I feel sorry for Richard and Trevor Kolb at Green Acres in Balgonie. Some idiot drove onto some fairways and greens, doing severe damage to both. The guy that did this should have his driver’s license taken away, his truck seized and made to pay for the damage he caused. It will cost about $25,000 to repair the mess.

The Fall Wind-Up and Annual General Meeting will be at Lynbrook Golf Club in Moose Jaw on November 24th. The format will be changed this year with the Seminar in the morning. A hot lunch will be available at noon, followed by the Annual Meeting and election of officers. We hope to be out of their around 3:00pm for the drive home.

We are going to spend Monday evening at the Cornerstone Inn and Pub. The Social evening will include Monday Night Football. Drinks and finger food will be available along with fellowship. It will be similar to our social evening at the Spring Conference and Trade Show.

I would like to congratulate STA Director Laurie Unruh for his recent lifetime achievement award from the Saskatchewan Professional Golfers Association. Laurie joins some elite company in being named for this award, namely Pat Fletcher, Peter Semko, Les Beavin and Hubert Cooke. Laurie is the first non-professional golfer to be honored. The Pros tell me Laurie always goes above and beyond to help the Professionals. Laurie was visibly humbled, if that’s possible, when presented with the award.

The STA offers our deep sympathy to Joe and Kevin Bloski for the loss of a beloved wife and mother. Barb Bloski lost a hard fought battle with multiple sclerosis and cancer just recently. She was a brave lady who left many friends to go with our many fond memories.

We wish Cam Carter a speedy recovery after his stay in hospital in Saskatoon. Cam and his wife are the proud owners of Mark’s Nine Golf and Country Club in Prince Albert. Cam will have the winter to recuperate.

Joel Simmons, who will conduct our Seminar on November 24th, is the owner of Soil First Consulting. Mr. Simmons will offer you the opportunity to “get back to the soil basics” and explore the history of IPM, review soil testing procedures, determine how to correctly read a soil profile and discuss the biology of our soils. Brett Young (Dean Kachur, Tim Dyck) is sponsoring Joel’s role at the Fall Wind-up.

I’ve had two nominations for the Dr. Drew Smith Member of the Year award. If you have anyone in mind, please submit his or her name to me as soon as possible. To qualify for the award the nominee must be:

• A member of the STA in good standing
• Dedicated to the turfgrass industry and our association
• Willing to help fellow superintendents
• Able to show the utmost in professionalism
• Be successful in leading staff and assistants

Scottish Golf has a deep respect for those who care for the turf, whether it’s on the heralded courses that host the Opens or layouts whose biggest event may be the Club Championship. The Scots see golf superintendents as craftsman. In Saskatchewan, golfers view green keeping staff as little more than guys that mow grass.

I’ll bet that the STA Member of the Year is a superintendent who has dual roles when delegating tasks; a supervisor and a coach. Effective leaders successfully balance both roles. The daily challenge is to inspire others to achieve the goals as set out by the superintendent.

STA members will enjoy the Alberta Golf Superintendents Association’s Golf Course Property Managers Conference, November 29th to December 1st 2009. It will be held at the Capri Centre in Red Deer, Alberta. The featured speaker and seminar presenter will be Dr. Joe Vargas, Professor of Plant Pathology at Michigan State University.

Did you know golfers were once considered athletes? The image of them as morbidly obese, beer-soaked doddering fools in pink plaid arrived at precisely the same instant that those motorized benches became acceptable on our golf courses. As the golf car took us further from the classical game, stand-up comedians declared the game un-cool and linked golf to geriatric activities like bingo and high-fibre night at the cafeteria.

Preventative maintenance reduces or eliminates future problems, whether it be changing oil in our cars or exercising our bodies on a regular basis. It is also an integral part of successful golf course management. One essential practice, despised by golfers when applied to putting greens, is called aerification. Golfers view it as an inconvenient exercise that takes greens out of play for many days. To add insult to injury, aerification is best done in mid-summer at the height of the playing season and when most greens are in prime condition. Golfers say it’s a conspiracy.

On September 13th, 1926 sixty greenkeepers gathered at the Sylvania Country Club in Toledo, Ohio to organize a joint Canadian-American Greenkeeper Association. Ken Lintott thinks he was there! Six months later in January of 1927, the first annual meeting of the National Association of Greenkeepers of America was held with 75 members in attendance.

The 2009 Fall Wind-up in Moose Jaw will be held on November 24th, 2009. If you plan on coming November 23rd to attend the Monday night social and need a hotel room, consider Days Inn (306.691.5777) or the Comfort Inn (306.692.2100). Both are near the Lynbrook Golf Club. The taxi ride to the Cornerstone Inn and Pub isn’t that expensive.

When storing your equipment for the winter make sure you check coolant strength in all radiators – and another reminder, check and replace any cracked or worn hydraulic hoses. Also grease all grease zerks to purge any moisture away from any bearing surfaces.

I got this off the internet – Golf is a board game. The game was formed around three points … the strategic, heroic and penal aspects. Trouble is that 95% of golfers don’t know they exist.

Golf course superintendents are widely considered to be among the best-educated and most judicious users of pesticide products. The vast majority of superintendents are using integrated pest management practices to ensure that both the turf and the environment stay healthy. Most applicators are also trained and licensed by their provinces.

Everyone should try and make it to the Fall Wind-up and AGM in Moose Jaw on November 24th at the Lynbrook Golf Club. We’ll have an informative seminar in the morning and our Annual General Meeting in the afternoon. We should be out of there around 3:00pm.

I’ll see you at the Cornerstone Inn and Pub on November 23rd. This will be a great evening with a lot of jocularity. I learned that word from Barry Carpenter, Laurie Unruh’s boss. He even told me how to spell it.