Divot Mix

Whether he's ready or not to win this year, we'll see. But he will be your favorite at the Masters for the next 20 years. --Jack Nicklaus (after playing a practice round with Tiger Woods prior to the 1996 Masters)

GCSAA named Association of the Year

The BoardRoom magazine has named GCSAA as its 2006 Association of the Year.
GCSAA, which won the same award in 2004, was selected again in 2006 for its leading role in integrating the Club Managers Association of America to the Golf Industry Show.

The show is presented by the GCSAA, National Golf Course Owners Association and CMAA, along with supporting organizations, the Golf Course Builders Association of America, the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the National Golf Foundation.

Winners of the awards in nine categories will be featured in the May/June 2007 issue of The BoardRoom magazine.

 "It is an honor to be selected as the association of the year for a second time," GCSAA CEO Steve Mona, CAE, said. "The Golf Industry Show is more than a combination of various trade shows. It is a collaborative effort of all partners and supporting organizations to provide a valuable resource to the industry. The whole is certainly greater than the sum of its parts."

For more on the awards visit http://www.boardroommagazine.com/.

European architects and owners partner

The European Institute of Golf Course Architects has become a partner of the European Golf Course Owners Association. The agreement between the organizations was signed at the first annual EGCOA conference held in Amsterdam.

The EIGCA currently has 130 members based in more than 30 countries. They represent Europe’s most qualified and experienced golf course architects. EIGCA members have shown that they are able to design and supervise the construction of golf courses to the highest standard.

Mark Adam, president of EIGCA, said, "The EIGCA is committed to the promotion of environmentally friendly and sensitive design and believes it to be a cornerstone of our profession. We believe that cooperation with other golf organizations is necessary to bring the golf business to a higher level."

The EGCOA is made up of approximately 600 golf course owners across 12 European countries. It looks after the interest of the owners by representing them on a European Union level in contact with the European Commission, other EU golf bodies and relevant EU organizations.

Marcel Welling, former chairman of the Dutch Golf Course Association and president of the EGCOA signed the agreement of behalf of the EGCOA. He said, "We are very happy that the EIGCA became a partner of the EGCOA. The organizations can now exchange information, promote each other and, perhaps the most important: promote the golf game." Contact http://www.egcoa.eu/, http://www.eigca.org/.

Study Examines Impact of Climate Change on U.S. Golf Industry

WeatherBill Inc. has published a study analyzing historical weather data to determine changes and trends in annual Golf Playable Days. The study concludes that U.S. golf playable days are increasing in 95 cities, primarily due to higher average temperatures. The study also identifies increasingly rainy trends in the Northeast and Southeast, a drier Southwest and West, and increasingly uncertain weather in 33 cities. The free study can be downloaded at www.weatherbill.com/golfstudy.

"The average number of Golf Playable Days across the U.S. is 268 a year," said David Friedberg, CEO of WeatherBill. "In the West and South, given the extended season, the average golf course can expect 297 playable days a year vs. the 226 days in the Northeast and Midwest." The study includes a reference table showing the range of GPD in 195 cities as well as the 30-year trend in both GPD and weather certainty. The guide serves as a useful financial planning tool for golf course owners and managers.

"Warming temperature trends during January, February, and March were the most impressive weather change we observed," Friedberg said. "Half the cities in our study showed significant increases in temperature, particularly in the Southeast and Southwest.

Rainfall changes were more widespread across the year and across cities, with about 1/3 of the nation showing a change in rainfall trend in any given quarter. Raleigh, NC; Miami, Fla.; and Portland, Ore., showed a very challenging combination of more rain and more variability, which makes revenue planning for the weather sensitive golf business more difficult."