Don't look now, but the Golf Industry Show is lurking around the corner. It'll be here before you can say Club Managers Association of America three times fast.
By the way, the CMAA joins the GIS party in February. So now it's the superintendents, owners and managers under one roof. Does this spell
d-y-s-f-u-n-c-t-i-o-n-a-l?
Two years ago, when the National Golf Course Owners Association joined the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to form the inaugural Golf Industry Show, we reported that Big Brother — the “all-powerful” and “forever-watching” character from George Orwell’s novel “1984” — had landed in the golf industry of all places. Twenty-one years later, golf course owners had assumed the role of Big Brother. The story went that some superintendents were wary of the NGCOA joining their annual conference and show because they wouldn’t be able to get away with doing some of the things they did at previous shows — like ditching a day’s worth of educational sessions to play 18 holes or party into the wee hours of the morning at their hotel bars — if their courses’ owners were around.
Now with the CMAA joining the show, Big Brother has reared his ugly head again. Word is some superintendents don’t want the managers attending the show — especially if the managers are the superintendents’ superiors — because they could cramp their lifestyles.
How do you feel about this? Is it a bunch of bologna? Or is it as true as a tender T-bone steak?
Blog here to share your thoughts.
— Larry Aylward
