Must see

We have between 20 and 30 events every year and every one is a great opportunity to make new relationships that will help you and you facility in ways you may not even realize. But one event every year is targeting a larger goal, Legislative Golf Day on June 9th at the Capitol Building in Lansing. We partner with the Michigan Golf Course Owners, the Golf Association of Michigan, the Michigan Section of the PGA and the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation as a group called the Michigan Golf Alliance to represent all of the golf industry in Michigan. We take the positive financial and environmental message to legislators to make sure they all know how crucial our industry is to Michigan.

Did you know golf is a 4.2 Billion dollar industry just in our state and generates 52,000 jobs? This type of information is very pertinent when legislators are making decisions that could affect the golf industry. We have been able to make a great impact with this presence every year but we are missing one thing... YOU!

It is a very hard time of year to get away, I know from experience and from helping to plan this event. But please take the time to set the date in stone to come represent your industry and facility in Lansing. The day is very easy, everything is taken care of for you. Where to go who to see and what to talk about as it relates to golf. No there are no pressing issues at this time directly related to golf, but imagine how many there could be if we had not been doing this event for so many years. It is impossible to measure lack of needless legislation that is directed at golf, but our impact can not be overlooked. But we need more people there that day, to represent the entire state. Please come see this day in action, come see what we can do as a group to help each individual on June 9th. More information at www.michigangolfalliance.com.

Mission

Do you have a mission statement at your facility or business? Can you recite it right now from memory? If not then I would guess it is not used to make decisions on a daily basis. If it is not a good mission statement then that is probably a good thing, but also a bad thing. If your mission statement is old or was not poured over in a strategic planning meeting then you may be better of not knowing it by heart and letting it help guide your decisions. However if it is good and well thought out it can be one of the most valuable tools in the entire business. I say this not just for us but from so many successful business leaders.

Our mission: The MiGCSA is dedicated to providing value to our members through programs and services that promote and enhance our profession.

I can say that this was a very thought out mission and has evolved with the growth of the chapter. I can also say that I personally run any decision or directive through the "mission filter". If an idea or directive does not succeed in helping us in this mission it will likely not get to the light of day. It helps me on a daily basis make operational decisions for the Board and Membership. It helps the Officers and Board make large decisions to help to continue on an upward path.

The latest addition to our mission is the word promote. We are doing some things this summer to promote our members. The biggest is an entire episode of Michigan Golf Live dedicated to Superintendents and the MiGCSA. The debut of the show is scheduled for the week of Saturday, May 21st. It will air 3 times that week, including Sat/Sun at 9:30 a.m. The second week of airtime is Sept 10th on Fox Sports Detroit. We work hand in hand with media outlets like the Free Press in this article about our winter damage survey. We now have a seat on the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Board to help to promote the lifelong work of so many of our members like Dr. Joe Vargs who will be inducted this year. A seat with the Michigan golf Alliance to help promote our members to allied golf groups and associations. Before we added the promotion to the mission these ideas and directives may never have come to fruition.

Take a look at your mission at your business or facility and ask if it is part of your decision making process, should it be? Or does it need to change to reflect your current business model? Or can adding one word open up so many opportunities to be more efficient and productive? It is more than just a few words if you allow it to be.

Survey Says!

We just sent out a survey this week on the winter of 2015/16, about which one respondent appropriately responded is not over yet. We had some significant melt off in Michigan this week and thought it would be a good time to see how everyone is doing. Winter damage is a very sensitive subject and everyone wants to know how everyone else is looking. We had a great response of almost 100 Superintendents. The results can be found here.

From the results it looks like we will have a good spring as far as damage over the winter. Of course damage to putting greens and other areas can occur during the volatile spring weather. But the survey indicated that there is a good chance that the majority of properties will come into spring with no damage from ice. Of course there will always be some, but not as widespread as the last two seasons. This is great news for all of our members and their members.

These surveys are usually easy to get out to our membership. If you ever have a question, problem or idea please let us know at info@migcsa.org or by speaking to the Board Members in your district. We went from questions to answers in one week on this. Time is critical in our industry, so please take advantage of your association and our ability to increase communication to one another and to the public on widespread issues.

Happy New Year

2016 is upon us just like that, it seems to happen faster every year. The course gets closed and conference season begins, and what a great one to start off the year at the Michigan Turfgrass Conference. Another home run by the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation (MTF) and their Conference Committee, Chaired by Amy Fouty. I know it can sometimes be confusing as to who does what around here. That is actually a good thing because it means we are doing things well together. This year was no exception, the lineup was superb, the schedule Tuesday to Thursday was an amazing “why did we not do this before improvement” the organization and flow was flawless. Thank you to Amy, Becky Schooch, MTF Executive Secretary, Gordie LaFontaine, MTF Executive Director, Brian Schweihofer, MTF President, Dr. Kevin Frank and the many, many more who serve on committees and work so hard to produce such a great show.

The winter is also a great time to take stock of your shop and property. One of the hats I wear is the Program Director for the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program (MTESP) which I started with in 2013. I hope many if not all reading this know we are now a 100% online program. The winter is a great time to sit down in the office and register your facility with the MTESP at www.mtesp.org. The 12 modules are easy to complete and can really help you get a better understanding of your property and how it interacts with the local environment. Where the water goes, where it comes in, how is it impacted by your practices. It is easy and it is free to participate in the modules. Go take a look, it really is a great tool for us here in Michigan.

Conference

The 2016 Michigan Turfgrass Conference is right around the corner starting on January 5th this year. This is a great opportunity for networking and education at an incredibly low cost. This event is not produced by the MiGCSA but is a product of the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation. There is often confusion on who does what in our state because we are fortunate to have a long standing and very strong Foundation in the MTF that did for many years act as a unified voice for Golf Course Superintendents. With the establishment of the MiGCSA in 2008 as a unified statewide chapter and our success since then it has muddied the water a little bit.

The MTF is a 501 c3 non profit who has one primary goal to support turf research at MSU, and they have been doing this better than anyone in the country since the 1950's. Millions of dollars have poured through the MTF into Turf Research at MSU. Many of this dollars came from the original 4 chapters and their MTF Fundraisers. Still today the MiGCSA is the largest single contributor to the MTF from the proceeds of our three fundraisers every year, more than $22,000 in 2015. One of the extra benefits of the conference is that 100% of the profits from the event go to the MTF and thus to the research we all rely on. This years conference is another blockbuster thanks to Amy Fouty and her conference committee and everyone involved with the MTF.

The MiGCSA does all we can to help support this conference as it is a benefit to being an MiGCSA Member to be in the loop on any educational opportunities. If you are reading this and are not registered for the 2016 show you are missing out on one of the best educational and networking opportunities of the year at an incredibly low cost, do yourself a favor and go to www.mtfconference.org right now and get signed up.

The Wheel of Support

It is that time of year, early order season. I remember well the piles of spreadsheets and my calculator in the office and hours moving and crunching numbers, meeting with my sales representatives and trying to find the best way to stretch a dollar.

We hear do more with less all the time and all of our members are under pressure to do just this. That has a trickle down effect and lands on our Industry Partners. They also have to do more with less, with that being said they still continue to support your Association. Many have since inception in 2008 and continue to this day. We honestly would not exist without their support. We only have two main revenue streams, Membership and Industry Partners. We try to run our events at a break even to keep costs for members low, 100% of the Fundraiser proceeds go right back into our industry every year. It is critical that we continue to have support from these partners. With that it is critical that you as end users consider the support of these companies when you make your purchasing decisions.

It is a wheel of support and if any part of the support is removed it will no longer spin. So please put one more crucial factor into your purchasing decisions this fall, is the company you are supporting doing the same for you?

Fundraisers to the Finish Line

Registration is now open for the last two Fundraisers of 2015, Western Golf Day at Cascade Hills C.C. on September 21st and the Big Event at Polo Fields on October 5th.

These events are traditionally very well attended and the golf clubs go all out to host us. So please try to make time to attend one or both of theses events to help us raise money for Student and Member Heritage Scholarships, the Wee One Foundation and other philanthropic turf related causes. The vast majority of the funds go directly to the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation (MTF) and help fund the world class research at Michigan State University (MSU).

The first Fundraiser of the year at Arcadia Bluffs was a great start, help us cross the 2015 year finish line with a bang. 100% of the proceeds from the Fundraisers are distributed back into our industry every year.