Have You Been Slighted?

If you read my column above, "They Dropped the Ball -- Big Time," you'll see the story of another superintendent who didn't get his due. In this case, it is Terry Bonar, certified superintendent of Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland.

How about you? Do you feel like you're getting your due where you work? Does your owner, general manager and pro understand the important role you play at your course?

Blog here and let us know.

Thanks,

Larry Aylward
Editor in Chief

Unemployment And Sitting On His Duff

I just heard of a guy who lost his job last fall but has been content to sit on his butt and collect employment. The dude is not even looking for work! No, he's not one of those "discouraged" unemployed workers who stopped looking for work because he can't find any work; he would just rather take a few bucks from Uncle Sam and not work.
Do you know anybody like this? How should the country handle people like this?

-- Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

Will Players Take Pity On You?

Conventional wisdom might say golfers will cut you some slack if your golf course looks a tad ragged, considering that your maintenance budget was probably slashed. It would be a nice and polite gesture for golfers to sympathize with superintendents over this matter, especially in this time of financial upheaval. I had a recent conversation about this topic with veteran certified superintendent John Miller, who also happens to be the LPGA tour agronomist. But Miller says if a course’s maintenance budget has been cut to $700,000 from $1 million, the golfers playing that course still expect it to look and play like a million bucks.

They don’t care that a superintendent had to cut his maintenance budget.

What do you think? Do golfers still expect the best conditions — event though you don't have the money to pay for those conditions?

— Larry Aylward

GCSAA Suspends Research Funding. What Do YOU Think?

Did you hear the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has suspended funding for new research projects? According to a report, "The GCSAA Board of Directors determined that the highest priorities for research in the coming year will be publication of the survey results from the Golf Course Environmental Profile, the testing and introduction of the IPM template and advancement of the Pesticide Characteristics Project. While there will be no funding of new chapter cooperative research projects in 2009, GCSAA will continue to monitor the current 22 projects that are part of the Chapter Cooperative and National Research programs. The board has emphasized its commitment to funding applied agronomic, environmental and regulatory research, and plans to resume funding of new research when the projects listed above are completed and stability returns to the economy."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Blog here!

-- Larry Aylward, Editor in Chief

Thanksgiving Day Lover/Under RESULTS

The turkey was moist, the stuffing was dry and the family that never disappoints didn’t. What’s become my own little social experiment with my in-laws has, yet again, provided holiday humor for us all to enjoy. This year's over/under predictions tell the tale of family dysfunction which we all of are frighteningly familiar.

UNDER 5
The number of times “Gus,” my new 3-month-old Pug had “an accident” on my in-laws new downstairs carpeting: three “accidents” on the new carpeting highlighted the holiday
UNDER 7
Incidents that involve children crying: six crying incidents from children, mostly involving the Wii.
OVER 2
Incidents that involve adults crying: four crying incidents from adults, mostly involving each other.
UNDER 18 – Cigarettes secretly smoked while "taking out Gus": 12 cigarettes. Didn’t know brother-in-law quit last month.
UNDER 1
Major announcements that someone is pregnant (This has happened for the past six years, I’m NOT kidding): 0 — It’s a miracle! No one pregnant.
OVER 60
Minutes late that “Lunch/Dinner” is actually served: 86 minutes late — a new record!
UNDER 34
Total Score of Tennessee/Detroit game: 57 — Detroit is going to make history by winning zero games.
UNDER 40
Total Score of Seattle/Dallas game: 43 — meaningless score by Seattle ruined this pick.
UNDER 47
Total Score of Arizona/Philadelphia game: 68 — Arizona had better find some D-fense before the playoffs.

Another “Turkey Day” in the books for the in-laws and me! I hope everyone had a great holiday before the tryptophan kicked in leading to hours of relatively uncomfortable couch sleep.

Thanksgiving Day Over/UnderPredictions

I love Thanksgiving Day and all the predictability that comes with it. Each year, the family and I make the annual trek up north to an often snow-infested part of northwest Indiana dubbed “The Region.” This would be her family — an entire house filled with people that I haven’t seen since last year’s festivities. Oh what joy! The real entertainment will begin when I start checking off the list of this year’s over/under predictions:

5 — The number of times that Gus, my 3-month old Pug has “an accident” on my in-laws new downstairs carpeting.

7 — Incidents that involve children crying.

2 — Incidents that involve adults crying.

3 — Bottles of wine consumed throughout the day.

18 — Cigarettes secretly smoked while “taking out Gus.”

1 — Major announcement that someone is pregnant. (This has happened for the past six years, I’m NOT kidding.)

60 — Minutes late that lunch/dinner is actually served.

34 — Total score of Tennessee/Detroit game.

40 — Total score of Seattle/Dallas game.

47 — Total Score of Arizona/Philadelphia game.

I will promise to observe keenly and report back on these predictions for those of you who are playing the home version of the game.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

— Christopher S. Gray, Sr.
General Manager/Director of Golf Course Operations
Marvel Golf Club, Benton, Ky.

Will Parts of Your Golf Course Disappear?

I visited Kirtland (Ohio) Country Club not long ago. They were amid a bunker renovation, and they discovered that some bunkers were missing from the original designs of C.H. Alison in 1921. Superintendent Chad Mark surmised that some were filled in during the Great Depression to diminish labor costs.

It made me wonder if superintendents would be considered visionaries today if they started filling in bunkers around their golf courses as economists allude to a global economic downturn that could rival the loss of wealth experienced in the 1930s.

Are you doing anything drastic to your golf course to reduce maintenance or mitigate costs?

— David Frabotta