With plans for Sunday in Killarney we decided to find a B&B about half way. We found a nice B&B called Ballingowan House. The owners were really kind and the food great. The luck of the Irish must have been with us as we woke up to a rainbow outside the window. The first of three we would see. So we set out for the Muckross Traditional Farms in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Being as big into agriculture as we are we wanted to the older style of farming, but the working farms is dependent on the
After spending the night in Donegal at a little B&B just outside town we headed out to tour the Cliffs of Moher. On the drive down we passed through picturesque Sligo County. The Sligo mountains give a great preview of what was to come.
On a much better day than my first visit with Jon Kiger (the wind was hardly there) my parents and I had a beautiful day to view the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are striking to see. Looking at the beauty radiating off the cliff face looking out over the
Time for some agronomy. Talking and thinking about bent/poa or poa/bent greens here.
Maestro McCormick gave me a pointer to a good discussion going on in the TurfNet.com Forum. Here it is. And a special shoutout to topic starter Chuck Barber. Being brave enough to post your thoughts is how one gets max advantage out of this whole thing. I don't love lurkers. Posters get kisses. Topic starters who actually engage with real thoughts are big time crushes of mine. What I love is the diversity of
On the 3rd day of my parents visit they went to see the Irish National Heritage Park and the Irish Agricultural Museum and Johnstown Castle. They told me they enjoyed the visits. I won't go into detail on the places. If you have not read my blogs on them check them out here http://www.turfnet.com/blog/17/entry-642-irish-national-heritage-park-sod-work-graiguenamanagh/ and http://www.turfnet.com/blog/17/entry-648-agriculture-a-history-of-time/. While they were on visits at work I was fertilizing
The 4th day of my parents visit was the start of a 4 day trip all over Ireland. We decided to head up to Northern Ireland then down to Galway, Killarney, and finally Cork. There will be lots of pictures. Enjoy!
The trip to Northern Ireland was our longest drive taking a little under 5 hours to reach the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in Ballintoy, Co. Antrim. When we got to the rope bridge the rain had picked up making us question whether we should wait or go for it. As a few tour busses pulled
For the second the day in Ireland my parents drove up to the Wicklow Mountains while I was at work. They enjoyed the views from the mountains and the waterfall they saw. However this was not the one they had wanted to see, but oh well it was still an Irish waterfall.
Once I was finished with work we went to the Woodstock Gardens and Arboretum in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny. The gardens sit on the sit of the Woodstock house. You can see the weather torn house next to the gardens. With numer
To anyone who grew up in Cambridge, NY residents of Ash Grove are called Grovers. We cherish this name and even to those who live in Cambridge it is said that Ash Grove is a different way of life. Needless to say we do not leave very much. For my parents to get on a plane and cross the Atlantic Ocean was a lot. In 25 years of marriage they had never flown together. On Tuesday August 5th my parents, Peter and Amy, landed in Ireland. They quickly came down to Thomastown to catch up on some sleep b
Mike Young is a golf course architect gifted with a realistic view of the golf business and a straightforward manner guaranteed to make the various alphabet organizations uncomfortable.
Mike's common sense approach will be familiar to a number of TurfNet members who lean toward a pragmatic, grass-roots sensibility in dealing with the current hysteria surrounding the health of golf.
"Straight Talk and Common Sense" is a Rockbottum CC series aimed at countering the storm of ad agency propa
Throughout my 25+ year career only about one in four of the 100+ plans of action I have reviewed for my client clubs through the years passed muster and earned their job applicant authors short-list hiring consideration.
Yet, all 37 candidate superintendents (i.e.- 100%) that I have personally counseled through the job application process and who submitted quality action plans were hired -- competing against fields that averaged +/- 35 job applicants. How does this universal record of succes
I have been puzzled in recent years why so many job applicants have consistently failed to include definitive "career mission" statements within their documentation (cover letter, etc.) when seeking a new job. I believe the fundamental reason for this consistent oversight has been because candidates fail to see the role taking the initiative must play within a successful job application process. (See June 26, 2014 blog.)
"Candidate initiative" which starts with a take-charge cover letter (se
I was recently given the opportunity to sit down for an interview for a podcast on career materials with fellow TurfNet member Randy VanderVaate. Randy is currently the Vice President of Agronomy at Century/Palmer Golf and creates a weekly podcast to provide superintendents with a discussion on varying topics that will help grow their lives and careers to the next level. I've known Randy for years now and he is always trying to help those in the industry and give back where he can, so I was happ
Topdressing is a common cultural practice done to golf courses throughout the year. The extent of topdressing varies widely between courses. Some are on extensive programs topdressing every 2-3 weeks on greens, once a month on fairways and tees. While others only topdress after aerification and this could be done once a year to greens only. The variation is due mainly to budget restrictions. If the money is not there then the job will not be done. No matter how much or how little topdressing is
To my continuing surprise, a vast majority of the country's golf course superintendents are working today without a definitive job description - not realizing that working without a comprehensive job description is a high-risk venture. This is because superintendents' jobs remain undefined without a job description, which means they can be held accountable and become job vulnerable for work they were never assigned; i.e.- a problem that surfaces mostly when either the position of green committee
Some of the hottest weather I have experienced in Ireland occurred these past two weeks, but the course has gotten through it. A change in the weather for the past few days has given the grass a rest from the heat, but there has been problems with the irrigation system causing areas to not get water. Hopefully the problem is found and corrected soon. A trusty irrigation system helps the irrigation tech sleep at night.
Last week I worked on edging some bunkers, worked a bit on the puttin
Now that all the business magazine experts have pronounced golf dead and shoveled dirt upon us, the powerful intellects sequestered at Rockbottum CC will weigh in with a little actual common sense.
Here at Fox Meadow we have what I am sure is not a unique problem. Back when the course was built the original owner had a vision for a grand clubhouse and grounds. No expense was spared including a large number of elaborate gardens, a beautiful fountain feature, and a fantastic view of the Charlottetown harbor. Undoubtedly it makes a great first impression of the property, but not much forethought was given to the cost of long term maintenance.
Fast forward 15 years. Our program to mainta
It should be abundantly clear that engaging attorneys for counseling purposes, or to gain access to the courts of law essentially has been a futile exercise for golf course superintendents from Day One because superintendents will:
Always have difficulty finding, engaging and affording qualified attorneys.
Always be facing the likelihood of defeat in any serious legal entanglement because employer clubs will always be able to comfortably out-wait and out-spend them.
Always have difficulty mov
In this short film, Mark Hoban discusses test plots and Elly May biscuits.
Robert Womac of Golf Agronomics drops by to educate me about invisible topdressing and also knocks Ken Mangum off his "Best Hair In The Golf Industry" throne.
I love reading Frank Rossi's blog.
I don't always agree, but I love the way he invokes thinking and the way he passionately grabs information and makes total slaw out of it. It's an immaculate process.
His latest blog post on TurfNet.com is just such proof. And for the record, I would love to have been the guy carrying the camera cases for these two so they could invoke the Ancient Italian Art of Talking With Hands. I know Dan Dinelli. I spent a day with him a few years back and my head
