Keeping up with the Jones: Closing out 2025

My year is going out like a lion … better buckle up for this one! Where do I even start?

I better start with the cover story.

My first trip to the Masters was in 2003, the year Mike Weir won. Since then, I’ve been trying to nab an interview with Brad Owen, Augusta National Golf Club’s longtime superintendent. I wouldn’t say I ever came close, but I had a few almosts, including once when I ran into him when he was on his own on No. 1 green. I said hello, exchanged a pleasantry, told Brad who I was. He was polite and then did the equivalent of the Homer Simpson GIF and disappeared into the bushes.

Well, the curse is broken! All it took was for Brad to semi-retire. He took the time to sit down with me recently for this month’s cover story. And we’re also honored to have him joining us for the 2025 Golfdom Summit, where he’ll be on stage with me for a discussion about his career as our newest inductee into the Legends, sponsored by Kafka Granite and Quali-Pro.

Exciting, right? Well, I’ve got more news for you.

First, I want to say thank you and all the best to our longtime group publisher of Golfdom, Bill Roddy. Bill worked on our sister publication, Landscape Management, for 12 years. Several years ago, he took a more active role with Golfdom and has been our behind-the-scenes leader over that span.

Bill recently took a new job with Envu, one of the many industry companies that supports our magazine. It was a great opportunity for Bill for a few reasons, and while we were sad to see him go, we had to say goodbye.  

So that meant we needed to find someone to come in and fill that void. I’m happy to report that I made the trek to West Coast Saloon in Lawrence, Kan., and found my guy. Practically all of you know him, especially if you’ve played in the GCSAA Golf Championship over the last 20 years.

That’s right, we hired my old friend Jim Cummins, who previously was the senior manager of business development at GCSAA, to become our new national sales manager. It’s literally Jim’s second day on the job as I write this. 

Welcome aboard Jim! We know you’re going to fit right in with the team. How do we know? Because between me, Scott Hollister and Jim, we used to be a team some 16 years ago when we were coworkers at GCSAA. It’s cool that the three of us stayed in touch over the years, remained friends, and now we’re coworkers once more. The rest of the team — Craig, Nader, Courtney, Amelia, Nathan, Payton and Will — are excited to build upon the success of last year and continue to make Golfdom the industry’s favorite brand.

I look back at the year that was, and I’m stunned at all the places I went, all the people I met, all the things I saw. I was at Mardi Gras in New Orleans early in the year, where I saw Shaquille O’Neal go by on a float and ZZ Top in concert. I played a bunch of golf in Florida, traveled to Puerto Rico and Italy, attended trade shows in San Diego, Louisville, Phoenix and Park City. I drove 10 laps on the Texas Motor Speedway. I went to the Players Championship, the Masters, the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Open. I took a selfie with my wife in front of the Colosseum in Rome (check out this month’s
Golfdom Gallery, I had to share that photo.)

2025 will go down as a year to remember. I hope your year was equally excellent. Now, onward to 2026!