Inside one of the biggest — and best? — Golfdom Summit ever

As any superintendent in Florida can attest, the weather there this fall and winter has been particularly challenging. Cool, wet weather and a terrible hurricane season have made the art of maintaining a golf course difficult.

But somehow, when Golfdom’s group of 100 attendees — including superintendents, industry representatives and the magazine’s staff — arrived in Orlando for the 2024 Golfdom Summit in mid-December last year, Mother Nature was fully cooperative. Consider this: The only rain the event saw was in the hour before any outdoor activities were to begin. Or, despite the forecast for cold, windy weather, the Legends presentation was still held outdoors by the pool on what was a calm, cool night.

The weatherman whiffed; Mother Nature smiled.

“This was easily the smoothest Golfdom Summit we’ve ever done,” said Craig MacGregor, the magazine’s publisher. “We had more partners involved in the event than we’ve ever had before — that could have been a logistical challenge, but it worked out. Even though the event is nearing its teenage years and is well known in the industry, it seems there’s a renewed interest in what the event is and what it delivers.”

Uncommon camaraderie

What sets the Golfdom Summit apart from other industry events is its unique format: Approximately 45 superintendents from around the country are invited each year. About 15 to 20 of the magazine’s advertising partners also join in for the opportunity to meet with those superintendents in an intimate, relaxed environment.

The magazine’s partners get to deliver a short presentation to the superintendents as a group. Following that presentation, they get another opportunity to meet in a smaller setting: two superintendents visit with each partner for no longer than 15 minutes, then move on to the next meeting. And, of course, there’s a round of golf followed by a barbecue dinner — another opportunity to network and connect with one another.

Justin Woodland, golf course superintendent at The Barn GC in Ogden, Utah, said that he’d never been at a meeting where such a diverse group of industry professionals were offered so many opportunities to get to know each other.

“The camaraderie (is what stood out),” Woodland said. “I knew of many of these people, but to spend time with them in this type of environment — some formal, some very, very low-key — and then the conversations afterward in the rooms and around the bar … the camaraderie with the people here is the best.”

“The exposure (to other superintendents) is my biggest takeaway,” said Kyle Moses, superintendent at Tower Tee Golf and Recreation in Festus, Mo. “I’ve never been in the same room as a director from Pinehurst. I’m always around my local superintendents — who are legends in their own right — but being a part of something like this and not having to ask my club for the money to take the trip? Now I have an entirely new group of people I can ask questions of and rely on.”

A New Legend is revealed

One of the most anticipated events of the Golfdom Summit is the unveiling of the new Legend winner. The award, sponsored by Quali-Pro and Kafka Granite, recognizes a superintendent for their lifetime dedication to the craft of greenkeeping and the superintendent community. Previous winners include Ted Horton, CGCS (Pebble Beach); Matt Shaffer (Merion); Bob Farren, CGCS (Pinehurst Resort); Shawn Emerson (Desert Mountain); David Stone (The Honors Course); Tim Hiers, CGCS (White Oak Conservation); and Marsh Benson (Augusta National).

This year’s inductee was Ken Mangum, CGCS, longtime superintendent at Atlanta Athletic Club.

“I’ve known Ken for about 50 years. He is the embodiment of class and professionalism in our industry,” Hiers said. “Ken is an innovator and a mentor to many successful superintendents, and his contributions extend well outside the golf community. He is the type of person you’d like to have as a neighbor and a friend. Despite all his success, he has remained humble and grateful to the golf management industry we all love.”

Mangum said he was “speechless” when he received a call from Shaffer informing him he was being honored as the newest Legend.

“I am honored to be in that group of guys — I count all of them as friends,” Mangum said at the beginning of the hour-long panel discussion. “I’ve known many of them for years. Tim and I went to the same school. I’ve had many discussions with Shawn. We all have a lot in common.”

Mangum spent 27 years maintaining Atlanta Athletic Club and hosted the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2001 PGA Championship, the 2002 U.S. Junior Championship, the 2011 PGA Championship and the 2014 U.S. Amateur.

He told the audience that when he first joined Atlanta Athletic Club in 1988, he was tasked with hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 18 months — and that was with only nine of the facility’s 37 greens playable at the time.

“Some people called me crazy,” Mangum laughed, “but I told them I’m just an optimist because it couldn’t get any worse.”

Mangum said the key to his success was his determination to always be learning and taking chances on new ways to get the job done.

“My dad told me one time when I was young, he said he didn’t care what I did, but make sure to be the best at what I do. That was going to take hard work, it would take being smart and it would take being innovative,” Mangum said. “But if you do all those things, you can be the best at something. I took all those things and tried to be the best. I did a lot of things first. I didn’t mind being first. I pushed the envelope a lot, because I wanted to be better. I always felt like there’s got to be a better way, and I wanted to be better.”

Key moments

The 2024 Golfdom Summit included 17 partners, the most ever for the event.

Here’s a key message from each company:

Porous Pave

According to Connor Ouwinga, national sales manager for Porous Pave, what sets the company’s product apart from others in the industry is its versatility. Ouwinga showcased several different applications, including cart paths, bunker liners, maintenance paths, cart staging areas, bunker liners and even bridge decks.

It’s also an environmentally friendly product — made from recycled tires — which is important to the company.

“It’s high-traction even on steep slopes, reduces the ball bounce by about 73 percent because of its impact absorbance,” said Ouwinga. “That’s thanks to it being made out of recycled materials like truck tires. We’ve recycled about 25 million pounds of tires since we started in 2007.”

Quali-Pro

Jeff Rampino, Florida territory manager for Quali-Pro, spent time helping superintendents at the 2024 Golfdom Summit get further acquainted with Quali-Pro and its parent company, Control Solutions, Inc.

“We are a very large company, but the nice thing is that we can also be small and nimble to respond to your needs in the field,” he said. “We’re giving you significant support through our industry support programs with the GCSAA and local associations.”

Rampino also highlighted several of Quali-Pro’s top products, including Suprado — a Golfdom Supers’ Choice Award winner in 2022 and 2023 — and some of the company’s newest products, like Smokeshow, an herbicide for postemergent weed control in bermudagrass.

Redexim

Redexim territory manager Darren Powers gave Golfdom Summit attendees a history lesson on Redexim and a look toward the future of what the company has to offer.

“We help solve problems,” he said. “We have equipment that will relieve compaction and promote water infiltration. Our flagship product is the Verti-Drain, a deep tine aerator. We are the first company to create a deep tine aerator.”

Powers and Brad Lackey, regional territory manager, also showcased Redexim’s overseeders and grooming tools, including the Turf Tidy 3000 and its newest Verti-Drain, the 2519.

Jacobsen

Neil Perez, director, sales, noted that his company is backed by a multinational conglomerate — Textron — which makes the company a powerhouse of technology.

“The reason that’s important to us and to the industry is we can actually leverage a lot of new technologies and share information and ideas amongst ourselves,” Perez said. “We’re a bit of an engineering firm in that sense. A lot of the products that we’re showing here — a lithium triplex greens mower, a fairway mower that’s all-electric, lithium-based — the technology first successfully debuted in other sectors, and we were able to figure out ways to bring it to the golf industry.”

PBI-Gordon

Brian Aynardi, Ph.D., Northeast research scientist for Kansas City-based PBI-Gordon, talked about PBI being an employee-owned, niche company focused strictly on the turf and ornamental market.

“We’re focused solely on what you all do,” Aynardi said. “We work with our distribution partners and with you, the end user, to bring trusted, innovative, proven products to the market. Those partnerships also deliver … educational resources online. We have training modules. We have materials that you can go for on each product to read more about them, such as BMPs for managing certain types of weeds. We also offer business support through our partners. We have technical expertise both through our tech service team … and customer support.”

Nufarm

Chris Fronczek, golf market manager for Nufarm, featured several of the company’s products he described as industry leaders but said the company takes special pride in its support of the industry.

“We’ve got a lot going on regarding new products in this coming year and years to come. But something we’re equally proud of is our support of the industry. We’ve been a GCSAA Gold Partner for many years. We’re RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) board members. We support the National Association of Landscape Professionals. And two that are near and dear to my heart are Project EverGreen and their Green Care for Troops program, which we’re presenting partners … and the EXCEL Leadership Program. All those things are really important to us.”

Sipcam Agro

Product development manager Michael Prudhomme recapped the company’s 2024 with a highlight on their new facility in Waynesboro, Miss., that produces postemergent and preemergent herbicides. From this new facility, Sipcam also plans to release its new patented herbicide, Linchpin, in 2025, offering another postemergent solution for broadleaf weeds and more.

“The primary (herbicide) we’re excited about is Linchpin. It’ll be coming out in the first quarter of 2025,” Prudhomme said. “It’s a sedge, kyllinga/crabgrass and some broadleaf postemergent-type product.”

Kress

Tim Barrier, CGCS-retired, mentioned he’d been invited to the Golfdom Summit during his days as a superintendent but could never make the time to attend. He was excited to finally be at the event, now as the golf business development manager for Kress.

“We’re a global leader in robotic mowing … and as you all probably know, robotics is really starting to make a push in the United States. There are a lot of things to like about the technology … but the cut quality you’re going to see is one of the greatest things that we hear about Kress technology,” Barrier said. “I have superintendents tell me all the time that they don’t care what it saves, they don’t care about the labor. But they do care that their golf course is in better condition and it’s noticeable to the golfers out there.”

Steel Green Manufacturing

Spreader/sprayers were the name of the game for Steel Green Manufacturing, and sales representative Caleb Myers featured several of these tools at the Golfdom Summit.

Starting with the SG52 with a 230-gallon tank, Myers went down the line to smaller machines, such as their award-winning SG46 — the highest liquid capacity machine that can fit through a 4-foot gate.

“(The SG46), in particular, has won us a lot of awards. It really started gaining traction,” Myers said.

The Andersons

Along with featuring their staple of fertilizer and insecticide solutions, The Andersons’ Golfdom Summit presentation focused on how the company views the current state of the industry. Territory manager Alan Hollen said he expects 2025 to stay relatively flat and similar to 2024, even after some big changes such as the presidential election.

taskTracker

Are you still using a whiteboard to keep track of your labor on the golf course? What about pen and paper?

Jaime Sharp, the founder of taskTracker, used his presentation to discuss why digitizing a job board through programs like taskTracker can make accessing critical data easier, save labor hours, increase efficiency and more.

“Most people who are using a whiteboard, what do you do with that data at the end of the day? You erase it,” Sharp said. “That data can be used to power a lot of analytics.”

POGO Turf Pro

Carmen Magro, Ph.D., CGCS, is a staple at the Golfdom Summit, where he showcases his system for helping superintendents measure moisture on their golf courses. Magro is a strong proponent of knowing not only what you’re measuring but also why you’re doing it and how it helps you make the right decisions.

“Imagine if a doctor took one test and said, ‘Oh my God, we have to go into heart surgery because of what this test said,’” Magro said. “Then, they find out later that this person has been an athlete their whole life, and those elevated numbers are normal. That’s what monitoring is all about. You need to understand what that number means and put it into perspective.”

Turfco

Scott Kinkead, executive vice president of Turfco — a 100-plus-year-old family-owned company based in Blaine, Minn. — stressed the importance of precision to the group of superintendents, especially on practices like topdressing greens.

“When you have to overlap to get your spreads even (on greens), four extra passes could be an extra 72 passes for a turning topdresser,” Kinkead said. “If you’re topdressing 10 times, that could be 360 to 720 extra passes per year. If you’re in the South and topdressing 20 times a year, we’re talking 720 to 1,400 extra passes.”

Frost Inc.

Ken Rost, CEO of Frost Inc., said he gets it if a superintendent hasn’t gotten wrapped up in GPS spraying … but he also wants them to know that the technology is now proven.

“Sometimes you get wrapped up into all kind of other tasks, and you don’t see the forest from the trees,” Rost said. “I’ll tell you, you’re not a guinea pig anymore. The system, since 2012, we’ve refined it, and it has gotten so easy to use … anyone can use it. You can see what’s been done and have that record of turf management.”

NanoOxygen Systems

Ron Pote, owner of NanoOxygen Systems, made his first-ever trip to the Golfdom Summit. He told the superintendents his goal was to incorporate oxygen and ozone into water to make it better for golf courses.

“If you talk to someone who grows plants, they know exactly what their dissolved oxygen is because they measure it all the time,” Pote said. “Now, we basically eliminate algae from ponds, and then that water that we treat goes out onto the course with high levels of oxygen. We produce water that has three to four times the rainwater’s (oxygen) concentration.”

Kafka Granite

Dan Hannan, business development manager for Kafka Granite, discussed the company’s history and its product and how a chance encounter with Chris Zugel, CGCS at Whistling Straits, connected with the products use in golf.

“Glen (Kafka, owner) had a contract with Kohler and would crush their waste toilets to reduce their landfill weights,” Hannan said. “Chris and Glen worked together to create a pathway mix to recycle that porcelain … and from there, it’s really branched out.”

Numerator Technologies

A specialty chemicals manufacturer, CEO Taylor Turner discussed the challenges the industry currently has with water, including hard water and a lack of water.

“We’re a specialized manufacturer of some of the industry’s leading soil surfactants in the marketplace… 88 percent of North America’s water is hard water,” Turner said. “Does your water flow perfectly down? We can offer tailored solutions to provide you with better water movement and better water quality.”

Atticus

Another company making its debut at the 2024 Golfdom Summit was Atticus, a chemical company based in Cary, N.C. Rob Golembiewski, Ph.D., and Michael Sorensen were in attendance to talk to the superintendents about the company.

The duo told the attendees that while the chemistry isn’t unique, the Atticus experience is. Atticus is a demand-driven manufacturer of battle-tested chemistries, established in 2014. Since Atticus is an independent company, they’re able to make decisions at speed, executing each step with discipline in order to get results. For more information on Atticus and a complete list of their products, visit AtticusLLC.com.

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