Each year I am fortunate enough to attend the Golf Industry
Show (GIS) which this year was held in San Antonio Texas.
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 several educational opportunities along with a productive stroll through the trade show.
Of the educational opportunities, my favorite was "Bee the Change: Getting Started with Beekeeping on the Golf Course". This was a great class that provided an overview of honey bee biology, colony life, basic entomology, golf course considerations, improving foraging area, and overall hive management. Judging by the attendance, there are a lot of golf courses other than ourselves that are working hard to make a major impact on improving the environment for pollinators.
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| Discussing the location of bee hives on the golf course. |
The trade show floor is the place where companies can show off their latest creations and hopefully announce major deals. With our G&G chairman, John Eastman present, we announced our own major deal with Hunter Golf and Simmons Irrigation. Early this spring, we will be replacing our old irrigation computer and controllers with Hunter's new Pilot system. Our old controllers are no longer supported and parts are getting more difficult to source. Hunter's new system is the most robust and efficient system in the industry today and will serve HFCC for many years to come.
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| Kevin Johnson of Hunter Golf announces that HFCC will be the latest course to install Hunter's Pilot irrigation system. |
I would like to thank all the members of HFCC for allowing me to continue to pursue my professional development by attending the annual Golf Industry Show. The amount of information that I learn through the education, networking with my peers, and attending the trade show is immeasurable. I have consistently been able to bring back useful information that has benefited the Club in both savings and efficiency, not to mention the agronomic knowledge that benefits the course.
