Mitch Savage, CGCS, (left) director of agronomy at CommonGround Golf Course, speaks to a group of pesticide regulators during their visit to the Aurora, Colorado facility. Photo by Michael Lee
When a professional acquaintance first asked Mitch Savage, CGCS, if he would be interested in hosting a group of pesticide regulators at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colorado, he didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Then a realization dawned.
“Honestly, I think some of my naivety came through,” says Savage, CommonGround’s director of agronomy and a 21-year GCSAA member. “I said, ‘Yes, I’d be happy to host a group,’ before I really understood which people were going to make up the group. I realized there were people coming out of EPA headquarters in Washington.
“I started asking myself, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ »
Was he intimidated?
“Absolutely. Yes,” Savage says with a laugh. “But I changed my mindset to thinking it was a good opportunity to really welcome people who probably don’t have a lot of friends in the world .When you’re a pesticide regulatory and enforcement agency, there aren’t a lot of people who say, “Oh, yeah, come. But I thought this was an opportunity to highlight our golf course, but also a good opportunity to shine a positive light on the profession of golf manager as a whole.
Savage, the 2019 recipient of GCSAA’s Grassroots Ambassador Leadership Award, is no stranger to advocating for this profession. He regularly testifies on topics critical to golf course management to local and state governing bodies and meets with local, state and national legislators to advocate for golf’s cause. Savage is partnered with U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., through GCSAA’s Grassroots Ambassador program.
But inviting a group of pesticide professionals to visit a site is a far cry from talking about politicians and their teams, mainly because many of the latter have little, if any, direct knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes on a field golf.
“Sometimes when you go to the state Capitol to testify in front of these people, they rely on your testimony. A lot of times they don’t know,” says Savage. “It was a different audience. They understood things differently from legislators.
Legislative testimony explains how Savage found himself in this situation. On previous trips to the state capital, he crossed paths with Colorado State University faculty member Lisa Blecker.
“We were on the same side, since the hearings were usually about local control rules, pesticide safety, that sort of thing,” Savage says, “but we never really took the time to get to know each other. We were just exchanging jokes.
Blecker regularly hosts Pesticide Regulatory Education Program (PREP) Compliance and Enforcement Management classes for CSU, and she mentioned to Savage that, from time to time, she likes to host outings on the ground to get the participants out of the classroom. She wondered if Savage would consider organizing a trip to CommonGround, which is also home to the Colorado Golf Association.
“We’re always looking for ways to use the golf course as a laboratory,” Savage says. “It was stressful for me from the first day I sat in a chair for my job interview. One goal is to use CommonGround as a laboratory.
Savage said he would welcome but didn’t hear back for six or seven months. On Aug. 30, just under 50 members of Blecker’s class arrived for a more than three-hour visit to CommonGround. Savage spoke to the group – representing various EPA regions, state agriculture departments and tribal areas – primarily about his approach to CommonGround and its unusual location at the junction of several jurisdictions. Michael Lee, GCSAA Senior Director of Government Affairs, spoke about the association’s Best Management Practices (BMP) initiatives. And Becky Hufft, Ph.D., associate director of applied conservation at the Denver Botanic Gardens, spoke about the work she began at CommonGround to inventory and ultimately improve wildlife habitat on the course.
“It was a very engaging crowd,” Savage says. “It wasn’t a group of high school kids. They were not indifferent. They were very engaged and asked a lot of good questions. It was a good discussion. And I think they enjoyed being on the golf course. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day. The original plan was to just hang around the clubhouse, but you don’t see much of the golf course. After making introductions, I asked if everyone was willing to walk a few hundred yards to the 18th hole. From there, we see the relief of the terrain, then we can return to the shadow. We approached and found a shaded area and I asked them to take a mental picture of what they were looking for and keep in mind when we discussed BMPs. I asked, “Do you want to go back?” » They said, “No. It’s a great view. They kind of laid down on the grass and said, “Let’s be here.” » It was cool to see that.
“My biggest takeaway is that there’s really no need to be afraid of these people,” Savage says. “If you try to do things right, if you try to be a good environmental steward like we say, you shouldn’t be afraid of these people. You should work alongside them.
Andrew Hartsock is GCM’s senior editor.
