The Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA) selected Marvin H. Ferguson, PH.D. as the 2008 recipient of its Don A. Rossi Award. The award, to be made posthumously, will be accepted by Ferguson's grandson, Ed Hodnett, at the GCBAA awards dinner Feb. 1 at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla.
The Rossi award is given annually by the GCBAA to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of golf and its growth, and who have inspired others by its example. It is named for Don A. Rossi, who served as President of the National Golf Foundation from 1970 to 1983, was instrumental in forming the National Golf Course Owner's Association and served as Executive Director of the GCBAA from 1984 to 1990.
Ferguson (1918-1985) was selected for the 2008 Rossi award to recognize a distinguished career in agronomy which, among other achievements, brought notable contributions to turf grass development and greens construction. A capsule look at his career includes:
- Work as a young man with the USGA Greens Section in Arlington, Virginia. There he was responsible for deciding which of hundreds of grass selections should be saved for development by the USDA at Beltsville, Md. Two of his decisions helped pave the way for introduction of Merion bluegrass and U-3 bermudagrass.
- Service with the USGA Green Section, first as a research agronomist and later as Director of its Mid-Continent Region and National Research Coordinator.
- Turf grass research and teaching at his alma mater, Texas A&M, where he became a professor of agronomy and, with colleagues, began to develop the layered method of putting green construction which is now a USGA specification.
- Service to the golf industry in soils analysis as well as in course design and construction.
A navy veteran of World War II, Ferguson inspired his family to carry on his work in numerous ways: A daughter, Judith Ferguson Gockel, was active in green development as general manager of Agri-Systems of Texas; a son, Mark, operates a landscape design and maintenance firm and a grandson, Ed Hodnett, CGCS, is a consulting agronomist for golf course projects worldwide.