As the east coast braces for the Hurricane Sandy, I had a thought as I was getting the farm ready for the storm. There are a few trees I want down but cannot convince my wife to agree. The I thought I had was why not have Sandy do it? I can use a chainsaw very quickly.
A tree on my farm is more of an inconvenience than a problem. Yet I can hardly think of a golf course that does NOT need some strategic tree removal. Removal that is blocked by emotion and politics.
Year after year the t
There is a horror lurking out there, waiting for the right moment to viciously attack golf and drain the very lifeblood out of the game.
There are those in our golf family that have let this happen, either because they are only concerned with short-term profits or because they say it is not our place to take a stand. Yet, it is our responsibility to do something positive, because golf pays the bills, it’s our career, the economic locomotive that keeps the wolf from the door.
And while those
There is a horror lurking out there, waiting for the right moment to viciously attack golf and drain the very lifeblood out of the game.
There are those in our golf family that have let this happen, either because they are only concerned with short-term profits or because they say it is not our place to take a stand. Yet, it is our responsibility to do something positive, because golf pays the bills, its our career, the economic locomotive that keeps the wolf from the door.
And while th
All I could think about was water. Everytime Ron Paul would speak about returning the US to the “Gold Standard” of backing our currency instead of using “the full faith and credit of the US”, all I could think about was water. Seems odd but if you think about how haphazardly we flood the US economy with printed money expecting some to be wasted, you might see how many golf courses use water. Not precisely and filled with waste.
All the rage about moisture meters has certainly changed the way m
All I could think about was water. Everytime Ron Paul would speak about returning the US to the Gold Standard of backing our currency instead of using the full faith and credit of the US, all I could think about was water. Seems odd but if you think about how haphazardly we flood the US economy with printed money expecting some to be wasted, you might see how many golf courses use water. Not precisely and filled with waste.
I would go as far as to say that if you were a good water manager thi
Over the last few weeks, we have been deluged with letters, calls and emails–even my private message box that lies hidden inside The TurfNet Forum has been crackling with activity, and it’s all been about one subject: Buddy
Apparently, Buddy has been displaying symptoms indicative of the medical condition known here in the South as, “He just ain’t right.”
People, especially TurfNetters, are wondering if Buddy is operating on all three cylinders.
There are several factors at play here, the f
Over the last few weeks, we have been deluged with letters, calls and emails even my private message box that lies hidden inside The TurfNet Forum has been crackling with activity, and its all been about one subject: Buddy.
Apparently, Buddy has been displaying symptoms indicative of the medical condition known here in the South as, He just aint right.
People, especially TurfNetters, are wondering if Buddy is operating on all three cylinders.
There are several factors at play here, th
Reliability is defined as the ability of a person or system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances, as well as hostile or unexpected circumstances. I could not think of a more fitting definition for both today’s golf course superintendent AND the turf they manage. Facing unprecedented economic, personnel, and environmental challenges golf course superintendents have to deliver a playing surface that functions as expected for every client. At the same time the turf has to
Reliability is defined as the ability of a person or system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances, as well as hostile or unexpected circumstances. I could not think of a more fitting definition for both todays golf course superintendent AND the turf they manage. Facing unprecedented economic, personnel, and environmental challenges golf course superintendents have to deliver a playing surface that functions as expected for every client. At the same time the turf has to o
Buddy likes to solve problems. His favorite problems are the repeat offenders on the TurfNet Forum, situations that present a hard-to-find solution.
If a problem surfaces on the Forum more than once a year, Buddy aggressively seeks research grant money from Momma and works round-the-clock to find an answer.
It’s not just dedication to his craft, Buddy is insanely jealous of all the attention Hector receives and will do almost anything to regain his status as Top Equipment Tech.
(I’ve tried
Buddy likes to solve problems. His favorite problems are the repeat offenders on the TurfNet Forum, situations that present a hard-to-find solution.
If a problem surfaces on the Forum more than once a year, Buddy aggressively seeks research grant money from Momma and works round-the-clock to find an answer.
Its not just dedication to his craft, Buddy is insanely jealous of all the attention Hector receives and will do almost anything to regain his status as Top Equipment Tech.
(Ive
Soil Testing. It’s that time of year when most Turfheads are gonna pull some soil tests. My experience is that for many (if not most) this is done as kind of a box check. You know you have to do it, because that’s what you do this time of year. A lot of Turfheads tell me that soil tests are one of those things that they understand as well as a fourth or fifth language. So let’s Rock our Spock and geek a bit with some ideas about soil testing.
Because of this lack of grokking, soil testing ha
Continuing the climb up the list of Best and Worst Hobbies for the Golf Course Superintendent, we offer #2, along with a few Tips, Tricks and Warnings.
I'd like to take a quick break from the water quality thing to share a recent experience from the field. Everybody tank mixes fertility products. In some form or another, you put stuff in the spray tank and expect that it will come out whatever nozzles you have and do the intended job. That's not rocket science. It's part of Turfhead life. So when I was called this week to help a Turfhead straighten out a spray mix, I was pretty excited to see what said Turf Monkey was hitting the tank with and
The common question that I seem to be getting in the last few weeks has to do with feeding greens. While there can't be a universal rule set for all the different climates we all work in, there are a few things that I like to see happen for best practice summer stress conditioning. For me, consistency is key. Set your feeding schedule and stick to it. Sure, sometime things happen, but when we are doing it right, there isn't much Nitrogen involved and so growth isnt a big deal. Speaking of grow
To this day, I really don't know what happened. I've heard some stories and have a few paper trail type details, but that's it. After a string of 2,000 mile weeks, a notable in the golf world fumbling the ball and blaming everyone else including me and a bunch of other little and big things, I started not sleeping. For me, that's nothing new. I've not really been into sleep that much and for what it seemed, my body didn't need much. But then came one big hassle after another and not only was I
Many courses in Northern areas have begun their annual rite of late Summer, early Fall-the roar of the hollow tine cultivation unit followed by burying the putting surface, tee or fairway in sand topdressing. Is this a hold-over from a time when we aerified twice per year or is it something we need to keep doing?
In simple terms if you have a sand-based root-zone, i.e., greater than 85% sand, you have a few options. First, if you want to minimize any coring-solid, hollow or needle, then you be
Many courses in Northern areas have begun their annual rite of late Summer, early Fall-the roar of the hollow tine cultivation unit followed by burying the putting surface, tee or fairway in sand topdressing. Is this a hold-over from a time when we aerified twice per year or is it something we need to keep doing?
Is this a hold-over from a time when we aerified twice per year or is it something we need to keep doing?
In simple terms if you have a sand-based root-zone, i.e., greater than 85%
The morning we’ve been waiting on for 120 days. Cool, dry, brisk and happy.
If it wasn’t for one minor problem, this day would be perfect. Glorious. Perfectly glorious.
And that one thing is: The Anti-Climax that always hits when it appears the hellish heat of summer is beginning to loosen its grip.
It happens every year at Rockbottum CC and this year, Momma filmed the Anti-Climatic Moment.
We invite you to join us, Here At The Rock, for a few moments of what we think is almost . . . a P
Once Upon A Time, while wandering through the land of golf course operations, I encountered a dark and wicked force. Well, actually, I ran across a number of wicked forces, especially at country clubs, but there was one that was the wickedest.
After several brushes with this wickedness, I escaped and lived for many years in Happy Ever After as a GCS. But lately, I’ve had this nagging feeling that the wickedness has returned and is growing, unseen, like that Alien embryo that looks like an unc
My original plan for today involved writing an essay full of thought-provoking profound revelations about the future of golf and our place in it . . . but after 800 words of serious brow-wrinkling and eye strain, I realized there are lots of people in golf that can write serious intellectual golf business philosophy, so I hit delete and stared at my empty coffee mug.
That’s when Momma stormed in and barked, “Who cares what other golf writers can do? Do something they can’t!”
I realized Momma
I had the pleasure of working as a volunteer at The Barclays held on the Black Course at the Bethpage State Park. Getting up at 3:30am to assist ‘set-up man” extraordinaire, Rich Roble now with two US Opens and a FedEx Playoff under his belt. Set-up at this level is a lesson in precision. Cut a level cup to the exact depth and replace the plug so that when passed over by a mower set at 0.085″ it is neither high nor low. Any misstep and
Set-up Man Rich Roble
or inconsistency and you have prov
