Headed to The Big Easy

Not all golf course superintendents are lucky enough to attend the Golf Industry Show. Some don’t go at all; others go rarely. The main reason is a lack of funds.

That’s where Bayer Environmental Science comes in. For the sixth straight year, the pesticide manufacturer partnered with The Environmental Institute for Golf, the philanthropic organization of the GCSAA, to send five superintendents to the GIS (Feb. 5-7) and GCSAA education conference (Feb. 2-7), which takes place in New Orleans.

The five superintendents are:

• Christopher Beaty at Odessa (Texas) Country Club;
• Scott Davis at The Club at Strand in Fort Myers, Fla.;
• Charles Fogle, CGCS, at University Golf Club in University Park, Ill.;
• Matthew Kowal at Twin Hills Country Club in Monson, Mass.; and
• Rebecca Matis at Felicita Golf Resort in Harrisburg, Pa.

The winners receive airfare, hotel accommodations for six nights, conference registration, two education seminars and $200 for personal expenses.

Bayer chose the winners randomly; however, there was an eligibility requirement that superintendents couldn’t have attended the show within the past two years.

Fogle – who was the superintendent at Urban Hills Country Club in Richton Park, Ill., for 20 years prior to his current post – hasn’t been to the golf show in 15 years, when he was first certified and the show was in Las Vegas. It’s been that long since he has attended because money has been tight. Urban Hills is a mom-and-pop type of operation and it couldn’t afford to send Fogle while he worked there.

“I take advantage of the local seminars and conferences,” he says. “Long travel has never been easy for me to do. During the winter, I do clubhouse-type work, snow removal and equipment maintenance. I also take a month of vacation.”

Fogle, who generally attends two or three continuing education classes throughout the year, was searching Bayer’s Web site for product information when he came across a form to fill out to win a trip to the GIS.

“I’ve never won anything,” he says. “It was a pleasant surprise, though.”

At this point, Fogle hasn’t figured out exactly what classes he’ll be attending while in New Orleans, but he’ll figure it out soon. He’ll be in The Big Easy Sunday through Saturday.

“I’m really looking forward to the classes,” he says. “That’s the main draw.”

Although Fogle won’t be shopping for any specific pieces of equipment at the trade show, he’s looking forward to attending it to look for new ideas.

“The show will catapult my mind back into maintaining a golf course,” he says.

Matis, who has been at Felicita since last March, has been a superintendent for four years, previously working at Mayapple Golf Links in Carlisle, Pa. She has never been to the GIS, mainly because of budget reasons. However, she, like Fogle, attends local conferences and seminars.

Matis, who was surprised she won a trip to the GIS, plans to attend irrigation and disease management seminars. She arrives Sunday and returns Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to attending the trade show and classes,” she says. “I’ve never been to New Orleans. Wednesday is my only day to see the city.”

Matis received advice from friends who’ve been to the show before: Attend classes early in the week because the trade show opens later in the week.

In the future, Matis will try to budget a trip to GIS annually.

“I will put attending the show in the budget for 2010 because there’s a huge value to it,” she says.

Davis – who has been at The Strand since 1999, right out of college – says he might have gone to the GIS when he was in college, although the GCSAA has no record of it. He’d love to go every year, but because he’s married with four young children, it’s difficult for him to get away for a week. Family obligations, not money, are the primary reason for Davis’ lack of attendance at the GIS.

Davis earns continuing education credits locally and earned his class A status recently. He plans to be certified some day, so he needs more CEUs than he can get locally. Attending the GIS will help him reach that goal more quickly.

Davis’s wife will join him on the trip to New Orleans, but he hasn’t ironed out all the family details while away from home just yet.

Davis didn’t get his first choices when registering for the conference seminars, so he’ll attended second-choice classes – financial planning and lake management.

Davis applied for the trip to the GIS while visiting the GCSAA Web site.

From now on, with certification a goal, Davis will try to attend the show every other year, or at least every time the show is in Orlando.

“I’m looking forward to the whole experience,” he says. “Our equipment package expires this year, so I want to see what’s out there. I’ll also be looking for new chemistry for nematodes, as well as networking with other superintendents to see how they’re managing budgets in these tough times and how they’re getting by.” GCI