Long time turfgrass educator and researcher, Leon Lucas, Ph.D., will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the 1,800-member Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. 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.
|
|
Lucas, who lives in Apex, N.C., will receive the award Nov. 14 during the Carolinas GCSA’s annual conference and trade show in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“Leon Lucas is one of the reasons that golf in the Carolinas commands the outstanding reputation that it does across the country,” Billy Lewis, Carolinas GCSA president, said. “Most golfers don’t know who he is but to those of us in the business of preparing and presenting golf courses year in and year out, he is an icon.”
Lucas has worked on the science of golf course turf for 40 years, mostly at North Carolina State University and since 1998, as agronomist for the Carolinas Golf Association. As an educator, Lucas taught more than 15,000 turf and landscape professionals. Many of today’s golf course superintendents in North and South Carolina have attended at least one of his classes or presentations.
Paul Jett, certified golf course superintendent and host of two U.S. Open Championships at Pinehurst No. 2, said: “So many superintendents in the Carolinas have been influenced by Leon directly either through personal contact, through his educational seminars or through the articles he has written over the years. He is very personable and easy to talk to. But he is very businesslike when he is at the golf course. He has never worried about offending anybody whether they are on the green committee or they are the club president or the club manager. He’s pretty much going to tell them what it is and how it is. And I am sure that 99 times out of 100, he was right.”
Lucas has authored more than 300 articles for university publications, journals and professional magazines. He also co-authored the text book Introduction to Plant Diseases. His research on golf greens led to seven U.S. and international patents for fungicide combinations to improve disease control and quality.
He was a signatory to the articles of incorporation that bought the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina into being in 1974. His work as executive secretary through the late ‘70s to mid-‘80s coincided with a period of extensive growth for the organization. TCNC has twice honored Lucas for his exceptional contributions. In 1981, he received TCNC’s Outstanding Service Award and then in 1998 was made an honorary lifetime member.
His influence runs deeper still. Among his students over the years are two of the biggest names in the science of Carolinas golf turf, Dr. Bruce Martin and Dr. Bert McCarty, both with Clemson University.
“I’m really glad to hear L.T. is being honored with this award,” Martin said. “It’s long overdue. He is an icon in the industry in the Carolinas and has helped so many superintendents, young students and facilities over the years. His contribution can’t be really measured.”
Lucas turned 65 in August but has no thought of retiring “again.” “I really don’t know what I would do if I retired,” he said. “My work is kind of my hobby. It’s what I enjoy. In all my research and all my time working with golf course superintendents the best lesson I have learned is that the more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn. It has to be a collaboration with the golf course superintendent. You get together and share information and work out the solution in partnership.”
