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About this blog

Randy and the gang at Rockbottum Country Club pontificate on Rockbottum wisdom and skeletal golf, among other madness.

Entries in this blog

Recommended Rockbottum Reading

When the cold winds blow and the golf course wanders in and out of suspended animation, we here at The Rock like to put a few hickory logs in the fireplace and recharge our minds and spirits for what summer will throw at us.     Cable TV has long been banished from the realm of Rockbottum, so our favorite winter evening activity involves reading near the fireplace, hot chamomile tea, warm homemade bread and quiet music.   Our reading music is typically Ralph Vaughn Williams or George Winston
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Best And Worst GCS Hobby #6

The Best and Worst GCS Hobby #6 has been hidden on the shelf for several months, due to issues of censorship and good taste.   However, since good taste is not really an issue with Ludell . . . and Momma is too busy running the golf course to oversee every single Rockbottum CC training film, we hurriedly present:   "Backpacking for the Golf Course Superintendent."   
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

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Classic Golf Architecture and The Origins of Rockbottum CC

Due to a sudden increase in requests for more information on Rockbottum CC and Skeletal Greenkeeper Theory, I have decided to reveal how I became mired involved in this situation.   Note:  I will not divulge the actual name of Rockbottum, because I do not wish to use TurfNet to promote my architectural brilliance, but if you are a sharp-eyed video enthusiast, you may already know the true name.   Obsessed with golf architecture from an early age, mostly due to the strategic and tactical natu
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

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Rockbottum Series: The State Of Golf, Part Two.

Part Two of the Rockbottum Series on The State of Golf involves adaptation and suggested reading material from Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond.   If you don't have time to read the assignment, just watch this video.  
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

1

State of Golf Address

In the spirit of The State of The Union Address, I have endeavored to write and deliver a comprehensive analysis of the current state of affairs in golf. Due to constant interruptions provided by GCS duties, I have been forced to split the State of Golf Address into several segments. The first segment contains very little of the State of Golf Address, but some of the issues facing golf are presented in short form. On the bright side, unlike the Presidential State of the Union, you will not h
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

State of Golf Address

In the spirit of The State of The Union Address, I have endeavored to write and deliver a comprehensive analysis of the current state of affairs in golf.   Due to constant interruptions provided by GCS duties, I have been forced to split the State of Golf Address into several segments. Due to constant interruptions provided by GCS duties . . . The first segment contains very little of the State of Golf Address, but some of the issues facing golf are presented in short form.   On the bri
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Does Your Golf Course Marshal Need A Little Help?

Our GCM (Golf Course Marshal) is often accused of being lazy, ineffective and unwilling to do the job. When the GCM attempts to speed play and enforce local rules, golfers howl in protest, calling the GCM a jack-booted power-crazed thug gleefully dealing out harassment and oppression. If the GCM is polite, the players ignore GCM commands and refuse to comply; it is not unusual for golfers to see a polite GCM as a sign of weakness and follow up with threats and physical abuse. Here at The Roc
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

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Marshal's Little Helper

Our GCM (Golf Course Marshal) is often accused of being lazy, ineffective and unwilling to do the job.   When the GCM attempts to speed play and enforce local rules, golfers howl in protest, calling the GCM a jack-booted power-crazed thug gleefully dealing out harassment and oppression.   If the GCM is polite, the players ignore GCM commands and refuse to comply; it is not unusual for golfers to see a polite GCM as a sign of weakness and follow up with threats and physical abuse. . . . go
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Crew Management Veminar From The Skeletal GreenKeeper

Football coaches know their chances of making it to “Legendary Coach” status are greater if their team is talented, highly motivated, fast and smart. The Golf Course Superintendent is in a similar situation.  It can be very difficult to reach the top ranks of Golf Course Superintendents while saddled with a poor team. That’s my excuse. Everyone in this industry knows what a positive influence a talented equipment tech can have on a golf course.   The highly motivated assistant superintendent
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Crew Management Veminar From The Skeletal GreenKeeper

Football coaches know their chances of making it to Legendary Coach status are greater if their team is talented, highly motivated, fast and smart.   The Golf Course Superintendent is in a similar situation.  It can be very difficult to reach the top ranks of Golf Course Superintendents while saddled with a poor team.   That's my excuse.   Everyone in this industry knows what a positive influence a talented equipment tech can have on a golf course.   The highly motivated assistant superint
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

How Did We Build Golf Courses in 1932?

Recently, Peter McCormick, TurfNet Commander, posted a wildly interesting video in the TurfNet Forum, a classic film on “The Early Days of Greenkeeping“. While watching the old film, I remembered I had some old film footage stashed away in the Rockbottum CC vault, acquired during my Classic Golf Architecture fanatic period.  The footage showed our local muni here in Griffin, Georgia, during the earliest construction phase, in 1932. I located the film and edited it down for internet attention s
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

How Did We Build Golf Courses in 1932?

Recently, Peter McCormick, TurfNet Commander, posted a wildly interesting video in the TurfNet Forum, a classic film on The Early Days of Greenkeeping.   While watching the old film, I remembered I had some old film footage stashed away in the Rockbottum CC vault, acquired during my Classic Golf Architecture fanatic period.  The footage showed our local muni here in Griffin, Georgia, during the earliest construction phase, in 1932.   I located the film and edited it down for internet attenti
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Skeletal Golf Operation Techniques

At Rockbottum CC, our green fee for a weekday walker is $10.  We don’t get very many walking players, but if someone wanted to play several times a week, it would be affordable. The fees go up for riders, but the amount is still minimal when compared to other courses in our area, especially the clubs that went millions in debt to attract new members with upgraded clubhouse facilities. Rockbottum CC doesn’t have the slick shine of our expensive neighbors, but we have one thing they don’t:  Play
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Skeletal Golf Operation Techniques

At Rockbottum CC, our green fee for a weekday walker is $10.  We dont get very many walking players, but if someone wanted to play several times a week, it would be affordable.   The fees go up for riders, but the amount is still minimal when compared to other courses in our area, especially the clubs that went millions in debt to attract new members with upgraded clubhouse facilities.   Rockbottum CC doesnt have the slick shine of our expensive neighbors, but we have one thing they dont:  P
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

A Gopher For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday at Rockbottum CC, mostly because almost every Thanksgiving morning since 1973, we have engaged in a hard-fought, knock ’em down and drag ’em out golf match. It’s a two-man team, match play event and the rules are simple:  To play, you have to be a Wilson, either in the golf business or a veteran of the golf world, and your partner has to be your brother.  For the first few years, it was known as The Wilson Brothers Championship of the Universe, but it got bi
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

A Gopher For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday at Rockbottum CC, mostly because almost every Thanksgiving morning since 1973, we have engaged in a hard-fought, knock em down and drag em out golf match.   It's a two-man team, match play event and the rules are simple:  To play, you have to be a Wilson, either in the golf business or a veteran of the golf world, and your partner has to be your brother.  For the first few years, it was known as The Wilson Brothers Championship of the Universe, but it go
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Varmint Vandalism Deterrent

The Rockbottum CC Research Team has released the results of tests carried out on a Varmint Vandalism Deterrent first suggested on The TurfNet Forum. As pressure mounts for golf courses to use 100% humane, organic, minimal carbon footprint methods for pest management, Rockbottum CC leads the way by carefully examining every possible solution.
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Varmint Vandalism Deterrent

The Rockbottum CC Research Team has released the results of tests carried out on a Varmint Vandalism Deterrent first suggested on The TurfNet Forum.   As pressure mounts for golf courses to use 100% humane, organic, minimal carbon footprint methods for pest management, Rockbottum CC leads the way by carefully examining every possible solution.  
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

The 330 Can

The current uproar over long putters and anchors is a diversion.  Just like the ruling on grooves a while back, the broom putter controversy is designed to take your eyeballs away from the real problems currently crippling golf. The real problems are that toaster oven on a stick that allows golfers to bust it long and straight without the practice that skill once required and  . . . the superball . . . and the cost of playing the game. But the worst enemy of golf right now is the time needed t
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

The 330 Can

The current uproar over long putters and anchors is a diversion.  Just like the ruling on grooves a while back, the broom putter controversy is designed to take your eyeballs away from the real problems currently crippling golf. The real problems are that toaster oven on a stick that allows golfers to bust it long and straight without the practice that skill once required and  . . . the superball . . . and the cost of playing the game. But the worst enemy of golf right now is the time needed t
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

The TurfNet Zone (Classic)

There are golf courses where unruly golfers play so slow as to make others give up the game.  There are golf courses where golfers flick cigarettes into bunkers, pull carts off the path at tees and greens–creating hardpan cow paths–while wreaking havoc upon course fixtures and harshly oppressing course personnel. One day, these golfers may find they have unknowingly crossed over into . . . The TurfNet Zone. Or they could just tee it up at Rockbottum CC and find out the hard way, that Momma do
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

The TurfNet Zone (Classic)

There are golf courses where unruly golfers play so slow as to make others give up the game.  There are golf courses where golfers flick cigarettes into bunkers, pull carts off the path at tees and greens -- creating hardpan cow paths -- while wreaking havoc upon course fixtures and harshly oppressing course personnel. One day, these golfers may find they have unknowingly crossed over into . . . The TurfNet Zone. Or they could just tee it up at Rockbottum CC and find out the hard way, that Mom
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

0

Penal Rough Envy

I don’t like rough.  From my crusty old point of view, rough has damaged golf, especially the critical entry level point, the municipal course. I haven’t always disliked rough.  I didn’t know I hated it until the summer of ’76, when the US Open came to the Atlanta Athletic Club.  One of Our Local Numbskulls (OLN) somehow managed to qualify and that meant we all had to traipse up there from our muni and watch him perform. *Historical Side Note:  I never actually got to see OLN earn his spot i
Randy Wilson

Randy Wilson

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