Jump to content

Blogs

Heading up the West Coast

Heading out of Arrowtown I took the Crown Range to Wanaka and the West Coast. Before the crack of dawn I left the place I had called home for the past 6 months. I enjoyed my time and will have memories for a lifetime. Today I had planned to go to the Franz Joseph Glacier where you can see the terminal face and the the West Coast Treetop Walk.        At Franz Joseph Glacier, after a long four hour drive up the West Coast through Mount Aspiring National Park and Westland Tai Poutini Nation

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Mount Cook

Standing at 3,754m (12,316ft) Mt. Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain. At that height the mountain is in snow all year round making for great views and pictures any time of the year. That is if the weather holds up. I have been told that Mt. Cook can be hard to see at times. One guy told me, "you could come up here 6 times and never see her." Well I guess I was lucky because I could see Mt. Cook all day and around 1:30pm the clouds behind left giving an even more spectacular view of the peak.

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Next Stop Antarctica

New Zealand is one of the furthest countries south. So at the bottom edge there is nothing but water till you reach Antarctica. Stewart Island is part of New Zealand and further, but for main land New Zealand this is the furthest you can go before crossing water. So there have been a few sign posts made that show how far to the South Pole, the Equator, and a few cities.   Slope Point is the actual furthest point south for New Zealand, even though Stirling Point gets more attention. Both were f

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Ben Lomond

Queenstown is home to many great hiking trails. I have done most of the trails around Arrowtown and one that went to Queenstown, but had yet to do the Ben Lomond hike. After looking at the weather for the weekend today seemed to be the best day for it. At first I was not sure if I picked right as clouds and mist came crawling into the canyon, but once I got high enough and some wind picked up most of the rainy stuff left.      Ben Lomond can be accessed two ways: through the One Mile Powerh

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

A Day in Arrowtown

Living in the historic gold mining town of Arrowtown was great. The hiking was incredible and just outside my backdoor. Getting off the trails and into the heart of little Arrowtown there are a few things I had not done, but needed to do.     The Arrowtown Chinese Settlement is an interactive depiction of life during the gold rush for Chinese settlers. Most immigrants who came to the Otago region in the 1800s were looking for gold. Arrowtown was very popular due to the Arrow River flowing t

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

My Final Day at The Hills

My final day of work at The Hills for Brendan Allen is finished. I cleaned out my locker, said good bye to the guys, and am ready for my trip to Auckland through the west coast. Working at The Hills was a pleasure. There is a great bunch of guys on the crew and that only improved the experience for me. The closeness of everyone is really unique to find in such a large crew. That only makes work easier. I wish everyone the best to their future endeavors.    I cannot thank Brendan enough for tak

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Invisible TD Sand

Yesterday, Rockbottum's top covert film unit returned from Rivermont CC with footage of Mark Hoban, MGS, (Mad Golf Scientist) using his Invisible Soil-Feeding TD sand.   The film you are about to see is one of several updates of ongoing research testing taking place under Mark's control.  Next week we intend to reveal where he's getting this stuff . . . unless he comes up with some serious compensation.    

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

Rating Superintendent Job Opportunities

Based on 25+ years of interacting with and counseling golf course superintendents through their careers, the following is an upside vs downside rating listing of the full spectrum of jobs that golf course superintendents might consider applying for at one time or another during their careers -- presented in the priority order of the better jobs first:   A+ CHOICE:  With Established Multi-Course Contract Company  Upside: Maximum job security with unique job advantages.  (See Mar 12th blog)  

Jim McLoughlin

Jim McLoughlin

Finding Staff: H2B Visa Program (Part 1)

Guest Post by Frank Duda, Golf Course Superintendent at Miacomet Golf Club, Nantucket, MA While not perfectly related to career materials or technology, I thought it was interesting enough to include on this blog due to the potential importance of it in some of your operations, especially with it being in the news recently. The second post on how to streamline and manage the process will be coming in the next blog. I hope this offers insight to you and thanks to Frank Duda for writing this

Matt Leverich

Matt Leverich

Millbrook Resort and Jack's Point

Millbrook Resort is laid out just down the road from The Hills and co-hosted the BMW NZ Open. Today I got a tour of the course from Superintendent James O'Malley. After working in the pro shop he eventually moved to the golf maintenance where he did his apprenticeship. Now he is the Superintendent of 27 holes and 500 acres of property. Millbrook is a large resort club catering to all types of people. To keep the properties and buildings in good condition there are hundreds of employees. Lunches,

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

TurfNet RADIO: Revisit with Dr. Micah Woods on MSLN

In this episode of Frankly Speaking on TurfNet RADIO, we are following up with Dr. Micah Woods of the Asian Turfgrass Center on the MLSN concept and new discussion about using growth potential as a means of scheduling nutrient management additions. An excellent review of a progressive approach to golf turf nutrient management!   Check it out below or download it here for offline listening on your favorite device.  

Frank Rossi

Frank Rossi

BMW NZ Open: The Aftermath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p99td6O36_s   Well the pressure of the NZ Open is off, but now not for the course. The beating the course takes for a tournament is tremendous. On a course like the Hills there are areas where crowds have very little places to go so wear patterns appear. This will recover, but will take some time. The golfers as well are funneled into some areas, but for the most part those areas look fine. Even the greens do not look too bad a week after; by only mowing twice s

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Rumblings of Unrest?

The Mystic Order of Greenkeepers is currently locked in a bitter, divisive conflict with . . . ourselves.  We can't decide whether to maintain our traditional entrance requirement or just charge an application fee.   The traditional criteria for MOG membership required either the accidental release of blood in an irrigation hole or an electric shock capable of inducing the white light tunnel effect with Old Tom beckoning at the far end.   We resolved the problem by using the conflict resolut

Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

You can't unring the bell...

I am profoundly aware of the need for all Turfheads to be critical. It really is our job. One mentor told me that if he didn't "point and bitch" enough, he wasn't doing his job. And I adopted this. I was a ruthless stickler for the details.   Hated by many. Loved by no one. Followed infrequently.   I remember someone sending me a book called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (*and it's all small stuff). I returned the book with a scathing letter indicating that it was my job to "sweat" in parts pe

Dave Wilber

Dave Wilber

To share, or not to share...

A couple of weeks ago another great post came through the TurfNet Turf Blog Aggregator. Andrew Hardy, the superintendent at the Pheasant Run Golf Course (just outside Toronto, Canada), was writing about the difficulties he had been facing with regards to his blog (The Argument for being Social).   Mr. Hardy has been blogging for quite some time now and has garnered quite a following. He is a very thoughtful writer and is not shy about sharing information about the golf course along with a few

Paul MacCormack

Paul MacCormack

BMW NZ Open: Day 7

The final day has ended. The last putt holed and everyone gone home. I know I keep saying it, but players and officials just loved The Hills all week. I really enjoyed working the tournament and getting to see the course change from brown/yellow and dreary to green and sharp. This was the first time I got to experience working at a course hosting a tournament that year and I was impressed. The hard work that went into making the course look great was justified seeing the television coverage. Hat

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

BMW NZ Open: Day 6

Today did not feel like a Saturday. I guess that is what happens when you work long hours and are on a different schedule anyways. What a day for golf though! The course really pops when the sun shines. Greens got firmer so speeds did not fall too much. We only cut greens tonight, no rolling, to keep speeds constant. I had a nice wander around the course watching some golf and taking a few pictures.    The 19th Hole     Sir Michael Hill Received the Keys to Arrowtown   Massive Porta

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

BMW NZ Open: Day 5

The day before the cut day went very smoothly. Morning jobs are finishing quicker and quicker and in the evening nothing broke down. To speed up greens some were double cut in the morning, others just cut and all rolled. Since tomorrow is after the cut over all players are better so greens were cut in the night to get greens a little faster for tomorrow.    For the tournament 4:30 mornings are very dark till about 7 so cutting cups would be very hard. To combat this they are cut the night befo

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

BMW NZ Open: Day 4

Sorry for the delay. After a long day at the course I went to bed once I got home. I write this just after morning jobs have been completed and breakfast served. Yesterday was a great opening round. The course is looking great and everyone has raved about it. Following morning session I went out to see some golf. The format of two professionals and two amateurs makes for some interesting golf. At times the amateurs have better shot than the professionals, but usually not. There was even a hole-i

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Multi-Course Contract Company Jobs: Once Shunned, Today A Utopia

This blog message is longer than most because the subject matter warrants it. Readers are encouraged to be patient; get through the blog message because they will not likely see another comprehensive presentation on the subject of multi-course contract employment soon in their lifetimes.   HISTORY Up until about 20 years ago multi-course contract companies were looked upon as the scourge of the industry because they out-competed individual superintendents for jobs.   This is no longer the c

Jim McLoughlin

Jim McLoughlin

Preparing for the Landscape of the Future

Recently I watched a video on TurfNet TV from Randy Wilson, called Ten Years from Now. It, of course, takes place ten years in the future and talks about the scarcity of fungicide, fertilizer and diesel fuel. Even effluent water is being bought by a bottled water company rather than being used for irrigation on their course. Buddy laments they should have gone half organic when they had the chance, but they were worried about being ridiculed by the "Dark Green Fairway Movement". It is truly a gr

Joseph Fearn

Joseph Fearn

BMW NZ Open: Day 3

Just a quick blog with some photos tonight. The last day before the opening round of the BMW NZ Open was a long one. Work went from 5:30am to 7:45pm. A long day for all, but the last bits of the course were cleaned up. After mowing collars in the morning I helped finish filling divots on fairways, then worked on the range water race cleaning that up and finally cut down some willows growing on number five pond. One of the reasons for the practice day is to have any problems or issues fixed. For

Peter Braun

Peter Braun


×
×
  • Create New...