F ORE Y OUR I NFORMATION

S M ESSAGE BY J EREMY PAYNE

I know we all just suffered through our first heat spell of the summer but aren’t we all just thankful this has only been the first one so far this year?! There’s no escaping the “90 days of hell” from mid-June to mid-Sept in our Sierra Nevada region (except for maybe you Tahoe/ mountain superintendents!), but it’s certainly nice to get a milder year after so many battles with drought and heat extremes in years past. Enjoy it while you can!

It's also one of the best times of the year for our association as we are putting the finishing touches on our annual Scholarship & Research fundraising event coming up on July 24th. Mike Stieler and his team promise to roll out the GREEN carpet for us at Spring Creek CC and I’m looking forward to seeing the course, post major renovation, as I hear it’s fantastic. I hope you will join us there as well, and make sure you check out the many great items and deals we have up for auction thanks to our many generous affiliate sponsors! As someone who received a scholastic scholarship from this association way back in the early 2000s when I was attending college myself, I can attest that this event and the funds it generates to support our future turf managers, the children of our current members and the annual research that provides insight into the toughest issues we’re trying to tackle has truly been an influential gamechanger for decades now. We all appreciate your continued support and hope you realize how important each and every member’s at- tendance at this meeting is! So if you haven’t done so yet, go online or call Kim to register and put it on your calendar now!

Speaking of our youth and future turf managers, I also want to plug what I believe is a very special and important program to our industry: the First Green initiative (https://www.thefirstgreen.org ). If you haven’t put on, participated in, or even looked into what these events are about, it’s really time to give it a thought. While the initial preparation for the meeting (finding a school or educational organization to connect with, and finding others to help you put on the event) may feel a bit daunting, GCSAA as well as several members locally within our association are more than happy to help and provide support. What’s more is our association has also recently been awarded a grant from the GCSA, that would help to supply certain materials and/or “swag” for attendees of your event, making it that much easier and enticing to get involved. The more we can expose and educate our youth both on what we do and how rewarding our industry can be as a potential career, the more we ensure the future of our courses, clubs, and the overall game of golf. Please contact Kim at the association office, or Jeff Jensen with GCSAA, to help get guidance and access to this support and funding!

Best of luck to you all for the rest of the summer and I look forward to seeing you at Spring Creek!

-Jeremy Payne