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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Three years ago, the Arizona Republic had a daily circulation of 286,000. According to some published reports, circulation statistics for the Phoenix newspaper plummeted to 164,000 by 2015. Those dramatic losses are a snapshot of an industry struggling to maintain relevance amid shifting demographics and changing consumer behaviors. 
      Sound familiar?   Despite the warning signs that its days were numbered, the newspaper business has been left like a three-wheeled minivan navigating the Indy 500 while digital media whiz by in a blur.   Golf, to a lesser degree, is struggling to remain relevant as certain demographic groups, namely millennials, women, youth and minorities, find other things to do with their time. Unlike newspapers, which are destined for their eventual place in history alongside 8-track tapes and Betamax players, golf can be saved. Or, some of it, at least.   The game's major economic indicators - i.e., number of golfers, course supply and rounds played - have been, with the occasional exception, on a steady decline during the past decade as people find other ways to occupy their leisure time.    Initiatives designed to grow the game by promoting pace of play, offering a clutch of lessons at a discounted rate or bringing the game to urban areas have, by and large, failed on a national scale to move the needle on participation.    To wit, the game lost 900,000 players last year and 1.3 million during the past two years. The number of people in the game (just under 22 million) is the lowest since at least the mid 1980s, and some industry analysts project that number will drop below 20 million for the first time in forever. As a result, a net 993 courses (in 18-hole equivalents) have been shed since 2006, and we're not done.    Numbers like this make finding the bottom of the golf market a challenge, largely because the game was healthier 10 years ago when industry analysts projected that as many as 2,000 courses must be cut from the herd to find equilibrium. A decade ago, there were 4.5 million more golfers than there are now, and 8 million more 15 years ago. If golfers continue to leave the game at this pace, a lot more than 2,000 courses will have to close before anyone can mention the word rebound. Suffice to say, no one knows for sure where the bottom is, or when we will get there.     Newspaper publishers, seemingly at a loss for how to meet the challenges facing their industry, appear convinced a solution somehow still includes printing a physical newspaper. Rather than find a solution that offers customers what they want, the newspaper business is intent on selling what it has, even if no one (or at least fewer and fewer people) wants it. Publishers have responded by gutting newsrooms and compromising the quality of an-already obsolete product. It's a death spiral with no way out.   Golf, in a way, is guilty of the same line of thinking. Too many are convinced the answer to golf's problems include five hours and 18 holes. That might be fine for the private club model, but likely won't fly in the public sector.   Common objections to the game are well documented: it takes too long, the atmosphere is too stuffy, the game is not friendly or inviting to newcomers, it's too expensive, it's too hard. Indeed, a game that suffers from a stereotype of catering to old, white men, is being propped up largely by that demographic.   Given these criticisms, it seems unlikely that the game will self-correct in the face of shifting demographics without offering something new or different, but real change can occur only at the facility level, not in response to an industry initiative.   Courting women, millennials and minorities will mean non-traditional offerings. If someone wants to play three, five or seven holes, devise short loops that allow for that and find a way to charge for it. Golf Boards, one of the new items on display at this year's GIS, and four-passenger golf carts with USB ports - yes, they do exist - might make traditionalists cringe, but can help attract a whole new demographic. Once viewed as a gimmick, footgolf is now helping drive revenue at 450 courses in 48 states and Washington, D.C., according to the American Footgolf League.   Golf has endured for more than 500 years, so the game itself isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but nearly 1,000 courses during the past decade already have gone the way of defunct newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News and the Honolulu Advertiser, with hundreds, if not thousands still to follow. The question isn't if another course will close; the question is who's next?
  • Months of planning and preparation are needed to stage a successful turf education conference. Mother Nature, however, can wipe out those plans in one brief moment.   No one knows that better than the folks behind the New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show, held each year in Providence, Rhode Island.   Last year's show was moved from its traditional March slot to Jan. 25-29 to avoid a conflict with the Golf Industry Show. A blizzard warning issued early that week throughout parts of New England eventually led to cancellation of most of the events associated with the conference, leaving travelers stranded and show-goers hunkered down in Providence hotels with nowhere to go.   This year's show has been moved back to its traditional time slot and is scheduled for Feb. 29-March 3 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence.   A lot of changes, beyond a move back to the traditional late-winter calendar slot, are in store for conference attendees this year.   Among the new offerings on tap are 13 separate two- and four-hour seminars starting at 1p.m. on Feb. 29 and 8 a.m. on March 1.  This is a change from previous years where all seminars were held on Monday.     The seminars on Tuesday will be followed in the afternoon with a session with the USGA with an USGA afternoon session, a sports turf seminar and a new session for equipment managers.    This year's keynote speaker will be John Dennis, a local sports talk radio personality from WEEI-93.7FM.   A full tradeshow with more than 100 exhibiting vendors will run concurrently with the education conference.   Speakers including Bill Kreuser, Ph.D., University of Nebraska; Beth Guertal, Ph.D., Auburn University; Pat Vittum, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts; Doug Karcher, Ph.D., University of Arkansas; Jim Skorulski, Dave Oatis and Adam Moeller of the USGA Green Section; Karl Guillard, Ph.D., University of Connecticut; Paul Carter, CGCS, Bear Trace at Harrison Bay; John Ball, Ph.D., South Dakota State; Herb Stevens, Grassroots Weather; Steve McDonald, Turfgrass Disease Solutions; David Huff, Ph.D., Penn State; Steve Alm, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island; and more.   Those who registered for last year's snow-plagued event will receive a 50 percent credit toward registration for this year's show.   Click here for more information, or to register.
  • Fitbits don't lie.
      This year's Golf Industry Show certainly looked bigger in terms of square footage, and it seemed larger for those tasked with going back and forth throughout the long and slender San Diego Convention Center like a pinball. Undoubtedly there was more than one media type whose fitness tracker was buzzing early in the day as the 10,000-step plateau was reached - and crossed.   But how does the show compare with last year's, or the last time it was in Southern California in 2013? The numbers from San Diego predictably offer a mixed bag of results, some of which offer hope, some of which do not.    A total of 12,600 people attended this year's show, including roughly 6,000 qualified buyers, according to GCSAA. This year's overall attendance was up by 200 and there were 400 more qualified buyers this year than last. That attendance number trails the 2013 San Diego show's 13,192 attendees and 6,018 qualified buyers.   Some of the biggest increases this year come in the form of exhibitors and square footage of rented booth space.   A total of 550 exhibitors rented 250,000 square feet of exhibit space this year. There was actually one more visitor last year (550 this year in San Diego vs. 551 last year in San Antonio), but this year's square footage dwarfs the 182,000 square feet in San Antonio. It also is a lot more than in 2013 when 517 vendors occupied 172,900 square feet.   Rented booth space actually was the largest it has been since 2009 when 665 exhibitors committed to 257,900 square feet in - prepare yourself - New Orleans.   This year's show also came surprisingly close to the 2008 record for rented booth space, when 965 exhibitors showed their wares across 300,900 square feet at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
  • Passion, so the saying goes, trumps pedigree. Matt Gourlay, CGCS, is proof that it's possible to have both.
      Gourlay comes from long line of superintendents, that includes his father David Gourlay Jr., CGCS, and grandfather David Sr. and traces all the way back to . . . Old Tom Morris, whose second wife was a Gourlay and an ancestor of the contemporary Gourlay clan.    But Matt Gourlay, director of golf at Colbert Hills in Manhattan, Kansas, for the past nine years, is more than a legacy superintendent.   "He is so much more mature than other kids when he was growing up," said Gourlay's father, David Jr. "He always wanted to be a superintendent. I remember the first time he drove a Gator by himself; he was still in diapers. He drove it for a half-mile all by himself."   It's not just Gourlay's father who sings his praises. so do Colbert Hills general manager Steve Lambert, the club's members and Kansas State University men's golf coach Grant Robbins, whose team calls the Jeff Brauer-Jim Colbert design home. Their calls were heard on Feb. 11 when Gourlay was named the recipient of the 2015 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Colbert Hills member Zac Burton, called Gourlay the lifeblood of the property who rose above a mountain of challenges in 2015. A maintenance budget that hasn't increased since 1999 would, in itself, be a source for concern. Not only has the Colbert Hills maintenance budget not increased in the past 16 years, it actually was cut in 2015 by one-fifth.   "Matt's total maintenance budget was cut by 20 percent at the beginning of this year due to financial stresses on the course as a whole," Burton said. "On top of this budget cut, Manhattan, Kansas has been mired by drought like many other courses across the country. Matt chose to expand native grass areas around our links-style course and eliminate over 400 irrigation heads to reduce water expense. Our water costs were $40,000 under budget, and with more water directed to the most-played areas of the course our conditions have been better than ever. This native grass expansion also reduced mower hours, fuel cost and labor dollars."   In the nine years he has been head superintendent at Colbert Hills, Gourlay has cut water use by 71 million gallons per year to 41 million gallons. At a current billable rate of $3,000 per 1 million gallons, the savings mount.   "He loves making the course the best he can for the buck," Gourlay's father said. "He squeezes more blood from a stone than anyone I know."   Besides his ties to Old Tom Morris, Gourlay has a legacy nearly as impressive as his passion for the job. His father was a superintendent at many courses throughout Canada before transitioning to the role of club manager, and his grandfather, a native of Scotland, was a superintendent for more than 50 years, a founding member of the Canadian Golf Course Superintendents Association and in 1987 was a winner of the GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award.     The 30-year-old Gourlay was chosen from a field of six finalists by a 12-person judging panel from throughout the golf industry. Other finalists were Bob Becker of Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, Marty Baumann of Anchorage Golf Course in Alaska, Jorge Croda of Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, Matt Crowther, CGCS at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts and John Cunningham, CGCS at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.   Criteria on which nominees are judged include: labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions.   Gourlay receives a trip for two on the TurfNet members golf trip in October to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, courtesy of presenting sponsor Syngenta.   Life at Colbert Hills, which gets much of its labor force from K-State students,  means constantly training workers to get the job done today, and preparing them for the next phase of their careers.   Sometimes, that might mean filling the same job three times in a calendar year.   "Could you imagine, training someone how to cut greens, fix ball marks or rake bunkers three times in a year? I don't know if I would have the patience for that," said Gourlay's father, David Jr., general manager at Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club in Florida. "He never complains. He's always looking for ways to make the golf course better."   Previous winners include: Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, NC (2014); Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, OH (2013), Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club (2012), Flourtown, PA; Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, TN (2011); Thomas Bastis, The California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, CA (2010); Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club (2009); Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields (IL) Country Club (2008); John Zimmers, Oakmont (PA) Country Club (2007); Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale University, New Haven, CT (2006); Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, CA (2005); Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, FL (2004); Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, IL (2003); Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Golf Course, Windsor, Ontario (2002); Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, MA (2001); Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas (NV) Paiute Golf Resort (2000).  
  • When negotiating a deal such as pitching members on an overdue restoration, pining for a raise or trying to get the best price from a vendor on an early order program, providing too much information can adversely affect the outcome of the arbitration process.
      "Skilled negotiators use fewer arguments to persuade the other party," said Bill Davis, Ph.D., a professor in the Wake Forest University business school. "The more arguments we make, it just gives the other party more ammunition to say 'no.' "   Instead, Davis, speaking at the Syngenta Business Institute in December said, those looking to strike a deal should identify their most critical points and stick to those.   "What are the most cogent arguments? More importantly, what are the most cogent arguments to my counterpart?" Davis said. "What will persuade them?"   The Syngenta Business Institute is a four-day educational and professional-development program presented by faculty from the Wake Forest School of Business designed to help superintendents expand their knowledge in non-turf curriculum like management, negotiating and accounting principles.   Negotiations take place with one of three goals in mind, says Davis, who also serves as a communications consultant to several corporate entities: to resolve a conflict or disagreement, to exchange or create economic value, making arrangements in the performance of one's job.   Those three factors open the door for several opportunities to negotiate throughout the day. Davis says more than 50 percent of the day includes the potential to negotiate something with someone, so he recommends being prepared to barter at a moment's notice rather than be caught unknowingly in a negotiation.   "You are better off thinking you are negotiating when you are not than not thinking you are negotiating when you are," he said. "If you think you are negotiating, you will prepare for a negotiation. Then if it turns out it's not a negotiating process, fantastic. But if I am not thinking it is a negotiation and the other party thinks it is a negotiation, then I'm sunk, and I've already lost going into the process.   "Be prepared to negotiate. Any time you are in a meeting you are negotiating."   It still doesn't mean that most people are skilled in the practice of negotiating deals. There are several common mistakes people make, Davis says, when striking deals like buying a car or negotiating a salary when seeking a new job.   "People have a tendency to underestimate their own (negotiating) power and give the other side more power than they deserve," Davis said. "If you feel more powerful, you will be more powerful. You will have the belief that you can make something happen."   Davis also says it is important when negotiating deals to include everything on the table in one package rather than to treat them separately.   "Sequential negotiations, or making one argument after the other is about the worst thing you can do," he said. "You can't take something back once it's out there. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube."   Every deal also must include a contingency, or a plan if an equitable deal cannot be reached. Davis calls that the "best alternative to a negotiated agreement" or BATNA.   "How do you end your negotiation? Must have a point where you say 'this is as far as I can go.' And if you say that, you'd better mean it," he said.    "If I change my mind, it affects the ability to trust one another.   "What determines my walkaway point? If I have nothing in my back pocket as a backup, I have no walkaway. BATNA determines your walkaway. If I can't get better than my walkaway point, I'm better instituting my BATNA."
  • The PGA Tour will contribute $250,000 over five years to the GCSAA to help implement best management practice models for golf courses, with a focus on localities and states where Tour events are held. The Tour is joining the U.S. Golf Association in an industrywide effort to establish best management practices across the country. 
      "We believe in the good work that golf course superintendents are doing every day to establish quality, healthy playing conditions for all golfers, while protecting our environment," said Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. "Best management practices will help us demonstrate that golf courses can deliver benefits to everyone in a community. This also represents a longstanding commitment to environmental excellence at our own TPC courses."   The goal is to have BMPs in place in all 50 states by 2020, providing resources to help superintendents and promote credibility. Statewide BMP programs already have been established in some form in 11 states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.    "Best management practices are essential to all superintendents to measurably demonstrate that we are doing the utmost in our profession to care for the land while providing the best conditions possible for golfers," said Jeff Plotts, director of golf course operations at TPC Sawgrass. "We want BMPs to be part of the fabric of all TPC Network courses. But, we all need to work together to be qualified experts in our field."   The term BMP was first used in 1977 in response to the Clean Water Act, and it referred then only to soil conservation practices to protect water quality. It since has evolved to where it refers to other practices, such as drought management to pesticide application.    
  • With the announcement of a potential takeover of Syngenta by ChemChina coming just days before this year's Golf Industry Show, it was a foregone conclusion that the news would be a topic of discussion on and off the trade show floor in San Diego.
      TurfNet reported on Feb. 3 that the acquisition, if it indeed transpired at all, would have little noticeable effect for customers on Syngenta's day-to-day business, including supply chain operations.   Syngenta officials reiterated those claims during the show.   Once the deal is completed, which is expected to be by year's end, Syngenta will continue to operate as a business unit under the Syngenta name, with the same personnel, the same headquarters in Switzerland, the same business model and same stable of turf products.   "We are going to continue to innovate," said Stephanie Schwenke, Syngenta's turf market manager. "We now have a focus, and we are going to remain Syngenta."   The acquisition is being driven more by the agriculture market as Syngenta and China's state-owned chemical company, as well as their counterparts around the world, work to help feed a growing global population.   According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the World Population Clock, the world's population is about 7.3 billion. That number is expected to reach 8 billion by 2025, 9.2 billion by 2050 and 11 billion by 2100. An overwhelming percentage of that growth is to occur in developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia.    During that time, says the United Nations, about two dozen countries in Africa will more than double in population, India will overtake China as the world's largest country by population and Nigeria will supplant the United States as the planet's third most populous country.   The challenge for growers and agrochemical companies around the world is less about how to keep cool-season turf alive in summer and more about how to produce enough food to meet that demand.  
  • A good equipment technician can be hard to find; a great one nearly impossible. Those superintendents lucky enough to have one know that an exceptional mechanic is the backbone of any successful golf course maintenance operation. Not much gets accomplished with equipment that does not work properly or reliably, or when parts are strewn about a disorganized shop.
        If your equipment tech is great or even just plain good, nominate him or her for TurfNet's 2016 Technician of the Year Award, presented by The Toro Company. - the original award for golf course equipment managers.   Criteria on which nominees are judged by our panel include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.   Here's a tip: Use specific examples when describing what he or she has accomplished - the more we know, the better your tech's chances of getting noticed.   The winner will receive the Golden Wrench Award (a real gold-plated wrench) from TurfNet and a weeklong training session at Toro's Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.   CLICK HERE to submit a nomination using our online form. All finalists and the winner will be profiled on TurfNet.   Deadline for nominations is April 15.   Previous winners are (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pennsylvania; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, California; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, California; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, Illinois; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, Connecticut; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (Georgia) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, Colorado; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, Florida. No award in 2008.  
  • It is never too late to put a good idea into action.
      With more than 50 years of combined experience between them, Paul Roche and Matthew Mikucki have finally struck out on their own, with the launch of their Golf Water LLC irrigation design and consulting firm.    A full-service irrigation consulting firm, Golf Water LLC offers services that include system analysis, master planning, design and specification, pump stations, course GPS mapping, vendor evaluations/recommendations, field staking, final drawings, control system programming and final map creation.   A published author and former greenkeeper, Roche has more than 30 years of experience in the irrigation business. He spent the past eight years with Rain Bird, where he was national specification manager from 2007-2009 and national sales manager for the golf division from 2009 until launching Golf Water. He also has held positions with I&E Supply Co. in Milford, Connecticut, and the S.V. Moffett Co., a Rain Bird distributor in Rochester, New York.    Hanging his own shingle has been a dream for more than 20 years, and it took a family tragedy for him to finally make the leap. Roche said his sister, Liz Teed, served as a motivational force in his life until her untimely death 15 months ago.   "It has been something that I have been thinking about since 1992 when I learned that you could actually make a living designing and consulting on golf course irrigation systems," Roche said. "Things became more of a reality for me when I lost my sister in 2014. Her passing made me think about doing what I really want to be doing every day when I wake up and go to work."   Mikucki has nearly 20 years of experience in all aspects of the irrigation manufacturing business, from service of existing systems to design of new irrigation control systems and central control systems to sales. Like Roche, Mikuckis most recent experience in the industry came in the form of several years with Rain Bird. His career began in technical support, where he worked in the field with superintendents to troubleshoot irrigation systems. He earned bachelors degrees in mechanical engineering and interdisciplinary engineering and management from Clarkson University and an MBA from the University of Arizona.   Roche, who co-authored "Golf Course Irrigation: Environmental Design and Management Practices" (with James Barrett, Brian Vinchesi, Robert Dobson and David Zolodske) is certified by the Irrigation Association as a Golf Course Irrigation Designer, Irrigation Contractor, Golf Irrigation Auditor and Landscape Irrigation Auditor.   Both are experienced irrigation trainers and have provided training at the University of Massachusetts, Rutgers, SUNY Delhi, SUNY Cobleskill, Michigan State and Cornell. 
  • By now, just about everyone in the golf turf business likely has read, or at least heard about the recent $43 billion bid by ChemChina to buy Syngenta. And many likely have one common question: How will things change for the golf business?
      The answer to that question, Syngenta says, is not much if at all.   According to a news release from the Swiss-based agri-chemical giant, the pending transaction is more about growth than change.   "Syngenta will remain globally headquartered in Switzerland and is committed to ensure it will be business as usual for customers, farmers, business partners, employees and the communities it serves in the U.S. and globally," according to the release.   "It will still be business as usual for our employees and customers who will have access to the same high quality portfolio of seeds, traits and crop protection products from Syngenta."   Key facts gleaned from the release include:   > the transaction ensures continued choice for growers at a time when considerable consolidation is taking place in the agricultural industry; > Syngenta will continue to be a strong competitor in the marketplace; > Syngenta management will continue to lead all aspects of the business, including delivering high quality products to American farmers; > this transaction ensures ongoing R&D investment across technology platforms and across crops; > it will still be business as usual for Syngenta employees and customers who will have access to the same high quality portfolio of seeds, traits and crop protection products from Syngenta.   Syngenta management will continue to run the company. After closing, a 10-member board of directors will be chaired by Ren Jianxin, chairman of ChemChina, and will include four of the existing Syngenta board members.   The transaction, Syngenta says, "minimizes operational disruption, is focused on growth globally, specifically in China and other emerging markets, and enables long-term investment in innovation. Syngenta will remain Syngenta and will continue to be headquartered in Switzerland."   Talks of a Syngenta merger have swirled for the past couple of years, with other suitors including Monsanto. However, multiple attempts by St. Louis-based Monsanto were unsuccessful in 2015.   The pending deal with state-owned ChemChina comes on the heels of an agreement in December of a merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont, which was worth $130 billion.
  • Five superintendents who otherwise wouldn't be attending this year's Golf Industry Show will be heading to San Diego thanks to the Bayer Superintendent Grant Program. 
      Through the Bayer Superintendent Grant Program, Bayer Environmental Science, the GCSAA and the Environmental Institute for Golf are sending five golf course superintendents to the 2016 Golf Industry Show in San Diego.   The purpose of the grant is to assist superintendents with their professional development through participation in the annual event.    Winners are: Jonathan Gruber of Hampton Cove Golf Course, Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, John Ekstrom of Indian Boundary Golf Course in Chicago, Daryl Moldenhauer of American Falls Golf Course in American Falls, Idaho, Ethan Shamet of Deer Trace Golf Course in LaCygne, Kansas, and Jerry Webb of Stillwater Oaks in Stillwater, Minnesota.   Winners are chosen through a random drawing. Each receives airfare, hotel accommodations for five nights, conference full-pack registration, two education seminars and $200 spending stipend.
  • Talk about a strange way of making friends. 
      Nearly 100 devoted followers on the morning of Jan. 28 packed a conference room at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando and almost as many attended online to get their yearly beat down from Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp. and Stuart Lindsey of Edgehill Consulting during their 12th annual State of the Golf Industry Report at the PGA Merchandise Show. If that wasn't enough, almost 200 more showed up in the afternoon to take their medicine.    The message out of Orlando, as usual, was mixed.   Rounds played in 2015 were up for the first time in three years, fees and facility revenue both were up slightly as well, but the supply of golf courses measured in 18-hole equivalents was down for the 10th straight year, with almost no end in sight, said Koppenhaver.   Still, it might be the most good news Koppenhaver and Lindsey have voiced in their 12 years of delivering haymakers at the PGA Show.   "Things are stabilizing," Koppenhaver said. "It's a little bit better, but we still have a really long road."   That long road could be another 15 years or more.   Nine new courses were built in 2015, while 234 closed, leaving a net loss of 225 18-hole equivalents. It was, by far, the greatest net loss in course supply since closings began outpacing openings in 2006. In that time, there has been a net loss of 993 18-hole equivalents. That number will have to get larger, much larger, Koppenhaver said, before the golf industry can be declared healthy once again.   "The absorption is picking up, a little over 200 facilities. The problem is it's still too little," he said. "That's about six-tenths of a percent. We're about 8 percent over supply currently, so at six-tenths a year we're still 15 or 16 years away from getting back to what we believe was healthy equilibrium in the industry, which happened back in 1994.   "The good news is absorption of supply is picking up. The bad news is it's still a glacial pace. We need to take a couple thousand courses out of play, and it's just not happening quick enough."   Among the courses coming out of the ground are a disproportionate amount of public and nine-hole facilities. Public facilities comprise 73 percent of the country's overall supply, but 83 percent of the courses closed in 2015. It's a darker picture for nine-hole facilities that make up 7 percent of the nationwide supply, yet represented 58 percent of last year's closures. These are the types of courses the industry needs, Koppenhaver said, to attract and retain new golfers.   "Unfortunately, we're taking bunny slopes out of play," he said. "And oh, by the way, we're trying to introduce people to the game of golf.   "A little bit of a concern for me is that the balance of what we're taking out is not going in the same direction we'd like the industry to go."   In 2014 (the last year data was available for golfer population), a net 900,000 people stepped away from the game, leaving the industry with 22 million golfers. That is the fewest in the industry pipeline in decades at least since the mid-1980s. The game was at its zenith in 2002 when 29.9 million people said they played the game. Population segments that dropped out of the game were men (down 4 percent), women (3 percent), ages 35-54 (6.7 percent), ages 18-34 (7.8 percent) and ages 7-17 (8.5 percent).  
    We are not successful in generating demand outside of what weather is giving us. So, at this point, we're just on a roller coaster that says if Mother Nature gives us a good year, then we're OK; if she doesnt, then we just follow her down."
     
    Koppenhaver referenced projections from 2010 in the wake of several growth initiatives that many hoped would resuscitate the industry.  According to Koppenhaver, Golf 2.0 projected we would be back at that 29.9 million golfer level by 2014. The National Golf Foundation predicted the number of golfers to be at 27.9 million, and even Koppenhaver thought the number of people in the game in 2014 would be at about 25.2 million.    All were way off, and Koppenhaver said Thursday he expects the number to dip below 20 million sooner rather than later. The problem has been a steady stream of attracting 3 million to 4 million new golfers per year, but losing 4 million to 5 million others.   "Our biggest problem is we're losing golfers at 3 percent per year," he said.    "We gotta figure out a way to retain the people who are playing the game and get the people who are engaged to play more frequently."   Although the number of golfers in the game decreased for the 15th straight year, rounds played were up, even if just slightly.   According to Koppenhaver, golfers played 456.7 million rounds last year, a 1.5 percent increase over the 450 million rounds played the year before, about all of which Koppenhaver attributed to favorable weather conditions. It was the first increase in rounds played since 2012, however, it is well off the record of 501.8 million rounds set in 2000.    "We are not successful in generating demand outside of what weather is giving us," he said. "So, at this point, we're just on a roller coaster that says if Mother Nature gives us a good year, then we're OK; if she doesn't, then we just follow her down."   Rounds played averaged 32,441 per EHE, which was the most since 32,991 per EHE in 2012. Ideal capacity, Koppenhaver said, is about 35,000 rounds per facility.   Facility revenue also increased in 2015, rising 3 percent over the year before. Most of those gains were made in food and beverage (5.4 percent) and merchandise sales (4.2 percent). Only 2.2 percent of those revenue hikes came in the form of golf fees.    "The slight concern I have is the big driver there is golf fee revenue," Koppenhaver said. "We can sell a bunch of food and beverage and merchandise, what drives our businesses are golf fees."
  • Whether it is removing Poa annua from cool-season turf or organic matter from warm-season grass, fraise mowing has been an accepted practice for renovating athletic fields for nearly a decade. Although it is an invasive practice, fraise mowing and other ultra-aggressive grooming practices also have a place in golf, says Jerad Minnick, a sports turf management consultant.
      "If you have a problem with organic matter on a golf course, this can fix it," Minnick said during the recent Tennessee Turfgrass Association Conference and Show.   Fraise mowing utilizes hundreds of blades on a helix-shaped rotor that remove material from the surface, leaving behind what Minnick says are stronger, healthier plants that can be ready for traffic in a few days to a few weeks depending on how much is removed.   The process was developed in 1996 by Ko Rodenburg, a Dutch sports field manager, to remove Poa annua from cool-season sports turf. True fraise mowing is performed with the Imants Koro Field Topmaker that was named for Rodenburg. But similar aggressive grooming practices can be achieved with equipment from other manufacturers. Fraise mowing often results in phrases such as "whoops" or "uh oh" when sports turf managers, superintendents or facility managers and administrators see just how much organic matter it displaces.    The material removed and how much depends on two factors: whether the surface is warm- or cool-season and the depth setting of the machine taking it out. A Kentucky bluegrass or ryegrass soccer field can produce 12 22-yard dumpsters of organic material, and a Bermudagrass field will yield twice as much, Minnick says.    The results, Minnick says, are worth it, and its practice is used increasingly in sports turf management in the U.S. and abroad with all professional soccer fields in the United Kingdom employing it since its inception. It also is used in the U.S. on everything from high school and municipal fields to professional soccer stadiums.   Whether it was during his days managing the Maryland Soccerplex near Washington, D.C., or consulting on field renovation projects throughout the United States and Europe, Minnick says fields can be ready for play within four weeks or so of fraise mowing, even under adverse conditions.   Two weeks of record cold temperatures descended on north-central Texas immediately after a fraise mowing procedure to renovate the Bermudagrass playing surface at Toyota Stadium, home to the FC Dallas MLS franchise. With the use of tarps to protect the surface from freezing temperatures, the fields were ready for play four weeks after a mowing procedure that Minnick and others describe as verticutting on steroids.   He oversaw a similar procedure in Paris in which fraise mowing was incorporated to remove Poa annua from a ryegrass field six weeks before the start of the season.   John Jeffreys, superintendent at Pinehurst No. 2, has used Turfplaning Services, which employs a similar procedure to renovate par 3 tees that had become elevated over time and on greens surrounds to manage what he called a "collar dam" on the famed Donald Ross design.    "It had become like a bowling lane bumper around the green," Jeffreys said. "We had to peel that out and eliminate that elevated collar."   Removal of organic material improved how water moved off the greens after rain events, said Jeffreys who also performs what he called very aggressive verticutting with a pair of Wiedenmann units. Collars also were more firm and the turf healthier after being exposed to such an aggressive practice. The work was performed when the course already was closed for renovation work, so taking areas out of play for weeks at a time was not an issue.   "The best aerification you can do on Bermudagrass is to get rid of that organic matter," he said. "It really slows water from exiting the green."   Minnick said such practices are catching on in Florida. Many of the courses there are opting for closing nine holes for a few weeks through the middle of summer and completing the other nine the following year.   Mark Langner, CGCS, formerly of FarmLinks in Alabama and currently of Aqua Aid, which represents Campey Turfcare Systems and Imants, also at the Tennessee show, said courses in other parts of the Southeast, including high-profile facilities in the Birmingham area.    "Because of how it controls thatch, you can get on the fairways right after it rains because that sponge that holds the water is gone," he said. "It might cost a little revenue up front for courses to close, but they'll capitalize on the backside because the conditions are so much better."
  • A new mobile app from Bernhard and Co. is designed to help turf managers ease record-keeping of agronomic practices and tracking playing conditions on the golf course.   Named the Turf Toolkit, the app allows registered users to enter model-specific information on Bernhard reel grinders, bedknife grinders and roatary blade grinders, and mowers (Jacobsen, John Deere and Toro). Users also can maintain a grinding log for each bedknife, including face angle and front face angle, and a mowing log for each piece of machinery.   Users then can also enter green speed info allowing for multiple inputs on numerous locations throughout the golf course and includes a selection to categorize weather conditions (rain, wind, clouds, sun, other) for each entry.   The free app is available now through the Google Play Store and will be available in February on the Apple iStore. It includes a section where equipment managers can track spare parts for Bernhard Grinders, information on producing better grass for less, company history and an FAQ section.
  • BIGGA nembers have spoken out about the need for access to more turfgrass research and education, and the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association has listened. 
      Jim Croxton, the association's chief executive officer, cites an expanded education schedule for daily attendance that was up by about 10 percent each day and 1,000 people overall at this year's BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME).   The association has gradually expanded education, from 2,000 hours in 2010 to 5,000 hours this year. That includes more offerings for those in entry-level positions and more speakers from the United States.   "I think (there is) a greater focus on value for money," Croxton said. "People have to justify their reason for attending. The key driver to that is education."   BTME once was primarily a trade show, and the new format and increased attendance due to education has been a hit with vendors eager to have more facetime with show-goers.    "People are coming to the conference as a conference, where it used to be just an exhibition and a few seminars," Croxton said. "They're planning their trips better, they're staying longer, which is great for us because they are spending more time engaging with exhibitors as well as the education. And of course they socialize a lot, and greenkeeping is a networking business."     During this year's show Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, director of grounds at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, became just the 67th person to achieve the title of Master Greenkeeper since the BIGGA began recognizing the achievement 25 years ago.   Croxton noted a larger-than-usual presence from the U.S. this year both in terms of attendees and speakers, which included Beth Guertal, Ph.D., of Auburn; Jim Kerns, Ph.D., of North Carolina State; John Kaminski, Ph.D., of Penn State; Mark Kuhns, CGCS, of Baltusrol Golf Club, Stan Kostka, Ph.D., of Aquatrols, as well as TurfNet's Jon Kiger, who delivered three presentations in Harrogate.   The program also included more education aimed at entry-level workers in the turf-management field, as well as more education for seasoned greenkeepers hoping to make the leap into club management.   "We deliberately put a whole stream in this year for greenkeepers early in their career," Croxton said. "We're probably not doing enough on elements that linked greenkeeping to the business of golf. We're doing customer service, golf business, obviously lots of people management and resource management, those kinds of things. The agronomic side is still there. A lot of our guys are geeks for agronomy. They want to find out the latest research, but actually around that is a lot more rounded education to be a manager."  
     
  • When thinking back on his 17-year run as head football coach at the University of Tennessee, Phillip Fulmer prefers to think of himself somewhat like the patriarch of a very large family that included more than just players and coaches. It was a family that included wives, children, fans, support staff and anyone else associated with an interest in the Volunteers' success on the football field.
      That approach helped Fulmer and his Volunteers win a lot of football games, and it's advice he says translates to a winning formula at any operation, including a golf course, he told attendees recently during his keynote address at this year's Tennessee Turfgrass Association Conference and Show in Murfreesboro.   Fulmer recalled a game against Alabama in 1993, his first full season as head coach in Knoxville. With the Volunteers ahead by 8 points with less than a minute-and-a-half remaining, Alabama went 83 yards and converted a 2-point conversion with just seconds left, and Fulmer and the Vols left Legion Field in Birmingham with a bitter 17-17 tie. In the car, he snapped at wife Vicky, who stopped the car and told him: "Right now, everyone in Tennessee hates you except me, and you're really close to losing me."   "She was right," he said. "We have to surround ourselves with people who will support us in the toughest of times.   "Maximize your successes and minimize your failures."      CLICK TO READ: Phillip Fulmer and Charlie Daniels team up to tackle teen suicide.     No one, apparently not even former All-Americans who went on to NFL stardom, played a bigger role in the Vols' success on the gridiron than Bobby Campbell, then the university's sports turf manager.   "We were a family. We all had a job to do, and we were expected to do it and be part of the family, enjoy the wins and suffer though the losses," Campbell said while introducing Fulmer at TTA.    "Whether you were Peyton Manning or a groundskeeper, we all were part of the family," added Campbell, who retired after the 2010 season. "And we all had our part to do."   Today, the 65-year-old Fulmer is a partner in BPV Capital Management in Knoxville. When he headed UT's football team, he had what he called a close and unique relationship with Campbell, but one that often was focused on the condition of Tennessee's practice fields.   "The condition of the grass was something you had to pay attention to," Fulmer said. "I thanked the Good Lord every day for Bobby Campbell and the good job he did for us. We fought like cats and dogs. He was always right, and I just always wanted more practice space.   "I don't think Bobby ever told me 'no', but as I remember I think he always got his way. We made it work, and along the way had a great, great friendship.   "And thanks to Tom Samples, who we called on to help us when we tried something new. And I did pay attention, because we had a limited number of fields we could practice on."   That open-door relationship between Fulmer and Campbell was, in the latter's view, an anomaly among Division I football coaches and sports turf managers. Campbell recalled how his colleagues at the annual Sports Turf Managers Association meetings would complain about coaches and their treatment of playing surfaces.   "I was very fortunate," Campbell said. "I was the envy of everyone (at STMA) because I could say I have a fella at my place I can talk to.   "It was a special feeling to be at a place where I had a head coach who I could talk to any time I wanted to. And he made a deal with me early on, he told me 'don't come in here and tell me I can't use the fields, but if you can tell me a reason why I shouldn't, the decision will be mine, and I'll suffer the consequences if there are any consequences to be had.' "  
    Right now, everyone in Tennessee hates you except me, and you're really close to losing me."
     
    As an assistant coach under Johnny Majors, Fulmer came to dislike the artificial turf at Neyland Stadium, which had acquired the nickname "Doug's Rug" for former UT head coach and then-athletic director Doug Dickey who had it installed. So when he succeeded Majors midway through the 1992 season, Fulmer made it a priority to replace the artificial turf with natural grass for the 1994 season.   Fulmer learned a lot about 419 Bermudagrass during his time as head coach. About a 13-handicap on the golf course, Fulmer knew enough to understand that Tennessee's location in the transition zone made it hard to grow Bermuda, or anything else, with any degree of certainty.   "We have some challenges growing Bermuda in upper, east Tennessee, because we're on the edge of a good growing area," Fulmer said. "Winter can be touch, spring can be tough."   During his introduction of Fulmer to TTA, Campbell recalled how some members of the UT family were better listeners than others.   "I was thinking last night about all the times I went to Phillip and was able to talk him out of not doing something," he said. "And I hate to say this after laying in bed and thinking abou it, I haven't thought of one yet."   Despite the success of his teams on the field, which included winning the inaugural BCS National Championship in the 1998-99 season, a 152-52 record  and an 8-7 mark in postseason bowl games, two Southeastern Conference titles and coaching 90 players that went on to compete in the NFL, Fulmer says his fondest memories of his time at UT are the relationships he formed with his extended family. That list includes former players and coaches and support staff like Campbell.   "It was wonderful to coach players like Jason Whitten, Peyton Manning and Eric Berry, Cosey Coleman and Jamal Lewis, and there were so many others," Fulmer said. "We were a family, and we had a family atmosphere here. Seeing all of your players grow into men is special. Of course, when they get here they think they're men, but really they're still children. To see them grow into adults and have very special relationships with them has been great, and now I have time to enjoy that.   "Not a day that goes by where I don't have a couple of conversations or texts or emails about a baby announcement, a new job or looking for a new job, or one of those kinds of things, because they're always your kids."

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