Marsh Benson, senior director of golf course grounds at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club, will be presented with the 2004 Leo Feser Award, Feb. 11, 2005, at the general session of the 2005 Golf Industry Show and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Education Conference in Orlando, Feb. 7-12.
The annual award honors the best superintendent-authored article published in Golf Course Management, the association's monthly magazine. Benson receives an all-expense-paid trip to the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show and will have his name engraved on a plaque for display at GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan.
Benson, a 24-year member of GCSAA, was recognized for his article, "Negotiating with Mother Nature," published in the April 2004 issue of GCM. The article was Benson’s account of the difficulties he had with the No. 12 green at Augusta National, and how these problems led to his invention of subsurface aeration technology.
“I just hope the story was taken in the spirit that it was intended – that is, you’ve got to pursue the ideas you have,” Benson said.
Benson’s article was chosen from 16 eligible articles published in GCM between July 2003 and June 2004. The Feser award was voted on by the superintendent members of GCSAA’s publication use and positioning task group, which operates under the umbrella of the strategic communications committee.
"Marsh Benson’s article, ‘Negotiating with Mother Nature,' is an excellent story that urges superintendents to pursue the ideas they have for the betterment of the conditions of their courses," said Sean A. Hoolehan, CGCS, chairman of the GCSAA strategic communications committee. "Marsh is certainly a worthy recipient of GCSAA's Leo Feser Award."
The award honors the late Leo Feser, a pioneer golf course superintendent and a charter member of GCSAA. Feser is credited with the keeping the association's official publication alive during the Great Depression. For three years (1933-36), he wrote, edited, assembled and published each issue of The Greenkeepers' Report from his home in Wayzata, Minn.