#GCITweetUp20

Superintendents and their supporters aren’t shifting away from social media. Instead, they are shifting their tactics to make screen time more meaningful. 

 

Golf Course Industry and Aquatrols will again celebrate how the industry pushes the send button by presenting the ninth annual Super Social Media Awards at the 2020 Golf Industry Show in Orlando. To make the first TweetUp of the new decade a likefest, we’re asking readers, followers and listeners to let us know who they admire on social media.  

 

Nominations for the awards are open from Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2019 until Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2019. Awards honor individuals who use social media to demonstrate leadership, inspire co-workers and colleagues, share operational enhancement ideas, provide updates on course conditions, and creatively communicate messages to intended audiences. Winners will be honored during #GCITweetUp20 at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020 at Aquatrols both #1617 inside the Orange County Convention Center. The celebration begins at 2 p.m. with a happy hour and live music. 

 

Categories include five mainstays – John Kaminski Award for Social Media Leadership, Best Overall Use of Social Media, Best Twitter Feed, Best Use of Video and Conservation Award – along with a new category. For the first time, an award for Outstanding Idea Shared on Social Media will be presented. This category honors the course-enhancing and managerial tactics superintendents introduce to peers via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. 

Presented the past two years, the Conservation Award recognizes industry professionals for implementing and communicating environmental conservation strategies. Past winners include The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay’s Paul Carter and Colbert Hills’ Matt Gourlay.

 

Judging will be conducted by the Golf Course Industry editorial staff and a panel of industry experts and educators. Readers, followers and listeners are encouraged to nominate others or nominate themselves. Multiple nominations in the same or different categories are acceptable. Please include the category and appropriate links to editor Guy Cipriano at gcipriano@gie.net or @GCIMagazineGuy. Email, tweet or call Cipriano at 216-393-0230 with questions.

 

The celebration in Orlando will continue after the awards ceremony and conclude at 5 p.m. Jan. 29. Winners will be announced @GCIMagazine on Twitter and Golf Course Industry’s Facebook page in January. The awards ceremony can be followed worldwide using #GCITweetUp20. Also follow @Aquatrols on Twitter for updates.  

 

Kaminski Award – Jason Haines, Pender Harbour Golf Club, Pender Harbour, British Columbia

Best Overall Use of Social Media – Craig Boath, Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland; Jessica Lenihan, Hayden Lake Country Club, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 

Best Twitter Feed – Paul Van Buren, Kanawha Club, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia; Scott Ramsay, The Course at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut 

Best Blog – Tyler Bloom, Sparrows Point Country Club, Baltimore, Maryland; Kevin Komer, Stowe Mountain Resort, Stowe, Vermont 

Best Use of Video – Ontario GCSA, “Today in Ontario”

Conservation Award – Matthew Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, Kansas

 

Kaminski Award – Matthew Wharton, Carolina Golf Club, Charlotte, North Carolina

Best Overall Use of Social Media – Ian Andrew, Ian Andrew Golf Design, Brantford, Ontario; St. Andrews Turf Team, St. Andrews, Scotland 

Best Twitter Feed – Steve Hammon, Traverse City Golf & Country Club, Traverse City, Michigan; Steve Wright, Pine Tree Golf Club, Boynton Beach, Florida

Best Blog – Chris Harriman, Cattail Creek Country Club, Glenwood, Maryland; Richard Johnstone, Nairn Dunbar Golf Links, Nairn, Scotland

Best Use of Video – Atlantic Golf Course Superintendents Association, “Deep Roots”

Megaphone Award for Hurricane Recovery – South Texas Superintendents

Conservation Award – Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Tennessee  

 

Kaminski Award – Chris Tritabaugh, Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minnesota

Best Overall Use of Social Media – Kyle Callahan, Victoria National, Newburgh, Indiana; Steffie Safrit, TPC Piper Glen, Charlotte, North Carolina

Best Twitter Feed – Matthew Marsh, Santa Ana Country Club, Santa Ana, California; Sean McCue, The Country Club at Castle Pines, Castle Rock, Colorado; Mike Richardson, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Jesse Shaver, Gull Lake Country Club, Richland, Michigan 

Best Blog – Brian Stiehler, Highlands Country Club, Highlands, North Carolina; East Lake Golf Club Agronomy Team, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia

Best Video – Phil Scully, Granite Golf Club, Stouffville, Ontario, “It’s Your Course!”; Georgia GCSA, “Golf is Greenspace” 

 

Kaminski Award – Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, Tennessee 

Best Overall Use of Social Media – Rick Tegtmeier, Des Moines Golf and Country Club, West Des Moines, Iowa; Joe Wachter, Glen Echo Country Club, St. Louis, Missouri

Best Twitter Feed – Eric Bauer, Bluejack National, Montgomery, Texas; Paul Koch, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; Patrick Reinhardt, Georgia Southern University Golf Course, Statesboro, Georgia

Best Blog – Joel Kachmarek, Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Washington; Brad Novotny, Hillendale Country Club, Phoenix, Maryland

Best Video – Graeme Roberts, Camberley Heath Golf Club, Surrey, United Kingdom

Megaphone Award for Outstanding Advocacy – Mike Huck, Irrigation and Turfgrass Services, Orange County, Calif.

 

Kaminski Award – Steve Cook, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Best Overall Use of Social Media – Matthew Wharton, Carolina Golf Club, Charlotte, North Carolina; Pat O’Brien, Hyde Park Golf and Country Club, Cincinnati, Ohio

Best Twitter Feed – Scot Dey, Mission Viejo Country Club, Mission Viejo, California; Kevin Hicks, Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Club, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho; Jason Hooper, Quilchena, Golf & Country Club, Richmond, British Columbia

Best Blog – Joey Franco, Brookstone Golf & Country Club, Acworth, Georgia; Adam Garr, Plum Hollow Country Club, Southfield, Michigan 

Best Video – Georgia GCSA, “Stewards of the Land”

 

Kaminski Award – Micah Woods, Asian Turfgrass Center

Overall Social Media Program – Nick Christians, Iowa State University; Adam Ikamas, MiGCSA

Best Use of Facebook – Gary Grigg, Idaho/Florida; Jason Chennault, Turfgrass World

Best Blog – Jason Haines, Pender Harbour Golf Club, Madeira Park, British Columbia; Jason VanBuskirk, Stow Acres Country Club, Stow, Massachusetts.; Tom Vlach, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Best Use of Twitter –  Randy Samoff, Champions Golf Club, Houston Texas; Ellie Parry, TurfJobs, Loughborough, United Kingdom.; Justin VanLanduit, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, Illinois; Cale Bigelow, Purdue University

Best Multimedia – Adam Garr, Plum Hollow Country Club, Southfield, Michigan; Rick Brandenburg, North Carolina State

 

Kaminski Award – Bill Brown, Hartefeld National Golf Club, Avondale, Pennsylvania

Outstanding Blogger – Andrew Hardy, Pheasant Run Golf Course, Sharon, Ontario; Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Brian Boyer, Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, San Jose, California 

Outstanding Use of Twitter – Chris Tritabaugh, Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minnesota; Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills Golf Course, Manhattan, Kansas 

Special achievement in video/other – PACE Turf LLC, San Diego, Calif., PACE Turf YouTube Videos; Steve Biehl, Naperville Country Club, Naperville, Illinois, GCM Blogging World

 

Kaminski Award – Darren Davis, Olde Florida Golf Club, Naples, Florida

Best of Blogs – Chris Tritabaugh, Northland Country Club, Duluth, Minnesota; Steve Cook, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Bill Brown, Hartefeld National Golf Club, Avondale, Pennsylvania

Innovative Use of Twitter – Greg Shaffer, Elcona Country Club, Bristol, Indiana; David Phipps, Stone Creek Country Club, Oregon City, Oregon

Excellence in Video – Justin Ruiz, Indian Summer Golf & Country Club, Olympia, Washington