Industry News

Travel Channel offering previews New Orleans

"Forever New Orleans TV" on the Travel Channel is a great way for anyone thinking about attending 2009 Golf Industry Show to learn more about the city.

The program, which airs at 8:30 a.m., Eastern and Pacific (7:30 a.m. Central), every Sunday in July is created and hosted by Emmy award-winning reporter Karen Carlson in partnership with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It showcases the culture, restaurants, attractions and accommodations of this historic city, as well as the spirit and resilience of New Orleanians.

Course owners say they'll continue to invest

The nation’s economic slowdown is taking a bite out of the business of many of the golf industry’s largest ownership and management companies, but a number of owners and operators say they will continue to invest in their facilities in hopes of growing revenues and gaining competitive advantage during the downturn.

Those were among the results of a survey of executives attending at the Multi-Course Owners Leadership Retreat held by the National Golf Course Owners Association. The annual gathering of many of golf’s most influential executives attracted representatives from more than 50 of the industry’s largest course owners and operators.

"The economy is casting a shadow over golf right now, as it is with any business that relies on discretionary spending," said Jim Hinckley, partner and CEO of Dallas-based Century Golf Partners and one of the conference attendees. "But most large operators understand business cycles and are using this time as an opportunity to position themselves for better days ahead."

According to the survey, the economy is moderately (54 percent) or significantly (32 percent) affecting current performance and 67 percent think their business will remain flat or decline as much as five percent in the second half of 2008. About a quarter think they will see gains of less than 5 percent.

As was the case in the aftermath of 9/11, outings seem to be the first to feel the economic pinch. Fifty percent of the survey participants said the number and size of outings sponsored by business and charitable groups was the area of their business being most affected. Thirty-one percent said the number of customers playing their courses was where they were feeling the biggest effect.

More that half said they plan to deal with the situation by pulling back on expenses and holding on until conditions improve.

A number of respondents, however, said they will remain aggressive during the slowdown. Twenty-three percent said they plan to invest in more marketing to grow their business, and 22 percent said they will make course or facility improvements to become more competitive.

Owners and operators of multi-course companies also are increasing their efforts to attract new players from non-traditional segments. Forty-eight percent said they had introduced player development programs in the last year aimed at women, Hispanics or juniors; 32 percent said they had hosted events aimed at one of these groups.

The environment is also clearly on the minds of owners and operators. Eighty percent said water was the environmental issue most threatening to the golf industry, and 44 percent said they had reduced the area that requires irrigation and fertilizing at their facilities.

10th anniversary for Toro's Center for Advanced Turf Technology

The Toro Co. is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Center for Advanced Turf Technology--a cross-functional team of engineers and agronomists dedicated to developing cutting-edge technologies in turf care.

"This is a great milestone for us, but it's just the beginning," said Michael Hoffman, chairman and CEO. "There's always an opportunity to innovate, develop and apply technologies that benefit both customers and the environment. It's listening to customers today to anticipate their needs in the future."

The center's team was established in 1998 with a mission to work across organizational and product group boundaries to discover new innovations that help customers increase productivity, conserve water and energy, and control costs.

"We had direction to work with customers, academic leaders and industry experts to develop solutions that could emerge as breakthrough products. We've had the freedom to be innovative, while focusing on practical solutions - not theory," said Dana Lonn, PE, director of the center.

Lonn pointed out that while ongoing research and development activity occurs throughout the organization, the special turf technology group ensures Toro is looking strategically across the entire marketplace to identify long-term trends and technologies.

Water management has been a key initiative for the center's 10-year history with the goal of helping customers better manage water resources and energy. Emerging technologies include:

• Soil moisture sensing using a variety of different sensing technologies
• Reflectance sensing to measure the health of plant photosynthesis
• Alternative fuels
• Labor Productivity

Van Cline, Ph.D., manager of agronomic research, said, "Our experience in agronomy helps us innovate ways to better conserve water and energy. We all face the challenges surrounding water and the environment. With our knowledge and strong partnerships we can help improve the way we manage our resources and care for the outdoors."

Other innovative technologies developed by The Toro Company include:

• Bio-diesel--all 2008 Toro diesel-powered golf course, sports fields and grounds, and landscape contractor equipment have been approved to use bio-diesel fuel blends up to B20.
• Subsurface drip irrigation, including pressure-compensating tape
• Evapotranspiration controllers that utilize satellite data from the patented-WeatherTrak technology to adjust the amount of water applied
• Sensing technology to detect turf stress

http://www.thetorocompany.com.

"How Bobcat Unleashed Me" winners announced

The Bobcat Co has selected a grand prize winner, five second-place winners and 10 third-place winners in its How Bobcat Unleashed Me contest.

The contest asked compact equipment users to share how Bobcat had helped them work better, smarter and faster. Users across the continental United States and Canada submitted brief essays and photographs about their experiences with Bobcat equipment.

The grand prize winner was Gregory Stone of Rock Stream, N.Y. Stone will receive a $75,000 Bobcat gift certificate.

Stone was the owner of a custom cabinet and millwork company who wanted to make more of his life and had a passion to operate compact equipment for a full-time job. He recognized a niche application in vineyards and developed a process to dig precise draining systems while preventing damage to the vines and valuable soil.

 "How many opportunities does a person get in a lifetime to start a truly needed service and have it turn out well? I have gone from despair to a job that is so much fun, and I’m amazed when people give me money for it," writes Stone in his winning entry. "Have I been unleashed? You betcha! Thank you, Bobcat."

In addition, five second-place prize winners will receive $1,000 gift certificates:

• Michael Lowes, Lowes’ Landscaping; Cuba, Mo.
• Eric Austin, Austin’s Landscape Construction Inc.; Yorba Linda, Calif.
• Terry Reed, Four Seasons Construction; Whitehall, Mont.
• Bob Pedatella; Kodiak Landscape Design, Haskell, N.J.
• Ray Benoit Jr., Eagle 88 Enterprises; Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada

Ten third-place prize winners will receive an authentic Bobcat jacket:

• Robert Ott, C&C Excavating LLC, La Crescent, Minn.
• Joe Emigh, Utica, Pa.
• Otto Trebing, Tanglewood-Destiny, Roopville, Ga.
• Dennis Goecke, Tipp City, Ohio
• Josh Ginther, Ginther Farms, Abingdon, Ill.
• Jethro Montgomery, Elida, Ohio
• Marvyn Pickering, Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Devin Scheel, Draper, Utah
• Marion Perret, Jefferson, La.
• Richard Meffert, Raeford, N.C.

For more on the winners, including Stone's essay, click here.