I'm talking to Assistant Supers, Second Assistants, Assistants in Training and Interns.
I got a great phone call from a young Turfhead who just landed his first second assistant superintendent job and wanted my take on succeeding. It was a great conversation and I told him that I would further answer his questions here. Sorry, he preferred not to be outed. Doesn't matter. The application is near universal.
1. Show Up Early. You are the new kid. And for sure, no one is going to wait for
A struggle for power has been going on behind the scenes at TurfNet TV. It involves Kevin Ross, men wearing skirts, Hector, a warehouse full of popcorn from the Truman era and a plot against . . . me.
In this episode of Frankly Speaking on TurfNet RADIO I chat with Mike Huck, former USGA Agronomist now with Irrigation and Turfgrass Services of California, about the latest on efficient water management, the situaion CA golf courses are facing, and how water use will change in the next five years. Have a listen, or download the .mp3 for offline listening.
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with Anthony L. Williams, CGCS, CGM, Director of Grounds for Stone Mountain Golf Club and the Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Anthony is the author of The Environmental Stewardship Toolkit, an excellent handbook for golf course superintendents interested in a practical approach to environmental stewardship. Anthony was also the 2009 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year! Buckle up for a full throttle discussion about w
This is a career case study of two individuals in very different circumstances but with one thing in common: they know what they want out of life and career.
Those of you who have hung around TurfNet for any length of time either know or know of John Colo. Passionate golf course superintendent, long-time TurfNet member who organized and orchestrated the around-the-world "Where's TurfNet" banner campaign a few years back, twin brother of a golf course superintendent (Jim, at Naples National
Grounds managers make a living balancing components in the landscape that can have undesirable effects if not maintained in the right doses or at the right time. For instance, irrigation is needed in the correct amount, but too much can result in disease, drowning, or shallow rooting. Plants need nutrients in the proper amounts, but availability can fluctuate by leaching, soil pH, timing, etc. Most of the cultural practices necessary to create a high quality product require the right efforts, in
For most superintendents the list of ultimate perks an employing golf club can bestow on them and their families is the following: granting privileges in the areas of club membership status, access to the clubhouse food & beverage programs, access to tennis and swimming pool facilities, access to the golf course and access to club championship events.
The rationale for this perk policy is twofold: (i) As a reward to show appreciation for well-performing golf course superintendents; and/o
Guest Post by Frank Duda, Golf Course Superintendent at Miacomet Golf Club, Nantucket, MA
With so many courses looking for staff and the impending possible issues with the H2B Visa program, I thought it was interesting to include an actual example of a course using H2B workers and how it the entire process operates. It is fairly complex and due to worker caps you have to start early for the next year's workers. So now is the time to learn about it, figure out if it is right for you and head
In this episode of Frankly Speaking, I chat with Dave Oatis, director of the Northeast Region of the USGA Green Section, about winter injury, waking the course up in the Spring, and Dave's favorite topic: Golf Course Tree Management Programs. Check it out below, or download it here for listening offline.
Check Out Science Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with TurfNet RADIO on BlogTalkRadio
Over the years, we have received many complaints regarding the level of violence in our films. Lately, however, during a spate of serious journalism, we lost sight of what is important and failed to reach our previous high standards. In order to correct this oversight, we offer this short film.
We are entering the time of year when superintendents will be losing jobs south of the Mason-Dixon line and entering into the danger zone in cool-season areas. Thus, it is appropriate to shed light on what can become catastrophic events (see Sept 25 blog post) for the families so affected and what can be done to stabilize these families and reconstitute their wage earners' careers.
Through my 25+ years of interacting with dismissed superintendents' families I have learned:
The mothers are
I have had a great deal of time to think over the last few weeks. Lots of time. Much of it spent blowing endless mountains of snow off our precious putting surfaces. Here is but a taste...
The above photo is a shot of the first pass across our putting green... on April 8th 2015. We finished clearing it ten hours later).
All of this alone time got me to thinking about the illusion of control. As I become more seasoned, the notion that we have dominion over how things progress becomes
Rhizoctonia used to eat most of my spray budget and keep me from ever taking a summer vacation.
That's why I took a Rockbottum CC film crew and spent several days documenting Mark Hoban's latest experiment.
Perhaps it is time to cut through all the media hype and really talk about the water situation in California. California doesn't have a water problem. We all do.
I've been watching the water picture in California for 25 years. Water has been my key focus even before that, coming up in the business in Colorado. I've been fortunate enough to get to spend a lot of time around people who really understand water in just about every usage situation. It's my area of greatest professional interest a
During my 25+ year career I have been fortunate to play or prep for tournaments some 400+ golf courses across the country of all types, lengths and shapes. FYI: You learn more about a golf course preparing it Rules-wise for tournament play than playing the course itself.
Out of this blend of personally inventoried golf courses, I have been able to make the following observations:
Top 100 Classic Golf Courses:
I have played, or officiated at 53 of the top 100 courses.
Universal Obser
As a young golfer/indentured walk-mower driver in the Sixties, I grew up on big, wide, roughless golf courses. In those days, the expansive meadows of golf were fun to navigate and the game was much more relaxed than today's neurotic version.
Certainly maintaining the course was more fun, as golfers were yet to be contaminated by a constant weekly cathode-ray barrage of perfect greens, bleached sand and lush fairways mowed in argyle sock patterns. The modern golfer, faced with wild inconsi
Yes, golf can't be played unless the golf course superintendents across the country maintain the golf courses and cut the grasses. But we acquire a new insight once we look into the staggering numbers that dominate the superintendents' world that virtually no one is taking notice of today. For example, based on recent industry data across the United States:
Superintendents are responsible for maintaining an estimated 1,925,000 acres of golf course lands.
Data Derivation: 15,400 golf courses
Writing my last blog about the future of grounds and landscape management got me thinking about how potential changes could alter my current programs. It then lead me to wonder about sustainability (what in the world does that mean?), and how that could change my grounds management too. As I pondered these questions, I began to wonder what steps are to achieve the sustainability goals I believe in and support. In no particular order, and without saying that these are the absolute answers, here a
Yesterday, Rockbottum's top covert film unit returned from Rivermont CC with footage of Mark Hoban, MGS, (Mad Golf Scientist) using his Invisible Soil-Feeding TD sand.
The film you are about to see is one of several updates of ongoing research testing taking place under Mark's control. Next week we intend to reveal where he's getting this stuff . . . unless he comes up with some serious compensation.
Based on 25+ years of interacting with and counseling golf course superintendents through their careers, the following is an upside vs downside rating listing of the full spectrum of jobs that golf course superintendents might consider applying for at one time or another during their careers -- presented in the priority order of the better jobs first:
A+ CHOICE: With Established Multi-Course Contract Company
Upside: Maximum job security with unique job advantages. (See Mar 12th blog)
Guest Post by Frank Duda, Golf Course Superintendent at Miacomet Golf Club, Nantucket, MA
While not perfectly related to career materials or technology, I thought it was interesting enough to include on this blog due to the potential importance of it in some of your operations, especially with it being in the news recently. The second post on how to streamline and manage the process will be coming in the next blog. I hope this offers insight to you and thanks to Frank Duda for writing this
Have you ever wondered how to go about setting up an environmental stewardship program? Anthony Williams, CGCS of Stone Mountain GC, wrote a comprehensive book on the subject and a Rockbottum film crew went down to check it out.
