Eddie Konrad from Canada has won the 2010 International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association Edwin Budding Award sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen.
Eddie Konrad, the former head mechanic at The Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto and contract professor at Seneca College in Ontario, is the third winner of the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMA) Edwin Budding Award, sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen.
The Edwin Budding Award was created to recognise technical professionals in the turf equipment sector whose actions have gone above and beyond the norm to help shape the golf industry into what it is today. Edwin Budding was one of those individuals who helped define golf, not as a player, but as an engineer. He designed the first cylinder mower, which has shaped golf as we know it today.
Eddie Konrad was selected by a committee of industry professionals chosen by IGCEMA and was presented with his award recently. The committee were particularly impressed with his dedication to the profession; 23 years at the Ladies’ Golf Club, director of the Golf Equipment Technicians Association of Canada from 1992 until 2004, editor of Reel Grind – a magazine for equipment technicians and the writer of Mechanic’s Corner in Green Master, the official publication of the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association.
Commenting on the award he said, “I’m honoured to be the recipient of this IGCEMA award. I’ve always been wary of awards, but I must admit that receiving this has been a powerful experience for me. I’m joining a small and select band of recipients, Ed Combest and Eric Kulaas, who have been honoured with the Edwin Budding Award in previous years and look forward to other deserving colleagues being recognised over the coming years. Thank you to IGCEMA and Ransomes Jacobsen for recognising my small contribution to this great industry.”
Ransomes Jacobsen www.ransomesjacobsen.com