EARTH SHAPING NEWS www.gcbaa.org
Published Quarterly by the Golf Course Builders Association of America
1st Quarter 2017
GCBAA members leave their mark at 2017 Golf Industry Show MEMBERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY JOINED IN ORLANDO TO CELEBRATE THE INDUSTRY’S LARGEST TRADE SHOW Another Winter Meeting has come and gone, yet we find ourselves reminded of what was an incredible week at the 2017 Golf Industry Show (GIS). There was no shortage of excitement as GCBAA members and industry friends gathered under the roof of the Orange County Convention Center for this year’s trade show. And then there was that other roof...the one on I-Drive that hosted over 500 members at the GCBAA Opening Reception!
GCBAA PAST PRESIDENT TOMMY SASSER CATCHING UP WITH FELLOW ASSOCIATION MEMBERS RAY BALL AND SCOTT TOLLEY, NICKLAUS DESIGN IN THE GCBAA BOOTH
Your staff is challenged with just how to begin recapping a week like this. Keep it short and sweet, or dive into every nook and cranny of the meeting? They say a picture is worth a thousand words so we’ll let that do most the talking. Each GIS seems busier than the one before. This year, show attendees were treated to a trade show with nearly 600 exhibitors and thousands of square feet of exhibit space. And of that 600, 82 were GCBAA members! We can’t thank you enough for supporting the Show and making GCBAA’s footprint bigger and better every year. For those that exhibited, we hope you had a successful Show with countless of visitors to your booth. The GCBAA and Foundation had booths as well; and were surrounded by plenty of friendly neighbors. This year was unique in that every direction we looked, we were facing a GCBAA member company. GCBAA member booths surrounded “Inside the Ropes” – an interactive demo area that showcased new products such as bunker liners and electric mowers. That area deserves special recognition on its own so please make sure to catch page 10 for a full recap. The trade show concluded with the Foundation’s annual Harley Raffle; although this time was unlike anything we had experienced. When our good GCBAA STAFF TAKING A QUICK PHOTO WITH DON buddy, Nathan Sosing, drew ROSSI RECIPIENT DEANE BEMAN the winning ticket and handed it over to be announced, we heard crickets. After a few seconds of anticipation, GCBAA Executive Director Justin Apel shared that the winning ticket didn’t have a name on it! We immediately started working backwards and based off the email address on the ticket, could finally notify Rob Trebilcock of Hibiscus Golf Club that he had just won a 2017 Harley-Davidson. Rob has his new toy and can be found cruising the streets of Naples, FL. Read more on the Chuck Cloud Memorial Raffle on page 8.
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INSIDE President’s Perspective Executive Director Notes Foundation Update Human Resources Developer’s Guide Allied Associations New Members Movers & Shapers Advertisers
Back to the Winter Meeting. After a day of Board and Committee meetings, members assembled for the GCBAA General Membership Meeting, which gave the group a chance to thank outgoing board members Terry Gwinn (Best Sand Corp) and Mike Crone COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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