Many people think that working at a golf course must be a dream job. I'm sure they imagine riding jauntily along on a smooth riding tractor, enjoying the sunshine for a couple of hours and then setting out for a nice round of golf. While we sometimes get to do that sort of thing, there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes, and, depending upon conditions, the work is not always smooth or easy.
The recent swings in the weather have certainly made an impact on outside work at the course. After a "once in 40 year" rain event, the course had two weeks of dry weather, followed this past weekend by another four day rain. Soggy, bone dry, soggy does not necessarily provide for a consistent playing surface. It also requires course workers to adjust their schedules and their practice. Ideally the course receives ample supplies of water and sunshine in order to facilitate both play and good turf growth. Recently, the weather has been more a feast or famine scenario with either desiccating sun and wind or torrential steady rains. Both events have unique maintenance possibilities. Steady wind and heat are not so bad for people wanting to play but they put the course under a fair amount of stress. A lack of moisture causes the course to yellow, then brown out as the stressed grass goes dormant or dries out. Fertilizing can help fortify the turf, but fertilizing demands that the course be watered as well. Fertilizer without a good supply of moisture can lead to greens being chemically burned.
On the other hand, a surfeit of moisture, such as the rains we had last weekend can feed the turf but make it hard to manage. Once the ground reaches saturation point, water begins to pool, making both play and cutting the grass difficult. Just getting the mowers out can be a challenge, as their weight, combined with spongy conditions underfoot, creates the risks of equipment scalping, rutting or just plain getting stuck in the turf. Since we are now solidly into summer, temperatures combine with the moisture to promote rapid turf growth. If we miss a day or two of mowing, the grass can quickly grow beyond optimal playing conditions.
Once conditions have closed the course for any length of time, the pressure is on to get equipment back out on the course as soon as possible. Sometimes we are out before the waters have sufficiently receded. This can lead to the mowers pushing water ahead of the cutting units causing reels to plug, baskets to fill with soupy green sludge and unsightly and uneven cuts on the greens and fairways. Players will notice lots of lumpy clumps of clippings, interfering with their putts and play, and strips of grass that appear to have been missed completely. Its really not that the operators are asleep at the switch, or don't know what they are dong. its more that the water being pushed ahead of the cutting units is causing the grass to lie down and miss being cut appropriately.
Fortunately grass and the grounds crew are quite resilient Both are able to bounce back quickly to get the course looking great. However, while the grass just does what it does naturally, the grounds crew have to know what they are doing and proceed appropriately. Proper mowing is the single most important element in keeping greens at their best. Proper greens maintenance requires daily mowing, changing the mowing pattern daily and maintaining the mower to proper specifications. Just going through the motions is not enough. Texas A & M's turf grass blog states that "good greens keepers need to have a feel for their greens and their equipment. Not everyone can mow a green. Some people just do not have the mental or physical dexterity required to mow greens. Greens mowing is a skill acquired through experience and observation. A good greens keeper needs to have an appreciation for a uniform, evenly cut putting surface. The operator must appreciate the finished product".
Squatting down on one's hands and knees in wet muddy ground to unclog the cutting units can quite literally put a damper on one's appreciation for greens keeping, but all things considered, working at the course is still a fine way to spend some time. Whether it's sunny or wet, there is still some truth to the old saying that a bad day at the golf course still beats a good day at work. When that day of work takes place at the golf course you really can't lose!
Next week I am off to Vancouver to volunteer at the Canadian Open at Shaugnessy Golf Club. The course is not far from my childhood home in Kerrisdale. Growing up, I got to watch the municipal grounds crew at McCleery Public Links. In my teens I spent some time on the grounds crew at Marine Drive Golf Club, mostly shagging the practice range with a tractor members referred to as "the moving target". Happily at Links my work and hours now keep me mostly out of harm's way. I'll be serving on the Course and Grounds Committee and look forward to seeing just what practices go into making a national championship a great event for both players and spectators!
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