazine.
NUMBERED BY NEMATODES Responding to an increased number of reports in the region, the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show offered an educational primer on a complicated pest. By Guy Cipriano
7
Two Northeast Ohio-bred college football titans, TV executives and abundant weather data converged on Sept. 17, 2016. Science and legality mattered more to Dr. Kevin Kloesel than finances. With the backing of a written weather plan endorsed by administrators, Kloesel was involved in a decision to move the start of the Ohio State-Oklahoma game in Norman, Okla., from 6 to 8 p.m. to ensure fan safety. The Buckeyes handled the Sooners 45-24. More importantly, the University of Oklahoma avoided putting 87,979 fans in peril. “Trust me, it wasn’t easy to go in front of Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer and say, ‘Guess what, guys? We are not kicking off at 6 o’clock, we are going to kick off at 8,’” Kloesel said. “It was a FOX guy that said, ‘What do you mean we are not kicking off until 8?’ Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer were fine with it. We made the decision at 1 o’clock to move a major nationally televised college game by two hours so that we didn’t have to evacuate in the middle of the game. We did that proactively and we have a plan to do that. Everybody has bought off on that plan, from football to the athletic director to the president of the university. And it needs to be that way everywhere.” The Sooners reversed the outcome on a mundane weather night this past year in Columbus, a result Kloesel apologized for during the first of his three Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show presentations. Once the education started, there was nothing apologetic about Kloesel’s message. Turf managers are placed in career peril when they are forced to make weather decisions without a carefully crafted written plan. Kloesel is the director of Oklahoma Climatological Survey, meteorologist for the University of Oklahoma’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and an associate professor. He received his masters and P.hD.in meteorology from Penn State and a bachelors in engineering science from the University of Texas. He provides weather support for school districts, emergency management agencies, sports leagues and venues, and amusement parks. He’s worked a few golf tournaments in his career. In short, he’s a trained meteorologist, not somebody schooled in another discipline using a few mobile apps when making weather decisions. A changing legal climate can create gigantic problems for turf managers, Kloesel said. Operating a sports field or golf course without a written weather plan or support from a trained meteorologist is a risky business practice. Kloesel cited multiple examples of situations were weather and danger intersected, including Notre Dame football videographer Declan Sullivan falling off a tower and dying in 2010, a stage collapse killing seven and injuring 58 concertgoers at the Indiana State Fair in 2011, and 150,000 fans being forced to evacuate Daytona International Speedway as tornados encircled the complex during the 2014 Daytona 500. Leisure activities accounted for two-thirds of lightning fatalities in the United States from 2006-16, according to a study conducted by National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration lightning expert John Jensenius. Work accounted for 15 percent of the 352 fatalities. Water-related activities – fishing, boating, spending time at a beach and swimming – accounted for 34 percent of lightning fatalities in the leisure category. Sports accounted for 14 percent of the leisure fatalities. Soccer and golf accounted for the most sports-related fatalities. “If you don’t have a written plan in place, what are you going to do?” Kloesel said. “You hope. You hope it goes by or misses you. Hope is not a plan. Hope cannot be a plan.” Without a written plan, the “duty of care” often falls on sports field managers and golf course superintendents relying on mobile apps, lightning detection systems or their own interpretations of radar. Turf managers with formal weather or radar interpretation training are anomalies. “How many of you would let me, armed with my app, green grass, a rake and some Roundup show up at your facility and be put to work,” Kloesel said. “You would look at me like, ‘Is he insane?’ You would never let that happen. Yet we put all this wonderful, high-tech meteorological stuff in your hands and we say, ‘It's all good, you guys go ahead and be the meteorologist.’” The increasing accuracy of mobile apps and advance forecasts produces paradoxes – and false security. A 36-hour forecast was 50 percent accurate in 1975, according to Kloesel. The accuracy has increased to 80 percent. But improved forecasting has eroded situational awareness and fails to protect a turf manager in a legal situation. Alerts provided by apps are also misleading. A severe thunderstorm alert is different than a lightning alert. The National Weather Service doesn’t provide alerts for lightning or winds below 58 miles per hour. Sub-severe winds have the potential to damage temporary structures at sports venues and golf courses. “Unfortunately, this community is put in harm’s way by the people who are above you in your administration,” Kloesel said. “If things go wrong, what are they going to say? When push comes to shove, it’s on you. You don’t want to see me in a court of law. I’m going to ask you the same questions I asked you right up front (of the sports turf presentation). How many of you make weather decisions on a daily basis? How many of use an app to do it? And how many of you are degreed meteorologists? That’s going to be a problem. You are being put in harm’s way by being the expert. If you have to be the expert, you better have a great set of plans up front.” Guy Cipriano is the senior editor of Golf Course Industry magazine.
Dr. Kevin Kloesel of the University of Oklahoma.
PUT IT ON PAPER If your administration entrusts you to make weather decisions, it might be wise to consider the merits of a written plan. By Guy Cipriano
10
HEAT IS ON
Lightning isn’t the only dangerous scenario to consider when creating a written weather plan. Heat led all weather events by producing 131 average annual fatalities from 1987-2016, according to the National Weather Service. Floods ranked second with 84 average fatalities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have a specific standard covering workers in hot conditions. But it does offer a guide to help employers develop and implement formal heat safety plans. The guide uses heat index, a value that takes temperature and humidity into account. Risk levels are as follows: Less than 91 degrees, Caution, Basic heat safety and planning 91 to 103, Moderate, Implement precautions and heighten awareness 103 to 115, High, Additional precautions to protect workers Greater than 115, Very high to extreme, Triggers even more aggressive protective measures In an Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show presentation to golf course superintendents, weather expert Dr. Kevin Kloesel suggested a proactive approach to handling heat, including informing workers and customers of risks via social media. Here are a few of Kloesel’s heat mitigation tips: Designate and communicate location of cooling areas. Monitor conditions using a WetBulb Globe Temperature. The WBGT is a more comprehensive reading than heat index. It includes temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover. Train staff to recognize heat illness symptoms. Understand different parts of a course such as low-shade and wind-blocking areas present heightened risks. Don’t forget to monitor the condition of non-golf patrons who might be visiting the course. A wedding, after all, attracts a different crowd than a golf outing.
11
16
13
TUFF TURF PROBLEMS?
Tired of repairing the same turf area over and over again? Then you need GRASSMATS from
Lasting 12 to 15 years before it biodegrades, GRASSMATS can make these problems go away with minimal cost and minimal labor. At only $69.99 for a 5’ x 3.3’ section, GRASSMATS can make your repairs, virtually permanent and great to look at. Whether it’s a pool area, low lying areas that hold water, play areas, golf cart run off areas at end of cart path or around tee boxes and greens, or pedestrian access areas, GRASSMATS are your cost affective answer.
GRASSMATS have been tested to and comply with ASTM F1292 and ASTM F1951
SAVE 10%
ORDER BY MAY 15, 2018
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW GRASSMATS CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER
CONTACT MIKE GRABEMAN - 937.885.0040 OR MANDSRES@AOL.COM
Mike McKinley marched into a packed Greater Columbus Convention Center room clutching a toy baseball bat. The bat returned to his hand when he left the room 1 hour, 3 minutes later. An entrepreneur, father, grandfather, husband, speaker and, yes, even a Midwesterner, McKinley received a crack at giving the keynote address at 51stannual Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show. His speech, “Together We’re Even Better … You Make the Difference” presented by Syngenta, offered lessons that resonated with golf course superintendents, sports field managers, landscape professionals and industry partners. Seasoned by hundreds of speaking opportunities and hardened by numerous setbacks at work and home, McKinley used personal anecdotes to deliver career guidance and team-building strategies. “I can’t do anything for you,” McKinley said in his introduction. “You have to do it for yourself. It’s like baseball players. They have to hit the ball. The manager can’t do it for them.” For managers looking to boost, or even rejuvenate, their own careers, events like the OTF Conference & Show provide developmental opportunities – if approached with the proper attitude. The beginning of the two-day, 100-exhibitor trade show followed the keynote. Instead of mingling with recognizable cohorts and competitors, McKinley urged attendees to network with strangers. “Don’t just hang around the people you know,” he said. “Hang around people you don’t know, because that’s when you learn something.” Impromptu floor conversations likely revealed a landscape professional from Toledo faces the same challenges as a golf course superintendent from Springfield. Finding, retaining and motivating workers proved exhausting for turf industry leaders as the economy improved in 2017. The labor situation has the potential to inhibit business or facility growth in 2018, meaning managers must find ways to complete equal or more work with fewer employees. McKinley started working for his father’s waste management business in his mid-teens – “I was in the garbage business in high school. Didn’t have any dates, but I had money. Then I had dates,” he joked – before being involved with multiple companies as an adult. He said struggling businesses often fail to establish emotional connections with customers. That connection can be missing because of how owners and managers handle employees. “It’s about our people,” McKinley said, “and we don’t invest in our people. I always tell leadership that you have to keep yourself motivated so you are able to motivate others. If you hate the job, your people hate the job. Some days you have to fake it.” Education-driven workplaces are the most likely to recruit workers in a competitive labor market. One of McKinley’s clients is currently trying to fill 80 open positions, and McKinley tries to avoid using conventional terms such as leadership and management when speaking with businesses because employees are seeking teachers. Showing instead of telling an employee how to complete a task is becoming increasingly important because it demonstrates a supervisors’ willingness to teach. “Education-driven organizations are always teaching and they are always appreciative of their people,” McKinley said. “And they are in the business of changing lives because sometimes coming to work for many of your people is the most positive thing in their life.” Blending management and teaching styles to different generations is another necessity in the current workplace. Views on dress, work-balance and starting times possessed by younger generations can’t be dismissed. They must be studied, because McKinley said, “everything is acceptable. We just have to know the different rules.” On the other end, it’s important to consider the valuable contributions older generations can make to a business. A post-retirement job can be the most fulfilling experience of a worker’s career. An expedited pace of change will greet numerous turf teams in 2018 as golf construction increases and sports organizations concoct different ways to bring revenue or visitors to facilities. A project or event deviating from normal maintenance can divide a crew, with some employees embracing and others loathing the change. Three types of people emerge in change situations: adapters, resisters and coasters. Managers should be wary of coasters. “The adapter you love,” McKinley said. “The adapter buys in, in a split second. The resister … you have to love you as much because they question why you are changing. The coasters are dangerous. The coasters go and have the second meeting, put plywood on your windows or tell the secrets to the customer about what a crappy place it is to work. You have two choices: work with adapters and resisters and hopefully the coasters come along, or else fire them.” Even when he broached a grim topic such as termination, McKinley dispersed humor into the address. “I was the president of a big company,” he said. “I left the company because of something they said, ‘You’re fired.’ Well, if they’re going to talk to me like that, then I’m not going to stay.” A delayed chuckle filled the room. Of all the traits of a successful manager, a sense of humor could be the biggest separator because it boosts employee morale and helps during challenging moments. McKinley’s plight has included dyslexia, having a business partner killed in an airplane accident, divorce, financial ruin, losing his mother and wife in a four-month stretch, and hearing problems spanning four decades. Yet, there he paced, in the front of a room filled with turf teachers struggling to fill their rosters. He didn’t hold the bat the entire 1 hour, 3 minutes, but it returned to his hand to emphasize various points, including how professional baseball players with poor batting averages are shipped to a Triple-A city in the Heartland. “Life is kind of like baseball,” he said. “If you don’t do well, they send you to Des Moines.” Pause. More laughter. A few anecdotes and lessons. More opportunities to illustrate his underlying message by inserting whimsical signs, including one involving golfers, hunters and shotguns, between his thoughtful words. “Maybe it comes down to some pretty simple things,” he said, “and maybe laugher is the most important. It sure is to me.” Guy Cipriano is the senior editor of Golf Course Industry magazine.
LESSONS FILLED WITH LAUGHTER Mike McKinley swings – and connects – with a witty Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference & Show keynote address. By Guy Cipriano
14
Mike McKinley (left) with Gregg Schaner of OTF Keynote presenting partner, Syngenta.
18
Thoughts from my year as OTF President By Jason Straka
I was told before I knew it, my year as OTF President would be here and gone. Those that told me so were certainly right on the mark. If I’ve learned anything during my year as President it is that strategic planning is one of the main keys to success, especially as the year moves so rapidly along. To be a successful leader you need to have a strong team in place to work with you. Then, it takes an ability for that team to set out long-term goals, define a strategy to implement them and then set about to do so. Thankfully, at the beginning of my term as President, the OTF Board and staff held what has now become an annual strategic planning retreat. This retreat helps the Board and staff shape long-term goals to strengthen OTF and determine how the organization may better serve the turfgrass industry in Ohio. The strategic planning retreat during my presidency yielded nine major goals. Those nine goals in no particular order are: Enhance membership value through growth Better understand OTF member demographics Make the OTF Conference and Show the ‘can’t be missed event’ in the state Limit OTF’s financial dependency on the tradeshow Identify alternative funding mechanisms Shape the public’s perception of the industry Strengthen relationships with policy makers Increase awareness of careers in turf Become the primary resource for turf education in the Midwest I am pleased to say that, due to several initiatives, our membership is up quite a bit, to over 1,200 members, and our conference and show remains strong and relevant. OTF does have both Membership and Conference and Trade Show Committees in place that are looking to continue our growth throughout 2018. Part of the Committee’s charge is to better understand our current membership’s demographics, which will allow us to know who we are reaching with our initiatives so that we may better cultivate those relationships. This process also allows us to determine those groups who are not members and don’t attend our conference and show. We intend to determine why they are not currently members and/or attend the show so perhaps we can address their concerns and make OTF a valuable organization they want and need to become a part of. This process sounds simple and logical, but it previously has never been done in depth to the degree the current leadership is intending to do so. One of the main methods we are using to address goals four through nine is the implementation of the Buckeye’s for Environmentally Sustainable Turfgrass (BEST), best management practices program. I’m happy to say the BEST program is finally up and running. OTF has purchased a license to an online learning management system called LITMOS which is currently housing the program. A big thank you to all of those involved with the development of the program, especially so to fellow Executive Committee member Andrew Muntz, Dr. David Gardner, and all of the OSU Turf Team for writing individual chapters, creating PowerPoint Presentation and voice-overs, and test questions, all of which are the base training information to be consumed by the end user. The program is currently in its beta testing with several lawn care and landscape companies and should be released to the general public this coming summer. As part of the upcoming release OTF is engaging a marketing firm, who is familiar with the turfgrass industry in Ohio, to assist with initiatives to engage the general public, as well as potential end users of the program, many of who may not be current members of OTF or even be aware of our existence. The marketing must be able to communicate the program’s benefits to potential users both in terms of training and public awareness. This of course means we need to also communicate the existence of the program and the environmental benefits for those who use the program and become BEST Certified. The BEST program has enormous potential to enhance public and policymaker’s awareness of the many benefits of turf when maintained in an environmentally responsible way, shaping legislative policy, funding OTF’s initiatives, as a useful education and training tool for our industry’s service providers, and as a recruitment tool for future turfgrass professionals. The OTF and the OSU Turf Team have a lot of time, talent and money vested in this program. When the program becomes available to our members and the public I urge you to participate. In the meantime please be sure to reach out to our Executive Director, Brian Laurent or any of the OTF’s leadership team with any questions or comments you may have. In February, the OTF Leadership team held its annual strategic planning meeting for the year. The meeting yielded ways to further accomplish the goals listed above as well as several new goals. I truly believe this process will create continuity as Presidents, Executive Committees, Boards and even membership transitions from year-to-year. As I officially roll off of the Executive Committee and Board this coming year, I am excited about the future of OTF and where the current and future leaders will take it. OTF has made strong gains in the past several years and has a bright outlook ahead. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as President in 2017/18. Sincerely, Jason A. Straka Jason A. Straka
YEAR IN REVIEW
GOLF
Serving the turf industry in NW Ohio
21
Don Lawrence 419.408.0083 dlawrence@legacyfarmers.com
SPORTS
LAWNS
Bauer Voss Consulting Dr. Mike Boehm Al Brandt Dr. Karl Danneberger Robert Deeks Bill Easterday Ed Eaton Joe Enciso Robert Fisher George Furrer Tim Glorioso Greater Cincinnati GCSA Hurdzan Golf Design Mark Jordan Randy Kehres Don Lawrence Ted Mercer Harry Murray Ed Odorizzi Gene Probasco Rattlesnake Ridge GC Joseph Rimelspach Jim Sharp Richard Warner David Willoughby Matt Williams Mark Yoder
BRONZE - $1,500
EMERALD - $500
GOLD - $5,000
Ag Design Dr. Chuck Darrah Northwest Ohio GCSA
Jerome Schwieterman Wehrkamp Enterprises
SILVER - $3,000
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FOUNDERS CLUB MEMBERS
Jeff Benton Jeff Bisker Kirk Carls Danny Cochran Mike Dietrich Jim Dillard Dr. Susan Everett Kyle Frederick Don Furterer Dr. David Gardner Kim Kellogg Brad Kercher John Kirtland Kevin Kroll Rick Kucharski Paul Latshaw John Meyer John Mowat Andrew Muntz Dr. Harry Niemczyk Joseph Noppenberger Jr. Scott Schraer Randall Shaver Brad Smith Gary Stewart Don Sutton Mark Tansey Scott Zanon Gina Zirkle
PLATINUM - $10,000
Joe Duncan Doug Gallant Doug Halterman Mark Heinlein Paul Mendezoff Walt Offinger Sam Stimmel Central Ohio GCSA Todd Voss
DIAMOND - $25,000+
Double Eagle Club John Fitzgerald Mark Grunkemeyer Paul Jacquemin Joe Motz Bob O'Brien John Prusa Randy Tischer Fairmount Santrol/ Best Sand Syngenta
19
Horticulture & Crop Science Dr. Karl Danneberger danneberger.1@osu.edu Dr. David Gardner gardner.254@osu.edu Dr. John Street (Emeritus) street.1@osu.edu Mrs. Pamela Sherratt sherratt.1@osu.edu Mr. Matt Williams williams.1278@osu.edu School of Natural Resources Dr. Ed McCoy mccoy.13@osu.edu Entomology Dr. David Shetlar (Emeritus) shetlar.1@osu.edu Plant Pathology Dr. Francesca Peduto Hand pedutohand.1@osu.edu Mr. Todd Hicks hicks.19@osu.edu Mr. Joseph Rimelspach rimelspach.1@osu.edu 2-Year Turfgrass Program Dr. Zane Raudenbush raudenbush.2@osu.edu Dr. Ed Nangle nangle.1@osu.edu Athletics Mr. Dennis Bowsher bowsher.33@osu.edu Mr. Brian Gimbel gimbel.1@osu.edu International Programs Mr. Mike O'Keeffe okeeffe.1@osu.edu
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY TURF TEAM
330.769.1818 agriculturaldesign.net
Field Construction & Renovation Design & Build Laser Grading Irrigation & Drainage Evaluation/Consultation Soil Amendments and more...
SCENES FROM THE SHOW
TurfWare.com
www.otfshow.org
August 7, 2018 OTF Research & Education Facility Columbus, Ohio
Turfgrass Research Field Day
September 26, 2018 Catawba Island Club Port Clinton, Ohio
OTF CONFERENCE & SHOW
OTF Scholarship Golf Outing
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
December 3-6, 2018 Greater Columbus Convention Center Columbus, Ohio
THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE
@OhioTurfgrass
For more information about the partnership program, visit www.ohioturfgrass.org.
Get social with OTF!
facebook.com/ohioturfgrass
