Yesterday was Mark Woodward's first day on the job as the new CEO of GCSAA, and what better way to start a new era than with everybody's favorite breakfast food ... PANCAKES!
Yep, the full force of the GCSAA staff welcomed Mark and his wife, Amy, to Lawrence with a full-fledged pancake breakfast, courtesy of the fine folks with Chris Cakes (these guys
are a
familiar face to those of us in this part of the Midwest, but if you've never had the pleasure and get the opportunity to check them out, by all means please do). Several staff members distinguished themselves with impressive feats of eating (a tip of the cap to communications guru Bill Newton, who knocked back an unofficial GCSAA record of 12 flapjacks during the event), while our new boss wowed us with his pancake-catching abilities (yep, that's Woodward going behind the back in the photo on the left) before 
settling into his first day in the building with a series of meetings that stretched past closing time.
Tuesday was also a big day at Woodward's old stomping grounds back in San Diego as nine holes of Torrey Pines' North Course opened for play. A large portion of that layout had been consumed by infrastructure for the U.S. Open — parking, police compounds, the media center and merchandise tent — so to have nine holes in playable condition just 15 days after the last putt dropped in the tournament is an impressive feat.
A couple of other miscellaneous things to unload ...
- We've got a new superintendent blogger to brag about, and it's our second from Castle Rock, Colo. This time, it's CGCS David Soltvedt, who is the director of agronomy at the Ridge at Castle Pines North and an 11-year member of GCSAA. He started his blog just last month, but as you can see here, he's been an active poster. As always, we'll add him to the list of super bloggers that you can find on the right side of this page.
- I've been meaning to post this for some time, but haven't got around to it until now. Got an e-mail from John Miller, CGCS, the association's agronomist for the LPGA Tour, raving about his experiences working with the staffs at the golf courses he had been visiting. One in particular caught his attention — longtime New Jersey superintendent Bob "Red" Dickison, CGCS at Upper Montclair Country Club, which hosted the LPGA's Sybase Classic back in May. A 37-year member of GCSAA, Dickison got high praise from Miller in a note he had published in The Greenside, the publication of the GCSA of New Jersey. He wrote:
"Since I started my post as GCSAA's LPGA Tour agronomist, I have met many wonderful golf course superintendents, but Bob Dickison is at the top of the crowd. He is hard working, extremely knowledgeable and goes a mile a minute. A few years ago, Bob lost his maintenance facility to a fire. That did not slow Bob down one bit; he and his staff are still producing some of the finest tournament conditions on the LPGA Tour working out of trailers, tents and shipping containers. Many of Bob's staff have been with him 20 years or more and bring a wealth of knowledge to Upper Montclair as well. I wish Bob and his staff the best for 2008."
Miller sent this our way with the hope that we'd be able to spread the word about the kind of folks he's working with on a day-to-day basis at golf courses all across the country that make our industry as special as it is, and we're happy to do that.
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