Jane Hall can certainly relate to how the turf industry has changed over the past 20 years. Like a lot of her colleagues, she came over from the landscape side to be a course superintendent. She remembers hydraulic irrigation and antiquated solenoids that made digging anywhere on the course a potentially shocking experience. Now that…
Cleaning Out the Garage
After a summer spent up to their eyeballs in broken hoses, bent drive trains and a host of other mechanical nightmares, most course maintenance workers are understandably ready to hang up the tool belt and take a muchneeded break once the season winds down. But as deserved as that rest would be, wintertime (or any…
Surviving a Mid-Decade Crisis
Arnold Palmer called it “an exceptional year for bad weather,” based on his 50 years of experience as a professional golfer. The PGA Tour’s Vice President of Agronomy, Jon Scott, has gone even further, stating that “Never in my 31 years in this profession have I seen [a year] as challenging as this one, in…
Being Careful About What You Wish For
Much like an obsessive housekeeper who never runs out of chores, just about any superintendent can drive around a course and point out a hundred things he or she would love to improve. But with limited time and even more limited funds, large scale capital improvement projects for club and resort properties have to be…