Category: Golf and Turf Tips

Aloha To All Members:

As the president of the Hawaii State Golf Course Superintendent Association it is with great pleasure to welcome everyone to another great year of Golf Course Management in the State of Hawaii. Already it has been an eventful year with three successful televised tournaments and a well deserved congratulations to the entire tournament team and their staff.

On January 11th the Ho’olau’lea Awards Ceremony took place at the Japanese Cultural Center on Oahu. We presented two awards for the Superintendent of the Year, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the membership’s nominations and votes. I have included the bios for both award winners, Robert Itamoto and Scott Nair and let’s give them congratulations for doing a great job of representing the turf industry with Aloha, Dignity and Respect. Great Job!

The board is currently working on a few projects including updating the website, teleconference meetings, yearly calendar, budget, donations and the yearly seminar and golf outing. All of these will be sent out to the membership when completed.

Also, I am attaching some other important information on Legislative Senate Bills that are currently being sent for voting. These bills oppose use of different chemicals and could increase reporting usage within the State of Hawaii. The two of greatest concern is the ban on Glyphosate (Round UP) use on non-agricultural crops.

“Glyphosate is important to all types of industry not only the golf course industry. We need to get the Hotel industry, Department of Transportation, Department of Water, and rest of the Green Industry involved. Glyphosate is one of the safest herbicides that we have available to us as far as environmentally safe. It is also economical to the end user for pricing and effectiveness.” Clint Tolbert

“If you have made use of glyphosate for so called cosmetic weed control purposes in your work or business then you should consider submitting testimony to oppose these bills. If they can ban a product like glyphosate for cosmetic uses then all pesticides used in a similar setting will be targeted next, you can count on it.”
Dr. Joe DeFrank

This is the time where our membership needs to get together and submit testimony like this opposing these bills. Neither has been scheduled for a hearing to date, but once it is scheduled, testimony needs to be submitted on line, mailed or e-mailed. On line is the easiest and takes about 5 minutes to do. A testimony will be submitted on behalf of the HGCSA, but more individual petitions are needed to prove that this bill will impact all of the plant science industry negatively throughout the entire State of Hawaii.

Let all of us continue to enhance and improve all of our association events this year by having more participation by all of our Hawaii State Golf Course Superintendent Association members and the Ohana that surrounds them.

Derrick R. Watts
President 2012-2013
Hawaii Golf Course Superintendent Association

Scott is the Director of Agronomy at the Kukio Golf and Beach Club and President of the Big Island Golf Course Superintendents Association (BIGCSA). Scott manages and operates both the golf and landscape departments at the impeccably manicured Kukio facility. He is instrumental in organizing the BIGCSA meetings, including a much desired education format and a Holiday party which includes a drive to gather donated toys for “Toys for Tots”. Scott’s work ethic and professionalism make him a leader within the industry and a source of information and guidance for many colleagues.

Robert Itamoto graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Agronomy in 1959. His career as a golf course superintendent began at Barber’s Point in 1960. He moved to Oahu Country Club in 1962 as their Supt. In 1964, Robert Trent Jones Sr. hired Bob to oversee the construction on the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel Golf Course in 1964 and stayed on as the Supt. In 1991, Mauna Kea Properties constructed the Hapuna Golf Course, and Bob helped with the construction of this course as well. In 2002, Bob retired from his position as Supt. but was asked to consult for Seibu, who owned the Hawaii Prince Golf Club, Makena Golf Courses, Hapuna Golf Course and the Mauna Kea Golf Course, totaling 100 holes of golf. He did consulting with Seibu until 2008. Mauna kea Properties decided to renovate the Mauna Kea Golf Course in 2008 using Rees Jones and again asked Bob to oversee this renovation project. After the completion of the renovation in 2009, Mauna Kea Resort Services asked Bob to consult on the maintenance of a 3 hole private course at the Kaunaoa development at the Mauna Kea Resort and he is still consulting to this day. This totals 53 years in the the career of golf maintenance! This is a lifetime achievement!

Links to download the 2013 Hawaii USGA Regional Conferences Registration Forms for Maui, Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island can be found below. Please print and mail in your registration form and payment not later than March 22, 2103 direct to the USGA address.

The United States Golf Association is the national governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. The USGA’s most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open. The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, funds research for better turf and a better environment, maintains a Handicap System, celebrates the history of the game and administers an ongoing grants program.