The Turf Guru

With the economy struggling and new tough laws banning pesticides it has left the turf industry in tough times. And with having to put on a symposium in our first year communications class it made sense to put on a symposium entitled turf in tough times: doing more with less. We started preparing for this in September put really got down to work in October.  Even with a class of thirty students this was a lot to take on as most of us had never had to do anything like this before. But with the help of our teachers we were able bring it all together and make it a success.

This past friday was the big day. About three months of work all came down to this day. We had invited guests, got our sponsors and had three industry leading speakers. It started off with coffee and networking at eight o’clock then at nine we had our first speaker Dr. Tom Hsiang discussing about the effects on diseases and alternative controls. Next up was Ron Schiedel the co-owner of Green Horizons sod farm after a short break we had one of our sponsors give a short presentation. Our final speaker was Keith Bartlett from St. George’s Golf and Country Club he discussed handling the Canadian Open with the current economic state. We ended it with beat the clock which was five of our students bringing forth new ideas relating to the turfgrass industry.

Overall we had positive feedback about this symposium. This was a great learning experience for all of us. Personally I gained a lot from this symposium the biggest thing for me was being able to come over  the nervousness of speaking in front of a large crowd. I believe our guests were able to take away some knowledgeable information and were also able to have a great lunch! I can’t wait to see next years symposium!!

When thinking of getting a new piece of equipment there is a lot more to consider then one might think at first thought. And these days when you are getting equipment you have such a big selection to choose from. It can get tough at times when looking for a certain type of machine for the best deal. After you finally pick out the machine you want and decided that you are going to go either new or used  the next decision is to buy or lease this piece of equipment. 

There are a lot of pro’s and con’s to both buying and leasing a piece of machinery. A nice perk of buying is that it’s yours and you can do whatever you with want. But then again when a newer model comes out  it is a lot more difficult to upgrade if you don’t have a leasing agreement. Also with leasing it improves cash loan, conserves credit loans and probably the biggest factor it conserves capital which is a really nice feature with the economy the way it is. However with buying you don’t have any long term money commitments. And you’ll most likely have the piece of machinery for awhile so you’ll develop a nice comfort level with it. 

It really all depends on the money your golf course has and what type of a machine you are going to get. Leasing is the way to go I believe because the pro’s out way the con’s. And with people not playing as much golf as they have in the past capitals are lower and where you can conserve money we need to. 

The internet and cell phones have have completely changed the world in the past decade. New technology has changed how we communicate between each other and revolutionized how we do business. Its effected every company in some way or another. In the past turf managers have stuck to themselves. They have not communicated between each other they’ve always been the guys been hind the scene. Now with this technology, a younger generation of turf managers and also with new laws leaving turf managers struggling to come up with answers communication between one another is going to be a big thing. 

Some of the biggest ways of communicating to other people these days are through facebook, twitter and blogging. Blogging on the internet has become a big thing among people of all ages. It allows you to voice your opinion, state problems you may have, or tell people solutions to problems. We have seen some superintendents blogging in recent years and this trend is only going to continue to become more popular and grow throughout the turf industry. This is because our generation has grown up with communicating to other people through the different internet applications. And now with my generation coming up into the industry and with new laws banning products that are allowed to be used communication between one another is going to be big.

Communication between one another in the industry is going to be a very positive thing. This is because we will learn different techniques from one another and become better turf mangers.  And also there is no getting around that the industry is in a tough time because of economic downturn and the government becoming stricter with pesticide laws. This is leaving our turf managers asking questions and by communicating to one another some of these questions will be answered.

The economic recession has effected all businesses including the turf industry. It has been a tough couple of years and with bill 64 being passed this year it didn’t make anything easier. It has left more than a few turf managers with a lot of questions. As we all know turf managers in the past have not communicated between each other all that much. In recent years this has changed and we need it to continue to change. Therefore our year 1  turf management students are putting on a symposium with the title Doing More With Less: Turf In Tough Times

This symposium is going to have speakers which are Keith Bartlett the superintendent at royal st. georges , Dr. Tom Hsaing who is a pathology expert at the university and Ron Schiedel co-owner of  green horizons sod farms. As you can tell these speakers are industry leaders and will be relating back to the title. The symposium will be taking place on Friday morning November 27, 2009 at the cutten club in Guelph. We have been working hard at getting the word out by making brochures, having a facebook group, writing blogs on it and by making a website. Also after the symposium there will be a lunch with great food.  

The symposium will be very informative. We strongly urge turf managers of all kinds to come out as we have speakers from all corners of  the industry. It will be a great way to help out turf managers and answer some of the questions they might have. Not only is this a great event for the turf managers but it’s also a great experience for us the students being able to go through the process of something like this on. Hope To See Ya’ll There!!