Today the throngs will descend on the Myrtle Beach Convention Center for a remarkable lineup of education, events and networking. But, as always, the best thing about the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show is not the stuff on the official agenda, it’s renewing friendships that date back decades.
For many, that meant a chance to catch up with Steve Wright. His roots ran deep here and he came back for the big event as often as he could. He was never too busy to stop and talk – about turf, golf, football, fishing, family and stories about working together 20 years ago – whatever was on your mind.
When he died unexpectedly a week ago, we all realized we’d never get to have those conversations with Steve again. I suspect that will hit hard the next few days. Yet he’ll be here in spirit, unquestionably.
I have to admit that Steve and I never got to be great friends. I’m not sure if there was a specific reason other than we never had that chance to really talk and get to know each other at a higher level.
That said, the last time I saw him was a month ago at the FTGA/FGCSA annual meeting at the World Golf Hall of Fame. He had reached out to me last spring and asked if I’d help with his plan to bring the groups back together. My answer was, “Hells yes.”
We came up with the crazy idea of asking Matt Ginella of the Golf Channel to come do a Q&A session in front of the group. We were both sort of astonished when the nutty plan came together. Ginella was great. We talked about golfer perceptions, why broadcasters get turf stuff wrong so much and what we could do to fix it. It was a fantastic evening.
As I left the event, Steve was still chatting animatedly with Ginella and he flashed me a big smile and a thumbs up. I gave him a wave and headed out thinking I’d see him here in Myrtle Beach soon enough.
Well, I won’t. But he’ll be here in spirit.
(In case you have missed the obituary written by Steve’s daughter Casey, please read it here. It’s truly wonderful. https://www.glickfamilyfuneralhome.com/notices/Steven-Wright.)
Pat Jones is Golf Course Industry’s editorial director.