TURFNET - Tennessee Golf Trail

TURFNET – Highlights from Golf Industry Show 2012 in Las Vegas
Paul Carter named TurfNet Superintendent of the Year
By John Reitman, Editor
For his devotion to making The
Bear Trace at Harrison Bay near Chattanooga, Tenn., the best it can be, Paul
Carter CGCS, was named the recipient
of the 2011 TurfNet Superintendent of
the Year Award, presented by Syngenta. Along with the title of Superintendent of the Year, Carter wins a nifty
commemorative plaque and weeklong
golf trip for himself and a guest to
Bandon Dunes, courtesy of Syngenta.
The award is presented annually by
TurfNet and Syngenta to a superintendent who makes significant contributions to the industry. Criteria on
which the nominees are judged include
labor-management skills, ability to educate and advance the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with
government agencies, maximizing
budget limitations, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances,
service to golf clientele, upgrading or
restoring the course and dealing with
extreme or emergency conditions.
Carter was nominated by Harrison Bay head professional Robin
Boyer because of what amounted to almost a total rebuild of the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course located in
Harrison Bay State Park. Since its
opening in 1999, Harrison Bay’s bentgrass greens wilted during the sultry
Tennessee summers and had burned
through two superintendents in its
first two years. Since he arrived at Harrison Bay in 2002, Carter has rebuilt
the greens and regrassed them, replacing the bentgrass with Champion ultradwarf Bermudagrass.
Ongoing improvements to the
course are done with one thing in
mind, to elevate conditions on the
property for customer, the state of
Tennessee which owns the course and
the many species of wildlife that call
the property home. Those projects include rebuilding bunkers and adding
thousands of feet of new drainage
(with thousands more yet to come)
and converting out-of-play areas to native. The latter serves multiple purposes, namely reducing inputs and
manpower, conserving water and promoting indigenous wildlife.
Carter was selected by a panel of
judges from a list of nine finalists that
include Roger Brashear of Blackstone
Country Club in Peoria, Ariz., Donald
Cross, CGCS at Skokie (Ill.) Country
Club, John Davis of Secession Golf
Club in Beaufort, S.C., Fred Gehrisch,
CGCS at Highlands Falls Country
Club in Highlands, N.C., Matt Hoyt,
CGCS at Sevillano Links in Corning,
Calif., Mark Langner, CGCS at FarmLinks Golf Club in Sylacauga, Ala.,
Peter McDonough of The Keswick
Club in Charlottesville, Va.; and
Robert Pearsall of Salish Cliffs Golf
Club in Shelton, Wash.
Judges included last year’s winner,
Thomas Bastis, CGCS at The California
Golf Club of San Francisco, Cal Roth of
the PGA Tour, Christ Hartwiger of the
USGA Green Section, Tom Stine of
Golf Datatech, Frank Rossi, Ph.D., of
Cornell University, Bradley Klein,
Ph.D., of Golfweek, Tim Moraghan of
Aspire Golf, Larry Hirsch of Golf
Property Analysts.
Past winners TurfNet Superintendent of the Year:
Thomas Bastis, CGCS at The California Golf Club of San Francisco (2010)
Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain (Ga.) Golf Club (2009)
Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club (2008)
John Zimmers, Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club (2007)
Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. (2006)
Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, Calif., (2005)
Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, Fla., (2004)
Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, Ill., (2003)
Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario, (2002)
Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Mass.(2001)
Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort (2000)
Congratulations to Paul Carter, CGCS,
Course Superintendent for The Bear
Trace at Harrison Bay State Park for
being named recipient of the 2011
TurfNet Superintendent of the Year
Award. He is the first recipient of this
prestigious award from Tennessee. Paul
was recognized for his outstanding improvements to the course at Harrison
Bay, including projects to conserve water,
promote native plants and wildlife, apply
fewer chemicals, consume less energy,
while improving the overall customer
experience. His leadership has been instrumental in the Bear Trace at Harrison
Bay attaining Audubon International
Sanctuary designation, Groundwater
Guardian Green Site certification and
the 2009 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation. Paul was
recently named Tennessee State Parks’
Director of Agronomy.