In the past few years Brian and his crew constructed a few revetted bunkers on the par-4 7th and par-3 8th holes here at Lahinch. The new bunkers replaced the sand-faced bunkers on holes that ran along the coast, which were continually stripped of sand by high winds. While I was not present for this work, Brian took awesome pictures documenting the process step by step. The pictures below are of the right greenside bunker on the par 3 8th.
The purpose of revetting bunkers is to create a stee
The only way to fix golf now is to return to the days of the REAL golfer. But who is the REAL golfer? Where do they come from?
REAL golfers don't kick big balls into giant holes while riding skateboards. They don't pay a green fee just to drink beer with their buddies and hoss a tiny car around a grassy theme park without fear of DUI roadblocks. They will not divert their golf budget away from actually playing golf to a hybrid driving range/bar/bowling alley/carnival.
The REAL golfe
Here at Drury University we have several tracts of land that we want to restore. When I say restore some may say restore to what? Many people conjure up images of native meadows or woodlands. Our campus project has the meadow option in mind. In our work, restore also generally means to return an area to some previous state of vegetation, and to repopulate with some various native plant material. Restoration can be carried out for several reasons and is widely recognized as a viable option in gro
Canadian golf course architect Jeff Mingay isn't short of opinions. Neither is Dave Wilber. Listen in as Dave chats with Jeff about the state of golf today, particularly as influenced by the modern golf ball.
Just a peek: Imagine what today's ballparks would be like if the baseball had evolved in a fashion similar to the golf ball...
Check it out below, or right-click/tap here to download the .mp3 for offline listening. It's an hour of really good stuff.
Back in the heady days of the late 90s, the golf industry was all about the creation of new courses. They could not build them fast enough, and everyone (Green Keepers included) rode the wave of euphoria that was to usher in a new age in golf. Fast forward 15 plus years and that wave has crested, crashed on the beach, and sucked many of us back out in its undertow.
While the construction of new courses dwindled, the golf industry changed its focus and now the buzz words center around restora
It has been traditionally thought that pedigree (prestigious) jobs were available only to the more veteran superintendents. Interestingly, this is not the case today because credential quality now supersedes age as a primary qualifier.
The Challenge
Of course, the better things in life do not come without ultimate challenges, which in this case are:
There are fewer pedigree golf courses compared to the many worthy candidates capable of filling these jobs -- which means that only the bes
Weather in Ireland rarely produces the extremes we experience in the States. No hurricanes or tornadoes, no earthquakes or blizzards. While this may be the case, winter weather in Ireland can leave much to be desired. A perfect example came just after New Years Day of 2014. High tide met high winds and a incoming ocean swell, resulting in Irelands version of a perfect storm.
The brunt of the storm hit overnight, but it did not sneak up on anyone. Weather services predicted a bad storm, but
Any of you feeling the effects of the stress and strain of the "100 Days of Hell", you need to LISTEN TO THIS!
In this episode of my TurfNet RADIO show, I Speak Frankly with Paul MacCormack, Golf Course Superintendent and General Manager of Fox Meadow Golf Club, Prince Edward Island, Canada. We chat about being intentional and about pacing yourself during the stressful part of the golf season when your course is most actively used and judged. Paul gives great advice, including tips on how to
It is said that at the beginning of golf, bunkers came about by concentrated divots made where golf balls collected from the surrounding natural dunes. The turf present was completely stripped clean, leaving a bare spot in its wake, giving birth to what we now call bunkers.
The issue of concentrated divots from high traffic is not foreign to the people at Lahinch Golf Club. The classic links lay of the land, coupled with high traffic results in certain spots on fairways being fairly beaten u
In the spring of '70, Norm, my pro golfer/supt father, was hired to operate, renovate and resuscitate a little 9-hole CC in Covington, Tennessee. This was before we discovered the small town, pseudo-country club business plan known as Hire In Spring--Fire Immediately After New Year's Party. (This happened four times before Dad caught on and switched to full-time superintendent, a process that required a difficult exorcism to remove golf pro thinking.)
When we arrived at CCC, we p
I have finished up my summer in Europe with trips to London and Paris with my family. In total, I traveled to ten different countries and met hundreds of turf professionals along the way. This trip was an incredible experience.
My adventure with Campey Turfcare enabled me to visit some of the world's most famous sporting venues, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Wimbledon, Wembley Stadium, and St. Andrews. On each stop, I got to pick the brain of the groundsman and learn a bit about how
Nothing delivers a negative message to employers and everyone else on a golf course campus more directly that a superintendent has defaulted into a laissez-faire work ethic than a poorly dressed, obviously out-of-shape body.
Following is a list of personal appearance guidelines that superintendents should follow:
Physical Fitness: Superintendents owe it to themselves, their families and their employers to strive to be physically fit throughout life because: they will live longer; deliver
In this episode we are Frankly Speaking with David Huff, Professor of Turfgrass Genetics at Penn State University and the foremost authority today on the genetics, breeding potential and management of Poa annua as a greens-type turf.
Dave published an excellent article in the May/June 2015 issue of Greenmaster (the official publication of the Canadian Golf Course Supts.) on managing annual bluegrass with ecology and evolution in mind. Professor Huff outlined a mindset to managing Poa annua t
Please do not think this blog is shameless pandering to a site I am a member of. I joined TurfNet first as a user also contribute now as a blogger. I found TurfNet while looking for resources on general turf maintenance and sports turf. While TurfNet is focused on the golf industry, there is much information applicable to these other fields.
One of my main interests is in an organic-based approach to turf management that focuses on natural processes over chemical intervention. Fortunately I
One major issue seems to come up in the vast majority of references -- no diversification! What does this mean? Well, most only list their peers (superintendents) on their references page. While this might be a good idea for finding an assistant position, it really is not the best approach for a superintendent opening, particularly if you are applying blind with no connections to the hiring club.
Listing your peers may prove that you know or come recommended by industry veterans, but it doe
The Klondyke at Lahinch is another signature hole that will likely never be replicated. While it seems easy enough on paper, measuring 470 yards from the tips and playing with the prevailing wind, many a large number have been made on this classic golf hole.
An intimidating tee shot into a natural valley meets the player upon his arrival to the 4th hole. While the fairway is thin and meandering, it plays larger as a ball that favors the right hill will feed down into the fairway. There is, h
Come along as we visit with Brian Stiehler, CGCS at Highlands Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina.
Brian shows us "The Farm", a very special garden he designed, built and maintains for the club.
For some 25 years I have asked superintendent attendees at the dozens of Career Counseling workshops I have presented to prioritize the following five elements (presented in alphabetical order) that collectively drive the course of each of our lives: Career - Country - Family - God - Self.
Judging where these five elements fit within your life plan is more than a game. It is a prudent exercise to identify the sequencing of priorities that will best ensure your life's effectiveness.
After
Lahinch Golf Club is one of the few courses in the world that uses grass pathways from tee to green. This provides a unique aesthetic value, but comes at the price of extra labor.
A public course that is a popular destination of tourists and native Irish alike, Lahinch is open all year (weather permitting) and puts through between 42,000 and 45,000 rounds per year. A policy of no golf carts (or buggies, as they're called here) unless warranted by a medical condition helps reduce wear an
Don Mahaffey came up in the golf business from the ground up, or the back door, or via a "non-traditional" path... whatever one wants to call it.
He is now a golf course builder... working greenkeeper... consultant and project manager.
Don's ideas and methods are unique and at times controversial. He doesn't buy into the "more is better" approach to golf course management. He has an appreciation of the bottom line, separating the necessary from the fluff, holding the line on the cost of
My last project this summer with Campeys was completed in Budapest, Hungary. It was very successful, with more than 40 turf professionals coming out to see our pitch renovation. The Hungarian Football Association was there as well.
For the first time in my short career, and hopefully not the last, I gave a presentation to those attending about why you should renovate a pitch (Poa annua, thatch, safety, etc.) and the process we use. It went as well as it could have for my first time speaking
At Rockbottum CC, we are forced to endlessly crank out short films and columns where we say stuff we aren't supposed to say and try to hide it in comedy, sarcasm and brilliant intellectual wittiness. (One out of three.)
It would be a lot easier if the average TurfNettian was aware of how difficult this job is... sort of like your job would be easier if the members knew what was involved. We don't simply crank out a column or shoot a quick video and spend the rest of the week at the yacht c
