I was chatting with Larry Stowell of PACE Turf the other day about the state of the industry in general, our businesses in particular and the challenges of making sense of the rapid technological change today.
In his unique role as "maestro" of his and Wendy Gelernter's turf research clearinghouse (for lack of a better term, as PACE Turf — like TurfNet — defies definition in a concise sentence or less), Larry has long been a voice of reason in our sometimes heated or volatile Forum discussio
Last weekend was full of sightseeing. From the historical village in Wexford to Carton House Golf Club in Maynooth, I got a little taste of history in Ireland, and some sport as well.
On Saturday, Alan and I made our way up to the Irish Open, being hosted at the Montgomerie Course at Carton House. This course is one of two at the resort, and is celebrating its tenth birthday this year, along with the honor of hosting the Irish Open, Irelands only European Tour stop. We arrived a bit late, bu
I have been tossing this idea around for a spell. What are the common demons we all fight from time to time? We have covered a couple of them already; dealing with the unruly golfer, and the burn out syndrome, but I want to get more specific and clarify things a bit. The demons Ill be speaking of are the ones that bind us together, and tear us apart.
I am in the throes of battling one as we speak. It is a subtle bugger that can sneak up on you over time. It adds up slowly, kind of like weigh
(I know in my last post I promised a continuation of the Plant Physiology stuff, but am taking a break for a more relevant thing, we will return to the geekery rsn (that's real soon now...non-nerd).
Ok, so... the phone has been ringing off the hook as unseasonably hot weather hits most of the Western US. In particular, the Sacramento area is getting a real wallop but isn't alone. I put this out to my Sacramento Turfhead friends and wanted to share. I hate ambulance chasing, but here are 10 ti
It has been interesting to watch the shifting in preferred 'social media' platforms (I'm beginning to hate that term) over the past year or so, between personal blogs to Facebook to Twitter to the TurfNet.com Forum (and sometimes back again). And Linked-In is in the midst of that somewhere.
Some guys have posted on their blogs that they have "moved" to Twitter and will be posting in their blogs infrequently at best moving forward. "Easier and more convenient" are commonly cited reasons. Perh
At every golf course I've ever worked at, theres always been a pest that seems like the 'chief' problem. At Egypt Valley it was the skunks; at Teton Pines it was the voles; and here at Mount Juliet, its the crows. But each one of the problem creatures were not actually the real pest. The real offenders were what these troublemakers were looking for to eat. Last week this became very apparent to me by way of finally seeing what the crows were looking for.
Since being at Mount Juliet, I have n
Prompted by several very intelligent Stimpmeter comments on the TurfNet Forum, the following RockBottum Country Club VLOG sheds light on a possible strategy to suppress the spread of the POS. (Privately Owned Stimpmeter)
NOTE: It was necessary to credit The TurfNet Forum, as very few intelligent comments ever originate from Rockbottum Country Club, especially where the POS is concerned.
My friend Josh, a fellow student at Michigan State, decided to visit Dublin this weekend. Hes studying abroad in Spain, and took this weekend off to visit some of his friends and myself. I took a bus up to Dublin after work Saturday morning, and met up with him, and another friend in the afternoon. The name of the game this weekend was to see a couple sites and do some relaxing.
We began at the Guinness Storehouse. This building was the original site of Arthur Guinnesss brewery. Now, its a m
Since everyone seems to be spraying something, let's do some Plant Physiology and look at how nutrients get into the plant. Be it root or leaf, at the cellular level, nutrients applied have to enter in. This may affect how you think about and how you build your fertility-oriented sprays.
There are 4 recognized mechanisms for movement of nutrients through cell membranes:
[*]Diffusion. There's this thing called the Lipid Bilayer. Basically a cellular sandwich and simply, if a nutrient can so
I was clicking through some archived editions of TurfNet Monthly (on hiatus now) and came across a column I wrote back in 1997. It seems that Nat Binns, then superintendent at Schuylkill Country Club in Orwigsburg, PA, had phoned me and offered a tidbit from a copy of the SCC newsletter he had found, dated April, 1967. It was an excerpt from a Paul Harvey broadcast from November, 1966. See below:
The Year the Grass Died
Any proud homeowner looks with admiration and envy at the lawn-scap
This blogging thing just keeps getting better. The more I write, the more I read and the more I stumble upon your stories. It might get to the point soon where I simply post your writing; it's that good.
The Maestro sent me a link to a blog post by Adam Garr, superintendent at Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield, Michigan. Adam was plugging away like the rest of us, but about a year ago he had an epiphany that changed how he not only does his job, but how he lives his life.
The origin
Last week, Rockbottum Research Labs achieved a major breakthrough in the field of Protective First Layer Garments, or PFLG.
We have been under intense pressure to release our findings, regardless of the fact that our data analysis is incomplete.
We were prepared to publish our findings regarding our innovative work with the miracle element known as VinylGuard, until we became aware of a mysterious scientific anomaly while reviewing the video used for documenting the experiment.
As a
Good to see the USGA's "While We're Young" campaign on picking up the pace of play. Kind of ironic that it was announced mid-US Open with it's 5+hour rounds... but the spots were well done and will hopefully be embraced by the golfing masses.
It was particularly refreshing to see a major PR campaign from an organization like the USGA focused on something that has the potential for an immediate and lasting benefit to all golfers, across all skill levels and choice of golf course. Too often
Nothing like a Father's Day hanging with my son in front of the Open. I spend my time with him waxing on about how Merion will be this unique test of shot making. I talk to my boy about how length shouldn't matter and this will be a test of raw skill, to wit my son says. "Dad, how come these guys can't reach the par 3 with driver?" The USGA pulled a "bait and switch".
"Dad, how come these guys can't reach the par 3 with driver?"
By the numbers it was the shortest course the USGA has had in
We at TurfNet intentionally stayed away from Merion Golf Club during Open week, anticipating adequate coverage from the regular turfies as well as near-manic '#Twysteria' from the cub reporters new on the scene.
Somebody had to stay home and tend to the rest of the turf industry.
We saw little need to further clog up the maintenance area, tweet more images of "the fairway mowers going out!!!" or burden Matt Shaffer with yet another interview request.
But wait... Matt! What a class
A well-tended putting surface can make or break a golf course. At Mount Juliet, we place our greens at the top of our priority list. And it for this reason that our course has such a great reputation, and holds up so well, even in the cold and the rain. Golfers may fight the elements, but not the greens. The first step in green maintenance is mowing, but here at Mount Juliet, topdressing is what sets up the rest of the schedule for greens maintenance.
Topdressing is done by hand with shove
After four hours went by on a bus up the eastern coast of Ireland, I finally got a glimpse of Dundalk. A small town just a few miles south of the border of Northern Ireland, and home to a festival I was invited to this past weekend called The Tain March, a reenactment of a famous Irish saga, which includes a trek through the countryside, and a battle between two warriors. The town is on the coast, and has the Mourne Mountains overlooking from the north. I made my way to a B&B called GlenGat
If changing careers or early retirement has crossed your mind lately, perhaps you should take a look at the Top 3 Post-Golf Course Superintendent Careers as listed by Rockbottum Country Club TV.
NOTE: Here At The Rock, our definition of "early retirement" means quitting work any time prior to being frog-marched off the golf course at gunpoint.
This week I watched with a combination of fascination and horror as our own Michael Stachowicz continued to navigate the minefield of the post private club blues. If you have not read any of Michael's writing, you should. It's thoughtful, well written and (unfortunately for some) brutally honest. It is basically a post apocalyptic account of working within the political confines of a very stereotypical private golf club in America.
His latest post on a blog he created to promote solidarity w
My relationship with golf goes back to 1958, when as a toddler, I walked into Auntie Grizz's vicious backswing and broke a jaw tooth in half.
There was no permanent damage, yet Auntie was devastated by the amount of blood. Things looked bad at first, but after I managed to scrub the blood off and remove those little fragments of tooth, her beloved Louise Suggs 2-wood wasn't even scratched.
Golf in '58 was exciting for me, what with all the blood and running and screaming and Arnie and H
My task each morning this week was to cut cups. Like most courses we cut new cups every day at Mount Juliet, but one crew member is chosen to cut cups for the whole week. This allows that person to pick their own spots, and remember them throughout the week, so that proper rotation of traffic around holes is met. I'll first take you through my philosophy for choosing the correct placement of a cup, and then guide you through how check for a perfect finished product.
A great example of t
I took some random notes this past week. Not that I don't know what I do, but the thought occurred to me that some people don't know that much about what I do and might find it interesting. Or, perhaps they may just think that what they thought was true may not be at all. Or... well, perhaps it means nothing...!
How about some stats:
Miles Driven: 1,278
Gallons Fuel Burned: 74
Texts Sent/Received: 227
Emails Received: 374
Phone Min Used: 737
Crappy Road Meals: 11
Starbucks Stops: 9
