Rough start, big finish

For a large portion of yesterday, I was completely convinced there was no way on earth I was making it to Las Vegas for this week's WaterSmart Innovations Conference.

For starters, I was sick as a dog when I woke up yesterday, to the point that I drug myself to a local walk-in clinic to find out what was wrong (nasty sinus infection, it turns out). Like many others of my species, visiting a doctor is a significant concession. It would normally take a bone protruding from the skin or repeated blackouts to get me to a doctor. But with a week on the road ahead of me, it seemed like the right thing to do.

Then, properly hazed up from a host of new antibiotics, I packed for an afternoon flight to the desert, loaded the car and began the 35-minute drive to Kansas City International Airport, only to realize about halfway there that I had left my computer bag, complete with all the tools necessary to cover this week's conference, sitting on a chair in my kitchen. To make matters worse, as I reversed field to begin a panicked drive back home to get said bag, the skies opened up and rain began to fall, slowing traffic on Kansas City's highways to a crawl. By the time I got home, I had 45 minutes left to drive back to the airport, park, check in and get on a plane. Wasn't going to happen. It was the first missed flight (at least of my own doing) in my professional career.

But gradually, things began to turn around. Got rebooked on a late nonstop from Kansas City to Vegas. Got to enjoy one more dinner with the family and caught the end of the Rays-White Sox playoff game (with apologies to former GCSAA president Sean Hoolehan, noted White Sox fan ... Go Rays!). With the rain gone, made a carefree drive to the airport. When I boarded Southwest Flight 349, found out there were only 12 — yep, 12! — total passengers on the flight. Not only did I have my own aisle, I had my own section of the plane. It was great, like my own private flight to Vegas. Got some work done, some reading done, and the flight was almost 30 minutes early. Breezed to baggage claim, got my car and was at the host for this week's conference, the South Point Hotel and Casino, in no time. Best of all, I rose this morning feeling a little bit better and a little more energized to begin my endeavors, which begin in a few hours with a tour of Hoover Dam.

My mission at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference (and I encourage you to check out the link above for more info on the event) is a simple one: to figure out where the game of golf and golf course superintendents figure into global water-efficiency efforts. A lot of attention at this conference will be focused on where homeowners and business fit, whether in the form of low-flow toilets and showers or water-smart landscaping and irrigation. Although there is plenty on the agenda to interest folks in our industry, golf is a bit player this week by comparison, and I'm here to find out why. The game is and has been on the front lines of the water-use battle, taking hits as a wasteful and excessive user of water despite mountains of evidence and research to the contrary. I'll be hitting sessions pertaining to golf and water, visiting companies on the exhibit floor that deal in our business, and talking with government officials and regulators about golf's place in the world of smart-water innovations and how the game can take on a leadership role in these initiatives.

That begins with a trek to Hoover Dam. It was supposed to be a visit to Angel Park Golf Course, a facility whose water initiatives have been well documented in the pages of GCM (most recently in the Front 9 section of the August issue), but that tour was canceled at the last minute. So stay tuned later today from photos of my trip to Hoover Dam and my first spin around the conference facilities.