From the desk of GCM

Calm before the storm

Things are beginning to heat up here in Gulf Shores, both literally and figuratively, on the eve of the 2009 GCSAA Golf Championship and Golf Classic.

By about 9 a.m. today, roughly half of the 350-player field had officially checked in, and by the time the registration area closes up shop at 8 o'clock tonight, that number will likely be down into the single digits. Traditionally, most competitors squeeze in a practice round on Saturday of tournament week after checking in that morning or before checking in that afternoon. So one way or the other, the bulk of the field is here and ready for the first day of play — either in the first round of the National Championship or in the four-ball competition — tomorrow.

Yours truly is also ready to go after taking my first spin around Gulf Shores this morning. I worked the tournament the last time we were in this part of the world back in 2000, and since all three facilities hosting play this year are carryovers from that event, I had a pretty decent feel for the area. But we're in a different hotel this year — we were headquartered in Mobile, Ala. last go around; at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Ala. this year — so I wanted to get a little reorientation in before the first tee shots began to fly at Kiva Dunes, Peninsula and Craft Farms. Mission accomplished.

On the ground in Gulf Shores

A rarity for me today — an uneventful trip through our nation's airline system — means that I'm in Gulf Shores, Ala., site of this year's GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic. Much more tomorrow as I get settled, but for now, I'm all about dinner — thanks to a quick 40-minute turnaround in Atlanta, haven't eaten real food (peanuts and Diet Cokes don't count) for about 12 hours. There is a seafood restaurant in Gulf Shores with my name on it.

In the meantime, watch for my latest Twitter post, which will give you the view from my room at the fabulous Perdido Beach Resort. But don't let the picture fool you — a bit of a cool streak along the Gulf of Mexico, with temps in the mid 50s.

Save some dough in NOLA

We try to pack the pages of GCM every year around this time with tidbits and pointers to make the most of your conference and show experience. In the February issue, the Inside Your Career column is all about how to implement what you learned at show once you get back from New Orleans to justify to your employer the cost of attending. A couple ways you can save your course money this year come straight from two vendors on the trade show floor, and haven't made it into the magazine yet.

Standard Golf is giving away $25,000 worth of its accessories and maintenance tools this year to GIS attendees as part of its promotion of the redesign and change of its 2009 product catalog. Simply stop by the Standard Golf booth, (booth No. 2238) and pick up a new catalog. In 25 of those catalogs are free product stickers worth $1,000 in free product redemption.

Another chance to win $1,000 worth of products and equipment for your course is at Phoenix Environmental Care's booth this year (booth No. 4855). Spend a few moments to take a turf disease identification quiz to win a $2,000 "scholarship," half of which is good for Phoenix products and the other half of which will be donated to the turf program at the school of the winner's choice!

A thousand bucks worth of products might offset the cost of your entire time in New Orleans. Good luck!

Brace yourself ... here comes GIS09!

It's approaching running-joke status in the offices of GCM — just about every afternoon over the last two weeks, my colleague Seth Jones has wandered into my office and asked, "Hey, got anything for the blog today?" And just about every afternoon, I've pulled my carcass out from under piles of meeting invitations, bruised and battered conference and show brochures and a handfuls of crumpled calenders to reply, "Yea, I sure do. A lot of things, actually. No time to write 'em up, though." Then Seth would shrug his shoulders, like he already knew the answer, and head back to his office to whip up a post for the day.

It's one of the great paradoxes for our staff at this time of year. With less than 24 hours separating us from our first staff member (that'd be me) hitting the road for points south (that'd be Gulf Shores, Ala., pictured here, for the GCSAA National Championship and Golf Classic), there is more news and information to share with you than we know what to do with. But at the same time, preparations for those travels and the activities that will take place once we get there take up so much dang time that finding a spare 30 minutes to write a blog post in next to impossible.

So, now that I've found that spare 30 minutes, you're getting a little pre-show post with some information that'll be potentially valuable to those heading to New Orleans for GIS as well as information that'll help those stuck at home keep plugged in to all the comings and goings from the Big Easy.

Three things that make me nervous about the 2009 GIS

Don't worry, I'm not about to get serious on you.

The GIS always comes along with some... interesting assignments... for me. For example, at any of the last few shows you could have seen me competing in a bubble-blowing contest, or competing at a Wii golf tournament, or chasing Greg Norman or Johnny Miller around the show floor.

It's that not-your-everyday-in-the-office type stuff that makes me nervous about the GIS. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy it. But there's that tiny thought in the back of my mind that makes me wonder if I'll somehow be a horrible embarrassment to GCMand GCSAA... like when I showed the world I can barely blow a bubble with bubble gum, for instance. (Pictured left, Greg Lyman shows the world that he is indeed full of hot air, and can blow a bubble with the best of 'em.)

Having my 2009 GIS schedule in hand, here are my top three could-be-disastrous moments for this year's GIS:

Calm before the...

GIS. (Do not mention storms when talking about going to New Orleans.)

The blog has been a little slow the last couple days, but really, we're just trying to get ready for, as my pal Anthony Williams, CGCS, calls it, "The largest gathering of golf mavens in the industry."

Our calendars are filling up quickly, so if you have a reason to meet with us, email ASAP to get some time in. Or, if you like, you can always stop by the GCM booth and see who you will catch. At least one of us will be there. (If there's no one there, look around to make sure our traffic coordinator, Shelly Howard, hasn't been tied up and stashed away behind one of the giant GCM covers. And if she has, call me, that'd be a good story to report.)

We'll have some teaser information this week -- like, what, exactly, we're giving away at the GCM booth this year (here's a hint -- it's not hats!). But I'll let Scott Hollister, the H-Bomb, drop that bomb on you, it was his brainchild, after all. (Trust me, you're going to like it.) We'll also be telling you about some of the stories we'll be chasing and some of the trouble we'll be getting into (another hint: I don't plan on making Gary Player angry. I'm sure an angry Gary Player could take me down.)

Low scores, loud pants

The fine folks at LoudMouthGolfwanted to let us know that, if any of our members were interested, there are still slots available in their LoudMouth golf tourneys. The tournaments are played in Orlando, at the Orange Tree Golf Club.

I'm not sure of all the details, but I do see that part of the dress code is... loud pants.

Are your ears burning?

Because someone is talking about you.

This short blurb appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It basically says, "The Golf Industry Show will be in New Orleans in February." It's short, to the point... I almost feel offended. I wish they'd elaborate at least a little, even if they had to make something up. Like, "GIS attendees enjoy oysters, so area restaurants should stock up."

Or, if you have a better suggestion for extra information they could have tossed in there, let me see it via the comments section below.

Speaking of New Orleans, I want to direct your attention to a great deal we've got set up with Avis. A one-day rental of a mid-size car is yours for the low, low price of $39. That's about the same amount it costs to catch a cab downtown from the airport.

Far-flung golf

I’ve had the good fortune to travel to some pretty “exotic” places with my two sisters — part of a pact we made when our mom (an intrepid globetrotter) died. The dead of a Midwestern winter seemed like a good time to reminisce about a couple of golf courses I have encountered on my travels. Now, my travel budget doesn’t cover actually playing golf at these places, but I’ve been working for you superintendents for nearly 10 years, so I rarely miss the opportunity to study the course conditions while speeding past one.

You’ll be happy to know they play golf on the Greek island of Rhodes — though, based on the one I saw on the outskirts of the city a couple of years ago, they have to play around a lot of olive trees and grazing goats. The goats may have been an unhappy accident, though somehow I don’t think so. Our taxi driver informed us that Rhodes caters mainly to British and German tourists, so it may be that these hearty golfers know what to do when their balls land in a pile of rotten olives or other, um, spoilage.

A super-blogger 'aloha'

And the hits just keep on comin' in our attempt to keep you updated on golf course superintendents taking the plunge into the world of Internet communication. In response to one of our earlier posts highlighting one of these web-savvy supers, we received a comment from another superintendent who's doing the same thing — Rory Allison, a five-year GCSAA member.

Allison is the superintendent at Waikoloa Beach Resort on the "Big Island" in Hawaii. In Rory's own words, he started the maintenance-focused blog "with an interest in helping people understand some of the strange things that are done around the golf course and as a journal of sorts to track our progress on projects and improvements." You can check out his blog right here (and he's been added to the list on the right side of the page) and seethe with jealousy when you see the main photo on his blog, showing the waves crashing behind one of the greens on his course. That's a tough image to take in the middle of a Midwestern winter.