Wednesday, February 29, 2012

GCSAA Green Industry Show

Finished day 2 of the 2012 GCSAA Conference education seminars.

Yesterday I took a great full day class on Physiology and Culture of Annual Bluegrass taught by Dr. Turgeon from Penn State and Dr. Vargas of Michigan State. Some of it was a reminder of what I learned in college, some of it was all new to me with some great ideas for this summer, and some was a complete 180 from what we were taught 20 years ago.

This morning was a nice seminar on Watershed Resource Management. Got some nice ideas for doing our part for the Chautauqua Lake Watershed.

This afternoon's sessions consisted of communication topics including photography and video, writing, media relations, and public relations. Good sessions.

Tomorrow and Thursday is the GIS Trade Show. I love seeing the new technology and products at the show every year. I will also be attending a few half hour seminars on the trade show floor covering golf purse related uses for the iPad and smartphones.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, February 17, 2012

Social Media in Golf Course Maintenance

As technology continues to evolve at an unbelievable pace, several opportunities begin to present themselves both in golf course maintenance and in communication.  It wasn't that long ago that cell phones were gaining popularity and became more reliable.  Now, with the advent of fast and reliable smartphones and tablets, this portable technology is opening doors for instant communication and updates for members and guests to find out what is happening on the course. 

"Is there a frost delay?", "When can we get back on the course after aerification?", "What happened to the bunker on #6?" are all questions that can now be answered almost before they are asked.  How?  By following @cgcmaintenance on Twitter.  To this point in time I have primarily been a "lurker", following various industry professionals and their Tweets, and deciding if this was something worth its time and effort.  I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed very much worth the time and effort if used properly.  I am still getting the hang of how to effectively Tweet, so please be patient as I grow with it.  The first few months will more than likely be a little sparse as we battle our way through the last couple months of winter, but will pick up as the weather breaks and work starts up on the course.

What info you will get:

         Project updates, weather updates, occasional green speed readings, frost updates, etc.

What info you will NOT get:

         What color socks I'm wearing, what my six year old ate for breakfast, what LeBron James said, or where I'm eating lunch.

So, if you are currently on Twitter or if you are considering it, please become a follower of @cgcmaintenance and keep up on course happenings.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Rare February Sight

Here is a sight not commonly seen in Chautauqua in February.  A snow free golf course.

It has been nice to see the course mid winter for a change. Everything looks good but, according to the rodent from Pennsylvania, we're looking at 6 more weeks of winter.  I'm not sure what that means to us because 6 weeks would get us to March15th. We rarely get rid of the snow until the first week of April. I'm beginning to think this whole seeing his shadow thing is a bunch of hooey.  The next thing you know, the Tooth Fairy will stop leaving money for teeth and the Easter Bunny will cease to exist.