Good blog post last week, Dave. Resonated with a lot of people (over 18,000 as I write this), and I'm sure it was therapeutic for you.
Dave, we need to talk.
As we get older we look back on our lives and tend to remember the defining moments: the first girlfriend, first car, first garage band, sports triumphs (and losses), graduations, jobs, marriage and divorce, kids, dogs, grandkids, granddogs, and yes -- the death of friends and loved ones. You get the picture.
In many ways our
"The highest good is like water. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao." Lao Tzu
As greenkeepers we have a very interesting relationship with water. In one breath we curse it, and with the next we welcome it home like the prodigal son. We watch it destroy what we work so hard to create, while at the same time watch with awe as it gives life to the very creation we tend. We respect the science behind it, while all along trying to perfect the art of managing it. Long story shor
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with Paul MacCormack, superintendent/GM at Fox Meadow Golf & Country Club (Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada) and author of The Mindful Superintendent blog on TurfNet.com. We speak frankly about facing grief and loss with kindness, taking time to recharge during the off-season, and wellness tips that take care of your best asset during the heat of the season - YOU!
Check Out Science Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with TurfNet RADIO on Blo
Once golf course superintendents commit to becoming personally Rules literate they enter into the game's inner sanctum, which is the pedestal on which Rules devotees are placed in golf.
How Do Superintendents Acquire A Rules Expertise?
By registering for the PGA/USGA sponsored Rules Workshops to prepare for taking and passing the very challenging national Rules test.
Then, once having passed the Rules test (which might require several attempts), superintendents can validate this newly acqu
2014.
The crazy uncle that I intended to let stay for a few weeks stayed for a year and injected and infected me in as many ways possible. He is now gone. Replaced by the Aunt, who isn't crazy yet, but could certainly obtain extreme crazed cat lady status if left unchecked.
My email inbox isn't always the fun zone. And over the past couple weeks, it has received a bunch of mail basically asking me if I'm ok. The truth? I'm really not.
If you have followed my writings (and if you have
Several months ago I was introduced to the idea of "inbox zero" developed by Merlin Mann, as I looked for a better way to handle email. With Playbooks for Golf working for more and more of you, my productivity on projects was being continually eroded by a constant stream of emails coming in for all kinds of reasons and requests. My inbox kept getting bigger and bigger with emails I needed for reminders, project notes and direction, software support, and more. I had to do something and inbox zero
(Review Dec 18th post before analyzing the chart below.) I have provided my personal estimates of superintendents' job and life performances below. Line items have been rearranged in descending order within the left column with higher job-securing elements on top. Comparing the chart below to your personal estimates will provide a meaningful learning experience.
While en route to the covert location of the Mystic Order of Greenkeeper's Secret Lodge, we had to do some tree work.
It looked like the perfect time to reveal a few more secrets . . . so in this short film, we show you how to get a razor sharp chainsaw without going through all those Hector procedures.
Jeb, golf ain't dying. We're in a period of "contraction", back to where golf would have been without the fiscal steroid injections. Peter McCormick uses the investor-speak term "correction", a time when value pulls back to more realistic levels. Golf was healthy and resilient in the 1970s, before the infusion of hype and starry-eyed non-golf investors; now we're in a long, slow correction.
By 2005, golf was as puffed up and helpless as a modern day factory chicken-house resident, unable
All of us in the green industry are likely familiar with the concept of diversity. Diversity is the principle that tells us the more variation we have in our landscape, the better we are able to maintain the health and function of that landscape. Normally diversity applies to different plants from different genus and species thereby avoiding monoculture and taking advantage of the variation of plant attributes. It also applies to pesticides (e.g. fungicide FRAC codes) to avoid creating pest resi
When I first entered the golf dimension, things were different. We existed at the "Pro/Super" level and life, although hectic, was relatively cheerful. Golf course maintenance and the clubhouse got along very well, with few altercations and overt acts of retaliation. This was mainly because Dad was both of those entities and he rarely got into fights with his own self, although I managed to perfect that technique later.
I know what you're thinking: It should have been Supt/Pro rather tha
Several earlier posts in this series have focused on presenting better ways of securing jobs. This post combines all earlier comments on the subject with the master umbrella concept of "defensive management."
The concept of defensive management is the least understood and least practiced proven management concept throughout the world of the golf course superintendent and beyond.
By design, defensive management techniques are intended to defuse the impact of arbitrary decision-making and
Before we premiere our new season at Rockbottum CC, we would like to offer our re-mastered short film, "The Organic Green Whisperer".
2015 will see Rockbottum place even more emphasis on organic research, methods of irrigation reduction and image enhancement. (Not the enhancement that clogs your spam filter)
The greatest gift you can give to somebody is your own personal development.
I used to say, "If you take care of me, I will take care of you."
Now I say, "I will take care of me for you, if you will take care of you for me."
- Jim Rohn
It is always a tough time of the season to write original content. Look around the internet, newspapers, or any magazine and somebody has an article with a few bits of wisdom and usually a list of some sort. I struggled with coming up with a new format,
From time to time in grounds maintenance things don't go according to plans. At these times it is common to hear the following sentiments: "What happened?" "What is it?" or one of my favorites, "I don't know what happened." When everyone is looking at you for an answer, the good supervisor becomes a forensic pathologist and detective, seeking evidence to solve a riddle. Through inquiry, experience, and logic, you can normally build a case and answer these questions to everyone's satisfaction.
That Fat Little Elf knows exactly what to leave under the tree at Rockbottum: A NEW SLINGSHOT AND CHAINSAW ACCESSORIES!
He knows our goal of heavily reduced irrigation, minimal inputs and more rugged grooming standards would not be possible without an aggressive tree pacification program. In fact, our entire career has been built on turning around troubled courses by introducing sunlight to weak, shady turf.
That's why, as our gift to you, we are re-releasing "Our Very Best Tip Ever",
Two terms, Sustainability and Certified, have grown outside mere definitions and somehow transmogrified into entirely different concepts. Here at The Rock, Sustainability means, "How long can we keep this up before we go bankrupt or Momma finds out?"
Certified, in our narrow vocabulary, means words on a seed/sod label . . . or what we call Rockbottum admin types shortly after they return from one of those Customer Service pep rallies.
We thought we might better explain these two terms i
Time to pause the series to measure your evaluation of your job security and life balance. Be honest; don't cheat on yourself. Read each line below from left to right; marking the left or right column which ever is more applicable. (For a PDF of this checklist, click here.)
Grade Ratings:
Pick Left Column 24 out of 31 times = A Grade.
Pick Left Column 20 out of 31 times = B Grade.
Pick Left Column 16 out of 31 times = C Grade.
Pick Left Column 12 out of 31 times = D Grade.
Pick Le
It's that time of year -- sending holiday cards to friends and family, spending more time at home and thinking of others are all things that make the holidays unique. And while it is very important to do what's mentioned, it is just as critical to think about your professional network and how you can improve upon it for the coming new year, as you never know what may be in store. This provides an opportunity to reach out to your network of peers, club officials, members, and more, because most w
A favorite conversational topic of mine among my graying peers is whether or not they have a Bucket List, and if so, what's on it. I ask because I'm interested in them (the person), but also because I don't have one (Bucket List), and wonder if I might be missing something.
How can one not have a Bucket List? I touched on this in a post about a year ago, but in review, I have already checked off the major bullet points that would populate most lists:
I've been happily married to m
I recently read a summary of the Property Profile and Environmental Stewardship of Golf Courses, published by the Environmental Institute for Golf, an offshoot of GCSAA. This document puts golf courses in a deservedly positive environmental light, particularly with regard to non-turf areas -- which many golf courses have increased in size (44% of surveyed courses since 1996).
Forest and woodlands and something more
In this profile summary, forest and woodlands represent 137,768 acres. While
