Respected agronomist, Bruce Williams, will discuss personal side of turfgrass management

Bruce Williams will serve as the keynote speaker for the third annual Deep South Turf Expo Nov. 7-9 in Biloxi, Miss.

Williams, a GCI senior contributing editor, is owner of Bruce Williams Golf Consulting, which provides a variety of services to the golf industry, including business development, strategic planning, meeting facilitation, executive search, career planning, writing and speaking. He has served as director of business development for ValleyCrest Golf Course Maintenance and director of golf Courses and grounds for the Los Angeles Country Club. His presentation will be on “Leading Your Way to Success!”

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Williams said success managers must, “Shift the mindset from managing people to leadership. The key is to focus on leading a team, rather than managing staff. Turf managers have a difficult job, and there is an everyday need to inspire those who work with them to produce a better product. The best teams are those who are trained properly and fully understand the goals, objectives and missions of their club.”

Another criteria for being successful turf managers is “managing up” and “managing laterally,” Williams said. “Too often turf professionals see their jobs as managing turf, but that is the easiest part of it,” Williams said. “Managing ‘up and laterally’ applies to interacting with colleagues such as the golf pro, clubhouse manager, club board of directors and club members. Important components in your plan should be developing business acumen, leadership and communication skills.”

Williams is prepared to help attendees hone all those skills at the Deep South Turf Expo. He is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College and the golf course management program at Michigan State University. Holding major leadership positions in the golf industry for many years, Williams has served as president of four chapters of GCSAA and is also a board member and past president of GCSAA. He is currently a director of the California Alliance for Golf, an honorary director of the PGA of America, a USGA Green Section committee member since 1993 and vice president of the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation.

In addition to Williams’ speech, a number agronomists, extension specialists and industry partners in the Southeast will bring a well-rounded program to the Deep South Turf Expo with five breakout sessions in golf, lawn care, sports turf, sod production and landscape.