Superintendent FIRED

[Bravo]

Our course super was fired on Friday.

I have been traveling and had not been to the course since our tourney three weeks ago. The greens were in pretty good shape at that time.

Then we got this blast of heat (which hit most of the US and Canada).

When I played yesterday, greens #1 - #7 were in horrible shape.

From what I understand, last week our General Manager visited about five courses in the area to inspect their greens. He instructed the Golf Director to do the same at different courses. All the courses were in fine shape with no problems with the greens.

The GM fired the Super on the spot - but he knew he had it coming.

This all started last October when one day the maintenance crew cut them extremely close. Several of them took months to recover. And once we got this blast of mid-90's temps, they were too weak to survive it.

Glad to see him go...he had to be held accountable. I have no clue how long it will take to get them back in good shape.

This is when being a club member becomes frustrating. The bill comes every month but you feel you are not getting your money's worth.

[caddyshackgolf]

Well it sounds like he needed to be let go. Sorry to hear that your course has been in such bad shape. Do you any pics of these greens? jw

[Rockford35]

Sucks to be held responsible for that, but it's true. Soil conditions, ect can play a big part in how greens react and handle stress.

We have two courses here that are a stones throw from one and other and are managed by the same super. One course looks outstanding all year while the other suffers in the fall every year. I personally think that it's the soil, as the two courses have different flaura surrounding the greens. One course has poplars (that will grow just about anywhere, even if stressed) and the other has willows, caraganas, and other "water happy" trees. Same super, same amount of watering, yet one course burns out mid August.

Which is just around the corner here...

I agree that super's must be held accountable, and in this case, it sounds justified. But I find it hard to base it on what other courses in the area are doing, that's not really much of a good study to base a guy's future on. Hopefully things pick up for your course, B. Ultimately, when you're paying fees, that's what you care about most.

(Mental note, avoid the Tor till mid September.)

R35

[Kilted Arab]

Not sure about the soil argument. Here the courses are built on sand. No soil.


And the greens are as good as I've seen. What grass they use or how they treat or feed them, I've no idea. Water them a hell of a lot, that I know.

[Bravo]

Well the soil issue is a non-issue so it can very reasonably be ruled out.

Our course (as well as the other ten or so that were visited) has had its greens constructed from the sub-ground level through to the surface by course construction specialists. The last time this was done was only five years ago.

The greens have a bentgrass strain that was developed by Penn State University for warmer climates. This is widely used around here.

I watched with interest the last time the greens were being reconstructed...They dig down with a backhoe to below ground level and put in PVC drainage lines....then above this is a layer of large round river stone. Above this is a layer of smaller round smooth pebbles. Then a layer of sand and then above this is the soil/peat layer in which the grass grows. The actual amount of soil that the roots grow into is not very deep and they bring it in from somewhere else.

All of this is designed for percolation and drainage of moisture from the surface down to under the ground. So the soil that the bentgrass grows in is not the same soil as is under the rest of the course - fairways and rough. (The fairways are bermudagrass)

Virtually every (quality) course in this area has these same strains of bentgrass (or a slight variation) and the same green construction methods. So we can place the blame on the guy. I don't like seeing anyone fired but he had to take accountability for it. Its too bad because the rest of the course is absolutely lush. The fairways are like a dense hairbrush. Your ball sits up perfectly. He has done a good job getting the rough grown in where we had hardpan before by an aggressive limb pruning and sod-planting program too...but greens are the key and he should have known that.

[DaveE]

When people are paying the kind of money you guys do it's fair to expect the course to be in good condition.

Our greens are little funky right now but alot of our work it done by volunteers so who ya gonna fire. In our case they think it's our alternate supplier of water and an excessive level of clorine. The greens look like they have water spots on them but the grass is ok.