Tips – Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents Association

Hawaii Project Meeting with GCSAA

A very brief summary: EPA is responsible for registration and re-registration of pesticide using the “Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act”. There is potential and maybe current litigation by Non-Governmental Organizations against the EPA for not adhering to the “Endangered Species Act.” Hawaii has a large number of endangered species…..golf courses use pesticides. Use, regulation, registration and re-registration of pesticide use on golf courses is up for evaluation.
…Dan Husek

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since we talked to EPA about the Hawaii pilot. They have not rolled anything out yet but it was mentioned yesterday at an IR-4 meeting in Raleigh. I have not heard any more news on the proposed roundtable in Hawaii in October/November. I will let you know when I do.

EPA is dealing with Hawaii separate from the other 49 states. They have rolled out a much more potentially problematic pilot called the Vulnerable Species pilot affecting the 49 states. We have been focused on it the last month. We are working with supers in Milwaukee right now on preparing comments to EPA.

I wanted to bring back to your attention the two data sets that Jennifer Connolly shared with me:

Golf Courses | Hawaii Statewide GIS Program – golf course data layer from State of Hawaii – where golf courses are located

Advancing Transparency of Endangered Species Act Evaluations Through Publicly Available Data | US EPA – endangered species data – where endangered species are – Jennifer said to look at the Layers section in the middle of the page

Ahead of our next discussion with EPA on the Hawaii pilot, would you mind having members of the Hawaii GCSA board take a look at both of these data sets and provide any insight. I am interested to know if the golf courses are being mapped correctly. Dan said things were not accurate around him. Also, I am interested to know what types of endangered species are listed at or near your golf courses.

Also, please have your chapter members sign up for the FIFRA-ESA 101 webinar we are hosting on September 27. The USDA and Bayer and Syngenta are helping us educate the membership on the upcoming ESA challenges and alerting everyone to the proposed pilot projects.

Registration (gotowebinar.com)

Let me know if you have any questions.

Chava

Chava E. McKeel | Director, Government Affairs
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
1421 Research Park Drive | Lawrence, KS 66049

Searching for the IDEAL Bunker Sand – Nate Lopez

Historically bunker sand for Hawaii Golf Courses have been varied and somewhat inconsistent

The most consistent source of local sand is Coral Sand (Calcareous). Maui Dunes Sand, although its long term availability, remains in question at this time; tends to work well in environments where this sand is abundant on the golf property. Courses like Maui Lani, Pukalani, Maui Country Club and Wailua Blue are primary examples. Inland Beach sand (Mokuleia) from the North Shore of Oahu, when available, is our third and generally, least available local sand for bunkers.

Conditions — Limitations and Characteristics of these three local sands

Hawaii has few native sources for bunker sand. Each of the three sand noted are classified as Calcium Carbonate or Calcareous sand. They are what remain of the original organic organism that once flourished as coral reefs around our islands. Each material, as a bunker sand have one similar characteristic, over time and combined with moisture and pressure they will compact and harden!

Most abundant is ‘Coral Sand or Greenside Bunker Sand’ currently sourced from the leeward side of Oahu this quarry was once the primary source for Lime Sand used in the manufacture of Cement (powder). This quarried coral rock is crushed into finer aggregate sizing and into sand for making concrete or for golf bunker’s. Because of its characteristic calcium content “Very High”, this sand tends to compact and harden to a solid surface within several weeks to a few months; example, the beach area, surrounding the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. The maintenance required to achieve acceptable playability with aged in-place coral sand is extremely labor and equipment intensive.

Second most available is Maui Dunes Sand presently available on Maui and exported to Oahu for making concrete. This once highly abundant local calcareous sand has, over time, become a finer particle size and increasingly difficult to source away from Maui. Like Coral Sand, Maui Dunes Sand will compact and harden but, under the right conditions, it will take a few years. This characteristic difference is related to its “High” calcium content. If this sand can be placed at depths of 20-30 inches it will drain and remain playable for several seasons. However, sizing of the current supply is very fine, with 80% of its particle size retained on or passing #60 sieve (0.250mm).

The least available is, Oahu’s ‘Inland Beach Sand’; better known as Mokuleia Sand it historically is the most popular sand for bunkers. Like the other local sands sources Inland Beach Sand was once our coral reef system on the North Shore of Oahu. But unlike our other two sources this sand is the most stable of the Calcium Carbonate sands. It contains the “Lowest” amount of Calcium and as a bunker sand will remain playable, un-compacted for many seasons. Our best example of its long working life is the recent bunker renovation at the Waialae Country Club. The sand removed after nearly twelve years was Mokuleia Sand and when removed much of the sand was reused in other off course applications. But, like all Calcareous Sand over time, moisture and pressure the Mokuleia sand will compact as well.

Insure the Quality of Your Local Sand

Regardless the use, of your preferred calcium carbonate/calcareous sand it is most imperative the sand you source is a Washed product. Insuring unwanted fines, organics and organisms do not enter your golf course environment.

Silica Sand

Can there be one ideal bunker sand for the Hawaii golf market? Since 1972 Hawaiian Cement has been importing silica sand from all over the South Pacific initially used in the manufacturing of Cement over the past 20 years we have continued to import silica sand for golf specific applications. In our search for the Ideal bunker sand we pay close attention to the silica content of our sourced sands, as well as, its gradation, angularity and crusting characteristics. Silica sand at 97 % or greater silica content is highly stable and makes a high quality top dressing material and has shown to be above average performance as bunker sand with a typical penetrometer value 2.3-2.4 for G-3 & New Castle Blend.

The Ideal Bunker Sand Blend?

We believe we have found a better sand alternative for bunkers and possibly the Ideal bunker sand for most golf courses.

Over the past several months we have been working with the Head Professional & Superintendent at Olomana Golf Links on Oahu. Olomana has traditionally placed coral sand (Natural Beach Inland sand or Greenside Bunker Sand) into their bunkers. Over time the sand compacts and become unplayable for traditional bunker shots. Like most courses in this economy bunker maintenance is a lower priority on the daily jobs list; in this case they only get hand racked. Last November, on our recommendation, they agreed to experiment with blending the Hawaiian Sandman G-3 Silica into one of their more problematic bunkers.

They added approximately 1-2 tons of G-3 silica sand into a green side bunker on hole #9 and using a tiller blended the new sand about 4 inches deep into the bunker. Two days later a rain event filled all bunkers on the course with standing water, except this newly blended bunker. Ganin Asao, Head Golf Professional stated “it’s the only bunker on the golf course that drained; it’s never done that before”. Since that time Olomana has continued adding G-3 Silica to other bunkers. Now in late July the original bunker is still quite playable with no change in maintenance protocol.

The Ideal bunker sand would produce a penetrometer value of 2.5 or greater. We believe the approach taken by Olomana is a model for courses that currently have Coral Sand Bunkers. This custom blending approach is a cost effective alternative that will prolong the working life of your bunker during this difficult business climate.

The Makena Resort Beach & Golf Club recent analysis of our Native Sand (Calcium Carbonate) and G-3 silica blend reported a bunker penetrometer of 2.6 by one certified golf testing company and 3.3 by another. This bunker blend is two parts silica sand and one part Native Sand to color match native areas on their property.

We believe blending silica with, in-place, calcareous sand can create the Ideal bunker sand for your environment. Olomana estimates their custom blend may be 50/50% with silica sand but your requirement may be different.

Mixing silica sand into your calcareous bunker sand will give you a stable non sticking sand particle that will not compact and will dramatically reduce the compaction characteristic common in calcareous sands. Benefits include improved drainage of your existing bunker complex, reduced maintenance and labor hours on bunkers and reduced cost to upgrade your aging bunkers and improve the possibility of maintaining the color of your existing bunker treatment.

There may not be one bunker sand that is Ideal for all Hawaii’s courses, but this blend in-place approach may result in the Ideal bunker sand for your property.

Features of a Custom Blend bunker Sand:

Control firmness of your bunker face and fairway bunkers
Penetrometer; create the ideal value for your clientele
Customize your bunker blend for your climate
Control crusting characteristic
Make maintenance easier

Benefits of a customer Blend Bunkers Sand:

Greater Player, Member, guest enjoyment
Prolong working life of your existing bunker complex
Improved aesthetics of bunker complex
Cost effective approach to improve bunker condition
Lower labor cost to maintain bunkers
Bunker play lessons for teaching staff

For more information about a customer sand blend for your bunkers contact Nate Lopez at Hawaiian Sandman 808.673.4213 or [email protected]

2021 – Rounds 4 Research

Dear Hawaii GCSA Members,

I hope this finds you all doing well and preparing for what promises to be another busy year throughout the islands.

I am reaching out to you today on behalf of the Hawaii GCSA Board of Directors concerning the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) Rounds 4 Research program. Rounds 4 Research was started in 2012 to address funding shortages in the areas of turfgrass research, education and advocacy. To date, the auction has raised more than $782,000 nationally.

The premise of the program is simple: Golf facilities can support the effort by donating rounds of golf for two or four or “stay and play” packages and other items that will be auctioned online through a nationwide auction from April 26 – May 2.

The proceeds from the online auction are designated by the participating facilities to their local GCSA chapter (in this case, Hawaii). 80 percent goes to the chapter with the remaining 20 percent going to EIFG to assist with marketing and technical costs of running the national auction. The auction is conducted through the bidding platform biddingforgood.com. Donated items can be viewed at https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/auctionhome.action?vhost=eifg.

The Hawaii GCSA can then decide how to best spend the funds in the areas of research, education or advocacy efforts.

I’m asking all of you today to consider donating a twosome or foursome from your facility to the auction. In times of declining membership, participation and sponsorship, these additional funds can be critical to our chapter to continue providing the member services you have become accustomed to.

The donation process can be completed online and takes approximately 10 minutes. Please visit http://www.eifg.org/research/rounds-4-research/donate-a-round/online-form and complete the form.

The participating facility has the ability to restrict rounds to certain days and times as well as the option of setting your opening bid. You can send in your own certificate for the donation or the EIFG will create a certificate for you.

If you have any questions concerning Rounds 4 Research, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I appreciate your time and consideration. You will be assisting your local chapter as well as raising funds for the future of the game.

Sincerely,

Russ Dooge, CGCS
Executive Director
Hawaii GCSA

Nakatsukasa’s keeping it green

As Clarence Nakatsukasa approaches his 80th birthday, he is closing his latest career, presumably so he can play more golf.

Fittingly, the Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents Association awarded its executive director a Lifetime Achievement Award at February’s annual golf Ho‘olaulea. Nakatsukasa will retire as ED the end of this year.

He will retire again. The award was given for his service to Hawaii golf, his country and community. There have been several retirements.

Nakatsukasa graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1959 with a degree in history. Then he set about making some.

His Army career covered the next 20 years and he retired — for the first time — as a major. Military awards included the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious and Commendation Medal and Vietnam Campaign and Service Medal.

His golf game also was impressive.

“Golf gave me a lot of opportunities,” Nakatsukasa recalled about his military days. “I met a lot of people, played courses all over the world — on the mainland, in the Far East and Hawaii. The game really helped me in my career so I’m trying to give back. That’s why I’m still doing it.”

When he came home, Nakatsukasa was a Personnel Management Specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers and at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, along with Administrator for COMSAT, a satellite communications company.

His golf career — basically his third career — wouldn’t start until 1988, when his kids were out of school. He was a starter at Ala Wai and Golf Operations Assistant at Ted Makalena, then at Pali.

In 1994, the history major accepted the position of Golf Course Superintendent at Ala Wai, one of the busiest courses on the face of the earth. A year later, he began serving on the HGCSA board of directors.

Nakatsukasa’s training for his new position consisted of a huge course load ahead of time and hours of reading course maintenance material. He talked early and often with his new peers, along with suppliers of everything from equipment to fertilizer.

“I learned a lot from them,” he recalls, “and experienced a lot on my own.”

There was a lot to experience, with his assistant by his side. They usually showed up at Ala Wai at 4:30 a.m. and finished between 2-3 p.m. Nakatsukasa, who worked Pali simultaneously for eight “overwhelming” months, would be back on the weekend to play, and keep an eye on the place.

Along with the crowds, the flat course also has to deal with an abundance of salt in the soil, which causes bare spots. Its greens, which can be surprisingly good for a municipal course, are immensely difficult to maintain and nurture.

Along with everything else — for a multitude of reasons some courses face, and many do not.

“We’d be trying to do things to the golf course, but we’ve got so many people on it that it’s really hard to work around them,” Nakatsukasa recalled. “We had a lot of unhappy people when we’d close certain sections of the golf course. I always tried to talk to them and said, ‘Look, we’re trying to make it better for you guys,’ so they kind of understood.”

Ala Wai, with its legendary six-somes, not only deals with massive numbers on the course. It has relatively few maintenance workers, particularly in comparison to resort and private courses.

“The difficulty was not having the resources,” Nakatsukasa says. “Meaning primarily people and money and equipment. We have to make do with what’s available. We had to work hard and you had to get your workers convinced about what the job was all about, and why it was important to do the best you could.”

He sometimes still speaks about Ala Wai in the present, but he retired — again — 10 years ago. He quietly became the HGCSA’s first Executive Director. “For me,” he admits, “it’s a volunteer position.”

Golf must be a passion. He has worked too hard for it to be anything else.

“Maybe I’m crazy,” Nakatsukasa says. “I always felt along the way that golf was really good to me so I’m always trying to give back to something that did a lot for me.

“When I was playing and in the military I was a pretty decent golfer. A lot of people, I’m talking about generals and officers and members of Congress, I’ve gone out and played with them because I was involved in the game. That helped me in my career. Once I was done with that I needed to give back so that’s what I want to do now.”

Sounds like yet another career might take him into his 80s.

Photos of the 2014 HGCSA Golf Tournament and Seminar have been Published

CLICK HERE to view more GREAT pictures!

From the August GCM-Derrick Watts and the Prince Golf Club

The scenery alone at Prince Golf Club on the Hawaiian island of Kauai makes for experiences usually seen in watercolor paintings or on the big screen.

There is a rain forest on the property. Jungle. Rivers. The waterfall that comes out of a lava tube behind the 13th green by itself is breathtaking. For director of agronomy Derrick Watts, being able to work at a location most others would call a vacation destination is quite the perk.

“It is unbelievably beautiful and an architectural marvel,” says Watts, a 14-year GCSAA member. “For those who play the course, it is more a journey than a round of golf.”

Prince GC, on Hanalei Bay in Princeville, may look familiar. More than 50 years ago, its beauty was amplifed in scenes shot on location for legendary duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s musical “South Pacifc.” If anything, the flm served as a launching point for the island being viewed as the place to be for romance and charm.

In his own way, Watts has helped make the golf experience a land of enchantment.

A player development program that was initiated 16 months ago at Prince by a combined effort from the management team has been a big hit. As of June, more than 600 people have tried the program, which consists of a six-hole pitch and putt. Each afternoon, the driving range is cleared to make way for the Mini Prince Par-3 that opens at 4 p.m. Holes on the family-friendly course range from 48 to 91 yards and include an 8-inch-diameter cup to try to increase playability and enjoyment. It takes about 30 minutes to play, allowing each guest a chance to play six, 12 or 18 holes.

HGCSA Presents the 2014 Annual Seminar

Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents Association Presents the 2014 Annual Seminar At the Prince Hotel Waikiki October 3, 2014
08:00 A.M. (Check in time: 7:30 a.m.)

Subjects:

Turfgrass Nutrient Management
Invasive Pests Of Turfgrass and Landscape Plants
USGA Items Of Interest

Presented By: Dr.Micah Woods/Dr. Zhiqiang Cheng/Larry Gilhuly

Pre-registration required. Registration & Payment are due by September 15, 2014

Certification Points for: GCSAA CEUs and Pesticide

Please CLICK HERE to register online or to download the printable registration form.

HGCSA Members at the 2014 Golf Industry Show in Orlando

CLICK HERE to view the gallery of Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents members at the 2014 GIS in Orlando

Photos by Les Jeremiah Jr. CGCS

Final statistics from this year’s gathering of golf course superintendents, owners and operators, architects and builders were on the rise across the board versus the 2013 event in San Diego. Total attendance was 14,147, an 8 percent increase over last year. In addition, the two-day trade show, Feb. 5-6, attracted a total of 6,845 qualified buyers (up 14 percent from San Diego), who enjoyed 184,500 square feet of exhibit space and 561 exhibitors – increases of 7 and 9 percent respectively, from 2013.

About the Golf Industry Show

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The HGCSA 2014 “Lifetime Achivement Award” and “Superintendent of the Year” Recipients Announced

The 2014 Hawaii Golf Ho’olaule’a Awards Banquet was the setting for Russell Dooge CGCS-RT to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and Robert Medeiros Jr. to be named the Golf Course Superintendent of the Year. These fine individuals were selected by their peers and the Board of Directors of the Aloha Section PGA as outstanding volunteers and experts of their craft.

Russ is a 1975 graduate of UH Manoa with a degree in Horticulture Technology. He first served as a golf course worker at Mid-Pacific Country Club in many positions before assuming his first superintendent position at Kaluakoi GC on Molokai from 1977 to 1989. He subsequently served as GC Superintendent at Waikapu, Maui; Koele & Manele, Lanai; Sandalwood Maui; Kapalua and Kahili & King Kamehameha on Maui. Russell was one of the first GCSAA Certified GC Superintendent in Hawaii from 1985 to present. He has also served since 1996 to present as the HGCSA delegate to the national Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and served on numerous committees during his tenure.

Russ has also served as the HGCSA President on numerous occasions and has been a Association Director for nearly 20 years.

Russ has been the back bone of HGCSA during his tenure on the Board and has been our liaison with GCSAA. His contributions to HGCSA are immeasurable and have had a very positive effect in the growth and stability of the Association.

* * * * * * * * * *

Robert Medeiros has been active in the golf course business for 27 years. He has been at Kiahuna Golf Club in Kauai for 19 years. During his tenure at Kiahuna, he was one of the first superintendents to start converting to seashore paspalum grasses. He also has been involved in numerous renovations at Kiahuna which has helped the Club not only financially; but, also environmentally. In 2005 Kiahuna was named the Water Conservationist of the Year by the Dept. of Water Works of Kauai. This past year Robert has helped the owners secure a PV system to help reduce cost for the entire club.

Today, Kiahuna is one of the most energy efficient as well as environmentally friendly golf courses in the state. All of these accomplishments are due in great part to Robert’s leadership.

Re-energizing the synergy of the Hawaii Golf Course Superintendents Association

On January 10th, the HGCSA held a board meeting and golf outing and small get together at the Kaneohe Klipper golf course on Oahu. 22 participants both comprised of Superintendents and vendors enjoyed quality company and fun. Our goal for the HGCSA is to re-energize the association with these outings regularly and take it out to the neighbor islands as well. Mahalo to Ryan Wood for being such as gracious host and providing us with great playing conditions! Thanks to all for attending as well. We look forward to continued participation with these types of events.