Board of Directors

2023-2024 Executive Committee
President - Pat Marsh
Vice President - Eric Dixon
Secretary/Treasurer - Mark Kann
Immediate Past President - Jason Frank

Board of Directors - Chris Brown; Bill Cohn; Cordel Dietzig; Peyton Edwards; Jimmy Evans; Bryce Gibson; Matt Horak; Jason Horn; Mark Kann; Cal Leggett; Dave Robinson; Steve Murray; TJ Shine; Travis Teuton, Ph.D.; Kevin Wasilewski

Executive Committee Biographies

Patrick Marsh - President
Pat started his career in 1979 at Tampa Bay Golf and Racquet Club and the  Palma Ceia Golf Club where he started on weekends changing pins and tee markers, plus the duties that the golf course superintendent would allow a high school kid to perform and then worked his way up to a Spray Tech Supervisor.  From 1986 – 1988 Marsh worked for Be Macs Landscape as the Landscape and Commercial Supervisor, as he was in charge of all fertilizer and spray applications for all commercial properties, nursery and two tree farms.  After Be Macs Landscape, he worked for TruGreen as the operations manager for three years, managing all aspect of the lawn care tree and shrub operation including managing staff, routes, service calls, inventory and production.  Pat has been with SiteOne Landscape since 1991 and he started as the assistant branch manager, then he worked his way up to Regional Area Manager for the past 16 years.  In 2019, he was promoted to Regional Agronomic Manager for Florida in 2019 and has received the President’s Club Award.  Marsh attended Hillsborough Community College, and is Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute certified and a Certified Pest Control Operation.

Eric Dixon - Vice President
Eric began working in the turfgrass industry when he was 15 years old at West End Golf Club in Gainesville, FL. Currently he resides in Gainesville with his wife, Andrea, and his son, Cristian. Ericis a Reserve Analyst and Managing Member of Golf Club Reserves based in Safety Harbor, Florida. He was previously the Golf Course Superintendent at the Chi Chi Rodriguez Golf Club in Clearwater, FL from 2013-2020. Prior to that he was the Assistant Superintendent at Timber Pines in Springhill, FL. Eric is a Past President of the Florida West Coast GCSA and a former Grassroots Ambassador with the GCSAA. He has served on the Board of Directors for the FGCSA, as well as the Agricultural and Green Industries Advisory Committee for SWFWMD. Eric attended Florida Gateway College in Lake City, FL earning his degree in Golf Course Operations. During that time, he received the Hans and Otto Schmeisser Memorial Scholarship awarded by FTGA. Eric is honored to serve on the Board of Directors for the FTGA and looks forward to contributing his time to promote the values of the turfgrass industry.

Mark Kann is a New Jersey native and has been involved in the Florida turfgrass industry since 1995 when he moved to Florida and began his career at Beacon Woods Golf & Country Club in Hudson, FL. Mark attended the University of Florida and graduated in 1999 with a B.S. in Turfgrass Science. He continued working in the golf course industry during and after college and soon became Golf Course Superintendent at Meadow Oaks Golf and Country Club in 2001. In 2006, he was named Coordinator of Turfgrass Research Programs at the University of Florida Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, FL and served in that role until February 2021. Mark now serves as the Florida Territory Manager for Sod Solutions Inc., a position he started in February 2021. He provides technical assistance to turfgrass producers, authorized distributors, turfgrass professionals and homeowners for Sod Solutions’ products and services. He continues to work closely with university researchers on the development of new and improved varieties of environmentally-friendly turfgrasses. While employed at the University of Florida, he earned his M.S. in Horticultural Sciences with minors in Agronomy and Agricultural Education and Communication under the advisement of Dr. Bryan Unruh. His master’s research centered around evaluating the Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association Golf Best Management Practices Certification Program. The results of his research helped provide critical information for the future management of the program by the University of Florida. As a student, Mark was a 3-time recipient of the Col. Frank Ward Memorial Scholarship and was also awarded the Ralph White Scholarship. Mark has been active in numerous allied associations during his career in the turfgrass industry. He served on the Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association Board of Directors for a decade as Education and BMP Committee Chairman and served as President of the FGCSA in 2011-2012. During his time on the FGCSA BOD, he led the effort to create the FGCSA BMP Certification Program which was recognized for Excellence in Advocacy by the GCSAA. Mark also served as President of the Seven Rivers Golf Course Superintendents Association in 2003-2006 and was a member of the Florida Turfgrass Association BOD from 2008-2011 and is presently serving again since 2021. He is a Class A member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and a member of the United States Golf Association. Mark was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the FGCSA in 2013.

Jason Frank - Immediate Past President
Jason was born and grew up in Deland, Florida where he started his turf career in high school running his own lawn service with a friend. His passion for turf grew and he eventually attended the University of Florida where he received his Bachelors of Science in Turfgrass Science with a minor in Business Administration in 2005.  He then went on to graduate school at University of Florida under the direction of Dr. J. Bryan Unruh to receive his M.S. in Horticulture Sciences with a minor in Agricultural and Biological Engineering.  During his master’s study, he researched and wrote a thesis titled “Detection of Turfgrass Stress using Ground Based Remote Sensing.”  After receiving his masters from University of Florida he accepted a position as an Assistant Superintendent at Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples.  While an Assistant at Royal Poinciana he studied for his Masters of Business Administration from Florida Gulf Coast University where he graduated in 2011.  He then transitioned to a career as an area sales manager in Southwest Florida with Bayer Crop Science and in 2013 was promoted to Key Account Manager where he managed several distributor accounts for Bayer, of which was Harrell’s LLC. During this time received a third M.S. degree in Soil and Water Science from the University of Florida. Through the relationship with Harrell’s LLC Jason was given the opportunity to take on the role of Regional Director in Florida in Turf and Landscape for them where he currently resides. Jason is a member of Florida Turfgrass Association, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, and Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association.  Jason has also achieved his Certified Professional Agronomist and Certified Crop Advisor through American Society of Agronomy, as well as Certified Horticultural Professional through Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association.  He lives in Lakeland, FL with his wife Brielle and son Boden and in his spare time he enjoys golfing, hunting, and fishing.

Directors Biographies

Chris Brown is a graduate of Cornell University’s Horticulture program, class of 1994. He moved to Central Florida and began working at Lesco in Kissimmee, FL in 1995. Chris has worked at Howard Fertilizer, Helena, Bayer Advanced and now works for Nufarm Americas covering the state of Florida. He is currently enrolled in the University of Florida’s MBA program.

Bill Cohn; started his career in 1998 with Massey Services Inc. as a Service Specialist. He was soon promoted to Service Manager in 1999 and then General Manager in 2005.  Bill has been responsible for all aspects of Massey Services’ landscape and irrigation operations, including managing Team Members, organizing and assigning routes, ordering and managing materials and equipment, budgeting, profit management, and maximizing productivity.  In 2015 he was promoted to Field Training Manager for the East Florida Region.  In this position, he ensured service quality and training were exceeding company standards and customer expectations.  In 2018, Bill was promoted to his current position as Technical and Training Director for Irrigation Services.  Bill’s responsibilities include training the trainers, developing and implementing new service protocols, and overseeing service quality to more than 20,000 reoccurring Irrigation Service customers while generating over $11,000,000 in annual revenue.

Cordel Dietzig joined ABM in 2015 in Florida, where he is currently the Grounds Manager at one of ABM’s largest K-12 clients in Florida.  He manages service for Volusia County and oversees 79 sites including the District’s common areas and sports fields.  He has an Urban Commercial Fertilizing License, a Registered Use Pesticide License (RUP) and a Commercial Turf and Ornamental Applicator License. He is a member of the Sports Turf Manager Association and the Professional Grounds Management Society. He is also Best Management Practices (BMP) certified for the Green Industry by the State of Florida.  Cordel brought years of valuable grounds and management experience to ABM.  Shortly, after high school, he started his own landscape maintenance company in Illinois while attending community college.  After college, he continued to own and operate his company, building it over 25 employees until 2015 when he moved to Florida.  He held turf applicators license and was a member of the ILCA, while in Illinois.

Jimmy Evans has been the president of P. P. M. Sports Turf located in Tallahassee, Florida since 2018. P. P. M. Sports Turf manages pesticide, fertilizer and cultural applications on athletic fields and golf courses. P. P. M. Sports Turf helps to provide quality playing surfaces by utilizing integrated pest management along with proven agronomic practices. Prior to his current positions, Jimmy was the golf course superintendent at Killearn County Club from June 2002 - February 2018, with additional responsibilities including building maintenance and construction projects. Jimmy graduated from Florida Gateway College in 2002 with an Associate of Science degree in golf course management. He is also a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Jimmy enjoys spending time with his wife Claudia and their two children, Addison and Beau.

Bryce Gibson is the Class A golf course superintendent at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Florida. He has been with Interlachen Country Club since 2011 and was promoted to superintendent in 2018. Previously, he worked at Mountain Lake for five years. Gibson spearheads the annual Stuart Leventhal, CGCS Research & Golf Tournament, which has funded research for more than 30 years and raised more than $150,000. Gibson is an active director on the Central Florida GCSA board and GCSAA Grassroots Ambassador. Gibson is a graduate of SUNY Cobleskill with an A.S. degree in Plant Science.

Kevin Wasilewski has been a supplier to the turf grass, ornamental, and aquatic industry in the southeastern United States since 1987.  He began his career in distribution with V-J Growers supply in 1987 as a sales representative.  He then worked for Terra Industries from 1996-1998 as a Sales Manager.  He made a move to the manufacturing side of the business in 1999 as he took a Sales Manager position with The Scotts Company.  He currently is a Territory Manager for Syngenta and has been for the past seventeen years.  Kevin has served on the FNGA Action Chapter Board, the FTGA Board, Stetson University Alumni Board, and the Allied Board of Directors for The Scotts Company.   He is currently serving on the Central Florida GCSAA Board and is on the Executive Commission at his church.