The beat goes on

Lots going on here around Golfdom editorial headquarters in lovely Eudora, Kan., so let’s get to the bullets!

A warm welcome to two new Golfdom staffers: Molly Gase, associate editor, and Joelle Harms, digital media content producer. We’ll make a more formal introduction next month, but suffice it to say, your pal Seth’s stress level just decreased a whole lot. Welcome Molly and Joelle!

What happened to 2013? Time seems to be spinning out of control. Maybe it’s because I kept traipsing through airports these last few weeks. I kept telling the guys in Palm Beach that I didn’t travel that much… little did I know I was in the middle of a five-trips-in-five-weeks tour. Cleveland, Pinehurst, Boca Raton, Philadelphia then Louisville. Whew!

I made my first ever visit to the GIE+Expo show in Louisville, Ky. It was an impressive show! Lots of iron, not as much chemical, but I was a little bit surprised by how many familiar faces I saw.

I want to give a big shout-out and thank you to the guys at the Palm Beach GCSA for inviting me to come down to Boca Woods CC in Boca Raton, Fla., and deliver their keynote speech. They asked me to speak for 90 minutes… I didn’t know if I had that in me, but by the time my Power Point presentation was finished, I was at 80 minutes. Funny moment of the presentation: I was showing a slide of Golfdom’s “19th Hole” back page Q&A when PBGCSA president and Boca West CC superintendent Steven Wright, CGCS, hijacked my presentation. Turns out he had some random 19th Hole questions for me. So that’s what it feels like to be put on the spot! I survived the impromptu questioning, and was even able to talk about my first car (which I still have), my ’64 Impala, my fantasy football team, and most embarrassingly, the age and make of my irons. Time to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods…

The Z28 remains unsold. The dream is still alive. For now.

You’ll see this month’s cover story was spawned from a survey we conducted months ago. Minutes before we sent out the survey, North Coast Media president and CEO Kevin Stoltman suggested we throw in the question, “If you could be the superintendent at any course, which would you choose?” It was just a whim — let’s see what these guys say, it might be interesting. The results were interesting. I’ve been sitting on that survey question all year, knowing it would make for a fun fall cover story. When you take the time to fill out a Golfdom survey, you’re doing me a solid. We really do look at those results to see how we can make our magazine and our reporting better.

This month’s cover shot is of Elk River Club in Banner River, N.C., where Josh Smith is the superintendent. Elk River is shut down for the winter. Josh reports they had a great season despite a really wet July. Josh has been the super at the course since 2002. Beautiful shot, eh?

Speaking of beauty shots, we went with a nontraditional cover of Golfdom last month when we spoofed some popular men’s magazines with our tongue-in-cheek headline, “5 keys to picking up women.” I’m happy to report that we received no complaints on the cover, and actually got quite a few compliments. What a relief! It’s great that our readers seem to be on the same page with us, and enjoy having an occasional laugh with us. (In case you’re wondering, sending this month’s cover to the printer is a lot less daunting than it was last month!)

That’s right, my Chiefs are still undefeated at 9-0. Thanks for asking (and for not mentioning Kansas Jayhawks football.)