The Whiteboard

Passport to the China Golf Show
Bruce Williams recently added “foreign correspondent” to his list of honorary titles from GCI galactic HQ. He sent us his insights from the 2011 China Golf Show, direct from Beijing. If you weren’t watching his updates online, here’s some of what you missed:

DAY 1
“One could tell that there must be a golf gathering somewhere as there were a few familiar faces on the plane and also a few more when we arrived in Beijing for customs. Dave Taylor, from Bryant, Taylor and Gordon was there to attend the show and also check on a couple of his projects in China. Dave indicated that they had about 10 projects in the pipeline in China. Robert Trent Jones II was on the plane and shared with me that architecture is not work but an art form and they have been very successful in the Chinese market. Mike Brown from RainBird was also with us on the flight and they had a significant presence in the Chinese market.

“I am doing some work with Jason Taylor and Ross Fischer, the principals of Professional Golf Development and Management.  They kindly had a car, driver and interpreter meet me at the airport and take me to my hotel destination for a long awaited sleep after we had our initial meeting.”

DAY 2
“In evaluating the size of the golf market in China, I found that most would say that there are about 600 golf courses in China. 400 of those are in the south and it just so happens that is where the population and better weather happen to be. While it was hard to gauge the current number of projects underway I feel comfortable in reporting that there must be at least 40-50 projects in the planning and construction phase.

“The trade show has grown over the last several years and they were hoping to get 10,000 attendees this year.”

 
DAY 3
“Meetings never stop at a conference like the China Golf Show. People like your undivided time and they set up appointments to meet at specific locations to conduct their business. It is a very effective way of doing business and you get a lot accomplished without interruption.
“Upon entering the convention center the show looked very similar to a smaller GIS. The larger booths were right in the front and they contained products and representatives from Toro, Jacobsen, John Deere and Baroness. Additional companies that most American superintendents would recognize included, Bernhard & Co., Foley, etc. A large display area for irrigation included names like Rain Bird and Hunter as well as the Toro display in their booth alongside of their equipment. EZ Go, Club Car and Yamaha were prominent but I was surprised to see at least 6 other golf car manufacturers at the show.”

DAY 4
“A major component of the professional side of the trade show was in the area of golf development. I counted 32 booths with either golf course architects or builders. Golf is booming in China and a number of architects have chosen to be a part of that. I was very impressed that most of the booths had the principal architects on hand. Those architects that I spoke with mentioned that they had anywhere from 6-10 projects underway in China or neighboring countries. While there are no verifiable statistics that I could find I am convinced that there may be closer to 100 golf course projects underway in China.

“The country and the people of China have truly embraced the sport. With the vast size of China and the population base it looks as though there may be several decades of growth ahead.”

Roll Call
TPC Eagle Trace, Miami Beach, Fla., named William Connolly superintendent.

Dean Gerdeman, superintendent of golf course maintenance at Weatherwax Golf Course, Liberty Township, Ohio, retired in March.

Southworth Golf appointed Jeff Webster the director of agronomy overseeing all Southworth Golf properties.

James Simonini, P.E. joins Western Golf Properties as national director of business development. In addition, the company appointed John McNichols, CPA as the corporate controller to their offices located in Orange County, Calif.

Arysta LifeScience named Matthew Seibel territory salesmanager for the Midwest territory, which includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and the Pittsburgh, Pa. area.

Niall Flanagan, formerly president and CEO at Loch Lomond Golf Club, has been appointed as managing partner for Kopplin & Kuebler.

Elvis was in the building...
GCI’s roving reporter and columnist Monroe Miller spied “The King” at the recent 2011 Reinders Turf and Irrigation Conference, March 9 & 10 in a western Milwaukee suburb.

Miller attends the conference which has been held every other year since 1973 for the top-notch lectures, but the surprise “guests” are a bonus, too, he says.

“This year’s impressive roster included Michigan turfgrass pathologist Dr. Joe Vargas, always a favorite at any educational venue,” Miller reports. “He has never missed a Reinders conference, going back to the first in 1973. And every once in a while, Elvis manages to travel with him.”

Super Shot
The Northwood Club in Dallas, Texas, is no stranger to critters like coyotes and bobcats. Superintendent Kevin Carpenter sees the evidence out on the course – the remains of a midnight snack here, some tracks there.

But recently, Carpenter was making his rounds when he heard “a huge racket. I thought it was two hawks fighting.” He turned toward the commotion just in time to see two bobcats dart up a tree, in the middle of their own contest.

He didn’t have anything with him to document the match, so he had to rush back to his office.

“I had just happened to bring my camera with me that day,” he says.

Carpenter, who does freelance photography outside the course, returned to the scene and caught on film one of the usually-camera-shy cats, settled on a tree branch before it pounced from its perch.

“That’s the first encounter we’ve had in a while with a bobcat on the course,” he says. “That’s something you don’t normally get to see.”