The GCM staff is covering all the action at the 2025 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show as it unfolds. Check back often for the latest industry news, company announcements, highlights from the Education Conference, and more.
Students from the University of Arkansas compete Wednesday in the 31st annual Turf Bowl at the 2025 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego. Photo by Darrell J. Pehr
• GCSAA's 2025 Turf Bowl got underway Wednesday afternoon at the San Diego Convention Center with collegiate teams from 29 universities in the 31st annual event. The Turf Bowl this year includes 276 participants on 76 teams — the highest numbers of teams and competitors since 2012.
Brandon Bell, M. Ed., North America Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Syngenta, Nancy Cienfuegos, Assistant Superintendent at Whitetail Club, Rick T. Mooney III, Vice President, Maintenance and Development at Shore Lodge/Whitetail Club, Shania Lancour, Equipment Technician at Sand Valley Golf Resort and Austin Wright, CTEM, Equipment Manager at Hazeltine National Golf Club, were featured speakers at the Leading Turf Together session sponsored by Syngenta on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by GCSAA
• Everyone at Wednesday afternoon’s Leading Turf Together session had someone who got them into the turf industry. Nancy Cienfuegos, assistant superintendent at Whitetail Golf Club in McCall, Idaho, had her dad. Austin Wright, CTEM at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., had his mom Mischia, GCSAA’s director of foundation development. For Shania Lancour, equipment technician at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Rome, Wisc., working with Wright — who directed her to a mentor relationship with Kayla Kipp, CTEM at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort — was an important step toward finding a home in the industry.
The session, which evolved out of Ladies Leading Turf and GCSAA's Women's Task Group, focused on the importance of mentor and mentee relationships. As a mentor, Wright said he takes inspiration from coaching. "We can succeed as a team, we can fail as a team, but most importantly we’re going to learn as a team," Wright said. "As the coach of a team, If you fail, I fail too. If you succeed, I succeed. You have to set that standard that you want the team to uphold, and you empower your team to perform their best work."
That collaborative spirit has rubbed off on Lancour. "I want to create an atmosphere where people are comfortable enough to come and tell me when something is broken," she said. "There’s no embarrassment in it, that’s why we’re there as technicians. It’s the shop and crew vs the problem, we’re not fighting against each other."
Mike Whan, CEO of USGA, Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO and Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest chairman and editor-in-chief, led the session “Working Together for Golf’s Future: Insights from USGA and GCSAA Leadership,” on Wednesday on the GCSAA Trade Show floor. Photo by Tyler Stover
• Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest chairman and editor-in-chief, had good news and bad news for attendees at Wednesday's session with Tarde, USGA CEO Mike Whan and GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans on the GCSAA TV stage at the trade show floor.
"Pro golf is broken and it's unclear whether it can be repaired. That's how disruption works, and it lingers a long time," Tarde said. "Don't let it obfuscate the strength of the recreational game. The sport you and I play, serviced by GCSAA and the USGA is the greatest game in the history of the world, and today it's vibrant."
The session, titled “Working Together for Golf’s Future: Insights from USGA and GCSAA Leadership,” covered the importance of GCSAA and the USGA's ongoing collaboration, its impact on the future of golf, and how to capitalize on the current post-COVID upward trend in recreational play. Whan said that includes paying close attention to the diverse new audiences drawn toward the game right now.
"Ten years ago, if you told anyone this game was going to grow by 50%, we wouldn't have believed it. If I said that growth was coming from juniors, women and people of color, you'd have thought I was smoking something," Whan said. "Our customers look different than from even five years ago."
For Evans, no matter what the changes may bring, the end goal for GCSAA members is still the same: Creating sustainable spaces that anyone can get something out of.
"At the end of the day, you've got to create playing surfaces that 20 million players can enjoy," Evans said. "The people at this show have to figure out how to make that work, and balance the amount of play with increased expectations, and how to use innovations that make their jobs not just easier, but more effective."