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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

Grover's Visit Ireland: Day 5

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
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Grover's Visit Ireland: Day 3

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
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Grovers Visit Ireland: Day 4

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
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Grovers Visit Ireland: Day 2

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
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Grovers Visit Ireland: Day 1

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
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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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

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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

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Agriculture: A History of Time

Farming is a way of life that teaches agronomy practices, environmental conservation, and the care of animals. Ever since mankind domesticated animals and settled down we have been using the land to grow and cultivate food for all to eat. Ireland is laden with agriculture. Sometimes it seems that that is all you see, fields and fields of crops for various uses. At the Johnstown Castle, in Co. Wexford, there is the Irish Agricultural Museum. Taking you back in time to ages of horses and plows to
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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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

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Irish National Heritage Park, Sod Work, Graiguenamanagh

Digging deeper into Irish history I visited the Irish National Heritage Park located in Ferrycarrig, Co. Wexford. Through the tour Catherine, Carlos, and I saw Ireland be born from the Middle Stone Age over 9,000 years ago to Vikings and Normans. The most interesting part was to see the improvement in the living quarters as time progressed. To see the way people used to live was amazing. Imagine a world where your next meal is all you think about. This makes the magnificent tombs made by them is
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Belated Intoduction

2 months I have been in Ireland and I realize I have not introduced myself. Sorry, but here I go. I am Peter Braun Jr, a recent graduate of The Ohio State University. My story starts back in 2009. At the end of my Junior year of high school I had to start thinking about college. While I had grown up working in agriculture on dairy farms and raised animals at my family's house I knew I did not want to be a dairy farmer. After a simple internet search of sports and the outdoors I came across turfg
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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A Ride on the Dunbrody

During the late 1840s Ireland was struck by potato blight causing the potato famine. The Irish were devastated as their main crop was being wiped out and hunger spread all over. Thus emigration to America, Canada, Australia amoung others gave the Irish a chance to start over. To get to these countries the Irish boarded ships bound for the promise land.     The Dunbrody, sailing from New Ross, was one of these ships. Originally built as a cargo ship in Quebec, she started taking passengers
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Holiday Weekend

Yesterday was the celebration of America's Independence, but I had to work and it rained almost all day. I heard back home the weather was great following some crazy storms in the past week. Still a lot of work was finished at Mt. Juliet this past week.    Core aeration and topdressing was done to a couple of tee boxes per hole. This is a necessary cultural practice to remove thatch, improve drainage, and increase air to the roots. At Mt. Juliet we use a Ryan aerator and on the tees a core cul
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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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

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Irish Open: Day 7 and Closing Remarks

What a week! I could not have asked for a better week to volunteer for the Irish Open. Great weather, good golf, and amazing people. I will surly miss the tournament and the people. I thank everyone who made this possible. Connor O'Driscoll and Simon O'Hara made it an enjoyable week and are some of the most kept together people I have met. Also, thanks to Aidan O'Hara and Robbie at Mt. Juliet for allowing me to take the time off to experience the wonders of a championship.   Connor, Pat, Mys
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 6

My time at the Irish Open has been fantastic. Today was a typical tournament day. Mowed greens in the morning, but since the golf was a one tee start, as opposed to a two tee start in previous day, we were able to change up the mowing routes a bit. Pat and I were changed from putting green, 1, 7, 8 to putting green, 9, 11,14. A nice route that put us on a different part of the course down in the deerpark section for number 11. Everything ran smoothly and golf kicked off bright and early at 6:30.
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 5

The tournament is shaping up nicely. After 2 rounds of golf everyone keeps talking about how nice the course and weather is. I have to agree. Great weather brings in more people thus the spectacular job the maintenance staff does is seen by many more people and looks amazing on the television. Morning jobs have been the same for the 40 staff and volunteers for the past 3 days. Each day the work gets done faster. We must be more efficient and our tasks. For Pat and I, we mowed our greens about 15
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 4

After only 3 hours of sleep last night I had to rise for work. I am tired, but energized at the same time. To work a tournament like the Irish Open is a dream come true. Never had I thought I would be working a golf tournament with big names like Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington among others. The experience so far has been amazing. Typical morning work mowing greens. The putting green was harder to see being that we got started a bit earlier and it was darker out. I noticed that the greens di
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 3

Day 3 started early and finished late. From sun up to sun down. Today was the first split day so I got to mow the putting green, 1, 7, and 8 greens in the morning from 4:30 to 7:30. Then a short meeting before breakfast and we were able to go on our own until 4:45. After yesterday's long day, Pat and I decided to head back to the apartment and take a nap. It was good to catch some sleep before the evening work. We were put on ball mark repair for all 18 greens. That took a while since the Pro-Am
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 2

Bright and early I arrived at the course to start day 2 of the Irish Open. Just when it seemed like Pat and I had been left off the work assignments, we learned that one greens route was not taken. We got to mow the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 14th greens. Today greens were cut on a 11-5 and 1-7 clock pattern. Not a bad morning to mow. The greens had plenty of dew on them, but got tricky when cutting over Pat's lines for the double cut. Following the greens mow, I was sent out with another worker to fill
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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Irish Open: Day 1

When I had learned about getting the job at Mount Juliet from Jon Kiger, I had a meeting with Mike O'Keeffe to talk about what to do after Ireland and we decided to try and get into The Hills in New Zealand to work the NZ Open. That brought up conversation on the Irish Open in June at Fota Island. Mike said he knew Simon O'Hara there and that he would most likely take me on the crew for the week.   Once I got to Ireland I got into contact with Simon and made it official. I would be working th
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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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

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A Sport Called Hurling

Ireland has a couple of sports that are unique to their country. One is hurling, a sport that is considered the fastest game on turf. For Americans we believe lacrosse to be the fastest sport, but when you see a game of hurling you can see that it is much faster. After watching my first hurling match yesterday between Kilkenny and Offaly, the first match broadcast on sky sports, I am hooked on the hurling.   Kilkenny vs Offaly at Nowlan Park   The game of hurling is played with 15 players.
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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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

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Delta Sensory Gardens

On Saturday my landlady Catherine and her father took me to Delta Sensory Gardens. Located in the quaint town of Carlow Delta Sensory Gardens is a learning garden open to the public and has a center for adults with intellectual disabilities. Covering 2.5 acres the garden is broken up into 20 different areas, each exploring a different part of the senses. Highly maintained beds and flowers, unique sculptures and statues, and water sections are just a few area the gardens highlight. From the broch
Peter Braun

Peter Braun

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