Keeping up with the Jones: Where everybody knows your name

I have a meeting this afternoon at the next town over, a town called Baldwin City, Kan. They have a university there, Baker University, as well as a nine-hole golf course with sand greens. They also have my favorite Mexican restaurant outside of Casa Rio in San Antonio: El Patron.

My meeting is at Baldwin City Beer Co. to meet with a Baker University student. I got a call from my old real estate agent, Scott — I still run into him once in a while — and he asked if I could meet with Jake, who is dating his granddaughter. He’s a golf nut, getting a degree in sports management. His dream is to work in the game. “And you’re the only person I know who works in golf,” Scott told me. 

That’s funny, I thought, because most of the people I know work in the game. 

Check out our two-page Golfdom Gallery spread in this issue … every one of those people works in the game. And the 17 tournaments we spotlight in this issue … every one of those people found their way into the game and are now among some of the most successful superintendents in the U.S. and abroad.

As I was reading through this Tour Guide issue (our fourth year and running), I found it fun and interesting to learn the various origin stories of the superintendents who are hosting these professional golf events. Many of them found their jobs by accident. They had a passion for golf and learned along the way that becoming a superintendent is an actual career.

I think that narrative will be a thing of the past soon. This industry is rapidly getting more and more exposure. The various golf organizations — especially the GCSAA and the USGA — have really been beating the drum for the industry. It’s not such a behind-the-scenes, secretive profession anymore. And that’s a good thing, because golf’s popularity has gone crazy over the last handful of years — the industry needs young people with a passion for the game.

I don’t know what advice I’ll share with this young man, but I will tell him that if he wants to work in the game, the opportunities are there. Even if I’m the only person he knows in golf, there are so many of us eager to get the younger generation into the game. All you have to do is be kind, show up on time and make your passion for the game known.

On a different topic, I want to congratulate the GCSAA and its staff for hosting an incredible GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Orlando. The 100th anniversary of GCSAA was celebrated with class and style. I wrote an essay about the show on our website that I invite you to check out, but basically my message was this: The industry really showed up and made it a valuable conference for everyone involved. I know the conference was a huge success for my team and me.

Next year, the show travels to New Orleans. It bothers me when I see people wince a little or roll their eyes when they hear the show is returning to New Orleans.

I’m telling you this: Any city can be a party city, and any city can be a place where you get serious business done. It’s up to the individual to make any event a success or, conversely, a waste of time and money.

Don’t sleep on New Orleans as a conference destination. New Orleans is much more than Bourbon Street. It has some incredible restaurants and so much culture. And oh, yeah — we’ll be celebrating Golfdom’s 100-year anniversary there next year. You wouldn’t want to miss that, right? 

After all, isn’t it more fun to go where everybody knows your name?