After missing a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carolinas GCSA’s annual Conference and Trade Show returns as an in-person event in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Nov. 15-17, 2021. Booth sales open for exhibitors the week after Fourth of July and seminar and attendee registration opens after Labor Day.
“We are so glad to be back on track,” said Carolinas GCSA president, Brian Stiehler, CGCS, MG, from Highlands Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina. “Conference and Show is the heartbeat of our association, not only financially, but also as a family. Getting together face-to-face after a long hot summer is when the brotherhood is truly celebrated and what makes this show so special.”
For the first time, the conference will feature education seminars on the Monday morning. This gives attendees the chance to take as many as four different seminars, with education also on Monday afternoon, as well as Tuesday morning and afternoon. General education sessions are scheduled for Wednesday with the trade show open Tuesday and Wednesday.
Courses for this year’s Carolinas GCSA Golf Championship, conducted on Monday, will be the celebrated Mike Strantz designs at Caledonia Golf and Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club, and Tom Fazio-designed Wachesaw Plantation on the Waccamaw River. The golf championship offers medal play, four-ball and scramble formats. Monday also features the Carolinas GCSA Sporting Clays Championship at Back Woods Quail Club.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this show challenges attendance records,” Carolinas GCSA executive director Tim Kreger said. “Our members are so ready to see each other again and golf has been so busy during the pandemic that I hope every facility in the region is ready to reward their superintendent with a trip to our show. What better way to say thanks and invest in their superintendent’s ongoing professional development?”
Kreger added the Carolinas GCSA will continue to monitor the pandemic and be ready to adapt as necessary. “But given the current trajectory, we expect to offer the kind of Conference and Show that has made this event the largest regional event of its kind for superintendents in the country.”
When the pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s in-person event, the Carolinas GCSA delivered a comprehensive slate of online education over 30 days, known as Conference Comes to You. Nearly 2,200 seminar seats were filled and $40,000 given away in cash prizes.
