A change of positions has occurred in the Northwest Region with Senior Agronomist Matt Nelson leaving the Green Section after more than a decade of valued service. While Matt has agreed to stay connected with his former USGA counterparts by joining the Green Section Committee, former USGA Green Section committeeman Derf Soller has been tapped to join the USGA staff as an agronomist in the Northwest Region.

	Soller

He will provide Turf Advisory Service (TAS) visits to subscribing golf courses in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Alberta, Canada.

Derf has more than two decades of construction and golf course maintenance experience from Montana to Colorado, and will be based in Grand Junction, CO. If you did not have the opportunity to meet Derf at the recently completed Golf Industry Show in Orlando, drop him a line or call to welcome him to his new position. His office address will be finalized in the near future, but, until that time, he can be reached at dsoller@usga.org or 208-420-5808.

In other news, a full slate of 2008 USGA Regional Conferences is set to be kicked off in the Northwest Region.

Hope to see you all at one or more of these meetings. Of particular note, each of these meetings, excluding Portland, will contain a 2 hour mini-seminar on "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Equipment Replacement - and More". This can't miss seminar is aimed at not only golf course superintendents, but also those who make the decisions on equipment replacement at golf facilities. It is highly recommended to have these critical decision-makers in attendance to learn about ways to improve maintenance that are directly related to cash flow. For more information about conferences in your area, contact our offices.

Source: Larry Gilhuly, lgilhuly@usga.org or 253-858-2266