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the 160 superintendents workingtowards EMP certification, Wood isone of more than 30 to have com-pleted the program and receive cer-tification. The specialized trainingconsists of six specialized certifica-tion programs: Integrated PestManagement; Habitat Developmentand Management; Employee Safetyand Right-To-Know; Water Qualityand Application; Golf CourseDevelopment; and Storage,Disposal and Recycling.

Inclement weatherwashed out our NovemberPro/Superintendent tournament, butthe proceeds from registration werefittingly donated to the Red CrossHurricane Relief Fund along withthe proceeds from the Tatum RidgeSneak Preview Tournament.

Treasure CoastCongratulations to

Melanie Mark for earning herCertified Golf Course

Superintendent status at theSpessard Holland Golf Course inMelbourne Beach. As part of theprocess, Tom Trammell, CGCS ofHawks Nest GC and Wayne “Bo”Estey, CGCS from the Quail ValleyG.C. conducted the required on-siteinspection and evaluation.

Thanks to our team ofCody Boutte, Kevin Downing,Chris Gamble, Harry Hanson andRoy McDonald the TGCSA wasable maintain possession of theCavanaugh and Wagner Trophy atthe joint Palm Beach and TreasureCoast Meeting in October.

Thanks to CharlesBlevins and the Hammock CreekG.C. for hosting our November golfouting. It was a much-needed breakfrom chain saws and tree stumps.On Dec. 10 we will celebrate theholidays at the Gator Trace GolfClub in Ft. Pierce. Gator Trace hadsome severe hurricane damage, butthey report they will be up and run-

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ning in time for our annualChristmas party.

West CoastWe are working on creating

a chapter Web site in the very nearfuture. Meanwhile congratulations goout to Andy Neiswender and MattFelber and Bill Kistler and Jeff Gintherfor respectively winning the gross andnet divisions of our 2004Pro/Superintendent Tournament. Our2004 Bud Quandt FundraiserTournament held at Bill Kistler’s TampaPalms G&CC in October raised $6,000.Beside turf research, the All Children’sHospital and the Moffitt Cancer Centerreceive donations from these proceeds.At our November meeting we beganplanning the 2005 calendar of eventsand are looking into the possibility ofhosting a GCSAA Regional Seminar inAugust or September 2005. InDecember we held our VendorAppreciation Day at the U. of SouthFlorida Athletic Fields on campus. It

was a free event complete with equip-ment demonstrations, food and raffleprizes.

Florida GCSAAt the Fall Board meeting

at the Bradenton CC, the boardapproved and supported the pursuit of a$1.50 per ton surcharge on all fertilizerpurchases to provide a recurring sourceof turf research funding. In conjunction

with our efforts to get the legislature tocreate a matching funds rule for alldonations made to turf research, it ishoped we can provide a substantialfunding resource not solely reliant oninconsistent donation amounts fromgolf events and chapter treasuries. Thesurcharge idea is not new, as manyFlorida agriculture commodities haveused surcharges to raise money forresearch. This concept spreads the costaround so it is not burdensome to any-one, but everyone participates, which isonly fair since everyone benefits fromthe research into better grasses and

management improvements.At the same meeting,

Suncoast GCSA members RoyceStewart and Jim Svabek were grantedLifetime Member status to the FGCSA.The board was also pleased to see thefirst-quarter earnings report from thenew reserve funds investment plan,which consists of conservative invest-ments, but ones that yield more than thesavings and money market accountspreviously used. The new investmentplan is overseen by the newly formedFinance Committee, and managed byMorgan Stanley-Dean Witter.

Celebrating his 41st namesake tournament, Bud Quandt, center, is flanked, fromleft, by golfers Louis Belcastro, Mark Hopkins, Bill Fowler and Rich Wahl for aphoto at the Bud Quandt Research and Benevolent Tournament held at TampaPalms.

Congratulations to Melanie Mark,CGCS, right, for obtaining herCertified Golf Course Superintendentdesignation. Melanie is an IGMRegional Manager at the SpessardHolland Golf Course in MelbourneBeach. Melanie is shown here with herGeneral Manager Rene Uzee. Photo byJoel Jackson.

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Par-3, 173-yard 17th Hole St. James Bay ClubPhoto by Daniel Zelazek

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Discoveringthe Forgotten Coast

St. James Bay Golf Club

In a part of Floridawhere time moves just alittle slower anddevelopment evenslower, St. James Bayhas preserved smallpieces of man’s historyon the land.

By Joel Jackson

I’m a native Floridian and thought I hadheard all the names for the various sections of thestate’s lengthy coastline. From Jacksonville down theeastern seaboard there’s the First Coast, SpaceCoast, Treasure Coast and the Gold Coast in the

Dade-Broward area. Swinging up the western sideof the state there’s the, Platinum Coast, Suncoast,Nature Coast and Emerald Coast in the Destin-Pensacola area. Did I miss anyone? Evidently I did.

It wasn’t until this trip to St. James Bayat Carrabelle in the eastern panhandle that I heardCoast Radio 100.5 FM proclaim the station’s listen-

ing area as, “the Forgotten Coast from Apalachicolato Tallahassee” and realized I had discovered yetanother unique coastal area of Florida. After return-ing home I found out more about the histor y of thisarea on the Internet at www.forgotten-florida.com. Itis a story of forestry, fisheries and Camp GordonJohnson, a World War II training camp for amphibi-

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ous operations that paved the way for the Normandyinvasion and the island-hopping Pacific campaign.

With the coming of St. James Bay andthe first 18-hole golf course it brought to FranklinCounty, the “Forgotten Coast” has been discoveredagain and likely won’t be forgotten any more. Ofcourse it’s really unfair to say this area was forgot-ten; it’s been more like a well-kept secret by peoplewho like to get away from it all. Long on naturalresources and short on traffic jams, Carrabelle (pop-ulation 1,303) and its neighboring small towns enjoy

a peaceful, slow-paced lifestyle. The amenities hereare solitude and spectacular seafood from thefamous Apalachicola Bay oysters to sports fishing.

Eddie Clark, owner and developer of St.James Bay, has taken care to respect the history andnatural resources of the area. The golf villas by theclubhouse were built on the four pads used toanchor a 600-foot radio tower used by the Word WarII army training camp. Wildlife and native habitatwas preserved by developing the project and golfcourse as an Audubon International Silver Signature

Sanctuary. It was Clark’s willing embrace of theblueprint for sound development and operationalpractices mandated by Audubon International’s pro-gram that helped overcome objections to the projectby some local officials and residents. They foundout that a golf course done right can be an asset tothe community.

St. James Bay just became certifiedthanks in large part to the efforts of the golf coursesuperintendent Shane Bass, CGCS. “Mr. Clark, bynature is a tree lover,” Bass said, “I think we had

St. James Bay Golf Club Location: CarrabelleOwnership: Carrabelle Properties Ltd.Playing policy: PublicBasic Stats: 18 holes. 6,730 yards. Par 72. CourseRating/Slope, Black Tees 72.9/142, Green Tees70.3/123 Design/Construction: Robert Walker, architect.Highland Golf, construction. Opened September2003. Management: Owner Eddie Clark; Club ManagerBob Klein; Head Golf Professional Steve Hatch;Golf Course Superintendent Shane Bass.Continuing projects: Native area managementTotal acreage under maintenance: 80

Greens: TifEagle; avg. 6,200 sq. ft.; total, 3 acres;HOC .100 - .125 in.; not overseeded. green speedgoals, 9.0 - 11.0. Tees: Tifway 419 bermudagrass; 3.0 acres; HOC.500 in.; not overseeded.Fairways: Tifway 419 bermudagrass; 35 acres;HOC .500 in.; not overseeded.Roughs: Tifway 419 bermudagrass; 38 acres; HOC1.50 in.; not overseededBunkers: 60; 4SEA; sand machine-raked with ToroSand Pro twice per week, hand-raked on the otherdays.Native areas: 113 acres of preserved wetlands. 26acres of preserved uplands. 11 acres of upland pre-serve that comprises a 25-foot buffer strip across thebacks of all residential lots on the golf course thatmust be left natural.Waterways/Lakes: 15 interconnected lakes main-

tained by Biological Research Associates. Theyalso prune and trim back wetland vegetation twiceper year.Irrigation: Source: surface water, but will takesome effluent from city of Carrabelle in the nearfuture after they upgrade their treatment plant.Pumping System: Flotronex VFD. ControlSystem: Toro Site Pro/OSMAC, 730 heads;Nutrifeed fertigation system. Water management/conservation: The irrigationsystem was specifically designed to preventwatering of non-turf areas. A lot of adjustableheads were installed to prevent throwing waterinto lakes, wetlands and upland preserves. Maintenance Staff: 13 including superintendent.Scheduled 40 hours straight time with occasionalovertime only as needed.Leadership: Assistant Superintendent LarryJohnson, Equipment Technician Floyd Robinson.Communications: Quarterly meetings of thewhole club. Daily crew meetings.Cultural Programs: Aerification – Turf &Aquatic Management does greens aerificationthree times a year. Fertilization – Southern StatesFertilizers.Management Challenges: Irrigation, nutrientand drainage management due to heavy soils on afew holes.Environment: Fully certified Silver AudubonInternational Signature Sanctuary. We closelymanage our nutrients and chemicals since weare so close to Apalachicola Bay where theyharvest most of the oysters consumed in theU.S. Many people in this area are down on golfcourses. It is our goal and mission to sho wthem that it can be done without har ming theenvironment. The good news is we have madesome converts already.

Course Facts

St. James Bay Golf Course Maintenance Staff.

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almost 25 miles of orange-poly fencing installed toidentify and protect stands of trees as we beganclearing. We had lots of conversations with RobertWalker, the golf course architect, over routing andspecimen tree placement and protection. I’ve been toour corporate headquarters in Dallas several timesand some of the largest pecan trees I’ve ever seenare incorporated into the landscape of the officecomplex. The man loves his trees.”

Bass continued, “We are virtually sur-rounded by the Apalachicola State Forest and thereare three continuous wildlife corridors runningacross the property that provide safe passage for thewildlife.”

Consequently the course can bedescribed as tight and challenging for those who tee

it up from the tips, but I played it from the whitetees as a 22-handicapper and the only real trouble Ihad was from poor shot-making. Because the courseis built in a coastal marsh environment surroundedby pine forests there are numerous car ries over pre-served wetlands, but the GPS Shot Link monitor onthe cart gives yardages to help club selection, shotstrategy and pace of play.

Bass was hosting the November chaptermeeting of the Coastal Plains GCSA during myvisit, which gave me a chance to meet some of themembers of the state’s smallest chapter that existsprimarily in the metropolitan Tallahassee area.Although small in number, the chapter holds an

important role as representing the golf industry forstate legislators to see up close. Grateful thanks goto Jeff Heggen, external vice-president for his tire-less efforts over many years to represent the chapterand to relay FGCSA communications to his mem-bers.

Around 16 of the 23 members made 45-mile the journey to see and play the new St. JamesBay course. The whole operation had that “new car”aura about it and there wasn’t much for the CoastalPlains superintendents playing the course to com-ment on other than how clean the course looked.The two-year old TifEagle greens were flawless.

Bass came on board the St. James Bayproject three months before clearing began. This isan ideal situation for a superintendent, and pays div-

idends down the road for owners who have the fore-sight to recognize how valuable a superintendent canbe to the overall picture. Bass said, “I was includedfrom the beginning and worked with Mr. Clark, theengineers and the architect Robert Walker. I wasable to voice maintenance concerns and help theowner realize his vision of a golf course with rea-sonable maintenance costs. The original design con-cept had lots of contoured f ingers in the bunkersrequiring lots of Flymow work. We were able tonegotiate down the number of bunkers with fingersto 13 out of a total of 60 b unkers.”

As just evidenced, communication isalways a key element in any successful operation

and so it is with St. James Bay as Bass found him-self not only building and growing in a golf coursebut also working with contractors building roadsand developing lots. As if his plate weren’t fullenough, Bass managed to attain his cer tified golfcourse superintendent status with the GCSAA at thesame time.

There’s no question that the Panhandleof Florida marches to the beat of a dif ferent drum-mer. While superintendents from Jacksonville southare hastily preparing for the winter migration ofsnowbird golfers, Carrabelle and the “ForgottenCoast” mark December, January and February astheir slow season. That fact, says Bass, is why theyhave chosen not to overseed the TifEagle greens —or the rest of the course, for that matter . Bass says,

“Sure we can have some cold days, but by being soclose to the Gulf, our weather is definitely warmerthan, say, Tallahassee to the northeast. We havesome shaded greens we have to watch closelybecause of the surrounding trees, so we don’t needthe extra competition with the overseeding; plus Mr.Clark is an avid golfer and he really despises transi-tion.”

One of Bass’s early challenges was infinding and training a golf maintenance staff in anarea not previously known for the sport. BesidesBass the only people on the crew with experiencewere his assistant Larry Johnson and equipmentmanager (and former superintendent) Floyd

Shane Bass, CGCSOriginally from: TitusvilleFamily: Wife Karla and son BryceEducation: B.S. in ornamental horticulture from

Florida A&M.; B.S. in psychology from FloridaState UniversityEmployment history: 2001-Present St. James Bay,superintendent; 1999-2001 Lely Resort-FlamingoIsland Club, superintendent; 1996-99 Killearn C.C.,assistant superintendent; 1995-96 Royal Oak C.C.,assistant superintendent; 1991-95 Killearn C.C.,crew member.Professional affiliations and awards: Member ofGCSAA and FGCSA. vice president of the CoastalPlains GCSA chapter. How did you get into the business? In high schoolI worked the golf carts at Royal Oaks C.C. inTitusville. I was influenced by Steve Hill theGM/golf pro and went to FSU with the intention ofbecoming a general manager. During my studies atFSU, they needed some help on the Killearn CCcourse to prepare for an LPGA event. It was there Imet Geri Bucheit and Floyd Robinson and changedmy mind. Geri hired me and let me work on the

course around my class schedule as I went backand got my BS in ornamental horticulture. Mentors: Geri and Floyd. Floyd was old schooland had been in the business for 30-plus yearsand Geri was a Texas A&M grad with lots ofPGA and LPGA tournament experience. I had agreat learning atmosphere of the old and newways of doing things. I also owe a big debt ofthanks to my parents who taught me never to quiton anything no matter how difficult it might be.Goals and accomplishments: Becoming aCGCS, achieving Audubon International certifi-cation as a Silver Signature Sanctuary and open-ing a new course all in the same year.Work philosophy: Live every day as if it is yourlast. Smile and put your family first.Memorable moments: Telling my wife after shehad our son Bryce, "You can name him anythingyou want.Hobbies/Interests: Fishing, surfing, golf

Superintendent Facts

The Bass family: Shane, Karla and Bryce.

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Golden wildflowers flourish in a preserved native area on the par-4, 16th hole. Photo by Daniel Zelazek.

These golf villas were built on the foundation slabs of Camp Gordon Johnson’s 600-foot radio tower used during World War II. Photo by Joel Jackson.