by Greg Wojick, Playbooks for Golf
In my last guest column for TurfNet, I wrote about the role of the assistant superintendent and the need for superintendents to consider rethinking their approach to hiring and retaining these essential contributors to their operations.
When I suggested that superintendents work to retain their assistants with training to "work smarter, not harder" and that they provide greater rewards in pay and benefits for their efforts, I predictably received push
Two guests appear on this episode of The Turfgrass Zealot Project.
Chris Tritabaugh is the superintendent at Hazeltine National Golf Club, host to the 2016 Ryder Cup. Chris shares his ideas about work and life and how he handles his staff and the hours required to do his job at a very high profile place.
Scott Hess is Executive Vide President/Human Intelligence at SPARK, one of the world's leading Marketing and PR firms. Scott talks about Generational Science and the Millennial Generatio
In this episode of Frankly Speaking I chat with Professor Bruce Branham from the University of Illinois about organic and synthetic nitrogen and the role each might play in development and persistence of organic matter. How this might influence your fertilizer program and the long term impacts on soil health.
Frankly Speaking is presented by DryJect and Turfline/True-Surface.
The content of this blog message is extensive. But this might be the only time a reader will have access to a concise presentation on the subject of "How To Start A Business" - something superintendents should prepare for in case the desire/need arises later in their careers.
Superintendents should always be mentally prepared to start a business at an appropriate time in their careers for the following reasons:
Course operators are hesitant to assure superintendents employment beyond thei
A few days ago, I went deep into the quiet, heavily forested mountains* of Appalachia to escape the technological cacophony of modern life. While I was there, I made a wish . . . or two.
*Note: If you are a forest and mountains person, I wish you would read my book, Eephus The Terrible. TurfNet's own Matt Crowther reviews it on Amazon.
Following are examples of myths that have plagued golf course superintendents for a long time:
MYTH: Employers don't mind when superintendents manipulate budget data from one line item to another without notifying anyone so long as the bottom line stays the same...
Wrong! Guaranteed at least one person up the chain of command on either the committee or staff side will notice because there are "budget hawks" within every administration who like to nail superintendents with something to ad
Jim Koppenhaver, president and founder of Pellucid Golf Inc., has been bringing independent and often sobering data and data analysis to the golf business for the past 20 years. He has been among the very few voices of reason in an industry historically dominated and driven by large organizations and often unreasonable agendas and objectives.
What's wrong with the golf industry? How to fix it? How do superintendents fit and factor in? Listen as Jim lays it all out.
To download th
Episode 8 of the TZP showcases one of the industry's most unique and wonderful personalities, Jon Kiger of TurfNet.
This spirited and wonderful chat showcases Jon's enthusiasm for TurfNet and for the industry as a whole. His spirit is infectious and everyone he meets enjoys their relationship.
I spend a bit of time talking about relationships as well.
The Turfgrass Zealot Project is sponsored by Klingstone. Proven Bunker Performance for 15 years.
"You can't expect solutions from the people whose best thinking caused the problem in the first place."
Albert Einstein
In another of our tragically overlooked short films, Buddy explains Point #3 of Fixin' Golf. This film was not originally scheduled as part of the Ten Year Anniversary Rockbottum Film Festival, but circumstances* dictated we release it again.
*Note: Apparently I irritated a couple of the Alphabet Elite types with my simplistic and inexpensive solutions to golf's cur
Join Dave Wilber as he talks with Pat Sisk, CGCS, about the history and caretaking of Milwaukee Country Club.
Milwaukee Country Club is one of those places. It has history and character. Patrick Sisk commands the helm and does it well.
Learn about the selection process, bringing in Tom Doak's Renaissance Golf Design. And Pat talks about the support that the club gives in the way of a long term green chairman.
If you ever wondered how "they" do it, here is a chance to hear how.
This title might lead you to think I'll be writing about how I am filling a position that is all I ever expected out of a career. I am, but this blog is not referring to exactly that type of dream job. This post has to do with an actual dream I had recently.
In this dream I was touring a golf course as part of professional development for Drury University. During this dream trip, I heard about many interesting efforts and approaches to some grounds tasks. Once awake, I considered what struck
Following is a series of little known insights that, once adopted, can help advance superintendents careers.
It Is far easier to get hired at top-of-the-line clubs than many think: Because it is not widely known that Search Committees at the top-of-the line clubs generally limit the number of job applications they will accept to fill vacant superintendent positions to less than ten because by so doing they will be better able to focus on and identify the better candidates.
Furthermore, jo
Our Film Crew at Rockbottum Country Club operates just like our golf course crew: Skeletal.
Everyone is cross-trained in several disciplines, on both sides of the camera, in order to keep things affordable and efficient.
In this Rockbottum 10 Year Film Fest entry, we highlight Dave, our audio tech, actor, stunt coordinator and occasional writer.
Buddy, the owner of more formal turf education than anyone else at Rockbottum CC, used to handle all our science stuff, testing for micro-nubial bacteriums, fematoads and soil temps in spring.
Buddy has royal golf lineage, because he matriculated (allegedly) under the legendary Palmer Maples for several quarters at Gwinnett Tech. Things went well for years, until one day, I got this feeling that . . . maybe Buddy had hornswoggled us with a fake academic history.
It wasn't the incompre
In this episode I Speak Frankly with Professor Bill Kreuser from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln about his work with PGRs (rates, frequency, etc), pigments, and his take on using growth potential to schedule fertilizer programs.
You can download the .mp3 file here or subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher.
Frankly Speaking is presented by Turfline/True Surface and DryJect.
Athletes with an ambition to excel in sports soon learn that the best/only time to definitively enhance their skill sets is during the off-season when trial and error experimentation cannot hurt the team.
I can attest to this personally having initially been a run-of-the-mill high school basketball player who through a commitment to extensive summer-time ball yard practice time developed my skill sets to the point of being able to set a New York State private school tournament scoring record
Join me as I speak with Mind/Body/Spirit Expert and author Julia Tindall.
Are you happy? Are you stressed? These are critical questions to ask about work and life. And often we in the turfgrass biz don't have many people on our side when we want to talk about the tools needed in this area.
Julia Tindall has taught the Yoga of Wisdom all over the world. A well-known teacher, Tindall makes it clear that when we become stressful, unhappy people, our lives are not being lived to their potent
Goats are becoming increasingly popular in golf course management, especially for maintaining difficult out-of-play areas. Utilizing natural, organic practices--like goat rough mowers--establishes a link to the storied traditions of golf maintenance, when sheep mowed the short grass and designed bunkers.
Goats have a tougher image than sheep and are more likely to be accepted by hardened American golfers.
In fairness, however, sheep are probably fairly tough. One of the most popular tr
Musical instruments have always fascinated me. From the trombone to the French horn, or from harmonica to the acoustic guitar, there is virtually no end to the combinations of sound or the possibility for creation.
One of the most perplexing things about instruments is their relationship to the people around them. To those who do not play at all, musical instruments are a complete mystery; they might enjoy music, but they have no idea how musicians coax the music out of them. Then there are
The film that received the most Non-GCS angry mail was "Our Balls Aren't Fun Anymore".
It went under the GCS radar because it was released while golf course personnel everywhere were busy aerifying, poa killing and repelling geese. However, the film apparently provoked internet golf experts and two disturbed individuals claiming to be important Alphabet assets.
The critical reviews included such pointed observations as my "fake southern accent" and other enjoyable barbs that could onl
Unfortunately, many assistants jobs fail to spawn successful careers in golf because:
First Problem:
Being semi-desperate to escape the assistants world, too many settle for superintendent positions at courses with weak reputations that, accordingly, cannot advance their careers -- thereby creating career traps that offer little opportunity from which to seek better employment.
Proven Solutions: Assistants (or anyone else) should never accept a superintendent position without doing the
Our Ten Year Anniversary Celebration rolls on. Next up in The Rockbottum CC Film Festival of our favorite films that slipped by unnoticed:
"The Night Belongs To Charlie".
Learn the secret to dealing with nocturnal teenage vandals.
We're coming up on Ten Years of Rockbottum CC television. It's a major anniversary for us and it began in early December of 2005, when I was told to do a video version of my TurfNet column.
Buddy, Momma, Franklin Beaver and Ydnar began production on "Golf Cart Control" and released it two weeks later. It's been a wild ride since then. We tried to blend as many different styles of film as possible into an ever-changing format, while subjecting TurfNet viewers to various forms of subliminal
