Gordon Kiyokawa
Certified Golf Course Superintendent
OTF President

Gordon Kiyokawa, is a graduate of Oregon State University and is a Certified Golf Course Superintendent working at Columbia Edgewater Country Club since 1994. Gordon has served on the Board since its inception in 2001 and has also served on the board of the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association as President in 2000 and 2001.

Rod Nelson—President Elect

Rod Nelson has spent his entire career in the golf course industry. After spending the first 15 years building his knowledge of golf course maintenance at several different facilities, Rod was hired to build Camas Meadows Golf Club in 1997. Rod was the construction superintendent and after completion in 2000 he stayed on as the Golf Course Superintendent. In 2006 Rod changed career paths and accepted a position with Wilbur Ellis Co. as a Sales Consultant. Rod is a past President of the OGCSA and has served on the OGCSA and OTF boards for several years.

Steve Brenner, D.B.A.—Vice President

Dr. Steve Brenner is retired and served 31 years as Professor of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. He served from 1983 through 1987 as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in its School of Business Administration. Dr. Brenner has written articles for Harvard Business Review, the Academy of Management national Meetings Proceedings, The JAI Press Research on Corporate Social Performance and Policy, and other publications. He has served as the Chairman and Program Chairman for the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Business and Society’s 1992 meeting to be held in Leuven, Belgium. He taught courses in corporate social responsibility, business ethics, managing in a regulated world, business/government relations, business policy and organizational politics. During 1989 90 he was on a sabbatical leave doing research on corporate social responsibility and acting a Chair of the Academy of Management’s Ethics Task Force which wrote the Academy’s Code of Ethical Conduct. Dr. Brenner is an avid golfer and photographer and he and his wife Sharon enjoy spending as much time as possible with their kids and grandchildren.

Russell Vandehey, CGCS—Secretary

Russell Vandehey is a Graduate of Oregon State University and a Certified Golf Course Superintendent. He is currently serving his fourteenth year at The Oregon Golf Club where he has hosted six Fred Meyer Challenge PGA events. Russell’s prior experience includes the construction of Sandpines Golf Resort in Florence, Oregon and Superintendent at The Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon. Russell is a seven time Environmental Leader in Golf Award winner from GCSAA and Golf Digest. His environmental work was the subject of an episode on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Field Guide in 2000. Russell is an active participant with the Prescott Bluebird Recovery Program, responsible for fledging hundreds of threatened bluebirds. Russell also possesses a Certified Landscape Contractor license.

Bob Senseman, CGCS—Treasurer

Bob Senseman, CGCS is a 1983 graduate of the OSU Turfgrass management program, Bob has been the Superintendent of several golf courses in Portland, OR and one in California; he has served as an Agronomist for the United States Golf Association and currently is the Golf Course Superintendent at Oswego Lake Country Club. He has is a Past President of the OGCSA and currently sits on its Board of Directors.

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Director Biographies

Ryan Bancroft has worked in the golf industry For 17 years with experience in the public, private, and resort arenas. After graduating from Oregon State University in 1998, Ryan spent time as the Assistant Superintendent at Aspen Lakes Golf Course, Columbia Edgewater Country Club and The Oregon Golf Club. For the 9 years Ryan was the Superintendent at Salishan Spa and Golf Resort. He is currently the owner of Ground FX Landscape Management. Ryan served on the Oregon Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendent’s Association Board of Directors from 2003 to 2010, serving as President from 2007 to 2009 and its immediate Past President in 2010. Ryan has also served on the Board of Directors for the Oregon Turf Foundation since 2006. Ryan won the Oregon Chapter of the GCSAA Superintendent of the Year Award in 2004, and received the Richard W. Malpas Distinguished Service Award from the Oregon Chapter of the GCSAA in 2009. Ryan and his staff worked hard to achieve the honor of the 2006 National Environmental Leaders in Golf Award for Resort Courses, presented by the Golf Course Superintendent’s Association of America and Golf Digest. One of Ryan’s greatest accomplishments in his career was the opportunity to co-author the Environmental Stewardship Guidelines created in 2000 by Dr. Michael Hindahl, which won the GCSAA’s President’s Award in 2004. He has enjoyed meeting and interacting with numerous individuals from all areas of the golf course industry during his years of service. Ryan has a wonderful family with his wife Jolee and his son Jacob.

Barney Hyde continues to be active in many charitable causes in the greater Portland, Oregon area following his retirement as a CPA/Deloitte Tax Partner. Mr. Hyde is a board member/treasurer of the Parkinson's Resources of Oregon, as well as a board member of the Brian Grant Foundation, which helps raise funds for Parkinson's research. He has been instrumental in assisting with the Oregon Turfgrass Foundation from its starting point and continues to be an active board member. Mr., Hyde's passion for golf is well documented as he will forever be remembered in Oregon golf history as one of the co-founders of the world renowned 36- hole Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plain, Oregon, which opened in 1992. Barney Hyde is a graduate of Gonzaga University and has his J.D. from the University of Washington. Besides his love of golf, Mr. Hyde enjoys traveling with his wife Melody and tending to his wonderful garden at his Portland home.

David Phipps is the NW Regional Field Staff Representative for the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America. Previously, he served as the golf course superintendent at Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon City, OR. During his career at Stone Cree, Phipps was recognized for his environmental achievements including the recipient of the 2012 GCSAA Presidents Award for Environmental Stewardship as well as appearance on The Golf Channel; CNBC’s People, Planet and Profit; and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Loud”. Phipps has also received other awards including the Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District “Cooperator of the Year”, the 2008 National Environmental Leaders in Golf Award for Public Courses, presented by GCSAA and Golf Digest and earned the distinction of the “Top 1q0 Most Environmentally Friendly Golf Course” by Links Magazine in 2008. He earned Audubon Sanctuary Certification at Stone Creek Golf Club in 2006. Phipps holds a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in Turf and Landscape Management and is currently a part time faculty member at Clackamas Community College where he teaches “Lawn Installation and Maintenance”. Phipps is also a past president of the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association.

Barbara Trammell Is the Chief Executive for the Oregon Golf Association. Her experience in the golf industry spans 25 years including stints as a Division I College Coach, PGA Club Professional and more than 18 years in a variety of roles with the LPGA. After leaving the LPGA and her position as Senior VP of Tournament Operations in 2005, she formed VisionFore Solutions, a global golf consulting company.

Michael C. Trimboli, a native of Buffalo New York, who now resides in Florida, received his B.A. in History from Holy Cross College and his J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York specializing in business and transactional law, real estate and real estate development law.

He recently completed, as part of a team, the restoration and operation of Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, Arizona for the Arizona Golf Association and City of Phoenix.

Mr. Trimboli serves as one of two Trustees of the Robert J. Stransky Foundation, a charitable foundation which supports charitable activities primarily involving children, their education and intellectual growth.

He acts as a facilitator/ consultant for charitable corporate governance and strategic planning including Bittersweet Farms, a residential autism treatment facility, and the Autism Society of Northwest Ohio.

He has consulted for Diamante Global on a hospitality development project in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico, a sports, entertainment, arts and hospitality complex in Vicksburg, MS and a sports complex in Charlotte County, FL.

He served as Vice Chair of the Women and Children’s Health Research Foundation of the Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, a leading research institution affiliated with the Kaleida Health System and a member of its Executive Committee as well as a member of the Kaleida Health Trustees’ Council. He received the Kaleida Health Leadership Award. He was also a member of the Board of Members of the Children’s Hospital Expert Software System, LLC (CHESS). He served as a Trustee of the Western New York Public Broadcasting Corporation, (WNED) a PBS Affiliate, serving on its Compensation, Program and Radio Committees.

He has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his contributions to the EMMY award winning program, “Reading Rainbow.

He was a Director of Wyoming County Bank a wholly owned subsidiary of Financial Institutions Inc., a Nasdaq traded bank holding company, and a member of its Audit, Asset Liability/Strategic Planning, Officer/Nominating and Trust Committees, of which he was Chair. He is also a director and of Daedalus Projects, Inc. a Boston, Massachusetts construction management firm.

Mr. Trimboli, is a Past President of the Marshall Club of Buffalo, and a past director of the Law Alumni Association of the State University of Buffalo School of Law. He is also a Past President of Transit Valley Country Club in Amherst, New York. He was a member of the City of Buffalo Police Reorganization Commission, responsible for the restructuring of the Buffalo Police Department. He is a past President of the Board of Friendship Foundation, Inc., a mental health outreach program in Western New York.

He is responsible for creating the idea for a documentary which initially was broadcast on PBS in August of 2012 entitled “Golf’s Grand Design” chronicling the history of golf course architecture in the United States and the qualities which make the game so enjoyable.

He is a member of the Advisory Board of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, his alma mater.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Turfgrass Foundation.

 

Bill Hart is the founding partner of Carleton Hart Architecture, a Portland, Oregon firm started in 1994, that specializes in in integration with the environment and social responsibility. Bill also volunteers on many boards and serves on the city of Portland’s golf committees, advising on the city’s five golf courses. Bill’s passion for golf also finds him playing as much as time allows and following the sport closely.