Flood or Drought?

Just a couple short weeks ago we had record rain fall at the U.S. Open interrupting game play and almost stopping it altogether. Now on the opposite end of the scale there is record drought in Texas and other areas causing major problems for Superintendents and their clubs. Even while some of these courses are using recycled water it seems the price of this water is very high.

I found this article about course in Texas having problems with the drought.

Read article here

Golf Trades Happenings

We are well into our September book just trying to get the last minute equipment sellers ads completed. The article has arrived and I just received the cover picture. The deadline for the October book is August 1st just a few days away.

For all the superintendents that are waiting on the fall or winter to do articles if one or two could do one now it would be a great help, always needing articles. The hunt for articles is hard this time of year as you all are very busy keeping your course immaculate for your members.

For anyone thinking of doing an article our deadlines are at the first of the month and we work two months out, if more time is needed please contact me.

$6 million renovation pays dividends to Sterling Farms

I found this story about how these guys on a public course paid for there renovations without tax payer dollars very interesting read I am hoping to get the super there to do an article for The Golf Course Trades some day.

STAMFORD -- It's a beautiful thing when a plan comes together.

Especially a plan that is 11 years and more than $6 million dollars in the making.

And that is certainly the case at the Sterling Farms golf course in Stamford.

The 40-year-old public golf course that is host to nearly 60,000 rounds per year is in the midst of a renaissance thanks to an incredible amount of foresight, planning and belief.

The golfing public has been the beneficiary of a total renovation involving Sterling Farms' challenging 150-acre layout, which has carried the 6,462-yard, par 72 course into the 21st Century.

The story begins in 1998 and Stamford Golf Authority executive director Paul Grillo -- just a few years into the position -- looks around the 29-year-old golf course/facility and sees a relatively successful operation.

But the nagging question was how to take the golf course and the operation to the next level.

Grillo -- with the approval of the Golf Authority which oversees Sterling Farms --

ultimately turns to Robert McNeil, an architect at Northeast Golf Courses in Rhode Island, to study everything tee box to green.

So McNeil looks and looks and looks. Eventually, Grillo has a book of recommendations on his desk the size of a James Michener novel.

The good news is that Grillo has plenty of ideas, plans, data and costs to show the Stamford Golf Authority, the members of which are appointed by the mayor of Stamford.

Read the rest here

Driven by cost and conscience, Oregon's golf courses are going green

by Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian

It may be that golf's swing mantra -- keep your head down -- keeps players focused on birdies, not birds. But whether golfers notice or not, when the gallery along the ninth fairway at Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon City includes a dive-bombing kestrel and a redtail hawk, it's apparent that change is making the turn.
Specifically, golf is getting greener. Across the United States, but especially in the Pacific Northwest and particularly in the Portland area, golf courses are adopting environmentally sustainable practices. They are using far less water, fertilizer and weed-killer than before and employing grass varieties that can thrive without meticulous care.

It's become par for the course for golf superintendents to leave dead trees for habitat, encourage native pollinators and maintain wildlife corridors. The courses themselves, often veined with creeks and wetlands, have taken on new roles as community protectors by receiving, storing and controlling storm water. Water hazards -- where wayward shots go to drown -- double as homes for ducks, geese, turtles and frogs.

Reasons for the change include money and apprehension about being targeted for lawsuits or government regulation. But many golf course superintendents also say sustainability is an ethos that has taken root in settings once known for entitlement, exclusion and manipulation of the environment.

Read full article

Rain, new technology help reduce parks' water use

Computerized sprinkler controls and weather monitors make the most of moisture

BOULDER, Colo. — Heavy rainfall in recent months has allowed cities in Boulder County to cut back on the water used to maintain city parks, golf courses and other green spaces.

Boulder, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Erie and Superior all use computer-automated systems, some that are wirelessly linked to weather stations, to reduce water use as cued by weather patterns. Those systems can even shut off sprinklers when rain starts to fall.

"There's some really cool new technology that just gets more water delivered to where it belongs," said Paul Bousquet, Boulder Parks and Recreation spokesman.

For April and May, the city budgeted 54.75 million gallons to water baseball fields, parks and golf courses, but only used 6.18 million gallons -- about one-tenth of what was allotted.

"That's a pretty big water savings as a result of how much and how consistently we got precipitation this spring," said Bousquet.

Three strategically-placed weather stations in Boulder and a network of weather information available through a collaboration with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District relay information to park stations that trigger sprinkler systems.

Those sprinklers activate based on the evapotranspiration rate, a figure that combines weather conditions including rainfall, humidity, wind, temperature and solar radiation to estimate how much moisture plants have lost because of weather. When the evapotranspiration rate indicates that grass is staying hydrated, the computer system shuts off the sprinklers.

read the whole article

Waubeeka upgrade nearly done

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Redesigned greens, fairways and bunkers, and a new practice facility are among renovation work that began at Waubeeka Golf Links in April.

The work specific to the golf course is now days from completion with a finished practice facility still a couple months away.

General Manager Mark J. Mills said last week the renovation work on the eighth hole, which is the last in the first phase of course renovations, is planned to be completed by Tuesday.

"We'll call it for the summer on Tuesday. Then as to where we move on from their, we'll decided in the fall," he said.

According to Sunday's posting on Waubeeka's Web site, Hawk Shaw Golf Course Construction Inc. of Hawthorne, N.Y. plans finish the sand traps at the eighth hole by Wednesday.

The target date for completion of the new practice facility, which will be just over 30,000 square feet -- including a 23,000 square-foot area for a driving range and an 8,000 square-foot for private lessons -- is in late summer or early fall, Golf Course Superintendent Gregory "Greg" S. Tudor said last week.

read the rest of the article here

Waubeeka Golf Links website

Superintendents were green before green was in VOGUE!

"Recently at the club I was asked -- what are you doing in regards to going GREEN? I paused and gave this subject some thought and realized that Superintendents are such good stewards of the environment that we are green!"
Click the picture for full article

Thanks to Matt Shaffer for our August article. Matt is from Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Philadelphia. Merion Golf Club has been host to 17 USGA Championships, the most of any club, including 4 U.S. Opens, and 6 U.S. Amateur Championships, plus they will be hosting both the 2009 Walker Club Amateur & the 2013 U.S. Open. Thanks again!

2009 Walker Cup Info

The 2009 Women's U.S. Open

The 2009 U.S. Women's Open is hosted this year by Saucon Valley Country Club's Old Course on July 9-12. The Superintendent at Saucon Valley is James J. Roney Jr. Director of Golf Course and Grounds we wish he and his crew the best of luck, and sunny days.

Info about the Women's U.S. Open

Life at The Trades

A day here at The Trades starts like most peoples days, get up early drink as much coffee as I can while reading the morning news. When I do finally get to work, around 7am this time of year, first thing is to start the coffee pot and check my email.

The Golf Course Trades is the publication I am responsible for, The Trades publishing Co. has five monthly magazines, but only one Golf Course Trades and it's all mine, the owner might argue that, but I consider it like mine, as in I am responsible for getting it ready and to the printers on time. The Golf Course Trades focuses on the Golf Course Superintendent they are the main readers of out magazine, we even started including an article every month written by superintendents so that they can express themselves and show off their golf course on the cover and with pictures in the article. If you are reading this and want to write an article click on my email and let me know.

More to follow on the daily life....

Marriott Golf names Scott Bender Golf Grounds Manager of the Year

Marriott Golf, one of the world’s premier golf operators, recently announced Scott Bender, Director of Grounds for Griffin Gate Golf Club, located in Lexington, Ky., was named Golf Grounds Manager of the Year. The award is based on performance excellence for current and previous years in various categories, including maintaining turfgrass conditions, successful large scale renovation or construction projects, loss prevention efforts, active pursuit of industry-wide certifications and education, and more.

Under Bender’s direction, Griffin Gate Golf Club earned certification through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program in 2008. A highlight of this effort, and as part of the property’s commitment to environmental stewardship, Bender spearheaded a community project with a local Boy Scouts Troop to build bat boxes on property.

“Scott Bender exemplifies the qualities of a great leader,” said David Robinson, Director of Golf Grounds, Marriott Golf. “His dedication, environmental prowess, and genuine desire to constantly improve the guest experience has made Griffin Gate Golf Club a superior facility in the state of Kentucky. On behalf of the Marriott Golf family, we are thrilled to recognize Scott for his commitment to excellence.”

Bender is currently The Kentucky Turfgrass Council Vice President and also served as a member of the Central Kentucky Turf and Ornamental Association for three years. Further, Bender was the first Golf Course Superintendent ever asked to join the Kentucky Golf Association Board of Directors, and he was recognized with the Environmental Commission Award from the Mayor of Lexington.

www.marriottgolf.com