Golf Course Superintendent Appreciation Week Day 2: Time

 Yesterday I spoke a little about the people who support the golf course superintendent.  These folks are the ones that sacrifice time with that individual and who often accompany the superintendent in evening drives of the golf course in order to spend a little bit of time.  Time is the only gift we have.  How we choose to spend it matters.  There are many careers that demand individuals to be on call, I am not trying to make a martyr of the superintendent, only to shed some light on the job and the unique challenges that come with it.  Hopefully through understanding of the challenges, facilities, owners, members, coworkers, and the regular player will engage in support of the superintendent.

Golf course turf is a different animal than your home lawn.  Grown at heights equivalent to the width of a nickel, this turf doesn't tell time.  Turf doesn't care about holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, or any other human event, if it is under enough stress, the turf will go dormant or dead in an afternoon, possibly hours.

Golf course playing surfaces are maintained to be firm, which means as dry as possible to survive a day of play, then receiving supplemental moisture to get it through the next day.  Moisture management is an art. Growing turf under these conditions cannot really be taught....it is experienced and either an individual gets it or they don't.  Hand watering areas on greens is done by skilled labor.  

Through the growing season, or the hundred days in the north, turf needs to be watched.  Sunday afternoon when it is 73 degrees light wind and beautiful blue skies, you can find your superintendent checking greens and directing staff to hand water hot spots. Why hand water?  Irrigation is not sufficient for all situations.  Supplemental irrigation is necessary to keep the average moisture holding areas from becoming too wet from overhead irrigation or sprinklers. 

Adding some difficulty to the art of moisture management is the unpredictability of the weather.   Guessing weather a rain event will actually happen is just that....a guess.  Even if it rains, it may come down too fast or not enough.

Localized dry areas surrounded by moist areas

Irrigation systems that are outdated have large watering windows.....meaning it takes a lot of time to water the course or a surface....if you guess wrong and don't get rain and it takes a couple hours to water greens....tough.  Morning preparation of the greens for instance can't happen while irrigation systems are running.  Need to get a watering on fairways because the rain didn't hit?? Forget it, it may take 6-10 hours to run a good fairway cycle....the rain system that dissipated changed your day from finally being able to catch your breath to running around putting out fires....literally.  Days like this are just keeping grass from dying, your not catching up on the soil moisture bucket, your just treading water.

The hundred days.....from labor day to memorial day are spent watching weather and balancing the moisture levels.  Watching moisture levels on 4 acres of greens, 4 acres of tees, and 30 acres of fairways is stressful, not to include rough, driving range, green surrounds, flower beds, clubhouse lawns, and whatever else is under the superintendents care.  Want to get a little taste?? Just try and adjust your home lawn every day, keeping it green, but as dry as possible.  Try it for a week....everyday, dry, firm, and green...ish. 

Hand watering dry areas by a skilled employee

There are other things that keep the superintendent at the course....cultural practices that need to get done, event preparation, facility events, tournaments, and meetings....but babysitting turf for moisture content is number 1.

I don't know any superintendents that take moisture management lightly, its a trigger....don't believe me?....tell your superintendent that they overwater.  Make sure your several feet away and that he or she has slept lately and in a fairly good mood and there is a possibility of your survival.

Next time you see your superintendent, say thanks for the work they do managing water so that you can have the best conditions that your facility can provide....and remember, that may be only as good as the systems that are in place can be relied on......proper coverage, pumps, layout, pipe size, water quality, grass species and variety all play a role...its a complex system and your superintendent is dedicated to making it function the best it can.  All while being human.

Peace-

Turf