Stay Grassy San Diego

Written by Cam Schultz:

The driving rain and unseasonably cool wind slapped Tony Beuter and I with a harsh welcome as we stood waiting for an Uber at the San Diego International Airport. We had left frigid Iowa just hours before with a preconceived notion that warm and sunny southern California would cure our Vitamin D deficiencies. Instead monsoon rains and temps in the forties just steps from the beach. What is happening here?

Before we could settle into the car, Kevin the Uber driver hit us with another glancing greeting.

“If you two brought this &@!# weather here, you should just get back on the plane!”

Nice to see you too, Kevin.

Sitting in silence in the back of Kevin’s Toyota Prius gave me time to gather my thoughts about the VGM Club to-do’s we had ahead of us in preparation for the Golf Industry Show—the Turf Party, booth setup, networking events, First Green fundraising. Then it hit me…

“Does the Golf Industry Show have a weather curse?”

From the soaker in Orlando in ’17 to last year’s snowflakes falling on the Alamo, it seems like Mother Nature has a voodoo doll of the Convention Centers that annually house the thousands of GCSAA* members and golf course operators that show up for this industry event.

Oh the irony. Superintendents from across the entire United States square off against the elements in varying ways. From droughts to drainage issues, lightning strikes to straight line winds and everything in between. Couldn’t they all just get a collective break as they travel to a place of essentially NO weather to catch up on certification credits and comradery? Apparently not.

Luckily they are a resilient group of golf course ladies and gentlemen. That plus the fact that most of the classes and the EXPO were held inside allowed the crowd to check out some phenomenal new items. Some of our favorites were the putt-saving two piece tournament flagstick™ from Standard Golf, John Deere’s ProGator™ GPS Sprayer, and, of course, all the great partners we had in our VGM Village this year (to check out our recap video CLICK HERE).

Good conversation with many VGM Club members makes time fly and, before we knew it, our week at the 2019 GIS had passed by just as the poor weather did. We caught a ride back to the airport with Lonnie who was donned in cargo shorts and flip flops. Looking out the airplane window shortly after takeoff we caught a quick glimpse of San Diego complete in its sunny and warm splendor. The landscape was dotted with luscious green parks and hillsides. I’d like that think that many turfheads in one spot helped make the kikuyu grass and St. Augustine pop just a little more.

Until next time…Stay Grassy San Diego!