From the desk of GCM

4th Annual San Diego GCSA Golf with a Hero

All the prizes are handed out, all the high-fives are exchanged; the 4th annual San Diego GCSA Golf with a Hero event finished a few hours ago, and it was another huge success. I met plenty of local military members as well as local superintendents. What a great group! I've got a notepad filled with interviews. I'll have a story on this event in an upcoming issue of GCM.

The Golf Club of California was a great course ... great views. Challenging, too. I lost at least six golf balls out there today. Superintendent Vince Zellefrow was in my group, so he had all the local knowledge. But all the local knowledge in the world can't help when you hook the ball 150 yards out-of-bounds into the mountains. More on this event soon ... right now, I'm too wiped out to go on. I need some shut-eye before I fly out early tomorrow!

Bayer announces winners

Congrats are in order for the five superintendents who've won the Bayer Superintendent Grant Program, earning a free trip to the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show, held in New Orleans Feb. 2-7. The winners are:

• Charles Fogle, CGCS, University Golf Club, University Park, Ill.
• Rebecca J. Matis, Superintendent Member, Felicita Golf Resort, Harrisburg, Pa.
• Matthew J. Kowal, Class A Superintendent, Twin Hills Country Club, Longmeadow, Mass.
• Scott A. Davis, Class A Superintendent, The Club at Strand, Naples, Fla.
• Christopher L. Beaty, Class A Superintendent, Odessa (Texas) Country Club.

In addition to the full-pack conference registration, the winners receive airfare, hotel accommodations for six nights, two education seminars and a $200 stipend for personal expenses. This year marks some firsts -- Matis is the first female superintendent to win, Fogle has not attended the show since 1997, and the three others have never attended conference and show. Bayer, along with The Environmental Institute for Golf, has sent five superintendents to the show for the past six years.

Congrats to this year's winners!

The Golf Club of California

Tomorrow I head west for sunny San Diego and the Golf With a Hero golf scramble, hosted by the San Diego GCSA.The premise is simple: two superintendents and two members of the U.S. military make a team. The Heroes are sponsored by the San Diego GCSA -- this is their way of saying "thanks" to these men and women who nobly serving our country.

I'll be playing at the Golf Club of California in Fallbrook, 40 minutes north of San Diego. My superintendent playing partner will be Vince Zellefrow, superintendent at GC of California.

Victory for Golf Course Maintenance at the 2008 Ryder Cup

The final installment from Charlie Babcock, superintendent at Tunxis Plantation in Farmington, Conn.

Sunday the final Day
“Zinger and the boys hanging out with the grounds crew deep into the night leading cheers of ‘We got the Cup’ is a scene I won’t soon forget.” -- quote by Rich Learner From Hooks & Cuts: 9-23-08. 

Like the predicted wind of 30- to 45-miles-per-hour on Sunday that turned into 50- to 75-miles-per-hour, the 2008 Ryder Cup was bigger and better than could have been imagined. We were celebrating with the winning U.S. Ryder Cup Team. I praised Boo Weekly for his getting ahead early and staying ahead all day. Boo turned to me and said in his Southern accent, “Thank you, sir.” Kenny Perry went out of his way to shake everyone's hand. What an experience!

Everyone has their own story of the excitement that day. Golfers at Tunxis elected to stay in the tavern rather than play. The story of Sunday was everyone's story. Our story of taking back the Ryder Cup.

Who ya gonna call? These people.

My hour of answering your calls is over. Let's see how I did:

• 10 phone calls
• 1 mystery call
• 2 calls from Florida
• 41 buttons on the phone
• 12 of which I understand

OK, now some real numbers:

550: Average number of calls the service center received a week last month

2,400: Average number of calls the service center received per week, January 2008

9: Number of GCSAA staffers whose job it is to take those calls (some of those people are pictured  here in this post. First photo is of my lovely wife, Adrianne. Second photo is of fellow KU football fan Rich Noevor. Last photo is of fellow Toadies fan Sahra Dee.)

GCM is appropriate reading for the restroom

That is my belief, at least. My last caller, a superintendent in Destin, Fla., had his GIS brochure thrown away by his wife because he left it in the restroom.

No one has called to ask a spelling question yet.

I am impressed with how nice everyone who has called in has been so far. Only 19 minutes to go...

I'm sorry if I just hung up on you

The phone beeped. I picked it up and pushed a button. I heard nothing. I pushed another button. More nothing. Where did you go, caller No. 3?

This phone has 41 buttons on it. I just counted -- 41 buttons. It looks like if I hit the right combination of buttons, I could launch a missile in Eastern Europe. Crikes!

Second call -- don't panic

OK, my second call. A caller from California wants to confirm that we received their money for GIS registration. I took a message. I'm useless!

My wife was surprised to hear that I was "on the phones" today. She told her neighbor, "Seth won't be able to answer any questions... unless someone calls in needing to know how to spell something."

I got my first call

Caller No. 1? My mother-in-law. I'm serious.

My wife (the ravishing, amazing, stunning and charming Adrianne Jones, who married me two years ago TODAY) works for GCSAA too. My mother-in-law, Judy, was checking in with Adrianne about our plans for tonight. We decided that roast will be for dinner.

See? I'm taking care of business already.

Call me!

Why? Because I'm "on the phones!"

Our Financial and Member Solutions (FMS) team is being treated to lunch by the Membership Marketing team -- they're actually serving them and everything. Since FMS is getting the VIP treatment, I'm lending a hand by answering the general phone calls that we get. So if you called GCSAA right now -- 800.472.7878 -- you'd hear me nervously say, "GCSAA... this is... Seth."

I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes, who I talk to. This should be fun.