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
Success in any endeavor usually happens when talent, timing, motivation and knowledge are combined, producing positive results that draw positive attention.
While I may have been deficient in talent, timing and motivation, I did understand the part knowledge played in successful golf course management.
I could research something to death.
If I couldn’t find the answer, I contacted people in the golf industry who did know the answer; I tested, experimented and slowly gathered several notebooks
Success in any endeavor usually happens when talent, timing, motivation and knowledge are combined, producing positive results that draw positive attention.
While I may have been deficient in talent, timing and motivation, I did understand the part knowledge played in successful golf course management.
I could research something to death.
If I couldnt find the answer, I contacted people in the golf industry who did know the answer; I tested, experimented and slowly gathered several note
He could call it “The Teachings of Don . . .” No, that Carlos Castaneda fellow already used that one. Perhaps Don already has a title ready, one that will get across his message of common sense practical golf course maintenance strategies that result in lower overall costs yet still improve playability.
Everything I write seems to drift toward Hunter S. Thompson visits Golf in the Kingdom with Moe, Larry, Curly and Ludell on Halloween–with chainsaws . . . and guns.
It’s not often we ventur
He could call it The Teachings of Don . . . No, that Carlos Castaneda fellow already used that one. Perhaps Don already has a title ready, one that will get across his message of common sense practical golf course maintenance strategies that result in lower overall costs yet still improve playability.
I'd offer to help Don with the book, except his message might get twisted.
Everything I write seems to drift toward Hunter S. Thompson visits Golf in the Kingdom with Moe, Larry, Curly and Lu
Over thirty years ago I told Father McGuire, my NYC-metro area high school counselor, that I liked working outside. He replied, “Well, Frank, we have good farming schools here in New York state. You should learn to be a farmer.” So I enrolled in the Dairy Farm Management program at SUNY Cobleskill, where I quickly learned that dairy farming is half about cows and half about growing grass to feed them. After meeting Bob Emmons, professor of turfgrass science there, I quickly realized that I wante
I know no subject more disparate around the country than water management, especially of golf putting greens. In the desert southwest every drop is accounted for when water can consume up to $1 million annually. While in northern states water is applied gratuitously measured in minutes (not inches) with little regard for cost or precision.
Recently the use of moisture meters such as Spectrum’s Field Scout 300, provide an easy to use method for determining soil moisture and a defacto increase
I know no subject more disparate around the country than water management, especially of golf putting greens. In the desert southwest every drop is accounted for when water can consume up to $1 million annually. While in northern states water is applied gratuitously measured in minutes (not inches) with little regard for cost or precision.
With the simple poke of the meter into the ground golf course superintendents now have a number.
Recently the use of moisture meters such as Spectrums Fi
Its time for all of us to go through some kind of Transition.
For the Turfhead, it usually happens sometime before Memorial Day. Regardless of what sort of climate you find yourself going to war in, there is going to be a metamorphosis, wherein somehow, some way, your turf goes from something to something else.
Warm season grass jockeys have always understood things along these lines pretty well… and today are fortunate enough to have some tools to induce transition like the end of a long awa
It was in California, 1968, during the peak of the Viet Nam war protests, that I first heard the mystical rhythmic pulse of a big impact sprinkler calling my name, luring me into a career of nocturnal irrigationism. If only I had known that the glorious era of the Night Waterman was almost over.
After several years in in the cold, wet mountains of Bavaria, we arrived in the sunny San Joaquin Valley where Dad took a job at Sunnyside, an exclusive country club.
At Sunnyside, I was allow
It was in California, 1968, during the peak of the Viet Nam war protests, that I first heard the mystical rhythmic pulse of a big impact sprinkler calling my name, luring me into a career of nocturnal irrigationism. If only I had known that the glorious era of the Night Waterman was almost over.
After several years in in the cold, wet mountains of Bavaria, we arrived in the sunny San Joaquin Valley where Dad took a job at Sunnyside, an exclusive country club.
At Sunnyside, I was allow
As a survivor of several particularly vicious maintenance vs clubhouse feuds, I want to stress one thing:
That’s why the GCS should strive to create a productive working relationship with the clubhouse, except for F&B; they usually only respond to swift and forceful punishment.
Although I never used one, the GCS Blog has become my favorite tactic for insuring a strong relationship between clubhouse and maintenance operations. Chris Tritabaugh of Northland CC is a master of blog technique
As a survivor of several particularly vicious maintenance vs clubhouse feuds, I want to stress one thing: Nobody ever wins a fight.
Thats why the GCS should strive to create a productive working relationship with the clubhouse, except for F&B; they usually only respond to swift and forceful punishment.
Although I never used one, the GCS Blog has become my favorite tactic for insuring a strong relationship between clubhouse and maintenance operations. Chris Tritabaugh of Northland CC
Often spring comes and with it a good deal of Turfhead confusion about fertility. It may seem a simple reaction to whatever weather is or is not happening at the time. And certainly, warm or cool season climates have interesting spring weather and interesting challenges. That’s nothing new. So why all the questions, consternation, hand waving and intimate part length measuring that seems to go on every spring? I’ve tried to figure out what causes this and have a few answers.
(by the way, if yo
