As much as you think you can gather information about a place online there is no substitute for actually being there. That was my experience during a brief visit (“Familiarity Trip” in travel industry terms…) to our second hotel on the Ireland trip – the Mount Falcon Estate. We will be at the estate Monday and Tuesday nights during our week in Ireland this coming October.
The estate is just outside the town of Ballina in County Mayo on the West coast of Ireland. I was met by Operatio
Organized by the European Tour, the 2019 Irish Open is being hosted by Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare. The breathtaking links club provides unbelievable views along the west coast of Ireland. Extremely steep cliffs and beautiful long beaches border the town of Lahinch, which is quite easy to see from the peaks of the enormous dunes clustered throughout the golf course.
Me standing on the highest point of the Lahinch GC property.
The view down #1 and #18.
Last month I had the pleasure of going to County Mayo to preview one of the courses and one of our hotels for the upcoming Ireland trip... Carne Golf Links. There are still a few places in Ireland that I haven’t been to… 🙂
Last year we were on one of our last nights in Ireland and Carne Managing Director Gerry McGuire approached me and encouraged us to consider Carne Golf Links for a future trip. When it was clear we were headed North from County Clare it made perfect sense to add Carne Gol
As we have previously discussed, it is important for the Golf Course Superintendent to play golf or maybe just be seen playing golf. (But not bad golf.) Members want to be assured that their GCS belongs to the same cult and knows the course in the same way they do—not just the way a Turf Scientist interacts with the course.
But there are problems with playing your course. Like when the Green Chairman four-jacks #18 green and starts ranting: “Every time I see our superintendent, he’s p
No matter what you’re in the mood for, London has it. As I mentioned prior, I am from the boondocks of Southern Ontario and am used to having to put in some real effort not to be bored back home. Here in England, it is a totally different game.
Because I work just over 40 hours per week (something most North Americans in the turf industry are not used to), I have plenty of time to do whatever I wish. So naturally over my first month here I prioritized going to as many sporting events as I
I am writing this on July 2nd. Looking back at my calendar, I have pretty much been on the go since March, and at full throttle since May. Today, after a driver brake-checked me and I got out of the car at a stoplight to have a little face time with the driver, I realized I am overwound like a rubber band on a balsa wood airplane. You want it to fly so badly that you just keep winding and winding that prop.
I’ve also been fighting with Yahoo Small business because their email servers have b
There has been a theory forming in my mind for a while now. It’s one of those connections that I have been subtly observing for a while now, but it wasn’t until this spring that it has emerged fully formed. The idea explores the overlay and the similarities between turf departments and restaurant kitchens. It may seem like an odd theme for a blog post but bear with me.
Over the last couple of months our kitchen staff has suffered tremendously. We have been dealing with devastating personal
On June 27 this year I turned 55. Now this isn’t a defining age as much as say 21 or 65, but is significant. I am not a person who puts all my stock in chronological age. I definitely think there can be an old 30 or a young 70, but again I say 55 is significant. I am now seriously contemplating retirement although I can’t see how I won’t have to work until 70 (or longer) if anyone will have me. I have been in commercial grounds management since I was 23. I know there are many people who have mor
Back to the inbox we go. This one, a special request.
Ok so, first off, there are two stories that I just cannot tell. Can't. It could involve jail time for my crime and the crimes of others... and we just wont go there. That leaves us with this one, my favorite.
It was the summer of 1984, the summer before I was to start college. I I was working on the crew at Pole Creek Golf Club, and also three nights a week on air at the local radio station. And I was deeply involved in 4-H Horse
Hello all,
As many of you already know I am interning at the Royal Automobile Club in England and will be doing some blogging for TurfNet while I'm here. I have recently graduated from the University of Guelph and decided to shake things up by moving across the pond.
The 18th at the Royal Automobile Club.
The Royal Automobile Club is situated just south of London in a little town called Epsom. Being home to just over 30,000 residents, the town has the perfect balance
During daily golf operations at Rockbottum CC, film quotes often slip into conversations with golfers, management and the crew. It's like some odd form of verbal shorthand that delivers a message in the most minimal form.
There are probably hundreds of these and we deeply regret that we had to leave out some great quotes, like "That's my stapler" and "I'm gonna have to go ahead and ask you to work this weekend" . . . but it's June and we have to keep these films short, because you have oth
I have previously volunteered at TPC Sawgrass, Sea Island, East Lake GC, Gullane GC, and more, but this was my first time being a member of the greenkeeping team to actually be the host of a big tournament. I’ve had great fun with all the high-energy events, but by contrast the Amateur Championship here at Portmarnock Golf Club was a very nice and relaxed week.
Horseplaying around last year with Ralph Kepple, East Lake GC Director of Agronomy. He was helping me with the Tour Cha
A few years back, we examined the pros and cons of crew phone use. Since things continue to change--with phones now serving as cameras, music players and surveillance devices--we thought you might want to revisit Momma's solution for irresponsible phone use.
But be careful . . . I had an entire high school football team threaten to quit if they couldn't have a "phone break" during practice.
Yeah, I know . . . get off my lawn.
Back to the inbox, as it is the sluice box that keeps on giving little nuggets. This one from the commercial world.
"I'm really confused about this whole selling thing. I figured as an ex-superintendent, I would be treated fairly or at least with some respect. It's got me down and I just don't know what to do. Can you give me any advice"
I was fortunate enough to spend 7 years with Sierra Pacific Turf Supply as their Director of Agronomy and handling a sales territory as well. And of
Welcome to the opening post for our 2019 TurfNet Members Trip to Ireland blog. Below you will find the details of the trip along with an explanatory webinar video (below) and a trip brochure. We hope this is the year that you will join us!
Departure: Leave US Friday October 4th for Shannon in the Southwest of Ireland. Flights arrive Saturday morning June 5th. Note: on this date there are primarily three flights from the East Coast to Shannon: AerLingus from New York/JFK and Boston, and Uni
Preparation for the Amateur Championship began many weeks in advance of tournament week for Portmarnock Golf Club’s greenkeepers. I was fortunate enough to join the team a little over two weeks before the first practice rounds were starting, and we’ve been putting in some hard work.
One day’s worth of walkmowing… I’m whooped.
Make sure to wear some sunglasses if you check out the gorgeous par 3, hole 12… you might go blind with all those lasers I laid dow
I am a non-traditional student at Ohio St. University-ATI in Wooster, Ohio. This year, at age 59, I decided to take some time and reinvent myself with a life-long dream of sports turf management. I am originally from Texas where I was a science teacher and football coach. After that, I spent time in Kansas as an assistant principal/athletic director. I moved to Ohio when my wife was hired by OSU.
Since then, I have become interested in all facets of the turfgrass industry. From May 1 throu
Purely apocryphal, but my Bio-RAM can recall a time when golfers weren't so picky and whiny and demanding about things that didn't matter in real life. Although I have previously fixed the blame on color TV and 50 weekends a year of Las Vegas Showgirl grooming standards, I think I might have isolated the true cause: The introduction of the portable sofa to what was once a rugged adventure sport.
If I rewind back about 50 years, to a time when it was more about playing the game than the c
For your entertainment, we present, from deep in the bowels of the Rockbottum Films vault, our second major production: "Customer Service".
The audio in this historic film is clippy at times, even glitchy, (it was pre-Sennheiser) but we didn't think you would mind. After all, where else can you watch a GCS push a mean old lady golfer into a deep bunker?
You know you've been tempted to do the same thing.
I recently graduated from Horry Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach with an Associates Degree in Golf and Sports Turf Management. I decided I wanted to keep grinding for more credibility, therefore, I will be attending Clemson University to advance my education by majoring in AgMechanization and AgriBusiness.
Me and two of the greatest mentors I could ask for: Charles Granger (left) & Ashley Wilkinson (right)
My original plans for this summer included knocki
Let's go back to my inbox for this post...
"I need your help. As you know, it's been a cold, damp spring. The golf course wasn't great for Memorial Day. And as I write this on July 4th, it's just barely starting to come around. The comments I am getting from golfers are really bad. "When are you going to fix this place", is the tone of their gripes. I've talked to everyone, blogged about it, written about it and I'm still getting hammered. Any tips?"
This has been more common in the sp
Our Greenkeeping, The Next Generation student-authored blog debuted in 2012 as a way for our first intern to share his new experiences on and off the course while spending a summer in Ireland. It has been written by a variety of students from many different schools and regions of the country. The blog has also sparked increased interest in spending the summer overseas working in turf as the access to courses willing to host turf students has increased.
It is in this environment that we are
It’s June. Most of the tv addled golfers have forgotten April, thanks to a severely damaged attention span, one of the gifts of the modern technocracy. But the stress merely continues to build through June and then the heat of July. Some areas will suffer from freight-train rain, while others endure a seemingly endless hot, dry bubble of desert air. Add in a few members just back from a member-guest with all sorts of ideas they picked up in an entirely different budget climate--or my favori
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