Industry News

Toro Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results

The Toro Co has reported net earnings of $38.2 million, or 99 cents per share, on net sales of $492.6 million for its fiscal third quarter ended Aug. 1, 2008. In the comparable fiscal 2007 period, the company reported net earnings of $42.5 million, or $1.02 per share, on net sales of $478.7 million.

For the year to date, Toro reported net earnings of $119.6 million, or $3.06 per share, on net sales of $1,536.9 million. In the comparable fiscal 2007 period, Toro reported net earnings of $135.9 million, or $3.23 per share, on net sales of $1,544.4 million.
"As expected, weakness in the domestic economy dampened demand through our fiscal third quarter, however, our strong international business enabled us to deliver modest sales growth," said Michael J. Hoffman, Toro's chairman and CEO. "Additionally, our actions to manage production, reduce inventories and control expenses improved our working capital position and increased our operating cash flow significantly." For more details click here.

Spectrum receives two AE50 Awards

Spectrum Technologies Inc. has again been honored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

The company, which manufactures weather stations, data loggers,
and handheld measurement devices, has received AE50 awards for its WatchDog Sprayer Station and new SpecMaps Web mapping utility software.

The WatchDog station helps control pesticide drift by monitoring wind speed/direction, temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure – all while on the move.  New for 2008, Spectrum has added a cost-effective display console to display wind speed and potential drift, while logging weather data.

The new SpecMaps software assists in monitoring soil moisture and compaction levels throughout golf courses, landscapes and growing acreage.  This powerful tool produces colorful, easy-to-read, two-dimensional maps of data collected from portable measurement instruments.
 
The AE50 award recognizes the top 50 innovative new products produced throughout the world for the agricultural, food, and biological systems industries expected to save producers time, costs, and labor while improving user safety.

Mandell wins International Book Award

Golf architect Richard Mandell’s book "Pinehurst ~ Home of American Golf" was named the winner of the International Network of Golf Book of the Year Award.

"Richard created a beautiful book full of incredible information and photographs about one of golf’s most historical places," said Mike Jamison, executive director of ING.

Mandell started his own publishing company, T. Eliot Press, in order to tell the story. "The companies I spoke to about this book never really gave it the respect that a complete history of Pinehurst should have," Mandell said.

The book is a detailed account of the evolution of the playing fields of Sandhills golf and how it affected golf in America. "To me, the history of the area from an architecture and development standpoint is the real story and an education for anyone who loves the history of golf," said Mandell.

Contact www.golf-architecture.com.