For all the big numbers bandied about in association with the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Orlando, one of the biggest was paradoxically one of the smallest: 100.
While most of the other metrics joined the one- or even two-comma club, 100 barely cracked triple digits, yet that number — 100, signifying the number of years GCSAA has been in existence — seemed to permeate every corner of the Orange County Convention Center. And beyond.
Yes, the Centennial motif was everywhere, from the trade show floor to the popular Tuesday night celebration at ICON Park.
Everywhere attendees looked there was a tribute to (or even a hologram of) Col. John Morley or some other nod to the association he founded in 1926. One hundred was prominent from outside signage to the massive Centennial Experience, the 16,000-square-foot collection of facts and artifacts from GCSAA’s past.
Though 100 ruled the day — or, more accurately, the week of Feb. 2-5 — here are some other big numbers that stood out:
- 12,820-plus. That’s how many attendees participated in the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, put on with presenting partners GCBAA, USGA and ASGCA and with participating partners NGCOA and NGF. That’s a 15% increase over the 2025 event in San Diego and an increase of nearly 2,000 since the last trip to Orlando (10,900 in 2023).
- 8,074. That’s the number of seminar seats sold, the most since 2008.
- 178,600. That’s the size, in net square feet, of sold booth space, a 16% increase over San Diego.
- 523. The number of exhibitors.
- 4,400-plus. The number of GCSAA members and Conference and Trade Show attendees who took part in the Tuesday evening celebration at ICON Park.
- 979 and 640. The number of registrations and number of participants, respectively, who participated in the GCSAA National Championships.
- 3,350. The number of Centennial challenge coins handed out over the course of the event.
Here’s a look at the stories beyond the numbers.
An attendee checks out an artifact in the GCSAA Centennial Experience exhibit. Photos by Montana Pritchard and Phil Cauthon
Centennial Experience takes attendees back in time
Thousands of people circulated on the GCSAA Trade Show floor during its two days and a good many of them were captivated by the Centennial Experience display. It was an expansive wrap-around timeline of 100 years of GCSAA’s milestones and highlights and — in the center of it all — dozens of what are now decades-old relics from its members’ storied past.
Palmer Maples Jr., CGCS Retired and 1975 past president, was among those soaking it all in. “This display — it’s just magnificent. Just magnificent. Because I’ve used a lot of this equipment,” said Maples, a 66-year GCSAA member who started his career as a superintendent in 1959 at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club. “Like that divot replacer there, that’s shaped kinda like, well, just like the divot is. It’s all magnificent. The old Toro mowers, the old Jake greens mowers. That’s one of those I learned when we changed to the grass greens from the sand greens.”
The Centennial Experience sent him down a memory lane recalling when his dad planted grass greens in 1943 at Benvenue (N.C.) Country Club and when he was called up in 1959 to plant grass greens and serve as the superintendent at Charlotte (N.C.) CC.
“I was there 12 years and then got the call to go to Standard Club in Atlanta in 1970, and that’s the year I was elected to the Board,” Maples said. “So seven years I was on the Board from ’70 to the end of ’76. So I went as a Board member to the 50th anniversary. And for the 75th I was on a plane in Atlanta. The plane was loaded and getting ready to take off. And then the pilot came out and said ‘Folks, we’ve had a little trouble in the country. And all planes are grounded. That was 9/11. So we didn’t get to come to gather for the 75th. But to be here for the 100th celebration — I’ve got 65 years-worth I can talk about.”
Vintage equipment was on display from decades of history of turfgrass management.
At 78 years old, Randy Nichols, CGCS Retired, says the Centennial Experience display has a lot of the equipment he came up using. “In 1967, I went to work at Memphis Country Club for a guy who had been the superintendent there for 50 years. So there was a lot of history. He told me a lot of things that went on in the early, early days. The old maintenance building was a horse barn. And they had horses there to pull the fairway units. They had aluminum shoes that would leave indentations in the fairways,” he said.
“But I never used anything like that. But things in here, yes. Like that right there (a vintage Toro triplex mower), a newer model than that but very similar. Some of the handtools and that computer over there (a model from the 80s), I bought one in about 1985,” said Nichols, a 50-year GCSAA member who also attended the 50th anniversary celebration.
“I was around when they came out with the first riding greens mower. They didn’t know how to operate them, how to cut straight lines. They were cutting around in a circle. Kinda funny,” Nichols said.
“What amazes me is all the autonomous stuff. Labor is getting harder and harder to find. This younger generation doesn’t want to get their hands dirty and they don’t want to sweat and they want to make $100,000 a year. I still have a lot of friends in the industry and they say they’ll hire somebody for $15 an hour and they won’t even show up the next day. They don’t know what work is. I grew up in a time where people were still plowing with mules — that was work.”
Charles Schaeffer is technically retired from Riveria Country Club in Ormond Beach, Fla., where he started in 1962 and became the superintendent in 1970. But the 42-year GCSAA member says he keeps working just for something to do.
“I’ve used some of this stuff,” he said with a laugh. “Some of the old greens mowers and aerifiers and irrigation stuff I’ve used back in those days, the 70s.”
Schaeffer said it was interesting to revisit all the changes through the years in the Centennial Experience, and it reminds him of his own course. “They were privately owned, bought in 1953, and charging $50 a year for memberships — I don’t know what it is now but it’s a little bit more than that. And they went from doing maybe 15,000 rounds to I think they did 57,000 this year. Just seeing those changes, it’s something else.”
— Phil Cauthon, GCM managing editor
The CEO Roundtable featured, from left, Jerry Tarde, editor-in-chief of Golf Digest; Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA; Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner; and Rhett Evans, CEO of GCSAA.
CEO roundtable headlines Opening Session
Nearly 2,000 superintendents, assistants, equipment managers and others from across the country and beyond filled a capacity Opening Session presented in partnership with Syngenta.
The 90-minute welcoming session was filled with references to GCSAA’s Centennial Celebration, including the opening remarks by CEO Rhett Evans. He said it was critical to GCSAA founder Col. John Morley 100 years ago that the new organization be guided in the right way, the principled way.
“To help keep that front and center for me, I carry with me the very first National Greenkeeper magazine,” Evans said. “Its pages share our history, and it begins with Col. Morley at our very first meeting in 1926 addressing a small congregation. He opened with these words: ‘The association of mankind, for the purpose of advancement and improvement, is a divine arrangement. We are made for companionship. No life is or can be self-existent. We depend upon each other.’ As we prepare for the Centennial, it is clear that these words are not just part of our history, they are our foundation.”
Headlining the event was a CEO roundtable moderated by Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde. The panel featured Evans; Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR Commissioner; and Mike Whan, USGA CEO.
Tarde led the trio in an expansive discussion, starting with three challenges facing golf: workforce shortages, environmental challenges and affordability. Whan answered first saying the biggest challenge facing golf is clear.
“In a word, it’s water,” Whan said. “In the (USGA) Green Section, I’ve talked about it aggressively for the last six years: We don’t just want to be great research partners, we want to be able to give you the tools to put it into play. So it’s not a shock that we’re spending $20 million a year to try to figure out tools that we can provide, whether that’s Deacon apps or moisture meters.”
Evans took it a step further. “When you talk about sustainability, you automatically go to the environment, water, land, energy, air and so on. Even more broadly, when we look at where we’re at and where the game is going, you look at labor and have to ask: Is it sustainable? We need to make sure that we are developing the future leaders, the future superintendents. So talent acquisition, I think, is a piece of the puzzle in the sustainability question.”
Looking to the future, Tarde asked the panel to forecast how AI (artificial intelligence) would impact their respective organizations.
Whan said he could see the USGA incorporating AI into a questions-and-answers service around golf rules.
“What AI really works well on is when you have a significant database of knowledge and correct answers that can only exist in one place,” Whan said. “We get 30,000 questions a year on the rules of golf sent in to the USGA. We’re not too far away from where on your phone — and you’re playing a round and your ball is on a root — you can simply pull up our AI and say my ball is on a root, take a picture of it, and a person will give you a ruling. If you asked ChatGPT they might give you an answer from 2004 or might give you a well-publicized wrong answer.”
Among other things, the event also honored outgoing GCSAA President T.A. Barker, CGCS, as well several 2025 GCSAA award winners:
- Outstanding Contribution Award: Bert McCarty, Ph.D.
- President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship: Jim Pavonetti, CGCS.
- Colonel John Morley Award: Joseph Alonzi, CGCS Retired, and Robert Alonzi, CGCS Retired.
— P.C.
The GCSAA Centennial Celebration at Orlando's ICON Park was a big hit with attendees.
An ICONic celebration
It’s not unusual for GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans to kick off celebrations at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show with a bang. This year during the Centennial Celebration at Orlando’s ICON Park on Tuesday, Feb. 3, was no different.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate the people who serve our profession,” Evans told the crowd early on. The event was a super-sized party featuring food, music, activities and attractions appropriate for a century’s worth of celebration. For Evans, there was only one fitting way to get the party started.
“I like heights,” Evans told the assembled attendees, and pointed to ICON Park’s Orlando Slingshot, which catapults riders 450 feet into the air for a breathtaking (and high octane) bird’s eye view of the city skyline. “I came in and looked at that and thought that’d be pretty cool,” Evans said. “And you know, it’s a two-seater.”
Joining Evans to literally fly into the association’s next 100 years was about to-be-newly-minted GCSAA president Paul L. Carter, CGCS. While Carter’s official inauguration into the role wouldn’t come until the GCSAA annual meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“Into the next century, boss!” Carter exclaimed to Evans in the moments before liftoff.
“Into the next century! Here we go! To the next 100 years!” Evans replied.
After the initial shock of rocketing into the night sky, the pair shared a fist bump. “It’s going be a great year, boss,” Carter said.
For Carter, a self-professed amusement park fan, it was an appropriately thrilling way to preview his presidency. For attendees at the Centennial Celebration, it was the kickoff to three days’ worth of celebrating 100 years of GCSAA. The week’s Centennial events also included an extensive display of historical turfgrass equipment on the Trade Show Floor. The exhibits and celebrations honored the history of outstanding members who have helped the association and its members advance the profession and improve communities through the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf.
More than 4,400 attendees — including GCSAA members, staff, industry partners, family and friends — flocked to ICON Park despite chillier-than-usual temperatures for Orlando. The cooler weather didn’t stop the many attendees from across the industry enjoying the night and taking advantage of the opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues.
The celebration made history as the first industry-wide event of its kind. It all came together with hard work of GCSAA staff and the support of more than a dozen industry partners and vendors, who worked together to create vibrant experiences and a celebratory, community-focused atmosphere.
“Moments like this don’t happen on their own,” Evans said. “The GCSAA staff have been turning and burning for the last couple of years putting all this together.”
Paul L. Carter, CGCS, elected president
GCSAA’s Annual Meeting is always an important part of the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, but the meeting at the start of the organization’s 100th year of existence was even more so.
“As we gather this morning we do so with great pride in our association’s 100-year legacy. This centennial year marks a century of leadership, innovation and service to the golf course management profession,” GCSAA immediate past president T.A. Barker, CGCS, superintendent at Fore Lakes Golf Course in Murray, Utah, told the assembled delegates. “Thank you for being part of this historic moment in GCSAA’s journey.”
The group also received an update on the state of the century-old organization from CEO Rhett Evans, who told them the future looks bright.
“As we gather at our annual meeting we do so at a truly historic moment,” Evans said. “Nearly a century ago at our first annual meeting, Col. John Morley spoke about the importance of companionship and the simple truth that we depend on one another. He believed this association would be stronger with a shared sense of purpose. That sense of shared success continues to define GCSAA.”
At the time of the show, GCSAA membership stood at 21,586 members, just 516 shy of the organization’s membership high-water mark of 22,102 set in 2002. Satisfaction with the organization, Evans said, is at an all-time high.
“From the beginning, GCSAA has been built on a belief that we depend upon each other. Progress happens collectively when we work in service to each other and to the game as a whole,” Evans said. “The chapters remain the heartbeat of this association. Today we honor the vision that began in 1926.”
That legacy now continues through GCSAA’s 89th president, Paul L. Carter, CGCS. Carter, the director of agronomy at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay in Harrison, Tenn., will be supported by vice president Marc E. Weston, CGCS, director of agronomy at Indian Hill Country Club in Newington, Conn.; secretary/treasurer Steven J. Hammon, CGCS, superintendent at Traverse City (Mich.,) Country Club; and directors Aaron Fankhauser, CGCS, director of agronomy at The Club at Rolling Hills in Golden, Colo.; Brian J. Roth, CGCS, superintendent at Oquirrh Hills Golf Course in Tooele, Utah; and Ryan Kraushofer, CGCS, superintendent and general manager at Westminster (Md.) National Golf Course. Barker will remain on the board another year as immediate past president.
Carter closed out the meeting with his first remarks as GCSAA’s president, saying he’s excited to lead the organization into its second century.
“I am honored, privileged and proud to be the 89th president of GCSAA,” Carter said. “But this is not my year. This is your year, our year, GCSAA’s year. This is our association — mine, yours, every member’s. I believe Col. Morley is looking down and proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
— Abby Olcese, GCMOnline.com editor
GCSAA hosts challenges for students
GCSAA’s annual Conference and Trade Show was a showcase of emerging talent, with two events focused on student knowledge of turf and golf maintenance techniques.
Penn State University’s Team 3 took the top spot as students from 33 universities from across the U.S. and Canada gathered in Orlando for the 32nd annual Turf Bowl.
The winning team was Wilson D. Kreitz, Joseph E. Lofland, Carter Marshall and Jacob W. Straw. Adviser is Ben McGraw, Ph.D. This was the second year in a row that a Penn State team took first place and the second year that Lofland was on the winning team. The top-place team received $15,000 from sponsor John Deere, a big increase from the $4,000 top prize last year. Penn State captured three of the top 10 spots in the 79-team competition.
Second place went to Iowa State University Team 13, winning $12,000, with members Logan McDonough, Quinn Leland, Cooper Hastings and Matthew Hanten. Adviser is Adam Thoms, Ph.D.
Purdue University’s Team 50 placed third, winning $10,000, with J. Otto Hoehl, Gavin Kenning, Abe Tebbe and William Mahan. Adviser is Cale Bigelow, Ph.D.
The 79 teams included more than 275 participants. Penn State University also won the competition in 2023, with Purdue taking first place in 2024, 2022 and 2021.
Other results include:
- Fourth: University of Maryland Team 54, Sam Burke, Owen Scott, Carson Thomas, Eli Johnson. Adviser Geoff Rinehart.
- Fifth: Texas A&M University Team 60, Teagan Lurwick, Collin Chase, Jackson Dillard, Kaz McBride. Adviser Ben Wherley, Ph.D.
- Sixth: University of Massachusetts Team 18, Nathan Doherty, David Newsome, Jett Giza, Andrew Barrett. Adviser Marvin Seaman.
- Seventh: Penn State University Team 4, Jaime Canal Campos, Michael A. Chaloupka, Ernesto Martinez, Timothy J. McGrane. Adviser Ben McGraw, Ph.D.
- Eighth: University of Guelph Team 29, Kyle Trumper, Nolan Guertin, Mackenzie Scott, Dylan Christensen. Adviser Cameron Shaw.
- Ninth: Cal Poly Pomona Team 23, Magdaleno Basilio, Joel Torres, Jaxx Curiel. Adviser Sean McLaughlin.
- Tenth: Penn State University Team 5, Christina Bender, Tyler Bechtel, George Jacob Blewitt, Augustus F. Holt. Adviser Ben McGraw, Ph.D.
The competition was presented in partnership with John Deere.
Students identified turf, weed and insect samples and turfgrass disease in multiple-choice and sample-identification formats.
High school students from around Florida showed their knowledge of golf course turfgrass care and maintenance during the Florida State FFA Turfgrass Science Competition. Winning the team competition was South Fork High School (Stuart, Fla.), with team members Alejandro Garcia, William Gaspar, Giovanni Perez and Joshua Sejour competing.
The top individual score was posted by Andrew Rice of Horizon High School (Winter Garden, Fla.).
Students competed in a written test at the Orange County Convention Center the morning of Feb. 4, followed by a practicum at Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course that included skills such as taking soil moisture readings, identifying plants and equipment, and cutting cups on a putting green.
Rice was a member of the second-place team along with team members Nicholas Dalchand, Lincoln Spallino and Zachary Woodcock. Third place went to Belleview High School (Belleview, Fla.) with team members James Heide-Harrison, Declan Nadeau, Tucker Slone and Addison Torres.
Eight teams competed representing five schools (with South Fork High School sending three teams and South Sumter High School sending two teams), which included 30 student competitors.
Also competing were:
- South Fork High School, Henry Perez, Johnathan Perez, Junior Santo-Diego and Henry Torres
- South Fork High School, Brennan Baker, Aiden Burrage, Luke Sanderson and Carter Vanmoorhen
- South Sumter High School (Bushnell, Fla.), Bryson Collins, Lane Davis, Konor Deeson and Wyatt Phillips
- South Sumter High School exhibition team, Olivia Davenport and Cameron Yueling
- Umatilla High School (Umatilla, Fla.), Aiden Edwin, Connor Fornera, Madison Kerr and Shawn Kilpatrick
Last year, GCSAA hosted the first-ever National FFA Turfgrass Science Invitational at the 2025 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego. This year’s national competition was hosted last month during the national meeting of the Sports Field Management Association in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2027, the national competition alternates back to the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, in New Orleans.
— Darrell J. Pehr, GCM science editor
Mentalist Ricky Kalmon used the power of suggestion to entertain at the second of two final events in Orlando.
Closing events encourage attendees to be their own best caddy
CEO Rhett Evans kicked off the Closing Event in front of a capacity crowd imagining what GCSAA founder Col. John Morley would think of the organization on its 100th birthday.
“I believe he would be very pleased, not just with what we’ve built but with who we are and what we’ve become,” said Evans, referencing the commemorative challenge coins distributed at the conference featuring Morley’s quote “No life is, or can be, self-existent. We depend upon each other.” Evans continued: “Be there for others, be engaged, show up and be a part of carrying this association forward into the next century.”
The event was presented in partnership with John Deere and was followed by a performance by celebrity hypnotist Ricky Kalmon. Among other things, the 2025 Edwin Budding Award was presented to John Patterson, CTEM, equipment manager at Atlanta Athletic Club and 12-year GCSAA member. The top 10 prizes in the 2026 Turf Bowl were also awarded. The newly elected GCSAA Board was introduced, including new President Paul L. Carter, CGCS.
To send attendees off with an encouraging message, Kalmon headlined the later event.
“Your best caddy in life is your mindset,” Kalmon said. “Most of us have good intentions to reduce stress, sleep better, have more energy, work out more, be healthier, be a better leader. We know what we want to do and I guarantee you, most likely you know what you should be doing. But what gets in the way of us achieving those things is usually ourselves. Our mindset can be our best friend or our worst enemy.”
Kalmon then brought 12 volunteers from the audience to the stage and proceeded to put them in “a deep state of relaxation.” On his command, all 12 shut their eyes and seemed to become oblivious to the fact they were sitting on stage in front of hundreds of people, some laying their heads on the person’s shoulder next to them.
Over the next hour, Kalmon — through what he said was just the power of suggestion to 12 people who were relaxed and keenly in the present — induced them to be convinced the person next to them smelled awful or napkins were $100 bills. He induced two of the volunteers to take off a shoe and pretend — with enthusiasm — that they were holding it up like Simba from the Lion King movie. He then got several of the volunteers to use a hand puppet to sing along to songs played over the sound system.
“When we get comfortable with the uncomfortable … that’s what makes us a better version of ourselves. That’s what they just did here today,” Kalmon said. “They were present in the moment and relaxed. All too often in life we forget to pause or sometimes we work on autopilot without thinking.”
— P.C.