Dear Advertisers and Supporters,

We offer many thanks to our continuing advertisers and supporters and a special welcome to those of you who may be new to the Florida Golf Industry market.

The Florida GCSA is excited to announce a new Industry Partnership Program that we feel will add significant value to your goal and commitment of reaching and supporting your customers and our members.

This program will bundle the annual GIS FGCSA Reception Sponsorship, Florida Green advertisements, FGCSA Membership Directory advertisements and listing in our new Vendor Directory on our website, which is being redesigned and will go live on October 1, 2010. We are also excited to announce that the 2011 FGCSA Reception will be held on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at Epcot® from 7-10pm.

In addition, FGCSA Industry Partners will receive special recognition at the following FGCSA events: the Poa Annua and Crowfoot Education Seminars, the FGCSA Golf Championship and a special listing in each issue of the Florida Green Magazine.

The Partnership levels have been configured to stabilize the changing reception costs (that use to vary depending on location) and also reflect no new advertising rate increases in the Florida Green magazine or the Membership Directory.

The Partnership Program will allow you to know your total advertising and support costs and maximize your exposure to your customers for the whole year at a discount over individual Ala Carte pricing.

Of course you need not become an Industry Partner to continue to advertise and support by selecting from the traditional opportunities in the Ala Carte listings at no price increase for 2010-2011 fiscal year.

                                                Executive Director

Attachments:

FGCSA PARTNERSHIP COMMITMENT Form.pdf	[ ]	75 Kb
FGCSA Sponsorship Info. and Pricing Sheet.pdf	[ ]	34 Kb

 Conference Online Reservations Quick Links

Summertime Cultivations Ramp Up In Florida

The summer months for most Florida golf courses are always slow, as few golfers can brave the near-100^o F heat and stifling humidity. However, golf course staff are very busy, since the bermudagrass grows at an accelerated pace at this time. In addition to continual mowing, golf courses are busy with annual cultivation programs, including verticutting, circle mowing, scalping, sand topdressing, and core aeration.

Bermudagrass produces intermingled aboveground and belowground stems that are referred to as thatch. Excessive thatch decreases golf course aesthetics and playability, and cultivation practices are necessary to reduce thatch and improve golf course quality.

Grain patterns can occur as the bermudagrass becomes "trained" through continual mowing practices. Circle cutting is a form of fairway cultivation where mowers are operated in a circular fashion, mowing the turf at different angles and reducing grain. Scalping occurs when mowing heights are lowered to the point where green leaves are completely removed and the underlying stems are exposed. These practices are implemented each summer to create a more uniform and consistent ball lie on bermudagrass golf courses.

Core aeration provides several benefits, including thatch reduction, compaction relief, improved soil porosity, and organic matter dilution. Core aeration is an often-hated practice by golfers, as it produces bumpy putting greens and inconsistent aesthetic quality throughout the golf course. The negative impacts of core aeration are short lived, but the long term improvements they provide are well worth the slight inconvenience.

There are no set criteria for the intensity and frequency of cultivation that should occur at any particular golf course. Turfgrass management is both an art and a science, and requires a knowledgeable golf course superintendent as well as an understanding golf club membership. When it comes to cultivating bermudagrass in Florida, the best-maintained golf courses are often the most aggressively cultivated ones during the summer months.

From Mark Kann, FGCSA Education Committee Chairman: Click on the pdf link below for a list of topics, dates, locations and contact information for training seminars on Chemical Spill Response, Site Pro Training (various levels)  and landscape irrigation auditing training. PDI points are available for these sessions. While the majority of these are the Chemical Spill Response sessions by Chris Pappas, there are many interesting aspects in his presentation that could actually impact you and your company (club).

Following the North Central Florida Turfgrass Field Day  in Citra on May 19th, courses in NW Florida can visit the Gulf Coast Expo and Field Day in Jay, FL on June 16th.

Attachments:

Education Events 2010.pdf

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