Bill Fach of the Black Bear Golf Course in Belleville, Ont., has been named Superintendent of the Year by the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA).
Fach has been a CGSA member since 1978 and earned his Master Superintendent designation in 1996.
His career began in 1977 at Essex Golf and Country Club in Essex, Ont., before he moved to Toronto’s Rosedale Golf and Country Club in 1986. After 10 years there, he moved to York Downs for five years. He is now in his fifth year at Black Bear.
The Superintendent of the Year Award recognizes a CGSA member who has held that position for at least five years and has distinguished him or herself through dedication to the profession, performance as a golf course manager and contributions to his/her profession and community.
Fach has served as a director with both the CGSA and the Ontario Golf Superintendents Association and was elected as president of the CGSA in 2002. In his position at Black Bear, that course has been recognized by several regional, national and international golf publications.
Mitch Davidson
, Golf Course Technical Supervisor at the Fairmont Banff Springs, has been named the CGSA-Toro Future Superintendent Award winner for 2008.
Davidson was raised in Virden, Man., and studied Turfgrass Management at Olds College from 2006 to 2008 after attending Brandon University and the University of Manitoba between 2001 and 2005. Davidson began his career at the Virden Wellview Golf Course in 2002 as a greenkeeper, then worked for the Miniota Golf Club in 2005 and 2006 as a greenkeeper. After his first year of Turfgrass Management, Davidson stayed in Alberta to work as second assistant at the Speargrass Golf Course before moving to Banff Springs.
The Future Superintendent of the Year Award is awarded to a full-time student member of the CGSA who is completing his/her graduating year in a CGSA-recognized program.
As winner of this year’s award, Davidson will travel to Scotland to take part in a six-week training and work program before speaking at the CGSA Conference in Halifax next March. He will also travel to Toro headquarters in Minneapolos in 2009 and a personal computer will be presented to Olds College in Davidson’s name.
Walter Gooder, a Master Superintendent and AGS at Calgary’s Country Hills Golf Club and a CGSA member since 1973, is the 2008 recipient of the John B. Steel Award, which is presented annually to a person chosen by the CGSA board of directors for outstanding contribution to the advancement of golf course superintendents.
Gooder served as CGSA president in 1982 and was named superintendent of the year in 1997. He began his career in golf course management in 1968 at Pinebrook Golf and Country Club in Calgary before enrolling in the Turfgrass Management degree program at Lake City Florida College. After graduation, Gooder returned to Albert to work at the Willow Park Golf and Country Club and the Edmonton Golf and Country Club, where he remained for 16 years before moving to Country Hills in 1989. He has served as a member of the CGSA Environmental Committee, chair of the AGSA Challenge Cup and as a founding member of the Alberta Golf Industry Association and the Alberta Turfgrass Research Foundation.
Gooder was also a driving force behind the establishment of the AGSA Property Managers Conference and a recipient of the AGSA Distinguished Service Award. He now spearheads an industry effort to ensure the use of pesticides by superintendents in Calgary.
In other news, the CGSA named Kevin Bishop and Kelsy Leavins recipients of the President’s Scholarship Award, which recognizes the scholastic accomplishments of students who are children or grandchildren of CGSA members and enrolled in a full-time post-secondary school education program.
