The Preserve at Verdae superintendent Adam Charles will become the 44th President of the Carolinas GCSA during the annual business meeting Wednesday morning. GCI chatted with Charles about what the association means to him and his plans for 2017.
How fortunate are superintendents in your part of the country to have an annual event like the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show?
“For me personally, it is a staple of my year. With the educational offerings, the networking, those sorts of things, it’s probably the single most valuable educational event I leave property for. I would say that’s the same for many others. It’s economically feasible, it’s relatively inexpensive for education and travel. With all those things rolled into one, it’s always a huge win. It brings a lot of value. That’s it for me. I would assume a lot of the other guys would say the same.”
What convinced you to become an officer and get heavily involved with the Carolinas GCSA and how fulfilling has it been?
“I would say the convincing part for me becoming involved is working for past presidents of the association. They played a big part in it. Those guys are Joe Kennedy who is now at the Vanderbilt (Tenn.) Legends Club, Jeff Connell who’s at Fort Jackson in Columbia, Chuck Green who’s now at Sage Valley and Don Garrett who’s at the Walker Course at Clemson. Working for those guys and their passion for the business and the benefit I received from them and being involved in the association for the last 20 years … I have gotten a lot of value out of it. And it’s a good opportunity for me to give back. It’s a true service to repay the things that those guys did for me and repay what Cindy (Baldwin), Angie (Davis), Chuck Borman and Landon Miller have done. All of those folks mean something to me and provided something to me in my career path. It’s service in its essence.”
You have a tough act to follow in David Lee. What are some things you are going to focus on in 2017?
“My grand hope is to address our long-term vision and plan and goals. It has been several years since we addressed that. A substantial planning session and making sure we focus on continual improvements. I think as an association we do a lot of things really well and it’s just continuing to tweak. We have to make sure we address any problems or any opportunities to provide value to our membership. That’s the grand plan – to continue doing the things we do well now and tweak them to do better. Focus on the long-range plan.”
What type of perspective do you bring to the position coming from a daily fee/resort course?
“I’m fiscally conservative. We have to watch the flow of money in, money out. Be accountable, be responsible. I spend nearly $750,000 a year of somebody else’s money, and I have to do it diligently. Being involved with writing the Carolinas GCSA budget last year with the secretary/treasurer and being heavily involved again this year with the vice president role … Our fiscal performance is fantastic. As a niche, that’s probably one of the things I bring in doing the job with less, being creative and finding ways to get the solutions.”
Is one of the things you want to stress is that you don’t have to come from a course with a huge budget to be an active part of an association?
“You just have to be able to put on your board member hat and put the members’ best interest first. That’s the goal. You’re managing another business for the benefit of you as a professional and 2,000 of your closest friends.”
It’s been a challenging year in parts of the Carolinas and it seems like every fall your members are getting slammed with some type of major weather event. How does a network and association like the Carolinas GCSA help superintendents who endure tough times?
“I would way the most gratifying thing of being associated with the Carolinas GCSA is the brotherhood. Heck, Tim Kreger hauled a piece of equipment down to the coast to help someone cleanup from Hurricane Matthew. As an association, we provided meals for members who said, ‘We need some help.’ And we sent out emails: ‘How can we help?’ You have companies taking equipment or vendors in those local markets running by and bringing food to treat those guys whose pride and joy in their job and golf course has been destroyed, and they have to put it back together. The brotherhood is very strong in that sense.”
Why does such a strong network among superintendents exist in the Carolinas?
“That’s a really tough question. I would say a lot of it would be the success of turfgrass associations in the Carolinas. We have 13 local associations that are essentially small businesses. The 13 local turf associations and relationships built there translates and aids in our strong network and brotherhood. This certainly works both ways ... Carolinas down to locals. The opportunities to put names with faces, common interests and challenges. There is a comfort that follows these experiences in being able to grab your Carolinas directory to call and chat up the many folks in our association.”
Guy Cipriano is GCI’s associate editor.
How fortunate are superintendents in your part of the country to have an annual event like the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show?
“For me personally, it is a staple of my year. With the educational offerings, the networking, those sorts of things, it’s probably the single most valuable educational event I leave property for. I would say that’s the same for many others. It’s economically feasible, it’s relatively inexpensive for education and travel. With all those things rolled into one, it’s always a huge win. It brings a lot of value. That’s it for me. I would assume a lot of the other guys would say the same.”
What convinced you to become an officer and get heavily involved with the Carolinas GCSA and how fulfilling has it been?
“I would say the convincing part for me becoming involved is working for past presidents of the association. They played a big part in it. Those guys are Joe Kennedy who is now at the Vanderbilt (Tenn.) Legends Club, Jeff Connell who’s at Fort Jackson in Columbia, Chuck Green who’s now at Sage Valley and Don Garrett who’s at the Walker Course at Clemson. Working for those guys and their passion for the business and the benefit I received from them and being involved in the association for the last 20 years … I have gotten a lot of value out of it. And it’s a good opportunity for me to give back. It’s a true service to repay the things that those guys did for me and repay what Cindy (Baldwin), Angie (Davis), Chuck Borman and Landon Miller have done. All of those folks mean something to me and provided something to me in my career path. It’s service in its essence.”
You have a tough act to follow in David Lee. What are some things you are going to focus on in 2017?
“My grand hope is to address our long-term vision and plan and goals. It has been several years since we addressed that. A substantial planning session and making sure we focus on continual improvements. I think as an association we do a lot of things really well and it’s just continuing to tweak. We have to make sure we address any problems or any opportunities to provide value to our membership. That’s the grand plan – to continue doing the things we do well now and tweak them to do better. Focus on the long-range plan.”
What type of perspective do you bring to the position coming from a daily fee/resort course?
“I’m fiscally conservative. We have to watch the flow of money in, money out. Be accountable, be responsible. I spend nearly $750,000 a year of somebody else’s money, and I have to do it diligently. Being involved with writing the Carolinas GCSA budget last year with the secretary/treasurer and being heavily involved again this year with the vice president role … Our fiscal performance is fantastic. As a niche, that’s probably one of the things I bring in doing the job with less, being creative and finding ways to get the solutions.”
Is one of the things you want to stress is that you don’t have to come from a course with a huge budget to be an active part of an association?
“You just have to be able to put on your board member hat and put the members’ best interest first. That’s the goal. You’re managing another business for the benefit of you as a professional and 2,000 of your closest friends.”
It’s been a challenging year in parts of the Carolinas and it seems like every fall your members are getting slammed with some type of major weather event. How does a network and association like the Carolinas GCSA help superintendents who endure tough times?
“I would way the most gratifying thing of being associated with the Carolinas GCSA is the brotherhood. Heck, Tim Kreger hauled a piece of equipment down to the coast to help someone cleanup from Hurricane Matthew. As an association, we provided meals for members who said, ‘We need some help.’ And we sent out emails: ‘How can we help?’ You have companies taking equipment or vendors in those local markets running by and bringing food to treat those guys whose pride and joy in their job and golf course has been destroyed, and they have to put it back together. The brotherhood is very strong in that sense.”
Why does such a strong network among superintendents exist in the Carolinas?
“That’s a really tough question. I would say a lot of it would be the success of turfgrass associations in the Carolinas. We have 13 local associations that are essentially small businesses. The 13 local turf associations and relationships built there translates and aids in our strong network and brotherhood. This certainly works both ways ... Carolinas down to locals. The opportunities to put names with faces, common interests and challenges. There is a comfort that follows these experiences in being able to grab your Carolinas directory to call and chat up the many folks in our association.”
Guy Cipriano is GCI’s associate editor.
Latest from Golf Course Industry
- The Aquatrols Company adds new territory manager
- Melrose leadership programs sending 17 to GCSAA Conference and Trade Show
- Maximizing your experience at trade shows: tips and etiquette for attendees
- Tubac’s Rancho 9 re-opens after greens renovation
- Future Leaders Academy set for Jan. 23 in suburban Pittsburgh
- 54, Turfgrass set to manage Druids Glen, Curracloe Links
- Nufarm introducing new products in San Diego
- Envu Superintendent Grant Program sending 10 members to 2025 GCSAA show
