In this episode of the Renovation Report, host Dave Wilber talks with Josh Reiger, gc superintendent at Spring Lake Golf Club and Tripp Davis of Tripp Davis & Associates (golf course architect) about the recently completed second phase of the renovation at SLGC.
Located about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean in Spring Lake Heights, NJ, Spring Lake Golf Club is a 1911 George Thomas design that was updated by A. W. Tillinghast in 1917. Spring Lake was the last course that George Thomas desig
This blog post is longer than most. Be patient with it; read it through several times to digest its contents because it holds the keys that can give your children a solid start in life.
You ask, "What need would a pre-college aged young man or woman have for a personal website?" The answer is not obvious until we start to take notice of the ultra-challenging world the young people of today face as they look to take their first steps into life's battlefield. For example:
Undergraduate tu
To start, I want you to please imagine a car. Imagine a Toyota Camry, XLE package. For those of you that have a little bit more imagination, maybe even a Toyota Avalon XLE. This car has leather interior, power everything, a full touring package and even a Bose stereo. I think we all would agree this is a nice car. This isn't some trumped-up entry level car with plastic goodies on top trying to convince you it is nice. This is a NICE car. But it isn't a Mercedes. The Mercedes (go ahead and imagin
Portmarnock is a small coastal town right outside Dublin in the southeast of Ireland. It is home to the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links, a seaside resort that includes a spa, a 4 star hotel which is my home for the week, and an 18 hole Championship Links Course designed by Bernhard Langer.
View out of my hotel room window at Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links
Ocean view from the golf course...
With the U.S. Open being this week at Chambers Bay, you can imagine my surprise at walki
In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report -- presented by Golf Preservations and Jacobsen -- host Jon Kiger talks with David Dore-Smith about the ongoing renovation started in April of this year at Copperleaf Golf Club, Bonita Springs, FL.
Copperleaf was scheduled to be renovated in 2020, but due to an overwhelming response to a membership vote in 2014 regarding the Master Plan, the renovation was accelerated to 2015. Agronomic issues being addressed include drainage, the overall ele
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Wen studied the people being herded through the course like cattle and for the first time, he became aware of the uncomfortable sense of being constantly observed. He felt like . . . a kind of golf lab animal, watched by cameras, computers and--Nanel Bree of the Corporate Golf Secret Police.
"What do I do now, Grandpa?" Wen contemplated.
"Boy, when you're riding something and you tell it to 'whoa' and it don't whoa, sooner or later, it's gonna kill you."
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Settled in front of the wall screen in the maintenance office, Wen glanced outside for a moment. Judd was toting his clubs, headed out to play with his buddies, and Kelly was watching a remote screen on her truck, making sure the retriever didn't run over some hapless golfer.
Wen reached for the keyboard and disengaged his system from the Corporate Net. Next, he silenced the ever-present computer voice and brought up surveillance data from the previous night, the cam
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Judd looked down at the headsets resting on the GV seat and noticed the monitor diodes were off. "Do something good instead of living off the corporate golf harlot."
"Like what, Judd?" Kelly said, her voice lowering to a whisper.
"You could join GOOG."
"Join what?" Wen dropped his feet to the GV floor and leaned forward.
"Are you in GOOG?" Kelly was aghast. "Are you really?"
"What's GOOG?" Wen demanded.
"Golf Only On Grass," Judd answered. "An organization dedic
Ireland is an incredible place, with beautiful scenery and friendly people. And great beer. Specifically, Guinness. It is a thick and creamy beer that goes down smooth, and a heavenly pint of this dark and savory drink will have you wanting more of this delicious... But I digress. Back to turf!
Demonstration days give groundsmen the opportunity to see first hand equipment they believe can benefit them. With today's technology, you can see videos of new innovations at the push of a button. Ho
In this episode, I speak frankly with Steve McDonald, owner/operator of Turfgrass Disease Solutions, Spring City, PA. Steve has a MS degree from the University of Maryland and has extensive training in turfgrass disease identification, extension, research and teaching in turfgrass science with an emphasis of turfgrass pest management.
Listen to lively banter about turf conditions this spring in the Mid-Atlantic, annual bluegrass weevil on bentgrass, disease management keys looking to the sum
Unfortunately, too few parents understand that their role model responsibilities to their children extend throughout every waking hour of every living day.
The imperative lesson to note here is that our children learn more from what they see their parents doing on a 24/7 basis than from being told by their parents what to do, or not do, in life.
The old cliché, "Do what I say and not what I do" has no place within a relationship between parents and their children.
Following is a list
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Wen decided to make the big move. "Sir, if you remember, we talked about my transfer to a natural grass course last year, and I've fulfilled all of the requirements."
Tai smiled and leaned closer. "Wen, there are less than a thousand grass courses left on this continent and we only own a few of those. The majority of those relics are classics, protected by historic preservation status because they were built by the old master architects. It takes a special kind of .
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Entering the shop, Wen ran straight for the tool room and began rummaging around for something that might help. He was on the verge of asking the computer's opinion when a picture of his grandfather entered his mind. Grandpa Bolton was a golf course superintendent back before the turn of the century, back when things were simpler, freer, and more fun. "What would Grandpa do in this situation?"
"Use a bigger hammer, boy."
Wen grabbed a sledge hammer.
The w
The following short story first appeared in the July, 2004 edition of SuperNews as "Blade Runner". (My choice was Golf In 2044, but magazine editors will not be denied.) It is a fictional piece dealing with one version* of how Golf could turn out.
This is part of our current emphasis at Rockbottum CC on the future of golf, the economics of golf, the environmental aspects involved in actual operations as well as public image, GCS fitness and family time. Future, Fitness, Fungicides, Famil
Today was the first day of two weeks I get to spend in Ireland. We got off the ferry at 5 am this morning loaded down with Campey equipment to show.
The visit today was to the center of Dublin and Croke Park, the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association. This massive stadium seats 80,000+, making it the third largest stadium in Europe behind Barcelona's Camp Nou and Wembley Stadium.
Croke Park is home to traditional Gaelic games like hurling, camogie (a game like hurling typical
After the pitch renovation in Denmark, I left with Lee in the truck to drive it home to Macclesfield. We went down into Germany and across into the Netherlands to get a ferry from Rotterdam to Hull.
On the way across Holland, we stopped in to the small town of Reusel, which is just outside of Eindhoven. This is where the Imants offices and manufacturing plant is located. I met the owner of Imants, Felix Peters, who showed us around.
The Imants factory
Imants Spader for agricultur
I lost my virginity on a cold December morning in the mid 90's.
I had traveled on Planes, Trains and Taxis to get to the event. And I was so far out of my depth, I didn't even know how far that "far" really was. I arrived for the date about 6 hours early. When I woke up from a seemingly short nap on the morning of, I had so much performance anxiety that I was unable to eat. "I should go home," I thought to myself.
I was to meet her just around the corner from where I was staying. S
I am going to interrupt the career-counseling theme of this blog series for these next two weeks to address the matter of how to more effectively meet our responsibilities to our children... because we will all be judged accordingly.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas gave the 2008 commencement address to the graduates at the University of Georgia. It has been judged, by some, as worthy of being considered to be the best commencement address given in our time.
Because commencement a
At the top of my list of golf course mistakes is one of those glaring errors that never seems to fade, but grows heavier and meaner with the passage of time.
We traveled to Denmark on Sunday to a town called Randers, near Aarhus. The pitch to be renovated belonged to Randers FC, a Danish Superliga team who will be competing in next year's Europa League.
Immediately after arriving at the pitch we saw that it was full of Poa annua, which grew well in the summer but checked out in November and December.
The Sporting Director for Randers FC, Peter Christiansen saw they had a problem and, along with the city council of Randers, decided to tak
Inspiration is a fickle beast. When you are firmly in its clutches you are like a demon possessed. When you are hunting for it though, you can be truly lost in the wilderness. My friends, I have been lost deep in the forest on a long and tiresome hunt as of late.
My lack of success on this particular pursuit has not been entirely without merit. You see, the last few months here in the Canadian Maritimes have not exactly been a down home kitchen party. We went from record snow falls, ice stor
St. George's Park is located in the middle of England and is the national training centre for all 24 of the England Football Association's teams, ranging from under-16s to the senior team. It was opened in 2012 and contains 14 (soon to be 15) pitches, one indoor artificial pitch, a rehabilitation and workout facility, a restaurant and bar, and a hotel.
We had the opportunity to stay a night at St. George's and get a tour from head groundsman Alan Ferguson. He and his staff of only 14 tend to
