Our cab got sideswiped in Louisville, yet neither of the drivers seemed even remotely upset. Impressive!

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GIE Day 2

It's been non-stop here today. Saw Toro's newest Z Master Commercial 2000 Series today, as well as Bobcat's new compact excavator. The day's winding down!

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Notes from the GIE and EXPO

Lots of action today at the GIE! Mowers and aerators galore!

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Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 40 -- My degree in RG3

Sean O'Brien, director of grounds, Hawk's Landing.

Last week I had the opportunity to take a trip to Orlando to Hawk’s Landing Golf Club as the guest of Precise Path Robotics to check out the RG3 robotic greens mower. The RG3 is the industry’s only autonomous, robotic greens mower and features the industry's best warranty on any greens mower. Look for more information in the November issue of Golfdom!

Going to check out the RG3 was my first of hopefully many assignments for Golfdom. It was a great trip and if you followed some of my posts form Orlando you already know Precise Path rolled out the red carpet. I had my own town car awaiting to take me to and from the airport! I realize I may be showing my cards here a little bit but I thought that was AWESOME! One of my favorite movies is "Made" featuring Vince Vaughn and it took everything in me not to rip off a scene from the movie and make sure to let all the ladies know, "I’m a tall drink of water and I need to stretch my *&#@ out!" as I climbed into my “limo.”

While in Orlando I got to go to dinner with the gentlemen from Precise Path and also had the privilege of attending a media session where I learned everything I could ever possibly want to know about Precise Path and the RG3. I also got to golf with the gents from Precise Path -- I was surprised that Golfdom was the only industry mag to take Precise Path up on their offer for golf! Let me tell those other mags, you guys missed a nice golf course, Hawk's Landing was sweet (although the weather was blustery that day) and you also missed my EAGLE!

At the end of the trip I received a diploma for completing RG3 University. I’m pretty sure the RG3 diploma is on the same level as an honorary degree from Harvard or Princeton so I am now being sought out by several Fortune 500 companies!

All joking aside, the trip was awesome and the RG3 is a great product and a glimpse into the future of golf course maintenance. Make sure to check out November’s issue for all the details, as well as next week's Golfdom Insider e-newsletter for a Golfdom TV interview I did with Sean O'Brien, director of golf at Hawk's Landing.

-- Matt Hendren

We're here in Louisville for the GIE and EXPO!

We're here and getting ready for the big show! Be sure and stop by our booth (# 3018) and say hello. Maybe you'll even see these two jokers -- Pat Roberts and Marty Whitford!

Kershasky joins Reinders Inc.

Reinders Inc. announced recently that Jerry Kershasky has joined the company to help serve the Chicago market. He will be a Territory Manager in the Soft Goods Business Group responsible for sales and product support.

For the past 37 years, Jerry has been the superintendent at Westmoor Country Club, a Championship 18 hole course in Brookfield, Wis. As superintendent he coordinated the effort in gaining membership approval and then supervising a major course renovation in 2008 that included an XGD drainage install and the fumigation and regrassing of greens.  He worked closely with Lohmann Golf Designs of Marengo, Ill. to establish a sustainable course design. This renovation project was instrumental in lowering the annual golf course operational budget.

Turk's Irrigation Tips

If you get Golfdom's e-newsletters, then you already received today's "Inside Irrigation" email. But if you didn't, below is what you missed!

You can subscribe to Golfdom's e-newsletters by clicking here.

Turk's Tips

An irrigation professional of 25 years shares his most valuable tips for maintaining problem-free irrigation systems.

By Seth Jones

Joe Turk owns and operates Turf Assist, which services golf course irrigation systems in San Diego, Palm Springs, Riverside and the Orange County area of California. He first started working on irrigation systems when he was only 17, and now, 25 years later, he finds himself busier than ever trouble-shooting systems on golf courses.

"I don't like making people feel bad when they mess up their systems," Turk says. "So I try to tell them, 'Hey, instead of doing this, next time, do this.'"

Turk says that the customers who do the below tips regularly are some of his worst customers, because he never has to visit their courses.

"The guys who do this, they have it going on," Turk says. "I never hear from them. That's fine with me, I'm impressed."

Back up your irrigation database

When was the last time you backed up your database? Stop reading and do it right now, you might thank me later. Guys get busy and they think their computers will take care of them. Then, the computer crashes and guess what -- the last backup was six months ago. The computer can't help you unless you back up often.

Check out this interview with your pal Seth!

I had a feeling it was going to be a good week for Golfdom, and this just caps it off!

Scott Morrison from TurfHugger.com contacted me for an interview on the Herb Graffis Business Person of the Year Award. You can read that interview right here:


http://turfhugger.blogspot.com/2011/10/herb-graffis-business-person-of-year.html

Thanks, Scott, for your interest in the award. Now, everyone, think of a worthy nominee, and go here to nominate them!

http://www.golfdom.com/awards/business-award

Borman to accept Carolinas DSA

It was just announced that Chuck Borman will accept the Distinguished Service Award at next month's Carolinas GCSA conference and show. It's a great gesture by the Carolinas to one of the great personalities in our industry.

I worked at GCSAA during Chuck's brief stint as the association's COO. You could always hear Chuck coming from about a mile away because he has this loud, booming voice, and he simply must greet every person he sees. "Hi Judy, how's it going? Dave, what's happening? Ed, how's the family?" And you'd hear this while he was on the other end of the wing!

My first impression of Chuck was, "Who is this loud guy we hired?" But then I quickly learned that the man can motivate people and get them working toward a common goal. The Carolinas very obviously benefited from these qualities.

Another thing about Chuck: great taste in cars. He's a Chevy muscle car fan, which I can appreciate.

Here's the press release, below. Congrats, Chuck, from all your friends at Golfdom!

Long-time golf industry administrator, Charles M. “Chuck” Borman, CAE will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association next month. Borman led the association as executive director for a decade over two stints beginning in the late '90s. Under his leadership the association experienced significant growth in membership, services and revenues. The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor the 1,800-member association bestows.

Borman will be honored at a special presentation during the association's annual conference and trade show in Myrtle Beach, S.C. that runs Nov. 14-16. The conference and show itself tripled in size during Borman's administration, today providing more than 100 hours of formal education and occupying some 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space.

Wisconsin assistant wins Toro greensmower

A lot of assistant superintendents in the news lately, eh?

Here's a press release from Toro about an assistant superintendent winning a Toro Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid riding greensmower.

Two thoughts before I turn you loose on the release:

1. "Petrifying Springs Golf Course" is a great name for a golf course.

2. The other day I entered a drawing for a giant flat-screen TV at my local Dairy Queen. The very next day, DQ called me. "Mr. Jones, this is Amanda from Dairy Queen, I have good news," she said. I took a breath. "Yes?" "You entered our drawing... and you won a Dairy Queen hat! We'll re-enter your name in the drawing for the TV..."

Here's the release about Lori Stanek, who did way better than a Dairy Queen hat:

The crew at Petrifying Springs, including Lori Stanek, assistant superintendent, on the mower, and David Hassel, supervisor of golf conditions, to her left.

Toro would like to congratulate Lori Stanek, assistant golf course superintendent at Petrifying Springs Golf Course in Kenosha, Wis., on winning a new Toro Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid riding greensmower. The giveaway was part of Toro’s “Master the Greens U.S. Tour” equipment demonstration series hosted at golf courses across the country this summer.

“I attended the Master of the Greens tour because they were previewing the new TriFlex mowers from Toro. When I found out I won the mower I was in total disbelief,” recounted Lori Stanek. “This is a great opportunity for Kenosha County to have a quality mower.”

Higgins to Harrell's

News from Harrell's today, regarding Jeff Higgins, Ph.D., joining the company as VP of business development. 

I saw Dr. Higgins do a presentation years ago when he was with Pursell Technologies. His demonstration was energetic as well as entertaining... the guy has a gift for speaking.

Here's the press release: 

Harrell’s, manufacturer and supplier of performance-based turf and ornamental products is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Jeff Higgins to the Executive Team as Vice President of Business Development. He will lead Harrell’s efforts in customer education and manage national accounts for golf, turf and landscape markets. Higgins will report to Harrell’s President Dave Schermerhorn. He is joining Harrell’s from ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance where he served as the Director of Agronomy and was responsible for agronomics and maintenance of over 70 golf courses throughout the United States as well as all vendor relationships.

“ I have worked with Jeff over the years and am delighted to welcome him to Harrell’s,” said Schermerhorn. “This is an exciting time at Harrell’s as we develop innovative ways to better serve our customers. Jeff’s unique and extensive background, coupled with his deep understanding and knowledge of the turfgrass industry, will be an invaluable asset in our long-term efforts."

Hendo in Orlando....Take Three!

Getting ready to tee off at Hawk's Landing in Orlando. It is a beautiful course with some pretty sweet Bermuda greens that were mowed by a robot this morning!

My only complaint is the wind is blowing like I'm back in Kansas! Oh well, here goes nothing!

-- Matt Hendren

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Hendo In Orlando Take Two!

Matt Hendren here again live from Orlando!

Just finished having dinner with Jason Zielke, President and COO of Precise Path Robotics.

Precise Path is the inovator of the RG3 robitic greens mower. The RG3 is the industry's only autonomous robotic greens mower.

Tomorrow I will get a full demonstration of the RG3 in action along with the privlege of playing Hawk's Landing Golf Club, who has been using the RG3 for the past nine months.

Stay tuned for additional post about the RG3 and Hawk's Landing Golf Club!

--Matt Hendren
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Hendo in Orlando!

Greetings Hyperbole fans! It is me, Matt Hendren of Hendren's Hyperbole coming to you live from Orlando! I am here covering a story for Seth since he just added baby number two to the Jones family.

So far everything is going great. I got to make a new friend on the flight. I met Doug the salesman. So I got that going for me anyways. I also got to big time it when I got to Orlando, just like Vince Vaughn did in MADE! The picture is of my driver Steve! How do you like me now?

Stay tuned all week for updates from Orlando.

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Get ready for a big week!

This is the calm before the storm...

This week Golfdom will be bringing you tons of great content. We'll have contributing editors on the ground at both the C-5 turf science meetings in San Antonio as well as at a robotic greensmower demo in Orlando... we've got two e-newsletters ready to go out... and we've got the new issue right here for your reading pleasure!

Check out that cover and try to tell me that's not the best cover in the industry this month, maybe even THIS YEAR!

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 39 -- A little help in the office

What if I told you I had a way to reduce the amount of time you have to spend in your office completing the dreaded -- I mean, required -- paperwork that comes with managing a top notch golf course? Would you be interested? I think I have found a tool that might just do that! It’s called a secretary!

All joking aside, there is a software program called ManagerPlus that can limit the amount of time spent in the office and make managing your maintenance division a breeze. ManagerPlus claims to "…effortlessly and rapidly handle an unlimited number of preventive maintenance schedules for all of your grounds management activities.”

ManagerPlus can track the following aspects of any golf course maintenance facility; scheduling, fuel/oil, work orders, sub assets, depreciation, purchase orders, repair histories, tools, tires, parts inventory, warranty tracking and fuel tracking.

What really caught my eye about this program is the Chemical Applications Manager. It allows you to fill out required chemical tracking reports electronically! Required chemical application information can be complied by chemical or area within application dates. You will have to agree this tool would be a great asset to any chemical application program. Wouldn’t it be great to have chemical application history at your fingertips?

Check out the program at www.managerplus.com.

Shoot me a comment and let me know if you use ManagerPlus or a similar program. Does the use of the program really save you time?

-- Matt Hendren

BackedByBayer.com re-launches

Bayer announced the re-launch of its professional products website, BackedByBayer.com. The newly designed site, which focuses on pest management, turf and ornamental, golf course and vector control professional products, will incorporate new user-friendly features.

Highlighted features include an interactive Resource Library of video and audio from industry professionals and customers. The library will also include downloadable resources such as product guides, labels, material safety data sheets (MSDS) and white papers. Webinars from the Bayer Beyond the Basics series will also be added to the website as an ongoing resource for golf course superintendents.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve the user experience for Bayer customers,” said Camille Gipson, Marketing Communications Manager for Bayer. “Exciting new features and enhanced tools make BackedByBayer.com not only an exceptional resource for information but one that is easy to use. We have made improvements such as mobile optimization and sortable search results to make sure our site is accessible and relevant.”

Golf Digest's shout-out to supers

Nice bit in the new issue (Nov. 2011, Bubba Watson on the cover) of Golf Digest.

In the Editor's Letter, Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde gave his 'birdie of the month' to superintendents. He wrote:


"As natural disasters ravaged the country this summer -- from Hurricane Irene and flooding in the East to fires in Texas and extreme heat all over -- maintenance crews labored countless hours to get our courses back to playable. And most (superintendents) have done it with the tighter budgets brought on by a slumping economy. They deserve patience, time and our appreciation."

Hear, hear, Jerry!

Some pics from Green Start Academy

The grounds of Bayer Environmental Sciences Research Center in Clayton, N.C.

Assistant superintendents get ready to tour Bayer's research center grounds, comprising 281 acres.

GCSAA's Greg Lyman speaks about sustainability.

We're baa-aaaaack!

Hello loyal Golfdom readers. Sorry for the unannounced silence last week.

We have a good excuse, though.

Senior editor Beth Geraci was out in the field covering the GreenStart Academy, hosted by John Deere and Bayer, in North Carolina. The event hosts assistant superintendents from around the country for three days of education, networking and brain storming. Speakers included such industry figures as Bob Farren, CGCS, Henry DeLozier, Greg Lyman, Stan Zontek and Lane Tredway. Beth has a notebook full of stories from the event, and we'll be sharing them soon.

Where was I? I was firmly planted at Lawrence (Kan.) Memorial Hospital awaiting the arrival of my second child. I'm happy and proud to report that my son, Boyd Atticus Jones, arrived Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

I meant to get back to work on Friday, but we were so busy checking out of the hospital, getting the car loaded, getting mom her first decent meal in three days... and overall just remembering what it's like to have a newborn... that I let that idea sail.

But I'm back in the office now!

American Vanguard talks PCNB

Last week I left off with a short story on PCNB and what the lifting of the stop-sale meant for the industry.

This week I caught up with Bill Kuser, director of investor relations for American Vanguard Corp., manufacturer of PCNB. Here's what insight he gave me on where PCNB is currently:

"The court ruled that the stop-sale order by the EPA against that product was inappropriate, it was basically overturned, legally.

That being said, the roughly 12 or 13 months PCNB was off-line, it was due for re-registration and relabeling. The EPA put that on hold while the product was on hold. It has now been necessary, even though we have a legal right to market PCNB, the reality is we have to have these registrations and the proper labels on the containers before that can go out (with the product). We've been working with the EPA diligently to make up for lost time with regard to amending and reissuing the new labels, so the product can go out into the field.

Bottom line: the stop-sale has been legally overturned, we are simply now waiting for the EPA to issue our new amended labels. That process is virtually complete, we're just waiting for them to finalize it. PCNB will be back in the marketplace very shortly for all its major applications. It's a safe and effective product -- always has been -- and it is unfortunate that it wasn't available to users over the last 12 or 13 months."