2014 Golf Industry Show and Conference

Each year I am fortunate enough to attend the Golf Industry Show (GIS) which this year was held in Orlando.  The GIS is an annual conference that brings together golf course superintendents, owners, architects, and suppliers from all over the world. The conference features several days of educational seminars followed by the annual trade show.  I was able to take advantage of both the trade show and the educational opportunities.   The following is a brief synopsis of my week at the conference.

Seminar - Irrigation Components, Concepts and Controllers
While I have an extensive knowledge of irrigation systems I found this seminar to be a good refresher course.  We discussed basic aspects of installation, running, repairing and maintaining an irrigation system.  Additionally, we examined proper irrigation scheduling, precipitation rates and sprinkler uniformity, along with central control operation.

Seminar - Progressive Annual Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass Population Management
This was my favorite seminar of the week.  Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is a major weed on greens and through this seminar I learned several ways to reduce Poa annua populations without using pesticides.  One method that was particularly interesting was by changing the set-up on our mowers.  This set-up weakens the Poa annua plant thus giving a competitive advantage to the bentgrass.

Irrigation seminar

Seminar - Practical and Professional Etiquette to Enhance Your Image
We discussed what factors are involved in making a great first impression and how it affects the way we network within the industry.  Additionally, we learned techniques in dealing with difficult people in various situations and how to deal with people that may not have the best professional etiquette.

Professional etiquette seminar

While walking the trade show floor, I met with the representatives of both Jacobsen and John Deere.  Since we are in the market for new equipment this year, these meetings proved to be very beneficial for HFCC.  While we have no deal yet, I am confident that both companies will work hard for the club's business.

Jacobsen booth at the GIS trade show.

Finally the best part of the show was the interaction with my peers.  The amount of knowledge that I gather from simply “talking turf” with the guys is immeasurable. I would like to thank everyone at HFCC for providing me the opportunity to participate in the GIS and for understanding the value in it. By attending the trade show and participating in the educational seminars, I have consistently been able to bring back useful information that has benefited the Club both in savings and efficiencies, not to mention the agronomic information that improves the course.

Hunter Irrigation ad featuring HFCC in the picture.