Travels with Jonesy

It’s been a crazy few weeks. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the places I have gone…”
 

Aug 31: Cruised out to D.C. to support the Mid-Atlantic Association of GCS’s Stewards of the Chesapeake fundraiser at Columbia CC. By “supporting” I mean playing bad golf on Steve McCormick’s amazing old golf course and saying a few words about the importance of their cause: developing BMPs for water and nutrition for the Maryland/Virginia region that gets so much scrutiny from regulators and activists.

Takeaway: Loved seeing a chapter with many younger members involved and engaged. Wish that was true everywhere.
 

Sept 1: Got up early and enjoyed a rare treat: walking Chevy Chase Club with the iconic Dean Graves. Dean has been a leader within his club, his chapter, GCSAA and just about everything he’s been engaged in over his remarkable career. He’s the uber-mentor to about two dozen successful supers, many of whom are now at other great courses in the greater D.C. area.

Takeaway: As much as I love events and conferences, there’s nothing better than some one-on-one time with a legend like Dean.
 

Sept. 7-14: Mrs. Jones took me to England for a week for a conference for HER business. It was awesome to be a tagalong corporate spouse for once. I originally had big plans to play golf around London and Oxford, but there were too many cool non-turfy things to do.

Takeaway: A weeklong break from the world did me a world of good.
 

Sept. 21: I finally made it to the fabulous Pine Hills CC for the 12th annual Wisconsin Wee One Foundation tournament hosted by Rod Johnson. I got to enjoy Rod’s amazing course (which is a pitching wedge from the Kohler courses but completely different character and very old-school) and spoke about Wayne Otto, and the importance of the industry’s best charitable organization. Wayne would have loved the camaraderie at the event.

Takeaway: If you only choose one thing to support in our business, it should be the Wee One.
 

Sept. 25: Shot down to Westfield Companies CC about 45 minutes south of our HQ in Cleveland to hold our annual Horticulture Group sales meeting and enjoy Mark Jordan’s course. Sadly, we didn’t see Mark because he was at a GCSAA board meeting in Far Hills. My schedule might be crazy, but it’s nothing compared to the commitment that Mark and his colleagues on the national board make every year.

Takeaway: Team strategizing and bonding helps our group create better information products for the entire Green Industry. Maybe your team could have a sales retreat too.
 

Sept. 28-29: Headed to Orlando for the 25th anniversary RISE annual meeting. This was special because I’ve been a part of RISE since it was founded and our company, GIE Media, has been a member since Day 1. (In fact, we created and donated a special 25th birthday supplement you’ll find inserted in this issue.) The best moment was seeing nearly all of the past chairman assembled.

Takeaway: Without a quarter-century of great leadership and strong volunteerism from RISE members, we’d be in a world of hurt.
 

Oct. 2: Bopped up to the nearby Catawba Island Club for the Northwest Ohio GCSA fundraiser for Ohio State turf funding. So impressed with the culture of this relatively small chapter.

Takeaway: The wind coming off Lake Erie in the fall will kick your ass.
 

Oct. 6-8: As I write this, I’m returning from a great visit to FarmLinks for a few days of relationship-building and knowledge-sharing hosted by Koch T&O. Polyon is a keystone golf market product and our friends in lawn care are also catching on to the ROI value of enhanced efficiency fertilizers. I played golf with FarmLinks owner David Pursell, J.D. Dockstader from GCSAA and Koch Agronomic Services president Chase Koch. I can’t remember having a better time on a golf course.

Takeaway: Koch is investing in its T&O business, including major plant upgrades, and I was impressed with their executive team, commitment to the business and candor. Good people.
 

Pat Jones is editorial director and publisher of Golf Course Industry. He can be reached at pjones@gie.net or 216-393-0253.