It was just a few months ago that I met with superintendent Ben Anderson in his office to get to know him better and talk about some of the programs that GCSAA has to offer. He had only been at Arrowhead County Club in Montgomery for a few months but he had a long "to do" list of projects to accomplish on the course. During our conversation, I mentioned that I was having trouble filling the 2nd District Grassroots Ambassador position in Alabama. We talked about the program for a time and I left the job description and application with him. After a few days, Ben notified me that he had talked with some of the club leaders and was interested in becoming the Grassroots Ambassador with Congresswoman Martha Roby in the 2nd District of Alabama. Ben sent his information to Michael Lee at GCSAA headquarters and was enrolled in the Ambassador training class.
I was contacted by Michael Lee a few weeks ago and informed that Ben had arranged a meeting at his course with Rep. Roby's Legislative Director Mike Albares who works in the DC office. While many GR Ambassadors struggle to get appointments with lawmakers or their staff, Ben set this meeting up on his first try. I contacted Ben to see if he would like me to join him for the meeting and he agreed to have me join in on the lunch meeting at Arrowhead. We agreed to meet in Ben's office an hour before the meeting to make sure we covered all of the talking points we wanted to share with Mr. Albares. Everything was set for our August 17 visit.
Mike Albares arrived right on time and Ben and I met him at the front door of the clubhouse. As we walked in to find our table, we did our best to describe our work responsibilities and past experience in the golf industry. Mike explained that he's not a golfer but he would like to give it a try when the time was right. We helped ourselves to the lunch buffet and returned to the table where we jumped right into the meat of our conversation. We started with the H-2B program and what it means to many of the golf courses in the country. We then had a good conversation about fixing the clean water act and what water means to a golf course superintendent. The topic of water led to many other discussions including irrigation management, Best Management Practices and the 50 by 2020 initiative, labor, the EPA and Ben's goose management practice of using a remote controlled boat to chase the birds out of the ponds at the course. It was clear that Mike had a good understanding of our discussions since he grew up in the 2nd district and is keenly aware of the amount of agricultural land that lies within the district. He also said to be sure to stop by the fourth floor of the Cannon Congressional Building the next time we were in D.C.
Many thanks to Ben for putting this meeting together. I truly feel as though we've made another valuable ally on Capitol Hill as a result of this meeting.
I was contacted by Michael Lee a few weeks ago and informed that Ben had arranged a meeting at his course with Rep. Roby's Legislative Director Mike Albares who works in the DC office. While many GR Ambassadors struggle to get appointments with lawmakers or their staff, Ben set this meeting up on his first try. I contacted Ben to see if he would like me to join him for the meeting and he agreed to have me join in on the lunch meeting at Arrowhead. We agreed to meet in Ben's office an hour before the meeting to make sure we covered all of the talking points we wanted to share with Mr. Albares. Everything was set for our August 17 visit.
Mike Albares arrived right on time and Ben and I met him at the front door of the clubhouse. As we walked in to find our table, we did our best to describe our work responsibilities and past experience in the golf industry. Mike explained that he's not a golfer but he would like to give it a try when the time was right. We helped ourselves to the lunch buffet and returned to the table where we jumped right into the meat of our conversation. We started with the H-2B program and what it means to many of the golf courses in the country. We then had a good conversation about fixing the clean water act and what water means to a golf course superintendent. The topic of water led to many other discussions including irrigation management, Best Management Practices and the 50 by 2020 initiative, labor, the EPA and Ben's goose management practice of using a remote controlled boat to chase the birds out of the ponds at the course. It was clear that Mike had a good understanding of our discussions since he grew up in the 2nd district and is keenly aware of the amount of agricultural land that lies within the district. He also said to be sure to stop by the fourth floor of the Cannon Congressional Building the next time we were in D.C.
Many thanks to Ben for putting this meeting together. I truly feel as though we've made another valuable ally on Capitol Hill as a result of this meeting.
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| Arrowhead CC Superintendent Ben Anderson with Representative Marthy Roby's Legislative Director Mike Albares on the 18th green at the club. |
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