January 23, 2010

Since I began my time on the CAGCS Board, I have watched Jud Smith, Wayne Urban, Keith Angilly, and Chris Mauro lead our association. Although they all had very different leadership styles, they had many things in common: their hard work, dedication, and passion for our industry allowed each of them to leave CAGCS in much better shape than they found it. My hope is that the next two years are as productive, and that our current Board continues to build on the strong foundation of this great association.

2010 will likely continue to be a challenging time for the golf industry, most of us are facing our second or third year of budget cuts, tightening environmental regulations, and continued uncertainty in the weather. The good news is that these issues are inter-related, and by improving our practices in one area, we will directly impact the other in positive way. An important paradigm shift is coming to the golf industry, and we need to help drive the train before we are thrown off of it. As Superintendents we need to continue our innovative, resourceful ways by finding new ways to: reduce water use, cut synthetic fertilizer and chemical treatments, and explore ways to make our operations more efficient. By making our operations and courses more sustainable, and properly communicating our small victories to our members, owners, or patrons, we will also improve the sustainability of something very important to all of us…………our jobs.

In closing, I have many to recognize and thank: first, thank you to our 2010 host superintendents, we once again have a fantastic schedule and hope to have outstanding participation in our events again this year; to our cooperate partners for continuing to support our association in our educational and social events; to Bob Chalifour for his continued hard work and leadership in putting together our newsletter; and to the entire Board of Directors for their continued hard work on behalf our association. Finally, a special thank you from all of us to Scott Ramsay, our Government Relations Chairman who through his Yale roots has truly been our "Bulldog" on monitoring, and working towards a reasonable alternative to the DEP’s Proposed Stream Flow Regulations. Scott has spent countless hours on this and has truly gone beyond the call of duty. Please stay tuned to all CAGCS communications, and get involved in this important legislative process.

I hope to see you all in San Diego!

John Garcia