One of the USGA’s longest-serving turfgrass experts will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the 1,800-member Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. Patrick O’Brien, southeast region director for the USGA Green Section, will be honored at the association’s annual conference in Myrtle Beach, SC later this month.
The award is the highest that the organization bestows and recognizes outstanding achievement and contribution in the service of golf course superintendents and the golf industry in the Carolinas. Some of the most respected golf course superintendents in the region credit O’Brien as one of the reasons behind the Carolinas’ glowing national reputation as a golfing leader.
“He has had a tremendous influence on the view that many of the best golf courses and maintenance programs are in the Southeast,” said Bill Anderson, certified golf course superintendent from Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, NC. A Carolinas GCSA past-president and an earlier recipient of the DSA, Anderson added: “I think he’s a great choice for this award. He is an amazing individual and always, always supportive of the golf course superintendent. His credibility is unshakeable.”
O’Brien is director of the USGA Green Section’s southeast region, which spans the Carolinas as well as Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Bermuda. Each year, assisted by southeast region senior agronomist, Chris Hartwiger, he serves about 250 golf courses, including public, private, military and resort facilities, providing advice, recommendations and strategies on golf course health. Together, they also speak at more than 50 turfgrass seminars, university and technical schools and green committee meetings.
Carolinas GCSA president, Paul Jett, certified superintendent at Pinehurst No.2 and two-time U.S Open Championship host superintendent praised O’Brien’s ability to communicate with all aspects of golf club management. “Pat has had and still does have the kind of credibility that allows him to be heard, not just by superintendents, but green committees, club managers and club presidents,” Jett said. “He can be heard in a way that helps get everybody on the same page.”
Stan Zontek is the USGA’s longest-tenured employee having joined in 1971. He is director of the Mid-Atlantic Region where O’Brien started out in 1979. Zontek says O’Brien’s 30-year career has benefited millions of golfers who remain largely unaware of his contribution.
“Anyone who has thrived in the turfgrass industry as long as Pat has, well, he’s had a positive influence that’s led to the conditioning of golf courses we enjoy today,” Zontek said.
On issues such as reducing overseeding, use of the new ultardwarf grasses, shade and trees, sand topdressing and aerification, bunkers or moderating green speeds, O’Brien has waged long-running campaigns to maximize superintendents’ ability to succeed.
He is based in Griffin, GA and received his Bachelors Degree from Marietta College in Ohio and his Masters Degree in Agronomy from West Virginia University. After a brief stint with the USGA Green Section’s Mid-Atlantic Region, he transferred to the Southeast Region.
O’Brien will receive his award at a special presentation during the Carolinas GCSA’s annual Conference and Trade Show in Myrtle Beach. The event, the largest regional gathering for golf course superintendents in the nation, runs November 16-18 with the Distinguished Service Award presentation on the evening of November 18.
