Compiled by John Pryor
Some of the news items mention individuals. This is all done with the intent of keeping people informed about where people are in a good-natured way. If you have a problem with your name being mentioned here, please let me know and I will not use it on the web site.
For any comments or snippets of news, Please click here to Email Me
DALE WINCHESTER - SIGNATURE CONTROL SYSTEMS - 2012-03-30
Dale has been recently appointed World Design Services Manager at Signature Controls (http://www.signaturecontrolsystems.com/). Since Dale entered the irrigation industry in 1964 (48 years ago to save you the math) he has fulfilled a wide range of roles (distributor, pumps, consultant). He (quite literally) has lived the development of the today's irrigation system.
Dale is well-known world-wide. In my mind (and many others), he is famous for his trademark assembly sketches. The distinctive style of shading and hand-drawing adds a nice artistic touch to these technical drawings. I first saw these back in 1994 and was so impressed I thought we would emulate them. But we never found the time so this type of sketch remains unique to Dale. Dale has kindly given me permission to share a sample of these wonderful sketches with you.
Click here to View Dale's Classic Sketches (PDF Document)
Back to the present; I wish Dale the best in his new role.
If you want to contact Dale, sent me an email (Please click here to Email Me)
CHINA GOLF SHOW IN BEIJING, CHINA - 2012-03-16
Spent 3 days at the largest golf show in Asia. Unsurprisingly, very well attended by many US Golf Course Architects (see previous news snippet). Many familiar faces and some new ones there. Also attended a great presentation by Kevin Frank on water analysis. This was part of the education seminar provided by the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America and the Golf Course Builders Association of America.
US GOLF CONSTRUCTION MARKET CONTINUES DOWNWARD SPIRAL - 2012-03-15
The National Golf Foundation reported today that last year saw the closing of 157 18-hole equivilent golf courses and just 19 new openings. That marks the sixth consecutive year that golf course closings have outpaced openings and represents the largest number of annual closings during that time.
According to the NGF, this "supply-side market correction" has been long overdue. Since 1991, the number of 18-hole equivilents in the U.S. has grown by 30 percent, far ahead of the 6.5 percent growth in golfers over that same span.
"The slow correction that is now occurring is very much overdue and necessary, to help return the golf course business to a more healthy equilibrium between supply and demand." said Joe Beditz, the president and CEO of the NGF.
Click here for the full story at the Golf Course Management web site.
SITE VISIT FOR DESARU GOLF COURSE (JOHOR, MALAYSIA) - 2012-02-15
John Pryor at the site entrance for the Ernie Els designed Desaru Coast Golf Course in Johor in Malaysia. On this golf course, Hydrogold is the hydrologist responsible for the water management for the golf course as well as the irrigation design and construction management. Hydrogold is also employed for the Vijay Singh designed Desaru Valley Golf Course being built adjacent to this property.
Thad Bell is representing Ernie Els on this project as well as the Vijay Singh project. Ernie Els also has a renovation project at The Golf Club at Datai Bay in Langkawi in Malaysia. Hydrogold is the hydrologist for this project too.
Hydrogold is are happy to have CK Tan (Irrigation Golf Sdn Bhd) installing the irrigation system. Below is the excellent "Project Board" CK prepared for this project. This physical representation of our assembly sketches is very useful for project staff unfamiliar with irrigation systems. This is particularly true on landscape projects in Asia.
SITE VISIT FOR HAMBANTOTA GOLF COURSE (SRI LANKA) - 2012-01-24
This seaside coconut plantation and the adjacent abandoned sapphire mine is the site of the new Shangri-La Hambantota Resort in Sri Lanka. This includes the golf course designed by Rodney Wright of Wright Golf Design (link to Wright Golf Design's web site) and Hydrogold will be doing the irrigation design for Rodney.
While in Colombo I also visited the colonial architectured National Museum of Colombo built in 1877. Well worth the visit.
Opposite this is Viharamahadevi Park. This was formerly Victoria Park after Queen Victoria of England but was renamed after a local Queen, Viharamahadevi. Conveniently the park still has the same initials (VP). A good range of trees. This park is reputably 240 years old - that is according to its genial gardener of 32 years who guided me around the park and collected a few dollars for his retirement next year :>)
TRAINING WITH TOW GREEN IN KOREA - 2012-01-17 to 2012-01-19
John Pryor with the training group at the offices of Tow Green in Korea. In this photo is Mr Kim Sung Il (principal) on the far right, Mr Jang Moon-Taek (lead designer) next to Mr Kim, Ms Betty Cha (who ably translated), Mr JaePil Chong (Toro sales manager for Korea) in the dark red jacket and Mr Shim Sung-Bo (sales manager for irrigation) on the far left.
Tow Green is a Toro distributor in Korea. Their committment to improving their irrigation designs was clearly demonstrated during this 3-day intensive design training course.
As an added bonus, I spent the Friday in Seoul visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace and the surrounding streets with their many galleries and restaurants. There were also the delightfully tasty local treats in Insa Dong and a visit to a Korean tea house.
SENAYAN NATIONAL GOLF CLUB (JAKARTA, INDONESIA - 2012-01-10
John Pryor on site at Senayan National Golf Club with Helena, Bob Moore, Qamal Mutaqin, and my son, Michael Pryor. This course is located in central Jakarta (location, location, location). The renovation, under the direction of Bob Moore of JMP Golf Design (link to JMP Golf Design's web site), a long-term Client of Hydrogold. It is a night to day transformation for this long neglected gem. Hydrogold designed the irrigation system which is being installed by PT. Sahabat Agritama (Hendra Sjaichudin). Sahabat Agritama has employed several Indonesians who had worked on our Natadola Bay Golf Course in Fiji.
COMING EVENTS - POSTED ON 2012-01-09
Holidays and events to help with your travel planning.
| DAY | DATE | EVENT |
|---|---|---|
| Mon & Tue | 23 & 24 Jan 2012 | Chinese New Year |
| Wed & Thu | 29 Feb & 1 Mar 2012 | US Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas
Click here for their web site... |
| Mon to Wed | 12 to 14 March 2012 | Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2012 Conference. Pattaya, Thailand.
Run by Dr Micah Woods Click here for their web site... |
| Fri to Sun | 16 to 18 March 2012 | Beijing China Golf Show at the China National Convention Center
Click here for their web site... |
| Fri | 6 Apr 2012 | Good Friday for Easter |
| Sat | 1 May 2012 | Labor Day |
| Sat | 5 May 2012 | Vesak Day |
HYDROGOLD'S DESKTOP CALENDAR - POSTED 2012-01-02
Click here to download Hydrogold's 2012 computer desktop calendar...
Gives you a calendar background for your computer desktop with significant Asian region holidays and industry events.
ISO 8601 - GETTING WITH THE TIMES (and DATES) - POSTED 2012-01-01
With effect from 2012-01-01, Hydrogold is adopting ISO 8601 and encouraging others to do likewise.
In Summary, Hydrogold will use...
- dddd-mm-dd for the date format. e.g. 2012-01-01
- hh:mm:ss for the (24-hour) time format. e.g. 06:20:15
- In full 2012-01-01 T06:20:15 (note the upper case T used to delineate the time
- or in a computer filename 2012-01-01 T06 20 15 (: converted to spaces for compatibility with comptuer filenames)
- Time Intervals using a double hyphen (--). e.g. 2009--2010
The prime advantages of ISO 8601 are:
- Unambiguous dates and times - Conforming to an international standard (ISO 8601)
- Computer Friendly - Filenames using ISO 8601 dates/times naturally sort in chronological order
- No letters; therefore readable in all countries.
All of us operating internationally know the confusion that arises from representing the date as 12-11-10. The British would interpret this as 12 November 2010, the Americans as 11 December 2010 and the Chinese as 10 November 2012.
ISO 8601 (first issued in 1998 in the leadup to Y2K) represents the date as yyyy-mm-dd and the time in a 24-hour format hh:mm:ss.
In a fairly basic form, 9:12:15 am on 24 September 2012 would be represented as 2012-09-24 T09:12:15 (note the T delineating the Time component). Since the ":" is not an permissble character for Windows computers, Hydrogold will use the ISO date format 2012-09-24 T09 12 15 in filenames.
Time Intervals can use the double -- (hypen) or the / (called a slash, forward slash or solidus). e.g. 2009--2010 or 2009/2010. Hydrogold will be using the 2009--2010 for time intervals since it is compatible with computer filenames and easier for the human eye.
As you may guess, there is more to the standard than outlined above.
- Link to Wikipedia Article
- Link to ISO discussion. You may also buy the 33-page standard.