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I’d like to welcome you to our new website. We are excited with this updated version and believe it will provide better communication for and from you.

 In our current economic climate no one has been immune to our industry’s downturn. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has given most of us an additional thumping with the extreme cold in December. One of the best ways to get through these obstacles is to use your communication skills to the utmost with your members and golfers. Larry Gilhuly has helped produce a wonderful USGA webcast specifically designed for your golfers concerning the greens’ conditions afflicting almost all the golf courses in western Washington and Oregon. It is called “From the Fire to the Freezer” and can be located on the USGA website under the Green Section tab. Look for the “Links to recorded webcasts” tab on the left side of the page and follow the instructions. I strongly encourage you to view it and then get your greens committee, Pro, and any other interested parties. It has been a great asset for me in communicating our situation and relieving some mental stress.

 Although most of us have had to cut back on all our expenses, we are still expected to produce the same quality product. That means we need highly motivated and quality employees. A wonderful resource for this type of seasonal help is our regional turf colleges and universities. Walla Walla Community College, Wazzu and Oregon State Universities (among others) have excellent students and interns dying to help you. Please consider them when filling your staff this year. Our future is in their hands, and they need us to help guide them to a better future for our industry.

 On February 17 we hosted a reception at the State Capitol for legislators with the intent of presenting them the Golf 20/20 report. We had almost 50 legislators and their aides attend. It went very well and announced that we will be having a Media presentation of this report at The Home Course in April. Hopefully you have been keeping up with the updates from Heather Hanson with what is happening in Olympia. They are very informative and give us valuable information as to what our legislators are doing (and proposing to do) to our industry. Please remember that these reports are meant only for our organization and its members.

 While at the GCSAA Conference in San Diego I saw some new products, which I’m sure our affiliates will be presenting to you soon and some great seminars and presentations. I was very impressed with the seminars and presentations that were covered by the regular registration fee. I only paid for 1 education seminar and was busy the entire week. You can download these “free” presentations from the GCSAA website. The trade show was two days without any conflicting seminars and was a great success. I can’t stress enough how important networking can be to one’s career, not to mention the great ideas you can glean from other superintendents from around the country. I would strongly recommend that you attend the Conference at least every three years. I may not make it to Orlando next year but I’m sure I’ll be in Las Vegas for 2012!

 The buzz word this year is ‘Sustainability.” GCSAA and golf’s industry leaders are spearheading the effort toward a sustainable approach to Golf Facility Management. Please check out the website found on the GCSAA home page.

   This year Washington State will be hosting two major championships. Both will be in our backyard. The Senior Men’s US Open at Sahalee CC and the Men’s US Amateur at Chambers Bay. I strongly encourage you to get involved with these events. Rich Taylor at Sahalee and David Weineke at Chamber’s Bay would love your help, if only for a day. I have worked several of these types of events and it is a blast, not to mention extremely informative. I’ve always taken something back to use on my courses whether for everyday play or for tournaments.

That’s all for now,

May El Niño continue and the economy rebound quickly,

Your President
Tony Bubenas, CGCS