More than 6,700 seminar seats were filled, representing the highest total since 2008. In addition to education for superintendents, the event also included specialized education for assistant superintendents and equipment managers.
The trade show floor at the San Diego Convention Center featured 464 exhibitors and 154,100 square feet of exhibit space in addition to areas for education, GCSAA Services, GCSAA Store, a Drone Zone demonstration area and more.
The conference was preceded by the GCSAA Golf Championships presented by Toro, which saw more than 600 golfers compete in various flighted competitions across four San Diego area golf courses. Mike Gianopoulos, superintendent at Kent Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, won the 2025 GCSAA National Championship.
On Wednesday, the Sunrise Opening Session, presented in partnership with Syngenta, saw Pat Finlen, CGCS, 40-year GCSAA member and executive vice president of Denehy Club Thinking Partners honored with the Col. John Morley Award. Matt Gourlay, CGCS, MG, AGS, superintendent at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho, was presented with the President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship. While turfgrass researchers Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., and Larry Stowell, Ph.D., founders of PACE Turf, won the Outstanding Contribution Award. The session also featured a keynote presentation from two-time world champion big wave surfer Paige Alms.
Wednesday also featured the 2025 GCSAA Collegiate Turf Bowl, presented in partnership with John Deere. Penn State was the 2025 champion after placing second in 2024. The Turf Bowl competition included 76 teams from universities across North America, the highest number since 2012.
Also on Wednesday, the winners of the inaugural National Turfgrass Science Invitational, an FFA-endorsed competitive event for high school agricultural education students that emphasizes skills in turfgrass science, were crowned. Avery County High School in Avery, N.C., won the competition. Forty-six students from 12 high schools competed in the event.
The week concluded with the GCSAA Closing Send-Off Celebration, presented in partnership with John Deere. Highlights of the Send-Off Celebration included the presentation of the 2025 GCSAA Old Tom Morris Award to baseball-hall-of-famer-turned-golf-advocate Ozzie Smith.
It also included the presentation of the Emerging Leader Award to Chad Allen, superintendent at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., and the Edwin Budding Award to Henry Skip Heinz, CTEM, equipment and facilities manager at Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
The event concluded with a keynote address by GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans, who shared powerful life lessons and game-changing insights from his successful summit of Mount Everest in his presentation “Time’s Up! Lead Out!”.
The 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show is taking place from January 31 – February 5 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
