“Don’t turn away. Keep your eyes on the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.” — Rumi
As this year that has felt like a decade draws to a close, it’s been interesting to watch and listen to how people are relating to it. The chorus of “good riddance”, “so done with 2020”, “2020 dumpster fire”, and “can’t wait for 2021” appear to be ringing out in unison. It seems like most people simply can’t wait to discard the year that was so we can “get back to normal.”
It is incredib
January 2020 was like many other New Years. I say this now with some embarrassment because of how actually good my life was at that moment (oh, hindsight). My family was healthy and happy, my professional life was established and predictable, and while not financially carefree, I was managing. I truly would have said things were fine. Fast forward nearly a year and things are much, much different. Like many in our country and TurfNet family, this past year brought about many changes in my life.
In this Christmas 2020 episode of Rockbottum Radio, RW and the gang go in depth on several of their ideas for dealing with the golf surge, from the good to the bad to the ugly.
Momma develops her best ever method for dealing with golfer complaints and then for Storytime, RW tells about the mysterious Coach Zontek (not the one you might think...).
Happy Holidays from Rockbottum Country Club, and here's to a MUCH better 2021!
“When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.” — Stephen Hawking
There have been many occasions during the past number of months for pausing and reflecting on how the pandemic has impacted our lives both personally and professionally. At any given time, we can find ourselves getting frustrated by the ways our current reality is not matching former expectations of self and other. We generally operate at a certain level, and when that baseline
From our "Boots & Ruck" film division, we offer this short film on the dangers associated with lockdowns and too much togetherness.
Note: This film has been fact checked by our internal experts, so don't bother offering any differing opinions.
As of my last blog post I was at a crossroads. My position had been eliminated due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, I was actively seeking work in the green industry. Losing my position was a blow to my livelihood and my confidence. Being out of work is tough at any time but even more so during a pandemic, when many people are out of work and companies are hunkering down, not looking to add new employees. So, it is my good fortune to be again gainfully employed as
In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, RW and the Rockbottum gang discuss Great Leaps Forward (GLFs) in Golf, along with a few Great Leaps Backward. They also present the Rockbottum CC Frying Pan for Excellence in Skeletal Golf Theory Award to the winner.
In Storytime, Willy tells about the time an evil golf pro made a great leap backward with a little help from a teenager who shall remain nameless.
Presented by DryJect.
In this October episode of Rockbottum Radio, RW explains why Rivermont Golf Club is the Model for the future of golf... Ludell recalls the worst GCS tyrant ever... and the gang discusses what makes the best face masks. Before he takes us along for a trip to the dermatologist, RW tells how to be a legendary golf architect.
Also, just before heading out to early vote, the pro shop tunes into a mysterious broadcast from RW's long forgotten Altered Ego, Ydnar, who offers a solution to the chaos
It never ceases to amaze me how many layers and textures slowly appear over the course of a given season. Whether it’s the stages of the melt over winter, the new buds and shoots of the spring or the ever-changing bursts of wildflowers over the summer months giving way to the burnished coppers of autumn, living mindfully encourages us to lend our awareness to this bounty constantly. But, as we are all aware, the demands of our jobs and our lives can make that difficult by times. It can be a tal
I tend to like even numbers for whatever reason, and look ahead more optimistically at even-numbered years than odd. But this one, 2020, has thrown that out the window. Man, did I ever get this one wrong. We seem to hit new lows almost every day.
The silver lining of the recent coronavirus "pause" in our daily routines has been for me more opportunity to step back, observe, reflect and think about where I — and we — fit in the new jigsaw puzzle that is life from 2020 onward.
Coronaviru
What follows is a recently declassified story that was not included in "The Greens of Wrath". Because it's nearly peak ballhawk season, the tale of Ballhawk Creek seems an appropriate selection for this week, and I will include a few tips to help you commit optimum ballhawkery.
I have reason to believe this will be the greatest ballhawk season since Lee Trevino won the US Open in '68. The aftermath of that event triggered a massive surge of rabid golf newbies who covered the roughs and fo
Parting ways with a job is something that will happen to nearly everyone over the arc of a career. Sometimes this occurs in some predictable or desirable way such as promotion, relocation, or retirement. In these cases, parting is usually manageable and follows a transition by both the employee and employer (notice period, job posting, training a replacement, etc.). But in other situations, the severing is a surprise and does not allow for transition planning. One or the other parties is prepare
This summer I was afforded a unique opportunity. Our son Lucas (17) plays guitar in a band and they were lucky enough to land a regular outdoor gig playing jazz in downtown Charlottetown five evenings a week all summer. Only glitch with this plan was that last November Lucas developed a hernia and has been waiting on surgery ever since. This precluded him from carrying any of the gear both to and from the summer shows. Hence, I became the band’s default roadie for most of the summer, and I have
In 1959, while still a toddler, I was forcibly indoctrinated into the cult of golf. Handed a plastic 3-wood, I was taught a series of carved-in-stone golf truths that had to be committed to memory and recited like the multiplication tables. First, was Play Fast! Next, I was to always stay out of the backswing zone of big women, because they could knock your teeth out. (Learned that one the hard way.) I also learned that a plastic 3-wood was particularly suited to killing chickens.
In a
In this episode, RW and gang deal with "News Depression" and how to fix it, as well as "Skin Cancer and The GCS"... and our solution.
Rockbottum tackles questionable turf lab results and the best way to cure them, and studies an important survey that affects the golf course crew.
Also, they discuss spoiled tour players, the impact of social media on our jobs, and then go in-depth on the current golf boom and how to sustain it.
Presented by DryJect.
This week I lost my job as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. It was not directly due to the disease (no one in my family/acquaintance circle has tested positive) but because like many others, the education sector has been severely affected by the Coronavirus.
Clearly the COVID19 pandemic is still with us. Reports of the devastation take many different tragic forms and continue every day. For me, these stories were always somewhat removed. I knew they were real, and I sympathized in my mind,
And now, the latest short film from Rockbottum CC . . . and also, a quote from the greatest writer in the history of the US:
"I have been called a curmudgeon, which my obsolescent dictionary defines as a 'surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered fellow'. Nowadays, curmudgeon is likely to refer to anyone who hates hypocrisy, cant, sham, dogmatic ideologies, and has the nerve to point out unpleasant facts and takes the trouble to impale these sins on the skewer of humor and roast them over the fire
In this more serious episode from Rockbottum Country Club, we share our experience in golf course renovations and resurrections. In Storytime, we tell about one of our most successful reno projects ever.
Cletus solves the coronavirus mask shortage problem; visiting "Science Boy, Ph.D." tests a new technique for killing sting 'todes, and Willy gets thrown in timeout for fighting amongst himself.
Presented by DryJect.
As superintendents, we are well acquainted with the personal vulnerability we feel when our workplaces are in need of repair. Whether it's structural decline, damage from a weather event, personnel issues, or simply wear and tear from the passage of time, we usually have two choices when it comes to facing difficulties within our operations. We can pretend they are not really a problem and continue with business as usual, or we can tackle the issues head on with clarity, moving towards a meaning
Lately, it's gotten more difficult to write humor. We start out funny and then for some reason, everything gets serious. To make things worse, Buddy's wife, Esmarelda, won't let him get within six feet of me or Ludell and that makes it hard to shoot film. But Buddy also says she won't let him within six feet of her, either.
So after writing and tossing out a number of columns, radio shows and films, we were kind of discouraged . . . until Momma suggested we go into the film vault and fin
Sustainability has always seemed to me like something an operation must work toward. Meaning sustainability requires actions or steps that must be invested in, or operational adaptations that require the addition of some step, or equipment, or something. For a long time, I pursued sustainability by adhering to this approach of altering my operation to achieve sustainability objectives. I am now coming to believe that sustainability is more about a dynamic atmosphere surrounding and pervading the
In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, RW changes things up and leads off with Storytime, telling about the time he led a protest movement to overthrow a high school cafeteria.
Then, as Anti-Golf occupies Rockbottum CC, turning it into a free "People's Park", chaos is averted as Ludell defuses the situation with a brilliant strategy that involves golf, mushrooms and common sense.
RW explains his solution for fixin' all this turmoil, in the midst of a big manhunt for Cletus, who supposedl
