March is here!

March is here spring is right around the corner. We have just finished our April issue and are ready to take on May which is our Structures issue.

A new feature in the April issue we will be running from time to time is the BlogRoll. A section dedicated to what Superintendents, or industry experts write in your blogs. If you would like something featured send me an email and we will put it in out next available issue.

The only requirements for the BlogRoll is it has to be relevant and fairly current. You don't have to write anything new we just use what is in your blog. Our first candidate for our new section is Mike Vogt from the McMahon Group he writes about "Private Club Vitality" and how to keep your club afloat during these trying times.

Visit Mikes blog here lots of good information.

The article this month is by Ed Underhill president of Underhill International titled
"From Sensors to Solid Metal Nozzles: Seven Steps to Saving Water on Golf Courses" very informative article about saving water on your golf course.

All this and more will be mailed out to you on or about the 12th of March. I will put our digital version up right after it prints and will have a link to it here also when it is ready.

Gagnon awarded for keeping safety the top priority at Segregansett

Taunton —

Striving to keep teens safe is the goal for Rich Gagnon, head golf course superintendent of grounds at Segregansett Country Club. As the recent recipient of the 2010 Golf Course Superintendents Association (GCSAA) of America’s Excellence in Government Relations Award in the compliance category, his plan is to keep teens who work at golf courses everywhere out of harm’s way.

“The award was a huge surprise,” Gagnon said. “I’m passionate about what I do, but it’s a lot for one person to keep up with. I have to be diligent because I’m the one the responsibility falls to.”

As a way to save some money in a questionable economy, Gagnon decided that one way to save money was to hire some high school students because the hourly wage would be less. However, he did have questions regarding what types of child labor laws would come into effect, given the amount and types of gas-powered equipment being used and whether or not these kids needed a driver’s license to operate this equipment.

A front-end loader, a tractor, riding reel mower, riding rotary mower, utility carts and a chain saw are just some of the heavy equipment Gagnon was questioning.

Read more here

Our Congratulations to go out to Rich Gagdon for all his hard work. Rich wrote an article for us back in August of 2008.

Busy Days at Corral de Tierra Country Club

The maintenance department at Corral de Tierra Country Club is keeping busy with a new pond installation...

1000 gallons per minute of water was put in the pond Friday to start stretching the liner so that the installation of the liner into the anchor trench will go smoothly. A 2 foot by 2 foot trench is being dug around the pond edge that the liner will be placed in and held down with soil.

Keep up with their progress here

GIS 2010

Most folks here are off to the GIS show, gives me more time to post here. We hope everyone has a good time send me your pictures and I will post them here.

GCM, Foley partner for equipment tech contest

If you're looking for a way to recognize all the hard work and dedication put in by your course's equipment tech, but don't have a line in your budget for a trip to Hawaii or tickets to the Final Four, I think I can help.

GCM, in partnership with the good folks at Foley United, are presenting the Most Valuable Technician awards program, which we're officially launching this week at the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in San Diego. The concept is simple -- head on over to this Web site, fill out the nomination form, and let our esteemed panel of judges do the rest.

The deadline for nominations is March 5. After that, we'll narrow all of the nominations down to three finalists and at that time, you'll be invited to return to the Web site to vote for the equipment technician you think is most deserving of this honor. Our plans are to announce the winner in the Insider: Shop column in our June issue.

Get all the info here

Oakland Hills Country Club new Blog out!

Steve Cook, the Golf Superintendent from the Oakland Hills C. C. has a new blog, Turfgrass Maintenance. He will be keeping us all updated on the goings on at his club through this new blog so go over and give Steve a shout next time your out on the web.

Steve's blog here

Golf Course Trades March Issue

We have just about finished with another magazine we have the final proofs here now and once they get a good looking over we will go to the printing, our printer is here in town. Then a couple days after that all the Golf Course Superintendents across the country can see the latest.

Lets not forget though that we do have a digital version we put up every month that can be seen here on our website www.golfcoursetrades.com. There you can search through the archives to see what you have missed.

Blogs of Note

This blog written by Michael D. Vogt, CGCS, CGIA, Golf Division Director, McMahon Group a golf facility consulting company, has many useful articles from irrigation to writing mission statements, very informative.

Michael is presenting a half day seminar at the Golf Industry Show 2010, in San Diego. "Planning and Programming the Golf Turf Care Center" The seminar will consist of step-by-step planning for new or renovated maintenance buildings.


Go Here for the blog

Teaching the Future

Our February issue is up on our digital viewer. The article written by Sean McCue Golf Course Superintendent at The Country Club at Castle Pines.

In the article Sean talks about their internship at Castle Pines He says:

"The teaching process goes beyond the interns and filters down to the rest of the staff as well. I am a firm believer that the best way of learning is to actually get the hands on experience. It is for this reason that I love taking on many in house projects that provide numerous opportunities for learning"

Good luck Sean and thank you for taking the time to write an article for us.

Visit Sean's blog here

If you would like to write an article for The Golf Course Trades just call at 931-484-8819 or email me directly at ken@thetrades.com I look forward to hearing from you.

Getting back on course

With a down economy hurting their business, local golf course managers aren’t resting on their nine irons but are instead rolling out incentives and programs in an effort to entice more players to spend their green out on the green

The trend in local golf is similar to what’s occurring nationally, with rounds of golf down slightly in 2009 from the previous year, according to the latest data from the National Golf Foundation.

“The private clubs are trying various things to attract members — from trial memberships to reduced initiation fees,” said Jim Kass, director of research for the foundation. “With public courses, the best ones are offering player development programs and lessons for beginners, and club loaners, as opposed to just offering discounts.”


Read more