2018 marks Playbooks for Golf’s 10th year in business, and it has been my busiest year yet. Through those years, we have morphed from a basic map company to a full-fledged software and website provider. I would like to personally thank all superintendents who we have served over these first 10 years, I am grateful every day that I can be a small part of your operation and this industry. It’s a tough job being a superintendent and I’m glad to assist where needed.
While serving you, the consi
Most of you know that I am a fan of meditation. We have discussed it here on more than a few occasions (the art of the pause, silence is golden). Recently I passed a personal milestone with my practice: 100 consecutive days. I have been practicing for a lot longer than that but decided to make a conscious effort this year to make daily meditation a habit.
Like any behavioral change a little positive reinforcement can go a long way. There are lots of different mediums and types of meditatio
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with David Bataller, Director of Golf Operations at PGA Catalunya Resort near Barcelona, Spain.
An admittedly bad student who was "fired from high school", David went on to high school and riding BMX bikes in Kansas before embarking on his career at PGA Catalunya. After serving as golf course superintendent for 15 years, he was recently promoted to Director of Golf Operations. David quips that he has never been fired from a golf cours
Broadcasting from our mountain cabin as we take a break from golf for some trout fishing, we sit around the campfire and learn why Momma decided to ban tobacco at Rockbottum CC.
(Something terrible happened at the US Open)
Also, Brandy Chablis, noted turf expert, gets nominated for the Angry Elf Trophy, Ludell explains Toxic Masculinities and TurfNet cyclist Ty Magner wins the National Championship.
Presented by VinylGuard Golf.
(This podcast has been archived.
For all the years I have been the head Groundskeeper at Drury University there has been a honeybee hive in one hollow Mulberry tree in a section of our campus called College Park. The tree happens to be right along a main sidewalk, one that is used by essentially all the 200 or so students that live in those dorms. Several times over the years, the Facilities Department has fielded calls about the bees being a nuisance, or even a safety concern. However, once we have educated the caller, they us
A few years ago, at a big golf tournament, I overheard a young man explaining the secret of golf career success to anyone within range, myself included. "First," he proclaimed loudly, "you must only intern at the top courses, the ones that host majors. Never accept a job anywhere else--and never work for a superintendent that's not famous."
I see what I did wrong.
His speech reminded me of something deep in my memory banks, back when I gave notice at a low level Skeletal Golf Course
A short film about Zombie greens and the unintended consequences of one dimensional golf . . . also contains proof that Rod Serling took over my brain when I was seven years old.
It's Sunday morning, 6:00 AM, Father's Day.
Even though the last round of the US Open will tee off at Shinnecock shortly, I'm not going to carry on about the brown greens that were broadcast around the world yesterday. I do feel sorry for Jon Jennings and his staff who have busted their humps for two years only to have it go to shit at the last minute... at the USGA's behest, I'm fairly sure. I guess they didn't learn anything from the wind-whipped forest fire on the greens there in 2004.
In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Scott Ramsay, CGCS, about the ongoing restoration of the Seth Raynor-designed classic at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Ramsay has been at Yale since 2003 and was the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year in 2006. Working for an academic institution, he occasionally claims the tongue-in-cheek title of "Director of the Department of Applied Botany" at Yale.
The "renovation of the reno
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat again with Jim Wagner of the Hanse Design Group, this time about the intersection of golf course design and maintenance in this era of moving targets and shifting requirements within golf.
How critical is the golf course superintendent in a renovation project? Wagner says that the ultimate success of a project can be predicted by gauging the enthusiasm level of the superintendent, and that often depends on their inclusion in early conversat
Golf isn't the only place turf is king. There are massive sod farms, residential turf, municipal grounds, airfields and sports turf. There's all that National Park Service turf in our nation's capital that Mike Stachowicz maintains. Joe Fearn--who writes a very good column for TurfNet--is the turf and grounds czar at Drury University.
In the complex modern turf industry, knowledge, multiple skills and specialized training are pretty much mandatory. While none of these turf disciplines c
In this episode of Living Legends, presented by the Nufarm Insider, host John Reitman chats with Bob Farren, director of golf course maintenance at the Pinehurst Resort. With nine courses, seven superintendents and up to 250 full and part-time staff, management of the Pinehurst courses seems a daunting task, but one which Farren takes in stride.
Spend a half hour learning about how one of the most visible people in golf turf management became so, starting with his family involvement in golf
One of the fundamental truths of life as a human being is that, no matter what, we all suffer. Whether physical fatigue, mental exhaustion, anxiety or another factor... episodic or chronic... some measure of it is unavoidable. The level or degree ebbs and flows, but at some point we all encounter it. How we engage and relate to this inevitable suffering can be one of the keys to living a balanced life.
As golf course superintendents, our jobs require total immersion if we are to be successf
In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, Randy explores Skeletal Golf Theory (SGT) and why it's important (think "Contingency Plan").
Also, Rockbottum gets a corporate makeover, the truth about collecting and weighing clippings, and that "new" spray out there.
Finally, a consultant story, the winner of the Turpentine Corncob Award, and in Storytime, a tale from the days when golf courses were closed on Mondays.
Be sure to check out this jam-packed podcast and catch up with all the lat
In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Michael Vessely about the 2016 renovation of the long-fallow William Langford/Theodore Moreau 9-hole golf course at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana.
Vessely, now golf course superintendent at Culver Academies, explains how the "Picasso was discovered in their attic" and Bobby Weed and Chris Monti brought in to spearhead a complete recovery/restoration project. And there's a Dye connection as well!
In yet another fascinating discussion, Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp, brings us up to speed on the current state of the golf industry.
In an era of flat is the new up, 2017 was a "solid sideways" for golf. Some metrics, however, are indicating that the slide of recent years is abating somewhat. How long will it take for supply, demand, playable hours and other factors to reach an equilibrium of health and vitality for the industry?
What can we learn from tennis and ski
Several years ago, when I started as the Head Groundskeeper at Drury University, I came into a campus that was one dimensional and lacked meaningful diversity in any terms. The campus was comprised mostly of shade trees and turfgrass. Having recently worked at a municipal Springfield park that was abundantly planted and had been growing in for seven years (post installation), I was taken aback by the stark appearance of the campus. This is not to say it didn't look well-tended or thoughtfully la
What follows is a classic tale of Cosmic Payback, visited upon the truly deserving. Because my readers are highly educated, I am using the term, Cosmic Payback. If I was writing for golfers, I would use the easier to understand, "Fudgie will get you."
Our story begins with a golfer who was mysteriously inflicted with a demonic obsession to bedevil Winston, a Golf Course Superintendent.
Winston is one of the great ones, a hard working, drive-on kind of fellow achieving legendary statu
Guest Post by Greg Wojick
In the first two parts of this series, we have reviewed the obstacles to contracts and how you can sell the idea to your club. This final part will provide you with a detailed roadmap on what should be included in the actual contract.
When you get the go-ahead on the contract, your next step is to be sure that it covers all the bases. Here's a basic checklist based on industry standards along with lessons learned and a few cautionary tales from superintendents
In this episode, my old pal Dr. Bill Kreuser of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln returns for another visit to the Frankly Speaking virtual studio. We have a fascinating discussion about the current knowledge base about measuring clipping yield, GDD modeling, PGR use and managing for consistent turfgrass growth and optimal turfgrass health.
Is the "one-third rule" valid, or completely bogus? What happens at 50%? Where is the optimal interface of mowing height and frequency? How to u
In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi talks with golf course architect Ron Forse of Forse Design, Inc., about his restoration of classic (and renovation of some modern) golf courses, and the role of the superintendent in a renovation project.
What defines a good superintendent during a restoration or renovation project? Hint: He or she is the "hub of the wheel".
Tony and Ron wind up chatting about golf course archaeology, including the Seth
It's growing season and everyone has the throttle rammed to the wall. This is usually when we produce short goofy films with subliminal messages . . . because there is little time for jocularity.
But, as of now, time is critical. This film, "Decomplexification" is too important to hold until the first hard freeze.
*WARNING! This film contains CLASSIFIED golf operations material. Do NOT allow members, clubhouse personnel or architecture forum posters access to this film.
