Thought blasts from around the Golfdom

A lot has been going on these last few weeks, so instead of one theme, I’m going to blast out a few thoughts in bullet form:

• I’m thrilled with the way this month’s cover story turned out. You might remember in the April issue we had a cover story titled “Early to Rise,” written by senior editor Beth Geraci, where we highlighted superintendents under the age of 30. This month, we go the opposite direction and talk about the business with superintendents who have been in the industry for longer than those young guys have been alive. All of these former superintendents have seen a lot of change in the industry. I think you’ll find it interesting reading. Though they all worked in the same business for a long time, they all walked away from it with different perspectives.
• Speaking of Beth, I should mention that Ms. Geraci has left Golfdom to pursue other career opportunities. We all wish her the best, and we’re sad to see her go. She felt her muse wanted to take her elsewhere, and luckily for her she can follow that muse. We’ll miss seeing her byline in the magazine, and are in the process of finding her
  replacement.
• My old friend Steve Southard, CGCS for the city of Loveland, Colo., called me with the news that he’s released his second book on pace of play, titled “Golf — The Complete Guide to Mastering Pace of Play.” Steve is quickly becoming the foremost authority on pace of play, now teaching classes for the GCSAA and the Canadian GSA as well as consulting with the USGA. His first book was great (I should know, I read it three times! OK, I had to… I was Steve’s editor.) His new book offers even more on this hot-button issue. The first 52 pages are available for free download at paceandproduction.com. I think about what the USGA is doing with their “While we’re young!” campaign, I think about the challenges the game has today and how some courses are rerouting players so they can play a five-hole round, etc…. Trust me, get on the Southard pace of play bandwagon now. If time is an issue, who wouldn’t want to help get their golfers around the course in the most efficient manner possible?
• The North Coast Media team (which includes Golfdom, Landscape Management and Pest Management Professional magazines, among others) checked out the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment meeting out in Half Moon Bay, Calif. It was a great meeting, check out a few photos from the event in our Golfdom Gallery section. While I was out there our friends from GenNext Biotech set me up with Dean Kinney, sales and marketing director for Sierra Pacific Turf Supply. I learned about the GenNext line, which Kinney described as “unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” I’ll look into it more on my end, in the meantime, if you have any stories on the product, I’m an easy guy to reach, when I want to be…
• Golfdom has formed a strategic partnership with The BoardRoom magazine. The BoardRoom is the official publication for the Association of Private Club Directors and was voted the No. 1 magazine in the private club industry. It doesn’t mean much for you the reader, unless you’re a subscriber of The BoardRoom, then you can expect to see some of our content over there (and occasionally, their content over here in some form.) But this is good news for Golfdom to get exposed to even more professionals in our industry. We’re making more friends and getting noticed in more places, which is a good thing.
• The Chiefs are 1-0. One more W and we match last season’s total!

Email Jones at: sjones@northcoastmedia.net.