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Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Class A members Robert A. Dickison, CGCS, James C. Husting, CGCS, and Douglas W. Petersan have been selected as recipients of the 2010 GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Awards.
They will be acknowledged at the 2010 GCSAA Education Conference during Celebrate GCSAA! presented in partnership with Syngenta, Feb. 9. Formerly the Opening Session and Welcoming Reception, Celebrate GCSAA! is hosted by GCSAA President Mark D. Kuhns, CGCS. The conference (Feb. 8-12) will be held in conjunction with the Golf Industry Show (Feb. 10-11) at the San Diego Convention Center.
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"Bob, Jim and Doug are most deserving of the Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award,” Kuhns said. “They have made outstanding and significant contributions to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession as well as to the game of golf. Their service to our profession has been invaluable.”
Dickison is in his 50th year at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J. He started there in 1960, became head superintendent in 1971. He transitioned into a project manager role this year, overseeing irrigation, drainage and bunker improvement programs. A 38-year GCSAA member, Dickison has been a GCSAA certified golf course superintendent since 1977. He is a past president of both the GCSA of New Jersey and the New Jersey Turfgrass Association.
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Dickison has hosted numerous professional tour events at Upper Montclair over the years, including the PGA Tour's Thunderbird Classic in the 1960s, the LPGA's Coca-Cola Classic and Chrysler Plymouth Classic in the early '80s, and the 2007, 2008 LPGA/Sybase Classic. A regular speaker at national, regional and state conferences, Dickison's presentations include tournament preparation, tree care and water usage among other topics. He earned the 1988 GCSANJ Distinguished Service Award, the 1990 Rutgers Turfgrass Alumni Achievement Award, the 1993 New Jersey Turfgrass Hall of Fame Award and the 2003 Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management Award for Professional Excellence.
Husting, the certified golf course superintendent at Woodbridge (Calif.) Golf and Country Club, has been the industry's government relations liaison in California for 13 years. A 28-year GCSAA member, Husting served on the association's government relations committee from 1997-98 and again from 2008-09. He has played an instrumental part in keeping all the California chapters informed of government issues that affect California's golf industry. A past president of both the Sierra Nevada GCSA and the California GCSA, Husting established a government relations network of more than 300 industry professionals throughout the state who receive his action alerts. His government relations updates are also posted on the California GCSA's Web site.
Husting's efforts in Sacramento include helping obtain funding in support of research on pine pitch canker, fire ants, and sudden oak death syndrome; as well as a successful grassroots campaign to expand the triploid grass carp permit statewide as a non-chemical method of aquatic pest control in golf course waterways. Husting initiated the first economic impact study to research the financial impact of golf in California -- findings from which continue to serve as a tool for the golf industry to educate lawmakers on the value and substantial economic impact of golf to the state. He also worked with CGCSA Lobbyist George Steffes to develop a brochure to educate government officials regarding golf's positive impact on the environment.
Petersan works as a consultant with Austin Golf Club in Spicewood, Texas, a golf course he helped build. A 39-year GCSAA member, Petersan got his start as superintendent at Fremont (Neb.) Golf Club, before moving on to famed layouts Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., and Baltimore Country Club's Five Farms in Timonium, Md., where he also led successful renovations. He is a past president of the Nebraska GCSA, the Kansas GCSA, and the Nebraska Turfgrass Association, which he helped form in the late 1970s.
Petersan has received the Nebraska Turfgrass Foundation Distinguished Service Award, and he is also a member of the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame. He has shared his knowledge and experience with so many that a fraternal group of more than 40 superintendents who trained under him formed the "Petersan Society."
The GCSAA Board of Directors selects the winners from nominations submitted by affiliated chapters and/or association members. The award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding, substantive and enduring contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession. The award is named after Col. Morley, GCSAA's founder and first president, who was the first to earn the award in 1932, and received it again in 1940.
