NovemberDecember 2014

FORE YOUR INFORMATION

November/December 2014

Mechanic Seminar

The Ridge Golf Course

Hosted by

Scott McCullough

Sierra Nevada GCSA An Affiliate Chapter of

the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

Fore Your Information


January 28, 2015

Mechanics Field Day

The Ridge Golf Course

Hosted by Scott McCullough

February 21-26, 2015 GCSAA Golf Industry Show

San Antonio

February 25, 2015 California Room

6:00 to 9:00

March 2015 Annual Grass Roots Tournament

William Land Park

Date to be Confirmed

April 2015 Location & Date to be Confirmed

PRESIDENT

Rob Williams

Stockton Golf & C.C. 209-462-6734

VICE PRESIDENT

Kurtis Wolford Cherry Island Golf Course

916-991-7659

SECRETARY/TREASURER

Mike Scully Valley Crest/Modesto

209-578-9678

PAST PRESIDENT

Jesse Seguin

DIRECTORS

Dave Bermudez Del Rio Golf & Country Club 209-341-2413

William Hamilton Lake Wildwood Association

530-432-2187

Scott Dickson Micke Grove Golf Links

209-369-7037

Hulises Avila, Greenhorn Creek Resort

209-736-8164

Affiliate Representatives

Jim Barbuto Ewing Irrigation

916-502-3287

Joe Kurung West Coast Sand & Gravel

916-386-8177

FORE YOUR INFORMATION

Published by the Sierra Nevada Golf Course Superintendents Association

EDITOR

Bill Hamilton, CGCS

OFFICE

SNGCSA

5322 N. Leonard, Clovis, CA 93619

559-298-6262 Fax# 559-298-6957

F RO N T C OV E R SC OT T MC C ULL OU GH,

H OS T S UPE R I NTE NDE N T

F OR T HE 20 15

ME C HAN IC SE M IN AR A T

T HE R I DGE GOLF

C O UR SE

J AN UAR Y 28, 20 15

2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ME

ET

IN

G D

AT

ES

I have the

honor this year

of serving as

the President of

the SNGCSA.

I wanted to

welcome the

new members

that joined the

association this

year, and would like to invite every

member to attend the meetings to take

advantage of the networking opportu-

nities. The chance to relax and talk

with industry colleagues is something

we can all benefit from. One thing that

we as an association will be looking to

introduce this year is regional or local

meetings/activities, and more informa-

tion will be sent out soon about these

meetings.

I want to give thanks to Pete Bow-

man, for serving as our Affiliate Board

Member. Pete will be taking a break

from serving on the board, but I know

that we will see him attending meet-

ings to catch up with friends and col-

leagues. Cheers Pete and thanks for

your service to our industry and our

members.

I want to welcome Hulises Avila,

Greenhorn Creek Resort, to the board,

Hulises will serve as a Director on the

board and we look forward to collabo-

rating with him in serving the member-

ship. Also we welcome Joe Kurung

from West Coast Sand and Gravel, as

our Affiliate member.

Last year was challenging with the

continued drought conditions and en-

forced water restriction on many of the

golf courses in our chapter. We need a

wet and snowy winter to help replenish

reservoirs and snow packs to help ease

the burden on golf courses, farmers and

homeowners alike. The Sacramento

Golf Industry Water Task Force was

formed last year to help protect the

interests of golf courses, not only in the

Sacramento area, but also the future

interests of all our member golf

courses. If you want more information

about the task force you can send an

email to [email protected].

Two of our board members have

been nationally recognized, Kurtis

Wolford and Mike Scully. Kurtis was

one of seventeen superintendents to be

awarded the Melrose Leadership Acad-

emy, the award is an all expense paid

trip to the Golf Industry Show in San

Antonio in February. Mike was

(Continued on page 5)


PR E S ID ENT ’S MES S AG E

RO B W I L LI AM S , STOCK TON GOL F & C .C .


The SNGCSA is now on

Facebook and Twitter.

Check it out!

awarded one of two Bayer Crop Sci-

ence Plant Health Scholarships. Mike

will receive $2,500 towards his fur-

ther education costs. Congratulation

guys.

As a board this year we hope to

offer members good education, net-

working opportunities and support, as

well as the chance to let your hair

down and spend time with old friends

whilst increasing your network and

making new friends. If you have not

attended a meeting in a while, I chal-

lenge you to type into the Google

search engine- "Golf Courses near

me". Take a look at the list of courses

and invite some of your neighboring

superintendents to join you at a meet-

ing, or even just get together for

lunch.

We have some available meeting

dates on our calendar we are looking

to fill. If you have not hosted a

SNGCSA meeting, I can attest it is a

rewarding experience. Please contact

a board member for a chat if you are

thinking about hosting an event.

Meetings do not always need to in-

volve a round of golf, offering your

golf course for educational seminars

is a good way to network as well.

I wish you all health, happiness

and a Happy New Year.

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4

Check out the website:

Sierranevadagcsa.com

The second phase of the

2014 Rounds 4 Research fundrais-

ing program for turfgrass studies,

run by the EIFG, sold more than

200 rounds of golf and yielded

$30,891 in the seven-day online

auction that closed Aug. 10. The

total for the June and August auc-

tions was $145,339.

The Sierra Nevada GCSA

would like your assistance in help-

ing us become a bigger part of this

worthwhile program. Lets start

thinking about 2015.

Contact the association

office if you want to become a part

of this program.

January 28, 2015 will be the

date for the 2015 Mechanic Seminar

at The Ridge Golf Course in Auburn,

CA. This will be the 2nd year that the

SNGCSA is sponsoring such an event

to benefit our members and their

staff. We have gained national atten-

tion in our efforts to put a seminar of

this nature together and we will have

several attendees that will be coming

to see how and what we are doing.

This is all because of the ef-

forts of Scott McCullough, Superin-

tendent at the Ridge Golf Course.

This year we will have five

speakers that will be contributing to

the program. Each speaker will be

give approximately an hour to make

their presentations and answer ques-

tions from the attendees.

We will begin our day at

7:00 am with a hosted breakfast by

Turf Star. The education will start at

7:30 with Turf Star’s Tim Conner.

Mr. Conner will speak on Diagnostic

skills “Finding the Root Cause”.

Jim Ferrin, CGCS will be our

second speaker with information on

Empowering Your Staff. After a

short break Mark Pilger & Ben

Showard from Reel Sharp and SIP

Grinders will discuss “Why we

Grind”.

Lunch will be served and im-

mediately after we will have a repre-

sentative from Jacobsen West that

will speak. Our final speaker will be

from Belkorp. This presentation will

be on “Hydraulic Diagnostic Skills”

This is a full day of education

that we hope will be attended by our

members as well as their mechanics.

Look for more information and invi-

tations coming out soon. Be sure to

get your reservations in quickly.

We want to Thank those

companies that have stepped up to

help in putting this together. We

know that without your contributions

we would not be able to provide these

opportunities to our members and

their staff.

This event ties into one of the

goals that our association along with

the GCSAA has. The new equipment

manager’s classification would assist

equipment managers in the advance-

ment of their careers. GCSAA’s

decision to add this classification was

reached after conversations with nu-

merous members from around the

country. This issue will be placed

before the membership for a vote dur-

ing the 2015 annual meeting in San

Antonio.

SIP Grinders


2015 M E C H A N I C S E M I NA R T H E R I D G E G O L F C O U R S E

Scott McCullough

THANK YOU SPONSORS

A big “Thank You” to Rodney

Muller for hosting the Annual Elec-

tion Meeting at Empire Ranch G.C.

last month. It was a great event and

the course was outstanding. It was

an opportunity to not only elect our

new Board of Directors but

also share information with our

membership and guests.

It was a spe-

cial treat to have

three superinten-

dents that had all

been at Empire

Ranch and had

the opportunity

to share in the

changes they

have seen.

Thank you

again to

Rodney and

the staff of

Empire

Ranch G.C.


2014 E L E C T I O N S R E S U LT S E M P I R E R A N C H G .C .

Pictured from the left are Pete Bowman, out going affiliate representative, Kurtis Wolford,

Vice President, Scott Dickson, Board Members, Jim Barbuto, Affiliate Representative,

Michael Scully, Secretary/Treasurer, Jessie Sequin, Past President, and Dave Bermudez,

Board Member. Not pictured are Joe Kurung newly elected Affiliate Representative and

Bill Hamilton, CGCS

2015 President

Rob Williams,

Stockton Golf & C.C.

Pictured below along with Rodney Muller,

Superintendent at Empire Ranch are Jeremy

Payne, Matt Dillon, and Tim McCoy, all previ-

ous superintendents at Empire Ranch G.C.

87 GCSAA

chapter dele-

gates met in

Lawrence, KS

in October to

discuss a num-

ber of proposals

including a $10 Class A/SM and $5

Class C dues increase, the addition

of an equipment manager classifica-

tion and a model to update both

member standards and member

classifications.

The dues increase is based on a

3.3 percent increase in the Con-

sumer Price Index since 2013 and

would raise dues lev-

els to $375 for Class

A/SM members and

$190 for Class C

members. The dues increase will

assist GCSAA in continuing to pro-

vide its core mission programs and

services as well as more recent ini-

tiatives and program developments.

The new equipment manager’s

classification would assist equip-

ment managers in obtaining golf

specific education while providing

a vast array of GCSAA central re-

sources to assist in the advancement

of their careers. The decision to

add this classification was reached

after conversations with numerous

members from around the country.

Both of the above issues will be

placed before the membership for a

vote during the 2015 annual meet-

ing in San Antonio.

The proposed updates to both


classifications created the most dis-

cussion during the meeting. After

careful consideration, the GCSAA

board has made a recommendation

that:

Reduces the number of member

classifications from 13 to 5.

The classifications would

include Class A, Class B

(currently SM), Class C

(Assistants), Equipment

Manager and Member.

Class A eligibility would be

(Continued on page 9)


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FROM THE FIELD

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 8

strictly determined by the

sliding education and ex-

perience scale. Education

and service points would

no longer be required to

maintain Class A status.

In place of the current points

system, various educa-

tional certificates would

be created to help mem-

bers to continue to market

themselves and their indi-

vidual achievements.

Key points to consider:

Aligns this association with

the vast majority of asso-

ciations around the world

in focusing education

around designations and

not classifications.

Proposal is still centered on

formal education.

Maintains CGCS as the pinna-

cle of continuing educa-

tional attainment.

Reduces the confusion around

CGCS, Class A and SM

members.

Creates a cohesive and inclu-

sive association.

The proposed updates to both


classifications will not be voted on

in 2015 and GCSAA will use the

next year to solicit additional in-

put from the membership. The

membership will vote on the new

pathway at the 2016 annual meet-

ing.

If you have any questions con-

cerning the above proposals,

please don’t hesitate to contact me

at [email protected] or speak

with your assigned chapter dele-

gate. We will be glad to walk you

through the discussion. More in-

formation is also available at

http://www.gcsaa.org/newsroom/n

ews/chapters/2014/delegates-

discuss-inclusive-membership-as-

the-future-for-gcsaa.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.gcsaa.org/newsroom/news/chapters/2014/delegates-discuss-inclusive-membership-as-the-future-for-gcsaa





H I G H L I G H T S F RO M E M P I R E RA N C H G O L F C O U R S E A N N UA L E L E C T I O N M E E T I N G

At left Jessie Sequin intro-

duces Rodney Muller as host

of the 2014 Annual Election

Meeting. At right newly

elected president Rob Wil-

liams presents out going

president Jessie Sequin with

a plaque.

Below Pete Bowman is presented with a plaque for his service as the affiliate

representative.

As always meetings are a great opportunity for

old friends to catch up. At left Dave Bermudez

and Rodney Muller. Below Sam Samuelson

catches up with Steve Byrne

Below newly elected board member Hulises Avila is congratulated by Paul Smith

Mike Kavaney and John Holmquist

H I G H L I G H T S F RO M A N N UA L H O L I DAY E V E N T


Frasinetti Winery was the location for our 2014 Holiday

Event. There was a break in the rain that allowed atten-

dees to celebrate the holiday season. At left Jessie

Creencia, CGCS and his wife Elizabeth. Below Pete

Bowman, and his wife Nina.

Enjoying the evenings festivities were Kurtis

Wolford and his wife Kari.

Relaxing after a great meal Chuck Talley and Mike Scully pre-

pare for the White Elephant Gift Exchange.

Enjoying a Father/Daughter evening

were Tim McCoy and his daughter

Mallory.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

TO EVERYONE!


THANK YOU TO OUR ANNUAL SPONSORS

2015 California Room

Historic Sunset Station

San Antonio

February 25th, 2015

6:00 to 9:00

All California GCSA Chapter members, wives or significant

others are welcome. There will be a California Room

admission fee of $25 pre-registration or $75 at the door.

Pre-registration will begin October 1, 2014 and end on

February 20, 2015.

Children attending will be admitted free.

Registration/Sponsorships

Access on Line Registration at Californiagcsa.org

If you can not access on line registration please contact the

association office to confirm your registration and make your

payment. 559-298-4853

2015 Lone Star Sponsor

NovemberDecember 2014

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