23 Oct Winter Course Care in the North
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? (more…)
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. 
Throughout the ongoing fight against COVID-19, I think it’s safe to say we have all now learned the importance of washing your hands and using hand sanitizer. It truly is the best way to avoid spreading germs. Even on the course! However, though hand sanitizer helps your golfers play safely and comfortably, what is less commonly known is that hand sanitizer is harmful to your golf course turfgrass. 
When managing a golf course, it’s important to be prepared for the unexpected, especially when it comes to water. You never know when something like a pipe failure, a fire, or in most cases, lack of rainfall, will affect your course’s water supply. Since a golf course uses, on average, about 
Though most golfers focus on getting to the green, most of their time is spent in the fairways. After all, fairways account for, on average, 
As we all WELL know, there are many contributors to any successful golf course operation. It wouldn’t thrive without the super, pros, investors, players and grounds crew, but other important cast members include natural wildlife and pollinators. They’re responsible for encouraging plant growth and pollinating flowering plants. Integrating wildflowers into your course landscaping is a simple way to support pollinators, and they can bring a whole slew of benefits. 
It’s been a hell of a year, and it’s only June. It’s likely to be rough for awhile. Courses across the US were shut down as early as March, and only in the last month have slow streams of players been allowed back on, and with stringent restrictions. No golfers means no revenue and boards are tightening the purse strings for supers. The problem is, if you want a viable course when players are back in full swing, you can’t just stop maintaining it for a couple months. But, we’ve been here before. We learned some valuable lessons in 2009 and these are five important takeaways on what you can, and what you can’t, sacrifice in a time like this.
For golf course superintendents, the number one priority is to provide golfers with the best possible playing conditions. And as we all well know, that is no easy feat especially when it comes to turf management. Your course’s irrigation system plays a huge part in that. The challenge lies in the fact that it is probably the most expensive investment on a golf course but it can have the biggest impact. When considering making upgrades to your course’s irrigation system, it’s important to understand what’s really involved. Here’s a glimpse at the reality. 
There are plenty of frustrating moments on the golf course. For players, when a drive lands in a water hazard, a green is misread, or a heavy rainstorm hits in the middle of a great round can all send them over the edge. For golf course supers, when equipment breaks down right before a major tournament, a greens committee micromanages your work, or turf that just won’t cooperate are examples of the frustration we face every day. Like everything in life, some things are out of a manager’s control and it comes with the job. But other problems, like spring dead spot popping up, are manageable. 
We’re approaching that time of year when the golfers are getting twitchy. It’s up to you – seasoned course superintendent – to stay strong in the face of pressure and not let those polo-shirted pushers force you to open a course before the time is right.