Wes Danielewicz, equipment technician at the 54-hole golf complex at Forest Preserve District of Dupage County nearChicago, is the 2012 winner of the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMA) Edwin Budding Award.
The award is sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company and he received his award from Jacobsen’s president,David Withers.
The Edwin Budding Award was created to recognise technical professionals in the turf equipment sector whose actions have gone above and beyond the norm to help shape the golf industry into what it is today. Edwin Budding was one of those individuals who helped define golf, not as a player, but as an engineer. He designed the first cylinder mower, which has shaped golf as we know it today.
Wes Danielewicz has been the executive director of the Turf Equipment Technicians’ Association (TETA) since 1997. He has helped gain recognition for technicians by establishing relationships with manufacturers of course maintenance equipment and superintendent associations in theUSA. He has helped introduce technician-related seminars to the GCSAA’s Golf Industries Show and played a major role in helping create competency testing for technicians by working with the Equipment and Engine Training Council (EETC).
In his nomination, Stephen Tucker, Equipment Manager at The Ritz-Carlton Members Club inBradenton,FLsaid, “Wes has been a valuable contributor to the advancement of the turf equipment technicians’ profession in the golf industry for over 25 years. He has continually pushed to ensure that the equipment technician is recognised as an integral part of the golf operation.”
Ransomes Jacobsen www.ransomesjacobsen.com