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KGCSA Presidents Message

It is quite amazing how time can just move right along. Another year has come and gone for our association which was recapped at our Annual Business meeting at Lake Forest Country Club on October 4^th. It was a very eventful and busy night for the board of directors. For those of you that had missed it I wanted to recap and highlight the evening and some of the items discussed. Before I begin I must thank Brian Curtis and the entire Lake Forest CC team for a great day of golf and dinner.

In January the executive team and board of directors met with Steve Randall and Shane Conroy in a strategic planning session. Steve and Shane assisted in facilitating a very productive meeting that led to some great new initiatives for the KGCSA. Priorities that resulted from this session were creating a budget, increasing communication and continued focus on the association’s endowment fund. Through the continued success of our fundraising efforts we would continue to deposit 50% into the endowment and direct 20% of annual funds raised towards Legacy Scholarships, 10% towards GIS Scholarships and 20% to subsidize meeting costs for our members. A $2,000 grant from the GCSAA assisted us in developing a new website for the association, kigcsa.info. In partnering with Talgrace Marketing we continue to work on communication through our KGCSA App., website and constant contact email blasts.

The KGCSA saw a 40% growth in membership this year. We had 88 total members registered this past year. Secretary/Treasurer Brian Curtis reported to the membership the year’s financials which were quite impressive. The KGCSA had the most successful fundraisers YTD which in turn led to the single most one-time deposit/contribution to the endowment fund. All members can access the financials on the new website under the member side. If you have not registered for the website this is certainly a great time to do so.

Damon Hitti and Mark Giuffre recapped our 2016 events which were highlighted by one of our most successful meetings of the year, the Annual Assistants meeting at Louisville Country Club with host Superintendent Ric Kehres. We had over 70 individuals in attendance and partnered with the KTC to involve students from our surrounding Turfgrass Management Universities. Pat Jones and Mark Vogt discussed industry trends and team leadership. The remaining schedule of events for the year were all successful which included the annual Mini Pesticide conference, the Powell Cup at Harmony Landing, fundraiser at Woodhaven Country Club and open golf day at Old Capital Golf Club.

David Beanblossom the tournament fundraiser chair shared with the group the continued and generous support of all of our sponsors, which in turn led to the most successful fundraiser year to date. Reynolds Golf & Turf, SiteOne and Lucas Oil were our Platinum sponsors for this year’s tournament. We had many others who supported us at different levels and encourage everyone to go to the website to see who assisted us in our successes this year. As mentioned earlier our fundraising efforts allowed for the single largest one-time contribution to the endowment and achieve all our initiatives that were set forth in 2016.

John Ballard discussed the establishment and process through an independent committee of selecting Legacy and GIS scholarship recipients. He presented four Scholarships at the Annual Business meeting to sons and daughters of our members. Yancey Pritchett son of Walter Prichett, Nicole Beanblossom daughter of David Beanblossom, Duncan Hitti son of Damon Hitti and Kaitlin Sullivan daughter of David Sullivan all were presented with scholarships to assist them with continuing education. The board of directors thanks everyone who submitted applications and will look to continue to award scholarships in 2017.

I want to thank our board of directors for the efforts put forth this year and look forward to another successful year in 2017. The focus of the board to give back to the members, the community in which we work and add value to your membership has been unprecedented. Please stay tuned for upcoming events and look forward to seeing everyone at Louisville Country Club on November 8^th for another great Assistant’s meeting.

Respectfully,

Roger Meier

KGCSA President