Tell Us What You Think About the Show

If you get a minute, drop us a line at the Golfdom blog to let us know what you think about the show. If you're going, enjoy yourself in San Diego.

-- Larry Aylward

A Better Perspective

A year ago, during the Golf Industry Show in New Orleans, I heard several people say, “We just need to make it through this year.” These people had one thing in common — they were shells hocked by the onslaught of a dreadful economy. Well, we made it through a brutal 2009. Now what?

Not much has changed since last January. Then again, a lot has changed. It’s difficult to say where the golf course maintenance industry will be a year from now, but I’m betting it will be in better shape. Last January, we were all freaked out because there were so many unknowns. There are fewer unknowns this year, which is surely healthy for all of our mental attitudes.

San Diego will be a better show from that perspective. People will be more upbeat, having made it through the wreckage of 2009. Bring on the SoCal sunshine.

--Larry Aylward

Will Tiger's Tanking Image Impact the Golf Industry?

Everybody has a Tiger take? What's your's?

Do you think the golf course industry will suffer because Tiger's image has been tarnished?

Do you think people will forget about this in a matter of time and Tiger will go on to break Jack Nicklaus' record?

Time to Refinance

Earlier this month, I attended the Carolinas GCSA Trade Show & Conference -- an excellent show, by the way -- and heard a great seminar by Keith Smith, a financial advisor, who told superintendents they should refinance their homes if they already haven't. His reason? Rates! Did you know the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped to a record low of 4.71% this week. Check out this story: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-12-03-mortgae-rates-low_N.htm.

-- Larry Aylward

Currier Leaving Bethpage

Craig Currier is leaving Bethpage State Park, whose Black Course was the site of this year's U.S. Open, for the Glen Oaks Club, a private course on Long Island. Currier is one of the most recognized superintendents in the business. He has also been called one of the best superintendents in the business. Watch Golfdom for an interview with Currier.

A lot of people probably thought Currier would never leave Bethpage. They seemed a perfect fit. On the other hand, Currier is moving on to another and different challenge. There's nothing wrong with that. Such chances aren't going to open up much these days.

-- Larry Aylward

Just Like Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts

I was surprised when I first heard the Club Managers Association of America dropped the Golf Industry Show like a bad habit. But my surprise only lasted for about two minutes.
Truth is, the marriage of these two associations’ trade shows was kind of like that of country crooner Lyle Lovett and Hollywood starlet Julia Roberts in 1993. It was so oddball that you just knew it wasn’t meant to be. Hence, I can see why the CMAA is leaving the GIS after February’s event.
— Larry Aylward

Look Who Has Time to Play Golf?

Obama has played 24 golf rounds this year. Nice to know he has the time. I hope he's talking about how to fix the economy while putting for a seven.
--Larry Aylward

Wiser When It Comes to Watering

Golf course superintendents are much wiser when it comes to watering in 2009.

A whopping 97 percent of superintendents say they’re taking measures to manage water more efficiently on their golf courses, according to a recent irrigation survey by Golfdom. The survey, conducted in mid-October, garnered nearly 500 responses from superintendents across the country.

The answers to the first question of the survey — Are you doing all you can to manage water as efficiently as possible? — reveals superintendents are more serious about reducing their water use than they were in past years. Fifty percent of superintendents said they’re finding ways to reduce overall water use, even if it causes occasional stress on the turf. Forty-seven percent of respondents said, “Somewhat, we’re trying to find the right balance.” Only 3 percent of superintendents said they were “watering away to attain as green and lush turf as possible.”

We conducted a similar survey in 2006, and the difference in answers between now and then is startling. Back then, only 25 percent of superintendents said they were managing water use as efficiently as possible and 65 percent said they were trying to find a balance. Almost 10 percent said they were watering away for the lush, green look.
— Larry Aylward

Are You Doing Anything to Avoid Job Layoffs?

The good news is unemployment DROPPED in July. Maybe we won't hit that nasty 10 percent mark after all — although several U.S. states have soared past it.
Are you doing anything to avoid layoffs at your course or company?
Let us know.

Have You Been Slighted?

If you read my column above, "They Dropped the Ball -- Big Time," you'll see the story of another superintendent who didn't get his due. In this case, it is Terry Bonar, certified superintendent of Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland.

How about you? Do you feel like you're getting your due where you work? Does your owner, general manager and pro understand the important role you play at your course?

Blog here and let us know.

Thanks,

Larry Aylward
Editor in Chief

Unemployment And Sitting On His Duff

I just heard of a guy who lost his job last fall but has been content to sit on his butt and collect employment. The dude is not even looking for work! No, he's not one of those "discouraged" unemployed workers who stopped looking for work because he can't find any work; he would just rather take a few bucks from Uncle Sam and not work.
Do you know anybody like this? How should the country handle people like this?

-- Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

Will Players Take Pity On You?

Conventional wisdom might say golfers will cut you some slack if your golf course looks a tad ragged, considering that your maintenance budget was probably slashed. It would be a nice and polite gesture for golfers to sympathize with superintendents over this matter, especially in this time of financial upheaval. I had a recent conversation about this topic with veteran certified superintendent John Miller, who also happens to be the LPGA tour agronomist. But Miller says if a course’s maintenance budget has been cut to $700,000 from $1 million, the golfers playing that course still expect it to look and play like a million bucks.

They don’t care that a superintendent had to cut his maintenance budget.

What do you think? Do golfers still expect the best conditions — event though you don't have the money to pay for those conditions?

— Larry Aylward

GCSAA Suspends Research Funding. What Do YOU Think?

Did you hear the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has suspended funding for new research projects? According to a report, "The GCSAA Board of Directors determined that the highest priorities for research in the coming year will be publication of the survey results from the Golf Course Environmental Profile, the testing and introduction of the IPM template and advancement of the Pesticide Characteristics Project. While there will be no funding of new chapter cooperative research projects in 2009, GCSAA will continue to monitor the current 22 projects that are part of the Chapter Cooperative and National Research programs. The board has emphasized its commitment to funding applied agronomic, environmental and regulatory research, and plans to resume funding of new research when the projects listed above are completed and stability returns to the economy."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Blog here!

-- Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

Thanksgiving Day Lover/Under RESULTS

The turkey was moist, the stuffing was dry and the family that never disappoints didn’t. What’s become my own little social experiment with my in-laws has, yet again, provided holiday humor for us all to enjoy. This year's over/under predictions tell the tale of family dysfunction which we all of are frighteningly familiar.

UNDER 5
The number of times “Gus,” my new 3-month-old Pug had “an accident” on my in-laws new downstairs carpeting: three “accidents” on the new carpeting highlighted the holiday
UNDER 7
Incidents that involve children crying: six crying incidents from children, mostly involving the Wii.
OVER 2
Incidents that involve adults crying: four crying incidents from adults, mostly involving each other.
UNDER 18 – Cigarettes secretly smoked while "taking out Gus": 12 cigarettes. Didn’t know brother-in-law quit last month.
UNDER 1
Major announcements that someone is pregnant (This has happened for the past six years, I’m NOT kidding): 0 — It’s a miracle! No one pregnant.
OVER 60
Minutes late that “Lunch/Dinner” is actually served: 86 minutes late — a new record!
UNDER 34
Total Score of Tennessee/Detroit game: 57 — Detroit is going to make history by winning zero games.
UNDER 40
Total Score of Seattle/Dallas game: 43 — meaningless score by Seattle ruined this pick.
UNDER 47
Total Score of Arizona/Philadelphia game: 68 — Arizona had better find some D-fense before the playoffs.

Another “Turkey Day” in the books for the in-laws and me! I hope everyone had a great holiday before the tryptophan kicked in leading to hours of relatively uncomfortable couch sleep.

Thanksgiving Day Over/UnderPredictions

I love Thanksgiving Day and all the predictability that comes with it. Each year, the family and I make the annual trek up north to an often snow-infested part of northwest Indiana dubbed “The Region.” This would be her family — an entire house filled with people that I haven’t seen since last year’s festivities. Oh what joy! The real entertainment will begin when I start checking off the list of this year’s over/under predictions:

5 — The number of times that Gus, my 3-month old Pug has “an accident” on my in-laws new downstairs carpeting.

7 — Incidents that involve children crying.

2 — Incidents that involve adults crying.

3 — Bottles of wine consumed throughout the day.

18 — Cigarettes secretly smoked while “taking out Gus.”

1 — Major announcement that someone is pregnant. (This has happened for the past six years, I’m NOT kidding.)

60 — Minutes late that lunch/dinner is actually served.

34 — Total score of Tennessee/Detroit game.

40 — Total score of Seattle/Dallas game.

47 — Total Score of Arizona/Philadelphia game.

I will promise to observe keenly and report back on these predictions for those of you who are playing the home version of the game.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

— Christopher S. Gray, Sr.
General Manager/Director of Golf Course Operations
Marvel Golf Club, Benton, Ky.

Will Parts of Your Golf Course Disappear?

I visited Kirtland (Ohio) Country Club not long ago. They were amid a bunker renovation, and they discovered that some bunkers were missing from the original designs of C.H. Alison in 1921. Superintendent Chad Mark surmised that some were filled in during the Great Depression to diminish labor costs.

It made me wonder if superintendents would be considered visionaries today if they started filling in bunkers around their golf courses as economists allude to a global economic downturn that could rival the loss of wealth experienced in the 1930s.

Are you doing anything drastic to your golf course to reduce maintenance or mitigate costs?

— David Frabotta

Economic Headaches Continue

I've been swearing a lot lately. The profanities fly every time I read the financial news, shop for luxuries like milk and hamburgers, and especially when I check my 401k.

And I’m not alone. Everyone from Joe the plumber to Donald Trump is talking in no uncertain terms about the flailing financial markets and the struggling general economy.

During the past month or so, stock brokers have permanently solidified the perception that they are an overpaid, fickle mob. Did Kevin Stone break onto the trading floor and put level-headed traders in a trance of wild unpredictability? It’s like everyone contracted some sort of contagious fiscal bipolar disorder.

How are you dealing with the wild undulations with your wealth, be it your home value or stock portfolios? How long before wealth returns to the same levels, and how long before golf rides on the tails of that prosperity to stability?

— David Frabotta, Senior Editor

Help! I Need Someone to Soothe My Economic Fears

Oil was back up on Monday, Sept. 22. Way up. Oil prices jumped more than $25 a barrel — the biggest dollar jump ever — before dropping a tad. It closed at $120.92 a barrel, up $16.37 from Friday's close. I just read a story on www.cnn.com where oil expert Matt Simmons says a barrel will hit $500 before we know it. That number is not a typo.

I must say that oil prices and the current happenings on Wall Street have me more than concerned for my and my family's future. It's all pretty scary. How are you dealing with all of this crazy financial news? HELP!

— Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

So, Who's Going To Bail Me Out?

If you’re like many Americans voicing their disdain over the government’s proposed bailout of the banking sector, you might be wondering why fiscal irresponsibility is being rewarded with huge chunks of cash.

I couldn’t be angrier about spending hard-earned taxpayer money to bail out corporations that gambled greedily and failed. I pay my mortgage, and private mortgage insurance, I might add. Where is all the PMI for these high-risk loans?

However, the alternative seems bleak. Without the bailout, economists say we very well could slump into the worst economic depression since the 1930s. They called that one The Great Depression, and this one could be greater when you consider the global repercussions.

But there is a bright spot for superintendents: access to dandelions. Dandelions were the most-consumed vegetable in the 1930s. They are very nutritious and plentiful. So go easy on the 2,4-D.

— David Frabotta

Somebody Explain It To Me, Please

Perhaps I was just raised differently or possibly in a better environment than others, but I simply do not understand what type of perverse pleasure or sense of satisfaction a person gets from vandalizing a putting green.

No matter how many times I get that phone call describing the scarring damage that someone has inflicted on one of my nineteen “other children,” my mind always leaps to the same unanswered question: Why? What is at the root of one of the most vicious acts that strike at the heart of any well-manicured golf course?

Is it frustration? I have missed my fair share of gut-wrenching putts while golfing, but none that would ever make me take out my car keys and cut around the cup to make it larger. Nor have I ever felt so compelled to take the flag stick and repeatedly poke multiple holes across the green making it resemble Swiss cheese.

Normally I am a guy who can understand most rationales in this confusing world, but vandalism never has, and probably never will, make one ounce of sense to me in any way, shape or form. It’s simply a sad reality that we all must deal with from time to time.

What's the most senseless crime you've experience on your course, and have you ever been able to ascertain why?

— Christopher S. Gray Sr.