Economics of composting...

Chris Cumming, Head Horticulturist at Muskoka Lakes Golf & Country Club,
Port Carling, Ontario:

"The numbers are in for the composting program for 2011. It cost $757.06 for labour and equipment usage. If the same amount of product produced were purchased locally it would have a value of $8,517.68. It is estimated that it would cost $4,327.00 to remove the same amount of material from our site.

Cost of program: $750 Material cost saved: $8,500 Disposal cost saved: $4,300

I've been in contact with my counterpart at the Donalda club in Toronto and sharing information with her about our program and comparing it with what they do. The Donalda club spent $8,500.00 to dispose of green or organic waste in 2011. They then have to purchase compost or garden soil back from the same company that handles their organic waste, for a total cost of about $10,000.00 in 2011."

Visit the Muskoka Lakes G&CC blog at mlgccgreens.blogspot.com

New Faces in the Turf Department

Josh Clevenger, Claremont Country Club, San Jose, CA:

"I am happy to welcome Corey Beelke to Claremont Country Club as our new Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. Corey's previous position was at Bayonet & Blackhorse in Monterey, where he was Assistant Superintendent. Prior to that, Corey was in Oregon at Eugene Country Club. Corey brings with him over eight years of well rounded golf maintenance experience, and a single digit handicap as well.

The other new addition to the the Turf Department is of the 4-legged variety. Introducing (thanks, kids) Buzz Lightyear. Buzz is a 12 week old Black Lab/Border Collie mix and is our new mascot for the Turf Department. While he has much to learn and little golf course experience, he has shown great potential and one day will give MacKenzie a run for her money keeping the course free of geese."

Visit Josh's blog at claremontturf.blogspot.com/.
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Fairway Prep...

Cody Beckley, Nutters Crossing Golf Club, Salisbury, MD:

"The past two days have given us favorable weather to treat our fairways with roundup. We do this in order to "clean them up" by eliminating all of the grassy and broadleaf weeds that have grown in since the bermuda went dormant last fall. Soon the growing weeds in the fairways will turn a bronze color and die.

One small area of concern for us is the large amount of wear and tear the course has received due to the lack of winter conditions here. There has been an inordinate amount of cart traffic on the fairways and at the entrance and exit points in the rough. These areas may take longer to repair and green up compared to the rest of the course this spring. It's a small price to pay for the extra revenue, but one that everyone needs to be aware of. We will be sanding the divots in the fairways and looking at aerifying and seeding the heavily cart trafficked areas on the course."

Visit Cody's blog at nutterscrossing.blogspot.com.

Sectional Management...

Ben Rink, Champaign Country Club, Champaign, IL:

"A couple difficult growing seasons in a row are great for exposing the weaknesses in your management programs on the golf course. Whether it is a re-evaluation of agronomic programs, confirmation that you are doing things right, or exposing the need to completely re-think your approach, many times there are changes that are needed.

This winter we are doing just that, tweaking some agronomic programs, tree root pruning in areas that turf suffers from tree root competition, and changing our philosophy in how we attack the management of our golf course.

Pride in work and ownership have been two areas that I have seen slip recently and I think it has its root in the fact that most of my staff does everything everywhere!

For years, our crew has been spread throughout the golf course. Often times our crew has been assigned jobs that "start on #1 and finish on #18" encompassing one small element of the entire golf course. This approach works, and is widely used, but has it's weaknesses. Pride in work and ownership have been two areas that I have seen slip recently and I think it has its root in the fact that most of my staff does everything everywhere! In many cases I have five or six people doing the same repeated task throughout the week and when something goes wrong, it becomes the norm to just blame one of the other guys! Frustrating for sure, and with the recent difficult growing seasons it has come to a head.

To address this problem we are going to tackle the golf course a little differently this year. We are going to a "Sectional Management" philosophy that will hopefully inspire our staff to take ownership in their work and at the very least create some accountability that will help in the efficiency of our management of the staff. Here's how it will work...

The trade off for the employee is that, provided they are keeping up with their expected duties, they will have a great deal of freedom in how they go about meeting those expectations...

We have broken the golf course up into four sections, and have included the clubhouse grounds and practice range as the fifth. Each section will be the responsibility of two staff members (one for the clubhouse section). This "sectional team" will have the responsibility of everything in their section, with the exception of large area mowing (fairways and rough), and chemical applications. All of the green and tee mowing will be their responsibility. They will tend to their bunkers and fix edges that need to be repaired. They will be responsible for all of the "detail work" in their section. Expectations will be thoroughly spelled out and will be constantly checked for quality. The trade off for the employee is that, provided they are keeping up with their expected duties, they will have a great deal of freedom in how they go about meeting those expectations. Autonomy and a sense of accomplishment will be their reward for doing their job well. As a manager, the sectional approach will drastically improve my ability to efficiently manage our staff. I will always have a "go to guy" for things I see on the golf course.

Training will be critical, along with establishing and enforcing our expectations. If Ben and I do our jobs, the net result will be a more engaged, more efficient staff who provide consistantly better conditions on the golf course!

Because of this new philosophy and other off season changes, I am more excited about the upcoming year than I have been in a long while!"

Visit Ben's blog at cccgolfcourseupdate.blogspot.com

Our mowers don't like sand, so easy on those divots

Jim Alwine, Stockton Golf & Country Club, Stockton, CA:

"Just ask our mechanic, Jan. She will tell you that sand and mowers do not mix. However, being the patient and hardworking person she is, the necessary topdressing we preform is taken in stride. We discuss the timing, monitor results, and she spends a day getting the mowers in perfect condition when the sand takes the edge away front the cutting units.

Some sand-to-mower contact cannot be avoided. In the pictures below, this sanding is not necessary and can be avoided. The photo on the left includes a divot that someone filled with half a bottle of sand. That pillar of sand is going to end up in mowing reels of our fairway unit. If you just give the sand a little kick with your foot to disperse the portion that is above the turf canopy, then you will save our machines some steel and you'll be doing Jan a favor. The pic on the right has two properly filled divots.

Divots overfilled.

Divots properly filled.

Filling divots that have been neglected is a great way to serve your club, but do not associate how many bottles you used with the level of your service. Dumping piles of sand out there causes problems with the mowers, creates uneven turf and scalped areas, and it costs the club money for more sand, labor to refill the bottles, and Jan's hard work getting the reels in shape after too many of these encounters. Fill your divots, but fill them correctly.

Visit Jim's blog at sgccturf.blogspot.com.
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A Superintendent Explained...

Brian Boyer, Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, San Jose, CA

"This is the best summation of a golf course superintendent that I've ever seen!"

Visit Brian's blog at cinnabarhills.blogspot.com.