Every New Year brings with it promises of new resolutions; those seemingly unreachable personal goals that test one's resolve and self-discipline. Like losing that extra 10 pounds, there are things on the wish lists of many in the golf business that seem equally unattainable.
Besides the obvious answer of more golfers, superintendents are wishing for things such as favorable weather conditions, a stronger economy (and more money in the budget) and other elusive factors that are outside a superintendent's control.
"More job security for superintendents," said Matt Shaffer of Merion Golf Club when asked what is on his 2015 wish list. "We have the most at risk, because we deal with the most variables."
Although a lofty wish like more job security might seem as unrealistic a goal as losing those unwanted pounds, Shaffer knows something about risk and accountability. He managed Merion through the 2013 U.S. Open as Tropical Storm Andrea swept through the area the week before the tournament. The Philadelphia-area course stood up to those extra-tropical conditions thanks in part to the work of Shaffer's staff and an army of volunteers, but also because of ongoing drainage improvements and water-management strategies that have marked his career at Merion.
Shaffer has built a career defined by producing consistently high playing conditions while redefining what it means to minimize fertilizer, fungicide and water inputs. Like Shaffer, Mark Hoban, Sean Tully and Jim Ferrin also have embraced a similar minimalist philosophy. Part artist, part revolutionary, each has created a work of art that proves superintendent ingenuity and creativity and adopting new technology can go a lot farther than making applications with a broad brush.
Ferrin, a certified golf course superintendent at a 36-hole Del Webb facility in Roseville, California, has taken it upon himself to be a statewide authority on water issues in California. He speaks to regularly on the subject to policy makers and other water users throughout the state in hopes of helping to educate them when it's time to either turn on the tap, adopt public policy or renew his employment contract, depending on the audience.
"So the future of golf is unfortunately driven by marketing and PACs (political action committees). That is why I am part of the GCSAA Ambassadors program and an active member in CAG (California Alliance for Golf), all the major golf organization involved in golf- associations, PGA, owners, superintendents etc.," Ferrin said. "Hopefully we can get the word out. Golf is good."
Shaffer, too, has for years been judicious with water, pesticide and fertilizer inputs, and said at the 2014 Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference in early December that tracking growing degree days has allowed him to cut his all-inclusive apps budget by 69 percent from 2002 to 2013. He was an early adopter of in-ground sensor technology and speaks regularly on water use to help educate colleagues. He points to his own efforts as well as the water-saving restoration of Pinehurst No. 2, by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw that included removing 700 irrigation heads and converting 40 acres of turf to native areas, as blueprints for water-saving efforts in the future.
"Realistically, (I'd like to see) less water use," Shaffer said. "We are going to do it at Merion. Perhaps between us and Merion it will lead the way for a new trend in golf; less water, less inputs, more affordability in golf."
Superintendents could help improve the image of their profession by implementing more of the technological tools at their disposal, says Hoban, a certified golf course superintendent at Rivermont Country Club near Atlanta. Since the mid-1980s, Hoban has been an advocate of minimal inputs resulting in conditions that have been less than lush and green, and also cited the Pinehurst model as an example of how superintendents can diffuse public opinion about golf's impact on the environment.
"In technology I would like to see widely used GPS for all courses that control golf car travel and for spray equipment," Hoban said. "It's out there but cost needs to come down for most of us.
"I would like to see more courses embrace the Pinehurst model of less fertilizer, pesticide, water, and maintenance inputs. I would like to see researchers increase testing of biologicals for disease and insect control and take a new look at the soil health side of the equation and not just plant response. We know a product works on the plant but we are in the dark on what it is doing to the sub-trophic levels in the soil.
"I think that that technology is available, but it would reduce compaction and make applications more efficient. I think that the future of turfgrass management is in being better stewards of the land and more mindful of what inputs we select and how they truly affect the whole system not just the turfgrass."
A minimalist philosophy not only makes for good PR as the green industry constantly seeks to educate the general public about what really goes on behind the scenes in a golf course maintenance operation, it also makes sense in light of current economic times, says Tully, superintendent at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, California. Tully has gone to great lengths to try to bring the Alister MacKenzie design closer to what it looked like when it opened in 1927. He also has spent a lot of time studying MacKenzie's thoughts on golf course design, how they were applied at the Meadow Club and elsewhere, and educating others why design
"For too long the idea of perfection has ruled the day," Tully said. "With that comes the need to add staffing and additional expenses to make perfect happen.
"(I) Don't see a lot of industry guys getting too excited about using less product. But we have to be asking the questions, because we are the only ones that know all the details. Do we want to be spending more money for less people to enjoy the game because they can't afford the product that we provide? Can we get people to reduce their expectations and still feel good about the finished product?"