Summit Snapshot

It’s my first time at the Golfdom Summit.

Before taking off from Cleveland (Golfdom HQ) to Orlando on Tuesday, I asked my colleagues to give me a snapshot of what to expect this week. As I compare the expectations with reality, some match up — and some don’t.

Here are a few things I can tell you after two days and one night at Reunion Resort:

It’s beautiful. I expected this, but not to this extent. The rooms, the food, the courses, the landscaping… everything. We golfed the Palmer Course today. And by “we” I mean everyone played in an 18-hole scramble and I took one shot off the men’s tees with an oversized club. My ball had to be retrieved from the widest bunker I’ve ever seen. (Pictures to come)

The supers genuinely want to learn. I knew this to be true, because why else would they be here? But as the boardroom presentations began this morning, it became clear that this wouldn’t your typical elevator speech. The audience was taking notes and asking questions, even after we assured them there would be plenty of time for questions during the one-on-one meetings over the next two days.

The sponsors genuinely want to make superintendents’ lives easier. It’s not a product or service to the sponsors, it’s a tool that will help the daily lives of superintendents. The most common word throughout the presentations? Efficiency.

There’s lots of sharing. From beers to ideas, everyone helps each other out. The warm-season supers share their common problems and solutions, and the cool-season supers do the same.

I’ve compiled a 30-second clip (below) of photos that I like to call a “Summit Snapshot” because it rounds-up the main events thus far. Check back on the blog or follow us on twitter @Golfdom for more updates throughout the week.