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About this blog

Ohio State graduate Peter Braun's 2014 internship at Mount Juliet Golf Club, Co.Kilkenny, Ireland

Entries in this blog

When Cultures Clash

This past week was great. I had Monday off for a public holiday and then worked through the weekend. The Hills uses a unique working scheme that is fair to everyone. The work week is 5 days long and once every three weeks you work a weekend, but then get Monday and Tuesday off. Then a 3 day week before getting the weekend off. On average we work only 5 days a week. Pretty nice. This past week the other Americans arrived in from Michigan and winterizing their irrigation system. Both are doing Pen

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Waitomo Glowworm Cave, Ruakuri Cave, Another Kiwi House

The second part of the trilogy package was at Waitomo. Here there are caves and many of them. In these caves and in the area are glowworms. Worms that give off a glow in the dark kinda like a firefly, but with no movement. Neat to see and can be found in the wild on sides of rocks and near rivers. You can save a few dollars and go looking for them.      At the Waitomo Glowworm cave I got to see what the cave looked like as I walked around it with the guided tour. I was fortunate to have a h

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Waiting on Rain

Mowing After a beautiful week last week this one has rain on the forecast. Luckily today had no rain! Recently I have been mowing greens, tees, and rough to get to know the course better. I enjoy mowing and it had been a bit different mowing greens with an 18" reel. The ones I'm used to are 21" and the tee mowers here are also 21". It takes a bit of thinking to remember that the greens mowers are 3" shorter so the sight line is different. I mowed two different greens routes this weekend and hav

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Typical Irish Weather

Today I experienced the weather of Ireland, one minute raining and the next sunny.   First, Jon and I did a free tour of the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail). The jail was the first of its time to have prisoners in individual cells and have faith in rehabilitation. It is also the home of many famous people involved in the Easter Rising in 1916.    Interior of the Kilmainham Gaol    Following the tour we traveled to Croke Park, home of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), which seats 83,000 fans.

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

TPC Sawgrass Players Championship Volunteer

Being called the 5th major tournament is one thing, but to play and look like one is much harder. TPC Sawgrass Stadium course was very well conditioned making for a fantastic finish. from eventual winner Ricky Fowler. The volunteer program at TPC Sawgrass is only 5 years old, but is so well run that Superintendents come from all over the world to be part of the amazing agronomy team for the tournament.  For the tournament over 70 volunteers came to help from places as close as Georgia

Tournament Closing In

There is less than two months till the NZ Open comes to The Hills. We are putting in the final renovation work to the course that needs time to heal. Greens have been under going some cultural practices such as verticutting every week or two, topdressing, lots of rolling, sand/seed weak areas, and fertilizer and fungicide recently. With some attention the greens will get to championship quality, but the weather is something that cannot be controlled or predicted. For example this morning there w

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Topdressing: A Key Cultural Practice

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

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Top 10 Posts of 2014

Since I started blogging for TurfNet in May I have wrote 54 posts making this number 55. With the turn of the New Year coming up I thought it would be fun to look back at the top 10 most viewed posts form the year. All ten come from my time in Ireland so I will include a bonus post of the top post from New Zealand.    "Out With the Hot, In With the Cold" The heat cooled down, but the irrigation system was having some problems. I topdressed greens for the first time seeing how accurate sand

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

The Redwoods and Te Puia & Te Pō

Rotorua and the area is named the Bay of Plenty as it has many resources such as timber, water, and geothermal heat. Due to Earth's crust being much closer to molten magma at only 6km down and having water at 4km down lots of steam builds up. This creates pressure that needs to be released so a geyser was formed. This has brought up lots of sulphur and the area has a distinct smell like rotten eggs where the steam is released.    The Redwood forest has a few hikes ranging from a half hour to a

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

The Hills Better in Pictures

Two weeks from today the first round of the New Zealand Open will tee off. Here are some pictures of the course prior to the tournament. We have just started cutting fairways to be burnt in over the next two weeks. I will try to take as many pictures of the course just before the start of the tournament with it in the best condition. Enjoy!   Hole #1     Don't or face Sir Michael Hill     Hole #2   Hole #3   Holes 1, 2, 3 Hole #4   Hole #5     Hole #6  

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

The Greatest Job

It's a surreal feeling in the mornings on a golf course seeing the steam rise off the grass as the morning sun rises higher in the sky while workers move efficiently around the course mowing the grass with great precision. I love golf course work. The putting course had a great deal of work done to it all week. Before I worked on the putting course  in the mornings I changed cups and I can say that I was quicker in cutting the cups this time as compared to the last time. Practice definitely make

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

The Day Has Arrived

What a busy weekend I have had. On Sunday I graduated from The Ohio State University along with fellow classmates and fraternity brothers.      Today I woke up bright an early for a flight to Atlanta to meet up with Jon Kiger and a day of tours at East Lake Golf Club and Stone Mountain Golf Club. At East Lake, the course where the great Bobby Jones grew up playing golf, Assistant Jason Tharp met us and gave a tour around. We saw the effects a large tournament can have on a course for months

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Thank You to Our Farmers

Agriculture is an important part of any society and nation. Without people in agriculture there would be no food to eat. In America this month is National Dairy Month. June highlights the benefits of eating dairy in one's diet. The National Dairy Council, NDC, runs the program as well as others such as Fuel Up to Play 60 in collaboration with the National Football League. Through these programs the NDC seeks to get information out on nutrition education. This is a necessity as many Americans are

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Taking to the Mountains

A full week of work was tiring, but fun. The cold weather has yet to leave. Days start cold, getting warmer during the days, but not very warm for the high. With the intense sun even on a mild day sun burn is a possibility. The only thing I can compare this to is windy days where it feels cool and in reality is not.    This week tees were completely core aerated, blown off, and topdressed. The process was done over 3 days. An update on the greens: they are coming back nicely. The cold weather

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Summer's Heat

It has been a week and a half since the Irish Open so the excitement of tournament work is gone, but work goes on. Following the beautiful week at Fota Island the weather has been up and down. A few days of sunny, warm weather then a few rain soaked days. As the weather keeps getting better it is important for people to protect themselves from the sun. Wearing a hat or putting on sunscreen is a great way to reduce the amount of rays that come into contact with your skin. People who work outdoors

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon 10KM

New Zealand has some of the most spectacular scenery hence why Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings, chose to film the movies here. I have done many of the hikes in Arrowtown and plan on hiking to the top of Ben Lomond. The views are incredible from the top. So when I heard about a race in the mountains I had to look into it.     Rob and I had planned on running the race together, but he went back home for a new job so I ran solo. The Queenstown Rafting 10KM took place Saturday

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Short Week

Working on the crazy work schedule I had a short 3-day week. Short, but I definitely work hard. At The Hills there is a lodge for rent and currently a new green is being grown in to make a new par-3. This will be used for the renters as well as an extra green for course use. The surround to the green had yet to be put in place so we sodded, or turfed as NZ says, the area with fescue. After the sod was laid we filled in the seams with fescue seed, soil and wetting agent. A bunker is soon to be sa

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Pete's Putting Course Project

When I think of summer I think of the warm sun, cool pools, cold drinks, and summer sports. One favorite that I never did enough is mini-golf, or putt-putt (depending on where you are from). It is a fun, enjoyable game filled with interesting courses and friends. That game is played on artificial surfaces with crazy features on and around the holes. It has built up sides to keep the ball in play (we all have that one friend who hits the ball all over the course) and water features for viewing pl

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Pancake Rocks, National Kiwi Centre, Seal Colony

Today I headed to the National Kiwi Centre, the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki, and a Seal colony. Not a bad day for it and an easy drive up the coast. Tonight I have stopped in Nelson and am spending the night at a backpackers.      The National Kiwi Centre is more than just Kiwi's. There are fish, frogs, a lake for catching crayfish, and the second most popular attraction, eels. The eels are in a large tank where they can swim around, eat, and relax. All of the 40 eels are females. I got to s

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Out With the Hot, In With the Cold

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

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

Oldest Two Courses and a Ryder Cup Course

Thursday started off bright and early at 6:30 for a meeting with Trevor Dargan, course superintendent at Woodenbridge Golf Club. Woodenbridge is the second oldest course in Ireland, starting in 1884. Even though there was a steady rain, Trevor gave an exciting and energetic tour of his revamped facilities and eventually showed the course as the rain subsided. Trevor has a crew of six to maintain an 18 hole course, a number which I have seen a trend so far at the courses I have visited with Jon K

Peter Braun

Peter Braun

NZ Open Approaching + A Hike

With the NZ Open this week and having the day off I decided to walk up Tobin's Track to get some pictures of the course from above. This track takes about 30 mins, but little did I know this short hike would lead to a 4 hour trip. Yesterday the Motatapu was held. This is another off road Marathon, bike race, 51km and 15 km races. The 15 km race is the Miners 15k. This travels the Miners Trail a few hills behind Tobin's Track. I had not explored much behind Tobin's so I decided to check it out. I

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

National Ploughing Championships

Ploughing, or plowing for us Americans, has huge competitions all over Europe. The Ploughing Championships in Ireland is the largest outdoor agricultural exhibition and show attracting over 200,000 for 3-day event. Wow, 200,000 people attend an event for ploughing. I had to see this. Yesterday I went to Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co. Laois to see what the hype was about. 82,000 people visited yesterday and it was just announced that 124,500 people attend today bringing the 2-day total to 206,500! O

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

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