The Big 30

 

This week begins my 30th year in sales! It is amazing how many great mentors I was lucky enough to have worked under and with. The one that has to top the list is Scott Keener. Scott was known as my Father at Philadelphia Turf. Scott had taken me under his wing from the start and was my sounding board on how to handle every situation. The countless hours of reviewing how I handled a sales call and what would have been the best way to do it. I am incredibly thankful that Scott was there to help me through those early years, and even as my career went on, as a great friend!

It is amazing to think that back in February of 1992, Tom Drayer, Sales Manager at Philadelphia Turf, didn't hang up on me when he offered me the job. I said that I would like to think about it and call him tomorrow because I had read somewhere in one of the books on how to interview, I had been reading, not to accept the job right away. Thank God Tom overlooked me being young and dumb! At this time in the early '90s, the job market was not great. I had been looking for a sales job for months, which makes my response even more head-scratching looking back on it.

During my early years, at Philadelphia Turf, working with so many great people, that had so many years of experience, that were willing to share their knowledge, helped to mold me into the salesman I am. Tom Drayer, Barney McFadden, Bob Stokes, Frank I Shuman, and Frank T Shuman. Frank T. Shuman has become the biggest mentor to me, in the latter part of my career.

I have had the opportunity to visit some incredible places and meet some special people throughout my career so far. Bob Stokes was a legend in the Philadelphia market and was known as Mother Stokes. He always took such great care of his customers. Bob told me that the reason he loved sales so much was that every day you go to work is never the same and he felt that that was the best part! I have come to learn he was right.

I have been incredibly lucky to have so many people that had an impact on me and taught me so much. The start of Steve Keating's implementation of the Toro Selling System program with the Toro Commercial sales group coincided with my start of sales, the timing could not have been any better. The chance to learn from Steve about the sales process and understanding that process was the foundation for my career.

One of the things that truly is amazing, as I look back on the last 29 years, is the changing availability of information and communication. When I started, my older brothers both of whom are in sales, steered me to the Franklin Maps store in King of Prussia to buy my road atlas. Each night, before you hit the road, you would need to plan the trip. This is just slightly different from today where I plug an address in my phone, and I am directed there, even taking into account the traffic on the way. Even funnier is the progression of communication since the early '90s! From stopping throughout the day to call the office from a payphone to check messages, then on to a pager, then the early versions of cell phones, to my favorite, my Blackberry, where I could first send emails, to today's smartphones. It is truly an amazing transition!

Not sure if I have another 30 years in me, but I hope I have the opportunity to keep doing it for many more years to come!

WJC

Ramblin' Man

"Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
Tryin' to make a livin' and doin' the best I can
And when it's time for leavin'
I hope you'll understand
That I was born a ramblin' man"
The Allman Brothers

On Monday, August 20th, I will start in my new position, as a Territory Sales Manager, for Ventrac by Venture Products. My territory will be Eastern PA, Delaware, New Jersey, Long Island and New York City.
My, just under 4 years at Lawn & Golf , was a great experience. There were some real highlights, from meeting Arnold Palmer, just before he passed, and everything that was involved in the Latrobe CC trips, visiting Sage Valley CC, and being a part of growing L&G, into one of the largest Ventrac Dealers in the USA.
One of the other things that I am really proud of, was our work supporting the First Tee of Greater Philadelphia. Through the work of many people at L&G, we were able to help with the improvement of the facility at Walnut Lane GC. I also really enjoyed the partnership we had started with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Ryan Hills, Director of Grounds and Kurt Landes, GM, were a true pleasure to work with!

One of the things you could not put a dollar value on, was the chance to learn how a dealer, with multiple lines of equipment manufacturers, balances all the them to keep everyone happy.
From a Marketing Award from Jacobsen, to the Diamond Dealer for Ventrac, it was a rewarding experience. I enjoyed the chance to work with the Territory Managers, to try and grow the business.   I also enjoyed the work involved in getting the partnership with Thomas L Dunlap going and the opportunity to work with our Marketing Director, to increase the online presence of L&G.
So why leave? There are a bunch of variables anytime you make a career change, but for me, the chance to join a great company, that is seeing incredible growth, is exciting, and in the end, I am best on the road. My position, of Sales Manager at Lawn & Golf,  had become more of an inside position, mostly out of necessity, with some retirements and responsibility changes.
I appreciate all the help I have received from all the Manufacturers Representatives that Lawn & Golf was partnered with, the staff at Lawn & Golf and to the President of Lawn and Golf, Ken Jeinnings!

I am excited to move into my new role and  I cannot wait to get out in the field and work with the Ventrac Dealers!





WJC

Cleveland Rocks!

This past week, I had the chance to attend the Snow & Ice Management Association Symposium, in Cleveland, Ohio. The SIMA Show is what the GIS is to the Golf industry. If a product has anything to do with large volume snow removal, the SIMA Show is where to go. We are not talking about a small landscape company that puts a plow on his pickup, in the off-season. These are companies that track everything they do through phone apps and see things in the most simple equation of Time=Money. The hall was filled with all sorts of snow moving equipment, from large snow plows, to the use of autonomous GPS guided snow removal products. It is really incredible how many products are out there.

On a side note, the town of Cleveland was nothing like I expected. It is one of the nicest towns I have been to for business (except for the infestation of May Flies, which is a Lake Erie thing), as well as  the locals were exceptionally nice. Definitely not what I had expected. 

The SIMA Symposium Sponsors

The Ventrac SSV with the Broom, Brine Kit and Salt Spreader

The SSV with the new Snow Thrower

WJC

KAFMO 2018 Summer Field Day at Valentine East

On Tuesday, June 19th, The Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization hosted their Summer Field, at the Valentine East Research Facility, at Penn State Berks Campus. While attendance at these type events are more unpredictable than the weather, this field day was one of the better I have attended in years, with about 120 total attendees! Dr. Mike Fidanza's facility is a perfect location. It is easy to get to, has plenty of space and a large pavilion area for seating. Then, add in in the Wegman's mobile truck, with tons of good food, and of course, I cannot forget the host, Dr. Mike Fidanza!
The variables that make events like this a success are always hard to quantify, but for us, it was a great day. Thanks to the KAFMO Board and Dr. Mike for all their efforts!

Darren Powers, from Redexim, doing a demonstration of the Redexim Bullet

Sumner Cross, of Lawn & Golf Supply Company, showing the Aera-Vator on the Ventrac

Jeremy Weand , of Lawn & Golf, showing the Turfco TurnAer XT8 stand on aerator

The Lawn & Golf booth

WJC

 

LINKS AS LABS

This past week, Dan Meersman and Robb Moulds , of The Philadelphia Cricket Club, hosted a "First Green" Event , at the Militia Hill Course, on the PCC property.

As the First Green website states:

• First Green is an innovative environmental education outreach program using golf courses as environmental learning labs – the only program of its kind in the world. First Green has extensive resources for golf course superintendents, including online lesson plans, as well as facilitating the connections between golf courses and local schools and science/horticulture teachers.
• Golf superintendents, course staff and/or local industry representatives (such as regional associations and members) host students on field trips where they test water quality, collect soil samples, identify plants, preserve wildlife habitats, assist in stream-bed restoration and learn about the ecology, conservation and environmental aspects of golf courses. The kids also visit the practice green or hit balls at the driving range, giving them their first taste of playing golf.
• First Green has been providing STEM learning labs since 1997.

You had about seventy 3rd grade students, broken into six groups, for 20 minute stations, for different types of golf education. While I am pretty sure the Philadelphia section of the PGA wins just for having a blowup dinosaur, I will say most of the kids really enjoyed the soils station and what happens when clay and water meet! Luckily, we had some help from Chase Rogan and Ralph Dain from the GCSAA and Nick Dunlap from the USGA at our station to present.

The support from the Philadelphia Golf family and attendance of some national organizations represented, was impressive to see. In attendance was the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP), Philadelphia Section of the PGA, The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia (TFTGP), Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Philadelphia Association of Golf Course Superintendents (PAGCS). Also, there were students from Temple talking about Environmental Hydrology (or here in Philadelphia Wudder), representatives from the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association and Morris Arboretum. Also, in attendance, was Dr. Doug Linde, of Delaware Valley University's Turf Program and a large group from Ewing-Rain Bird Irrigation, including Brad Helcoski and Tim Riismdel. 

Too busy seems to be the mantra of our world today, but the efforts to grow the game, by planting the seeds with young students, is truly imperative, for the future of the golf industry. 

Congratulations to Dan, Robb and the staff, at Philadelphia Cricket Club, for their efforts to put together such a great program for the kids!

  

Dan Meersman addresses the students and the volunteers at the end of the program



The Philadelphia Section of the PGA station

Nick Dunlap, of the USGA, explains how drainage works

Derrick Wozniak, President of the PAGCS & Superintendent at Radley Run CC, showing the students how a soil probe works


Chase Rogan, of the GCSAA, explaining the different types of soils


Temple Hydrology students & the Wissahickon Valley Watershed station

The GAP station
 
One of the kids favorite, the topdressing station

WJC

Logistics

This week ,was the part of equipment sales, that I really enjoy. The opportunity to get a new product out, in front of as many customers as possible, always presents a challenge. Getting all the logistics of the plan to come together and not get thrown off track by bad weather is always tough. This past week, we had a little bit of everything. We had a customer event, at the Glen Mills Schools, where we worked with the students. It was a definitely something where you walk away feeling positive. The students were very engaged and asking great questions. Then we rolled into Allentown, to host our 

annual field  day event, at the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. It was another great day! We had 9 manufacturer's representatives travel in to support the day and our largest number of customers ever attend. Lawn & Golf is very lucky to have such great partners like Ryan Hills & Kurt Landis of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs!

On Thursday, we had an early morning start with a "Sidewalk Demo", on the Mark the Shark Morning Show on WSQV. We have been working with WSQV, since we joined with Thomas L Dunlap in Jersey Shore, PA to cover the area better selling Ventrac Tractors. It is always fun to join them on the air to talk about what we are doing with Ventrac.

Finally, we got the chance to get the new Ventrac Boom Mower attachment out into the field. We had the opportunity to mow at a location that was made for it. And as expected, the customers were impressed and plan to add it to their equipment fleet.

Friday, was the final stop of the tour. We hosted an Open House/Demo Day at Thomas L Dunlap.

With another good day of weather, great food, and our friends from WSQV, doing a remote radio show, it was an excellent day.

To put these many events together all in one week takes a ton of support from our inside staff! Lawn & Golf's Service Manager, Craig Hatt, and his team were able to get all the equipment ready and still keep up with setups and repairs. Our Warehouse/Shipping Manager, Mike Matta, was able to get massive amounts of equipment out to the Iron Pigs. We greatly appreciate all their help!

A big THANK YOU to everyone involved in making this week a success:

Bill & Paul at the Glen Mills Schools

Ryan & Kurt at the LV Iron Pigs

Darren Powers from Redexim

Steve Johnson from Smithco

Scott Kinkead & Brian Godwin from Turfco

Andrew Sickenberger from Jacobsen

Tylor Coquillard & Pat Dowling from ABI Attachments

Steve Cahaley from CADCO/Ferris

Lisa Hartley & Bill Clark from Univest

Joyce & Tom at Thomas L Dunlap

The Sales Team at Lawn & Golf

and especially, Andy Barone, from Ventrac, for all his time and effort this week!

Andy Barone from Ventrac showing one of the Students at the Glen Mills Schools how the Aera-Vator works.

Talking to the Students at Glen Mills Schools about the Boom Mower.

Lawn & Golf Field Day at the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

Setting up for the "Sidewalk Demo" at WSQV Radio in Lock Haven.

The Ventrac Boom Mower in action!

Customers checking out the Boom Mower at the Open House/Demo Day at Thomas L Dunlap.

Vince Anastasi from Lawn & Golf talking about the flip up deck on the Ventrac.

WJC

Here comes the BOOM!

This coming week, we will finally have a chance to see the newest attachment from Ventrac in the field. The Boom Mower was unveiled at a sales meeting, last year, with the plan of production this spring and is just about to be available, for purchase. Andy Barone, our manufacturers representative, has gotten his Boom Mower demo and will be working with Lawn & Golf this week.

On Tuesday, we are doing a Demo Day at Glen Mills Schools, with the Boom Mower, the SSV and the 3400 unit setup for snow removal. On Wednesday, we have a full house for our annual Lawn & Golf Field Day, at the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs Stadium! This also includes our factory representatives from Jacobsen, Turfco, Smithco, Redexim, ABI & CADCO. 

Then on Thursday morning, we have a demo scheduled for a live broadcast, on the morning show, on WSQV 92.1 in Lock Haven!  To finish out the week, we have a Demo Day-Open House at Thomas L Dunlap's in Jersey Shore, PA. This will include a live radio road show with WSQV and some great local food!

The chance to get new products out for the first time is a fun part of the business. When a manufacturer truly hears the end users requests to help them with their challenges, it is excellent. 

Looking forward to a busy week and always appreciate the support we receive from our manufacturer's Representatives!

WJC

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

       One of the most common questions I have gotten over the past few weeks, is when do you think Robotic/Autonomous mowers will be commonplace in the Turf Industry? Maybe it is the thought of trying to find staff members for the season, or the continuing narrative that the next generation is not going to come looking for a 7 day a week job with a predawn start time. These concerns have people thinking about how they are going to get things done.
While golf courses are having difficulty getting things done, the newest technology ,that is gaining momentum with hopes to assist this, is the use of GPS sprayers. It is still nowhere near the commonplace. When you see it in action, it makes you ask why you would not want to use it. Will robotic mowers have the same feel? Now the GPS Sprayer technology has an advantage by the ability to show significant savings in your chemicals usage by the ability to control your applications. However, from what I understand, the robotic mowers currently are not yet to the point of no human supervision, so the significant savings of man hours might not allow the pays for itself argument. I would say it is a safe assumption that we will be seeing something from the 3 largest manufacturers of equipment some time soon.
To see a few clubs that have started to use robotic greens mowers, from Cub Cadet, is interesting to watch. Guys who are early adapters are often the most passionate, but to get a new practice or technology to be used industry wide, always takes time.
       Will we see the day, in the not so far future, where mowers have their "dog house" to charge up and come out at night to mow? For me, it will be interesting to see how quickly GPS Spraying becomes the norm and will that help to move the acceptance of an autonomous mower. Time will tell.


WJC

Meeting the Board

       On Thursday, this past week, I had the opportunity to sit in on a "mock" Boardroom Meeting where the students in the Penn State University Turfgrass Management Program make a presentation to the board. The idea is to make a presentation, which they have some parameters to work off of, to the club's board, on why they should be hired. The board was made up of three Superintendents, one Professor, a Club General Manager and myself. Dr. John Kaminski had asked if I might be available, after I spoke to the PSU Turf Club, the week before. He said it would be good, if I could make it, to give a different perspective.
       This Boardroom Meeting is the last thing the students have left to do before graduation. While each group had a slightly different approach, it was obvious that there was a large investment of time. I was truly impressed with how professional their presentations were.
While there was some questions thrown out, specifically to throw them off their program, it was really enjoyable to watch these, soon to be graduates, trying to present some of the things they have learned, as well as to witness their ability to think on their feet.
I feel very luck to have had a opportunity to be a part of the last project for this year's class.
It was interesting to hear where they were all heading to work after graduation.
Congratulations to all the graduates and best of luck as you start your career!










*Photos taken by Dr. John Kaminski


WJC

Welcome to the Club

This past week, I had the opportunity to speak at the PSU Turf Club meeting. A few weeks ago, there was a post on Twitter asking if anyone wanted to put their name in for consideration. After spending the weekend prior to the talk putting together some Power Point slides, my goal was to not be the guy (which drives me crazy) reading the slides word for word! The title was "Understanding the Equipment Piece of the Equation". The main focus was to talk about how to sell your needs to your club or facility. The one thing that really jumped out in my mind, as I was working on it, was some of the examples that I know locally, in the Philadelphia area, that are really good at this skill. I mentioned to the Turf Club how Superintendents Like Matt Shaffer, Paul B. Latshaw (Merion GC), John Gosselin (Aronimink GC), Dan Meersman (Philadelphia Cricket Club) and Greg D'Antonio (Concord CC) have been successful at understanding what the clubs leadership goals are and then being able to communicate what is required for them to meet these goals. All the men listed have had their clubs make major investments recently and I would believe they would all agree it is a long process. 

We also talked about leasing equipment, GPS Sprayers, autonomous mowers and some other topics. I spoke for about a half hour and then we spent about 20 minutes answering questions.

I really enjoyed the chance to speak to some guys who are just getting started in the Turf Industry. Realizing that this is my 30th year working in the Turf Business, I guess now I am one of the old guys....

WJC

Social Change

On Wednesday, this past week, the Eastern PA Turf Conference hosted the first Turf Industry Social ,instead of the traditional trade show. Concluding a year long look for change, and many meetings and conversations, the vendors were able to eliminate the table top trade show that had run its course.

From rough estimates, the Turf Industry Social was a success. Will there be changes? Absolutely.
It was well received, and with anything that is new, there were lots of questions on wrist bands and how it all works. In the end, with some tweaks, it hopefully will grow.

Now comes the second half of the equation, the auction of donated golf at the Philadelphia Golf Expo. The thought that auctioning off golf to people in the golf business, never made much sense to me. We have over 30 clubs, and hopefully, some more that are pending, that have agreed to donate foursomes, including some of the big name clubs. Hopefully, with a great response at the golf expo, we will be able to justify the format change and bring more funding to the PTC.

From the Vendor side, I know that all of us involved appreciate PTC working with us to try and improve the event.

WJC

More Than A Change Of The Calendar

With the end of 2016, coming this evening, I think the landscape of Philadelphia golf world is on the verge of a major change during 2017. It seems like the gap between the haves and the have not's is growing, with some clubs being able to invest in major club improvements, while others are looking at creative ways to just replace one piece of equipment. With additional talk of multiple management companies taking over some long standing clubs, I don't think the face of Philadelphia golf will ever be the same. Sure, the closure of Edgmont CC and the process of two public courses  becoming housing developments, over the next few years, was part of a long expected thinning of the herd, it was not the massive change that people in the industry had been predicting. Hearing of some of the clubs, that you would never expect, have a waiting list to exit the club vs. the few clubs with a long waiting list to get in, it is sadly a harbinger of what I think is coming for the future of golf in the area.
On the positive side, the growth of the opportunities with Universities, School Districts and large landscape companies seems to be a growing avenue for turf professionals to take. Some of the perks of better schedule, strong benefits and even the opportunity to continue your education, at low or no cost, makes the transition a welcome change. For most, the hard part is to look outside the golf world, which for some, it is all they have known.

I wish you and your families a Happy & Healthy New Year!

WJC

Trust The Process

Walnut Lane Golf Club is the home of The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia. It is in the Philadelphia Fairmount Park system. The course is an Alex Findley design. Over the past two years, there have been some personnel changes, including the addition of Bob Sawicki, Superintendent, and Bill Hyndman V ,as the new Executive Director of The First Tee program. Sometimes change is good for everyone.
While the program had grown to be one of the tops in the First Tee nationally, the golf course needed some TLC. Under longtime Director, John MacDonald, the wheels had started to turn to begin the emphasis on improving the golf course conditions.
Walnut Lane, being part of the Philadelphia Fairmont Park system, limits the ability to remove trees "at will " and often makes the process of tree removal slower than most. Also, the long term lack of tree work has made the catch up even more of a challenge. Throw in equipment that has long outlived its life and a shop that needed upgrades, including roof repair ASAP, and it can be daunting.

With the help of local companies such as Arader, Shreiner and Asplundh Tree Companies, there has been an estimated $250,000 worth of tree work and stump grinding! The support of the local Philadelphia Superintendents Association volunteered days to help with aeration. Clubs donated equipment, such as work vehicles and a trim mower. People like Frank Shuman, Board Member and former owner of Philadelphia Turf Company, supported the purchase of a new sprayer to replace the much needing retirement of the old sprayer. Throw in a local church volunteering to help clear fence lines and some long overdue fence repair work and we are talking about progress!

It is exciting to see all the changes, in the last few years.
Being able to give the children of the program, a really good golf course, and as an additional bonus, giving the community, a consistently improving product, is great to see!


WJC

Show Time

In a little over a month from now, the Eastern PA Turfgrass Conference will take place in Valley Forge. Now after many meetings, emails & calls, the show will have a much different look. As I have written about before, the trade show has been slowly fading with each year. Last year, it finally hit the bottom. A bunch of vendors have worked together to try and come with another option. The whole time understanding, that while the event is based on education, it is also a fund raiser from the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council. The challenge was how to eliminate the trade show component and still not change the financial support while bringing the chance for vendors to have the opportunity to interact with customers. The first part of the new look was some different sponsorship opportunities, including selling a 2 minute elevator sales speech prior to each talk. The big change is the "Turf Industry Social". This will take place from 2-4 on the afternoon of the first day. The hope is for vendors to support the event and get a number of passes to the social. While the cost is the same as a table top in the past, there is an added expense to host a social vs a trade show.
So, in an effort to make up the difference, PTC will have a booth at the Philadelphia Golf Expo the next week auctioning off rounds of donated golf. The struggle with the silent auction in the past has been the idea of people in the golf business paying for something that is normally free with one phone call.
This process of changing something, that has been in place for a long time, is never easy. The ability of competitors to work together and the ability of the PTC Board to listen to vendors urging the need for a new format were all key in making this happen.
Check back in mid-January, and hopefully, I can tell you about what a big success the Turf Industry Social was and that the Philadelphia Golf Expo was a home run!
In the mean time, if you would like to donate a foursome to help the PTC or are a vendor who wants to come back to participate in being involved in the event, please let me know!


WJC

The Power of 10

       This coming Monday, we will be delivering the largest single Ventrac purchase, since Lawn & Golf became a dealer. In a process worthy of this type of investment, the customer did his due diligence by looking at all options. This included looking at competitive units and multiple configurations of the Ventrac unit too. Then there was the consideration of what was the best way to handle the purchase from the financial side, including all financing avenues. In the end, the decision was made to go with a 3400 with a full snow package and multiple attachments.
Following came the getting all the product into our location and for our shop to get to work. Andy Barone, our factory representative of Ventrac, was with us throughout the process and made sure that inventory was ready for us.
From our shipping manager organizing the staging of the equipment for the shop, to our technicians cranking out the setups and finishing a day ahead of schedule, it was a great week for our company.
Congratulations to everyone at Lawn & Golf  and Ventrac who worked to get this process to run so smoothly, especially Jeremy Weand , who is the account manager and Andy Barone for all his support. A big thank you to Bob Dunkerely of Dunkerely Construction for choosing Lawn & Golf & Ventrac!

 

 

 

 

WJC

Snow Business

       This past week Lawn & Golf & Ventrac sponsored an educational event with the PGMS at Coca-Cola Stadium, home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. It was called a "Snow Symposium" The day started with a review of the products available through Ventrac.
Andy Barone, our factory representative, gave the overview of the Ventrac  product line, with an emphasis on the snow removal attachments. We then headed in for lunch and then education.
Following lunch, we had a 3 speaker lineup.
Our first speaker was John Tyrell, of Ricci, Tyrrell, Johnson & Grey, was covering the topic, "Snow Removal Liability Issues & Concerns". I was able to get John to speak at an event a few years ago and knew he would be the perfect fit. The basic things you need to address to protect yourself in today's sue everyone atmosphere was some excellent information. John's experience with what has worked to protect from having to pay a big settlement  is just using common sense and documentation. It was priceless. Our next speaker was Joshua Smilk, Owner of Eastern LLC, a snow removal contractor. Josh was playing hurt! He had fallen the night before and was pretty sure he had broken his ankle. He told me he would be there on crutches and head to the doctor afterwards. He just needed a podium to lean on. He did over a 45 minute talk standing on one leg! Cannot say thank you enough to Josh for not canceling! His talk was about brine. Josh covered some of the basic science behind it and some of the different situations for use. It was really an interesting topic.
Our final speaker of the day was Matt Brown, of Lawn & Golf. Matt's topic was "Winterizing your sprayer". Matt did a great job focusing on what is the key to all sprayers working to the optimum...cleaning it! Matt also spent a significant amount of time covering one of the most important part of chemical application, safety. Matt covered all the recommended safety precautions that sometimes get skipped to make up time.

A big thank you goes out to our corporate partners at the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and their Director of Field Operations, Ryan Hills, for hosting us! Thanks to Andy Barone, of Ventrac, for coming into to town to support the event.
A special thanks to Bill Brown, of Turf Republic, for joining us and taking some great photos.
Also, I cannot say thank you enough to our speakers!
We were happy to partner with the PGMS and look forward to doing it again in the future.

Andy Barone, of Ventrac, talking about the Ventrac 4500

         John Tyrrell, Managing Member of Ricci, Tyrrell, Johnson & Grey, giving his presentation

Joshua Smilk, Owner of Eastern LLC, talking about the advantages of brine

Matt Brown, of Lawn & Golf, speaking about the winterization of your sprayer

For more photos, please check out the Turf Republic Flickr site:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskJJSBUw

WJC

Hail To The King!

This week, I had the opportunity to head back out to Latrobe CC. Through Jacobsen's relationship with the Arnold Palmer Group, we had the chance to get in a little more than a round of golf. We had the chance to visit the barn, where there is more golf history than you could ever believe. It is truly incredible, that someone had the foresight, to keep all of these pieces of history of Arnold Palmer's life. It is something I will never forget. A special thanks goes out to Mark Pena from Jacobsen for being such a great host!

What made the visit even more special was Doc Giffin. Doc has worked with Arnold Palmer for over 50 years! We only had a short time with him, but just in that brief period, we were able to hear some incredible stories. The part I think that I enjoy the most about Latrobe CC is that they understand the importance of  Arnold Palmer, but on the other hand, it is not a big deal having him at the next table, in the men's grill, having lunch.

Arnold Palmer's golf club collection

Arnold Palmer & Steve Stephens

Arnold Palmer's Film Library

The famous Penzoil Tractor & his Father's reconditioned tractor

Arnold Palmer's Golf Cart

Doc Giffin giving us the history of all the collection

Doc Giffin explaining the story behind the personalized golf cart

WJC

When Did This Start?

       One of the interesting aspects of all the turf porn on social media is getting to see more and more behind the curtain at big events. Recently, the US Open at Oakmont, and then quickly after that, the photos coming out of Congressional CC, while they hosted the Quicken Loans PGA event, gave insight in to some that do not have the opportunity to host or work an event of this size.
The hundred plus extremely qualified volunteers, on top of a staff that only most clubs dream of having, caused many people in the turf business to ask, "When did this start?". Add in the incredible amounts of equipment and donations needed to host and it is really hard to believe. The reality is you might not need all those bodies, but in 2013 at Merion and 2016 at Oakmont, if they didn't have all those volunteers, they would not have been able to get the courses back together so quickly after severe storms. The crazy amount of equipment required is also tied to the limited time staffs have to get the course ready in the morning and get the post round work done in the evening.
       Probably the easy answer, for any extreme measure taken to provide a near perfect golf course, is to blame Augusta. I had the picture in my office, from Sports Illustrated, from the early 1990's, with multiple fiveplexes, mowing the fairways at the Masters. Where I remember it really taking off was the 1997 US Open at Congressional. Mr. Latshaw was the Superintendent and they hand walked fairways! Yes, hand walked fairways, that is not a misprint. I knew a bunch of clubs that were rounding up as many Jacobsen PGMs as they could to loan to Congressional for the US Open. Depending on who you talk to, this is a practice that the USGA will not let happen again. At the time, there was definitely some discussion of creating a monster, that would cause issues for other clubs.
       I was on the staff at Merion GC for the 1989 USGA US Amateur Championship. A few Alumni and I were laughing, the other day, about not even having staff shirts to wear for the tournament, just a VIP pin (see below). It was just our normal crew with some additions from the West Course.

      It is pretty cool to see what happens when you give someone, at the top of their profession, an unlimited budget and staff and they are able to provide near perfection.

Badge for the 1989 US Amateur

   

Photo taken by Andy Billing at Oakmont CC during the 2016 US Open

WJC





  

It Just Doesn't Matter

   One of my favorite movie scenes is Bill Murray in the movie Meatballs, giving a motivational speech the night before the final day competition against Camp Mohawk.

Why I bring this up, is this past week, while preparing for some meetings, I was analyzing some of the support we do as a company throughout the year. To say it was eye opening, is an understatement.
When you add up all the professional organizations and their events over a year, it can total up to a big number quickly.
So what does this have to do with the Meatballs speech? For me, it has always been an unanswerable question of, " does it matter from a business perspective if you do or do not support the associations of the turf industry?" The tag line of, "we support those who support us", has been repeated over and over for years at meetings. But does someone buy from me rather than a competitor because of my support level? Does it play a part in the purchase process?
Trying to quantify the return on your investment is not an easy number to come up with.
In the end, it just doesn't matter because it is the right thing to do.

WJC

No Handbook

       There is one thing that I have learned in my social media experiment and that is there is no handbook. I started this, a few years ago, on a career advancement/change basis. The change came without even one little bit of the social media efforts being a part of the equation. Go figure? Everything you read is telling you must have a social media footprint to matter in the business world.  But depending on what customers you talk to, it is a good thing or a complete waste of time.
Maybe the use of social media will make you first on their mind when a need arises or even better, it makes you look technically advanced, but only to the guys who like using it. There are also pitfalls of too much information. We had a customer touting how great a demo of a mower was at his club on Twitter. The next day a competitive sales rep showed up looking to demo his unit. While I would love to post a video of a demo doing something extra ordinary, I also need to be careful not to give away the location. Sad but true.

      I have some people who will reference something I have posted or tweeted. I have some others who absolutely have a strong opinion of my efforts. What I sometimes struggle with is posting information and the tone being misunderstood. Just like a text, it can always be perceived, not in the way you had hoped. So now make your stuff interesting or funny, but don't offend any one or come off like a jerk. Easy, right?
    
WJC