02 Mar Golf Course Supers Tricks of the Trade
Posted at 11:09h
in golf course maintenance
As we all well know, there is a lot of work that goes into maintaining a golf course. We tend to focus on the big challenges supers often face—turf management, proper irrigation, soil testing, and pest control to name a few. And then there are the regular tasks—like fixing divots, moving holes, bunker care, golf cart service—that are easier, yet necessary tasks. But what about some of the smaller jobs? There are a few behind the scenes maintenance jobs that are important to have on your to-do list because they can make all the difference between a good course and a great course.
Golf course supers wear many hats--groundskeeper, teacher, financial advisor, staff manager, horticulturist, chemist, dead animal remover even. It's a job that takes a wide skill set. One hat you may not realize you wear is detective. When it comes to turf and pest management success, it’s crucial for a super to be able to solve the crime of “What’s ruining my turf?” It requires regular grounds and pest monitoring, along with some sleuthing skills. So channel your inner Perry Mason and let's figure out what creepy crawly is messing with your greens. 
As the pandemic rages on across the country, businesses everywhere are hurting—including golf courses. But now in the North, the weather has turned cold, so playing golf is not as appealing to players as it once was. With the loss of revenue from the past year, it can be tempting for courses to want to push it—keeping their course open longer than usual, hoping for a warmer day here and there so the die-hards may stop by and squeeze in some additional rounds. But keeping the course open through the winter months is hard. There are fewer daylight hours and difficult weather conditions to contend with. What’s a course to do? We have some ideas for you. 
Though the bodies of water across a golf course are beautiful to look at, most golfers try to avoid them at all costs. For Superintendents, they are something they definitely can NOT avoid. They are an aspect of the course that requires constant attention, care and maintenance—ensuring that the water is clean and the quality high. The struggle lies in that it’s not easy or cheap to accomplish this, but it’s unavoidable. 
Winter is just around the corner, so as course traffic begins to slow for many clubs in the North, that doesn’t mean the course maintenance does. If you think about it, during the prime golfing season, a super’s focus is on general course maintenance and making sure daily play is the best it can be. But during the months when it’s too cold for golfing, this is the time to catch up, get organized and start planning for the next year. Here are some suggestions to help you be prepared come spring. Can you check all of these off your list? 
Whether you’re a golfer or a super, you most likely have very strong opinions on the topic of bunkers. For golfers, most groan when they see their ball land in the trap (though there are those times when the player will breathe a sigh of relief because the bunker saved him or her from a worse fate, like out of bounds or a water hazard). For course superintendents, they are a constant frustration due to the high level of maintenance involved and complaints from the membership when they aren’t maintained to their liking. To make matters worse, we now continue to face a global pandemic plus a recession, resulting in bunkers becoming a hot topic for numerous reasons.