Due to a sudden spike in the level of Golf Course Superintendent Stress, Rockbottum CC has issued an emergency re-release of the original version of GCS Stress Relief.
Newer TurfNet members may not be aware of GCS Stress Relief, so we reached back into the archives, just in time for The Fourth of July.
Here at the Rock, before we abandoned bentgrass and went Ultra-Dwarf, The Fourth of July was peak stress; roasting greens, failing pumps, alienated offspring, high blood pressure and sarca
I’ve really enjoyed the feedback I’ve gotten in the field and in email about the idea of looking hard at irrigation water. Thanks for that! And the really important thing I’m hearing is the need for understanding. I’m doing this post from my iPad in the field, so please excuse the lack of monkeys.
Let’s continue for a quick look at three letters: TDS. Total Dissolved Solids is a really cool concept. I always have a hard time when someone says to me that water doesn’t have anything in it. It’s
Here at the GCS Rest Home and Asylum, I like to gaze out the bay window in my private room while I listen to the other inmates residents debate various topics down in the mess hall. I don’t really have a bay window, just a soft padded wall, but I like to pretend because it irritates the nurses. (Glass is verboten in the high-risk lockdown wing of the GCSRH&A.)
Today’s debate concerned the golf course problem most likely to land a GCS in the Home. I eavesdropped on the discussion for a w
Here at the GCS Rest Home and Asylum, I like to gaze out the bay window in my private room while I listen to the other inmates residents debate various topics down in the mess hall. I dont really have a bay window, just a soft padded wall, but I like to pretend because it irritates the nurses. (Glass is verboten in the high-risk lockdown wing of the GCSRH&A.)
Todays debate concerned the golf course problem most likely to land a GCS in the Home. I eavesdropped on the discussion for a
Smoking on the golf course by employees is an issue that will have to be addressed at some point. The following video essay is full of . . . pertinent information on the subject.
Smoking on the golf course by employees is an issue that will have to be addressed at some point. The following video essay is full of . . . pertinent information on the subject.
Once a year, the forces that actually make golf work, the powers behind the throne, the engines of the golf industry, all gather in one place, to attend GIS, The Golf Industry Show. The latest results from intensive research and development are on display, important business deals are negotiated, and meetings that determine the future of golf are held in every corner, aisle and restaurant.
The business of golf carries over, beyond the show floor, into the various parties that populate the nig
Once a year, the forces that actually make golf work, the powers behind the throne, the engines of the golf industry, all gather in one place, to attend GIS, The Golf Industry Show. The latest results from intensive research and development are on display, important business deals are negotiated, and meetings that determine the future of golf are held in every corner, aisle and restaurant.
The business of golf carries over, beyond the show floor, into the various parties that populate the
Every industry has its iconic characters. In the UK few would argue Old Tom Morris, Jim Arthur and Walter Woods are not icons among greenkeepers. In the US for me we have Sherwood Moore, Oscar Miles, Ted Woehrle, and my personal favorite, Wayne Otto. In Australia there is Claude Crockford.
Claude Crockford
Crockford was the greenkeeper at the Royal Melbourne for 40 years from the 1930’s to the 1970’s. In 1993 he published “The Complete Golf Course: Turf and Design” as both an homage to Royal
Every industry has its iconic characters. In the UK few would argue Old Tom Morris, Jim Arthur and Walter Woods are not icons among greenkeepers. In the US for me we have Sherwood Moore, Oscar Miles, Ted Woehrle, and my personal favorite, Wayne Otto. In Australia there is Claude Crockford.
Crockford was the greenkeeper at the Royal Melbourne for 40 years from the 1930s to the 1970s. In 1993 he published The Complete Golf Course: Turf and Design as both an homage to Royal Melbourne and prac
Coming into summer, I’d like to talk about water for a few posts. It’s the thing that I seem to get the most questions about this time of year and it’s the thing that I see the most mistakes being made with. I’ll try not to get too carried away with numbers and calculations. There are some, but this is more of an example of how I approach the agronomy of water quality.
Water Test. That’s right. Test the water. Get a great water test from a great lab. I’m going to keep saying this. Even if you
The largely unrealized goal this year was to write more blog posts. Inside of that goal has been my deep-seated desire to make Maestro Peter happy. He’d be hog slop happy with more agronomy writing from me. “Agronomy, Wilber” is often the two word email that I get from Peter. It’s fine. I think he, like a lot of people think that every day, all day, I think about growing grass and that every conversation I have with everyone I see has to do with large bore topics like how to really deal with you
Tha classic Royal Melbourne bunker complex
No tour of golf courses in Australia would be complete without a visit to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club. The RMGC is one of the nine courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt that includes some of the finest golf courses in Australia.
After visiting several seaside courses that have the “wow” factor, the Royal Melbourne required a more patient approach. The golf club was formed in the late 1800’s and the current courses occupy the same site since 1901. Howeve
No tour of golf courses in Australia would be complete without a visit to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club. The RMGC is one of the nine courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt that includes some of the finest golf courses in Australia.
After visiting several seaside courses that have the wow factor, the Royal Melbourne required a more patient approach. The golf club was formed in the late 1800s and the current courses occupy the same site since 1901. However it was in 1926 when the club engaged the s
Can you spot “Mr. Haney” before he sells you something of questionable value?
It took 30 years for me to develop partial immunity to carnival barkers, Bass-O-Matic commercials and those predatory “Mr. Haney” salesmen.
My first Mr. Haney contact was in ’72, when he drove up in an old truck and began fast-talking Dad about adherent viscosity motor oil effects upon engine longevity. It sounded reasonable and Dad was an easy target due to his employment situation: Norm was forced to serve as a S
Close-up of pure MacKenzie Bentgrass with no surface organic layer due to light frequent dusting.
I’m in Australia speaking at the 2012 Australian Turfgrass Conference.I was collected at the Sydney Airport after 22 hours of flight time from Syracuse, NY by Mark Couchman, past president of the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association. Immediately we began our jaunt around Sydney and our first visit to New South Wales Golf Club (ranked #35 best golf course in the world by Golf Magazine
Im in Australia speaking at the 2012 Australian Turfgrass Conference.I was collected at the Sydney Airport after 22 hours of flight time from Syracuse, NY by Mark Couchman, past president of the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association. Immediately we began our jaunt around Sydney and our first visit to New South Wales Golf Club (ranked #35 best golf course in the world by Golf Magazine) and Superintendent Gary Dempsey.
Like a kid in a candy store I bounced out of the car, grabb
Actually, it’s more like 120 days for those of us trapped on a bentgrass plantation in Georgia, but that sounded like too long a period to survive, so we stuck with 100 days.
In the olden times, in order to keep the wilt-watchers, the irrigation tech and our ownselves from going completely raging berserk at the thought of four months of endless heat, my brother Mike devised a brilliant survival tactic.
Reasoning that part of the problem was mental–a psycho-traumatic condition aggravated by ba
Actually, its more like 120 days for those of us trapped on a bentgrass plantation in Georgia, but that sounded like too long a period to survive, so we stuck with 100 days.
In the olden times, in order to keep the wilt-watchers, the irrigation tech and our ownselves from going completely raging berserk at the thought of four months of endless heat, my brother Mike devised a brilliant survival tactic.
berserk at the thought of four months of endless heat . . .
Reasoning that part of the
After thirty years of walking on putting surfaces all around the world my feet can tell a firm green. I wear very soft soled Muck Boots that put my feet in close contact with the putting surface so as to assess the feel. A firm putting surface is truly a thing of beauty but what makes it so is that hollow sound.
I often use a stimpmeter to get a sense of ball roll distance on surfaces. For ease of measurement I simply flip the stimpmeter, roughly three feet in length to determine distance. It a
After thirty years of walking on putting surfaces all around the world my feet can tell a firm green. I wear very soft soled Muck Boots that put my feet in close contact with the putting surface so as to assess the feel. A firm putting surface is truly a thing of beauty but what makes it so is that hollow sound.
I often use a stimpmeter to get a sense of ball roll distance on surfaces. For ease of measurement I simply flip the stimpmeter, roughly three feet in length to determine distance. I
