The Digital Turfhead: Get ready for spring

In these tough economic times, private clubs and public courses are trying to find new and creative ways to bring in more golfers.

The key word here is "creative."

Steven Tingle,a former CGCS turned marketing guru, is tapping in to the creative wave of new media to help clubs keep up with the times - tee times, that is. Check out his blog video: Golf, Martinis, and Social Media. Not a bad swing, either!

With warmer weather on the way (I promise!) the calendars are starting to fill with golf outings. If there is anything out there to have a love/hate relationship with, it’s an outing. Of course you got to love the revenue it brings to the club, not to mention the repeat business afterward because your clubs will all be in great shape. But holy cow, can we somehow do away with the drunken idiot part of the equation? Okay, so you have a day off and you get to play golf instead of slaving away at your day job - does that really mean you have to personally keep the good folks at Anheuser-Busch in the black? Let's hope this outing isn’t booked at your club this year.

Jamie Miller, the superintendent at Prairie Lakes Golf Course in Grand Prairie, Texas, got his 15 minutes of fame when the city’s jobs board created an "On The Job" video of life as a superintendent. The video was hosted by Don Johnson (not THAT Don Johnson) who was quick with the golfing cliche. Miller did an outstanding job.

Unfortunately,I was unable to attend the GIS this year. But I do know that every year manufacturers have the opportunity to roll out their latest and greatest equipment ideas.
Precise Path Robotics was in Orlando rolling out their RG3 Robotic Greens Mower.

Another manufacturer I would like to mention probably didn’t get the chance to reserve a booth at the show. If nothing else I believe it shows how creative people can be when budgets are tight. They have created pull-gang rough unit that, in my estimation, doesn’t need a big fancy tractor with auxiliary hydraulics, or even a workman or turf-truckster type vehicle. Heck, if you are short-staffed one day you could ask a golfing twosome to pull it around with them! See this revolutionary idea right here.