Northwest Turfgrass Association names Ramsdell Exec Director

Some news from our friends out in the Pacific Northwest... always good to see a fellow journalist doing well in the turfgrass industry! Best of luck to you, Paul, from the crew at Golfdom! -- Seth

The Board of Directors of the Northwest Turfgrass Association announced that it has hired Paul Ramsdell to be the executive director of the association that provides turfgrass research grants throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Ramsdell will begin immediately with the NTA, whose Turfgrass Universities Research Fund has distributed more than $900,000 in research grants in the past 14 years and plans to break through to $1 million in the near future.

As the current executive director of the Western Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association, Ramsdell brings a growing knowledge of issues facing superintendents in the region.

“The NTA board has spent many hours and traveled many miles meeting and hashing out how the new NTA will look and we feel Paul is the person to help us reach these goals,” Tim Mack, president of the NTA and superintendent at Avondale Golf Club in Hayden Lake, Idaho, said. “I for one am very excited to work with Paul on this endeavor.”

Ramsdell, 53, will bring a wide range of experience to the position and ample knowledge of the golf industry in the Northwest. Before taking the position with the WWGCSA, he was the club manager of Kitsap Golf & Country Club in Bremerton, Wash.

Prior to that, he was the editor of the Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine and a senior editor with ESPN.com. He served as president of the Northwest Golf Media Association for six years and received its Distinguished Service Award in 2008.

A graduate with a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon, Ramsdell has worked for various newspapers including the Seattle Times, The News Tribune of Tacoma, The Register-Guard of Eugene, Ore., the Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune and the Pendleton (Ore.) East Oregonian.
“I look forward to this opportunity,” Ramsdell said. “It’s been difficult for the NTA to be without an executive director for nearly a year. I believe I can offer stability and sustainability to get the association moving forward again. I hope to use my knowledge of the Northwest and my various contacts to support and promote turfgrass research wherever it is needed.”

As with the WWGCSA, Joyce Phillips, the former controller at Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle and Twin Lakes Golf & Country Club in Federal Way, will be the financial administrator for the NTA.

Ramsdell can be reached via e-mail at mpsparks90@aol.com or by phone at 253-219-8360 or 253-851-2930. The home address for the NTA will become 1802 Weatherswood Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, Wash., 98335