Although I don't know what they're celebrating, I am grateful to those folks on the 16th hole. They, and others of their ilk, contributed mightily to the making of this film.
The latest TurfNet All Star of Turf is Steve Ehrbar, CGCS at Panther National Golf Club, a private, single-owner facility in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
A graduate of the two-year program at Ohio State, Ehrbar has been a legendary fixture in South Florida for years.
His career includes stops at Jupiter Hills Golf Club in Tequesta, Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens and Lost Tree in North Palm Beach, the home course of Jack Nicklaus.
Ehrbar has been involved in multiple con
As I waited to board my flight following the GCSAA Conference and Show in Phoenix, I was thinking about mental health in the golf maintenance industry and how many people in our business are starting to raise their hands. I attended several classes while at the Conference and Show where the topic of the class wasn’t mental health, but that subject seemed to come up anyway.
I have been working on my own mental health over the past year, and have spoken to several colleagues and friends who
Our first Rising Star of Turf for 2024 is Jeremiah Mincey, first assistant superintendent at Savannah Quarters Country Club in Pooler, Georgia. Many might recognize Jeremiah from his activity on TurfTwitter/X and as a recent recipient of a GCI/Aquatrols Super Social Media Award.
Jeremiah, 26, graduated from Georgia Southern University with a BS in business management and then took the certificate program in turfgrass management from the University of Georgia. His first exposure to turf mana
Years ago, I faced my team in the morning meeting and told them I was leaving to pursue another opportunity. I’d been preparing for this moment for days, but when it was finally time to tell them, the emotion of the moment took over.
Yes, my voice cracked. Yes, my chin quivered. Yes, a tear fell. I think what hit me the most were their faces. The shock and the sadness were reflected back at me in all directions.
Then came the sense that I was letting them down. It was this nagging, g
Our latest All Star of Turf is Patrick H. Sisk, CGCS, career superintendent, athlete, marathoner, inventor, entrepreneur and family man. Pat guides us through his path from a college transition to early adventures in Colorado and Arizona, then a career that took him from his native coastal Connecticut to 18 years in Milwaukee and recently back to western Massachusetts. It hasn't always been a cakewalk. Early on he fell into substance abuse but clawed his way to sobriety... and has been sober for
In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, learn RW's secret for living a calm and peaceful life on the golf course, regardless of the challenges we face in the years ahead.
*Note: This is not your daddy's podcast. It's more like your grandpappy's radio show from 1937.
What makes a team a winning team?
As demonstrated by the 2023–24 Detroit Lions, building a winner begins with the complete buy-in from the team’s high performers. The team’s core shares the same work ethic, attitude and goals of the organization. While this Lions team came up a little short of their goal, they remain poised to be successful for years to come as long as they remember the core strengths that got them there.
The best teams in golf course maintenance are built like a succe
What’s the pulse of your team when they walk into the break room in the morning? Are they bright-eyed and still buzzing about last night’s big game? Or do they shuffle in like zombies and sit mostly in silence, staring down at their phones?
If your morning meetings are preceded by awkward silence, or if your staff stiffens up the moment you appear, then it might be a warning sign that you’re coming up short on building a winning team culture. People who want to be there engage in conv
Planning is the linchpin to success. You may be successful with planning, but the odds are longer. In grounds management having a good plan will help the manager communicate direction to the team, help build excitement toward an outcome, alleviate problems before they arise, and build the organizational support essential to fulfilling the plan. Last blog I looked backwards in order to understand where our operation is and how we got here. This blog I look forward to 2024 and share some of the bi
Our lives, much like a river carving through a canyon, are never on a set path. If you aren’t happy with the direction your life is going, you can always change the flow of your river.
A year ago, I found myself mired in a job that I found to be morally at odds with my personal values and unfulfilling on a professional level. I traveled to Big Bend National Park in Texas, hoping to unplug from turf for a while and reflect on my career and my life path.
In Santa Elena Canyon I watched t
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu
There is a natural flow to seasons. No matter where one is situated, the shifts and changes in the natural environment follow their own patterns. Sometimes these patterns will alter and slowly evolve into something slightly different, but overall the seasonality of the natural world doesn’t change.
When viewed through our human lenses, a season can appear to exist in singularity. We say things like “the start of another s
Rockbottum CC opens the 2024 film season with "A Fireside Chat", covering golf news, weather, a couple of tips, and maybe even a controversial statement or two. Watch this to protect your brain waves.
In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, RW reveals one of the key methods behind the success of Rockbottum CC: the proper use of the New Year's Resolution.
Also, Buddy gets "tooken" and Ludell, Willy and Momma form a posse to rescue Buddy.
I've been back in Columbus, Ohio for three weeks now after finishing up my six month internship at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, as arranged through Mike O'Keeffe and The Ohio Program. It was a great experience and I have plenty of people to thank. Watch until the end to find out where I'm off to next!
Ah, the New Year. The annually recurring time when we reflect on our previous 365 days and take stock. It is a time for looking back and grading out what we accomplished, but also what we struggled with. I get caught up in this time as much as anyone. In this blog I’ll stay in my professional realm and give, at least from my perspective, a clear-eyed assessment of where I took my work, and where my work took me. This assessment may not meet with agreement by all in my organization. It is my view
It has been difficult lately not to become a bit disenchanted with the modern game of golf and, in particular, those tasked with determining its future direction. From behind the ropes we watch as millionaires and billionaires squabble over who actually has dominion over the game, arguing about everything except the things that matter. Those in charge of tending the future of the game have become infected with greed and the notion that they know what is best for everyone else. The descent of the
In this month's Storytime, learn about the Christmas Miracle that led RW and family to leave the nomadic military life and transition to the nomadic golf life. Also, we cover a few current news items in golf and maybe some non-golf stuff.
In his last vlog from Sentosa Golf Club, Nick chats with Andrew Johnston, GM and Director of Agronomy, about the ongoing in-house fairway bunker design/build project.
A few days ago, I slipped into a Mom and Pop coffee shop for a latte' and a blueberry scone. (Ordinarily I'm not allowed to eat flour, but my handler was distracted by scented candles and Christmas lights.)
The place was packed, full of people jammed next to each other, mesmerized by smartphones, tablets, and laptops; not a single soul looked up and took notice of me. I could have been Genghis Khan on a zebra and only the barista would have noticed.
Taking my coffee out onto the sid
Nick Colombo walks us through the processes involved in adding a new fairway bunker, from turf removal and reinstallation in the paspalum nursery to excavation and sand installation.
Within the game of golf there are few things more thrilling than the blind shot. A close approach shot or a tee ball into a short par three can leave us clambering up and over a hillock or dune to see where we ended up. There is usually a good deal of luck or chance involved, along with a good dose of both joy and despair, but the anticipation that shots like these provide make for a lot of fun during a round.
But like anything in this life, too much of a good thing can be problematic. In
