Palm Springs City Council vote to ban gas-powered leaf blowers

Ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2019

On June 19, the Palm Springs, Calif. City Council voted 3-2 in favor of an ordinance to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in the City of Palm Springs. 

Mayor Robert Moon and Councilmember Chris Mills voted against the ordinance with Councilmembers Ginny Foat, Geoff Kors and J.R. Roberts voting in favor. 

The ban will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, with fines starting on April 1, 2019. 

Four golf courses, including the 36-hole Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort owned by the City, will be affected by the ordinance.  The local golf industry (GCSAA, Hi-Lo Desert GCSA, SCGA) provided written comments in opposition to the ordinance and Southern California Golf Association director of government affairs Craig Kessler and I spoke at the meeting providing testimony on the burdens that such a ban would place on the golf industry. 

In addition to the golf industry, hundreds of representatives and workers from the landscape industry turned out to voice their concerns over the ban and the effect it will have on efficiency and costs associated with residential landscaping. 

While Palm Springs becomes part of the 47 percent of American cities who have banned gasoline-powered blowers, the golf industry is going to take the phase-in time to re-open dialogue with the Council in hopes of carving out an exemption for golf courses and possibly other large landscapes including hotels, parks and sports fields. 

Neighboring Indian Wells, Calif. and several other cities throughout the state have exemptions for golf courses and we will continue to pursue that avenue as well as provide the Council members with an on-course demonstration on the ineffectiveness of battery and electric blowers on large landscapes in one of the world’s harshest desert environments. 

More information on the ordinance and television coverage of the meeting.

Reflection Bay Golf Club to host Girls Junior Americas Cup

54-hole competition to be contested over Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Henderson, Nev.

As we move into the summer golf season, one of the events that I’m excited about volunteering for is the Girls Junior Americas Cup (GJAC).

GJAC, established in 1978, is a premier international team golf tournament that encourages sportsmanship, friendship, personal growth and development of young women golfers.

Reflection Bay Golf Club - Henderson, NV.

This year’s event will be contested July 30 – Aug. 3 at Reflection Bay Golf Club in my hometown of Henderson, Nev.  The 54-hole competition features 18 teams representing Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Mexico, Montana, New Mexico, Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, San Diego, Southern California, Southern Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. 

Each team consists of the top four girls from each city/state/country with teams counting three scores and throwing out the highest score from each day of competition.  The lowest three-day totaled score will determine the winner. There is no individual competition. 

GJAC is a major stop on the college recruiting circuit and being chosen to play for your state/country is one of the highest honors in girls’ junior golf. Former champions of the event include six-time LPGA winner Pat Hurst and World Golf Hall of Fame member Lorena Ochoa who won the tournament three consecutive years (1997-1999).

Al Greenhall is the superintendent at Reflection Bay and the Southern Nevada Golf Association (SNGA) is host golf association for the event. The tournament needs volunteers in all areas of operations and anyone with interest can contact Ann Sunstrum with the SNGA at asunstrum@snga.org. It’s a great opportunity to help junior golf and see some of the future stars of the LPGA Tour.

For complete information, visit the GJAC website.

San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors vote 3-2 against purchasing supplemental water to irrigate Dairy Creek Golf Course

Hundreds of golfers show up to support keeping facility as an 18-hole course

On June 6, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 against purchasing potentially potable water to supplement irrigation efforts at Dairy Creek Golf Course in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Costs for the supplemental irrigation would have ranged from $1,500 - $2,000 per acre-foot.

Supervisors Lynn Compton, Bruce Gibson and Adam Hill voted against purchasing the supplemental

County Supervisors Meeting in SLO

water with Chair John Peschong and supervisor Debbie Arnold voting in favor.

Hundreds of golfers from around the San Luis Obispo area as well as numerous allied golf industry representatives showed up to speak on behalf of Dairy Creek and the water purchase which would have allowed the course to remain an 18-hole facility.   

Dairy Creek, a county facility located in El Chorro Regional Park, is irrigated with recycled water from the neighboring California Men’s Penal Colony.  A decrease in the prison population due to realignment over the past several years has resulted in 60 percent less recycled water deliveries for the course leaving only 100 acre-feet per year available for irrigation. 

Dairy Creek is not scheduled to receive another delivery of recycled water until Dec. 1.  Even with record-setting precipitation during the winter of 2016-17 and stormwater capture efforts, the reduction in recycled water leaves only enough irrigation for greens and select areas on tee boxes.  The reduction in irrigated areas has had a devastating effect on Dairy Creek’s ability to attract and maintain golfers in a competitive marketplace. 

"Keep Dairy Creek Green and 18"

What’s next for Dairy Creek?  While an opportunity may be available to use well water from the California Men’s Penal Colony, Dairy Creek will most likely be looking at reducing the number of holes from 18 to 9 (keeping the practice facility) to accommodate the reduced recycled water deliveries that will be 100 acre-feet for the foreseeable future. 

Golf course architect Andy Staples was brought in by San Luis County Parks and Recreation (working closely with County Golf Course Superintendent Josh Heptig) to create numerous master plans based on water availability.   Using his Community Links concept, Staples has put together a plan to reduce the facility to 9-holes and a state-of-the-art practice facility (which would be home to the Cal Poly golf team) while incorporating programming that includes mountain biking, disc golf, trails, camp/cabin sites, zip lines and batting cages that would enhance an already active regional park.

The programming provides the highest-and-best-use of the Dairy Creek property (at 100 acre-feet of water) while maintaining a golf-oriented amenity that can be accessed by 100 percent of the community.

While the outcome of this meeting was not what the golf community had hoped for, the efforts of Josh Heptig, Andy Staples and the golfing community should be applauded.  

For more information on Dairy Creek including updates on the water situation, visit the website.

Nevada revised statutes to impact the use of pesticides by golf courses

Nevada Department of Agriculture will require licensing of golf course pesticide applicators 

The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) recently announced that per Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) Chapter 555, if any maintenance or management company bids or contracts for golf course (or any landscape) maintenance, they are considered by the NDA to be a pest control business. The business and all employees applying pesticides must possess pest control licenses from the NDA.

The business license fee is $250 annually and individual licenses (primary principal, location principal, principal and operator) are $50 annually.

Courses advertising (includes bidding for maintenance that involves pesticide applications, i.e. third-party management companies), soliciting for pesticide applications, or using power equipment to make pesticide applications will need licenses 

A brief presentation, FAQ sheet and application are available in a PDF format Please email me at jjensen@gcsaa.org and I can forward those documents   

As is the case with most regulations, they can be complex in the interpretation It is the intent of the NDA to work with each golf facility to determine an individual course of licensure.  

To begin the process, e-mail your club name, address, contact name and phone to pco@agri.nv.gov  A staff member from the NDA will then contact you You may also address any questions concerning the revised statute to the below:

Jay Steele, PCO Licensing 702-668-4561 or jay@agri.nv.gov

Scott Cichowlaz, Continuing Education 702-668-4570 or scottc@agri.nv.gov

Ron Balsamo, Pest Control Program manager 702-668-4574 or rbalsamo@agri.nv.gov

The above contacts have been very helpful to the golf industry, including by providing education at the recent Southern Nevada GCSA meeting held at Rhodes Ranch Golf Club in Las Vegas Don’t hesitate to reach out to them as they are glad to assist and have made it a priority to work with golf courses throughout the state 

GCSA of Northern California strategic planning session held at Claremont Country Club

Session establishes a roadmap of activities for the upcoming year

 

GCSAA's Associate Director of Chapter Outreach Steve Randall and I recently conducted a strategic planning session with the GCSA of Northern California (GCSANC) board of directors and Chapter Executive Marc Connerly at Claremont Country Club in Oakland, Calif. 

The mission of the session was to assist an already organized and successful chapter in designing a roadmap of activities for the upcoming year. 

Those in attendance included GCSANC President Sean Tully, Vice President Stacy Wallace, Secretary/Treasurer Brian Boyer, Josh Clevenger, Phil Brown, P.J. Ringenberger, Gavin Dickson, Pete Bachman, Bubba Wright and Past President Gary Ingram. 

Following the board expectations for the session, we conducted a SCOR (Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities, Risks) analysis and identified numerous items in each category.  Through a democratic process, the board narrowed down the list to two priority items in each category with a focus on financial stability, labor issues, engagement of members and working with the Northern California Golf Association. 

GCSANC SCOR analysis

After the SCOR analysis, we moved into a discussion on the mission statement.  The mission statement ultimately communicates what the organization does. Following an in-depth discussion, the group decided changes were needed to better reflect the current mission of the association.  Below is the updated mission statement:

The GCSA of Northern California is dedicated to serving its members through promotion and advancement of our profession.

Following the mission statement discussion, we moved into the vision statement for the chapter. The vision points out how the chapter should be viewed by its members. It also provides a forward-thinking thought process to uncover a bigger picture perspective.

Following a brief discussion, the group decided to update the vision statement.  Below is the updated vision statement:

The GCSA of Northern California brings together turf professionals to support each other while preserving golf and the environment. 

To close out the session, we established a list of goals and action items for the chapter to achieve in the next 12 months.  Those included developing a comprehensive financial plan for cash reserves, increasing turf students and opportunities to join the profession, discussion of collaborative opportunities with the Northern California Golf Association and an increase of superintendent participation in events for the 2018 calendar year. 

We thank the GCSANC board and Marc for participating in the session.  GCSANC is a large and financially successful chapter, but still sees the need for continued improvement. 

If your chapter is looking for assistance in conducting a similar strategic plan, please don’t hesitate to call me and I would be glad to schedule a date this summer for a session.  The sessions last approximately three hours and in addition to laying the groundwork for the chapter, they are a great team building exercise.