From the desk of GCM

Rounds4Research.com Rocks

The third annual Rounds4Research.com auction recorded another ace.

It recently was announced that more than $80,000 was raised to help fund an array of projects including weed management and water conservation in the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia. That brings the three-year total to approximately $250,000.

"Golf is in the order of a $12 billion economic driver in the four participating states," said John Davis, president of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. "Investing in the continued health and vitality of our courses is critical to maintaining that economic activity."

The Carolinas GCSA introduced Rounds4Research.com in part to reduce stress on turfgrass researchers who felt the economic pinch in recent years. The idea comes from Tim Kreger, Carolinas GCSA executive director, who got the auction idea from something he saw during his days working as a fundraiser for junior golf programs in South Carolina. He sought a way for the end user, the golfer, to be meshed with turf research. The auction benefits turf research programs at universities such as Clemson and North Carolina State.

Virtual reality: There's still time to check out IGCEMA virtual trade show

The live version of the IGCEMA Virtual Trade Show concluded Thursday, but you still have the opportunity to check it out without the live chat feature for another 90 days by going to the website www.virtualgolfshow.com. More than a dozen companies are participating, including John Deere Golf, Jacobsen and The Toro Co. That is a handful more than last year, and newcomer participants include Weidenmann and Speed Roller.

This is the second year for the virtual trade show, but the first time IGCEMA has partnered with GCSAA to make it happen. The association is helping market the virtual trade show.

The three days in which the virtual trade show featured the live chat received a passing grade from Stephen Tucker, IGCEMA chief executive officer, who is pictured above. He also is equipment manager for The Ritz-Carlton Members Club. Tucker said he plans for the virtual trade show to be back in 2012.

"Overall, I'm pleased with the way the event went, but overall we have a lot of work to do to get the event to reach our goals," Tucker said. "We are progressing and learning as we go."

The virtual trade show served as an alternative for those who can't attend their regular trade shows to see the products.

Earth Day 2011: Superintendents walking the talk

So in today's series on posts on Earth Day 2011, we've heard about an innovative social media effort to raise money for GCSAA's Environmental Institute for Golf. We've heard about some of the ways companies in the golf course management industry are commemorating the event. And we've heard about the events and activities that took place around GCSAA World HQ today.

But really, the stories of golf course superintendents around the country who are implementing sustainable and environmentally friendly practices each and every day are some of the best examples of the ways that Earth Day's messages are having a significant and lasting impact in the golf business. Those success stories served as the foundation for the news release the association sent out today, which is posted in its entirety below.

Pictured with this post is Sunset Valley Golf Course in Highland Park, Ill., which is maintained by superintendent Brian Green, CGCS, who was the overall winner of the GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Award this past February.

Earth Day 2011: GCSAA does its part

Earth Day at GCSAA World HQ in Lawrence, Kan., typically signals the official start of spring as staff members take to the grounds to work on one project or another — planting a vegetable garden, putting up bird houses, cleaning out landscaped areas. But since the spring weather in Kansas has been particularly uncooperative this year — think Barry Bonds with federal investigators — today's Earth Day festivities stayed indoors.

Select staff members, led by the association's internal Green Team, organized several projects focused around recycled products. They constructed cork trivets — an item placed between a serving bowl or dish and the table (yea, I had to look that up) — from recycled wine bottle corks. They made gift sacks from old newspapers. And they worked on a company-wide art project that has been on the to-do list for some time.

For their time and trouble, each participant walked away with an environmentally friendly gift bag (pictured here) filled with notable "green" gifts, including a compact fluorescent lightbulb (I didn't have to look that one up), a petunia they could plant in their own gardens, and a toilet tank bag, which essentially converts any toilet into a low-flow toilet when filled and inserted in the toilet's tank.

One more Earth Day post to come, this one highlighting the things golf course superintendents around the country are doing to make their facility's more environmetnally friendly and their businesses more sustainable.

Earth Day 2011: Industry lends a hand

As we move through Earth Day 2011, we've heard from several companies in the golf course management industry who are stepping up to help the cause.*

* Now, I'm pretty sure these aren't the only companies who do business with superintendents who are putting forth some special efforts around Earth Day. But these are the ones who let us know about it. If you're reading this and your firm has some Earth Day-related activity or promotion planned, go ahead and email me about it and I'll tack it on to this post as the day goes on.

Take Agrium Advanced Technologies, for example. They're partnering with the High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) and the city of Loveland, Colo., today in an effort that serves in conjunction with the Professional Landcare Network's (PLANET) nationwide Day of Service. Agrium employees are volunteering to help plant 225 one-gallon container plants in the Plant Seed Demonstration Gardent at HPEC, then are running drip irrigation and mulching the plants with pea stone. In addition, Agrium is donating 750 pounds of its Spread It & Forget It Driven By Duration CR fertilizer product to the city of Loveland.

Earth Day 2011: Precision promo benefits EIFG

Your calendar might not mention this, but if you've been exposed to any kind of media — whether inside the golf course management industry or not — you're probably well aware that today is Earth Day. And if my email in-box is any indication, there are plenty of activities going on within our industry to commemorate the big day.

To keep you informed about the ways Earth Day is being celebrated by your colleagues in golf, we'll be tossing up a few posts throughout today to inform you about how other golf course superintendents, GCSAA as an organization and companies throughout the business are recognizing the big day. The first of those is this one, which lets you know about a special one-day promotion from Precision Laboratories that we gave you a peek at in this blog post from last week.

In short, Precision is taking a social-media bent on its efforts to raise both awareness and funds for GCSAA's Environmental Institute for Golf. Everytime someone scans the Microsoft Tag that you see with this post with their smart phone, becomes a fan of the company on Facebook or follows the company on Twitter, Precision will donate $5, up to a total of $5,000, to the EIFG.

A conversation with Rhett Evans, Part Two

 

A few days later than I wanted, but here is part two of our interview with new GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans. You can check out the printed version of this in the April issue of GCM. The third and final installment will hit the blog later this week.

Golf goes to Washington

 

Earlier this week, I had the good fortune of being among the GCSAA contingency that went to Washington D.C. to participate in National Golf Day activities, an initiative of the We Are Golf coalition. I've got a host of outcomes from our day on Capitol Hill to share with you — photos; an audio interview with superintendent/owner Jay Goughnour, who shared the story of his nine-hole golf course in Iowa with policymakers throughout the day; and a full written recap of everything that went on in DC.

Starting things off, though, is the video above we caught wind off on You Tube that features Missouri Congressman Billy Long (R) speaking on the House floor yesterday about National Golf Day.

Precision Labs, EIFG team up for Earth Day promo

If you’re reading this blog … or following us on Twitter (@GCM_Magazine) … or checking out our digital edition each and every month (http://digitalgcm.gcsaa.org) … then chances are you’re one of the tech heads in the turf industry. And if you didn't recoil in horror that designation, then this post is for you.

Precision Laboratories, a provider of specialized chemistry for the green industry, and GCSAA’s Environmental Institute for Golf are partnering to put a social media spin on Earth Day, which is Friday, April 22. On that day, every time an individual scans the provided Microsoft Tag with their smart phone, becomes a fan of Precision Labs on Facebook or follows it on Twitter, the company will make a $5 donation, up to $5,000, to the EIFG.

“Since one of our corporate objectives is to increase awareness of better water and resource management practices, partnering with The Environmental Institute for Golf was an easy choice for us,” said Don Spier, vice president of turf and ornamentals at Precision Laboratories. “They are the premier environmental stewardship organization in our industry and on Earth Day every superintendent can raise money on the Institute’s behalf without ever leaving their office.”

Positively Pinehurst No. 2

One of the grand golf layouts of the South has gone retro.

Pinehurst No. 2 may not look like you remember it, but that is precisely what architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw — yes, that Ben Crenshaw — had in mind when they got busy, their mission to restore Pinehurst No. 2 to how legendary designer Donald Ross, who died in 1948, planned it more than a century ago. Crenshaw was here today for Media Day to detail changes at Pinehurst No. 2, where the men's and women's U.S. Opens will be held in back-to-back weeks in 2014.

"We tried to uncover what was in Ross's mind," said Crenshaw, Masters champion in 1984 and 1995. "We think the world of Pinehurst No. 2, and we just hope that if Donald Ross could see it that he'd be pleased with what we've done."

From the sound of it, Pinehurst is more 1914-ish than ever.

"This place has gone back to its old self," said Warren Pardue, a 90-year-old member of Pinehurst who admits the golf course now certainly does look more like the way he remembers it the first time he played it half a century ago. "I like what they've done."