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Amoeba tree rings create interest of their own...

Drury University is known to our community and visitors for our many large shade trees. We have been a Tree Campus since 2014 and take appropriate steps to maintain our campus canopy. This hasn't always been the case however. By assessing the appearance of the trees (cultural signs & symptoms) and evaluating tree age/diversity it is clear that for a period of time our precious trees were somewhat ignored -- and possibly impaired -- by less than optimal management.   One of the most impor

Joseph Fearn

Joseph Fearn

Employment Contracts Part 1: Discovering The Obstacles to a Contract

Guest Post by Greg Wojick   I've been in the industry more than 35 years as both a golf course superintendent and now a principal in Playbooks for Golf, and in that time, I've seen many changes -- in equipment, technology, management techniques, and in the education and agronomic expertise required to do an increasingly demanding job. Despite these advances, few superintendents throughout the country are acknowledged as professionals worthy of an employment contract.   According

Greg Wojick, CGCS

Greg Wojick, CGCS

Dr. Karl Danneberger of THE Ohio State University

In this episode of Living Legends, presented by the Nufarm Insider, host John Reitman chats with Dr, Karl Danneberger of Ohio State about his knack for engaging an audience, telling stories, his love of the game of golf, a bit about the challenges facing people entering the industry, the turf team at Ohio State, and his special off-topic interest...  

John Reitman

John Reitman

GIS Gratitude...

I was finally able to attend my inaugural Golf Industry Show a few weeks back. It was a long time on the "to do list" as a Superintendent from the East Coast of Canada, and the experience did not disappoint. As I flew home, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and positive vibes from the whole event. I would like to take a moment to thank some of the folks who made the trip so memorable. To: Chris Tritabaugh, for teaming up with me to deliver my first ever seminar at the GIS. Chris

Paul MacCormack

Paul MacCormack

A "Ted" Talk with the Legendary Ted Horton, CGCS

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with Ted Horton, CGCS, legendary superintendent at Winged Foot and Westchester Country Club as well as VP of Resource Management at Pebble Beach, and board member of Audubon International. Now living in California, Ted is is currently a Sr. Consulting Superintendent for Brightview, specializing in environmental stewardship; golf course safety, security and risk management; tournament preparations; turfgrass agronomics and the administrative functions o

Frank Rossi

Frank Rossi

How Grounds Makes a Difference

In our green industry, the jobs we perform are very diverse. Some of us are Golf Course Superintendents; some are irrigationists, others Sports-Turf Managers, Landscape Designers, and even a Head Groundskeeper or two. Likewise, the organizations we participate in are diverse also. There are commercial and residential, public and private, profit or not-for-profit. Drilling down even deeper, our diverse organizations are comprised of sections or units that all have different specialties, united to

Joseph Fearn

Joseph Fearn

Saying thanks: Like the period at the end of a sentence.

Laying the framework for this story requires a bit of background, so bear with me... About three weeks ago Team TurfNet was headed for Niagara Falls, Ontario, for our 20th appearance at the Golf Course Hockey Challenge. For those unfamiliar, the GCHC is a 2-day event every January that pits 12 teams of superintendents, assistants and suppliers against one another in (usually) good-natured but serious men's-league caliber hockey. With three common threads among players -- playing hockey, wor

Peter McCormick

Peter McCormick

Lightning! Lightning! Lightning!

The Mad Golf Prophet (MGP) has just issued a Lightning Warning for the upcoming golf season.  *Note:  This is not a "Lightening" warning, the spelling preferred by heavy internet users, because that would indicate weight reduction or a severe increase in pasty, pale skin . . . like when you go to one of those fashion catwalk things. There is no science to trust behind this prediction, it simply came from a vision the MGP had last night, complete with the whole waking up screaming, running t

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

Matters of the heart...

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, that Hallmark-perpetuated day of roses, chocolates and mushy greeting cards that gives a nice uptick to the mid-February economy. Sounds kind of cynical, doesn't it? But no! I went whole-hog yesterday with a $6.99 greeting card (Hallmark, nothing but the best), a dozen roses, a warm cinnamon bun from the bakery, and date night by a roaring fireplace at a favorite "country French" restaurant nearby. All good, voluntary, enjoyable and meaningful. One thing

Peter McCormick

Peter McCormick

Alert! Golf Course Dogs Are At Risk

The vast Rockbottum CC intel surveillance net has picked up increased anti-golf dog chatter while monitoring golf course board meetings. An informant over at Prissy Drawers Country Club told us that during a recent visit to Rockbottum CC, their Green Chairman, Delbert Spores, had an uncomfortable experience with Chopper, our golf course dog. Delbert said Chopper and friends were appallingly insensitive in their ridicule of his post round Prancersize workout. To learn more, study t

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

Real Science Behind Climate Change, with Dr. Art DeGaetano

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Art DeGaetano of Cornell University about the underlying science of climate change. Dr. DeGaetano is a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University and Director of the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell.   Art's PhD in climatology and horticulture from Rutgers uniquely positions him to understand and explain climate influences on man-made and biological systems.

Frank Rossi

Frank Rossi

Winter Career and Technology Checklist

For many of you winter is the only time you are able to really spend much time in the office. So, I thought I would include a few things we've covered at different times over the last several years that you can take action on now... when you actually have some time for it. By doing these tasks, you'll quickly be on the road to advancing your career and technology skills for the next challenge your career faces.  Acquire Photography of Your Course If you haven't had any images taken of y

Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

Orbiting the Giant Hairball...

Several years ago at a previous job, I became mired in a funk. This funk had to do with the politics of my organization, and with how those politics frequently seemed to force me to work in ways that I did not support. This was not a new situation for me. Many people who strive for continual improvement are frustrated by business as usual, and the lack of a team being open to new ways of doing things.   I talked this issue over with a mentor (my brother-in-law, Kevin), and he said he had jus

Joseph Fearn

Joseph Fearn

Looking forward to GIS... or not

The Golf Industry Show is a few weeks away and I thought it time to assess the event in advance, at least in my mind's eye from my perch in the cheap seats. For what that's worth. Nobody I've spoken with is anything more than underwhelmed with San Antonio as host city. Bad memories of travel experiences three years ago -- both to and from the iced-over state of Texas -- still linger I never made it at all. My Monday afternoon flight was waylaid and the best the airlines could do was ge

Peter McCormick

Peter McCormick

The View...

We are well into the New Year and hopefully most of the resolution hoopla has passed us over until next year. It seems that the resolution craze has simply become yet another fabricated holiday that marketers and advertisers use to sell us things that we just don't need. They know that if every news outlet runs a story about how we all need to be better at being us, then they most assuredly have the product or service that that will help us achieve our goals. That's not to say that there ar

Paul MacCormack

Paul MacCormack

Rockbottum Radio: Real News from Rockbottum

In this Rockbottum Radio audiocast, the gang in the Rockbottum pro shop discuss Bad Member Discipline (especially Norbert Tuchus)... UFOs beaming up night watermen... Global Cooling... Global Warming... Golf Business Projections and... Storytime. Plus, Ludell gives us his online dating secrets (no, not FarmersOnly.com), starting with dead malls and ice cream truck jingles. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/turfnet/2018/01/17/randy-wilson-real-news-from-rockbottum Presented by VinylGuar

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

What The Great Atlanta Ice Storm of '73 Taught Me About Golf

It was 45 years ago today that we entered the biggest and baddest of Atlanta's winter storms, The Great Ice Storm of '73.  With little warning, icy rain fell for hours and then froze like clear steel on Atlanta's trees, roads and power lines.  Big pines began to crash down on houses, splintering utility poles and blocking roads.  Transformers exploded like incoming artillery and lit up the Atlanta night with freakish blue arcs of hot light.  Everything went dark.  Black ice covered sidewalks, st

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson


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