John Deere loses a leader

Gregg Breningmeyer at last year's John Deere Classic, with GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans in the background.

Gregg and Rhett riding down 18. I don't think Rhett is waving a peace sign (but he might be), I think he's confessing to taking a mulligan on 18 tee...

Me and Gregg at John Deere World HQ in Moline, Ill. 

Gregg shakes hands with John Daly after their round. I got about five photos of these two together, and they all turned out awful. And not just because of Daly's pants.

Sad news from our friends at John Deere. Gregg Breningmeyer, who was the Global Director of Sales and Marketing for John Deere Golf, passed away last week. He was 56.

Let me keep this in perspective: I'd see Gregg literally twice, maybe three times a year. But he was one of my favorite interviews in the industry. For the last several years, Deere has always arranged for me to have a 1-on-1 sit-down with Gregg at the GIS. That didn't happen this year, as Gregg was forced to miss the Las Vegas show.

One of the things I enjoyed about Gregg was, he told it like it was. He didn't mince words. He didn't speak in "Bull Durham" talk -- you know, the "take it one game at a time," and the "just happy to be here" crap.

Gregg Breningmeyer talks about John Daly and hosting supers at JD Classic

In case you missed it in last week's Golfdom Insider, here is the interview I did with Gregg Breningmeyer, John Deere's global director of marketing and sales for turf.

Quick funny story about Gregg. I'm having dinner with Gregg that same evening, and as you can tell from the interview, Gregg has a great sense of humor. We were talking about social media. Gregg was talking about how he won't join Facebook, and even LinkedIn drives him crazy.

"The thing is, these people want to connect with me," he says to me. "Apparently, the thing they don't realize... is that I'm not a very nice guy!"

Cracked me up.

OK, this will round out my coverage of the JD Classic on the Golfdom Daily. My column in the new issue of Golfdom also covers the Classic. And then I'm done! I don't want to make the guys in red and orange green with envy.