It’s a wrap

A synopsis of the main events of the GIS, including the Opening and General sessions, the Annual Meeting and the Turf Bowl.

GCM staff

• Positive spin to Opening Session
• Awards
• General Session
• Annual Meeting
• Turf Bowl

Positive spin to Opening Session

Azinger’s keynote address,Old Tom Morris Award highlight GIS kickoff.

The nation’s economic crisis may have done its best to put a damper on the New Orleans conference and show, but Paul Azinger did his best to nip the doldrums in the bud by lifting the spirits of those at the Opening Session.

The keynote speaker at the traditional kickoff event for the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show, Azinger didn’t disappoint with a lively, up-close-and-personal recounting of his time as captain of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, along with occasional compliments for the golf course management profession.

The session — presented in partnership with Tycrop Manufacturing — honored a varied lineup of GCSAA award winners and the newly crowned national golf champion, and featured a unique presentation of the 2009 Old Tom Morris Award.

Unforgettable moments

Azinger said he relives last fall’s Ryder Cup at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., almost every day. He relived the highly charged event again at the Opening Session with an entertaining rendition of the competition between the U.S. and Europe that was witnessed by 400 million people via TV.

He prefaced his account of the two years in the making of the U.S. team and the resulting triumph by tossing big-time kudos to Mark Wilson, CGCS at Valhalla, and to superintendents in general. Wilson introduced Azinger before his keynote address to boot.

“Mark and his crew were an integral part of our victory … the course setup and all that,” Azinger said, noting that along the way he and Wilson built a lasting friendship.

Acknowledging those in the audience, Azinger praised the state of modern golf course management and its impact on the game and the players, especially the Tour professionals.

“I think the players (PGA Tour) in general respect what you guys do,” he said. “I know I really believe that superintendents are the backbone of golf.”

Inside the ropes

Offering what he called the inside stories on many phases of his tenure as Ryder Cup captain, Azinger recalled the difficult decision-making — determining a set of viable criteria for player selection with the idea of coming up with the hottest players at the time, and an innovative plan of integrating personality profiles into three four-man “pods.”

“My job became creating the best possible environment for the players,” he said, adding that he gave players ownership in the plan as part of his attempt to develop their confidence in his confidence of them.

“It was also my role to take the pressure off the players, and we played up the underdog role to help do that,” Azinger added.

Leaders note GCSAA progress

Both Mark J. Woodward, CGCS, heading up his first conference and show as GCSAA CEO, and outgoing President David S. Downing II, CGCS, relayed successful state-of-the-association messages during the session.

“In all, I feel very good about where we stand as we look to the future,” Woodward summed up. “But I think the short term is where all of our thoughts are right now. We are facing economic challenges that are matched only by the days of the Great Depression. It is our responsibility to be responsive to your needs in terms of your career and your facility. Resources have been created to help your facility navigate these tough times. Communications have been targeted to employers that focus on your value and that of your staff.”

Woodward pointed to a couple of new staff endeavors to boost GCSAA members, such as a new partnership with The Golf Channel in which positive stories about golf and the environment will be part of the network’s PGA Tour telecasts, and the emergence of GCSAA TV, a collaboration between GCSAA and EPIC Creative Communications to produce video content featuring golf course management stories from around the country.

“We must continue to keep the momentum,” Downing added, pointing out such administrative milestones in recent years as GCSAA’s new governance structure, the emergence of The Environmental Institute for Golf as a major player in the industry and the creation of the Golf Industry Show.

“We must also continue to keep our focus on the facility. No longer can we be seen as only turf managers. We are golf course managers who are part of the overall facility team.”

Founding father honored

With the 2009 Old Tom Morris Award going to the association’s founder, Col. John Morley, who died in 1946, 18 former GCSAA presidents were on hand to accept the honor, with one of them, Sean A. Hoolehan, CGCS at Wildhorse Resort and Casino, speaking on their behalf.

“In every profession there are individuals who distinguish themselves in leadership. A common trait is their ability to see beyond self-interest, people who grasp an ideal and champion it as a cause and carry the banner with virtue and pride,” Hoolehan said in retracing Morley’s quest to create an association for greenkeepers in order to share knowledge and advance the art and science of golf course management.

— Terry Ostmeyer, GCM senior staff writer

Awards

The Opening Session also included presentations to several other GCSAA award winners, including:

• Tom Lavrenz, Class A-Retired superintendent from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the winner of the Leo Feser Award for the best superintendent-written article to appear in GCM.

• Seth Strickland, superintendent at Miami (Fla.) Shores Country Club, was crowned GCSAA Golf Champion for the third time.

• Tim Hiers, CGCS at Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, Fla., and winner of the Excellence in Government Relations Award.

• Robin Sadler, Silvertip Resort, Canmore, Alberta, Canada, winner of the GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leader in Golf Award
(International).

• David Phipps, Stone Creek Golf Club, Oregon City, Ore., winner of the GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leader in Golf Award (Public Course).

• Joel S. Blaker, CGCS at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif., winner of the GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leader in Golf Award (Resort).

• James J. Roney Jr., CGCS at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., winner of the GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leader in Golf Award (Overall/Private).

• Dan Dinelli, CGCS at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill., winner of the Presidents Award for Environmental Stewardship.

• Mark Esoda, CGCS at Atlanta Country Club, winner of the GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award.

• Monroe Miller, Class AA member and retired superintendent at Blackhawk Country Club in Madison, Wis., winner of the GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award.

• George W. Hamilton Jr., Ph.D., Penn State University (deceased), winner of the GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award. The award was accepted by his widow, Becky Zavacky.

General Session

Best-selling author Stephen M.R. Covey told GIS General Session attendees that trust is the No. 1 competency of leadership. Photo by Bruce Mathews

Speaker sells trust for hard times

Expanding on the theme of his motivational best-seller, “The Speed of Trust,” Stephen M.R. Covey told the audience at the Feb. 6 Golf Industry Show General Session that “trust is financial — especially in hard economic times.”

Covey shared two additional “big ideas” on this theme with the golf course superintendents, owners and club managers in the convention center auditorium: Trust is the No. 1 competency of leadership and trust is a learnable skill.

“We’re operating in a low-trust world,” Covey said. “The nature of business today is based on teams and collaboration. Trust helps cut through all the noise and confusion.”

Covey presented a simple formula to illustrate his point on the value of trust in the world of business: When trust goes down, speed goes down and cost goes up; when trust goes up, speed goes up and cost goes down.

“It’s common sense,” he said, “but it’s not always common practice.”

Covey added, “Trust has two dimensions: character and competency. You have to have both.”

Covey, who is CEO of the Covey Leadership Center and a founder of the FranklinCovey organization, was the keynote speaker at the session, which opened with the announcement that the United States Golf Association has signed on to become a participating partner of the Golf Industry Show beginning in 2010 in San Diego. Attendees greeted the announcement with enthusiastic applause.

“We’re indeed excited and fortunate to have our friends at the USGA join us in our efforts to provide the best education and resources available to golf facilities and clubs,” said the General Session’s host, Mike Hughes, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association.

Hughes read from a letter to the show’s current partners — NGCOA, GCSAA and the Club Managers Association of America — from David B. Fay, USGA executive director, which stated, “The United States Golf Association is pleased to formalize our long-standing involvement with the Golf Industry Show. The USGA has actively participated in the GCSAA conference and show and the current Golf Industry Show since the conference’s inception in the late 1920s. With our annual Education Conference, trade show booth and staff volunteering as seminar instructors, the USGA Green Section continues to work with golf’s allied associations to support and safeguard the game.”

The USGA says its partnership will increase its presence at the show with additional programming, promotion and sponsorship activities.

In addition to the partners, the Golf Industry Show is supported by participating organizations — the Golf Course Builders Association of America, the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the National Golf Foundation.

The General Session included an introduction of the “Get Golf Ready in 5 Days” player-development initiative by Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation.

“This is a true industry coalition; this is golf’s program,” Hughes commented.

  — Bunny Smith, GCM managing editor

Annual meeting

GCSAA picks 2009 leaders

Voting members of GCSAA gathered Feb. 6 at the 2009 Golf Industry Show to officially elect its president and board of directors for the upcoming year.

Mark D. Kuhns, CGCS, director of grounds at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., was elected president; James R. Fitzroy, CGCS, director of golf at Wollaston Recreational Facility/Presidents Golf Club in North Quincy, Mass., was elected vice president; and Robert M. Randquist, CGCS, director of golf course and grounds at Boca Rio Golf Club, Boca Raton, Fla., was elected secretary/treasurer. Sanford G. Queen, CGCS, manager of golf operations for the city of Overland Park, Kan., also ran for the secretary/treasurer position; he returns to serve the second year of his two-year term as a director.

Also elected as directors were: Peter J. Grass, CGCS at Hilands Golf Club, Billings, Mont.; Keith A. Ihms, CGCS, director of grounds maintenance at Country Club of Little Rock (Ark.); and John J. O’Keefe, CGCS, director of golf course management at Preakness Hills Country Club, Wayne, N.J.

Patrick Finlen, CGCS, director of golf course maintenance operations at The Olympic Club, San Francisco, enters the second year of his term as a director; David S. Downing II, CGCS, vice president of operations and construction for Signature Golf Group, Myrtle Beach, S.C., will serve on the board for one year as immediate past president; and Ricky D. Heine, CGCS, general manager and director of grounds at The Golf Club Star Ranch, Austin, Texas, is retiring from the board after serving as immediate past president during the past year.

— Darcy DeVictor, GCM associate editor

Teams vied for glory and prizes at the 15th annual GCSAA Collegiate Turf Bowl. Photo by Roger Billings

Turf Bowl

Boilermakers upset Turf Bowl

Purdue University’s determined turf students finally reached the top in GCSAA’s Collegiate Turf Bowl at the New Orleans conference and show, ending Iowa State’s first-place run of seven consecutive years.

Purdue’s winning team included Jack Weatherway, Eric Haub, Eric Wanstrath and Chris Ulrich. Iowa State finished second and another Purdue team was third in the 15th annual Turf Bowl. Purdue has been a perennial challenger for the title during ISU’s streak, including earning second and third place a year ago, and had three teams among the top five in 2007.

“They’re a competitive group,” said Cale Bigelow, Ph.D., faculty adviser/coach of the Purdue program, noting that three seniors and a junior composed the winning foursome. Bigelow’s assistant coach for the last three years has been Jared Nemitz, a graduate student. Nemitz, who also was a Turf Bowl competitor for two years, now has his master’s degree in agronomy and was recently hired as an assistant superintendent at the Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill, Ga.

“It’s a good thing. I know our alumni pay a lot of attention to it,” Bigelow said. “And anything to keep the students interacting with the industry is not a bad thing.”

The 2009 competition included 83 teams and 309 participants. The students were charged with identifying turfgrass species, diseases, weeds and insects, as well as field questions on mathematics and growth and development.

Once again overseeing the Turf Bowl were Leah Brilman, Ph.D., of Seed Research of Oregon, and Gwen Stahnke, Ph.D., of Washington State University.

— Terry Ostmeyer, GCM senior staff writer