Keeping Up with the Jones: This issue has everything but the kitchen sink

It’s our first-ever end-of-the-year double megaissue, and I’m pumped! In this special edition, we’re debuting the Supers’ Choice Awards, we bring back the State of the Industry report sponsored by Nufarm and we have not one, but two 19th Hole Q& As (though we switched the name of the first one, appropriately, to At the Turn.)

Photo: Seth Jones

Polybagged with the magazine and waiting to be hung on your wall is our annual Underdogs of Turf calendar, once again sponsored by Rain Bird and John Deere.

Heck, this issue even has two covers!

I don’t care how cold-blooded, hard-nosed and grizzled of a superintendent you are (looking at you, Drew Thompson, CGCS, at East Aurora CC in New York) … this issue is fun. The Supers’ Choice Award section features 45 different products with short testimonials from superintendents around the country. You don’t have to read every one of them, but my bet is you have fun spotting the ones you also love and reading what a colleague in the industry has to say

The Sears catalog of issues

This issue reminds me of the excitement I had as a kid when the Sears catalog would come in the mailbox. Christmas was around the corner, and my mom would hand it to me and tell me to circle the toys I hoped Santa would bring.

Yeah, I circled the most expensive G.I Joe toys. I didn’t get the U.S.S. Flagg, the 7 ½-foot long battleship, in 1985. My neighbor across the street did, and seeing that box against his dumpster on trash day filled me with envy. (Years later, when he was throwing away his toys, he asked me if I wanted it. Guess where that ship resides now?)

I hope when this issue hits your desk, you get a similar feeling of joy by looking at some of the many different tools this industry invented over the years. Think about how far the industry has advanced since you first started working in it. Think about the conditions you saw on TV when you were a kid watching golf with your pops … and think about how far the industry has left those expectations in the dust … and that was televised golf! The best of the best.

Our columnists in this issue also play along with our theme. Alan FitzGerald, who recently became a Master Greenkeeper to go along with his Certified Golf Course Superintendent designation, writes about his five favorite tools that make his life easier. And Mike Kenna, Ph.D., gives a thorough (and almost shocking) recap of the evolution of technology over just the last 40 years — from his first computer at Oklahoma State University to the smartphone he keeps in his pocket today.

2022, a great year

Often in my last column of the year, I recap my own highlights of the year. I don’t have the space to do that this year, but it was another great year sitting in this chair once occupied by the legendary Herb Graffis. It was a great year for golf, as evidenced by our State of the Industry reports. And it was a great year for Golfdom, and this issue caps it off.

I want to thank my entire team for another great year. And I want to thank you for continuing to support this magazine, whether that’s vocal support, like the many superintendents who gave us comments for the Supers’ Choice Awards, or whether that’s silent support by reading our magazine and continuing to subscribe year after year.

Happy holidays to you. I hope Santa brings you the U.S.S. Flagg of golf maintenance equipment for the 2023 season.