Divot Mix

"The object of a bunker is not only to punish a physical mistake, to punish a lack of control, but also to punish pride and egotism." -- C.B. Macdonald

Cook, Zontek to get GCSAA Distinguished Service Award

Thomas W. Cook, associate professor of horticulture at Oregon State University, and Stanley J. Zontek, director of the United States Golf Association Green Section's Mid-Atlantic Region, will be the recipients of the 2006 GCSAA Distinguished Service Award.

They will be acknowledged Feb. 9 at the Opening Session of the 2006 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Atlanta. The Opening Session is presented in partnership with Bayer Environmental Science.

"Tom and Stan are most deserving of the Distinguished Service Award,” said GCSAA President Timothy T. O'Neill, CGCS. “They have made outstanding and significant contributions to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession as well as to the game of golf. GCSAA is honored to have them as colleagues in the field of golf course management.”

During 20 years at Oregon State, Cook developed, refined and continually updated the turfgrass management curriculum. He was hired by the university in 1977 to develop an undergraduate program for students interested in the turf and landscape industry. As the expert in turf management in the Pacific Northwest, he has established modern golf course management standards in the region. He is a member of the American Society for Horticultural Science, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and the International Turfgrass Society, among others.

Zontek, the USGA's longest tenured employee, has helped golf course superintendents for more than 30 years, educating them on evolving agronomic practices. The son of a golf course superintendent, Zontek joined the USGA staff in 1971 and has been a director for the North Central, Northeastern and currently the Mid-Atlantic Green Section Regions.

The GCSAA board of directors selects Distinguished Service Award winners from nominations submitted by affiliated chapters and/or association members. First presented in 1932, the award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding, substantive and enduring contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession.

For more about the award, click here.

Jack Nicklaus gets Presidential Medal of Freedom

Jack Nicklaus was among the several people who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush this week.

Established in 1963, the medal may be awarded by the President “to any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”  President Bush honored the recipients at a White House ceremony Nov. 9.

"Galleries across the world have admired the intense focus and unyielding competitiveness that Jack Nicklaus brings to the game," President Bush said in making the presentation. "They admire, just as much, the man, himself. In every aspect of his life, Jack holds himself to a high standard. He's a great gentleman. And for his skill, grace and class in every circumstance, Americans will always look up to the example of Jack Nicklaus."

“This is truly a significant and humbling honor,” Nicklaus said. “To be included in the company of those who have been honored in the past and will be honored this year is something very special and greatly appreciated.”

Jack and his wife, Barbara, are active in children's charities, most notably the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation and Nicklaus Children's Hospital. They have also contributed to numerous junior golf programs and growth-of-the game initiatives, such as The First Tee.

Nicklaus was the recipient of GCSAA's highest honor, the Old Tom Morris Award, at the 2005 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show.

Nicklaus joined 13 other recipients in getting the award, considered by the White House to be the civilian version of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The other recipients were:

• Muhammad Ali
• Carol Burnett
• Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn
• Robert Conquest
• Aretha Franklin
• Alan Greenspan
• Andy Griffith
• Paul Harvey
• Sonny Montgomery
• Gen. Richard B. Myers
• Frank Robinson
• Paul Rusesabagina

For more on the recipients visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051103-5.html.

Top scientists talk turf

Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment and the American Chemical Society held a scientific symposium, “The Fate of Nutrients and Pesticides in the Urban Environment” in Crystal City, Va., Oct. 12-13, 2005.

The event included more than 60 of the country's leading academic researchers, university extension, green industry and regulatory experts who discussed the latest developments in turfgrass science and public perceptions of turf. GCSAA Director of Environmental Programs Greg Lyman attended the symposium as a representative of the association and The Environmental Institute for Golf.

According to the experts, research confirms that healthy turfgrass provides a wide range of environmental benefits including preventing soil erosion, minimizing runoff, filtering surface water and conserving rainfall.

“This conference provided a much-needed forum to present turfgrass research, in particular the environmental fate of nutrients and pesticides that are applied to lawns and golf courses in the urban environment. The 14 experts presenting papers covered a wide range of turfgrass location scenarios, providing insight into how we can use real-world data and models to help us better understand and refine best management practices for maintaining productive and healthy turf,” said Brian Horgan, Ph.D., assistant professor of horticulture science at the University of Minnesota.

“We had a unique opportunity to discuss the latest research as well as touch upon the importance of communicating its results to a wider audience. It's clear that we may have something to contribute to the public policy debate about the appropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides on lawns and in public spaces,” noted A. Martin Petrovic, Ph.D., professor of horticulture/turfgrass science at Cornell University.

Allen James, RISE president, said, “Many anti-chemical activist groups would have homeowners believe that maintaining their lawn is a luxury and not a necessity. We've heard from our nation's leading authorities that the opposite is true. This body of research – conducted across many U.S. geographies – clearly demonstrates the role healthy turfgrass plays everywhere in measurably improving our environment."

Scientific proceedings from the symposium will be published as a book in late 2006 by the American Chemical Society.

Bio Cranial Therapy correction

The Aug. 11, 2005 edition of GCSAA NewsWeekly included a report about Dr. John Lund, a chiropractor from Redlands, Calif., who is using a technique called Bio Cranial Therapy to improve golfers' balance.

In the report, Lund said he developed the new technique. He has now issued a correction saying, "I learned the Bio Cranial therapy from Dr. Robert Boyd, of the United Kingdom. What I did was to apply the Bio Cranial therapy to the balance state of golfers. If I mislead anyone to believe that this therapy was mine, I apologize sincerely."