From the desk of GCM

Bring on 2009

It's slim pickins at GCM headquarters today in Lawrence. This week between Christmas and New Year's is always a black hole of sorts with many of us out on vacation, visiting family and friends, traveling to go see the 'Hawks play Minnesota in the Insight Bowl tonight in Tempe, Ariz., or, sadly staying home trying to recuperate from some good ol' holiday virus-sharing.

But those of us who came in to work on the last day of 2008 (and those who didn't, for that matter) know that once we return to the office in 2009, things will start to get crazy pretty fast as we'll be gearing up for the Golf Industry Show in a little over one month and putting together the February issue.

Next month also is the inauguration of our 44th president. Regardless of your personal feelings toward Obama, he has an undeniable mass appeal and the man plays golf. In fact, a New York Times article quoted him as being an "avid" golfer. How will his style as a golfer translate to his presidency? Terry Link, an Illinois state senator who once played golf with Obama, was quoted as saying: "His frustration at not being able to compete with me did not lead him to quit or throw his clubs in the water. I admire that and I will admire that in his presidency." He also never cursed on the course and counted every stroke, the article added.

Not cursing is a good sign, I suppose, but how many smokes did he light up that round, I wonder? Anyway, it sounds as though he could potentially bring some positive attention to the game. We'll find out soon. Happy New Year!

Holiday cheer at HQ

Here at GCM world headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., we get holiday cards at this time of year. Lots and lots (and lots!) of holiday cards. We send out our fair share, but it really pales in comparison to what we receive. The photo with this post is just a fraction of what our staff collectively received this season.

 We get cards from superintendents, golf courses and GCSAA chapters around the country. We get cards from allied associations like the USGA, and we get cards from golf course architects like RTJ II. We get cards from free-lance authors and photographers that the magazine works with throughout the year (thanks Peter Bronski, Art Stricklin, et. al.!). We get cards from vendors the magazine works with — anyone else get a holiday card from the U.S. Postal Service? — and vendors who want to work with us in the coming year. We got a card, a can of cookies (which took us all of 45 minutes to demolish) and a coffee table book from the magazine's printer.

We hear from plenty of our industry partners, too. We got cards from EZ-Go and PBI Gordon. We got e-cards from The Toro Co. and John Deere. We got holiday greetings from public relations firms who represent our industry partners, like BASF and DuPont, and notes from countless others.

Snow day (weeks, months)

Got a fun email from Keith Lyall, superintendent at Sun Peaks Resort in Sun Peaks, British Columbia, today. Keith was looking at a back issue of GCM, where he saw a story about snow removal. He sent me a nice little note with a few photos attached of what they do at Sun Peaks. Finding the whole thing interesting, I asked Keith to send more photos and a short note, which he was happy to oblige. Now, I'm sharing all of this with the GCM blog!

I'll let Keith take it away:

I came to this course as an assistant in the spring of 2004, I was very shocked to see the conditions of the greens. Almost their entire surfaces were covered in snow mold scars. At that time there was only nine holes. In previous years they had tried to remove snow from the greens but did not have much success in keeping molds in check.

GCSAA offers 'Economic Survival Kit'

The current economic decline is having a definite effect on the golf course industry, but GCSAA may have some needed help for its member superintendents in their efforts during trying times ... and just in time for the holidays too.

GCSAA announced earlier this week that it has developed an "Economic Survival Kit," designed to provide information and suggestions from leading authorities in the golf industry and other business sectors. The members-only resource also features superintendents sharing practical, budget-friendly tips and ideas.

The kit can be accessed through the info pack page on the GCSAA Web site at www.gcsaa.org/cm/contentm/modules/display_dynamic.ahtml?params=MSwxNDKU.LA==. Member feedback or tips can be forwarded to Margo Campbell Szabo at GCSAA headquarters at mszabo@gcsaa.org.

"Although we face considerable economic challenges, I am bullish on the golf economy in large part because of GCSAA members. There is no individual at a golf facility who can make a greater impact on the economic success of the facility than a GCSAA golf course superintendent," GCSAA CEO Mark J. Woodward, CGCS, said in a message to members announcing the Economic Survival Kit.

"I encourage you to share this information with your staff to stimulate the thoughts of others," Woodward continued. "The intent is to also give you support in communicating with your employer. You can re-package the information as you desire or provide the materials directly to him or her. It provides support for your staffing needs, on-course programs and projects and participation in continuing education activities such as conference and show."

Woodward added that the resource includes key GCSAA staff contacts in the area of career services, communications, research and support who can be reached directly for more information.

What does GCM want for Christmas part II

The parking lot is getting more barren by the hour. GCSAA staffers are packing cars and readying for their trips over the hills and through the woods, to Grandma's house they go.

With only hours to go until Christmas, I better get the rest of this GCM staffer Christmas list up QUICK!

Shelly Howard is GCM's traffic specialist. One thing you should know about Shelly: she likes the heat. When it gets to be 100+ degrees in Kansas, she jumps in her scorching hot car and drives off with the AC off, windows up. Yeah. So here's what she wants from Santa:

What does GCM want for Christmas?

More ad pages. Raises. A larger staff.

Oh, you mean realistically what do we want for Christmas? Ahhh...

Well I asked. And here's what I found out:

On the phone with Terry Bonar

I had a nice chat with Terry Bonar, CGCS at Canterbury GC in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the other day. We talked about him winning the USGA's Green Section Award.

I asked Terry what he was doing when he found out he won this award. At the time, he was sitting at his desk talking to a salesman when the caller ID showed him that Jim Snow was calling.

"I thought to myself, 'What's the big man calling me for?'" Bonar says. "Then I thought, 'I bet he's going to ask me to give a talk at the national.' So we small talked a little while, and then, out of the blue, he floored me (with the award). I think I said something in response that was pretty dumb. After I hung up the phone, I still couldn't believe it... I was walking about six feet above the earth."

Getting back in the swing of things

The January issue is out the door. Whew! That was brutal. The January issue is always a tough one.

Sorry to have disappeared last week. I was blogging along just fine when my daughter got sick. She's doing better now, thanks. Still a slight cough. But I missed Thursday afternoon and all day Friday.

It's funny, you get so wrapped up in work, then your little girl gets sick, then suddenly work takes a back seat and you're watching "Madagascar" over and over again. But that's the way it should be, right? Right?

Speaking of little girls, I want to congratulate my friend Eric Neuteboom -- you know him as "Neuty" from the comments section -- on becoming a dad on Sunday. His little girl, Isabella, is adorable. I hope he doesn't mind me posting a photo, but if he does, tough -- I'll just remind him again that I beat his team in the fantasy football playoffs this year.

Now that I'm back into the swing of things, I hope to have some good stuff on the blog to carry us through to the new year. Sure, there's snow on the ground here, but that doesn't mean we don't have a lot of golf to talk still. In the works I have my interview with Green Section Award winner Terry Bonar, CGCS; who the GCM editors voted for for golf's player of the year; some superintendents in the news; and what the GCM staff wants for Christmas. And that's just the start.

So keep checking in, my friends. 2008 is coming to an end, but the blog always rolls on...

Golf going natural

We're in the final days of production on the January issue of GCM, so needless to say our staff is a little preoccupied right now. But as we push hard to carry the largest issue of the year to the finish line, I didn't want to leave you hanging here on the blog, and this story from Golf Digest — graciously forwarded along by GCSAA crack PR staffer Bill Newton — is just what I was looking for.

Written by Ron Whitten, a familiar face around superintendent circles and a former GCM editor, It's a story about pesticide-free golf courses and serves as a follow-up to the magazine's environmental coverage from a few months ago. It's an interesting read, and should give you enough food-for-thought until we can put the January issue of the magazine to the bed.

Toys for Tots

We had a great email go out to the entire staff here at GCSAA yesterday. It was written by Bob Kidder, our housekeeping/facilities coordinator. The email was quite touching and really got a lot of us thinking. I'll turn it over to Bob's email, published here in its entirety, and come back after his closing.

 

From: Bob Kidder

Sent: Tue 12/9/2008 3:08 AM

Re: Toys for Tots

 

FedEx has a commercial stating that the odds of accidentally hitting "reply all" is 12 percent; but, my odds were 100 percent since I did it on purpose. I do not work for FedEx. I do not work with Toys for Tots. Nor am I on the Community Outreach Group committee. I am simply "Bob the cleaning guy" (Joe the Plumber was already taken). However, before I became the Housekeeping/Facilities Coordinator at GCSAA, I was a house father at a group home for ten years. Over the course of those years I was able to observe the various ways that out-of-home children received Christmas gifts.