After learning of and researching the events that lead to the Club Managers Association of America pulling out of the Golf Industry Show after the 2010 show in San Diego, I respectfully grade both the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the CMAA with a "minus" in this ever-telling category of their imaginary report cards.

I've talked with numerous people and read a lot of opinions from people who are happy with the impending departure of the CMAA, who statements like, "The CMAA really didn't fit into the style of the GIS anyways." Well, maybe or maybe not. But that's not really the point, though, is it?

At the heart of this growing contempt between the CMAA and the GCSAA appears to be the timeline of events surrounding the discussion of changing the GIS location from New Orleans to Las Vegas for 2012.

The CMAA initially entered into these discussions, even going so far as to send representatives out to Las Vegas to meet with hotels convention center officials. As this dialogue progressed, the CMAA expressed growing concerns regarding its contractual hotel obligations in New Orleans that had already been signed several years ago.

Now, here's where things really start to break down and resemble a scene from "The Jerry Springer Show."

In June, the GCSAA Board of Directors claims to have sent an invitation to the CMAA Board of Directors for a face-to-face meeting to discuss these increasing concerns. The CMAA apparently didn't respond to the invitation, so no such meeting ever took place.

The CMAA claims that the GCSAA Board of Directors "unilaterally decided" in June to move the GIS to Las Vegas in 2012.

All that's missing here is a few thrown chairs and the crowd cheering, "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry."

But what about the simple facts of the issue at hand, which can't and shouldn't be ignored.

When the CMAA joined the GCSAA and the National Golf Course Owners Association of America to form the new GIS in 2007, it was with the clear agreement there would be a three-city rotation that couldn't be changed without the explicit agreement of all three organizations.

Seems pretty clear to me.

It's obvious to me that, regardless of the timeline, the CMAA had some significant issues with changing the location of the GIS in 2012, of which the GCSAA was clearly aware. Under the terms of the signed agreement, the discussion should have been over, until such a time that the agreement allows for that option.

So the GCSAA get its "minus" for not abiding by its agreement with the CMAA. If unifying the golf industry under one show were still such a priority, this issue would never have lead to its early breakup. I suspect the decision to move the show was more of a result of large, unhappy vendors who also happen to be large donators to the GCSAA coffers, more than anything else.

The CMAA get its "minus" for trying to blame the GCSAA for everything that went wrong during this fiasco. But the CMAA had just as much to do with the mishandling of this paltry situation as the GCSAA did. The CMAA also gets a "minus" for its statement, "Some CMAA members and traditional vendors ... felt that the much larger presence of superintendents and owners diluted the focus of the show away from a private club's full range of needs." It's this elitist attitude that has ruined the golf industry's public perception.

There's one lesson from kindergarten that the GCSAA and the CMAA should remember and abide by: When you go out into the world, its best to hold hands and stick together.

Gray is superintendent and general manager of the Marvel Golf Club in Benton, Ky. He can be reached at cgray@marvelgolf.com.