Revised in May 2001 by Charlie Tadge

There were many men who were instrumental in the formation of this organization, and they will be mentioned within the following paragraphs. However, for those whose influence has been felt but whose names have been lost or forgotten, we apologize and will always be grateful.

The Greater Cincinnati Golf Course Superintendents Association was founded on common needs, common goals, and common problems. It is an organization of hard work and men who work hard. From its modest beginnings, it has become an organization representing a high tech, high visibility, highly skilled, and dynamic profession. It has expanded to include not only the golf course superintendent but all those who are essential to his everyday existence and growing knowledge. It includes those who have branched into the related fields of lawn care, athletic fields, and cemeteries, just to name a few. But its founding father and its backbone are, and always will be, the golf course superintendent.

On September 27, 1925, the Cincinnati Greens-Keepers' Association was formed under the auspices of The Cincinnati Golfers League. As stated in the Golfers League minutes: "It was organized for the purpose of discussing the upkeep of golf courses and exchanging ideas for mutual benefit." Around that same time other greenkeepers were starting associations, most notably Cleveland, Chicago, New England, and Indiana.

The names of the earliest Cincinnati greenkeepers involved are not known except for four men who became Charter Members of the National Association of Greenkeepers of America (NAGA) when it was formed on September 13, 1926. Those four were:James Muirden, Ridgewood Golf Club; Gordon A. Neyer, Three Rivers Club; James Thomson, Cincinnati Country Club; O. Woodhouse, Hillcrest Country Club who later moved to Losantiville Country Club.

Others who were active in the late 1920's and early 1930's were: C.F. Forste, Hillcrest Country Club; William Fruechtemeyer, Hyde Park Country Club; Fred J. Hartwell, affiliation unknown; Ollie Hudson, Avon Field Golf course; and Harry Mesloh who stayed at Clovernook Country Club for over forty years.

Apparently, many of the greenkeepers were not happy operating under the wing of the Golfers League. Greenkeepers in this area had been attending meetings and seminars in Indiana where independent organizations had already been formed.

In 1931, the Cincinnati greenkeepers split away from the Golfers League and formed the Greater Cincinnati Greenkeepers Association with Taylor Boyd becoming the president of the newly reorganized association.

The decision to reorganize was both a result of the growing interest in having their own organization as well as a physical need to reduce travel time. As one greenkeeper put it, "we get tired of chasing all over Indiana for meetings."

For whatever the reason, the names that appear as influential through these early years are quite impressive:

• Taylor Boyd, superintendent, architect, and builder;
• Al Chamberlain, superintendent, Hamilton Elks;
• George Benvie, superintendent at Hamilton Country Club, soon to become Maketewah;
• Louis Langfield, superintendent at Wildwood (Middletown);
• Art Conrad, who built Potter's Park and later became grounds superintendent at Miami University;
• Nick Todd at Swaim fields;
• Joe Allen, superintendent, Cincinnati Recreation Courses;
• Al Wright, superintendent at Sharon Woods;
• Tex Harvey, superintendent at Terrace Park;
• Cliff Runyon, superintendent, Spring Grove Cemetery;
• Dwight Brown and George Richardson of McCullough Seed Company;
• Warren Bidwell, superintendent, Cincinnati Country Club, moving later to Olympia Fields Golf Club in Chicago.

Along with these men came a corresponding interest and search for continuing education. In 1938, the National Conference of the GCSAA was held at the Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati. In the same year, Ohio State held their first Turf Conference, which boasted Burt Musser of Penn State, one of the top turf specialists in the country. By the end of the decade, the Greater Cincinnati GCSA was healthy and growing.

With the coming of the Second World War, most association activities were suspended. Many organizations, including our own, faltered or at least lost touch with one another. Understandably, there is a wealth of lost and unrecorded information during this time. As the war came to an end, many of the original members had moved or passed away, taking much of our history with them. They, as many have done before, failed to realize their own importance and the impact of their actions on the future.

In the early 50's, thanks to the work of four men: Taylor Boyd, Camargo; Marion Mendenhall, Kenwood; John McCoy, Cincinnati Country Club, and Don Likes, Hyde Park; the Greater Cincinnati GCSA again began to grow and make its presence known. It was during this period in 1954, that Don Likes started The Green Breeze and can be called the father of an organizational newsletter that has been going strong ever since. It was also during this period that commercial membership was encouraged, and along with its support came better qualified speakers and a great deal of new information.. This was a move that has strengthened the organization financially and educationally.

Thanks to these men, the present organization of the Greater Cincinnati GCSA has become one of the premiere superintendent organizations in the United States operating within the Bylaws and Code of Ethics of the National GCSAA.

A strong local leadership was instrumental in bringing GCSAA's National Conference back to Cincinnati in 1972. Of special note are Greater Cincinnati's first two superintendents to meet the requirements of Certified Golf Course Superintendent: Jim Glazer, in February 1976, and John Laake, in March 1976.

The Greater Cincinnati GCSA is and always has been an organization of close relationships where information and help is freely given, where the struggle for excellence and improvement is a way of life, and where the level of achievement and the list of personal successes are never ending.

To those who have come before, we owe a great debt, and we thank them. For those who are to come, we leave our skills, our knowledge, our understanding, and the pride with which we work each and every day.