GIS: Orlando

The Golf Industry Show is in Orlando this year. Unlike the PGA show, this one travels each year. About every three years we are in Central Florida. The weather has been back and forth but no snow!

This GIS is comprised of golf superintendents, builders and architects.

I started the week visiting a couple of golf courses (with clubs) and checking out the local scenery. First was Falcon's Fire, a public facility which is managed by the Marriott. They took it over a couple of years ago and have made some nice changes to the course. The greens are fairly new Tiff-Eagle Bermuda and ryegrass covered the rest of the property. This course, like most in Florida, overseed during the fall to cool season grasses so the "snow-birds" have a lush playing surface. The winter months are usually where these courses do 90% of their business.

By the end of spring the dormant bermudagrass will begin to emerge and the ryegrass will die off since it just won't be able to prosper under the severe growing conditions by that time.
Playing golf with other superintendents and industry professionals can be just as educational as any class room setting. It is a great opportunity to share ideas and "bounce" things off one another and observe how other superintendents present the golf course.
Tuesday, we greeted the sunrise at Grande Lakes, Ritz Carlton. Beautiful property and managed meticulously. I found it funny that they did less rounds than Vail Golf Club did last year!
As you can see here, I had some troubles during the round, but I managed a bogey on the 18th here.

Some pretty neat touches around the course. As the sun broke I noticed this painted approach at the chipping green. The Ritz overseeds everything, even their greens. It is common for top courses to overseed greens with a variety of short-cut bluegrass, poa trivialis. They were very smooth and consistent. I was most glad to see this property place tee markers in the fairways for new or higher handicap golfers. It is nice to see more and more golf courses embrace the fact that they want happy customers at the end of the round.

Wednesday I spent all day walking the trade show. The show floor has gotten smaller over the years, but there were plenty of educational opportunities. I am just getting ready to head back to the floor right now and will post more information about the show.