News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5051 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE April 21, 2009

John Grist does a handstand at the Great Wall of China while visiting the country with the ABAC Turf Team.

RABUN GAP STUDENT GAINS MUCH FROM ABAC TRIP TO CHINA

TIFTON –John Grist of Rabun Gap got the opportunity of a lifetime when he and seven other selected students in the turfgrass and golf course management bachelor’s degree program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College spent 15 days in China recently.

Dr. Eddie Seagle, professor of Agriculture and Environmental Horticulture, and the students visited various cities in China to teach classes for 32 Chinese golf course managers and 22 students interested in the turfgrass industry. The ABAC students also gained further information about their chosen field of study and toured golf courses. The group visited cities such as Hong Kong and Beijing as well as touring rural parts of the country.

“The first week was focused on classes,” Grist said. “We flew into Mission Hills Golf Course in Shenzhen, which is the biggest golf complex in the world. We then took classes at Nansha Golf Club in Guangzhou. I really enjoyed talking with the Chinese students we were with because they spoke English, and we could talk about our cultures together.”

He and his fellow travelers also attended lectures by guest speakers from all over the world while at the Mission Hills complex. They covered topics including the history and tradition of golf, how to prepare for a tournament, golf course environmental issues, and budget management.

In Yunnan Providence in the town of Lijiang, Grist was surprised to see a golf course at the edge of the Himalayas, the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Golf Course. The course is considered one of the longest in the world.

“That was unexpected . . . to see a golf club on the edge of the Himalayas,” said Grist.

The second week of the trip took Grist and company to the capital city of Beijing, where they toured The Forbidden City, visited Tiananmen Square, and saw the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube from the 2008 Summer Olympics, and The Great Wall of China.

“The best place we went was the Great Wall,” Grist said. “That was the site I wanted to see the most.”

Grist’s experiences are ones he will carry with him both personally and professionally.

“I learned a lot in the classroom setting,” Grist said. “The trip opened my eyes to some things that I’d never thought about doing before in a professional aspect. Culturally, I learned a great deal about how different the United States and China are, and I was glad I could communicate with them and share in their culture.”

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