CGSA announces two more 2009 award winners

The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) congratulates two more of its 2009 award recipients.

Patrick Moir, CGSA President announced the recipients of the Environmental Achievement Award and Gordon Witteveen Award for 2009. Congratulations to the following recipients:

Environmental Achievement Award

Mr. Dean Piller, AGS, Superintendent, Cordova Bay Golf Course in Victoria, British Columbia is the Environmental Achievement Award winner for 2009. The CGSA Toro Environmental Achievement Award is presented to a superintendent member of the CGSA that has completed an environmental project that puts into practice an
Environmental Management Plan (EMP) as detailed in section 3 of the CGSA Environmental Management Resource Manual©.

Dean is a 25 year CGSA member who currently holds his AGS designation. He was the President of CGSA in 1999 and was the recipient of the Gordon Witteveen Award in 1998 and 2002. Cordova Bay has been the recipient of the 2003 Saanich Environmental Award for the Development and Construction Industry and is presently certified as an
Audubon Sanctuary with the Audubon Society. Cordova Bay’s project summary from 2006 through 2009 was to improve greens, soil physical properties and drainage venting.
The Cordova Bay plan has 14 separate objectives as part of their Environmental Management Program, incorporating a vast array of different initiatives from an irrigation audit, implementing a crayfish rehabilitation project to aid in algae,
duckweed reduction, reducing fungicides by 50% and reusing composted aerification cores on his rough as topdressing material.

The 2009 Environmental Achievement Award is sponsored by The Toro Corporation. The Cordova Bay program was chosen unanimously by a panel of three judges who evaluate the applicants individually and select their preferred choice.

Gordon Witteveen Award

The Gordon Witteveen Award is presented annually by the CGSA to the superintendent or assistant superintendent who is judged by a panel of peers to have authored the best article written by a superintendent or assistant and published in the CGSA GreenMaster magazine during the past year. The 2009 recipient is Mitch Davidson for his article entitled “An Experience of a Lifetime”, which was published in the May/June, 2009 issue.

Mitch Davidson is the Assistant Superintendent at Wascana Country Club in Regina, Saskatchewan. Mitch is a three year member of the CGSA and he was our 2008 Future Superintendent of the Year award recipient. As well as receiving the Gordon Witteveen Award plaque, Mr. Davidson will also receive a cash award from the Toro Corporation.

The recipients of these awards as well as David Boyd, 2009 Superintendent of the Year, R. Vince Gillis, 2009 John B Steel and Cameron Kusiek, 2009 Future Superintendent of the Year Award recipients will be recognized at the Awards
Luncheon on Sunday, February 28th at the Canadian International Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show in Toronto, Ontario.

The CGSA represents golf course superintendents, assistant superintendents, equipment technicians and others involved in golf course management from across Canada. CGSA was founded in 1966 and currently has over 1500 members. The
CGSA mission is to promote excellence in golf course management and environmental responsibility through the continuing, professional development of its members.