I don't know if it is me, or if there really is a hesitancy by people to adopt sustainable landscaping practices. It could be me, because I preach sustainability, and honestly my message can be fire and brimstone at times. But I also wonder if there isn't a weird kind of sustainability reluctance (sustainability overload perhaps) that turns people away from any landscape called sustainable'. In my 25 years of landscaping, sustainable has meant saving time, money and staff, resources I never had
When seeds are planted, the seedlings must be watered, nourished, and given room to grow. Just like humans, they require proper growing conditions and ongoing, loving maintenance.
When irrigation systems are new, they require a lot of training. Because they leak it takes a while to get used to the new pipes. As they age they become more unpredictable, leak more, and become much less "depend"-able.
After years of constant rolling, greens seal off and become hydrophobic. Aeration is necessary
Dr. James Rittenhouse, noted pollinator researcher, is beginning to gain national attention with his controversial bee/hornet/butterfly/hummingbird/buzzard DNA swaps.
In the following short film, Dr. Rittenhouse interacts with one of his subjects.
Ike Stephens is a legend. His YouTube videos about trucking and the trucking lifestyle are known as some of the most unique on the internet.
Join me as I get to know Ike. You may not think of Ike as a "turfhead", but the more he speaks, the more you realize that trucking and turfgrass management have a lot in common. And in a day and age where long hours and hard work aren't always understood, both trucking and turfgrass management share a certain knowledge. And that knowledge is about getti
In this Frankly Speaking audiocast, I chat with Rick Slattery, a 30+ year career superintendent who has spent the past 21 years at Locust Hill Country Club outside Rochester, NY. Rick was a 2015 GCSAA Environmental Leaders in Golf (ELGA) Award recipient in the Private Club category. Under Rick's leadership the club was also recognized by the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation as an environmental leader.
Much of Rick's environmental focus has been on water management and in a year when w
I have covered this topic very briefly before in a larger article about cover letters, but it's worthwhile to include this as its own feature in our goal of providing excellent and easy to read career materials.
Portable Document Format (PDF) preserves document formatting and enables file sharing. When the PDF format file is viewed online or printed, it retains the content and format that you intended.
Out of all the career files I view each year, over 50% are still sent in a no
Have you ever had a protected employee (PE) you couldn't get rid of? I had several, beginning in '72 with Mickey, a lifeguard who drew a paycheck all winter, courtesy of our maintenance budget. Mickey was such a great lifeguard that he earned 20 hours a week during the off-season, appearing only to collect his check.
Dad wanted Mickey to help with tree work during the winter, but the owners insisted Mickey was a PE because he taught Sunday School and also was excellent at car washing. Eve
Emily Dobbs, Lead Researcher at Emory University's Environmental Science department, spoke to us about her work with pollinators, wildflower mixes for golf and the goal of Syngenta's Operation Pollinator.
Bermuda grass, more commonly known by the scientific Latin designation "muda", (pronounced mooda) is my favorite grass. After years of the "Walking Dead" lifestyle of BBA, (bent below Atlanta) experimenting with various fescues, poa triv, perennial ryes and zoysias, returning to muda was like a homecoming.
It was Tif Eagle that brought me back. On the advice of Milton Abel, former GCS and current CEO of Classic Golf, I chose Tif Eagle for the giant greens at Rockbottum CC and it has been g
Andy O'Haver is the assistant superintendent at Meadowbrook CC outside of Detroit. Meadowbrook is being transformed by architect Andy Staples. It's a gigantic job.
Andy took the time to talk to Dave Wilber (from his cell phone, in the field) about the role that he plays as an Assistant Super at Meadowbrook. Andy's eye opening experience comes to life in a really good way. And anyone who is going to come anywhere near a golf course renovation project should understand that the team is import
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with one of my old pals, Dr. Roch Gaussoin of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Roch did some fascinating research on managing soil organic matter, and the value of sand topdressing, coring/not-coring, spiking, solid-tining, slicing/venting, and other new-age cultivation techniques.
He also has some intriguing conclusions that are bound to stimulate thought and conversations among the superintendent (and academic) community. Smart talk from lea
That's it. For this blog I am not going to take the high road. I am not going to say to myself "put yourself in their shoes". I am not going to look to understand the other perspective. I am not going to be a good soldier. This is going to be a vitriolic, hate-spewing, anger-filled, lament of many of the idiotic things I have to put up with as the head groundskeeper at a university. I am looking to vent, and vent big. So, to my fellow groundskeepers, sit back and see if you don't say "been there
This post may sound like a bit of a rant. Okay, it's a flat out rant a Wilberesque "if it did not happen in a research trial, it did not happen"-style rant, if you will.
My kids were asked by someone the other day if they were ready for school. It wasn't even August (unlike some parts of the southern US, here in the Maritimes we don't return to school until September). My youngest daughter was perplexed by the question and asked us afterwards why adults ask kids such silly questions. Unfort
When I was a small child, one of my daily assignments was to move the tee markers--by hand--which I did with great enthusiasm. (This was before I learned to nudge them along with the tee mower.)
For some mysterious reason, on Saturday mornings, the markers sometimes found their way back to their original slap worn-out position and the blame landed on me. Upon further investigation, I discovered the culprits: Gamblers.
Golfers who played for money wanted the course set up to their adv
A recent industry magazine (it doesn't matter who), is talking about sales with the moniker of "The Dark Side". I hate this shitty phrase. And I'm gonna let my anger turn to words here. Ok..it's a rant. I often give good rant. Or so I'm told. So hold on tight. It's E-ticket rant time with Wilber.
Before I hung my shingle as an independent consultant in the early 90's, I was a superintendent. Then when the world's finances collapsed in 2007, I took a job for seven years as the Director of Agr
Guest post by Greg Wojick, Playbooks for Golf --
I recently visited the CMAA (Club Managers Association of America) website. One of the first things I noticed was that more than two dozen executive search firms were listed.
I looked further, scanning many of the search firm sites. I saw that there were numerous searches for general managers, most often referred to as COOs and occasionally CEOs. I also saw searches for assistant general managers, executive chefs, directors of
From the archives of Superintendent News, April '03: A collection of worker's excuses worth remembering.
I have fond memories of life as a GCS; working outside, playing golf, free turf advice from almost everyone and a nearly endless list of incredibly inventive worker's excuses.
TARDINESS
"Sorry I'm late, Boss, but when I got home at dawn this morning, my wife started shooting at me with her .45 and--hear that? See, I ain't lying, here she comes now."
"Not my fault I'm late. Al
Even if you haven't heard of Jay Blasi, you've probably seen his work. From Chambers Bay to Santa Anna Country Club to Sharp Park, Jay Blasi is one of those people who have been involved with bringing interesting design to Modern Golf.
Dave Wilber talks with Blasi about Jay's story, his development as a staff architect with RTJ2, and his transition to independent architect with Jay Blasi Design. Some great tips are given for planning and executing renovation and restoration work.
Yet a
Drury University covers right at 100 acres in midtown Springfield, Missouri. If I had to summarize what Drury looks like, I would say it is a traditional landscape with primarily traditional architecture. When our community is asked to describe the campus landscape, most people remark on our many trees, and the park-like setting we reside in. Without a doubt, Drury University presents an image of a vibrant landscape that is in harmony with the built environment it resides in. In an effort to tru
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I have a great conversation with Sarah Glenn Jackson, a recently married Texas Tech graduate who for six months has been the assistant superintendent at Plantation Golf Club in Frisco, Texas.
I first became aware of Sarah via Brian Cloud's GCSAA blog and immediately knew her experiences as a female assistant in a vastly male industry would make for good conversation. She didn't disappoint!
We are now a couple of weeks removed from the 2016 edition of the US Open golf tournament. Hopefully John Zimmers and his crew got some much needed rest, and the USGA has slinked back to their lair to plot their next revenge against Dustin Johnson (I'm not saying the word conspiracy, but you know)
After the dust of a Major settles and we have moved on to our next set of tweets showing a dozen fairway mowers cutting all at once and balls being dropped into 10" rough, what are we to do with o
