Heading to San Diego

While most of you football fans will be watching the Super Bowl this weekend, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Steven Blais and I will be heading out west to attend the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show. Like the title says, this year's event will be held in San Diego, California and will offer us something other than the single degree nights we have been experiencing this last week in Colorado. While the focus of my classes will be in environment planning and sustainability, the show also offers valuable points towards my upcoming Class A certification. Although this is a long week away from my family and the golf course, this is a huge educational opportunity to touch on the most up-to-date turfgrass research and industry standards. I'd like to thank the Sunrise Company for its commitment and financial backing to further education in turfgrass maintenance and look foreword to the applying these new practices to the golf course upon our return.

RMRTA

This week, the golf course maintenance staff and I will be attending the Rocky Mountain Turfgrass Association's annual conference and trade show. Beyond getting the chance to catch up with other Superintendents and check out all the new equipment for the upcoming season, this week we will be attending the education seminars and gaining valuable credits from the Colorado Department of Agriculture towards our Qualified Supervisor Licenses. The trade show was busy as normal with all of the major vendors again in attendance. Some of the topics being discussed in this weeks seminars included managing organic matter in greens, bentgrass and fine fescue research updates, turfgrass fungicides, water management techniques, aquatic toxicology, and the USGA year in review. I was also lucky enough to get a seat to the Irrigation Design, Irrigation Auditing and Efficient Power Usage in Pump Stations workshop put on by Brian Keighin of Irrigation Technologies. Brian is a truly a master of his domain when it comes to irrigation system design and has been a pleasure to work with here at Kissing Camels Club. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in a new irrigation system design, irrigation audit, or GPS services to give him a call. He has been a vital part of the irrigation renovations on the golf course and we look foreword to his continued services and support.