Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) certified golf course superintendents (CGCS) Donald Hearn, H. James "Jim" Loke and Oscar Miles were selected as recipients of the 2008 GCSAA Distinguished Service Award.
They will be acknowledged at the Opening Session (Jan. 31) of the 2008 GCSAA Education Conference in Orlando, Jan. 28-Feb. 2. The Opening Session is presented in partnership with Bayer Environmental Science.
"Don, Jim and Oscar are most deserving of the Distinguished Service Award,” said GCSAA president Ricky D. Heine, CGCS. “They have made outstanding and significant contributions to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession as well as to the game of golf. GCSAA is richer from the dedication of these gentlemen.”
Hearn, a 37-year GCSAA member, served on the GCSAA Board of Directors and was the association's president in 1987. He has also served on the USGA Green Section Committee. Hearn is a past president of the New England GCSA and is a past member of the Massachusetts Golf Association Executive Committee. A superintendent at Weston (Mass.) Golf Club for 29 years, Hearn also had stints at Lexington (Mass.) Golf Club and Vesper Country Club in Tyngsboro, Mass. He is credited with being on the forefront of the push for increased education and professionalism in the industry.
Loke, the certified golf course superintendent for the past 15 years at Bent Creek Country Club in Lancaster, Pa., is a 36-year GCSAA member and has served on numerous committees for the association. He currently serves on the USGA Mid-Atlantic Green Section Committee and the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council Board of Directors. He is a past president of both the Central Pennsylvania GCSA and the Northern Ohio GCSA, and has served on the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Board of Directors. Loke has hosted numerous high level golf events, including the 1975 PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio; two Ben Hogan PGA Tour events at Quail Hollow Resort in Painesville, Ohio; and several major Pennsylvania amateur events at Bent Creek. He is considered one of the pioneers in using fertigation and developing a 99 percent effective Poa annua-free management program at Bent Creek. Loke is recognized as an authority in both areas.
Miles, a 45-year GCSAA member, is a retired superintendent who last worked at the Merit Club in Libertyville, Ill. He has served on various GCSAA committees and hosted 13 professional golf tournaments, including 12 Western Opens at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Ill., and Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, as well as the 2000 U.S. Women's Open at the Merit Club. A past president of the Illinois Turfgrass Foundation, Miles also served on the board for GCSAA's Indiana chapter. An industry expert who has mentored more than 75 interns, Miles is renowned for decades of soil temperature research, and he was at the forefront of the lightweight fairway mowing concept, now considered standard practice.
The GCSAA Board of Directors selects Distinguished Service Award winners from nominations submitted by affiliated chapters and/or association members. First presented in 1932, the award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding, substantive and enduring contribution to the advancement of the golf course superintendent profession.
