Support for the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association’s annual Conference and Trade Show continues to grow with revenues topping $600,000 for the first time. A record total of 222 exhibiting companies occupied a record 428 booths at a show that generated just on $623,000 in revenues in Myrtle Beach, S.C. mid-November. Demand for education also hit a new high with a total of 1,278 seats sold across three full-day and 23 half-day seminars.
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“The relationship that exists between our industry partners and our superintendent members is something pretty special, I think,” Carolinas GCSA executive director, Chuck Borman, said. “That, as much as anything, is the reason why this conference and show continues to enjoy the success that it does. I think everyone understands that if the golf industry does well then so will they. They really share a commitment to making the game successful.”
One number that did dip slightly in November was overall attendance, down from 2,131 to 2,086, a shortfall of 45, but of those 42 were in fewer exhibit booth workers. Borman said the number of superintendents and assistant superintendents at the show was as strong as ever.
Other highlights from the 2007 event included:
- Mitchell Wilkerson, CGCS director of golf and grounds at Moss Creek Plantation in Bluffton, SC was elected Carolinas GCSA president at the annual business meeting. Paul Jett, CGCS from Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst is vice-president.
- Leon Lucas, Ph.D., received the association’s Distinguished Service Award for 40 years of support to golf course superintendents as a researcher and educator at North Carolina State University and more recently as the staff agronomist with the Carolinas Golf Association.
- Dyrck Fanning, from They Bayonet at Puppy Creek in Lumberton, NC won the Carolinas GCSA golf championship presented in partnership with Smith Turf and Irrigation, Toro Finance and The Toro Company. Fanning, who won the title back in 1989, overcame a triple-bogey on his first hole and a double-bogey to shoot a three-under par round of 69 on the Love Course at Barefoot Resort.
- David Bowbliss, from National Golf Club in Pinehurst, NC, won a week-long golf trip for two to Scotland, valued at $6,500, in the 27-Hole Challenge presented in partnership with John Deere OneSource, Revels Turf and Tractor, Greenville Turf and Tractor and Georgia Turf and Tractor. Other prizes included five flat panels TV’s, valued at $750 each, and 18 iPods, valued at $300 each.
- Carolinas Night at the Beach presented in partnership with Jacobsen TurfDirect attracted more than 600 party-goers, a record for any social gathering in association history.
- Total Conference and Show revenue of $623,000 set a new record, up about $70,000 on 2006;
- Exhibitors occupied 428 booths, another record, up from the previous year’s high of 407;
- The number of individual companies was the highest ever at 222, up from 219;
- Demand for education also established a new peak with 1,278 seminar seats occupied, up on 1,205 in 2006.