GCM’s Industry News Digest: July 2023

The latest golf course product and industry news, curated for golf course superintendents and other turf industry professionals.

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Editor’s note: The GCM team will be doing our best to maintain an up-to-date feed of announcements on this page. If you have news you think belongs here, please email Scott Hollister.

Thursday, July 27

  • Virginia Tech asks for superintendent feedback for a survey on identifying barriers to adoption of precision turfgrass management (PTM) techniques. Response will help guide PTM developers to create a product that best fits user needs. Participant identities will remain anonymous, the survey closes Sept. 1, 2023 at midnight. Click here to participate.

Friday, July 14

  • The Asheville Municipal Golf Course, a 1927 Donald Ross design listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is in the midst of a $3.5 million capital improvement project funded by the City of Asheville, user fees and grants. A major component of the project concerns stormwater and irrigation management and repairing infrastructure that has deteriorated over a century. Tees, greens and bunkers are also being improved, and the pro shop has been renovated. The first phase of the project started in October 2022 and will run through the fall and winter of 2023-24.

Wednesday, July 12

  • Target Specialty Products has received CFIA registration for Turf Fuel INFINITE, an unprecedented product for turf professionals designed to improve moisture management and stress tolerance. Turf Fuel INFINITE combines Diuturon; a patent pending surfactant and Templar, a plant stress technology and four other companion polymers. The system enables turf managers to take control of soil hydration and plant health like never before, according to the company.

Thursday, July 6

  • Audubon International announced the addition of two leading executives in the hospitality and golf industries to its Board of Directors: Henry Wallmeyer, President and COO of ClubWorks, and Bryan Stromme, Vice President of Agronomy at Century Golf Partners. As at-large board members, Wallmeyer and Stromme will lend their expertise and respected standing in the golf and business communities to further Audubon International’s core mission and execute its strategic plan.
  • Troon announced it has acquired Applied Golf Management, a New Jersey-based golf and hospitality management company. As part of the acquisition, Troon assumes management of Applied Golf’s portfolio of 13 public and private golf facilities in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
  • John Deere and First Tee announced a three-year extension of their partnership. As a trustee-level partner, the funding from John Deere will continue to support the First Tee Scholars’ program, annual all-female academy, and its investment in the First Tee Quad Cities.

Fred Yelverton

  • Dr. Fred Yelverton, described by peers as “a titan in turfgrass weed science,” has won the Distinguished Service Award from the 1,800-member Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. The award, the highest bestowed by the association, comes as Yelverton winds down a career spanning nearly 30 years at North Carolina State University.

Wednesday, July 5

  • The Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association announced 10 recipients of the 2023 Legacy Scholarships. Scholarship committee leaders, Scott Slemp, Brandon Hayes, Hoyt Ellspermann, and Kyle Marshall named winners of the scholarships that offer educational aid to children and grandchildren of Georgia GCSA members. The awards are funded by the Georgia GCSA in partnership with the Jerry Pate Company.
  • The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that Pine Valley Golf Club, in Pine Hill, N.J., will host the 2034 Curtis Cup Match. The venerable golf club has previously hosted the 1936 and 1985 Walker Cup Matches.

Monday, July 3

  • Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply announced that it will update its name to Ewing Outdoor Supply to better reflect the customers and markets served. This change took effect July 1, 2023. Learn more at the company's website.
  • Ewing Outdoor Supply announced its partnership with PGA TOUR golfers Aaron Baddeley and Peter Malnati and PGA TOUR Champions golfer Steven Alker. Learn more on the company's website.