Peter J. Grass, golf course superintendent at Hilands Golf Club in Billings, Mont., has been elected to a one-year term as president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) at the association’s annual meeting Feb. 11, held in conjunction with the Golf Industry Show in San Diego.
Grass, a certified golf course superintendent (CGCS), served as vice president of the association in 2015 and has been a member of the association’s board of directors since 2009. A 31-year member of GCSAA, Grass also is a member and past president of the Peaks and Prairies Golf Course Superintendents Association, one of 98 GCSAA regional chapters.
A native of Mankato, Minn., the 56-year-old Grass earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Montana College in Billings. He succeeds John J. O’Keefe, CGCS and director of golf course management at Preakness Hills Country Clubin Wayne, N.J., who served as president for 2015. O’Keefe will continue on the board as immediate past president.
“A lot of people have told me how cool they think it is that someone from a 9-hole facility can serve on the board of directors and become president of the association,” Grass said. “But if I can convince others that they too can benefit from being a GCSAA member, than I’ll consider my year in office to be a success.”
Other elected officers were Bill H. Maynard, CGCS and director of golf course maintenance operations at Country Club of St. Albans near St. Louis, as vice president, and Darren J. Davis, CGCS and superintendent at Olde Florida Golf Club in Naples, Fla., as secretary/treasurer.
Kevin P. Breen, CGCS and golf course superintendent at La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, Calif., was elected to the board after serving in 2015 as an appointee. He was elected to a two-year position along with Rafael Barajas, CGCS and director of golf course operations at Boca Grove Plantation in Boca Raton, Fla. John Walker, director of golf course maintenance at Bentwater Yacht and Country Club in Montgomery, Texas, was appointed to complete the one-year remaining on Davis’ two-year term.
Others continuing service on the nine-member board are John R. Fulling Jr., CGCS and grounds and facilities manager at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Country Club; and Mark F. Jordan, CGCS and natural resources leader at Westfield Group Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio.