On course for GIS in Orlando

Photo: SeanPavonePhoto / iStock/Getty Images Plus / getty images (orlando skyline)

The Golf Industry Show (GIS) is upon us!

This year’s event will be held in Orlando, Fla., from Jan. 25-30 and promises to be packed with even more resources than ever for golf course superintendents. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Education Conference includes 103 seminars (more than half are new) and 23 free sessions.

The free seminars will include a labor track, a best management practices track, an emotional health track, a water track, a new education track and new seminars for Spanish-speaking attendees.
Before we meet again in the land that Disney built, here’s a rundown of the things we’re excited to see at the Orange County Convention Center.

Syngenta | Booth #2628

Syngenta’s main goal for this year’s show is to help superintendents thrive professionally and personally.

On the turf side, during the trade show Syngenta will introduce two new fungicides coming to the market in 2020. The company also will offer visitors an unexpected view of the science behind the company’s solutions. Participants will don virtual-reality headsets and view how acibenzolar-s-methyl, the plant defense activator in Daconil Action, Heritage Action and Secure Action fungicides, helps protect turf from disease, heat and drought stress.

The company also will present the third annual Ladies Leading Turf panel discussion. Leading women in the industry will offer insights on fostering diversity within your organization and how they’ve achieved success in the industry. The session will be moderated by Jan Bel Jan, ASGCA, golf course architect at Jan Bel Jan Golf Course Design. The panel will feature Cathy Harbin, owner, Pine Ridge Golf Course, Paris, Texas; Elizabeth Guertal, Ph.D., professor at Auburn University; Kayla Kipp, golf course equipment maintenance manager, Lodestone Golf Course & Fantasy Valley Golf Course, McHenry, Md.; Laurie Bland, golf maintenance manager, Miami Springs (Fla.) Golf & Country Club; and Ellen Davis, vice president, SportZmix Solutions, Waupaca Sand & Solutions.

Syngenta’s Condition. Perform. Recover.campaign focuses on turf health and superintendents’ personal health. Attendees can hit the pavement for the annual Health in Action 5K fun run.

To help alleviate the inconvenience of scheduling a health and wellness checkup, GIS attendees can receive a skin cancer screening at the GIS Wellness Pavilion as well as free wellness checkups, including blood pressure measurements, cholesterol screenings and glucose analyses, with a registered nurse. These will be available at the Mobile Wellness Unit in booth #2607.

Cub Cadet | Booth #4445

The Cub Cadet robotic mower has turned many heads over the last couple of years, first with an early model at the 2018 Golfdom Summit and then at the 2019 GIS, where the company demoed the Infinicut RGX at San Diego’s Santaluz Club.

This year, in addition to the RGX, which Cub Cadet plans on bringing to market in 2020, the company is presenting its Infinicut walk-behind series of mowers. The line offers floating or fixed-head options, variable clip rate and a customizable design that allows for quick adjustments and a more precise cut.
The Infinicut runs on a lithium battery, which means reduced noise, vibration and fuel costs.

Cub Cadet also will show the Infinicut SM34, a 34-inch rotary all-electric push mower, which can be used as a traditional mower or as a stand-alone vacuum. In cut mode, the mower uses a front roller and a rear-traction roller, delivering a striping effect usually only achieved with a professional reel mower. The premium-grade, high-carbon steel blades offer extended life and come prebalanced to exhibit less vibration.

New in 2020, select models of Infinicut mowers will offer a Bluetooth app connection that communicates with mechanics and operators to identify and quickly
resolve service alerts.

“We’re showing these golf turf products at GIS, and we’ve established a good relationship and network with our dealer partners so that they can bring (superintendents) these products wherever they are,” says Tony Whelan, Cub Cadet’s director, sales and marketing, golf and sports turf.

Anuvia Plant Nutrients | Booth #4800

Anuvia Plant Nutrients’ Legends Initiative recognizes integrity, passion and innovation in golf course management. The company is honoring David Stone for his lifetime of innovation and achievement in the industry. Stone, retired from The Honors Course, Chattanooga, Tenn., will be honored Jan. 29.

Stone was unanimously selected by a peer-review panel of past winners and other golf course professionals. While at The Honors Course, Stone was responsible for running extensive control experiments to successfully change the fairways from bermudagrass to zoysia. During his tenure, the course hosted five USGA events and a young Tiger Woods at the 1996 NCAA tournament. Stone is the recipient of a USGA Green Section Award and is one of only two superintendents inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.

Stone will be joined by Legends Initiative recipients Bob Farren, Pinehurst Resort; Ted Horton, BrightView Golf Course Maintenance/retired, Pebble Beach; Marsh Benson, retired, Augusta National; and Matt Shaffer, retired, Merion Golf Club, in a conversation moderated by Golfdom Editor-in-Chief Seth Jones.

Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge

For those superintendents who have never hosted a tournament or volunteered at one, the idea of managing the web of tournament preparations, irrigation system implementations and maintenance facility operations might seem a bit daunting.

The team at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge aims to take the mystery out of the process. During the half-day event, attendees will visit the course and find out how Bay Hill addresses the challenges of hosting tournaments, get an insider’s look at the course’s maintenance facility and operations and check out its new irrigation system and short-game practice area. Foley Grinders will offer an on-site reel and bedknife grinding demonstration to cap off the day.

It Takes a Team: Collaboration and Insight into Preparing and Completing the Renovation at Winged Foot Golf Club
GCSAA TV Stage: Booth #3235

If you can’t wait for Golfdom’s behind-the-scenes coverage of this year’s U.S. Open host course in the June issue and you’ll be at this year’s GIS on Jan. 29, GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans will be chatting with the superintendent, builder and architect behind the renovation at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Stephen Rabideau, CGCS, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y.; Gil Hanse, Hanse Golf Course Design; and Shellene Elmore, vice president, LaBar Golf Renovations will discuss how the Winged Foot golf maintenance team is using innovative technology and techniques to get U.S. Open-ready.

Golfdom | Booth #1831

Drop by and see us at the Golfdom booth! We’ll have copies of the magazine, and you can grab a couple extra Underdogs of Turf calendars for your crew and apply to be an attendee at the 2020 Golfdom Summit. Keep an eye on Twitter during the show because Editor-in-Chief Seth Jones will be presenting the 2019 Herb Graffis Award to Alan FitzGerald, superintendent at LedgeRock Golf Club, Mohnton, Pa., and a newly minted Golfdom columnist.