Being the "new guy" can be difficult. When entering a new position or situation it is only normal to feel some uncertainty and to try to come up with strategies that make transition easier. Having been a kid in a military family and having switched positions several times in my green career, I have learned several tips for making the best of a new situation. Now as a new TurfNet blogger, I am in the new guy ranks again. Don't come on too strong. The team that you are entering into has a histor
Are you unbalanced? Many superintendents I have met are slightly misaligned, due to an almost evangelical devotion to career.
Some are unaware of how many hours they spend at the course and require some kind of trauma to get back on the family track. This can include the children failing to recognize their father and mistakenly calling the UPS guy "Daddy".
For me, it was Claire identifying me as an "intruder" for the police. (She had apparently changed the locks sometime during the
Here's a holiday chuckle for you:
It's no secret that I really, really don't like to travel. I don't mind being elsewhere (although home is always the best place), I just don't like the process of getting there and back. And every trip, it seems, has a story. This one has a Real Slap-Me-Upside-the-Head WTF Moment in it.
I'm not one of those who fixate on frequent flyer miles, affinity programs and all that. The LAST thing I want is a free ticket anywhere, although on second thought
We are pleased to welcome Joe Fearn to TurfNet as a contributing blogger. Joe is the Grounds Supervisor at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, and is an ISA Certified Arborist/Municipal Specialist and PGMS Certified Grounds Manager.
Several years ago I was talking to a local member of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). I was asking about a quandary I was faced with and I wanted another perspective. I had recently taken note of a patch of neglected and disturbed ground
While writing this blog I try to keep the past materials I've written as up-to-date as possible for a strong resource archive, which can be difficult when it comes to the technology stuff we sometimes cover here. One of the tutorials I wrote last year -- setting up a "smart board" for your operation -- provided a step-by-step guide to doing it with ease.
At the time, the best way to pull this off was to purchase an AppleTV and a piece of software called AirParrot, especially if you were on
Rockbottum Country Club has enjoyed tremendous success, because Rockbottum Rules.
We follow a flexible approach built on years of experience gained as a family of superintendents, pro golfers and bad golf course architecture fixers.
For instance, Rule #1: We offer weekday walker fees of $10 for 18 holes. At this price range we don't hear any complaints and we rarely have anyone take us up on the price because most golfers are far too lazy to walk.
Rule #2: We offer a form of Neo
The Geneva Convention got it right: only armies wearing uniforms are entitled to the protections of war because a uniformed military ensures that discipline and a command structure exists throughout its ranks. Non-uniformed military never acquires an identity and is disrespected more than it is respected.
Airline crews/pilots wear uniforms to ensure that they will command respect and be able to exercise authority throughout flight.
Marching bands wear well-decorated uniforms to convey th
In this episode of Frankly Speaking on TurfNet RADIO, i chat with Dr. Bruce Branham of the University of Illinois on his research with nitrogen physiology, fate and -- most recently -- foliar uptake of nitrogen.
Download the podcast here.
Buddy is a former equipment tech, assistant superintendent, hot rod builder and extra on 'Dallas'.
He was also a fairly capable producer/director until . . . the incident you are about to see. Nowadays, Buddy refuses to appear on set unless the wrangler has a tranquilizer gun.
Within virtually any other work environment, 50-plus year old executives are looked upon as being at the pinnacle of their careers.
Not so with golf course superintendents where 'aging' is not equivocated to the concept of acquiring 'wisdom' -- but rather too often to the depreciation of an old car with high mileage and little resale value.
While it is true that a small percentage of 50-plus year old golf course superintendents escape this adverse designation on merit, get well-paid and
I listened for years (albeit with one ear) to the adulation of the MacIntosh devotees, singing the praises of the computing system on which most of the software applications I used wouldn't work.
Every three years or so when my PC died (or was on life support), I would briefly toy with the idea of taking that plunge. But nah, couldn't justify the 3x cost compared to a PC, not to mention the learning curve and aforementioned software incompatibilities.
Not that I was ever a huge fan of M
I'm going to do this a little bit backwards. First a comment on a blog post from 2012...and then the actual post for your rereading and rethinking pleasure. Why? Because over the last month, this is what people have been talking to me about. This very subject. Not getting better. Maybe getting worse.
The comment below is from Tom Doak. I met Tom briefly in Denver in the late 80's when no one knew who he was. Then a friend dropped a manuscript copy of something called The Confidential Guide t
In support of Tim Bryant's most interesting thread on the TN Forum, "Things You Have Learned", we offer the following collection of actual, true-story comments, suggestions and advice:
These little bits of wisdom were documented by TN members, our crew and one famous superintendent with really great hair.
As the job stagnation theme of last week's (Oct 30th) blog post indicated, hunkering down to maintain job security in a bad economy can be fraught with danger. Therefore, the counter-point to this refrain must be that new jobs -- once properly vetted -- can offer greater job security.
Recommended Approach To Changing Jobs To Avoid Job Stagnation
After identifying a target job vacancy, superintendents should quality-test the opportunity by working through a comprehensive due diligence test w
I had fun last week. That's not an ENTIRELY unusual situation, but it was notable because it happened outside my traditional milieu.
I have worked at home for 20 years now and I like it -- to a fault sometimes -- in that I almost have to be pried loose to get me away from here (particularly if there are airports involved... but that's a whole 'nother conversation).
What's not to like? Get up when I want (usually 5-ish), work the morning in my shorts or flannel PJ bottoms and a T-shir
In the latest episode of Frankly Speaking on TurfNet RADIO, I spoke with Dr. Paul Koch, plant pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the impact of climate on winter disease pressure and fungicide persistence, as well as the latest in traditional, alternative and cultural controls for the snow molds.
You can download the podcast here to listen on your mobile device.
To avoid winning the Darwinian Natural Selection Award, widen your skill range and harden up, because times are changing.
Here at the Rock, we are adapting to the evolving environment of modern golf by abandoning our loose, irreverent style and becoming more intellectual. (I even bought a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches and a Meerschaum pipe.)
Please watch the first intellectual film in our Brilliant Career Advice series.
Bad economies require every working man and woman to make decisions not often faced in life; for example: what is the better way to secure jobs in a difficult economy: (i) By constructively managing careers to get further ahead; or (ii) By defensively managing careers to maintain present jobs?
Human nature generally dictates that we take the more conservative approach to securing jobs when economies turn bad; i.e.- to hunker down defensively, do a solid job and stay out of the limelight.
Speaking with many superintendents and industry professionals this past year, a recurring theme always seems to spark interest -- employment contracts. In fact, Jim McLoughlin just touched on them in the past few months on his TurfNet blog. My business partner, Greg Wojick, also recently published a thorough article on them in the MetGCSA's Tee to Green newsletter. It provides quite a bit of research and interviews from superintendents, TurfNet founder Peter McCormick, Bruce Williams, McLoughlin
On two different occasions this past week I attended talks that reflected on the concept of "home". Ironically, both talks were given by former American citizens who, until they had moved to Prince Edward Island, had not yet felt as though they had "come home". I began to reflect on the notion of home, both in the intimate sense of an actual abode, and the broader connection we have to a place or time.
We all come from somewhere. The place we grew up will always reside in our memories, and
The State of Michigan was among the hardest hit by the severe winter weather of 2013-2014. Dr. Kevin Frank of Michigan State University led the charge of turfgrass recovery and PR outreach to the golfing community.
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Kevin chats with me about what we learned from last winter and how we can use that knowledge to better combat this type of damage in the future.
Rockbottum University has been studying Wheat Belly for months now and we are prepared to release our premature findings. The primary researcher/test subject, (me) is a gifted dietary adjustment genius with heavy experience in food crazes, exercise addiction and nutrition conspiracies.
I inherited this disorder from my dad, Norm, a former paratrooper/golf pro/CGCS with a maniacal fixation on diets, vitamins and health supplements dating back to 1964. Our family regimen involved ingestio
My Oct. 9th blog post advised that one of the more effective ways for a superintendent to create a visible presence is to schedule an Open House maintenance facility field day one Saturday afternoon each spring. As a follow-up on this recommendation, this blog is going to focus on the pivotal issue of maintenance facility order versus disorder because -- through my years of visiting America's golf course maintenance facilities -- I have seen the good, the indifferent and the ugly in about equal
