Canadian Golf Superintendents Association |
| The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association is a professional
society founded in 1966, of more than 1600 men and women who are responsible
for the management of golf courses across Canada. Contact: Kenneth Cousineau, Executive Director 509 - 5580 Explorer Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4W 4Y1 Telephone: (905) 602-8873 Toll Free: (800) 387-1056 Fax: (905) 602-1958 Email Address: cgsa@golfsupers.com Website: http://www.golfsupers.com B.C. Director to the C.G.S.A. - Tim Kubash Box 1525 Salmon Arm, B.C. V1E 4P6 Telephone: (250) 832-8834 Fax: (250)832-6311 Email Address: tkubash@salmonarmgolf.com |
CGSA Report |
| July, 2010 |
|
It’s been a busy year with the CGSA. The Conference and Trade Show in Toronto was held this past March at the Sheraton Center Toronto Hotel in downtown Toronto. It was a new approach to hold the pre-conference sessions, conference education, tradeshow and banquet as well as all the hotel rooms at one location. The event was a success as rated by the delegates in the post conference surveys, however some of the costs exceeded expected budgeted amounts. In order to address the overages, and to be fiscally prudent, all discretionary expenditures planned in the 2009-2010 CGSA budgets will be delayed until the new fiscal year. The CGSA staff and Board of Directors are spending quite a bit of effort to look at solutions to control escalating costs to ensure that a quality conference can still be delivered at a price that still provides value. The Conference and Trade show provides much needed revenue to our association. Typically, larger markets like Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto produce successful shows, not only educationally but profitability as well. Nevertheless, these larger locations are usually more expensive than smaller cities. The smaller locations can be problematic from a logistical aspect regarding bringing in speakers and delegates. We are reliant on Trade Show revenues to help offset the costs of education and food and beverage. Coffee, pop or bottled water provided at coffee breaks are charged at full retail. When the final tally is done those costs are sometimes shocking. The challenge we face is that in relying on larger markets to help keep our association financially viable, we may lose out on our national diversity by staying out of smaller centers like Quebec, Halifax or other new venues. The 2010 Fall Field Day will be held at the Fairmont Banff Springs September 11-13, 2010. Our host will be Bob Burrows, MS, AGS, CGCS. Larry Gilhuly, USGA Director, Northwest Region will be delivering the seminar: Common Sense will Save you Cents. Topics include: Why Golf Courses Should not Attempt to Achieve True Championship Conditions for Regular Play, Control of Organ-ick! Material with a Focus on How it Affects Playing Conditions and Controlling Canada Geese with a Laser. The seminar will be held from Sept 12th from 9am -noon, followed by a 9 hole 2 person best ball shotgun at 1 pm, wrapping up the day with the CGSA/Toro Reception. The tournament is a 9 am shotgun on the 13th, followed by the awards dinner. It is proving to be popular event and filling up quickly, to avoid disappointment register soon. The deadline for The John B Steele award is July 1st. To be considered for this Distinguished Service Award, several criteria must be met including “an outstanding lifetime contribution to the advancement of the profession of Golf Course Superintendent”. The recipient of this award and their companion are provided a free registration for the Canadian International Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show; four night’s accommodation at the host hotel; and economy air fare to the conference location. The joint CGSA-WCTA International Conference and trade show will be held March 4-8, 2011 in Vancouver. Planning is well underway; the speaker’s line up is being formatted as we speak. If you have any suggestions for topics or speakers please contact Kathryn Wood or myself. The new CGSA website is looming nearer on the horizon. A new website design team has been recommended from the eight that responded to the proposal. This will be a complete redo of the CGSA website. Members will have more interactivity relative to their personal and membership information, the ability to track CEC, on-line registration, better search capabilities, up to date interactive networking tools, easier and faster navigation, on-line award nominations and much more. The new design will provide the CGSA with a modern, state-of-the-art point of contact with its members. The CGSA has taken over administrative and operational components of the CTRF, the Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundation. he Royal Canadian Golf Association had been responsible for the CTRF administration for the past decade. In a letter dated April 1st, 2010 from the Executive Director and CEO of the RCGA, Scott Simmons, the RCGA indicated that, “… the RCGA remains fully committed to supporting the mandate and the activities of the CTRF going forward, and … as per previous years, to provide financial support.” The RCGA agrees that the mandate and function of the CTRF is better aligned with that of the CGSA. George McLeod, CTRF Chair and RCGA representative to the CTRF stated following the decision: “a stable long-term funding source will be an important next step in ensuring that the necessary research is conducted in Canada in a timely fashion.” Since its inception in the early 1990’s, the CTRF has invested more than $2 million in turfgrass and golf course management research on behalf of all components of the industry. Much of the funds invested have been contributed by turfgrass organizations that exist at the provincial and regional levels. I believe this new development will improve research opportunities as well as relevance to various regions throughout Canada. As always if you have comments, suggestions regarding how we can make the CGSA better serve the members needs please contact me. Best of wishes to everyone, have a great summer. Tim Kubash, CGSA Provincial Director  CGSA Environmental Management Resource Manual |
