Growing up my brother and I often heard our father tell us "Don't break anything!". Dad is a great guy and a super father, but handy with tools he is not! Like most children my brother and I were well meaning but inquisitive. Things sometimes got broken and when they did, they either stayed broken or Dad paid someone else to fix them. My brother and I paid for it as well, and not always with just our allowance.
You can imagine my father's surprise when all these years later, I started working at Links. Based on his knowledge of my experience with tools and machinery, I'm pretty sure he thought I would either lose a limb operating the mowers, or quickly put the course into receivership due to all the repair bills I might cause.
Happily this has not been the case. Well into my sixth year at the course, I still have all my working parts, and though I can't claim to have never broken anything, I have been taught and actually can fix many of the things that can or have broken on my watch. I've come to understand that the function of maintenance work is not just to keep things from breaking, but also to restore things that do break back to working order. This may seem like a blinding flash of the obvious to some people, but having grown up under the "don't break anything" edict has left its mark.
My ability to contribute to course operations comes from working with good teachers, from taking classes from accredited training facilities and from experience. Len, Mike and Russ are all good teachers. Each has their own unique style. I appreciate their patience and their willingness to let me have a go at new and different tasks. Wanting to build up my knowledge base, I've also taken golf course operations courses through Selkirk College, and have been impressed with how current our course operations truly are. Over time I've been able to use many of the skills I've been taught but am still pleasantly surprised when things work just the way they are supposed to. Competence is an expectation for the grounds crew, for as Len reminds us from time to time - we have all now been at our assigned tasks long enough to know what we are doing and what to look for when things are going off the rails.
Its still a little unnerving though when the boss goes away and the crew are trusted to keep things working until he gets back. On the one hand its flattering that Len has enough confidence in us to go away. On the other its a little intimidating to know that if things do go south we're mostly on our own to set them right. Last week presented a series of such challenges to the crew. With Len out of town we had to deal with a series of maintenance issues ranging from regular cutting routines through to dealing with broken irrigation heads. I'd like to think we did alright. One day we had virtually every available cutter out on the course. With Doug on the Massey, me doing greens and fairways, Russ on the 1445, Kevin and Josh weed-whacking and Gord doing tees, aprons and collars, we were out in force. We think the results look pretty good, even if we do say so ourselves!
Its dealing with the unexpected that makes the job interesting. Last week that meant dealing with irrigation issues with sprinkler heads exploding by the 8th green and in the middle of the 9th fairway. Russ was up to the challenge of the broken head in front of 8 and together we were able to deal with the new fountain that sprung out of the broken line on 9.
The leak on 9 came at a particularly bad time; just minutes before a junior tournament. It also happened while I was mowing the fairway. One of the tractor wheels passed over a cracked or broken protective cover causing the line to fail. The resulting gusher had echoes of my father's "Don't break anything" ringing in my ears. Rather than just panic, I reacted quickly. The water was shut off, Russ was recruited to take charge of the matter, and in less than a couple of hours, we had the break completely repaired. Its not the first time Russ has had to take the plunge into a watery fix this year. Between these tasks and keeping the course adequately watered he's certainly earned his reputation as the crew's aquaman!
Len is back now, and no doubt we'll discover a few things that could have been done better or differently. Its nice to be entrusted with the care of the course but being told what and how to do things well has its upside too! I've got a new rule to live by now. Its still better not to break anything, but when things do go sideways its even better if you know how to fix them!
By way of an update I did take readings with the speedmeter through the week. It would seem that the base speed of the greens is about 7.5 or medium. Rolling Thursday afternoons adds at least 2 feet to the speed, making greens roll at close to 10 or fast! The Greens iron continues to be a little temperamental, but it certainly achieves the task of amping up green speed for commercial league. The roller also comes with a spike roller to assist in aerating greens. I'm looking forward to perhaps putting it to the test in the coming weeks. Until next time, may all your shots stay on the short stuff and your putts drop in the cups!
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